Your speakers are getting too old. For Brother Godman, we need this special light. For me, we need a special microphone.
May the Lord help us tonight as we trust Him to release His word.
We would like to turn to Revelation 1 and read together this first revelation of the testimony of Jesus. We will begin in verse 12.
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands;
and in the middle of the lampstands I saw One like a Son of Man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet,
and girded across His chest with a golden sash.
His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow;
and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace;
and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
In His right hand He held seven stars;
and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword;
and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.
And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid;
I am the First and the Last, and the living One;
and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are,
and the things which will take place after these things.
As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand,
and the seven golden lampstands:
the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,
and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Then we want to turn to Zechariah 4. We begin in verse 1.
Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me,
as a man who is awakened from his sleep.
And he said to me, “What do you see?”
And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold,
with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it
with the seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it;
also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on the left side.”
Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
And the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me,
“Do you not know what these are?”
And I said, “No, my lord.”
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying,
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.
‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain;
and he will bring forth the topstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”
Let us pray.
Lord, we know that in these last days Your Spirit is moving to recover the testimony of Jesus in the church. How wonderful it is to have this opportunity to be together and to study these matters.
Encourage our hearts to be faithful to the end and to gain the reward that You desire to give Your dear children.
We ask that Your Spirit would help us to speak and would quicken our tired bodies to be able to hear. Because we are speaking on this matter of the testimony of Jesus, we plead the precious blood of Jesus over our whole time together.
Thank You, Lord, for Your great help and encouragement to us. We pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Last time we saw that the Lord raised up the apostle John—he whom Jesus loved—for a special end-time ministry.
Even by the end of the first century AD, the church was beginning to lose sight of the spiritual reality of Jesus in their midst. At the beginning of something, we may sense that vital spiritual reality within what we are doing, but after a time outward things begin to take precedence.
And so John was raised up to speak to us again about the centrality of the life of Jesus in the midst of His people. We have been speaking of this matter of the testimony of Jesus.
John bore the testimony of Jesus in his life. When our dear brother spoke, there was something transcendent and glorious about the word of God that he spoke. When you beheld our elder brother John, you saw some character in him that was of the divine nature.
He was beloved of the saints, but he was persecuted by the world. Nothing is more fearful to the world than someone who bears the testimony of Jesus.
Just the presence of somebody who has that testimony exposes the lie of our own existence. And so the Lord spoke to our brother and said, “Write the Gospel of John.” He shared the testimony of Jesus with the world.
What a simple yet profound work this Gospel is.
If you will turn to John 1, we just want to read a few passages from the more than forty-five times John mentions testimony and witness.
Some preachers preach Christ, but what they say seems narrow and small. But when John preached Christ, there was something large and glorious.
We will just pick up in John 1:4.
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
He came as a witness, to testify about the Light,
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlighteneth every man.
Turn to the end of John 3, verse 31. Jesus is speaking of His testimony regarding God and man. Whenever we see His testimony, we see truth and light.
He who comes from above is above all.
He who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth.
He who comes from heaven is above all.
What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies;
and no one receives His testimony.
He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.
We remember John 18, before Pontius Pilate. Jesus stood as a carpenter, as a man. But Pilate, by his own observation, saw a King.
We read John 18:36.
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.
If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting
so that I would not be handed over to the Jews;
but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?”
Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king.
For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
Pilate said, “What is truth?”
As we read the Gospel of John, we see the testimony of who God truly is and the testimony about who man truly is. If the church can just rediscover the reality of who Christ is, this would recover them to the testimony.
John was a faithful servant, but even John needed some recovery. And so he was given the visions in the book of Revelation.
When John saw the truth of who Jesus was, he fell down as a dead man. Even those who serve God and know the Lord so intimately—there is so much more of His glory than we know.
John was told to write these visions down and give them to the church in order to affect the recovery of the testimony of Jesus in the church.
When we look back in Revelation 1, John heard the mighty voice, turned, and the first thing he saw were seven lampstands. Just like Zechariah, he did not know what those seven lampstands were.
But he saw the Lord Jesus in the middle of the lampstands. Oh, what a glorious vision of Jesus he saw.
Jesus had to explain to him that these seven lampstands were the seven churches of Asia. Each of those seven churches was a lampstand.
Now we should ask the question: Why is the church on earth symbolized by a lampstand?
To understand this vision, we have to go back to Zechariah for just a moment. Perhaps you see the connection immediately between John and Zechariah, because both men were dealing with the recovery of the house of God.
Zechariah was a prophet who helped to recover the house of God. The children of Israel came back as a remnant to Jerusalem to build the temple.
First, they built the brazen altar and offered sacrifices. Then they laid the foundation of the house of God.
