Wherefore also God highly exalted Him,
and gave unto Him the name which is above every name;
that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
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 I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.
And He came, and He taketh it out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne.
And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth.
And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard I saying, Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever.
And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.
And He that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.
And He said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.
Dear Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, fill this place and fill us with Thyself. Oh, let Thy glory descend upon us, that we may all bow and worship, because Thou art our God, our Lord, our Master, our all in all.
We do commit this time back into Thy hands, and pray, Lord, that by Thy Spirit Thou wilt open up our whole being unto Thyself and fill us with Thyself, that Thou mayest be glorified. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Thank God for gathering us together these days. We focus our whole attention upon one thing, and that is the declaration of the apostle Paul. He said, “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.”
Since, by the grace of God, the heavens opened and the light brighter than the noonday sun shone upon this Pharisee, Saul was smitten by that light. He fell on the ground, and he saw the heavenly vision. Since he saw that heavenly vision, his whole life was transformed and redirected. After many years, he could testify that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
We have mentioned again and again that this heavenly vision is not just for the apostle Paul. This is the heavenly vision which is given to all of God’s people, because it is concerned with the eternal purpose of God. God wants each and every one of us to see that heavenly vision.
Now, some people may ask, “How can I see that heavenly vision?” Brothers and sisters, actually, it is a very simple thing. You remember how you were saved. You remember how you received a revelation from the Father concerning His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ—how He revealed to you that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God.
This is not something known according to the flesh. You may be brought up in Christian families. You may even have read the Bible. But one day, that revelation from above came to you, and deep down in your heart you knew that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of God. You were given faith to trust in Him, and you were saved.
Your life changed. A new relationship was established between you and God. You can lift up your head and say, “Abba, Father,” because He is yours and you are His. That is our experience of new birth.
Brothers and sisters, in the same manner, that is the way that we receive that heavenly vision. First of all, we acknowledge that we are helpless. There is nothing we can do. We humble ourselves before Him, open our whole being toward Him, and say, “Lord, show me the heavenly vision. Show me Thy Son as Thou seest Him.”
If we seek, we shall find. We need not be anxious about it, but we need to be diligent in seeking after Him. He that is hungry and thirsty after righteousness shall be filled.
Remember, brothers and sisters, it pleases God to reveal His Son in us. It is God’s good pleasure. He wants to reveal His Son in us. Just like parents who have a new baby—or even grandparents who have a new grandchild—you do not really need to ask, but they will show you the picture.
That is the way with the heavenly Father. He has such good pleasure. He delights to reveal His Son in us. All we need to do is open ourselves to Him, ask, seek, and we shall be given.
Do not seek for some special feeling. Just seek Him, and you will have it. He may have His timing, but He is faithful and true.
Brothers and sisters, it is God’s will that we know the heavenly vision. It is God’s will that we possess that heavenly vision. That heavenly vision is nothing other than the Son: all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him. To see that He is your all in all, and to see that He has a bride, a life companion, to share with Him in His burden as well as in His glory.
Because the heavenly vision and this matter of obedience to the heavenly vision are not just a theory, a theology, or mental knowledge, but a spiritual reality, we try to illustrate this matter of being obedient to the heavenly vision with real persons.
My responsibility is the life of Christ. As I mentioned at the first session, when I first got this assignment, I felt it was ironical. Christ Himself is the heavenly vision, so how is it that we should use Him as an example of being obedient to the heavenly vision?
But thank God, the more I meditated on it, the more I realized that there is no better example of being obedient to the heavenly vision than Christ Himself. He is not only the vision, but He is the Author and the Finisher of that vision. He is the Originator and the Completer of that vision. He is the One who makes that vision possible. He is the One who brings in that vision and brings us into that vision.
We have already said that the story of Christ is altogether different from our story. Our story begins with our natural birth, but the story of our Lord Jesus begins with eternity past.
In the beginning was the Word—the Logos, the speech, the utterance, the voice, the expression, the image. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the supreme One, the Father; and the Word was God, because He was the Son, and He was one with the Father.
We mentioned how, in eternity past—to use human language—the Father and the Son had perfect fellowship, sharing equally the same everything with each other. Their fellowship was complete, perfect, harmonious, and joyous. It was in the Spirit; it was of life, of light, of love, and of righteousness.
During that fellowship, something began. The Father expressed to His Son how He loved His Son. He wanted to do everything for His Son. He had the desire to create all things—the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth—and He was to give all these things to His Son.
