Will you please turn to the book of Revelation? Revelation, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show unto His servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John;
who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.
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 was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
May we have a word of prayer?
Dear Lord, as we gather together here tonight in Thy own name, we fully believe that Thou art here with us. Lord, speak; Thy servants hear. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.
The theme of this conference is, “Revive Thy work.” I suppose everybody knows now that this fellowship will be in three aspects.
Our brother Dana will share with us on Habakkuk. Our brother Kenny will share with us on Ezra and Nehemiah. It falls to me to share with you, dear brothers and sisters, on Revelation, chapters 1, 2, and 3.
May the Spirit of God lead us back to the closing years of the first century. It is most likely that Revelation was written around the year 95 A.D.
The apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos, a little island, a rocky and barren island off the coast of Asia. He was exiled during the reign of Domitian, and he was exiled because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Now, the word of God here probably refers to the revelation God gave in Old Testament times. It refers to the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. All these actually testify of our Lord Jesus.
You remember, after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, two men were on their way to Emmaus. Our Lord appeared to them in another form, so they did not recognize Him. He walked with them and asked them why they were so sad.
When they told the Lord why, the Lord said, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe.” Then the Lord began to show them, from the law and the prophets, all things that were prophesied concerning Him. When they heard, their hearts were warmed.
Again, that evening our Lord appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem. Again, He showed them from the law, the prophets, and the Psalms everything that related to Himself. So we know that the word of God testifies to our Lord Jesus.
Then there is the testimony of Jesus Christ. It may refer to the New Testament, that which our Lord Jesus Himself has spoken and which has also been confirmed by the apostles.
So, brothers and sisters, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus include the whole revelation of God, and it all concerns our Lord Jesus Christ.
The apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos for this very reason: for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. Before he was exiled, in his old age, he was most likely serving the Lord in Asia Minor among the churches in the Roman province of Asia.
But he was taken away from his ministry and exiled on that island. It was the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week. Somehow he was free. Very likely, he was a slave laborer on that island, but he was free on that day.
We can imagine that old man sitting on a rock, looking across the sea. On a clear day, the outline of the coast of Asia—that is, Asia Minor—could be seen. He must have been sitting there, looking across the sea and thinking about the churches that he had left there.
He could not minister to them anymore. He was wondering what had happened to them. It was a difficult time, a time of persecution, and he wondered what had happened to these brothers and sisters whom he had served so faithfully.
As he was thinking, suddenly he heard a voice behind him like a trumpet. So he turned to look at that voice, and he saw a vision. Now, that is the vision we usually call the Patmos vision.
Brothers and sisters, we thank God that this revelation was given to John, and through John, to all of us.
The whole book is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, and then He signified it by the angel to His bondservant. This Patmos vision is the first revelation of Jesus Christ given in the book of Revelation.
The whole book of Revelation is a continuous unveiling of our Lord Jesus, and this is the first one. This revelation was given to the bondservant of Jesus Christ.
Now, we know that revelation from above is not given to the world. This revelation is given to the bondservants of Jesus Christ. John was a bondservant of Jesus Christ. He was a slave, a love slave, to Jesus Christ.
He was one who had offered himself voluntarily, freely, and willingly to his Master, out of love. He was one who had his ear pierced to the door. He was a bondservant for life, unto his Master.
It is to this man that the revelation was given, and also through him to all the bondservants of Jesus Christ.
Without revelation, we will never be able to know our Lord.
You remember when our Lord was on earth. He was in the borders of Caesarea Philippi, and He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”
They related to Him all that men said about Him—everything that was good. They kept away anything that was not good. Yet our Lord was not satisfied. The Lord said, “But who say ye that I am?”
Simon Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Our Lord Jesus said, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in heaven.”
So, brothers and sisters, the only way to know the Lord Jesus is by revelation. In other words, all spiritual things must be revealed; otherwise, they are hidden.
Revelation is given especially to the bondservants of Jesus Christ. If we desire to receive revelation from above, we have to be in the place of the bondservant of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we wonder, why is it that the Lord does not reveal Himself to us? Why is it that we do not know Him as we should? We must ask ourselves: are we in the place of bondservants?
This is the special privilege of the bondservants of Jesus Christ: to receive revelation from above.
Without revelation, there can be no testimony, because testimony is something that we must see, hear, touch, experience, and sense—something very real and very living.
