I've been bringing messages to
us on Sunday evenings for several months from the Gospel of John,
and the Lord willing, next Sunday evening, we will return there. But tonight, I want us to look
at some other verses of Scripture before we observe the Lord's
Table. I want you, if you will, to turn
with me to Revelation chapter one. And we will read verses
10 through 18. Revelation chapter 1. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying,
I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, And what thou seest,
write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which
are in Asia, unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos,
and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto
Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment
down to the foot, and gird about the paps 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 like undefined
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 felt that
his feet is 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. The Apostle John was an aged
man when he wrote this epistle, or this letter. He was exiled
to the Isle of Patmos, and he wasn't there on vacation. I'm
sure in the Mediterranean Sea it might have been a beautiful
place, but he was there as a prisoner. And from what history tells us,
he wasn't there relaxing under a shade tree. He was breaking
rocks. And it was here, the scripture
tells us, in the spirit on the Lord's day that he was given
this vision of Christ. Among other things that we read
is that he saw Christ in the midst of the seven churches.
And seven, we know in the scripture, is the number of completion.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst of all of his local
churches. He's in our midst tonight. We
have his promise that where two or three gather in his name,
that he is in our midst. I believe it was Martin Luther
who said, you have a church where the gospel is preached. And that
makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Because how could you have
a church without the gospel? Men are not saved apart from
hearing the gospel. Men are not saved by hearing
lies. Men are saved through the preaching
of the gospel. And where the gospel is preached,
God brings together a church, a local assembly of believers,
and He is in our midst. And when we think about the fact
that Christ was with John, that's one of his promises. He has promised
us that he would never leave us nor forsake us. And he being
in our midst, we know that he is here for several reasons. He's here to comfort us tonight. He's here to support us. He's
here to strengthen us. He's here to keep all of his
promises. He said, I am with you even unto
the end. of the world or to the end of
the age. I notice in this passage that
we read, that we read of the voice, the voice of the Lord
Jesus Christ three times. If you notice in verse 10, John
said, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind
me a great voice. And then in verse 12, I turned
to see the voice that spake unto me, and in verse 15, the latter
part of the verse, and his voice as the sound of many waters. A number of years ago when I
was a missionary, we visited a number of churches in the states
And I remember visiting a church, a couple of churches in Pennsylvania,
Western Pennsylvania and New York State. And one church we
visited in Pennsylvania, Pat and I and Kendra. She was the
only one of our children who was with us on that trip. She
was six weeks old. And the pastor's name was David
and his wife's name was Pat. David, Pat, and Kendra, and David
and Pat. And the next time we visited
that church, there was David, Pat, and Kendra, our family,
but they also were David, Pat, and Kendra. So you have someone
named after you, Kendra, whether you knew it or not. But I mention
that because in the western part of Pennsylvania, we were close
enough to Niagara Falls to visit. And it's a place that I've seen
pictures of and heard of, of course, all my life. And we wanted
to go. And so we took a detour. It certainly wasn't on our way,
because that's right up there at the very top of Ohio. You
know, Terry. But anyway, our experience, or my experience
was, I could hear the water, the voice of the water, before
I saw the water. It was just amazing to me, still
is, as best I can remember, the sound of that water coming over
those falls. And I think about this voice
here, the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The voice of that water
cannot even begin to compare to the voice of Christ. One time in the life of our Lord,
it's recorded in John chapter seven, the Pharisees sent the
temple police to arrest Christ in the temple. And they came
back, you know the story, and they had no prisoner with them. And their response was, never
man spake like this man. No one ever spoke like the Lord
Jesus Christ. The sound of his voice, And I
want to mention four things tonight about the voice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. First, His voice is a creative
voice. His voice is a creative voice. John tells us in the first chapter
of the Gospel of John, all things were made by Him and without
Him was not anything made that was made. And I know He's speaking
there of the eternal Word. eternal Son of God. But look
at this passage in Colossians, in Colossians chapter 1. Paul is here clearly speaking
of the God-man, the Savior. Colossians chapter 1, if you
notice in verse 13, he says, Who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood. Now, it's
as a God-man that He shed His blood, as the eternal Son of
God. He had no blood to shed. It is as He became God-man that
He shed His blood. Even the forgiveness of sins,
who is the image of the invisible God. If you want to see God,
you see Him in the face of Jesus Christ. He's a revelation of
God. You want to know something about
God? Look at Christ. Study Christ. Now notice verse 16, for by him,
now he's still speaking of the God-man. Now realize that he
did not become incarnate until just a little over 2,000 years
ago, but the scriptures teach us that he had a subsistence
before the foundation of the world. And notice what he says
here, for by him, were all things created. All things, by Him,
by the God-man, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, all things were created by Him, and notice, for Him. All things were created by Him
and all things are created for Him. In other words, all things
are ultimately for His glory. That's the reason this world
continues to revolve, continues in existence. All things are
for His glory. Everything that He has created
and all of His works of providence and redemption, everything is
created For Him, for His glory. In Genesis chapter 1, I say His
voice is a creative voice. In Genesis chapter 1, we have
the record of creation. And seven times we read that
God said, let, let, let there be light. And light was. Seven times, again, the number
of completions. God said, let, and everything
that he let came into being. Now who is this? Christ. He has
a creative voice. And think about this. We have
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ creating this world and the universe,
all things in it in six days. Two chapters are given to tell
us about the creation of this world and the creation of man.
