Let's turn back in our Bibles
to the book of Revelation, chapter 1. Through the generations of men, a few have seen the Lord, not
necessarily face-to-face having seen God, but to different degrees
they've seen the Lord. And without exception, without
exception, they were humbled, broken, and
brought to His feet. When Moses saw the Lord, The
Lord told him to take off his shoes. Take off your shoes, you're on
holy ground. Moses was awed in the presence
of God. And Job said this, he said, I've
heard of thee. I've heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear. Now, in some way, he said, I
see thee. I see thee. Therefore I hate myself. I put
my hand on my mouth. I repent in sackcloth and ashes."
Down at the feet of God. Isaiah saw the Lord. Isaiah said,
in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. The Lord
Jesus. I saw Him high and lifted up.
His train filled the temple. And the seraphims about the throne
cried, Holy Lord God of hosts. And he said, I cried. Woe is
me. Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean
lips. Mine eyes have seen the Lord.
Damn. Thomas. Remember when Thomas
filled with questions and doubts about the Lord's resurrection
and the Lord stood before him and he said, Thomas, reach hither thy hand and behold
my hands and put your hand in my side here and feel the mark
of the Spirit. Thomas fell at his feet and cried,
my Lord and my God. Overwhelmed, overcome in the
presence of the Lord. Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus He said, I saw the Lord as one born out of a due time,
and I fell to the ground. Acts 22, describing that experience,
he said, I fell to the ground. And here in our text, old John,
the Lord's old servant, probably the last living apostle. Probably
the last living apostle. And he was in exile on an island. He said, for the Word of God,
for the preaching of the Word of God, for the testimony of
the Gospel. I was out there on that island,
in exile. And he said he saw the Lord. He saw the risen, glorified,
exalted Lord Jesus. He describes it here in verse
17. He said, I saw Him. And when
I saw Him? When I did. I fell at his feet like a dead
man, unable to speak. Dead man. And I have no doubt that today, a true, bona fide, genuine revelation
of the glory of God, a true revelation of the glory of our blessed Redeemer, will bring people to His feet. Like Mary of old, every time
the scripture talks about Mary, it says, she sat at His feet. And our Lord commended that.
He said to Martha, He said, she's chosen the good part. It will
never be taken away. She saw the Lord. And it brought
her always to His feet. Let's look at our text. Revelation
1, John says in verse 9, And I, John, who also am your brother, I have
been highly favored of God. This man, John, the disciple
whom Jesus loved, highly favored of God with great gifts, called
to be an apostle. God opened effectual doors for
this man. Opportunities to preach the gospel.
Yay! And the privilege of being a
sufferer for Christ. In exile. Not too many people
are exiled for preaching the gospel. But John was. And yet
he said, I'm your brother. I'm of like flesh. And of like
faith. And of a common salvation. I'm
just a sinner saved by grace. I'm your brother. Don't forget
that. I'm your brother. Oh, William
Huntington. Back in the days when William
Huntington ministered, intellectualism and recognition for scholarship
abounded, to say the least. There was a lot of pride in the
pulpit. William Huntington never had
a degree from a university or seminary or college. He was one
of God's greatest preachers. And when all the preachers would
put at the end of their names their certain titles, he signed
his name William Huntington, S.S. S.S. Set her safe. He could have
S.S. by B.G., by grace, sinner saved. That's where he signed his name,
William Huntington. S.S. And that's what John said here,
I'm your brother. And not only that, I'm your companion
in tribulation. Because a man's an apostle doesn't
exempt him from suffering. Because a man is gifted of God,
it just might bring him more suffering. I'm your companion in trial and
your companion in trouble. And in the kingdom and patience
of our Lord Jesus Christ, I too, I'm waiting for His return. The
hope of patience. Waiting for His return. Just
like you. And I was in the isle, the island
that's called Patmos, and I was there because I preached the
gospel. I was there for the Word of God, for the testimony of
Jesus Christ. You know, when Paul wrote to
young Timothy, Paul was in prison, and he said to this young preacher,
he said, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, the
gospel of our Lord. There's no reason to be ashamed
of the gospel of our Lord, the full gospel, the real gospel,
the true gospel, the gospel of God's grace, the gospel of His
glory. Don't be ashamed of the gospel.
