O Lord, Thou art the great God, and greatly to be praised. As we gather in Thy presence, what else can we do but to bow low and worship Thee?
Thou art not only the One who is high above all, but Thou art the One who is so near, so dear to us. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that we can commune with Thee, that we can behold Thee, that we can worship Thee.
O Lord, our hearts just bow low as we see Thee. We want to gaze upon Thee, gaze and gaze again. Oh, how we praise and thank Thee. A sight of Thyself slays everything else, makes everything else worthless, because Thou art the only One who fills our hearts.
O Lord, tonight we do pray that Thou wilt afresh give us a sight of Thyself. Lord, unless Thou dost reveal Thyself to us, we can never see Thee, we can never hear Thee, we can never understand Thee. Thou art so beyond our human capacity and ability.
But, Lord, how we praise and thank Thee because of Thy great love. Thou dost desire to reveal Thyself to us. So, Lord, give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we may know Thee. And to know Thee is life eternal.
O Lord, be gracious unto us tonight. In Thy precious name. Amen.
Will you please turn to the book of Revelation? Revelation, chapter 1, beginning with verse 9.
I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle.
And His head and His hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and His voice as the voice of many waters.
And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
The apostle John was the last of all the twelve apostles. In his old days, for the sake of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, he was exiled to an island called Patmos.
Evidently, before he was exiled to that island, he was laboring in those churches in the Roman province of Asia. You remember that Paul was used of God to raise up these churches in Asia, but the apostle John was privileged to labor in the same churches.
But he was taken away from his field of labor and exiled to Patmos. Patmos was an island in the Aegean, near the coast. From the island, on a good day, he could still see the faint outline of the Roman province of Asia, where these churches were.
On the Lord’s Day, especially, John would have been alone. Usually, with God’s people, the Lord’s Day was the day when they came together to remember the Lord, to worship Him, and to serve Him. He would have been fellowshipping with God’s people and probably ministering to them the grace of God.
But because he was in exile, he was taken out of his work and put on an island all by himself. There was no fellowship with any saints.
So naturally, on the Lord’s Day, probably he would be sitting on a rock, somewhere high up, looking longingly across the sea. He could faintly see the outlines of these cities, all the churches among which he had labored faithfully and lovingly.
While he was looking, the Bible says he was in the Spirit. And in the Spirit he heard a voice as of a trumpet, saying, “What thou seest, write to the seven churches in Asia.”
The voice came from behind, so he turned back to see the voice. We often think a voice is to be heard, but John turned back to see the voice. As he turned back to see the voice, he was given a vision. He saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, One like unto a Son of Man.
Brothers and sisters, why is it that God gave this vision, this revelation, to John and not just to anybody else?
Our God is a God who reveals Himself. I often think that God delights to reveal Himself to us. It is His pleasure. He is trying to reveal Himself. He is trying to reveal His Son to us. There should be no lack of visions and revelations.
Of course, by visions and revelations we do not limit them to something seen physically. The Lord is able to allow us to see physically; I do believe that. But I think that vision and revelation are something deeper than that which is physical.
A vision and a revelation are an unveiling of God Himself. God unveils Himself. God reveals Himself. God makes His mind known to men. That is a vision; that is a revelation.
Not necessarily to the naked eyes, not necessarily to our physical ears, but especially by His Spirit in our spirit. When such revelation and such vision come to our spirit, we can truly say, “We now see it. We have heard it. It is real.”
Probably, for too many of us today, our experience is almost like the days of Eli: the vision of God is rare, and the word of God is precious. Not because God does not want to reveal Himself, and not because God does not want to speak. The problem is with His people.
Because the people’s hearts are not toward the Lord, because our ears are dull and our eyes are dim, God’s vision is rare and His word is precious. But I do believe that if our eyes are open, if our ears are open, and if our hearts are open to the Lord, there will be no lack of visions and revelations. God delights to reveal Himself to us.
Why is it that this vision of the seven golden lampstands, with the Son of Man in the midst of them, was revealed to the apostle John and not to just anybody else?