And we have 40 days. Think about this. Six days, two
chapters to tell us about the creation of this world. Forty
days God communicated unto Moses the work of the tabernacle. The furniture and all of that
that went into the tabernacle, 40 days. And then at least 30
days were taken in God communicating to Moses the work of the priest
in that tabernacle. If we had no other reason for
believing this, I would be convinced that this book is a book about
redemption. It's a book about salvation.
It's not a book about science, although there's nothing in it
that is scientifically untrue. But it's not a book about science.
It's a book about God and our relationship to God, about redemption,
about blood redemption, if you please. Because that line, that
crimson line, runs all the way through. The book of God, from
Genesis to Revelation, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Would you be whiter than snow?
What did God say? Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. How, how, how is it possible
to have our guilt, our sins washed away by the shedding of the blood
of Jesus Christ? His voice is a creative voice. Number two, His voice is a life-giving
voice. We see this in that picture I
had referenced to this morning in the message in Ezekiel, when
he said to the infant, the infant that was cast out, and no one
cared for that infant. Nothing more helpless than a
baby, is there? Nothing more helpless than a
little baby. And yet God passed by, and he
spoke, and he said, live. He said, live. Turn with me to
John chapter 5. His voice is a life-giving voice. In John chapter 5 and beginning
with verse 25, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is. When the dead, the dead. Now dead folks can't hear. You may have a corpse, someone
who's passed away and you may stand there and you may talk
to them as long as you want to. As they used to say, until you're
blue in the face. And they're not going to hear
a word. They're dead. But our Lord said the hour is
coming and now is. when he spoke these words. And
now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they that hear shall live. Along with the voice goes that
creative fire to hear, that new birth. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. For as the Father hath life in
Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,
and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, marvel not at this, for the hour
is coming. I didn't say now is, but it's
still coming. The hour is coming. in the which
all, not most of them, not part of them, all that are in the
graves, and wherever their grave may be, in the sea, burned in
the fires, the ashes, wherever, all shall hear his voice and
shall come forth. When He calls, His voice is a
life-giving voice. And when He calls, all shall
hear His voice, and all shall come forth, they which have done
good, that is, those who are saved, those who are God's children,
unto the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil,
unto the resurrection of damnation. But all will hear His voice. A third thing about his voice,
his voice is a compassionate voice. Look with me to Luke chapter
7. A compassionate voice. I thought about the time that
people were bringing their children, their small children, to the
Lord and his disciples, bless their heart, They didn't understand
at that time. Such a marvel when you think
about the apostles after Pentecost, after the coming of the Holy
Spirit. But you know, they didn't want those parents to bring their
children to Christ for him to touch him, lay his hands on him,
bless him. But he did. He suffered the little
children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of heaven.
But here in Luke chapter 7 and verse 48, don't you know these
were compassionate words the Lord spoke to this woman who
came into that Pharisee's house. And the Pharisee, he knew this
woman. She had a reputation. Probably
everybody in town knew her. And her reputation wasn't good.
They all knew she was a sinner. Most likely a prostitute. They
recognized her when she came through the door. But when she
walked through that door, she was looking for one person. There's
Simon. There's others around there.
