I please God to bless us together
this morning as we consider his word. Let us turn to the book
of the Revelation chapter 1 and we'll read verses 17 and 18. The book of the Revelation chapter
1 reading verses 17 and 18. 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, I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and death. this book of the revelation is
the last book that was written forming part of the Holy Word
of God and it was written by the Apostle John and he was an
old man when this occurred and we should be thankful that the
Holy Spirit of God did come and reveal and speak such things
to the Apostle as he was on the Isle of Patmos. And we know that
as he was on the Isle of Patmos, he was there for the word of
the Lord. And this book of the Revelation
is very instructive to us. Not only does it give us a lot
of prophecy with regards to the last times and the last days
and the last things, but also there is a very significant instruction
to the Church of God. The opening chapters in this
book are spoken to the seven churches. That was the seven
churches which were in Asia, and the list tells us they were
Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia
and Laodicea. And as such, of course, those
churches in the same form do not exist today. There was a
time when the Lord greatly blessed those churches and instructed
them, and then the Spirit of God moved specifically to other
places. but nonetheless we have this
account given to us of the Lord speaking to the Apostle John
directly to these seven churches. And it is very relevant for us
to realise that as the Spirit of God spoke to the Apostle John
on this occasion, he spoke in this way, which showed the Lord
as a very great and a very wonderful being and what a blessing it
is that we do have a view like that set before us in the word
of God to show us the greatness of God and in the fifth verse
we read 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 unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood. Well, it's important that there
is such a statement like that for us to be encouraged by. That here we have the Lord Jesus
Christ who is the first begotten of the dead, the first one to
rise from the dead. And we know the accounts in the
Gospels clearly tells us The Lord Jesus Christ was the first
to arise from the dead and blessed it is for us to know today that
the Lord Jesus Christ who we have come today, we believe and
trust and hope to worship, is that one who is indeed risen
from the dead and therefore is alive for evermore. And then
we have this very comprehensive statement, unto him that loved
us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father. And then he says,
to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. And then having
really spoken of that when the Lord rose from the dead and what
he's done, he then directs us to what will come. that sure
and certain occasion when the end of all things will occur
in this world. And so he says, Behold, he cometh
with clouds, and every eye shall see him. And they also which
pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of him. Even so, Amen. Well, how important
it is that every one of us realises that we shall view the Son of
Man, the Son of God, coming in His glory. Whether we've died,
whether we're alive, no one, anywhere, will be able to not
fulfil this statement, that every eye shall see Him. Every one
of us will behold the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it is a solemn consideration, something we should reflect upon
in our lives, to realise that yes, this same Jesus will return,
and that we shall view him, and that how shall we be on that
great day? And how will our soul stand on
that great day? Will we be amongst those who
are washed from our sins in his own blood. Will we be amongst
those who are the redeemed of the Saviour? So, John directs
us then to the end of all things. And it's always good to remember
that that time will come. And then he says, I am Elpharamegir,
the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. In a few words,
we have a clear description of the eternity of God. Again, let us not try and fully
understand eternity, because our minds are minds created in
time, and we are time beings. and it is impossible for us to
fully realize what eternity means, but we do know that this is true,
that the Lord God, who is, and which was, and which is to come,
is the Almighty God. Now, John therefore gives us
this introduction, and it is a very important introduction
so that we have a good understanding of the greatness of God and what
he came to do and what he accomplished and what will occur. And then
John describes himself very beautifully really. He says, who also am
your brother and companion in tribulation and in the Kingdom
of Patience of Jesus Christ. Just for a moment, thinking of
this statement here, to realise that if we are one of the family
of God, then the Apostle is our brother. And what a blessing
that is to know that the Church of God are united together as
brothers and sisters in Christ. We form part of that wonderful,
wonderful family. That family which has been redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ. And therefore, this is true.
And he is our companion in tribulation. We may wonder perhaps, why John
did you make such a statement? Well, because it is true. We do walk through the world.
