May it please the Spirit of God
to bless us together this evening as we consider his word. Let's
turn to the book of the Revelation, chapter 22, and we'll read verse
16. The book of the Revelation, chapter
22, and reading verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root
and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. We come down to the end of the
Holy Scriptures And we hear the words of Jesus. And we hear those
words speaking to us. Speaking to the Church of God
down through the ages. And the words are, the Lord Jesus
says he sent his angel ministering spirits to testify unto you. these things in the churches. And as we may have read through,
perhaps I hope we have read through the book of the Revelation, we
will find there is much instruction there to the churches. Especially in those early chapters,
the second and third chapters, we see the Apostle was directed
to write that which was given to him to write with regards
to the seven churches. And they were and are very true. They were relevant in that day.
The seven churches no longer exist, but the Church of God
still exists. And those words which were penned
relative to those seven churches is relevant to us today. Those
Seven churches. Whatever was written to each
one was to be read to the others. It wasn't just, that's just for
you and you needn't read the others. All the letters, all
the messages had to be read to all the churches. And so it is
true today, the Word of God, the fullness of it is to be read
to the churches. Read to the church of God so
that we might benefit and we might profit from it. The Word
of God is to be read. It is to be digested. It is to
be considered. And we should not really have
favourite chapters and favourite verses. You know, sometimes some
people's Bible seems to exist with just the New Testament and
perhaps the Psalms. Christ is in all the Scriptures.
And you young people, don't forget that. Christ is in all the Scriptures. And pray that you might find
Christ in the Scriptures. And when you find Him, you know
you can rejoice. You know there's that example
in the Word of God, that woman who swept everywhere to find,
as it were, that one pearl of great price. And then that man
who sold all that he might buy that field where there was that
treasure. Yes, there is that important element that we should
seek for. Seek for Christ. It's the only
place of blessing. It's the only place of blessing
and it's testified here. The Lord says, he sent his angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. It is to testify
of Christ. Our religion must be Christ-centered. Anything less than that will
not suffice. And my friends, let us never
forget that real religion is positive. And by that I mean,
positive in this respect, that it is to know Christ and him
crucified will be of true benefit and of saving nature to our souls. Let us not find we come short
in these great things. Now, here the Lord speaks and
what a blessed message it was that the Apostle John was given
when he was found in the spirit on the Lord's Day. I often think
of that. I wonder sometimes when you wake up on a Sunday morning, do you think, well, am I in the
Spirit? It's now the Lord's Day. Am I
in the Spirit on the Lord's Day? Am I looking forward to a day
of worship? Am I looking forward to a day
when I can lay aside all the things of the world and to concentrate
upon the things of God? Is it joy in your heart as you
wake up and think of that on the Lord's Day morning? Or do
you perhaps think, oh dear, it's Sunday today and I shan't be
doing this and I shan't be doing that. Well, by nature, that's
where we've all been. We wanted to continue and please
ourselves. and not to worship the Lord.