When revelation is given, our spiritual eyes are opened, our spiritual ears are opened, our spiritual understanding is opened, our heart is opened, and our spirit is opened. Then we see the unseen.
Only after we have seen are we able to testify. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ that constitutes the testimony of Jesus Christ. Without revelation, there is no testimony.
We can talk about it, and yet there may be no reality in it, no power in it. Revelation comes to the bondservants of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, in the time when the church was in ruin, there was one person, John. He was a bondservant of Jesus Christ. He was willing to be a living martyr for his Master.
We know that of the twelve disciples, eleven were put to death as martyrs. John was the only one who lived a long life and died a natural death. But he was a living martyr. Sometimes a living martyr is more difficult than a dead one.
Because there was a person who gave himself so completely to his Master, the revelation of Jesus Christ was given to him. Thank God, through him it has come to us today.
Even when that revelation was written down, the voice said, “Write, and send it to the seven churches in Asia.” Even today, we are reading the book of Revelation. But you may read it a hundred times and still not get the vision.
We need to be bondservants, love slaves of our Master. Then you will find that what was revealed will become living and real even to us two thousand years later. The revelation is still fresh, living, and real.
John looked back toward the voice, and he saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the lampstands was One like unto the Son of Man. This is the vision.
As we have already said, the whole book of Revelation is a revelation of Jesus Christ. God gave this revelation to our Lord, and then our Lord related it to us. Every part in the book of Revelation reveals more and more of our Lord Jesus.
But this Patmos vision, given in the first chapter, has a special relationship to the church.
John saw seven golden lampstands. These lampstands are explained to us by the Lord Himself, because Revelation 1:20 says that the seven lampstands are the seven churches in Asia.
In other words, each local assembly on earth is represented before God by a golden lampstand. It means that a church, to God, is a lampstand. That is what the church is.
A lampstand is not the light; it is a light holder. A lampstand is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. A lampstand does not exist for itself. It exists for somebody else—for the light.
We know that our Lord Jesus Himself is the light. He told us, “I am the light of the world.” He is the light. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The church holds the Lord, lifts Him up, and raises Him high, that He may be known throughout. Now, that is what the church is. The church is never a purpose in itself. The purpose of the church is our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a golden lampstand. Brothers and sisters, in the tabernacle which God commanded Moses to build, of all the furniture in the tabernacle there were only two pieces that were of pure gold.
You remember that the altar of burnt offering was made of brass. Even the table of showbread was made of wood and overlaid with gold. There were only two pieces of furniture in the whole tabernacle that were made purely of gold and nothing else.
One was the mercy seat. The mercy seat was of pure gold. In Romans 3:25, in the original, it says that God set forth our Lord Jesus as the mercy seat. In some versions, you have “propitiation,” but in the original it is the mercy seat.
God set forth our Lord Jesus as the mercy seat. He is all of gold, pure gold. Gold signifies the nature, the life, and the character of God. Our Lord is wholly divine.
But strangely, you find in the tabernacle another piece of furniture that is all of gold: the golden lampstand.
You know, brothers and sisters, to us, the lampstand should be made of wood and overlaid with gold. Why? Because the church is made up of human beings—people such as we are, redeemed, yes, but still people.
Wood overlaid with gold—that would be our idea. But God’s concept of the church is very different. God’s concept of the church is that it is all of gold.
How can it be? We who were dead in sins and transgressions have been redeemed by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus and cleansed. But still, we have our flesh.
Sooner or later we discover that there is no good in our flesh. It is better to discover it earlier than later, but it will come.
Because we who are redeemed by the Lord gather together, we bring our flesh into the church and spoil the whole thing. So what is the church? It is the vessel for the light.
It has to be of the same character as the light. That is the reason why all our flesh must be dealt with by the cross.
The cross has to work deeply in our lives, cutting off the flesh, so that what remains is the life, nature, and character of our Lord Jesus. That is the church.
In the church, you should find no man: neither Jew nor Gentile, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, neither bond nor free man, neither barbarian nor Scythian. In the church, Christ is all and in all.
That is the reason why you find in 1 Corinthians 12:12: there is one body, but many members; many members, yet one body. So also is the Christ.
The church is the Christ—that is to say, Christ manifested in a corporate way. Nothing but Christ manifested in a corporate way.
So, in the concept of God, the church is pure gold. It is a lampstand, but it is pure gold: nothing human, nothing of man, nothing of flesh and blood, because it has been eliminated by the cross of our Lord Jesus.
