Continue and look here in the book of the Revelation. And we looked last week at John's vision. And he said, speaking about the one he saw seated on the throne, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, One likened to the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird about the paps, or the breast, the chest, with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire. And his feet likened to fine brass as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, and 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 death.

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in thy right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

And so he defines what it is that John saw there. It's not a mystery in one sense, but it's a great mystery in another. Because, you know, as we look at this, who can begin to fathom the glory that surrounds the Lord as John fell at his feet is dead. He didn't move. He couldn't move.

And I believe, you know, that men quite often have too low a regard of who the Lord is. People will often speak, it's common for people to talk about the Lord. A lot of people think it's their duty to go around speaking about Him. Now let me say that surely let the redeemed of the Lord say so. But we don't speak of the Lord just to be impressing other people of our religious knowledge or our religious experience or whatever. When we speak of the Lord, it should be with great reverence.

You know, when you read through the scriptures and you see the manner in which the disciples of the Lord addressed him, They always spoke to him in terms of reverence. They didn't come to him and put their arm around him and say, hey Jesus, how you doing? Now that's sadly the way that a lot of people think of him, but his glory fills the heavens. He said, you're not to use the name of the Lord in vain. That is, don't lightly speak of him. Don't likely just say it. It bothers me when I hear people use his name without putting Lord in front of it. When they speak of him just as Jesus in the first person. Now obviously, the scripture often speaks of him as Jesus did this and this, that, and the other, but when men addressed him, when they spoke to him, when his disciples spoke to him, They called him Lord. They called him Master. They didn't use his name in vain. They knew somewhat of who he was.

Now, remember when they were in the, I was just reading this this week, and when they were in the boat, and the Lord was asleep up in the front of the boat, and the waves were crashing around them, and they were all fearful. And they said, Lord, help us, save us. We're gonna perish here. They believed he could do something about it. They had no idea what he was going to do. But maybe they figured he would help them row or that he would do something, you know. But when he stood up, he said, peace be still. And the winds and the waves immediately stopped. And they each turned to the other and they said, what kind of a man is this? Because the Lord gradually taught them who he was. He didn't teach them who he was all at the beginning, but he taught them little by little.

And then one day when he was received up into heaven, they stood there with mouths open because they could not believe what they were seeing. And the angel said, what are y'all standing here with your mouths open, as if to say, what did you expect? Now he told you what to do, now go and do it. Because he had given them, his disciples had given them commission to go forth and tell men.

You know, how often is it that he told men not to tell anybody who he was? in the gospel, when he'd healed somebody, said, don't tell anybody. Now, the amazing thing is that they always did, didn't they? Because they couldn't keep it in, just like the woman at the well. I mean, she, how could she not tell? He didn't tell her to go tell. She went on her own. She said, you gotta come see this man. He told me everything I ever did.

And so John now sees him. in a fashion in which he had been given somewhat of a glimpse before, but not in the fullness in which he saw it now. On the Mount of Transfiguration, he had seen the Lord transfigured in a great light that was so bright that it just was like the noonday sun, they said. And the same thing that Paul saw. on the road to Damascus. In fact, it was so bright that it blinded him. He was blind from that point forward.

And so, as we think on the glory of the Lord today, who can describe him? And as we look at the book of the Revelation, it's a book of the revelation of that glory. And why should it be that we would think that we could come into this book and we could just tell you everything about it? And there's plenty of people that can. There's lots of people that's written books. They explain every jot and tittle of it. They know exactly what this means and what that means and all of this. But when they get to the end of it, they've missed the whole thing.

Because this is a book about the glory of Jesus Christ. It begins and it ends with that glory. And so John saw that, and he fell at his feet as dead. You know, the Lord didn't reveal himself to John in that fashion in order to destroy John. Very well could have. The Lord said, there shall no man see me and live. Remember, he had to hide Moses, he said, in the cliff to the rock. And he passed by and he said, when I get almost out of sight, he said, then you can see my backside. He said, well, no man can see me and live.

And so John fell at his feet as dead. Now, I don't know if he was dead or if he was almost dead or what, but I know this. that he was down there on his face before the Lord until the Lord said, fear not. Why'd he say that? Because he was fearful. I mean, he had seen something, though he might have had a glimpse of it in time past, he had never seen the Lord just like this. And it's amazing when you read the book And you see the times when the Lord is described, and then you see the times when men like Ezekiel described what they saw. Ezekiel didn't know what he saw, but he knew he saw something that was beyond his capability to comprehend. Just like Isaiah. He said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And he said, the thing that came to me says, oh, woe is me. He didn't know if God was gonna kill him or what. But he knew he was a man of unclean lips, and he dwelt among a people of unclean lips. And the Lord took a coal from off the altar, and he burned his lips, and he purified that. Even as he says here, to John and gives him great comfort.