More than that, He knew that His Son is love. Love cannot be satisfied with anything that is merely outside of itself. He needs something that will answer to Himself, to His heart. So it is the eternal will of God that He would give His Son a helpmeet, His bride.
As They were fellowshipping together, the Father said, “Well, because of My foreknowledge, I can see that there will be a problem in the creation, and even a problem with the man who will be created in Our image and after Our likeness. What should I do, that My love toward You will not be hindered but can be fully expressed?”
Somehow, the Son stepped forward and answered, “Father, if this is Your good pleasure, go ahead. I voluntarily offer Myself to be the Lamb—a Lamb to be slain from the foundation of the world.”
Dear brothers and sisters, the obedience of Christ to the heavenly vision began in eternity past. It is marvelous in our eyes.
Because of this offering of the Son, in obedience to the heavenly vision, we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. That is the story of our Christ in eternity past.
Then centuries and centuries passed until the promise of God was fulfilled. In the fullness of time, God sent His Son into this world, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might deliver us from the curse of the law and that we might receive sonship.
In John 1:14, it says, “The Word became flesh.” Philippians 2 tells us that He, subsisting in the form of God, because He is God, possessed all the character, nature, essence, glory, honor, sovereignty, and power of God. He was above all.
But because He had eternally offered Himself to be the Lamb slain, He emptied Himself. He laid aside the form of God in order that He might put on another form: the form of a bondservant.
Brothers and sisters, this is the obedience of Christ to the heavenly vision. This is the price He paid. Think of that. He was God, the Sovereign, and now He gave up that right and laid aside that right in order that He might take the form of a bondservant, with no rights whatever—living no longer for Himself, but for the One, His Father.
With that inward mind of a bondservant, He took up the fashion of a human being. As we mentioned last time, the man whom God created in the first place is a man who has that inward sense of being a bondman to God: to serve God’s purpose, to exist, as it were, to be used as a vessel, as an instrument, in God’s hand to fulfill His eternal purpose.
Man was created not just to enjoy himself. Man was created for God’s purpose, to serve God’s purpose. So our Lord Jesus, while He was on the earth, called Himself the Son of Man. He is the real Man, the Man after God’s own heart.
Throughout His life, one thing marked Him: He was obedient to the Father. Being a perfect Man, He could do much more than anybody else. There is not one genius among men that can be compared with our Lord Jesus. Yet how He denied Himself, took up His cross, and, obedient to His Father, humbled Himself even unto death—yea, the death of the cross.
Oh, thank God. Before He died, He shouted, “It is finished.” The mission was completed. The impossible task was done. The work of salvation was completed. The way to the fulfillment of the heavenly vision was opened. The foundation of that heavenly vision was laid.
So, brothers and sisters, in the life of our Lord Jesus and in His death, He opened the way to the heavenly vision.
He was buried, and on the third day He was raised from the dead, because He is the resurrection and the life. He died in our stead. He completed the work of redemption, and He was raised from the dead, giving life to those who believe in Him.
He has overcome death. He robbed death of its power, and now He holds in His own hand the keys of death and Hades. For forty days He appeared to His disciples, speaking to them concerning the kingdom of God. Then, on the Mount of Olives, He ascended up to heaven.
So far as His work on earth was concerned, it was finished and completed. But, brothers and sisters, perhaps we wonder: what happened after He ascended to heaven and returned to His Father?
The life of Christ begins from eternity past. He goes through time, and He enters into eternity to come. In other words, the life of Christ did not end at His ascension. It continues on into eternity. This morning, we would like to conclude the story—the history—of Christ as an example of being obedient to the heavenly vision, by seeing Christ in glory.
You remember the story recorded in Acts 1. Our Lord Jesus began to ascend from the Mount of Olives, and the disciples looked up, seeing Him going up until a cloud received Him and they could see Him no more.
Yet they were still looking up. Then two men in white appeared to them and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner.”
Now we wonder: after the cloud received Him, did He really arrive in heaven? Did He really sit at the right hand of the Father on the throne? Where is the proof?
Thank God, we find the apostle John. After the apostle Paul was martyred and all the original twelve, except John, had died, the apostle John was the last one. For the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus, he was exiled to the island of Patmos.
On the Lord’s Day, he was in the Spirit. The heavens opened, and in the Spirit he was taken up to the third heaven. In the vision, he saw One sitting on the throne. It was God the Father, surrounded by angels worshipping, praising, and honoring Him.
Then he heard a voice: “Who is worthy to take that little book in the hand of God, and to open the seals?” The voice was heard in heaven, on earth, and even underneath the earth, but there was no answer. John wept because he thought all was hopeless.