Oh, how we need the deep working of the cross upon each one of us, lest we destroy the very meaning of the church and the very testimony of our Lord Jesus.
There is no description here of the lampstands. If you want to find the description of the lampstand, you have to go back to Exodus 25.
There you find a description of the lampstand: how it was of beaten work, all of gold, and yet of beaten work; how much beating it took to make a golden lampstand; seven branches, cups, buds, and flowers—beautiful.
In Exodus 25, you have the original concept, God’s original concept, of the church. That is what the church is in God’s mind and in God’s purpose.
Again, in Zechariah 4, you find another vision. There is a lampstand with two olive trees standing by it, pouring gold into the lamps.
That speaks of the recovery of the testimony of Jesus as vested in the vessel of testimony. Yet, in the book of Revelation, no description is given of the lampstand.
If you read on to Revelation 2 and 3, it shows the actual spiritual conditions of the church at that time, as well as at all times.
There is no description of the lampstand, but there is a full description of the One who stands in the midst of the lampstands.
Brothers and sisters, the church is the background. The One like unto the Son of Man is the foreground.
The church only serves as a background to give relief to the One who is in the midst of the lampstands.
In the mind of God and in the heart of God, there is only one Person: His Son.
If we were able to look into the heart of God, what would we see? Our God is infinite. His immensity is beyond our imagination, and yet, if you look into His heart, you see only one Person there: His beloved Son.
You know, in the past, I always made this mistake. I thought that if you looked into God’s heart, you would see two instead of one: you would see Christ, the Son, and you would see the church, His bride.
I used to put Christ and the church on equal footing, until one day I realized how wrong I was.
In the very heart of God, there is only one Person: His beloved Son.
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
You cannot see yourself. I cannot see myself. I can only see the Lord Jesus in the heart of God. He is the center of the purpose of God, even before the foundation of the world.
The mystery of God’s will, which He purposed in Himself even before the foundation of the world—what is that will? What is the mystery of that will which He purposed in Himself?
When He purposed that purpose, the world was not created yet. But He purposed according to His good pleasure. It pleased Him; it was His heart’s desire to sum up all things in Christ Jesus, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth.
Everything is to be summed up in Christ, or, to put it another way, headed up in Christ. That is God’s eternal purpose.
It is only when you come to Ephesians 3 that you find God made another purpose. He made a purpose even before the foundation of the world in His Son.
When He made a purpose in Himself, that purpose was that the Son is everything. But when He made His purpose in His Son, then, brothers and sisters, there you find you and me.
If I may put it another way, if you look into the heart of God, you see only Christ Jesus. But if you look into the heart of the Son, you see the church, His bride.
Our Lord Jesus is the foreground. He is always the Head. The church is always in the background to uplift Christ.
The body is to contain the riches of the Head and to express His glory. That is what the church is.
So, dear brothers and sisters, what constitutes a testimony? The church is a vessel for the testimony of Jesus.
The testimony of Jesus comes from revelation and vision of Jesus Christ. Unless we see in our spirit that vision which John saw on the island of Patmos, brothers and sisters, we have no testimony to give.
How essential it is that we also catch a vision.
What is the Patmos vision? As I have already said, the whole book of Revelation is vision upon vision given concerning our Lord Jesus. But the Patmos vision has a special relationship with the church.
Why? Because it is a vision of our Lord Jesus as the King-Priest, serving in the true tabernacle of God today.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the Apostle of God. God sent Him into this world with a mission.
You find that in Hebrews 3: the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. What constitutes our confession? We confess that He is the Apostle and that He is the High Priest.
When our Lord was on earth, He was the Apostle of God. He was sent into this world to accomplish the work of redemption. As an Apostle, how fully He fulfilled that mission.
On the cross, before He died, He said, “It is finished.” The work was done. Mission accomplished.
He was buried. On the third day He rose from the dead, and after forty days He ascended to heaven. Now our Lord Jesus is in heaven, seated with God on His throne. What is He doing there now?
I always remember that story of an elderly lady who was not educated and wanted to be baptized. According to the custom of those days, her faith was questioned by the elders.
She was called before the elders, and they began to ask questions. One of the questions was, “What is our Lord Jesus doing in heaven today?”
This elderly lady thought for a while. Then she said, “The Lord Jesus is standing there in heaven, looking down upon the earth, and He is looking at me, trying to find fault with me.”