It was because here was a man who had the testimony of Jesus and who was willing to pay the cost because of it. He was exiled to the island of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
In other words, if we are faithful, God will trust Himself to us more. God wants to trust Himself to us. God wants, in a sense, to commit Himself to us. But He cannot—not because He will not, but because He cannot.
If God shall commit Himself to us and trust Himself to us, there must be faithfulness on our part. If we are playing religion, if we are playing with God, God will not play with us.
But if we really mean business with the Lord, if we are fully committed to Him, as we heard in the morning, if we are dedicated to Him—not to things, not to a cause, not to a project, but really committed to Him as a Person, to the living Person—then, dear brothers and sisters, you can be assured that God will commit Himself to you. He will reveal Himself to you.
So here you find John on the island of Patmos. He saw that vision. Brothers and sisters, I do believe this vision that John saw on the island of Patmos is a further revelation of the testimony of Jesus.
Did John know the Lord Jesus? He certainly did. Was John faithful to the Lord? He was, to the extent of suffering for the Lord’s sake.
But thank God, there on the island of Patmos, there was a new, fresh, fuller revelation of Jesus Christ. This revelation of Jesus Christ, given to him on the island of Patmos, became the testimony of Jesus—that which he had seen and heard and reported to the seven churches in Asia.
Dear brothers and sisters, tonight he is reporting that very same thing to us.
What is the testimony of Jesus? John saw seven golden lampstands.
Even though in the book of Revelation you find many symbols, many of them are explained to us. You do not need to try to figure out what these symbols represent, because many of the symbols in Revelation are explained.
The seven golden lampstands, as we find in the last verse of the first chapter of Revelation, are the seven churches in Asia. John was thinking of the seven churches in Asia, so the Lord showed him seven golden lampstands. Then he saw the Son of Man standing in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.
Brothers and sisters, I would like to call your attention to this. Sometimes you are looking at a picture. Usually the painter first paints a kind of background, and then he paints what is really in his mind. He uses the background for the sake of bringing out what he is going to paint.
Now, it would be very foolish if we only saw the background and did not see the foreground, because then we would miss the whole point. But without the background, you would not be able to be arrested by the foreground, as it were.
So here you find, when God gave that vision to the apostle John, he saw seven golden lampstands. These must have been beautiful lampstands. Even though there is no description, if you know anything of the Old Testament, you find that the golden lampstands in the temple were beautiful vessels, beautiful instruments.
Yet the seven golden lampstands are only the background. Who stands out? As John saw it, he had the spiritual discernment to know what was the center of that vision. The seven golden lampstands were standing there, but then he saw, in the midst of the seven lampstands, One like unto a Son of Man, and that caught his attention.
The seven lampstands represent the seven churches in Asia, and the One who stands in the midst of the lampstands is, of course, our Lord. You can never separate our Lord from His church, or His church from the Lord.
The Lord is the Head, and the church is the Body. Wherever there is a head, there is a body; wherever there is a body, there is a head. A body without a head is dead, and a head without a body cannot express itself.
So, brothers and sisters, you find there is a union of the Lord and the church, for whom He gave Himself. But the church is the background. The foreground, that which is the center of everything, is Christ.
A lampstand is not to attract attention to itself. That is not the purpose of a lampstand. A lampstand is to hold forth the light, and that is the function of a lampstand. Brothers and sisters, do we see the relationship between the Lord and His church?
This is a vision given to the apostle John, and I do believe it is a vision that God wishes to reveal to us. Brothers and sisters, we must see the Lord, and if you are able to see the Lord, you cannot help but see the church.
If you say you have seen the church and yet you do not see the Lord, what kind of church is that? The Lord is the foreground; the church forms the background.
There are people today who seem to emphasize the Lord but forget the church. Their Christian life is more on an individual basis. They say, “The Lord and I—that is all that matters. I do not need my brothers and sisters. I do not need a body. I am the body.”
