Let us turn again to God's Word. I want us to turn to the opening
chapter in the book of the Revelation, directing you this evening to
words that we find in verses 17 and 18. Revelation 1, 17 and
18. John says, And when I saw him,
I fell at his feet as dead, And He laid His right hand upon me,
saying unto me, Fear not, for I am the first and the last.
I am He that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. We were considering this morning
the words that we have previously in verse 10. where John is in the Spirit on
the Lord's Day and hears a great voice as of a trumpet. We considered
especially those words at the end of the verse, a great voice
as of a trumpet. And it is of course the voice
of the Lord Jesus Christ as he speaks there in verse 11, I am
Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. and what they say is
right in the book and send it on to the seven churches and
so we have mention of those seven churches in Asher Miner and John
then says how he turned to see the voice that spake with him
but as he turned he saw seven golden candlesticks the seven
candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches we read
at the end of the chapter so we see Christ in the midst of
the churches. And then we have that description
of the glorified Christ, the Son of Man, how He's clothed
with a garment down to the foot, girt about the paps with a golden
girdle, His head and His hairs white like wool as white as snow,
eyes as a flame of fire, feet like unto fine brass, burning
in a furnace, and His voice or that voice, that great voice
as of a trumpet. And it says in verse 15, his
voice is the sound of many waters. And then how he holds in his
right hand the seven stars, which we're told at the end are the seven angels or the seven
messengers. They're the ministers of the
churches. He holds these in his in his
right hand, and out of his mouth there goes a two-headed sword,
and his countenance is shining as the strength of the sun. And
then, the words that I've just read from that text, John says,
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his
right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first
and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen, and have the keys of hell
and of death. And so, really, we're seeing
something of the consequence of that great voice that we were
thinking of this morning. The power, really, of the voice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the effect that all of this has upon
John. And as we come to look at these
verses, I want to say something first of all with regards to
John, and what he says concerning this experience, I fell at his
feet as death. John's death, first of all. And
then in the second place, the declaration that the Lord Jesus
Christ himself makes, laying his right hand upon him and saying
those words, fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. Primarily we're going to see
what the Lord's declaration is, the words that He is speaking
to him there. But first of all to say something
with regards to John. When I saw him, you see what
the voice does? It draws his attention. And that's
why he turns to see the voice, the spike, as we read in verse
12. And there is the Lord in the
midst of the churches. What is the experience of John?
Well, when he saw him, he falls at his feet, dead. Now, of course, when we think
of John, like any of us, by nature he was spiritually dead as he
was born into this world. He was born as all those are
who are descended from the first pair, from Adam and Eve. God
had made it so clear to them there in the Garden of Eden concerning
disobedience. They'd been told not to eat of
that tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. In the day that they eatest,
says, God thou shalt surely die. Or as the margin says, literally
it says, in the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt
die. So death in one sense is immediate. Although physical death was not
immediate, they would live many, many years with Adam and Eve.
But there was a death that was immediate and it was spiritual
death. And that is true, of course, of all of us who were ever born
into the world. We're born dead in trespasses
and in sins. David says, Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Strange, isn't it, when we see
a little babe, how remarkable it is, that little innocent life
that's been given. And yet that child, the child
of Adam and Eve, is dead in trespasses and sins. Paul says to the Ephesians,
you are to be quickened. You were dead in trespasses and
sins. We all need to be quickened. You must be born again, says
the Lord Jesus Christ. There must be a new birth. But
what is it to experience that new birth? Well, John had certainly
experienced that. He was one who had heard the
call of the Lord Jesus. He was a disciple of Christ.
Why? He was the beloved disciple, wasn't he? The one who was so
intimate with the Lord, leaning upon his bosom when Christ instituted
that Holy Supper, the Last Supper. But he was a man who'd been made
to feel something of his sin. something of his unfitness freedom. He'd be made to feel what it
was to be dead in trespasses and sins before God. How few are in that condition,
though all are sinners in God's sight, there are but few so in
their own. We've often times seen those
words in the 89th hymn He goes on, doesn't it? New life,
from him we must receive. Before for sin we rightly grieve. All we have to be made then to
feel our deadness in sin. That's an apparent contradiction. It's a paradox, isn't it? To
feel that we're dead. Surely a person who is dead feels
nothing at all. But spiritually, when the Spirit
of God begins with us. Isn't that where it all begins?