I wonder if she passed the examination. Brothers and sisters, do not laugh. Do you know what the Lord is doing today in heaven?
After He finished His work on earth as the Apostle of God, He ascended to heaven. But there He serves in a different capacity. He became the High Priest of our confession.
He is serving faithfully in His true tabernacle, His church.
As the High Priest, He is not only ministering to us. The whole book of Hebrews centers upon Christ as the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, according to the power of an indissoluble life.
Brothers and sisters, how we need that ministry today. We cannot be Christians even for an hour if we do not have His high-priestly ministry unto us.
We have a High Priest who is sympathetic with us. He was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. He knows our infirmity and is always ready to help, to succor, to support, and to give seasonable help.
He is able to save us to the uttermost because He ever lives, making intercession for us.
Just one more illustration. When our Lord Jesus told His disciples that He was going to die, and that the disciples would forsake Him, Simon Peter said, “The other disciples may flee and forsake Thee, but not I. I am willing to die with Thee.”
Our Lord Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to sift thee as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, and when thou art restored, strengthen thy brethren.”
Our Lord Jesus prayed for Simon Peter. Simon Peter did not know himself. He was sincere, but sincerely wrong. He denied the Lord three times.
Brothers and sisters, if it had not been because our Lord prayed for him, do you think he would have been restored? He would never have come back.
I sometimes wonder: after the Lord looked at him and he was reminded, he went out weeping. Did he dare to go back to his fellow apostles? Most likely not. Probably he was just wandering around, lost.
Maybe John went out and brought him back, because he was staying with John when our Lord was resurrected.
Brothers and sisters, if it were not because our Lord Jesus is our High Priest, where would we be tonight?
Every day, He prays for us—every hour, every minute, every second. Because of His high-priestly prayer, the Holy Spirit is working in us, bringing us back, causing us to repent, restoring us, strengthening us, and comforting us.
But that is personal. Thank God, our Lord Jesus is the High Priest in heaven, ministering to His church corporately.
There is a corporate side of His priestly ministry that oftentimes we neglect.
What is the Patmos vision? The Patmos vision is the vision of our Lord Jesus as the King-Priest in relation to the vessel of testimony. That is the vision.
Brothers and sisters, we need to see this vision. We need to see that our Lord Jesus is the High Priest, the kingly Priest, and to see His relationship to the church today.
Here you find that John saw One like unto the Son of Man standing in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.
The seven golden lampstands can be interpreted in many different ways, and I believe they are true.
Sometimes we interpret the seven golden lampstands—the seven churches in Asia—as giving us a prophetic view of church history throughout the church period, from the first century down to the last century before the Lord’s return. I believe we can do that because the book of Revelation is a book of prophecy.
Sometimes we interpret it literally. That is to say, we confine it to the seven churches in Asia at the end of the first century. That is also true, because there were seven churches in Asia at that time, and these were their conditions.
Or we can interpret the seven churches as representing the spiritual conditions of the church of God throughout the centuries. In every century, you can find these seven conditions. Probably we will try to do that this time.
But anyway, John saw One like unto the Son of Man. The Son of Man is the title which our Lord Jesus took upon Himself while He was on earth. He often called Himself the Son of Man.
He was the Son of God, but the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men, full of grace and truth. While He was tabernacled among men, He called Himself the Son of Man.
As the Son of Man, He revealed to us the heavenly Father. As the Son of Man, He took our sin upon Himself and redeemed us out of death.
When He returned to heaven, He returned not only as the Son of God but also as the Son of Man. He received a double glory.
In John 17:5, He prayed to His Father that He would return to the glory which He shared with His Father before the world was. In other words, He returned to the glory that He had left when He came to earth: the glory of divinity, the glory of God.
But then, in John 17:24, He said, “Father, I desire that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me.”
In verse 5, it is the glory He had before the foundation of the world as the Son of God. In verse 24, it is a glory given to Him by the Father. Why? Because as the Son of Man, He had fully represented God and had fully accomplished God’s mission.
John saw One like unto the Son of Man. John knew our Lord Jesus so well when our Lord was the Son of Man on earth. You remember, at the Last Supper, John leaned upon the bosom of our Lord Jesus.
But here he said, “One like unto a son of man.” In other words, it was different. The Lord looked different.
