We turn to God's Word again in
the first chapter of the book of the Revelation, and directing
your attention tonight to verses 17 and 18. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead, says John. 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. Last Lord's Day evening, we considered
in particular the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, spoken of
there in verse 10, John says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day and heard behind me a great voice, a great voice as of a
trumpet. And now I want us to think more
particularly of this declaration that is made by the voice, this
declaration that is made by the Lord Jesus here in verse 18,
I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,
amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. This is the revelation then of
Jesus Christ, we're told, which God gave unto him to show unto
his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he
sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John,
who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of
Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw." So we read in the
opening words of the book, it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's that revelation that was
committed to the Lord Jesus Christ in the sense that that genitive
revelation of Jesus Christ is a subjective genitive. It means it is the one that belongs
to him. It is the one of whom he is the possessor, of
whom he is the author. But we can also understand the
genitive here as an objective The Lord Jesus Christ is also
the object or the person that is being revealed. The revelation of St. John the
Divine, as we have it at the head of the book, is in many
ways misleading. It's not a revelation of John,
nor a revelation that belongs to John. As we have it in the
opening words of the chapter, it's a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Christ is the one who is the author of it. Christ is the one
who is also the subject matter of it, the object that is being
revealed. But before we come to this declaration
that he makes here in verse 18, let us look at the 17th verse
where we read of John and the experience of John at this time. John's death he's spoken of.
When I saw him, he says, I fell at his feet as dead. Now, John, like all others born
into this world, was spiritually dead by nature. Of course, when he received this
revelation, he was one who had been born again by the Spirit
of God. He was a new creation in the
Lord Jesus Christ, but his natural condition was the same as every
other man and woman born into the world. He was spiritually
dead by nature. This is the condition of all
those who are the natural descendants of Adam and Eve. God spoke to our parents there
in the garden and told them concerning disobedience to his commandments. They were forbidden to partake
of that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And God said, in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
surely die. Well, the margin says, in the
day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die. It was that spiritual death that
was immediate. They were dead in trespasses
and in sins. And eventually they would experience
a physical death also, dying thou shalt die and all descended
from them by natural generation all that have come down the generations
are those who were by nature dead in trespasses and sins David
says it, does he not? In Psalm 51, Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. And what
was true there of David is true of me, is true of you. Those
who are born again by the Spirit of God have been delivered from
that dreadful condition. As we read in Ephesians chapter
2, You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and in
sins. John's spiritual condition then
by nature was the same as all others but what we have here
is not just John describing what his natural condition was. Here
is a man who was, we might say, experimentally dead by the grace
of God. His experience is such that when
he sees the glorified Christ he falls at his feet as dead. He was a man who felt something
in the presence of the Lord. He was a man who was brought
to feel his sin, brought to feel something of his helplessness
and his impotence. As he stands before God, he's
altogether overwhelmed. Doesn't the hymn writer say,
though all are sinners in God's sight, there are but few so in
their own. To such as these our Lord was
sent. They're only sinners who repent. Yes, all are sinners, but how
few amongst the Children of men have any understanding of what
their real status and standing is before God. John is one who
has experienced that grace of God and he's experiencing it
even here in the chapter as he sees something of the glories
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's that that we see time
and again. in the experiences of the godly
as they are recorded for us on the page of Holy Scripture. There
are a multitude of examples that we could turn to. When we think
of the experience of Jacob, for example, at Peniel in Genesis
chapter 32, the very chapter where He is changed from Jacob
and becomes Israel, a prince with God, where he wrestles with
the angel of the Lord, and has that determination that he will
not let the angel go, except he bless him. And what does Jacob
say? I have seen God face to face,
and my life is preserved. He's overwhelmed by his experience
there. why it was a killing experience
and yet his life was preserved and we see it subsequently in
the experience of Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson
when that same angel of the Lord comes and appears to them, remember
the language of Manoah there in Judges chapter 13, we shall
surely die we shall surely die because we have seen God and
so as we read on through scripture we see it as I say many times
we see it also there at the end of the book of Job that strange
and mysterious book that majestic book in so many ways in which
God deals with a man and humbles a man and the confession that
Job makes at the end of the book when he says, I have heard of
thee by the hearing of the ear but now mine eye seeth thee wherefore
I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. And so too coming
to the experiences of the Old Testament
prophets when the Lord comes to them and reveals himself to