How many so-called spiritual Christians boast of themselves, saying, “I know no man. I know the Lord and myself alone. I have no other relationship with anybody else.” It sounds very spiritual, but, dear brothers and sisters, this is not God’s purpose.
If you really see the Lord, how can you help but see the church? The Lord and His church are one.
Yet, on the other hand, you may find people who can see nothing but the church, and the church seems to loom so large in their eyes that it overshadows the Lord. The church never speaks of itself; it speaks only of the Lord. If the church speaks too much of itself, something must be wrong.
The vision is of the Lord, who is the center of the picture, but not without His churches. The church, as it were, makes the Lord stand out.
Dear brothers and sisters, what we need is a vision of the Lord—not because we do not know Him, but because we know Him. If we know Him, we need to know Him more.
This evening we would like to share together on this one thing: What is the testimony of Jesus?
The testimony of Jesus is that which He testifies concerning Himself. He testifies of Himself in two different ways. He can reveal Himself by vision—that is to say, you can see—or He can reveal Himself by His word—you can hear Him.
These are the two ways by which we come to know Him: either by sight or by hearing. Here in this chapter, our Lord uses both means to reveal Himself to us.
First, as John turned back, he saw One like unto a Son of Man, and he saw the Lord. Because he saw, he knew. Then, following that, the Lord began to speak to him, and by hearing the voice of the Lord, he knew the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to see the Lord, not outwardly but inwardly. We need to hear the Lord, not outwardly but inwardly. Once we see and hear in our spirit, we touch reality, and that becomes a testimony to us.
John saw One standing in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. In other words, the Lord today can only be known in relation to His church. It is not the will of God that we should know the Lord, as it were, nakedly, without any connection with the church. You cannot know the Lord that way.
Today, the only way to know the Lord is to know Him with the background of the golden lampstands.
But what do you know of Him? He was One like unto a Son of Man.
You remember what Paul said when he was in Corinth. When he wrote to the church at Corinth, he said, “When I came unto you, I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
Paul knew the condition of the Corinthians. They were people who talked about worldly wisdom and made much of it. They were people who were supposed to know everything, and they talked about everything, but nothing really touched their lives. Their lives were unchanged. They lived the most wicked lives.
So there was a saying in those days: “He lives like a Corinthian.” It meant that he lived a very wicked and dissipated life. In spite of all the knowledge they had and all the wisdom they professed to know, their lives were wicked and corrupted.
When Paul was led to the city of Corinth, he waited before the Lord: What should he say? How should he approach these people? He was determined to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
It was not easy for Paul to make that determination. Paul was a man of great learning. He could have matched his wisdom with their wisdom. He knew Greek philosophy.
To come into their midst and know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified meant that he would be looked upon by the Corinthians as a fool. But he was willing to be a fool for God’s sake. He knew that they needed to know the Crucified One, the One who died on the cross for their sins, the One who could change their lives.
For a year and a half, Paul talked to them day and night, in public and in private, and there was nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Think of that. For a year and a half, he taught nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and God honored that. The church in Corinth was brought into being.
But, dear brothers and sisters, these Corinthian believers knew Jesus Christ and Him crucified. They knew the Crucified One, but they did not know the risen Lord. They knew that Christ died on the cross for them, but they did not know that the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead and made Lord over all.
They were saved, but their vision of the Lord was limited—very limited.
Thank God that you know Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But if you try to catch the tone, you know, when you listen to somebody, if you only hear the words and do not catch the tone, you do not understand. The words may be the same, but the tone may be different, and it makes all the difference.
People say, “I know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” and sure enough, they know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Of course, that is a lot. We need to know the Crucified One. But, as the angel said to the women, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?”
Do you know that the One who was crucified on our behalf is now the Man in glory? Do you know that He is no longer the despised One? He is no longer One whom you can treat as you like. Do you know that He is now far above all, and everything is under His feet? Do you know Him in that way?
Saul thought Jesus of Nazareth was to be persecuted, and he did persecute Him. But on the road to Damascus, the Lord met him. He did not know Him. “Who art Thou, Lord? Thou art so glorious, so great, so powerful. Thou art in glory. The light of Thy glory has blinded Saul’s eyes. Who art Thou?”