Yes, He was still the Son of Man, but He looked different. He was not like what He was on earth: humble, lowly, gentle, approachable, persecuted, crucified, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
That was the Son of Man, the Lamb of God, whom John knew. But now it was different. This Son of Man was in glory. It was something John had never seen before.
Brothers and sisters, what do we know of our Lord Jesus? We see Him as the Son of Man. We see Him as the Lamb of God who died for us. This we know, and thank God for that.
But do we see Him as the risen One in glory, the King-Priest in the true tabernacle of God? Do we know Him as such?
John had never known Him like that, but now he was going to know Him. He was given a vision of the risen Lord: the Son of Man, the Son of God in glory, as the King-Priest to His church.
John said:
I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot.
Now we know that according to Exodus 28, the priest, the high priest, was clothed in beauty and glory. He wore the ephod, and he wore a long garment made of pure linen.
At the hem of the garment, you remember, there were bells and pomegranates: one bell, one pomegranate; one bell, one pomegranate.
The pomegranate speaks of fruitfulness. It may not look very appealing outwardly, but when you open it, you find red seeds full of life. It is so fruitful and so sweet.
Why the bell? Because our God is a holy God. When the high priest entered into the holy place, the people wondered whether he would ever come out. He might be stricken dead. As long as they could hear the bell ring, they knew that he was still alive.
Garment in Scripture always signifies righteousness. You remember the prodigal son. When he came back, he was in rags.
Isaiah tells us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. They cannot cover our nakedness. What we consider righteous, in the sight of God, is filthy.
So the Father took away his rags and said, “Put on him the best robe.” Christ is our righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own, but thank God, we are clothed with Christ our righteousness.
That makes us fit to enter into the house and sit at the banquet table.
But anyway, you find that our Lord Jesus wears a long garment reaching to the feet. It means that He is full of righteousness.
When our Lord was on earth, He was the only One who fulfilled the law. The Father looked at Him and said, “He is right. He is righteous.” Because of His righteousness, He is qualified to be our Substitute.
In 1 John 2:1-2, it says that if we sin, we have an Advocate—a Paraclete, a Patron, a Comforter—before the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the righteous One who is the propitiation not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world.
Brothers and sisters, here you find a vision of our Lord Jesus as the High Priest, full of righteousness.
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Because He is so righteous, so right before the Father, He does everything right, just according to the Father’s good pleasure. This is our Lord today.
Because He is righteous, full of righteousness, He wants us to be righteous.
Brothers and sisters, we are not only to be clothed with Christ as our righteousness. That is the golden garment.
But over and above it, as you find in Psalm 45, the bride, the queen, has over the golden garment another raiment of embroidery. That is her wedding garment.
Thank God, we have Christ as our righteousness. He gives us standing before God. We can stand before God, not because of what we are but because of what He is. He is our righteousness.
Every time we appear before God, we put on Christ. We cannot go to God by ourselves.
But brothers and sisters, because He is righteous, He requires us also to be righteous.
In Revelation 19, the bride has made herself ready, and she was given to be clothed with a garment of pure, fine linen, which is the righteous acts of the saints.
His righteousness has to work into our lives so that it will be expressed through us, that we may be of the same character as He is. We take upon ourselves His character.
Brothers and sisters, this constitutes our testimony. Testimony is not something outward or external. Testimony is something that has been worked into us and then comes out of us.
If we want the church to testify of our Lord Jesus, we ought to testify of His righteousness. The world is full of unrighteousness. Where can we find righteousness? The church is the vessel to testify to the righteousness of our Lord Jesus.
He is righteous; therefore, we must be righteous. Now, that is 1 John.
He was girded about at His breast with a golden girdle.
In the Orient, people wear flowing garments. Whenever you want to work, you have to gird up the garment; then you can work. So, to be girded about the loins gives you strength so that you are able to work.
But here you find that the girdle is not around the loins; it is around the breast, and it is golden.
In other words, our Lord Jesus has already finished the work on earth. Here the girdle is not around His loins, but it has moved up to His breast. The breast is the seat of love and affection.
There you find that our Lord Jesus is full of divine love, the strength of love. He is our High Priest, so sympathetic—not only sympathetic, but able to save us to the uttermost.
That is our High Priest, full of love. Because He is full of love, He demands that we also love.
He said, “Love one another, even as I have loved you.” If you love one another, then the world will know that you are My disciples.