And he laid his right hand upon me. His right hand. What is the right hand of God? You know, people, the Lord said, the scripture says that he is seated at the right hand of God. Now, a lot of people, and I think I might have mentioned this last week, a lot of people think of that as like there's three thrones up there in heaven. And the middle throne, you know, it's a little higher than the others, and that's God the Father sitting on that one. And then over here to the right hand, the Lord Jesus, he has a throne, but it's, you know, it's maybe not quite the same as the other. and he's on the right side. That's not what it means at all. Jesus Christ is the right hand of God. That is, he is the power of God. He is the creator. He is the one that the Lord manifested himself in the earth. The earth has no knowledge of God apart from seeing Jesus Christ. And the Lord is seen fit to reveal himself in Jesus Christ.

And so he says he laid his right hand on him, the power of God. Power of God's what raised up John out of death. He was as much as dead. Like I say, I don't know if he means he was dead. You know, like Paul says that when he was called up to the third heaven, he says, I don't know if I was living or dead, if I was in the body or out of the body. He says, I don't know. He says, I was called up there and I saw things that I can't even tell you about because it's so glorious.

And John had no power before the Lord. A lot of people think they have power. They don't have any power. When the Lord taught the disciples about the grain of mustard seed, now a lot of people have the mind that the that the faith that he's speaking about there, he says, you of little faith. Now what that, when the scripture, when he says little faith, he doesn't mean you've got some faith. He means you don't have any. He says you're without faith. He said, because if you had faith, the grain of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, be thou removed and cast into the lake, and it would be, because Christ is the author of faith. He's the only one that can give a man faith. And no man has any faith. The Lord's not looking to see if you've got a little bit of faith, because He knows you don't have any faith. How foolish it is for men to say, well, the Lord's looking for men of faith. No, He knows you don't have any faith. And apart from Him giving you faith, you'll never have any faith.

And so what was the Lord teaching them when he told them, if you had faith, a grain of mustard seed, he said, you don't have any, because if I gave it to you, you would. And the Lord did give them faith, did he not? And they raised the dead, they healed the sick. They did those things by the power of almighty God, not because they did it, but because he gave it to them.

And the same thing is true right here when he said, fear not, I'm the first and the last. Only reason that John was able to get up off of the ground where he was before the Lord was because the Lord in mercy reached down his hand and said to him, fear not. Oh, what a glorious thing. What a glorious thing when the Lord tells us not to fear. The fear of the Lord's a beginning of wisdom. Fear of the Lord's a beginning of knowledge. and only the Lord can give a man fear. You know, you can make men afraid of what's gonna happen to them, but you can't make a man fear God. I mean, when I was a little boy, I was fearful of going to hell. I was real afraid of that, but I wasn't fearing God, I was fearing what was gonna happen to me. See, there's a difference in being afraid and fearing God.

John feared God. He was taught the fear of God right here, and what'd the Lord say to him? Don't fear. Because you see, a man has to be taught fear before the Lord will ever tell him not to fear. But that's the purpose of the gospel. See, that's why we go preaching the gospel is to tell men, fear not. But we understand that apart from the Spirit of God causing a man to fear, then the gospel, it falls on deaf ears. Men are not gonna hear the gospel unless the Lord gives them ears to hear it. And the manner in which he gives them ears to hear it is he causes them to fear him, to see that they are sinners in need of help.

Old Jonathan Edwards preached a message that he called sinners in the hands of an angry God. And some men got fearful that they were gonna perish, but some men feared God. That's what the Lord said, did he not? He said, don't fear them that can kill the body. But he said, fear him who can destroy. both soul and body in hell. That's a pretty descriptive word there. Fear him.

And so, we don't come trying to get people to fear God. If I could make you fear God, you know, then I'd have a power that would be beyond the ability of men to give. I can't do it. But I can, by the grace of God, say to those whom God has caused to fear, fear not. Fear not. Why not? Why not, John? Why is the Lord telling you not to fear? Because he said this, fear not, I am the first and the last. I'm the beginning and the end. I'm all there is. And he says, I'm saying to you, fear not.