But if the Spirit of God has come and touched our hearts and
shown us the vanity of the things of this world, then it will be,
we shall be pleased and we shall be concerned to be found indeed
in the Spirit on the Lord's throne. That means a spirit of worship. You'll want to come. You'll want
to worship. You'll want to bow down and worship
the Saviour. That great and glorious man who
looked upon you, who loved you with an everlasting love. I, Jesus, have sent my angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. Well, there are many things which
were testified of him in the churches. But I want to really
move on to the remainder of this verse which speaks about the
Saviour himself. He speaks about it like this,
like this he does. I am the root and the offspring
of David and the bright and morning star. Now, naturally, that cannot
be so. But we can understand it in a
spiritual sense and in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Because it's like this, he was
indeed the root of David in his Godhead. As God, he was the root
of David. It was God that indeed produced
that life. He was indeed the root of David,
but also, gloriously, he was the offspring of David. It was through David's line that
the Lord Jesus Christ was born. And so we have this tremendous
statement here, as we come right down to the end of the Holy Scriptures,
A statement like this just to confirm to us how great is the
Saviour, God and man. And the picture we have here
relates to David very appropriately and blessedly. The Root. Well, to think that this Saviour
is indeed the Root and We can read in an earlier chapter in
this same book in the fifth chapter. We read about this root. In the fifth verse we read, And
one of the elders said unto me, Weep not, weep not. Why was there weeping? Because the picture given to
John was, he saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne
a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven
seals and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with an out voice
who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof
and no man in heaven nor in earth neither under the earth was able
to open the book neither to look thereon well John was sad and
we read He said, I wept much, because no man was found worthy
to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And
then one of the elders said unto me, 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 thereof. This one who is
described as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Saviour came
through the tribe of Judah and the Root of David. He has prevailed. He is worthy. And so we have tonight this great
and glorious Saviour who is the Root of David. Yes, and not of
course only the root, but also the offspring. What a blessed
truth it is to realise that we have one who is able. And as we read on in this chapter,
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 of gold and vials full of odours, 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 were
slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood as every kindred
and tongue and people and nation. Now I believe the Church of God
will rejoice in such a Saviour. One who indeed is, as described
here, the root of David. Picked up here in this fifth
chapter. And this great and glorious Saviour,
my friends. How wonderful He is. As it were, are our hearts lifted
up and do we find joy welling up within us as we consider the worthiness
of the Saviour and to hear what they sung, it was a new song
and it will be a new song in the heart of His people. Blessed
be God if you and I have sung this new song. And we have said,
O thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the silter
off, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us. See, the relevance
of this statement was because this Saviour, this Jesus, who
is the root of David, is the one who has redeemed us and has
redeemed us to God. That means brought us back to
God. We were far off. Our sins had separated us from
our God. Yes, how are we to get back to
God by ourselves? No hope. No hope. All we could
bring was sin. Oh, to think of this Saviour.
For thou was slain." The Lord Jesus Christ was slain. It wasn't
just a question of just passing away peacefully. The Saviour
was slain on that cross in order to redeem us. It was the ordained
way of Almighty God to reveal His Son as our all-sufficient
Saviour. that He was slain, and therefore
this is the song of the redeemed of the Church of God. And it's
a song, I believe, we will never weary of, because He is worthy
and has redeemed us to God by Thy blood. Yes, the shed blood
of the Saviour, how valuable it was. how precious it was. Yes, that shed blood was a blood
that was so shed to wash us from all our sins. Redeemed to us, to God by thy
blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation,
worldwide. the redeemed of the Lord come.
Every colour, every speech, every language. And as that joins together
to praise God. Oh, this great and glorious root,
my friends, that we rejoice then in the Saviour tonight. And if
we do, I believe it will be because we are found in the Saviour,
blessed with that personal knowledge that we are found in Him. The Apostle Paul, when he wrote
to the Colossians, he spoke about this, and he said, As ye have
therefore received Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted
and built up in him. Now you see, if the Saviour is
the root of David, so is the root of his people. Can we tonight testify to the
glory of God, that we are rooted in him, that we have our root
in Christ, If we have received Christ, it's
because we're rooted in Him. We won't receive Him otherwise. But what a blessed thing it is
to have the evidence that you and I are rooted in Christ. Yes, not anywhere else. And if we're rooted then, There
is that building up. The root's the beginning, isn't
it? When the seed goes into the ground, the root's the beginning. Root's the first thing which
is evident. There's no root, can't grow, can it? Nothing to
feed it, nothing to hold it in the earth. There is a necessity
for a root to be formed. Well, bless God tonight, if you
have a root, which is God-given, And that root is in Christ. And
that's that which has been given to you. And you are therefore
rooted in Him. And He goes on to say, and established
in the faith. There is a growth. There is a
growth. There is a seed, isn't there?
There is a growth, isn't there? And it's established. The root
gets firm and goes down deeper. It is established. So then there
can be that spiritual growth which is observable above the
ground, rooted and built up and established in the faith. Initially perhaps our faith may
seem to be very flimsy. Don't decry a little faith, because
a little faith is the gift of God, but it may be weak at the
time. But yet it's real. And it needs
to be established. It needs to be strengthened.