She just passed them on by. Why? She was looking for Christ. And when she saw him, she just
took up lodging at his feet and began to wash his feet with her
tears and dry them with the hair of her head, and Simon, that
poor old self-righteous Pharisee, oh, if he knew, speaking of Christ,
if he knew what manner of woman that is who's touching him, he
can't be a prophet, or he wouldn't know, and he wouldn't suffer
her to touch him. Oh, he knew, didn't he? I have somewhat to say unto you.
Say on, master. There was two debtors. One owed
50 pence and one owed 500 pence. And when they both had nothing
to pay, the man to whom they owed the debt frankly, freely
forgave them all. Now, Simon, which of those two
will love that man? Well, I suppose, no, you don't
need to suppose, you know. I suppose the one who owed the
greatest debt. Well, I came into your house
and you didn't greet me with a kiss, which was common at that
time. You didn't have any servant to
wash my feet. But you look at this woman. Since
she came in, she's not ceased to kiss my feet and to wash them
with tears. And it was to this woman, look
there in verse 48 of chapter 7. And he said unto her, thy
sins are forgiven thee. Sweeter words have never been
spoken to any sinner. Thy sins, not most of them, thy
sins are forgiven thee. No one but God has power to forgive
sin. He's blaspheming. Well, which
is easier to say? Thy sins be forgiven thee, or
rise up and walk. But that you may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. I say unto thee,
take up your bed and walk. What happened? He took up his
bed and walked. And the scripture teaches us
how it is that sin may be forgiven. Our Lord told this woman, thy
sins are forgiven. What's involved in sin being
forgiven? Well, let me just mention these
four things. First of all, the wisdom of God
brought forth a scheme. The wisdom, the infinite wisdom
of God brought forth a scheme whereby a guilty sinner could
be forgiven, even though God declares He would by no means
clear the guilty. Wisdom, infinite wisdom. Second, the love of God brought
forth His Son. This is what it takes for a person's
sins to be forgiven. the infinite wisdom of God devising
the scheme, and the infinite love of God in giving His Son. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son. Number three, the justice of
God must be satisfied. It really must. For sin to be
forgiven, someone has to pay for it. The justice of God must be satisfied. And number four, the grace of
God had to bring forgiveness to this sinner. The grace of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ coming and satisfying God's justice
on behalf of this woman and on behalf of all of his people,
all those that he represented. Now here's the last thing about
his voice. His voice is a creative voice,
it's a compassionate voice, but fourthly, his voice, now listen
to me, his voice sings, S-I-N-G-S, his voice sings over his church. I want you to look back in this
Old Testament book by the name of Zephaniah. And I marked mine
so I'd be sure to find it. Zephaniah, chapter 3, verse 17. And every phrase in this verse
has a word of comfort to God's people. First of all, the Lord thy God
in the midst of thee is mighty. We saw that our Lord was in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks. This is what this verse reminds
us, that the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save He's the only one
who is able. He will save. He didn't come
here to try to save. He came here to save. He will
save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. He will rest in His love. In
other words, He will continue in His love. Those whom He loves,
He loves with an eternal everlasting love. And nothing shall separate
them from His love. He shall rest in His love. And notice lastly, He will joy
over thee. over his children, over his church,
over his redeemed, over his sheep, he will rejoice over thee with
singing. He rejoices over his people with
joy, with singing, because they are his chosen, and his redeemed,
and his called ones. And they have a righteousness
upon them, and His grace is in them, and His voice sings over
His people. His voice. May God enable us
to hear His voice. I pray that the Lord would bless
these words and thoughts to all of us here this evening. I'm
going to ask our deacons, if you will, to come forward at
this time, men that serve the Lord's table. What a privilege it is to meet
together as a church and worship, and we were singing that hymn
a few minutes ago when I surveyed the wondrous cross. Do you ever
think about the authors? I knew it. Isaac Watts. died in the early 1700s. That's
over 300 years ago, and all that time he's been there with Christ. That thrills me, does it you?
To think it's these men of God and ladies of God that wrote
these hymns that we sing, those who knew the Lord. They've been
with the Lord all that time. Won't be long, God willing, that
we too shall be there with Him. What a day