But then he was comforted and told, “Weep not. There He is: the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He has overcome, and He is able, worthy to take that book and to open the seals.”
John saw, in Revelation 5, in the midst of the throne and of the twenty-four elders, a Lamb newly slain, standing there. Brothers and sisters, we know that Revelation 5 is a review of the ascension of our Lord Jesus.
Why? Because it tells us that it is the Lamb newly slain, but standing. That means He had died, newly died, and was resurrected, and now had ascended to the throne. It is a replay of the ascension scene of our Lord Jesus.
There you find this Lamb slain, standing. He is worthy. In the whole universe, nobody is worthy but He. Why? Because He has overcome. On Calvary’s cross, He overcame Satan and all the evil forces. By the cross, He made a show of them. On the cross, He defeated sin and death. He is the Overcomer, the Son of Man.
We know this little book is the title deed of the universe. God created the heavens and the earth. He is the Owner of the universe. But unfortunately, when He gave man dominion to rule over the earth, man forfeited it to sin. So Satan today is called the prince of this world.
But remember: he is a usurper. He is not the owner. God has never given up His ownership. He holds in His hand this little book, and now God is going to claim His right over creation.
Who is worthy to take that book? Who is worthy to open the seals, to execute the will of God? Only the One who is worthy, who has overcome Satan and all the evil powers.
Thank God, as the Lamb slain, resurrected, and ascended, He is the One who is worthy. Here you find our Lord Jesus in glory. In glory, He is still the Lamb—slain, but resurrected.
Even in this matter of coming forth to take the title deed of the universe, to open the seals, to execute the will of God, to bring all things back to God, and to subject all things to the feet of God—even in doing this work, He does it as a Lamb, in obedience to His Father.
Remember one thing. In eternity past, He prepared the way for the heavenly vision by offering Himself as the Lamb slain. While He was on earth, during the days of His flesh, He laid the foundation of the heavenly vision. Now in heaven, He is completing and fulfilling the heavenly vision by being obedient to the Father.
From the very beginning to the very end, it is obedience to the heavenly vision. As you read the book of Revelation, you find how the Lamb, slain and risen up in the midst of the throne, executes God’s will in bringing all things back to His Father’s feet. That is what Revelation is.
To me, I feel, brothers and sisters, the heavenly vision is one. It is singular in number: the heavenly vision. But the heavenly vision is so inclusive.
I think the apostle Paul was given the heavenly vision, but particularly he was shown the starting point—how the heavenly vision began to be true. I believe the vision the apostle John saw is the same heavenly vision, but it is the finishing point, the concluding part of that heavenly vision. It is just one vision.
For us, we are not going to cover all the areas of how He reduces all things under His feet until He defeats the last enemy, death, and then gives all things back to His Father, as we find in 1 Corinthians 15. We will concentrate on the part in which we are included.
In other words, in obedience to the heavenly vision, what has Christ in glory completed and done in us? What will be our part to play in the completion of the heavenly vision? I think that is what our focus will be this morning.
We have to go back to Revelation 1. Actually, what happened in Revelation 1 happened after our Lord Jesus had ascended up to heaven.
You remember our Lord told His disciples, “Wait in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high, and then you will be My witnesses to the world.” So the one hundred and twenty waited in Jerusalem for ten days. They prayed together with one accord.
On the day of Pentecost, suddenly there was a mighty rushing breath. That is what the original is: a wind, but that wind is the breathing of a Person. God was breathing out His Spirit, and there was a mighty breath filling the room. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
This is Pentecost, the beginning of the history of the church on earth.
You remember when our Lord was on earth, before His crucifixion, when He saw that the day of His death was drawing near, He began to open Himself to His disciples, that He would go to Jerusalem and die there.
In Matthew 16, when He was by the border of Caesarea Philippi, rejected by His own people, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” Then He said, “Who do you say that I am? You who have followed Me all these years, you should know Me. Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter, representing the other disciples, answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Anointed of God. Thou art the Son of God.”
Christ said to Peter, “Thou art blessed, because this is not something revealed to thee by flesh. It is the Father in heaven who has revealed it unto thee. Thou art Peter, a little stone. Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
In other words, when our Lord Jesus came to earth, He came for a purpose. His coming to earth was to seek for His bride. But unfortunately, when He came to the world, the world did not receive Him. He met all these blind people, the crippled, the lepers, even the dead, but He came seeking His bride.