And it is a world of tribulation. And our nature doesn't really
react well to such a statement like that. We tend to somehow
envisage that although it may be generally true, it won't attach
itself to us in our lives. And yet here is a very clear
statement that if we are the brother the spiritual brother
of the Apostle John, we shall also be his companion in tribulation. And that is true. And although
it may not be a very palatable truth to be able to assimilate,
yes, it is true. And when we find ourselves in
these times of tribulation, to remember a statement like this,
that the Apostle John told us that we would be a companion
with him in tribulation. and therefore not to think that
we are outside the secret because this is the path that we are
walking in. It is the ordained path of God
for all his children and it's that path which leads them at
last safely home to glory in the kingdom and patience of Jesus
Christ. You see, everything is in Christ
Jesus. And how important that is, as
we sung in that middle hymn, Jesus is the one thing needful. And that is a vital statement
and a most important thing for all of us to realise and to consider. And so the Apostle then tells
us he was on Patmos in the Spirit and the Lord's day and he heard
a great voice as of a trumpet. A great voice as of a trumpet. Well, I'm sure we're familiar
with the fact that a trumpet, blown well, gives a great noise. It's something which isn't missed.
It's very clear. And so here, the Apostle John
gives his illustration. The voice was like a great trumpet,
and he couldn't avoid hearing it. be a great blessing when
and how and if the Spirit of God speaks into our soul, as
it were, with a voice of a great trumpet. And I believe that will
be so. It may not be, of course, a great
noise in one sense, but it will be an effectual noise, a noise
in our ears which we will not be able to shut out. It's a great blessing to know
that we cannot shut out the effectual word of the Holy Spirit of God. And so here was John, hearing
this word, this great voice, and he hears what it's saying,
I am Elph and Amiga, the first and the last, and what thus is,
write in a book and send it unto the seven churches. And just
remember here, that although in the following chapters we
have those details given about each church, it is clear that
those details were to be read not only to that individual church
as the letters were written, but also to all the churches.
And so, we must not think that, well, that particular position
applies to me. In actual fact, it all applies
to us. We must realise that which the
Apostle wrote for the Spirit of God is applicable to our lives
today. And so then, what did the Apostle
do? When he heard the voice behind
him, what did he do? He turned round to have a look,
to see where the voice came from. And what did he see? I saw seven
golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man. And these seven candlesticks,
as we read on the last verse, is representative of the seven
churches. And what it really shows to us
is that the blessed Son of God, the Son of Man, is in the midst
of the Church of God. And that is a wonderful favour,
to think that the Almighty God stands in the midst of the churches
down through the ages, in the midst of those seven churches,
and in the midst of the churches today. And these seven candlesticks,
these seven churches, it sets forth, therefore, light shining
And it's an important thing to realise that here was the seven
candlesticks and they gave forth light and that light was the
light from God. The Saviour standing in the midst,
they gave forth light. And it is true today that the
Church of God should be that which shines forth in this dark
world and gives forth that light which is to be seen and to be
observed. The seven candlesticks, one like
unto the Son of Man, clothe the garment down to the foot, and
dirt about the pouch with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs
were white like wood as white as snow, and his eyes were as
a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they
burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters."