I'm in the Isle of Patmos for the gospel. That's why I'm here. I'm not here because I caused
trouble and stirred up conflict. I'm here for the gospel. Hated
for the gospel. Our Apostle Paul tells us that. Don't be hated because of your
bad personality. If you're going to be hated,
be hated for the gospel. The truth of God. And he says in verse 10, I was
in the Spirit on the Lord's day, meditating. By himself. By himself. Out there on an island,
90 years old, somebody tells me, lived to be 90. But on the Lord's Day. Now this
is not the Jewish Sabbath. It's not Jewish Sabbath he's
talking about here. This is the Lord's Day. This
is the first day of the week. This is the day on which our
Lord arose from the grave. The old Jewish Sabbath was now
abolished. And John said, I was meditating
and praying. I was in the spirit of worship.
There wasn't anybody there with me. But it was the Lord's Day. That's when the early church
met for worship was the Lord's Day, first day of the week. It
says when they met together on the first day of the week, Paul
preached to them. They met to break bread. He said, upon the first day of
the week, let every one of you lay by and stow as God has prospered
him. That there be no gatherings when
I come. No offerings when I come. Just do what you say. Paul said,
when I come and visit you, I come as the apostle of Christ. I don't
want to come down and take up an offering for the poor saints.
You do it on the first day of the week. That there be no collections
made when I get down. I'm coming down to preach. I'm
not coming down to take up offerings. But he said, I was in the Spirit
of the Lord on the Lord's Day. John was not with me. He knew
that the churches were assembling. He knew back yonder in the different
places, the seven churches in Asia, they were meeting to worship
God. And he said, I was with you.
I wasn't there with you in body, but I was with you in heart.
In the Spirit of God, I was with you. It was the Lord's Day. I was with you. I was with you. Oh, Roland Hill was, back in those days they put perhaps
more emphasis on the day than they should have, but maybe it's
not all bad. But Roland Hill was on his way
to church one Sunday morning. And he passed a neighbor farmer
in his field. He was plowing and planting and
turning ground. Roland Hill was never a man at
a loss for words. He stopped and leaned over the
fence and called the farmer over to him. And he said, sir, you
should rest yourself and your animals on this day and go to
the house of God with us and pray and worship God. This is the Lord's day. And the man replied, Mr. Hill, I plow my fields on Sunday on
purpose. And I plant my fields on Sunday
on purpose. And I reap my fields on Sunday
while you people are in church. And I have a better yield in
October than any of you. reaping in October than any of
you folks who spend your time down there in that church worshiping.
And Mr. Hill replied, my dear man, I
would remind you of one thing, and you bear it in mind. The
Lord God never settles His accounts just in October. And he went on his way. And John
said, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard,
I heard behind me a great voice, a great voice, a great voice. You know when our Lord speaks,
He speaks great things, not insignificant things. Great things, and a great
day, and a great way, and a great voice! I heard a great voice! A great voice. I can imagine
Satan in his craftiness and subtlety, whispering. Whispering suggestions and wicked
thoughts, whispering. But our Lord told the church
over there in Isaiah, let me just read it to you. He told
the church. He said, Zion, that bringeth good tidings, get up
in the mountains. Jerusalem, that bringeth good
tidings, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Be not afraid. Tell them. Tell
them what? Behold your God. With a loud
voice. It's worth being said. It's worth
being heard. It's not worth being heard whispering. But it's worth
being said. Preach it. Paul said, I know no man after
the flesh. No man. I knew Christ that way
one time. And I bowed to Him. He was a
man on this earth. I knew Him that way. But I don't
know Him that way anymore. No man on earth. I'm subject
only to Him. And He said with a loud voice,
cry out, lift up your voice. And what that voice said, listen,
it's like a trumpet. He said in verse 11, I'm Alpha
and Omega. What is that? Well, Alpha is
the first letter in the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last. Alpha and Omega. I'm the first
and the last. and all things in between. I'm
all. Christ is all. I heard a voice
behind me, a great voice, like a trumpet sounding. I'm Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last. Back yonder, before the world
began, in the councils of eternity, before the Sons of God shouted
for joy before the morning stars sang together before before. Almighty God made a covenant. An everlasting covenant. And
in that covenant, Christ is all. He's Alpha. When God created
the world, said let there be light, let the dry land appear,
let us make man, all things were made by Christ. Christ was all,
made for him, by him, and held together by him, that in all
things he might have preeminence. When man fell in that awful day
in the garden, when man's sin rebelled against God, went over
and hid in the bushes with his wife Eve, and God came walking
in the cool of the day, Adam! Adam! Where are you, Adam? I'm over here. Why are you over
there? I was afraid. Why are you afraid? I'm naked. How did you know you was naked?