them and commits to them that message that they are to proclaim
to the children of Israel each of them seem to be utterly overwhelmed
by their experience. The opening chapter of the book
of Ezekiel, where Ezekiel sees also a vision of the glory of
God he witnesses the throne of God and what does he say there
at the end of that chapter when I saw I fell upon my face just
like John's experience you see when I saw him I fell at his
feet as dead it was the same also in the experience of of
Daniel, Prophet Daniel, in Daniel chapter 10 and there in verses 8 and 9 Daniel chapter 10 verses 8 and
9 he says, Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision
and there remained no strength in me for my comeliness was turned
in me into corruption and I retained no strength, yet I heard the
voice of His words. When I heard the voice of His
words, then I was in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward
the ground." All these are men, you see, that are confronted
by God. And the experience is one that
is altogether overwhelming. It kills them. It kills them. If we know anything of God, we
must have this this experience. We're killed, killed to all hope,
all confidence in ourselves, brought to the end of ourselves. We come to the New Testament
and we have not only the testimony of John here in the Revelation,
but in the Gospel we read also of the experience of Peter that
occasion in Luke chapter 5 when Christ performs a miracle, that
miraculous draft of the fishes. Remember the response of Peter,
he says to the Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O
Lord. He cannot bear the sight of Christ,
even Christ in the state of His humiliation, as Christ manifests
something of His glory in the miracle that He performs. why
Peter is made to feel what he is, a sinner before God. Here then, we see something of
John's experience at this remarkable sight that he's favoured to witness. 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." Well, let us turn
to consider what I said would be a real subject matter this
evening, and that is the declaration that is made here by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And there are three aspects that
I want us to consider with regards to what the Lord is declaring.
First of all, it's a declaration of His deity, is it not? What
does he say at the end of the 17th verse? I am the first and
the last. I am the first and the last. He is the same as the one that
we read of there in chapter 4. the one that sits on the throne,
who liveth forever and ever, it says. But this expression,
the first and the last, is one that is oftentimes, certainly
in the Old Testament Scriptures, taken up as a description of
God Himself. The words that we have spoken
by the Lord at the end of the 17th verse, this is the language
of deity. In Isaiah chapter 41 and verse
4, we have this statement, I the Lord, the first and with the
last, I am her. This is Jehovah. This is the
Lord. This is the great I Am who is
speaking there in Isaiah 41. Again, in Isaiah 44 and verse
6, He says, I am the first and I am the last, and beside Me
there is none other. And yet further still, in Isaiah
48 and verse 12, He says, I am He, I am the first. I also am the last. The very language then that is
spoken by the Lord Jesus is the language that belongs to to deity,
it's the language of God. Here He is declaring again the
blessed truth of His own divinity. Fear not, I am the first and
I am the last. I am he that liveth, he says. I am he that liveth. John Gill
comments that he is the one who ever lived. Yeah, he says, Gill,
even when he was dead as a man. It's a remarkable thing that
the Baptist theologian declares there. Even when the Lord Jesus
was dead as a man, He was still God. And as God, He
is that One who ever lives. Of course, He is that One who
is the source of all life. He is the Creator of all things. As John declares in the opening
verses of the Gospel that bears his name, in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All
things were made by him, without him was not anything made which
was made. In him was life, he says. In him was life, and the life
was the light of men. or the Lord Jesus is that one
who is the source of life, the creator of life. And so He is that one that liveth,
He ever liveth. We see His equality with the
Father and with the Son as we said last time in the familiar
Trinitarian greeting that we find at the beginning of the
chapter. This is how the apostles would
address their various readers. We see it in Paul's epistles
time and again, how the epistles open with a word of greeting
to the churches, and greetings expressed in the name of Christ,
in the name of the Father. And so as John here is addressing
himself to the seven churches, to whom the revelation is being
given, He opens with a word of greeting in the name of God. Grace be unto you, He says, and
please from Him which is and which was and which is to come,
that's God the Father, and from the seven spirits which are before
His throne, that's the Holy Spirit, 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, and has made us
kings and priests unto God and His Father. To Him be glory and
dominion forever and ever. Amen. Three persons are spoken
of thee. and the three persons of the
God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now of the Father, John says there in verse
4, which is and which was and which is to come. And isn't the same also declared
concerning the Lord Jesus, concerning God the Son, the One who cometh
with clouds, as we read in verse 7, and every eye shall see Him. And He says, I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending, which is and which was and which
is to come, the Almighty. The language that is used in
reference to the Father in verse 4 is taken up and used in reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ there in verse 8. Who he is equal. He is the image of the invisible
God. And so the first thing that he
declares here as he speaks to John is the truth of his deity. Fear not, he says. fear not I
am the first and the last I am God I am God but then he goes
on really to speak of the blessed truth of his humanity in the
language that we have in that 18th verse I am he that liveth