We feel what we are. And that was certainly the experience
of John. That's the experience of the
godly, when God begins with them. And they're amazed that their
lives are spared. When we see Jacob at Peniel back
in Genesis 32, Peniel meaning the face of God. He'd been wrestling
with the angel. The angel had been wrestling
with him. And what does he say after that experience where he
was overcome of the angel and yet in another sense he overcomes
the angel. It's the Lord. He says I have
seen God face to face and my life is preserved. He was amazed that his life was
preserved having seen God. It was the same later in the
book of Judges with that man Manoah, the father of Samson. When he says to his wife, we
shall surely die because we have seen God. That was the word of Manoah.
But you know, it's remarkable there, isn't it? The faith of
that man's wife. She had first had the vision. She had first seen the angel
of God. And she was clearly a woman of faith. When her husband utters
those words, she replies, if the Lord were pleased to kill
us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering
at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things. The promise, you see, that she's
going to be with child, this child will be born to her, Samson.
And God had shown that to her. She was a woman of faith, a remarkable
woman of faith. Though we know not her name,
we know the name of her husband Manoah and I say this is the
experience God's people have to come through this experimentally
they are those who know what it is by the grace of God to
die and to die to all confidence in themselves to see what their
condition is the impossibility of them doing anything to save
themselves their spiritual impotence have brought to see that salvation
is truly of the Lord. All those bitter experiences
that a man like Job must pass through. And then when we come
to the end of that book, what does he say? I have heard of
thee by the hearing of the ears. But now mine eye seeth thee,
wherefore I abhor myself. Oh, I abhor myself and repent. in dust and ashes, no confidence
in himself. The same also when we think of
the experience of the prophet Ezekiel. In the opening chapter
there he says, God appears to him when I saw, he says, I fell
upon my face, just like John. Just like John. When I saw him
I fell at his feet as dead. Isn't it the same also with Daniel? There in chapter 10 of the book
of Daniel. Verse 7, I, Daniel, saw the vision. This is the vision of the Lord. I, Daniel, alone saw the vision,
he said. And the men that were with me
saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that
they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and
saw this great vision. And there remained no strength
in me, for my comeliness was turned to me into corruption,
and I retained no strength. Yet I heard the voice of his
words, and when I heard the voice of his words, Then was I in a
deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground." It's
so much like John's experience. John heard the voice, just as
Daniel heard the voice. And as Daniel hears the voice,
he's in a deep sleep with his face toward the ground, and he
has no comeliness. All his comeliness turned now
into corruption. It's the same with John. It's
the same with John. It's overwhelming, the sight.
And do you know, in a sense, was it not also true with Simon
Peter, there at the beginning of Luke chapter 5, when Christ
performs a miracle, the great draft of fish, and they've been
toiling, they've been toiling all through the night, they've
caught nothing, and then at the Lord's bidding, they cast the
net on the other side of the ship, and they've taken a great
draft. And what does Peter say? Depart
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Why the sight is overwhelming. John, he knew what it was to
experience the grace of God and he felt what he was as a sinner,
the deadness of his sin or the impurity of his heart of his
life. I fell at his feet as dead. But let us come to Christ's declaration
because this is what I really want to concentrate on. At the
end of verse 17, He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto
me, Fear not. I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. What is the language here? It's
the language of Deuteron. The Lord declares to him His
Deuteron. What does he say? I am the first and the last. He is the first and the last. That is God. God is the beginning
and the ending. God is the Alpha and the Omega. We go back to Isaiah, Isaiah
41 and verse 4, I the Lord, the first and the last, I am He. And again, Isaiah 44 verse 6,
I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. What is Christ doing? He is declaring
the truth of His deity. Isaiah 48 verse 12 again, I am
He. I am the first. I also am the
last. And then as the Lord continues
to speak here in verse 18, He says, I am He that liveth and
was dead. And behold, I am alive for evermore. He is that One who has ever lived. This is the wonder of it. Think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even when the person of Christ
died upon the cross in his human nature, at the same time we have
to remember in him was life, and the life was the life of
man. This is the wonder of the cross of Christ. We've said before, the human
nature of the Lord Jesus Christ has no subsistence apart from
the Son of God. The human life subsists in union
with the person of the Son of God. What was conceived in the
Virgin's womb was that holy thing. And when she gives birth to that
child, he will be called the Son of God. That's what we read
there in Luke 1.35. And the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, when he dies in his human nature, as he does die, yet he
is still the one who is life, in him was life, and
the life was the light of him, he's the source of all life. He has that equality with God
the Father and God the Son in the doctrine of the Trinity.