I've seen. Darkness. Death. I told you you'd die. But in
that day, Christ is all. Because the Father said, The
woman's seen. In that darkness, Christ is announced
as the light. In that day of death, Christ
is announced as the life. In that day of Satan's overwhelming
victory over man, Christ is announced as the victor over Satan. He'll
crush your head. Christ is all, even in the fall. Your attention is turned away
from the rebel. to the redigment. He's all. Don't despair. Oh, there's a
long road. There's a dark road. There's a rocky road. There's
a troublesome road, but there's an end to it. Victory. And then one day, when God came
to this earth, He came in the person of Christ. When God redeemed
His people, He reconciled them in the person of His Son. Christ
is all in redemption. Christ is all in the pictures,
types, and prophecies. And Christ is all in redemption.
And He raised Him from the dead. And He'll be all in the judgment.
God's going to judge this world by that man, Christ Jesus. Well, thank you, Christ. I tell you what I think about the
Bible. Well, the Bible and Christ can't
be separated. He's the Word of God. Well, thank
you, Christ. Do we make too much of the Lord
Jesus? Somebody said one time, you people have made an idol
out of Jesus Christ. Right. Object of worship. He's my idol. My everything. Do we make too much of Christ?
Impossible. All that God has to say is in
Christ. All that God has to give is in
Christ. All that God requires is in Christ. All that God will accept is in
Christ. And John said, when I heard that
voice, verse 12, I turned to see, wouldn't you? I heard a voice say, I'm Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last, right? And I turned to
see. I turned to see the voices speak
with me." And when he turned to see, he saw. There are four or five things I want
us to see in what John saw. He said, I
saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like the Son of Man. One like the Son of Man. The seven golden candlesticks
are His churches. Isn't that what it says down
in verse 20? The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in
my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven
stars are the angels, the messengers, you can write that word in there,
of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks are
the seven churches. Our Lord Jesus Christ is in the
midst of His people. He's identified with His people.
He's one with His people. Where two or three are met together,
there He is. Would you see Christ? He's among His people. That's
where He is. I heard a preacher preach years
ago and used the term, outside the camp. And I know what that
means. Let us go into Him without the
camp. Let us go outside the camp. That's where He was crucified.
Outside the camp of organized religion. I know that. Outside
the camp of ceremonialism, all these other things. Let's go
to Him. But He indicated that God was
through with the church. And if God worked in this day,
He was going to have to work outside the church. Now wait
a minute. Hold on here now. He said, I'll
build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against
it. Zion is still Zion. His church
is his church. His people are his people. I
know there are a lot of reprobates and apostates and all the rest
that you can call it, but he has his church. And he's in the
midst of them. If you want to see him, you'll
see him among his people. That's right. If you identify
with Him, you'll be identified with His people. That's right. You find the church, you'll find
the Savior. He's there. You find the sheep,
you'll find the shepherd. That's right. Shepherd's with
the sheep. I guarantee you, He'll be with the sheep. Not out yonder
somewhere. He's with the sheep. You find
His body, there's where the head. The head, where the head is,
the body is not too far behind, is it? Usually they're right
together. Find the bride! He found the
bridegroom. He said, he said, I saw him in
the midst of his church with his people. There are a lot of
religious hobos in this generation. They're not identified with his
church. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
or the people of the gospel. I won't be identified with the
people. Identified. That's right. Because that's
where Christ is. Where two or three are met in
my name, I'm in their midst. It does matter. It does matter. He loves the church. He gave
himself for it. And I saw him, listen, I saw
him in the midst of the church, and I saw him clothed down to
the foot with a golden girdle. Look at him. One like the Son
of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, gird about
the pap for the golden girdle. Let me, turn with me to Exodus
28. Exodus 28. Ah, sometimes, don't do it today,
we'll be here a long time if you do. But you want to study
Exodus 28, the garment of the high priest. It was something
else. It was, my friend, something
else. Something you and I have never
seen anything like it. Exodus 28, Take thou unto thee
Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him from among the children
of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest office,
even Aaron. Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar,
Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments
for Abram, thy brother, garments for glory and beauty." Read that
sometime today or tomorrow. Oh, the shoulders, the mitre,
the breastplate of gold, the golden garment around the paps,
and the girdle here, and down to the floor, just gold, and
the names of Israel on the breastplate in his hands. Don't read it this
morning, just read it sometime. And this is what John saw, our
great high priest in his holy garments for beauty and glory.
I saw him with a long garment down to the foot. Now wait a
minute, hold it. Turn to Leviticus 16. Leviticus 16. When Aaron went into the Holy
of Holies to make an offering for the people, the atonement,
the sacrifice, He didn't wear those garments of glory and beauty. When He went in to make atonement,
He took those clothes off. Look at Leviticus 16 forward.