And the Lord said, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.”
The same One, and yet in a different position. Brothers and sisters, what we need today is a fuller vision of our Lord Jesus.
Thank God that we see Him crucified. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians, He was crucified through weakness. As He took our weakness upon Himself, He was crucified. But He is not weak in you. Why? Because He is risen from the dead.
He is now the Man in glory. Oh, when John turned back and saw One like unto a Son of Man, what a difference!
Notice what the description says: “Like unto a Son of Man.” John knew the Son of Man while He was on earth. John was the first disciple of our Lord Jesus. He and Andrew were the first disciples. He knew the Lord so well.
He knew the Son of Man who walked upon the earth, and he was so close to Him that he leaned his head upon the breast of our Lord Jesus. You cannot be nearer to Him. He knew the Son of Man.
He was at the cross. Of all the disciples, he was the only one of the twelve who was at the cross. He saw the Lord crucified. He saw it all.
But as he turned back and saw, yes, it was the same One, and yet not exactly the same. He is, no doubt, the Son of Man, but He is like unto a Son of Man. Why? There is a change of position.
The Christ whom he knew was the Christ in His days of humiliation. Everybody could treat Him any way they liked. He was like a lamb led to the slaughter.
But today He is at the right hand of God—the same Son of Man, and yet so different. You remember Stephen. When he was put to death, he said, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Dear brothers and sisters, do you know the Lord Jesus as the Son of Man at the right hand of God?
Once upon a time, He came to this earth to join Himself with man. He is God, eternally God, but He emptied Himself—not of His deity, but of His glory, His honor, His position, His power, and His privilege.
He emptied Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. Once upon a time, He came to us to be one of us. He joined Himself to us. Therefore, He is called the Son of Man.
Just as Adam was the head of the old creation, so our Lord Jesus, the Son of Man, is the Head of the new creation. Thank God, today He is in glory.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need not only a vision of the cross; we need a vision of glory. Thank God, if we see the Crucified One, we are saved by His grace. But only when we see His glory will we be caught into the purpose of God.
Many believers enjoy the salvation of the Lord, but they never see the purpose of God. We enjoy His salvation, but we do not know what is behind it. We are little children; we never grow up.
It is a vision of the Man in glory that will catch us up into the very purpose of God. What is the purpose of God? That He will lead many sons into glory.
There is a Man in glory—the only Man. But because there is a Man in glory, one day there will be many sons in glory. He has gone ahead of us in order that He may lead us there. This is being caught into the purpose of God.
This One who is like unto a Son of Man is in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. He is in glory, but He is in relation to His church. As a matter of fact, His very being in glory is to lead us into glory.
He is a Son over the house of God, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the glorying of our hope firm unto the end.
You find a very detailed description of the Son of Man. Brothers and sisters, this is to show us who He is and what He is. The very revealing of who He is and what He is is to draw us into Himself. This is the testimony of Jesus, committed to us to become our testimony.
What did John say? He saw One like unto a Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching down to His feet.
Garment in Scripture always refers to our outward covering, because it is something that covers you. Our righteousness is as filthy rags; it cannot cover our nakedness. But Christ is our righteousness.
Here you find that the Son of Man has a garment reaching down to His feet. Of course, it is a priestly garment, because a priest wears a garment that reaches down to the feet and covers everything up. In other words, He is full of righteousness.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have no righteousness whatsoever, but Christ is the Righteous One. He is full of righteousness, and He is righteousness.
I cannot forget one story. I have said it before, but I would like to repeat it.
You know the one who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan. If you read the autobiography of John Bunyan, the book called Grace Abounding, you will find that he had a hard time getting saved.
As a young man he was very worldly, yet from time to time his conscience bothered him. Whenever his conscience bothered him, he tried to reform himself. He began to go to church and tried to be good, but that only lasted for a short period. Then he would go back again—back and forth, back and forth.