Well that's the beautiful description that John gives us of what he
saw when he turned and saw the Son of Man standing in the midst
of the seven churches. The glory of the Saviour. And then, he was blessed in this
way. and he had in his right hand
seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp to it sword, and
his counsellance was as the sun shining in his strength." The
seven stars represent those really who preach the gospel, and the word is in his right
hand The Lord therefore holds those who are to preach the gospel
in his right hand and holds them in that way. So they are his
servants and they proclaim his truth in accordance with his
will. And out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword. The sword refers in the Word
of God to the Word of God. And the Word of God is like a
sharp sword, a sharp two-edged sword. It's a cutting edge on
both sides. And so it is with the Word of
God. And it will be a blessing for
us when we realise that as the Word of God is read, as the Word
of God is proclaimed, that there is that cutting edge from the
Holy Spirit of God which enters into our hearts and does that
which is good for us. It sinks into our heart. It is
like a sword. And here we have these words,
and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his counsellance
was as the sun shining in his strength. Well, we know that
the the view of the Saviour in glory was such that He could
not be looked upon. We know when there was an occasion
on that Mount of Transfiguration, when those three disciples went
up that mount, they could not view the Saviour when He was
blessed with that wonderful scene of glory which came upon Him. Now, having then gone through
this introduction on this chapter, we then come to the effect. And
the effect was this, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet
as dead. That means that the Word of God,
the Spirit of God, the view that God gave the Apostle John was
such that he fell down. He fell at his feet as dead. It had a real effect upon the
Apostle. And I believe that is very true
today. When the Spirit of God enters
in to our heart, it has a real effect. Now, John fell down. as one dead. He wasn't able to
stand there and to justify himself at all and to make any excuses
perhaps of his situation. He was there convicted, he was
moved and the effect was that he fell down on his face as one
dead. Yes, under the view of the Holy
God. Now, if the Spirit of God gives
us, by faith, a view, and it will only be a little view, of
the majesty and the holiness and the righteousness of a Holy
God, we shall fall down. We shall fall down before Him.
should fall down before him and worship. John fell down as one
did. Yes, he wasn't able really to
raise himself up. And when the Spirit of God comes
upon us and shows us the holiness of himself and by comparison
our unholiness and our sinfulness We will only be able to, as it
were, fall down and plead for mercy. We won't be able to do
anything else. Here was the Apostle fallen down
as dead, not able to raise himself. Now then, when the Spirit of
God comes and does such a thing in our hearts and moves us like
that, As we have a view of God, it's very easy to have a general
view of God. But you know, when the Holy Spirit
comes and shows us exactly who God is, as Isaiah saw Him, high
and lifted up, a great and a holy God. And we have a little view
of ourselves as so insignificant and unworthy. and to realise
that we stand before the majesty on high. You see, all our righteousnesses
will then be as filthy rags. It's then they will flee away
and we'll be as it were naked before a holy God. And all we'll
be able to do is to fall down as one dead. before the majesty
of the Most High God. Now, we then read, And he laid
his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, fear not. We may have feared, we will have
feared, we will have feared, that perhaps the Lord will not
take any notice of us, We will have feared that we deserve to
be cut off as a cumbra of the ground, not worthy of any notice. And we shall need then the touch
of the Lord. What happened here? He laid his
right hand upon me. The right hand of his righteousness,
he laid it upon him. so that he was aware, the word
was directed to him. It wasn't a general word, it
was a word directed to him. The hand was upon him. And the
word was, fear not. The Holy Spirit of God comes
and we feel the hand of the Lord upon us. and then to realise
that is on us. The Lord is being gracious to
us. The Lord is being mindful of us. It may be that we understand
then what the Prophet Isaiah was able to write in the 41st
of Isaiah, 10th verse, fear thou not. And if we are to not fear, We
shall want to know why we should not fear. Fear thou not for I am with thee. Now if God is with us and his
hand is upon us, we can be encouraged that he is dealing with us as
his sons and daughters of the Most High God. And he hasn't
turned away from us. He hasn't ignored us. And as it were, he comes and
he puts his hand upon us. And he puts his hand upon us
because of his mercy toward us. And so, fear thou not, for I
am with thee. Be not dismayed. Again, we may
have been dismayed, thinking the Lord would pass us by. I
believe that is a very real fear that God's people have, that
he will pass them by, because they do not merit any view or
any blessing from the Lord, and they fear the Lord will pass
them by. Remember, when the Lord was on
the earth, there was that occasion when that blind man Barthimaeus,
he heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out. He cried out,
Jesus have mercy upon me. And the people told him to be
quiet. He cried out, yet the more, Jesus
have mercy upon me. So he called him, thou son of
David. have mercy upon me and that's
a wonderful statement to think that that blind man was able
to relate to the Lord Jesus Christ as the son of David because the
Lord Jesus Christ was prophesied to be the son of David and this
man was blessed with living faith to believe that And he cried
out. And the Lord came to him where
he was. What a blessing when the Lord
comes where we are. He called him, he came, called
him to him and there he was. And the Lord said, Receive thy
sight. Well, here we have his statement
for I am thy God. Be not dismayed for I am thy
God. He was the God of Bartimaeus. He was the God of John the Apostle. And may we be able to believe
that He is our God. Because, as it were, He's put
His hand upon us. He's put His hand upon us. We
fear we might be cut off. We fear we might be forsaken.