Verse 3 says, Then thus shall Aaron come into the holy place,
with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt
offering. And he shall put on the holy linen, linen coat, simple
white linen. He shall have linen breeches
upon his flesh, be girded with a linen girdle. Wait a minute
now, this is not a golden girdle. No. He took all that off. And
the linen mitre shall he be attired. These are holy garments, pure,
clean garments. Therefore shall he wash his flesh
in water, and so put them on. When Aaron went into the Holy
of Holies with the blood to offer the sacrifice, the atonement
on the mercy seat, he laid aside his Beautiful, glorious, magnificent
garments of glory. The priesthood. And put on a
simple linen coat and britches. Cleaned and went in and offered
the sacrifice. But look at verse 23. When the
sacrifice was over. Leviticus 16, 23. Verse 23. And Aaron shall come into the
tabernacle of the congregation, and put off the linen garments
which he put on when he went into the Holy of Holies, leave
them there, wash his flesh with water in the holy place, put
on his garments." What garments? The high priest. The work's done. The offering's finished. The
humiliation's over. Now, he's the holy high priest
of God. And John said, When He spoke,
I saw Him in the midst of His people, but He was clothed with
His glory. His Lordship, His King Priest,
clothed with all the beautiful garments of glory and beauty. That's the reason we don't have
any crucifixes around here of a naked Savior hanging on a tree.
He's not a naked Savior hanging on a tree. He's the Lord of Lords
and the King of Kings. The glorious high priest who
reigns, who's finished his work of humiliation and agony and
suffering. Now he sits on a throne. Isn't
that beautiful? John said, listen, I've got to
hurry. Listen, he says, verse 14, and his head and his hair
were white like wool, white as snow. You know, when the church
in the Song of Solomon chapter 5 saw him, she said his locks
were bushy and black. Bushy and black. See, she looked
to him and rejoiced in his perpetual strength, and youth, and care,
and love, and provision. John saw him as the Ancient of
Days. The Ancient of Days whose goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting. He's the Everlasting
Father! That's how John saw Him. Swift
to its close ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys grow
dim, its glories are passing away. Change and decay in all
around I see. Oh thou Ancient of Days that
changes not! Abide with me. In this day of change, I've got
to have Him who never changes. My confidence and faith has got
to rest in Him whose head is white as the snow. I'm from everlasting
to everlasting. Alpha! If you can imagine that
far back. And Omega. And John said his
eyes was a flame of fire. Ah, the church saw him, his eyes,
she didn't say they were a flame of fire, she said they were like
dove's eyes washed in milk. That's a song of lovers. Private language. But she saw
him gentle and tender and kind with her waywardness. But John
saw him as the omniscient Lord. His eyes as a flame of fire,
all seeing, knowing, reaching to all people, powers and things. And Peter took great confidence
and comfort in that. He said, Lord, You know everything. You see in Him. You know I love
you. These eyes burn away the darkness,
burn away the pretense, and burn away the hypocrisy. And He sees
things as they are, not as they appear to be. But true faith
does not fear those eyes. True faith rejoices in His knowledge. Lord, You know all things. I
don't act like it, talk like it, think like it. sometimes,
but you know I love you. Only the pretender turns away,
embarrassed. The son always rejoices in the
knowledge of Christ. Always. And his feet, he said
in verse 15, they're like fine brass as if they're burned in
the furnace. Feet have to do with walking. He said, I walked
the winepress of God's wrath alone. Of the people, there was
none with me. Turn to Isaiah 63 and listen
to this just a moment. Feet have to do with walking.
Walking. Walking. It says here in Isaiah 63, Who
is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah?
Well, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the
greatness of his strength. Ah, that speak in righteousness,
that's who it is, mighty to say. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, and thy garments likened to him that tradeth in the wine
press? I have trodden the wine press
alone, and of the people there was none with me. I walked it
alone. I walked through the furnace of affliction and fire and wrath
alone. His feet burned in a furnace. But here's the other side of
that. He walked the furnace of wrath for his elect, but he'll
trample down his enemies. I will tread them down in mine
anger, I'll trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be
sprinkled upon my garments. I will stain all my garments
for the day of vengeance is in my heart. And the year of my
redeeming has come. Yes? And we couple that with His sword
over here in verse 15. His feet like fine brass as they
burned in a furnace. His voice is the sound of many
waters. And in His hand, what's this
now? And in His hand, seven stars. We know who that is, that's his
pastors, his people, his pastors, his messengers, the shepherd
of his people, shepherds, under-shepherd. Why does he describe them as
stars? Let's see if I can help us with
that. He said they're stars, not that they're stars above
his people or anything like that, or stars like Hollywood stars,
But here's the way there's stars in his hands. There's stars,
first of all, because they're where he puts them. Every star. You reckon there's a star that
he didn't put where it is, and you know they all stay right
where they are? There's a little one over there, you'd have to
have a telescope to see it, but he's there, he's right where
he put him. Here's one over here that's pretty bright, but he's
just where he puts him. All of His messengers where He
puts them. Servants of the Lord do not select
their field of service. They're where He puts them. Miraculously,
He calls them by name. He put them. Secondly, they're
stars in that they reflect light. They've got none of their own.