One day he was walking in a field, during a period when he was under conviction. As he walked, he was meditating: “How can I be saved? How can my sins be forgiven? I have no righteousness of any kind. I am full of sins and transgressions. Is there any hope for me?”
It seemed to him that it was a hopeless case, because he tried and tried and tried, but it got him nowhere. Then, while he was meditating, he said he heard a voice. Whether he heard it with his outward ear or his inner ear, I do not know. But he said he heard a voice, and the voice said, “My righteousness is in heaven.”
“My righteousness is in heaven.” He was trying to manufacture righteousness on earth. He was trying to manufacture righteousness in himself, and he could not. Then he heard the voice: “My righteousness is in heaven.”
It dawned upon him, and it came to him stronger and stronger until he was saved. He began to realize that righteousness is not something we do. Righteousness is a Person whom we put on.
We have no righteousness whatsoever, but Christ is our righteousness. God has made Him righteousness unto us. Brothers and sisters, do you know that the Lord Jesus is your garment? He covers you through and through.
My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
What does it mean? I remember a dear brother saying, “My behavior may change, but my righteousness never changes.” Do you see the difference?
As our behavior changes, we think our righteousness has changed. If this morning you got up and felt very close to the Lord, and if through the day you lived a good life, then before you go to bed, when you come to pray, you have boldness. Why? Because you lived a good day. You feel that you have righteousness and can come to God because you are righteous.
But suppose one day the day did not start right, and through the day everything was wrong. When you come in the evening to pray, you have to go through a long process before you feel you can touch God. Why?
This is not to encourage us to be careless, not at all. But this is to help us see that our righteousness is not ourselves. Our righteousness is Him. He never changes.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Our righteousness is a Person.
Here you find our Lord Jesus clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, a priestly garment. His priestly function is to cover us with Himself.
He was girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. In the Orient, people wear long gowns, long garments reaching down to the floor. They look beautiful, but they are not very efficient for work.
When an Oriental who usually wears long garments is going to work, he uses a girdle and girds up the garment. Then he can walk without being hindered and can do things more efficiently.
Usually, the girdle is around the loins for work. When you gird up the loins, you are strengthened. But here you find One like unto a Son of Man, girded with a girdle not around His loins, but across His breast.
The breast is the place of love. Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is girt with a golden girdle across His breast. Gold in Scripture always represents that which is pure, that which is permanent, that which does not change, that which is of God.
Our Lord Jesus is full of love and compassion. His love is His strength. His compassion is His strength. Think of it: we have a Lord who is in glory, full of righteousness, and He covers us with Himself. We have One who is in glory, full of love and compassion. He is fit to be our High Priest.
What is the Lord doing today in heaven? One day, in a certain church, an elderly lady came to be examined as a candidate for baptism. The elders and deacons were sitting around, and it was a terrible experience to be examined by these big men.
One elder asked her, “What is the Lord Jesus doing today in heaven?” The elderly lady thought for a while and said, “The Lord Jesus is standing there in heaven, looking down at me, trying to find fault in me.”
What a misunderstanding. The Lord Jesus is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. He is able to save to the uttermost those who come unto God through Him. He is our great High Priest, full of compassion and love.
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with us, because He was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Thank God. This is the Lord to us: full of compassion, never changing.
Oftentimes, brothers and sisters, we doubt when we are puzzled. We begin to doubt when we do not understand. But we can be sure of one thing: His compassion, His love, never changes.
His head and His hair were white as white wool, as snow. White hair is the glory of age. White hair in Scripture speaks of wisdom. White hair should be wise, should have learned, even though it may not be true every time.
But certainly with the Lord it is very true. His hair is white as snow, as white wool—full of wisdom.
Oftentimes in following the Lord, we question His wisdom. Even though we may not say it, in our hearts we question Him: “Why? Why this? Why that? Suppose He has done something wrong?” But, brothers and sisters, remember: He is One whose hair is white as snow, as white wool.