As we said this morning, John begins addressing the seven churches
there in Asia Minor and he sends that word of greeting and it's
in the name of the triune God. From him which is and which was
and which is to come and from the seven spirits which are before
his throne and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and
the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of
the earth and so forth. Oh the Lord Jesus Christ is that
one then who is his life and yet there upon the cross the
person of Christ in his human nature he dies. How remarkable
it is. This one who is the image of
the invisible God. He says, I am he that liveth
and am alive forevermore, Amen. Oh, what an Amen is this. The
Lord is risen now and the Lord is risen indeed. What is the Gospel? Well, Paul
tells us it's concerning God's Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared
to be the Son of God. All marked out, defined as the
Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by
the resurrection from the dead. The wonder of the cross, where
Almighty God sighed human breath, where the Lord of life experienced
death. How it was done we can't discuss,
but this we know it was done for us, and it was done for us.
And I want to think for a while of some four things that we come
to possess in the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we experience
of the grace of God when we know Christ? Well, there is certainly
reconciliation to God. And how is that reconciliation
to God obtained? With those who in our very natures,
as I've said, are dead in trespasses and sins. But not only that,
we're alienated from God. We're enemies in our minds by
wicked works. We're in a state then, an awful
state, of being far off, very far off from God. But what does the Lord Jesus
Christ accomplish by dying? Paul tells us there in Romans
5.10, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of His Son. Christ's death reconciles the
sinner unto God. Because Christ in dying, of course,
is bearing that punishment that was the just desert of the sinner. He deserved to die. That's the
wages of his rebellion against God. The soul that sins must
die. To Adam and Eve, there in the
garden, the day that they witness thereof, they shall surely die.
But Christ has died in the sinners' place, and by His death, He's
reconciled those who were in that state of alienation. They
may die by the blood of Christ. for they once more have peace
with God. Isn't that what Paul says there
in Colossians chapter 1? You know the passage, verse 20? Well he says, verse 19, concerning
Christ it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness
dwell and have He made peace through the blood of His cross.
by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him I say, whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you. And He's
writing to a church, you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your minds by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled in
the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. or the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does Christ say? I am He that was dead. I am He that was dead. He died.
And by His death He has reconciled sinners unto God. But then also
there is salvation by the life of Christ. There's salvation
by the life of Christ. We refer to those words in Romans
5, 10, when we were enemies, we were reconciled by His death. And it goes on, doesn't it, to
say something more, much more being reconciled, we shall be
saved by His life. How are we saved by his life?
We're saved by his resurrection life. That life that he has as
the one who is the mediator between God and man. That new life, in Christ resurrected
from the dead. And again, John makes mention
of it there, writing in that first epistle. And in the last
chapter at Verse 11 of chapter 5 in 1 John,
this is a record that God hath given to us eternal life and
that life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. So we have that life then only
in and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He was delivered for our offences
and He was raised again for our justification. In His rising
again, in that new life, we have salvation and all that salvation
is, justification. Raised again for our justification. The Father raising Him from the
dead is the justification of the Son, isn't it? The father
is owning and acknowledging the work, accepting what the son
has done in his office as the mediator, why he has come, he
has lived, he has died. And the father owns that work
by raising him to new life. And in that we have our justification. As the father receives His obedience,
the obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. That's
our obedience. We were the transgressors. Or there's reconciliation by
His death. There's salvation, justification
in His life. But then also, when we think of the doctrine of regeneration, We have regeneration by the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, because I live, ye shall
live also. Speaking to his disciples. He
must go the way of the cross, but he will rise again the third
day. And because I live, ye shall
live also. In the language of Isaiah. thy
dead men shall rise, or thy dead men shall live, together with
my dead body shall they arise. God hath begotten us again unto
a lively hope, says Peter, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our being begotten, our being
born again is associated with the the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, there's reconciliation in
His death, there's salvation in His life, there's regeneration
in His resurrection from the dead, the exceeding greatness
of His power to us who do believe, which is according to the working
of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised
Him from the dead. The same power that is in Christ's
resurrection goes into the souls of those who are born again and
believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of these things
are in Christ. I am He that liveth and was dead,
He says, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and
of death. Why there is also, of course,
is essential. and then his session in glory
at the Father's right hand. He lives forevermore, he says.