That's right, they don't have any. They said, John the Baptist, who are
you? I'm just a voice. Well, aren't you somebody? No,
I'm a voice. That's all. I don't have any
light of my own. All I do is tell what I heard.
Reflect His glory in life. Thirdly, they're stars in that
they give true directions. They guide men to Christ. When
I was in the Navy every night, I was a signalman. And the officer
of the day would come up on the bridge. You Navy men have seen. Come up on the bridge at night. and shoot that star. I had to
stand there with my pencil and a piece of paper. He'd give me
a number and I'd write it down. Then he'd shoot this star. Give
me a number and I'd write it down. Then he'd shoot the third
one. Write it down. And we'd run down
to the wheelhouse and get out to the big old map of the Pacific
Ocean. And we'd write down these numbers
and we'd draw lines from this one to this one, from this one
to that one, And that's where we were. Rotsmack never missed,
never, never, never missed. That star never misguided us.
That star never misguided us. And God helped this star that
he's put where he's put him, reflecting his light, to never
misguide you. And they're always guidance to
Christ. Not to the Baptist church. I've
guided them wrong, Bob, when I've guided them to the Baptist
church. To the pool, to the altar, to the doctrine alone, to all
these... pointing them to Christ. That's
what that star is up there for. He looks at that one and that
one and that one. And in all of their directions
they pointed to Him. That's what John the Baptist,
behold the Lamb of God. And they left John and went after
Him. And then fourthly, those stars are in His right hand. The right hand is the hand of
authority. And authority and rule Approval and if that star
is where he put it and That stars reflect in his life and that
star is pointing me into Christ. You better listen to it That listen to it If you don't
give you another one, why would he give you another one when
you got one? Listen to obey them that have the rule over there
If God put him there, if He does truly point to Christ, listen to it. Because when we went out there
on the deck, on the conning tower at night, and we said, well,
I don't like that star. Well, He's not going to give
you another one. You're just going to have to wander around lost.
I'm not going to use the one He put there. Then you'll be lost. And out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword. It says here, out of his mouth,
two-edged sword. His word, out of his mouth, not
my word, his word, out of his mouth. It has two edges. It cuts
away our sins and circumcises our hearts. Both. Both. It heals and it wounds. And then he said this, and when I saw him, his countenance
was as the sun shining in his strength. It's our Lord and His
Majesty. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as a dead man. But thank God, he laid his hand
on me, he touched me. Mike sings that song, he touched
me. He singled me out. He came to me. He stooped down. He laid His hand on me. He reached
down His hand for me. He touched me. He laid His right hand on me.
And He says, don't be afraid. You have no cause to fear. I
have no cause to fear this majesty? Me, a sinner? A defiled, fallen
son of Adam? The very sight of the Lord renders
me hopelessly, helplessly dead? And I don't have any cause to
fear. Now, why not? Well, listen. Because I'm for
you. I've touched you. I'm the first
and the last. There's no court higher than
me. And in me you have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. I'm he that liveth. I was a man
born. I am a man born of the woman
lived on this earth. I was dead, crucified for your
sin. And behold, I'm alive forevermore. I'm your representative, your
surety, your redeemer. I'm for you. Amen. And listen,
you'll never be shut up in hell because I got the key. I'm for you and I've got the
key. I'll tell you one thing, if I'm around a prison, I want
to be hand to hand with the fellas got the key all the time I'm
there. I went into Lucasville Penitentiary,
where I was one time a priest, and I went through a dozen doors,
and there was one of them shut behind me. And it just did something
to me when those things would clang shut behind me. I didn't
mind them clanging shut there. I'd turn and run, but they clanged
behind me. I kept going deeper into that
place. Bang! Bang! But the man beside me,
he had the key. He had that little car that opened
all those doors. And I just stayed right beside
him, Richard, and just followed him around. He had the key. Don't
you be afraid. I'm the first in the line, and
I'm for you. And I live, and I died, and I'm alive forevermore.
And I have the keys of death. I have the keys of hell.