We fear we might be left. And yet, He's come and said,
fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed. Because if God
is with us, that's the important thing, isn't it? If God's with
us, you know, we'll be able to face all the difficulties. We'll
be able to face all the situations which arise. All those impossible
things that we felt we should never be able to rise to. Never be able to overcome. And
yet hath the Lord come, and put his hand upon us, and say in
this way, Fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed,
for I am thy God. And if the Lord is our God, then
these things follow, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee,
yea, I will uphold thee, with the right hand of my righteousness."
You see, there was the right hand being placed upon the Apostle
John to encourage him to fear not. And so may it be an encouragement
to us today as we may be found falling down, bowing down before
the presence of Almighty God As the Lord looks upon us, we
fall down to hear this word, fear not. Where the apostle heard
it, he said, fear not. And then he confirmed it in this
way, for I am the first and the last. Yes, the first and the
last, the great God, the one that ever was and the one that
ever will be. This is the God that was speaking
to the Apostle John and this I believe is the God who still
speaks to his church today to encourage them when they come
into a situation where they fall down and then he lays his right
hand upon us and speaks in this way, fear not. There's no greater
blessing than to know that the Lord is with us and encouraging
us, because if God is with us, who can be against us? Who can
be against us, if God's for us? You see, the enemies may rise
up. Enemies will rise up, but if
God's for us, they will not be able to stand against the power
of Almighty God. And when I saw Him, By faith
we see the ever-living God. And this is revelation. And this is the Spirit's work. As we by faith view Him, fall
at His feet as dead. And then He comes where we are,
lays His hand upon us and says, fear not, I am the first and
the last. I am he that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen. Wonderful statement, is
it not? To know that here was the great
God that lived and was dead. He was crucified. He did die. And it is very important theology
that we know that the Lord Jesus Christ did live and that He did
die and that He rose again. Because here we have Him that
liveth and was dead and I am alive forevermore. This is the
blessed and glorious Saviour upon whom all our hope is built. Well, as we come this morning,
is our hope built on this blessed, eternal, glorious Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He lives, He was dead, and behold,
I am alive forevermore. Here was this clear statement
to the Apostle. The Apostle, of course, knew
the Saviour. but here he was in his glorified
form revealing himself and the effect was that he fell down
and yet here was this encouraging words to fear not because I am
the first and the last I am he that liveth and was dead yes
he was dead he died to atone for the sins of his whole church
That's why we read earlier unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood. You see, the Apostle John is
recording here the truth of what he was told and what he saw. But he also therefore tells us
that this was the blessed Saviour who loved us. and washed us from
our sins in His own blood. This is that Saviour who is indeed
alive forevermore. This is the One who was dead,
He died. He died that He might wash us
from our sins in His own blood. It is necessary that we are reminded
that Christ died. to atone for our sins. There
would have been no salvation unless the Savior had died. He had been dead. He had to die. He had to give his life as that
one sacrifice for sin. And the only way that that was
to be done was by Him giving His own life and through that
blessed death that we are washed from our sins in His own blood,
the blood of the Lamb of God, the blood of the dear Redeemer,
the precious blood of Christ. And so, I am He that liveth and
was dead, was dead. Yes, the Saviour was dead. But
He rose from the dead. As there was the prophecies of
it, and as the Saviour spoke also, that He would indeed rise
from the dead. And so He did rise from the dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore.
Now, this is the Saviour who is speaking in this way. Fear
not. This is none other than the Son
of God. This is none other than Almighty
God. The one that we've read of as
the Almighty. To think that the Almighty God,
just ponder for a moment, the Almighty God who created all
things should so very graciously and so wonderfully and so lovingly
come as it were and put his hand upon us and say, fear not. So when the Lord speaks in this
way, it is from the great God. And I believe it is a most humbling
experience to realise that such a God should be so gracious to
come to us individually. He came to the Apostle John.