He's the Amen, the faithful and true witness. He has the keys
of hell and of death. This is the authority of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what authority this one has! There's that remarkable passage
back in the book of Isaiah in chapter 22. And there, those verses at verse
20 through 22, Isaiah chapter 22 from verse 20 through 22,
we read of a man called Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, And the name Eliakim literally
means set up of God's. Eliakim, set up of God's. And we read in that passage back
in Isaiah 22, 20, It shall come to pass in that day. Mark that expression, that day. It's ultimately speaking of the
day of Christ, the last days, the gospel day, in that day,
that I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and I will
clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle,
and I will commit thy government into his hand, and he shall be
a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of
Judah. And the key of the house of David
will I lay upon his shoulder. So he shall open and none shall
shut, and he shall shut and none shall open. Is it not? It's so
evident that ultimately there we are reading of the Lord Jesus,
the glorified Christ, the one who we see here. I am he that
I am alive for evermore, he says, Amen, and have the keys of hell
and of death. He has all power. all authority
in heaven and in earth. And we read the passage, didn't
we? In chapter 5, where we see him
as that one who is able to open the seven-sealed scroll, the
book, written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. None could open it. None could
open it. And then one of the elders says
to John, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals hereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God
sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and
twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers
of saints, and they sung a new song. saying thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou wast
slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation and made us unto our
God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth all
the authority that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ authority. What do we see Christ
doing? He is able to raise the dead.
The mighty deeds, the miracles that He performs. Jairus' daughter,
there in Luke chapter 8. The son of the widow of Nain
in the previous seventh chapter. The raising of Lazarus in John
chapter 11. Oh, He is that One, you see,
who has power to raise the dead. He has power to forgive sins. We read, don't we, in Mark Chapter
2 of those men who bring their paralyzed friends to the place
where the Lord Jesus Christ is. and they can't get near, and
they climb onto the roof, they clamber onto the flat roof, and
they make a way whereby they're able to let their paralyzed friend
down to where Christ is. And Christ performs a miracle.
He says unto the sick of the poles, He said, Thy sins be forgiven
them. That's how He addresses the man
when He sees him there before him paralyzed. Son, thy sins
be forgiven them. But certain scribes sitting there,
reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus be blasphemous? Who can forgive sins but God
alone? And when Christ perceives their
spirit and the way they reason, He says, Why reason ye these
things in your hearts? Where is easier to say to the
sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise,
take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He saith to
the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy
bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up his bed, and went forth
before them all. Oh, and they were amazed. They were amazed, it says. They
glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. Here
is God. He has power. He has authority. Yes, He can raise the dead. He
can give limbs, feet to this man who is so paralyzed. He can forgive sins. Oh, this
is His power. The great power of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He can even speak to those who
are shut up. in all of the sin of unbelief,
and he can speak faith into their souls. Or when Haman cries out,
I am shut up and I cannot come forth, who is the one who delivers?
It's the Lord Christ. How we see him there at the grave
of Lazarus, loose him, let him go. what authority this man has
he can do all these wondrous things and John says doesn't
he he laid his right hand upon me he laid his right hand upon me
John here prostrate before the Lord and he says fear not oh
the precious fear not of the word of God what comforting words
fear not for I have redeemed you I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. He says again in the Gospel there
in Luke 12, Fear not, little flock. It is your Father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. We're a little flock. What a
word of comfort this is. Fear not, little flock. For God
has a gracious purpose to fulfill. I'll give you the kingdom. The
kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. Again, there's so many
fear nots, don't we, in the book of the prophet Isaiah, but those
words in chapter 41, Isaiah 41 and verse 10, he says, fear thou
not. I like that. He doesn't just
say fear not. It's so personal. He slips in
the singular pronoun, the thou. Fear thou. Fear thou. not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God's. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness." Oh, the precious fear not, said, as he
lays his right hands upon John, this declaration then of the
Lord Jesus. Oh, John feels what he is in
himself, feels that awful deadness. But the Lord Jesus is there.
I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me,
saying unto me, Fear not. I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. and are of the keys of
hell and of death? Or that we might be those then
who only desire that we might hear that voice? What's our coming
together? We want to hear not the words
of a man, we want to hear the word of God, the voice of Christ. And of course His sheep, they
know His voice. Or do you know that voice, the
voice of the Lord Jesus Christ? They know His voice. They follow
Him who gives to them eternal life, and they shall never perish. O God, grant that we might be
those who know the voice, and know it so as to obey all the
commandments of the Lord Jesus. His commandments are not grievous. O God, help us then to embrace
the precepts as we embrace the promises. And God be pleased
to bless His word to us today. Amen. Well, let us conclude our
worship as we sing hymn number 19. I'll read the first two verses. We'll sing from verse 3. The
hymn 19, the tune St. Bernard 219. Behold the glories
of the Lamb, amidst his father's throne, prepare
new honours for his name, and songs before unknown. Let elders worship at his feet,
the church adore around, with vials full of odour sweet, and
harps of sweeter sound." It's clearly Isaac Watts' paraphrase
of the part of Revelation chapter 5 that we were reading. We'll
sing then from verse 3, the hymn number 19, and the tune 219.