Now when God, who created you and caused you to fear him, when he tells you to fear not, what a glorious blessing that is. When you can see clearly that Jesus Christ is your substitute, that he is your savior, that he is that one who's taken away your sins as far as east is from the west, and he remembers them no more. And he says, fear not, for I am the first and the last. And he says, I have told you, John, that I have loved you. So much so that John wrote in his gospel, John 13 one, and Jesus, having loved his own, he loved them to the end. And he's brought to the end. He said, I'm the first and the last. You see, that's the final word. The Lord's the first word and he's the last word.

Now, you know, some of us like to argue. And a person that really likes to argue wants to get the last word. And that's why arguments usually don't ever end. because there's always somebody trying to get the last word. But I'm gonna tell you, there's somebody that has the last word. And he will destroy the wicked. That's the last word. There won't be anything left to say. There won't be any excuses made on the part of men. But you see, he's that one who has demonstrated his love for his people. And he says to John, we're gonna see John was one, why'd John get this vision? Because God gave it to him. He didn't figure, he didn't say, well, you know, I think I'm gonna go over here to this isle of Patmos and one day I'm just gonna wake up and I'm gonna say, you know, I think I'll write about the Lord. No, he didn't do that. The Lord brought him there and he brought him down. But then when he brought him down, the Lord brings his people down, not to put them down, but to bring them up. And that's what the gospel's about. See, that's why we preach the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ, because he would bring his people up out of the darkness and into the light.

I'm he that liveth. and was dead and behold, I'm alive forevermore. See, He is life. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. See, there is no life outside of Christ. This is the record that God has given to us, eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath The life hath his son. And he that hath not life hath not seen his son. Oh, that the Lord might give us that life. That he might cause us to know him. I'm he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death.

So what's the key for? It's to lock something. You can lock something in, or you can lock something out. And the Lord uses a key both ways. He locked Noah into the ark. Noah didn't close the door. You know, I saw a movie, I probably told you everything I know two or three times over the years, but I saw a movie one time. And when Noah went in, it was showing Noah going into the ark, and then it showed him in there, and he had this chain hoist, and they got all the animals in, and he's over there, he's pulling this chain hoist up, and this door's coming up, and he closed the door. That's not what happened at all. Scripture says the Lord shut him in. The Lord closed the door. Because why? He's got the keys of hell and death. They belong to him. Death and the grave. He has the key. He can lock a man in or he can lock a man out. And it has pleased him to lock his people out. Death has no power over the sons of God. And that's what he's telling John. He said, I'm he that was alive, and then I died. He says, now I'm alive forevermore, because death has been defeated. Paul said it. Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Death has no power. Fear not.

And then he said, write the things which you have seen. Those things you've seen. And what he's telling, he's telling the things he's seen up to this point. And he said, the things which are, things which you're seeing right now, write it. John, write what you're seeing right now. What is it that he's seeing right now? Fear not, he said. and the things which shall be hereafter. For the things that shall be hereafter, he's gonna tell us. Not the things that'll be hereafter in time, but the things hereafter that the Lord's showing him in this book. That's the hereafter. I know a lot of people make a lot of things, oh, we'll see there, the Lord's saying what's gonna be hereafter in time. No, that's not what he's talking about. He's telling him, you've seen some things, you're seeing some things now, and you're fixing to see some things, and I want you to write them in a book.

And then he said, the mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. Now we talked some about the seven golden candlesticks. We know this is likened to candlestick or candelabra or menorah. Actually it was not used candles, but that's a word that is used in the scriptures here. It's more like just a lamp. And the menorah that was in the temple was a seven, it was a lamp that had seven stems coming out of it and a lamp on each one of those stems. And the word in the scripture is menorah. And of course that word's still used today among the Jews when they speak about, you've all seen the candelabra thing and it's got the seven candles in it or lamps on it. And that's what he's talking about, about the candlestick, the lampstand.

But it's an amazing thing here. Think about it. In the tabernacle and then in the temple, there was only one lampstand that had seven lamps on it. But here, he's speaking about seven different candlesticks. There was seven different candelabras.

And what did he say to his disciples? He said, ye are the light of the world. Because you see, the Lord has committed his light into the hands of his churches. The people of God gathered together. We've got a mandate to be the light of the world. He gave that to us. And we are going to be that light. Sometimes, sadly, that light burns dimly. Sometimes it burns brightly.

Now all of this is in the hands of the Lord to do as He sees fit, but keep in mind this one truth, that while the Lord is absolutely in control of all things, and nothing can transpire outside of the realm of that which He would have done, Men are all accountable for their own actions.