He knew where John was. He was on the Isle of Patmos.
He knew where he was. He went to him. He spoke to him. He revealed himself to him and
he said, fear not. Well, may we be encouraged To
know that the Lord still speaks today in this way, I am alive
for evermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. We have a very good view here,
and very simply put, that the Almighty God, He it is that has
the keys of hell and death. He unlocks the doors. He locks the doors. The Saviour
is the only one that does this. But he does have the keys which
open the door, open the door of hell, opens the door of death,
but also as we know opens the door of glory. They are all in
the hand of Almighty God. They are all in the hand of this
great and blessed Saviour. How important that you and I
have a right realisation of who the Saviour is, and of His majesty,
and of His power, because He has the keys of our life. He has the key to determine when
our life should end and that door is opened, that we should
then depart either into hell or into glory. And you see when
we've entered in to those places, there's no coming back, there's
no going out. Remember in that parable of the
wise and foolish virgins. We read this, and the door was
shut. The door was shut. Yes, and it
wasn't to be opened again. How solemn it is. We read in
the prophecy of Isaiah about the key of the house of David.
We read this, and the key of the house of David would I lay
upon his shoulder, so he shall open, and none shall shut, and
he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as
a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne
to his father's house." We have the evidence here of the prophecy
of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, clearly is one who does
open, and none can shut, and he shall shut, and none shall
open. How important that we do not
trifle with such a God as this. I believe the Apostle was privileged
to have this view, to give us some good understanding of the
greatness of God, and to realise that It is God and Him alone
that controls our lives in every detail, and indeed does have
power to open and to shut. And so he says, and he has the
keys of hell and death. This God, this God who has said
fear not, And as God says, fear not, to realise that if he is
speaking to us in that way, it will be to come to that God who
has the key which opens that door to eternal life, that glorious
place of heaven, that place where his church will at last be found
forever, united together in singing his praises. And therefore, although
there will be in this life, as we've spoken, those times of
tribulation, those times of difficulty in trial, those times of sometimes
immense temptation. Yet, as we are blessed with that
living faith to view the Saviour as we might turn to Him The Apostle,
he turned and what did he see? He saw the Saviour in the midst
of the seven golden candlesticks. Well, what a blessing if we today
are blessed with that living faith to see the Lord Jesus Christ
in the midst of the Church and that blessed Saviour in the midst
of the Church speaking to us as we may have a view of His
holiness, of His power and greatness, of His glory, as it were, and
the only effect He can have upon us is to fall down as one dead,
with no ability to raise ourselves up, and yet the Saviour then
comes and, as it were, puts His right hand upon us and says,
fear not, fear not, I have the keys of hell and death, but fear
not, Because I am He that was dead, but is alive forevermore. And our faith today is residing
in a risen Saviour who has paid the price for our sin. And that
price was His most precious blood. And therefore, by His grace,
we are a new creature. We are complete in Him. We are
washed and we are forgiven and therefore by his grace one day
we shall indeed be with him in glory to praise him for all that
he's done I am here that liveth and was dead and behold I am
alive forevermore amen and have the keys of hell and death what
a blessing it is that we don't have any keys what a blessing
it is that no one else has any keys what a blessing it is the
saviour has the keys And therefore, if our hope today is in the Lord
Jesus Christ, my friends, there's a safety there. And may we have
the assurance that this Saviour, who has given us that living
faith to believe in Him as our only Saviour, is that one who
only has that key to open the door and to let us in. into that
eternal place of glory with the Saviour. Well, may we be blessed
today as we may ponder these things and be thankful that the
Lord in his sovereign grace and mercy left on record such an
account to encourage us that even today as we may be fearful
and concerned about our true standing, and as the Lord comes
and shows his greatness and his holiness, and we bow down, and
he comes and says, fear not, 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. Amen.