It needs to be encouraged. And as such, the Lord will bring
you and me into situations which will test our faith. And as that
faith is tested, so it will be strengthened. Yes, and you'll
come and you'll say this. Yes, the flesh dislikes the way,
but faith approves it well. The way that you and I are established
in the things of God is through trials and temptations, but it
is an establishing and that root then is strong. Rooted and built
up in him and established in the faith as ye have been taught,
abounding therewith, with thanksgiving." Now that's a very clear sign
of God's work in your heart and my heart. When there is true
thanksgiving for the blessed work of the Spirit within, which
has given us that root, that root which is strong, our faith
is strong, and we will desire to thank God for His grace. Thank God for His mercy, for
His love toward us. Oh, rooted and built up in Him,
and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therewith in thanksgiving. Oh, that there might be in our
day and age more abounding in thanksgiving. He is worthy,
is he not, to receive all honour and praise from us for what he's
done, that we are rooted in Christ. Amazing blessing, wonderful favour
to be found there. And so then the apostle goes
on and just gives a warning. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit. Just be aware of philosophizing
on the things of God. Don't rely on reason. Don't rely
on your own understanding. Rely on the Word of God. That's
the foundation. Rely on what Christ has said. That will establish you. Don't
rely on your reason. Your reason, my friends, is a
fallen reason. And you know you will find that
Your reason is very fallible. And worse than that, you'll find
often your reason is from the devil. It's not from God. The devil likes to reason you
out of yourself. And so beware, through philosophy
and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ. There is a division between the
things of the world and the things of God. And my friends, you and
I need to be established in the things of God, the things in
the Word of God, and not rely upon our reasoning in a worldly
way. And we need grace to understand
that and to walk in that way. Don't try and reason things out
with your own logical mind. The Lord gives faith to believe
the truth of God. Believe the truth of God. Remember
this. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God. And so rooted and built up in
Him, I, Jesus, have sent my name to testify unto you these things
in the churches. I am the root and the offspring
of David. Yes, the root and the offspring
of David. What a blessing it is to be found
in that position with this root. It may not always be the root
that we may be expecting or thinking of, but you know that root which
comes from God will be a good root and if it's from God it
will be real and it will have life and it will then produce
that firm and good understanding. You know the Pharisees they couldn't
understand how Christ was the root and the offspring and in
Matthew's Gospel we read What Jesus said, he asked them. When
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What
think ye of Christ? Such a vital question, isn't
it? It was then, it is today. For you and me. What think ye? Not the person next door, or
the person next to you, but what think ye of Christ? That's a
great question. Whose son is he? They sent unto
him the son of David. They knew the son of David. The Lord says, How then doth
David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit thou in my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy
footstool. If David then called him Lord,
how is he his son? and no man was able to answer
him a word. Neither durst any man from that
day forth ask him any more questions." You see, the natural mind could
not understand the greatness of this truth that we've been
explaining. The natural mind does not want
to understand it. And these Pharisees, who were
no doubt well versed in the historical law of God, did not understand. this wonderful truth, for all
my friends, what a blessing if the Holy Spirit of God has indeed
given us this great and blessed understanding. It would be a
wonderful favour if we understand and know the truth of these things. In the early chapters of the
Revelation and the second chapter, we read about the last part of this verse
which is so important for us. The last part of this verse speaks
like this. I am the root and offspring of
David and the bright and morning star. You may perhaps think,
well, what does that mean? What relevance has that got?