and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore Amen Here we see him as a man. A man who has experienced death. Almighty God sighed human breath. The Lord of Life experienced
death. How it was done we can't discuss,
but this we know. It was done for us. Oh, that precious truth. We cannot
really begin to explain it, because we cannot
really altogether comprehend it. It is a great mystery. As I said, even when he died,
he was still God, and as God, the one who ever lives. What
a mystery. But what did the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplish here as the God-man? We mentioned three things. First
of all, there is reconciliation of course by that death that
he died. I am here that liberty says and
was dead. He really died. He experienced
death. And by that dying, he reconciled
the sinner unto God. When we were enemies, Paul says
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. We who were in that state of
alienation, we who by nature were enemies of God, we who were
so far off from God, having no thought of God, no desire towards
God, yet the Lord Jesus Christ is that One who has come and
He's reconciled the sinner. He has made peace through the
blood of his cross. Paul again, when he writes in
his epistle to the Colossians. There in verse 20 of chapter
1, having made peace, he says, 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 that were
sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death. to present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight." What a precious truth it is that
is being declared there by the Apostle. Or we were those in
that state of alienation, so very far from God, and yet Christ
has come and by His death He reconciled sinners. He's made
peace. why He is the propitiation for
our sins. He's not only reconciled the
sinner but He is born in His own person that wrath of God
for God is angry with the wicked every day and He can by no means
clear the guilt but the Lord Jesus is born that just punishment
that was the desert of those who were in that condition of
alienation He's reconciled sinners to God. Reconciliation by his
death, but then also here we see that there is salvation by
his life. Salvation by his life. He says,
I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. He's entered an emphasis here
upon the truth of his living. and he is alive forever more.
It's that mediatorial life in particular that he's being spoken
of. We referred just now to words
in Romans chapter 10. When we were enemies we were
reconciled to God. by the death of his son and he
continues much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life
being reconciled by his death we are saved by his life what
is that life? it's that resurrection life He
has now risen and He has ascended, He has entered into His glory.
He is that One to whom all authority is committed. He is that One
who reigns. It is that mediatorial life that
He is being spoken of. And John speaks of it again at
the end of that first epistle, that first general epistle of
John in chapter 5. and verse 11 we read, this is
a record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Again, if we go back to the Gospel,
John's Gospel chapter 5, and there at verse at verse 26, it says, for as
the Father hath life in himself, so was he given to the Son to
have life in himself. Of course, when we consider the
Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of the eternal Father, as
we said, He Himself is the source of life. He is the creator of
life, the creator of all things. But what is being spoken of here
by the Lord is not that that belongs to him in his diet, but
is that that is given to him as the one who is the mediator.
As the father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the son to
have life in himself. And it is that life that Christ
is pleased to mediate to sinners. He was delivered for our offenses,
says Paul. He was raised again for our justification. Here is our justification in
His dying and His rising again from the dead. Oh, there's reconciliation
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is salvation
by the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is, of course,
regeneration here. And that regeneration is by the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that one who lives. And
he says, because I live, ye shall live also. Thy dead men shall rise with my dead body. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
as He is risen from the dead so He communicates to His people
that new life and it is evidenced in their regeneration. There's
a connection between Christ rising from the dead and the new birth
that comes into the soul of sinners. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3,
God hath begotten us again, it says, unto a lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Oh, in His resurrection
there is that new birth. Those words, those great words
of the Apostle in Ephesians 1, where he speaks of the exceeding
greatness of His power, to us would who believe. according
to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ
when he raised him from the dead. Why, the same power that was
there in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is what
God demonstrates when there is new life brought into the soul
of those who are dead in trespasses and sins, when the sinner is
born again, when he's born by the Spirit of God. And all of
this is associated with the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is God. I am the first and I am the last,
but He is God, manifest in the flesh. I am He that liveth, He
says, and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. And by all that work that he
accomplished here upon the earth as a man, there is reconciliation,
there is salvation, there is regeneration. All that we ever
know, all that we ever experience of the grace of God is by and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? To the believer He is all
and in all who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption that as it is written He is glorious. Let Him glory in the Lord. But in this declaration We not
only see the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, we not only see
the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we also have here
His authority. He says, Amen. Behold, I am alive forevermore.