It is very strange. Sometimes the Bible describes the hair of our Lord as white as white wool—in other words, all white, not even a hair of black. But if you read the Song of Solomon, you find that His hair is as black as a raven—completely black, with no gray hair.
When you see the Lord in His wisdom, He is always white. But when you see His strength, His youthfulness, His freshness, He is all black. This is our Lord.
His eyes are as a flame of fire. His look penetrates. You remember in the Gospels, when the Lord Jesus was being judged, Peter denied the Lord three times. Our Lord turned and looked at him, and it penetrated him like a flame of fire.
How searching, how penetrating. Everything is naked before Him. You cannot hide anything before Him. One of the gracious things in life is to be honest with God. If you are honest with Him, you are blessed, because if you are not honest, He knows it. It is no use. We can deceive people, but we cannot deceive Him.
He has eyes as a flame of fire—so pure, so clean, so powerful, so penetrating. One day we shall all appear before Him, and fire will test our work. Not a literal fire, but I think a look from the Lord is enough.
In one sense, it is very terrible; in another sense, it is very blessed. As a flame of fire, whatever He sees that is impure, He consumes and purifies, that we may be blameless and holy in His love.
His feet are like fine brass, as burning in a furnace. Brass in Scripture always speaks of judgment. Burning in the furnace means that it is purified by fire until it shines and reflects.
When the priests in the temple served at the altar or in the holy place, they had to go to the brazen laver to wash themselves. But even when they approached the brazen laver, it was so shining that everything was revealed, because it was made with the mirrors of the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting.
First there is judgment, and then there is cleansing to make us fit for service.
His feet are like shining brass. This is the way of the cross. Feet speak of walk. His walk is the way of the cross. Everything is judged according to God. How we need to follow His footsteps.
His voice is as the voice of many waters—mighty, majestic. In John 10, the Lord said, “My sheep hear My voice.” You cannot but hear His voice. His voice is like many waters.
Many years ago, I was on an island in China, by the sea coast of Amoy. We called that island Kulangsu. It was by the sea, and even when you were in the house or walking close to the beach, though still at a distance, you could hear the voice of many waters. It was majestic—overpowering.
Brothers and sisters, when the voice of God comes to us, you cannot help but hear it. Blessed is the one who really hears it and does it.
He had in His right hand seven stars. The right hand speaks of power. The seven stars speak of the messengers of the seven churches. In other words, He holds them in His hand. He is responsible. He supplies the power for our spiritual responsibilities.
Out of His mouth proceeds a sharp two-edged sword. This sharp two-edged sword is not only to judge the world, but it is also to divide spirit and soul.
His countenance is as the sun shineth in its strength. A person’s countenance is the show window of his inward condition. If you are healthy and happy, your countenance shows it. If you are sad or have a problem, your countenance reveals it.
Here you find the Lord’s countenance shining as the sun in its strength. Oh, the glory of it. Our Lord Jesus is full of glory, and it shines out. May the light of His countenance shine upon you.
This is our Lord. Oh, brothers and sisters, how we need a vision of the risen Lord—the Lord who is now in glory: so righteous, so loving, so powerful. This is our Lord.
When John saw this vision, he fell at the feet of the Son of Man as one dead. Brothers and sisters, during the earthly life of our Lord Jesus, John was so close to the Lord, leaning upon His breast. There was no fear.
But here, when John on the island saw the vision of the Lord in glory, he fell at His feet as dead. He could not stand it.
You remember what Daniel did. Daniel, the beloved one, when he saw the vision of the Lord, said, “My comeliness was turned in me into corruption.”
Oftentimes we think that we are quite comely, that we are quite beautiful. Everything today is called beautiful. But if you really see the Lord in glory, your comeliness will be turned into corruption.
Here was Job, so self-righteous. There was no one more perfect than Job, and yet, at the end, arguments did not help. Arguments only made him stronger and stiffer. But when he saw the glory of God, he said:
I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.
Dear brothers and sisters, the only safe place for us is dust and ashes. If we do not see the Lord, we will be on the throne. But if we see the Lord, we will be prostrate at His feet. In other words, everything is brought to nought before God.