Brothers and sisters, we have to have that divine love working in us and working out through us. That is our testimony of Jesus.
We do not testify of our love; we do not have love. If there is love, it is the Lord. He is love. When that divine love is expressed, the testimony of Jesus is given.
I have to hurry up, because it is almost nine o’clock.
His head and His hair were white as white wool, as snow: full of wisdom.
Hoary hair is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness. I do not think hoary hair is a crown of glory to everybody. I may have hoary hair, but if I am not in the way of righteousness, it is no crown of glory.
But here our Lord is full of wisdom. If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask, believe and doubt not, and it shall be given.
It is not wisdom of earth—earthly, carnal, devilish, full of strife and contention—but it is wisdom that is from above: first pure, then gentle, and so forth.
Then you find His eyes as a flame of fire: all-knowing. He knows everything. He looks into our very heart.
You remember when Simon was brought to the Lord Jesus. Our Lord just looked at him, and the word “looked” means that He looked at him up and down, looked into him, and looked through him. Simon was speechless.
Simon was a very talkative person, but he was speechless with that look. “Thou art Simon; thou shalt be called Peter.” Oh, how we need that knowledge that discerns.
You also find His feet like burnished brass, as if burning in a furnace: full of judgment.
What does not meet His eyes, His feet will tread upon and judge. He is full of judgment.
His voice is as the voice of many waters: majestic. Psalm 93—you have to read it yourself.
He has in His right hand seven stars: full of responsibility and support. Out of His mouth is a sharp two-edged sword going forth: full of power, dividing the spirit and the soul.
His countenance is as the sun shining in its power: full of beauty. The countenance reveals the inner beauty.
So, brothers and sisters, here you find a vision of our Lord Jesus as the King-Priest—not only the Priest, but also the King.
When John saw this, what was his reaction? He fell down as one dead.
Brothers and sisters, this John, who leaned upon the breast of our Lord Jesus so intimately, fell down before His feet as dead when he saw that vision.
You know, brothers and sisters, whenever a vision from heaven is given, this always happens. If you say that you have seen a vision and you still stand on your two feet, you have not seen it.
If you can boast of your vision, you have not seen it.
A sight of the risen Lord, so majestic and so glorious—you cannot but fall down as dead. Then you know that you have seen.
In Daniel, Daniel said, “My comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.” He fell upon his face.
Brothers and sisters, if we truly see a vision of our Lord Jesus as the King-Priest to His church, do you think we can stand on our two feet?
We will be stricken as if dead. How different we are from what He is. How contrary we are to what He is. How we have offended Him. How we have brought shame to Him.
He is all righteous—but what are we? He is full of love—but what are we?
If the Lord gives us a vision of our Lord Jesus as the King-Priest to His church, we will react in the same way as the apostle John.
Then the word comes. You know, the word explains the vision.
This happened in Old Testament times. After the vision of the golden lampstand with two trees that Zechariah saw, the word was given:
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.
That is the word, and there you find what that vision means.
What is the meaning of this vision of our Lord Jesus in the midst of the seven lampstands? The meaning is this: the Lord said, “I am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Brothers and sisters, this is the word of the vision. The vision and the word are one, and they constitute the testimony of Jesus.
What is the word? “I am the first and the last.” This is the title of God. He is God. He is the beginning and He is the end. He is the first and He is the last.
It is God’s purpose to let Him have the first place in all things. Colossians tells us that He has the preeminence in all things. He is the last. Everything is purposed unto Him. That is our Lord Jesus.
The Living One—He is the source of life. Life characterizes Him. But He died for our sake. Death could not hold Him. He came out of death, and He is living forevermore.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is a living Christ. We are not serving a dead Christ. He is living, living forevermore.
This is our testimony: we testify that He lives. He is living, and it is our life that shows the world that He lives and how He lives.
No power can stand before Him. He is above everything. He holds the keys of death and Hades.
Now, if this is the case, should the church be dead, overcome by the gates of Hades? No.
The Lord said:
I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Because He is the Living One, the church is the vessel of the testimony of Jesus. He has revealed Himself to His church and given Himself to His church as the testimony.
The church is responsible to bear that testimony faithfully unto Him.
So may the Lord have mercy upon us. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, show us. Give us a vision of Thyself in relation to Thy beloved church. Oh, that we may see Thee, that we may fall down before Thee as dead, and be restored into life.
Revive Thy work in the midst of the years. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.