Because He could not find her anywhere, He had to create her. He had to go to the cross, that out of His side might come blood and water, to create His Eve, His bride. So He said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
It was on the day of Pentecost that the building began. The baptism with the Holy Spirit means one thing. It is explained to us in 1 Corinthians 12:13:
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus has ascended to heaven. How do we know? Because after He reached heaven, He was anointed. He was made Christ, the Anointed One, and Lord of all things. Now the oil, the anointing oil, comes down to the beard and even to the whole body.
In one Spirit, brothers and sisters, we were baptized into one body. We became members of the one body of Christ. The church is His body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. That is His building, His church.
On earth, He laid the foundation for it, but in heaven, when He was in heaven, the building began in earnest. From Jerusalem, it spread to all Judea, to Samaria, and to the end of the world.
Toward the end of the first century, the apostle John was on the island of Patmos. Most likely, John might have been sitting on a rock facing the sea. From the island of Patmos, on a clear day, he could see the outline of Asia Minor. That was where he had labored before he was exiled.
It must be that on the Lord’s Day he was thinking about the assemblies in which he had labored. What happened to them? Then he heard a voice behind him. He turned back, and he saw a vision.
He saw seven golden lampstands, and One like unto the Son of Man standing in the midst of them. He was clothed with a long, white robe.
Even in the first chapter of Revelation, the seven lampstands are explained to us, because the seven lampstands are the seven churches in Asia. God chose these seven churches to represent the churches of all ages.
The church is a lampstand. The lampstand is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. The lampstand exists for one purpose: to hold forth the light.
The church, the assembly of God’s called-out ones, is a vessel to hold forth Christ, the Light. It is a golden lampstand. It is made all of gold. In the tabernacle, only two pieces of furniture were made all of pure gold: one was the mercy seat, and the other was the lampstand.
The mercy seat speaks of Christ. He is the mercy seat. The lampstand speaks of the church. In other words, in the church it is all of Christ and none of man.
The church is to hold forth the light. Our Lord Jesus committed His own testimony to the church. He reveals Himself to the church, and His revelation is His testimony. So the church is to testify to Christ. The church does not speak of itself; the church speaks of Christ.
Here we find these seven golden lampstands, and there was One walking in the midst of them. This is a scene in heaven. This is the reality. What is going on on earth is the appearance, but the reality is there before God.
After Christ ascended into heaven in glory, what is He doing there? Does He just sit on the throne and wait, doing nothing because His work on earth is finished? So far as the foundation of the heavenly vision is concerned, it is already laid. It is finished. You cannot add anything more to it.
But, brothers and sisters, there is something more that needs to be done. He is to bring that heavenly vision into perfection—to bring you and me into the heavenly vision. That is what He is doing in heaven.
He has saved us, but then He ever lives, making intercession for us, that He may save us to the uttermost. What is the uttermost? The uttermost is that He wants to save us into the very center, into the very being, of the heavenly vision. All that God has purposed concerning us shall be fully fulfilled.
You remember Romans 8:
Whom God foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Whom He foreordained, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
Individually speaking, what is our Lord doing today? He is our High Priest. On earth, He was the Apostle sent by God to accomplish the work of redemption and to lay the foundation of the heavenly vision. Now in heaven, He is our High Priest.
That is why the book of Hebrews says that we have a holy High Priest who is able to sympathize with us, and He is able to save us to the uttermost—to the very being in the heavenly vision. That is what He is doing.
Collectively, so far as the church is concerned, He also has the high-priestly ministry in the heavenly tabernacle. That is what Christ is doing, and He is doing it in obedience to the heavenly vision.
In that heavenly vision, there is your part and my part, your place and my place. In the heavenly vision, the church occupies a very important place in the whole matter of its completion. That is what Christ is doing today in glory: He is completing the work of the heavenly vision.
So far as the church is concerned, He is the High Priest to the church. There you find Him walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, observing whether the light is shining, whether it is getting dim, or whether it is smoky.
He will take off the ashes and pour in the oil to see that the light is burning, that the testimony is clear and strong, and that it shines over the earth.
Brothers and sisters, thank God. Thank our Lord Jesus that even now in heaven, He is not just sitting there and waiting. He is working day and night without ceasing—ministering and praying. He gave Himself to the church.
What He has revealed to the church is the testimony that we should bear for Him today. He is looking to see whether our testimony is clear, strong, burning, and shining, or whether it is getting dim, the oil is depleting, and it is smoky.
Since His ascension, since the day of Pentecost, our Lord has worked incessantly, interceding and ministering to His church throughout the centuries.