Amen. Why is the Amen? He is the faithful
and the true witness. He is that one who speaks with
authority. He is that one who speaks the
words of God, the fulfillment of course of the prophetic office. As we said last time, all that
voice that John heard was a great voice. not only great in terms of loudness,
not that at all really, it's the voice of authority. It's
the voice of Him who is the Amen. And you know the meaning of the
Amen. Literally it means, so be it,
verily or truly. Amen, he says, and have the keys
of how and of death. Here is his authority. He is
the one who holds the keys. He holds the keys. And as with so much that is written
here in this book of Revelation, we find the imagery back in the
Old Testament. We need to familiarize ourselves
with Old Testament language if we're going to understand so
much of the language that is found in the book of the Revelation. And this reference at the end
of verse 18 to the keys of hell and of death is surely to be
understood in terms of what we read back in Isaiah chapter 22
where we have mention of Eliakim in Isaiah chapter 22 20 It shall come to pass in that
day that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. 21 And I will clothe him with
thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle. 22 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 David. 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. 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. Now this Eliakim was a real person,
but this Eliakim is also a typical person. the type of the Lord
Jesus. The name Eliakim is based, of
course, on the name for God, Elihu. God is what lies at the
root of the name. But Eliakim literally means set
up of God. Set up of God. And this is really
the Lord Jesus Christ that He's spoken of. He has the keys. of
hell and of death. And there we have it, the keys
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. He is set up of God. He has authority. And from whence is that authority
derived? It's derived from God. concerning
the work that he came to accomplish here upon the earth when he makes
the one sacrifice for sins, what does he say? Concerning his dying,
it's a voluntary act. No man taketh it from me. He
says concerning that life that is to lay down. No man taketh
it from me. I have power. or I have authority
to lay it down, and I have power or authority to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father." The word power often used there in the Gospel
of John refers to his authority. He was set up of God in the eternal
councils of the Trinity in the covenant of Christ. He was set
up to be the Saviour of sinners. And when he comes to the end
of his ministry, before his ascension, after his resurrection, remember
the commission that he gives to his apostles there at the
end of Matthew, all power, all authority. is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all
the way, even unto the end of the world." All power, all authority
belongs unto Him. Yes, he is God, he is man. He is the God-man and he is the
one to whom God has committed the authority. And that's what
we see in the fifth chapter that we read. John says, I went much because
no one was found worthy to open and to read the book. This is
the book with the seven seals. This is the eternal purpose of
God, that perfect plan of God, sealed with seven seals. And
it's to be opened and unfolded. And John weeps, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And 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 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 then, of course, in the subsequent
chapters, we have the unfolding of the seven seals. The unfolding
of the seven seals. Oh, he is that one who has all
power and all authority. And we see it, you know, in the
ministry that he exercises in the day of Christ. when we read
of that ministry of the Lord Jesus throughout the Gospels
or does he not have power to raise the dead? Does he not have
power to raise the dead to life? We read of the resurrection of
Jairus his daughter in Luke chapter 8 verse 41 following. We read
of him again at the funeral of the widow of
Nain's son and he raises to life the widow's son in Luke 7 verse
11 following and of course we read of Christ at the tomb of
Lazarus in John chapter 11 verse 1 following why he has power
to raise the dead to raise the dead to life he is that one you
see who speaks I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am
alive forevermore amen and have the keys of hell and of death
but he doesn't only have power to raise to life in the gospel
we see him as that one who also has power to to forgive sins
He has power to forgive sins. We have the miracle recorded
in the second chapter of Mark concerning the man who is paralyzed
and sick of the palsy we're told. He's brought by four of his friends
to the place where the Lord Jesus is. and they cannot come near to
Christ because there's a great press of people and you know
the detail they climb onto the roof and they let the man down
through the roof to the place where the Lord is and when Jesus