But even with that simple testimony, the enemy around them forced them to stop building the temple. They did not know what to do, and there was no building work.
Then a vision came to young Zechariah. An angel woke him up from sleep, as it were, and said, “What do you see?” He said, “Well, I see a lampstand, all of gold, and two olive trees that are feeding the oil into those lamps.”
You see, John also saw the lampstands, and in a sense he had to have explained to him the mystery of the lampstand.
The lampstand has the light of the lamp upon it—the light of revelation. And we know it is impossible to recover the house of God apart from revelation.
What was missing that Zechariah needed to see? He saw those lampstands and said, “What do these mean, Lord?”
The Lord answered him, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.”
Then the Lord revealed the testimony of Zerubbabel: Zerubbabel had laid the foundation of this temple, and Zerubbabel would complete the top of the temple.
You cannot build this house by your own strength, but the Spirit of God, through the testimony of Zerubbabel, will complete what He has begun.
As it were, the people were filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately began to build the temple of God. They needed that vision in order to build the house of God.
John also needed this vision in order to build the house of God. The house of God cannot be built except by seeing the testimony of Jesus.
Jesus has begun the building, laying the foundation. Jesus will complete the work of His church. It is the life of Jesus that the church needs for recovery.
We see in Revelation 2 and 3 these seven local churches, each a lampstand. We have a phrase used twice in the English Bible: “Those who hold the testimony of Jesus.”
Look at Revelation 19:10 again.
Then I fell at his feet to worship, but he said, “Do not do that.
I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren
who hold the testimony of Jesus.”
The church is a lampstand to hold Jesus, the Lamp. A lampstand is here, but you can take the lamp off it or you can put it on it.
And so we see what the church is. It is a means. Jesus in the center of the vision is what it is all about, but these lampstands are to lift up the testimony of Jesus.
The church is just a vessel. It is a means to an end. It is a lampstand to hold the light.
Is that your definition of the church? How do you define the church? I think most people would say, “Well, the church is the body of Christ.” But talking about it in its nature, how would you define it?
In defining the church, many people today look around at the present church situation and say, “Well, that is the church—all of these divisions, all of these various groups.”
Even some groups call themselves Christians, but they do not name the name of Christ. They say, “Oh, you have got to be practical today. That is just the way the church is.”
Well, if you get your definition of the church by looking around, then that is the church. But what is the church in God’s thought? It is a golden lampstand.
Now that is a beautiful thought. Have you ever considered the church as the golden lampstand?
We will just look at two verses in Exodus 25. I do not want to do too much in Exodus, because our brother Godwin is sharing a lot from there. But look at verses 31 and 32, as they describe the lampstand.
Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold.
The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work;
its cups, its bulbs, and its flowers shall be of one piece.
Six branches shall go out from its sides:
three branches of the lampstand from its one side,
and three branches from the other side.
Now here is the church in God’s thought. First of all, pure gold. Only that which is God, of God’s nature, is truly the church.
Only that which is truly the life of Jesus in His body is the church. The second thing is that it is made out of one piece of gold.
I do not know if you realize this, but our Lord sees no division in the church. It is made of one piece of gold.
It is also a piece of gold that has been beaten out. This is God’s work by the Holy Spirit, forging and making that lampstand.
You can imagine a skillful worker who can take just one big hunk of gold and beat it with a hammer until it forms this lampstand with its six branches at the top. Everything is made of one piece—beaten together, not glued, not soldered, just beaten into this one lampstand.
Now that is the church, where you can always hear the hammer of the Holy Spirit beating something beautiful of glory.
It is very important in the last days to define the church as God defines the church, because in John’s vision we see Jesus standing in the midst of the seven lampstands.
Now we notice that none of those seven churches were perfect. There is no perfect church upon this earth.
But they were faithful in such a way that they could hold the testimony of Jesus in their particular location.
Jesus has freely poured out His life into us by grace. Now Jesus is looking at the church to see if His life is being expressed.
Freely we have received; freely we should give. The Bridegroom is looking for a bride who is like Him.
But when He looks at the seven churches, we see that there are issues in those churches that can affect the testimony of Jesus.
That should instruct us that in every gathering of God’s people, Jesus has an issue that is essential for us to repent of and recover in the testimony of Jesus.
The issues were different from group to group. Certainly, we know that we love because He first loved us. That is first love: to have the love of God flowing through us by the Holy Spirit.
And now we love the Lord with first love. But if this is missing, then the testimony is hurt, and it needs to be recovered by repentance.
Each of the different churches has its own issue. Even those that are not told to repent have issues.
We know the second church in Smyrna was a church going through great persecution. But Jesus spoke to them about one issue there.
He said, “I know that you say you are poor, but you are rich.” In the midst of their persecution, they had forgotten the riches of Christ in their midst.