Unfortunately, we find how we fail Him again and again. When you look into the situation of the seven churches, aside from the church in Philadelphia and the church in Smyrna, all the other five churches received the call to repent because they did not meet His eyes.
If Christ should come into our midst today—and He is here—what will He see? Will He find Himself shining in full light, or will He have to knock at the door from outside?
Because of our weakness, He expects the whole church to be victorious, as He is victorious, because He has given Himself so completely to us. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, and we are complete in Him. But unfortunately, we look elsewhere. We are occupied with many other things.
Therefore, toward the end of the first century, there was the call to overcome:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
What does the Spirit say to the churches? The Spirit says nothing but the Christ who has been revealed to us. In the measure of His revelation to us will be the measure of our faithfulness.
He revealed much; we received much. But we have been unfaithful. Therefore, the call goes out today as it did at the end of the first century: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”
Brothers and sisters, we need to repent—not just for our sins, but because we are not up to what He has revealed. Are we faithful to that which He has revealed to us of Himself?
Those who are faithful will be few. They will be the minority. They probably will be those who are persecuted, as we find in church history. But they will answer the heart of Christ. They are those who are willing to deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow Him. Wherever the Lamb goes, they go.
Thank God, in spite of the failure of the church in general throughout the centuries, here and there there are always some who respond to Him in obedience to the heavenly vision.
They may be the persecuted. They may be the minority. They may be the rejected—not just by the world, but by the Christian world. But God knows. He knows who they are. They will be the firstfruits, and later on, the whole group.
Brothers and sisters, why is it so important that we respond to the heavenly vision? Why is it so important that we should be obedient to the heavenly vision? Because it has a great relationship to the restoration of all things.
You remember in Ephesians 1, it says our Lord Jesus rose from the dead and ascended on high, above every principality and authority. He is over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all.
The victory of Christ, the ascension of Christ, is for the church—that the church, His body, the members of His body, may overcome all things and bring all things to the feet of the Lord Jesus.
One day all things will be brought into subjection to Christ. But first, all things have to be brought into subjection to Christ in our lives. We are the firstfruits. He wants to see that everything in our lives is brought into subjection to the Head, to Christ.
When this is done, then the whole universe, all things, will be brought into subjection. In Romans 8, you find the whole creation today groaning, waiting for the time of its liberation. The whole creation is under corruption, under vanity, under emptiness, purposely ruined. That is something it does not desire.
But all creation is subjected today to vanity, to emptiness, and to bondage because of man. It is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Who are the sons of God? Those who are conformed to the image of Christ, that they may be sons and that Christ may be the Firstborn among many such. So, brothers and sisters, the whole creation is waiting for you, waiting for you to be completed first in that heavenly vision.
Unless we are completed by the grace of God, by His intercession, by His Spirit working in our lives, by the working of the cross in our lives, by being transformed and conformed to His image, and coming to sonship, the whole world is waiting for us.
We ought to assist, as it were, Christ to complete that work. This is what man was created for in the first place.
Oh, brothers and sisters, our responsibility is great because our privilege is great. To whom He gives more, more is required. It is extremely important, brothers and sisters, for the completion of the heavenly vision, when Christ shall be the Heir of all things and when everything will be under His feet.
He has to do it first in our lives. Then through us and with us, everything will be put into subjection.
Thank God. No matter how weak we are, He is strong. We may fail, but He can never fail. Therefore, when you come to the end of the book of Revelation, you see the New Jerusalem.
Humanly speaking, as we look around and look at ourselves, we tend to give up hope. But God is working. He is working silently and secretly. He is working toward the completion of the age.
At the completion of the age, in the eternity to come, you will see a new heaven and a new earth. The New Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God, is on earth.
But even in that final scene, you find Christ. He is still the Lamb. In New Jerusalem, there is no temple because God is the temple, and the Lamb. In New Jerusalem, there is no need for light because God is the light, and Christ is the Lamp.
In New Jerusalem, you find the throne of God and of the Lamb. In other words, our Lord Jesus, once He volunteered in eternity past to be the Lamb, remains the Lamb forever and ever. His obedience never changes.
Glory to God. This is the way that He has dedicated for us. May the Lord help us.
Dear Lord, we bow and worship, because from the beginning to the very end, it is Thy grace and mercy shining through Thy beloved Son. We thank Thee for what He has done, what He will be doing, and what shall be accomplished.
Oh, Lord, we willingly surrender our lives today and say, “Lord, speed up Thy work until that heavenly vision, Thy eternal purpose, be fully realized.” We ask in Thy name. Amen.