saw their faith he said unto the sick of the palsy son thy
sins be forgiven And there were certain of the scribes sitting
there, reasoning in their hearts. Why doth this man speak blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately when Jesus
perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves,
he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins
be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and take up thy bed and
walk? but that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power it's that word authority again really exousia
the Son of Man hath power as authority on earth to forgive
sins and then he turns to the sick man the man paralyzed and
says arise take up thy bed and go thy way into thine house and
immediately he The rose took up his bed and went forth before
them all, insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified
God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion." Oh, He has
authority. He has authority to forgive sin. He has authority to communicate
life. Now, what are we by nature? All
by nature, friends, as we said at the outset, we are those who
are dead in trespasses and in sins. We're shut up to our sinnership. We're shut up really to our unbelief
and it is a great work of the Lord Jesus Christ to convince
us of unbelief. It's a great work of the Lord
Jesus Christ to convince the sinner of his sin to make him
feel what he is, his complete impotence, how he has no ability,
he can do nothing of himself. How Heman cries out in the psalm,
I am shut up and I cannot come forth. Or how can we deliver
ourselves? Before faith came, Paul says,
we're shut up. to the faith which would afterward
be revealed. Shut up to ourselves. The Lord Jesus there at the grave
of Lazarus when he comes to raise a man to new life what does he
say? Loose him and let him go. That is the voice of authority.
That is the voice of the Lord Jesus. Oh that he would speak
such words into your soul loose him, let him go. He has authority,
you see, to forgive sins. He has authority to communicate
life. What does John say here in verse
17? He laid his right hand upon me. Oh, there's power there, you
see. He laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not. Oh, it's that right hand. It's
spoken of in this chapter, is it not? As John sees this vision
of the glorified Christ, he sees Christ in association with the
seven churches. The seven churches of Asius Minor. In the midst of the seven candlesticks,
one like unto the Son of Man, we read. He's there in the midst
of the seven churches. He had in his right hand, it
says in verse 16, seven stars. Out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword. And then we're told of verse
20, the mystery of the seven stars, which says, sawdust in
my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars
are the angels of the seven churches. and the seven candlesticks which
I saw are the seven churches the messengers of the churches
and then in chapters 2 and 3 these letters are sent unto the angel
of the church of Ephesus we read at the beginning of chapter 2
and so throughout those two chapters but the Lord Jesus is that one
who has the churches or the messengers of the churches in his right
hand, he stands in the midst of the churches. And he is that one who comes
now to lay his hand, his right hand upon John and to utter these
gracious words, his blessed word really, fear not. Fear not. Oh, what a word is this. We find
it so many times in the book of the Prophet Isaiah, do we
not? Fear not, he says, for I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. Why do we need to fear not? Because
we're such a fearful people. Are we not fearful? Do not many
things make us afraid? but the Lord speaks with authority
and he speaks such gracious words I like that word that we find
in chapter 41 of Isaiah's book and there at verse 10 not just
to fear not but thou God in his mercy has inserted the little
pronoun the singular pronoun thou how personal Fear thou not,
he says, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Again, it's that right hand,
or it's a place of authority. This is how the Lord speaks to
his people. This is how the Lord spoke to John, or that the Lord
would come and speak to us individually, personally, fear thou not. But
then also remember how the Lord Jesus Christ addresses his disciples
as a whole in the New Testament when he says there in Luke 12,
32, fear not little flock, it is your father's good pleasure.
to give you the kingdom. All the fear nots that we have
in the word of God. How we stand in need of them.
How we here, how many little companies of the Lord's people
need that reassuring word from the lips of Him who is the God-man
who speaks with all the authority of heaven. Fear not little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure.
Here's our comfort, you see, the sovereignty of God. God's
good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Oh God grant that we
might know that we have a place and a name amongst the people
of God. John's testimony then. He tells
us, 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. Amen.