All your spirituality, all your virtues, all your achievements, all your spiritual positions—everything. May I say, even that which you have received from the Lord: gifts, grace. When you see the Lord Himself, all these things go into death.
It is the sight of the Lord. Oh, brothers and sisters, the one thing we need today is to see the Lord—not teachings, not doctrines, not interpretations, but a sight of the Lord in glory.
If you see the Lord, you will fall down as one dead. That is inevitable. How do you know you have seen the Lord? If you are at His feet, if you are brought to death, you know you have seen the Lord.
But thank God, as John fell at His feet, the Lord laid His right hand upon him and said, “Fear not.”
The Lord who is now in glory—His love has not changed. This hand that had touched so many while He was on earth, this One who spoke words of grace to so many and comforted them, His love, His hand, His heart have not changed.
Even though He is today in glory, His love is just as real as it was before. The Lord touched John with His right hand, strengthened him, brought him into resurrection ground, and said, “Fear not.”
O brothers and sisters, that is what we need: life out of death. That is real life. It is only when we are brought to death and into resurrection that this proves we have seen the Lord.
What is of us has gone to death, and what comes out must be He, not us. This is what John saw.
But, dear brothers and sisters, there is more. The Lord Jesus not only gave John a vision of who and what He is, but the Lord Jesus spoke to him. He said:
I am the first and the last,
And the Living One;
And I became dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore,
And I have the keys of death and of Hades.
This is the testimony of Jesus. He not only shows us who and what He is, but He tells us who and what He is.
He said, “I am the first and the last.” You cannot help but remember that this is a title of God. God is the first and the last; there is none else. Here the Lord says, “I am the first and the last,” because He is God. He is the Son of Man, and yet He is God.
He is the Alpha and the Omega—the first letter in Greek and the last letter in Greek. He is the A and the Z, and, of course, He is all the letters in between. Everything is spelled by Him.
Brothers and sisters, do we know the Lord as the first and the last? Does everything begin with Him? Does everything end in Him?
How often we initiate things and ask the Lord to approve them and follow us. How often, after certain things are done, we give the glory to ourselves. He is not the last. And in between, how we depend upon ourselves.
But, dear brothers and sisters, He is the first and the last. To put it another way, Colossians says that He may have the preeminence in all things. Or, as it says elsewhere, there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither this nor that, but Christ is all and in all—the all-inclusive Christ.
Do we know Christ as the all-inclusive One? He is all and in all. That is a testimony. He is never content merely to be something in your life. God’s purpose is that He should be the first and the last. He must be all in all, everything in everything.
That is the Lord. That is the testimony. How much of the testimony do we have? How much of the testimony of Jesus do we really know? How much can we testify that He is the first and He is the last?
When we are measured by the testimony of Jesus, I wonder how much—or how little—we have.
He is the Living One. He is life. He is not dead; He is living.
You know the story of Martin Luther. Once when Martin Luther was in trouble, he was so weighed down by all his problems that he walked back and forth in the room and did not know what to do.
His wife, Catherine, tried to help her husband, but she did not know what to do. So she dressed herself in black and came into the presence of her husband. Her husband looked at her and said, “What happened? Who died?”
She said, “God has died.”
Martin Luther said, “Never. God never dies.” And he learned the lesson.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is the Living One. Do you know Him as the Living One? Do you know that His life is operating?
His life is life that comes out of death. “I became dead, and behold, I am alive.” The life of our Lord Jesus—the Lord Himself—is life so powerful that it conquers death. He conquers everything. He is alive, living, life in operation.
Whenever we know the Lord as the Living One, we have a testimony together.
Finally, He says, “I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
I do not know whether I interpret it rightly. If I am wrong, you forgive me and correct me.
Once Satan had the keys of death and Hades. Why? Because in Hebrews it is said that Satan was the one who had the power of death.
It seems as if the enemy had the keys of death and Hades, and he opened the doors with the keys to put people into death and into Hades. But thank God.