The Lord is the bright and morning star. Well, just think of this. When the dawn begins and the night gradually passes
away, sometimes there is what we term and see as the morning
star. It's a bright star which shines. Well, you might think that's
alright, but what does that mean? I believe it means this. In our natural condition, we
are in darkness. We are in darkness. But what a blessing in our spiritual
life, when as it were, the darkness begins to give way to the morning
light, and we see then the bright morning
star. What does that mean? We see then
by faith the Lord Jesus Christ. It's like that, there's just
a morning star. Yes, it's quite dark around,
but it's that which stands out. the morning star. I believe so it is in the life
of a Christian. As it were, we are coming out
of that dark situation and we are attracted to that bright
morning star. It stands out and it's bright. I believe that is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He stands out as a brightness. He stands out in scripture as
something we see in Him which is far greater than anything
else. It's all that kind of dawn around
us, all that murkiness. We don't see very much but we
see the brightness of the morning star. We see the brightness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, I am the bright
and morning star. Because what is it? What does
it signify? Naturally it signifies that the
dawn is about to break. It signifies the morning is about
to commence. It signifies the sun is about
to rise. So if we have that little view,
as it were, that brightness of the Lord Jesus Christ, Oh, lay
hold of it, because it's the emblem of the sun of righteousness
arising, with healing in his wings. Yes, it's the sign of the dawn
coming. It's the sign of the light coming. The light, perhaps, which you've
longed for. that little light, but it's a
bright light. Yes, it's a bright light. Bless
God that it is so. And in the second chapter of
the Revelation, we read about that message to
the church of Thyatira. And we're told, unto you I say
and unto the rest in Thyatira, As many as have not this doctrine,
and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak,
I will put upon you none other burden, but that which ye have
already hold fast tonight come." See what you have, hold it fast. The devil will tempt you to throw
away your little hope. You say, well that's nothing.
It's not worth having. We're told a little that a righteous
man has is better than the treasures of many wicked. A little that
the Lord gives of His grace and mercy is of infinite value. And so hold it fast. But that which ye have already,
hold fast, till I come. And he that overcometh and keepeth
my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. And he shall rule them with a
rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall be broken to shivers,
even as I received of my father. And, and, I will give him the
morning star." Yes, the revelation of God coming to you in Christ
Jesus, showing you that there and here is the Saviour, the
Saviour of sinners, and I will give Him the morning star. And the Apostle says, He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Oh, hear such a word as this,
be encouraged by it, Yes, it's the Word of God speaking to our
hearts and to our souls. I am the bright and morning star. What a wonderful thing then to
have the Lord Jesus in our view as that bright and morning star. Well, the Apostle Peter in his
second epistle He writes to us and he tells us these words,
the first chapter and the 19th verse. We have also a more sure
word of prophecy. And just going back for a moment,
the Apostle is referring previously to that wonderful revelation
that he had on that mount when the Lord Jesus Christ was transfigured
before them. And he tells us for he received
from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a
voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were in the holy mount. And then he
says, we have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye
do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in
a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your
hearts. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scriptures is of any private interpretation, It's not of anything
that you and I can work out personally. It's in the Word of God. For
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And that's what we have today
in the Bible. We have the Word of God and it
came by the Spirit. It came Holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Don't lose sight of that.
Don't go away from the Word of God. Don't try and work out something
yourself. The Word of God is the Word of
God. It is the truth and you can rely
upon it. And so we have this word then. I, Jesus, I, Jesus, have sent my angel To testify
unto you these things in the church. We touched on some of
these things tonight. Testifying of these things in
the churches. I am the root and the offspring
of David and the bright and morning star. Well, there's such a word
of this. Atractus. Atractus. Because if it does,
I believe, then we can move on to the next verse which is encouraging. And the Spirit and the Bride
say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. I believe if you by faith have
seen this Bright and Morning Star, you'll be athirst after
the things of God. You'll want to know more. And let him let his thirst come,
and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."
Well, we come, don't we, right to the end of the great and glorious
Word of God. And these words are recorded
so that you and I might lay hold of them by faith, that they may
be an encouragement to us, and that we may be found with this
glorious view of the Saviour, realising that He is the Root
of David, that He is our Root, and He was the offspring of David,
and He is the Bright and Morning Star. Well, may Christ mean something
to you and me. May we be able to say, on Christ,
the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. My friends,
you and I must be on that rock, Christ Jesus. If we're on that
rock, we are eternally secure. And by God's grace, we shall
be one day with Him amongst that great crowd of witnesses, praising
God and saying, worthy He is the Lamb that was slain to redeem
my soul with His most precious blood. Amen.