Now, a lot of people get mad about that, say, well, if God's predestined all things, then we can't be held accountable. Well, yes, you can. Lord held Adam accountable, didn't he? Told him exactly what he was gonna do. He said, in the day you eat this, you're gonna die. Was Adam accountable? Sure he was. Why? Because God said he was.

And so it is, dear brethren. When he says, you are the light of the world, we're accountable to shine the light of Christ in this world that we're in. Can you do it? Can you do it? But oh, you see, when he's pleased to move among his people by the spirit of the living God, he causes that to happen. And down through the ages, he has caused the light of the gospel to shine forth from his churches.

Now, do any of these churches still exist? Not that I can tell. They're all gone. Why? Because the Lord took the candlestick away. Now what does that do? Does that tell us, oh, the Lord's gonna abandon us? No.

You see, when the Lord calls his people out, remember when he gave the parable of the tares? He said the enemy has come in and sowed tares among the wheat. And according to the purpose of God, that's what happens many times among churches, is the tares, you know, grow up. And when you look at what he's gonna say to the churches, what does he say to every one of them? He makes a statement. Every one of them, he says, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Now not everybody, That's part of churches have ears to hear. Now all of the Lord's people do. See, they've been given ears to hear. There's some in churches that got in there some other way. They got in there and didn't have a waiting garment on. Remember what the Lord of the Feast came in, he said, what's that guy doing in here? You don't have a wedding garment on.

Hear what the Lord says to the churches. Heed these things. What does that do? See, God's people, those that have ears to hear, they're stirred by that. They don't sit back and say, I don't make any difference. Lord's gonna do whatever he's gonna do. No, we want the Lord to do things through us. We want the Lord to give us light. We want the Lord to help us to be lights in the world, to help men to see the truth of God. We know we can't do it apart from his grace, but we desire. Just like our children, we desire for them to come to know the Lord. And we desire that they learn the things of God, that we teach them the scriptures, why? Because we know that's the truth of God. And I've said this over and over again, a child can never, you can never impart what you believe to a child. Now you can teach them what you believe, and you should do that, in hopes that maybe the Lord will Teach them the same thing. But you see, your children always gonna know what you believe. They may not believe what you believe, but they'll know what you believe because they're seeing you every day. Oh, that's a humbling thing, is it not? That's a fearful thing. It's not a thing that a man pats himself on the back and say, man, I'm glad of that. No.

You see, and we say, you know, oh man, what a responsibility and how failed, how much of a failure I am. But oh, see, he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches, because the Lord has sent his word among his people, and his people will hear. And those seven angels of the seven churches, that's those that would minister the word of God to the people of God. And only the Lord can bring that to pass. But he gives us the word, not just so we'd know it. See, a lot of people just wanna learn the Bible because they wanna know about the Bible. Well, I wanna know about the Bible, but I wanna know about the Bible because it talks about Christ. See, that's the purpose. That's why we want to know the Bible. It's so we might learn of him. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.

Now hopefully next week, we'll get into the first of these churches, the church at Ephesus. And I would encourage you to read The book, Paul's letter to the Ephesians, because he told them the truth. And some of those that were among those that he wrote the letter to continued on in the faith. And some of them didn't. Some of them turned aside and walked no more with him. Oh, they might have continued on in the outward forms of things, showed up every Sunday or whatever, you know. But their heart was cold. They had not ears to hear. May the Lord give us ears to hear today what the Spirit says to the churches. He alone can do that, but he does do that. He does do that. And we don't say these things to strike fear unnecessarily into hearts, but to cause men to be sober-minded. Think on these things. Don't just pass it off. Consider it. May the Lord help us.

Somebody have a question or a comment. Yeah, I couldn't help but to think when John saw Christ, he fell down as dead. That's why we're not to make any pictures of Christ. That's right. When we were young, we brought up pictures of Jesus everywhere. Yeah. Because that's a false image. He's indescribable. Well, I know most of you have probably seen this and it just, I can't imagine, I just, it bothers me but I understand the nature and why these things arise. You've probably all seen these little statues that supposedly are statues of the Lord. And they say, here you need a little Jesus. And this little statue supposedly, a little Jesus, well that's blasphemy. I mean, you can't make an image of him. I mean, John plainly says that. I remember, I think it was Charles Spurgeon preached a message one time, and it was titled, The Picture That No Artist Can Paint. And that's it. You can't paint this, you can't draw this, you can't imagine it. It can't be captured by the ways of men. How foolish for men to think that they can make an image of the Lord Jesus Christ that would be correct. Can't be done. John would tell you it can't be done. Because he saw him as he is. May the Lord help us.