Even the church of Philadelphia was holding to the word of His patience, but there was an issue. They knew that they were very weak, and God had opened the door of opportunity for them, but they were dwelling upon their weakness.
Jesus was saying, “Go through the door that I have opened, and no one can shut.”
Each of the churches had different issues, and they were things that were causing the testimony of Jesus to flicker and not be clear.
We see Jesus, our High Priest, in our midst today. He commends the church for what they have done well, but there is usually some issue.
Those who have an ear to hear, hear what the issue is. It is different from one assembly to another.
Do you know what the Spirit is speaking to your assembly? He is saying something. It may not seem important to you, but spiritual issues have a domino effect. If one thing is not taken care of, it starts to knock down the other matters of testimony.
It is very important to have such an ear if we would overcome. If we do repent, then the testimony of Jesus is recovered and continues to shine in this dark world.
If we hold the testimony of Jesus, there is great reward. Our Lord Jesus speaks to us very personally in the book of Revelation.
What does He say? He says, “I am coming very soon. Hold fast the testimony until I come.”
If you hold fast the testimony, oh, the reward is so great.
He says, “If you overcome, you will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God. If you overcome, you will not be hurt by the second death. He will give you the morning star. He will confess your name before His Father. He will write on you the name of His God.”
And He will grant you to sit with Him on His throne, as He overcame and sat on His Father’s throne. All of that, because you simply held up the testimony of Jesus.
Wherever your church gathers, there is something glorious there, something transcendent. There is a throne there. Oh, it is wonderful to visit such an assembly.
God desires all of the churches to be a lampstand for this testimony of Jesus.
I just want to mention two other matters regarding the testimony of Jesus in the book of Revelation. We are told to bear the testimony of Jesus, to hold the testimony of Jesus.
I want to share with you one thing that happens when you hold the testimony of Jesus: when we hold the testimony of Jesus, He holds us.
We know that if we bear the testimony of Jesus, we will be persecuted. When we read in the book of Revelation, it is very real—the opposition that we face.
If you bear the testimony of Jesus, you may experience having to deal with the synagogue of Satan.
Notice Revelation 2:9.
I know your tribulation and your poverty—but you are rich—
and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not,
but are a synagogue of Satan.
Or notice Revelation 3:9.
Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan,
who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—
I will make them come and bow down at your feet,
and make them know that I have loved you.
Those are two different churches—Smyrna and Philadelphia—both smaller churches, and yet they faced the opposition of what is called the synagogue of Satan.
But notice the church of Pergamum. It faced Satan’s throne. Look at Revelation 2:13.
I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.
Then, in the church of Thyatira, in Revelation 2:24, we see that the church was facing the opposition of the teachings of the deep things of Satan.
But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira,
who do not hold this teaching,
who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—
I place no other burden on you.
We remember in Revelation 2:13 that Antipas was martyred for his faith. So we see that there is great opposition to the testimony of Jesus. We are threatening the very lie of Satan.
But here is what happens to those who hold the testimony of Jesus: the Lord upholds you.
For those who hold the testimony of Jesus, Satan cannot touch them unless God ordains it.
Look in Revelation 11, beginning in verse 1. Here is the section about the two witnesses, the two testifiers.
Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff;
and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar,
and those who worship in it.
Leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it,
for it has been given to the nations;
and they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty-two months.”
And I will grant authority to My two witnesses,
and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands
that stand before the Lord of the earth.
And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth
and devours their enemies;
so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.
I know that you are amazed as you read the Gospels. People come to grab Jesus, but it says, “It was not His hour,” and they could not do it. He somehow went away.
It is because He was bearing the testimony of God. God had His seal of keeping upon Jesus, and He could not be touched until the time was right.
According to Revelation 11, as we come more and more into the last days and growing tribulation, two witnesses will stand up who are two lampstands, and they will bear a powerful witness.
If anyone tries to kill them, they will be killed. Those who hold the testimony of Jesus as a lampstand are protected by God Himself.
Now we know that after their witness and testimony were given, these two witnesses were killed by the Antichrist. Notice Revelation 11:7.
When they have finished their testimony,
the beast that comes out of the abyss will make war with them,
overcome them, and kill them.
After they have finished their testimony. You and I have a testimony to bear. Until that testimony has been completed, God keeps your life.
You remember when Paul was shipwrecked. The Roman soldiers thought that everybody was going to lose their life, but an angel came and spoke to Paul and said, “You must bear testimony before Caesar.”
Paul realized he could not be killed until his mission was accomplished. So he told everybody on the ship, “Do not worry. We will all be safe.”
Are you so sure of the Lord’s protection? I tell you, if you bear the testimony of the Lord, Satan cannot touch you.
To me, it is the most incredible story. As the book of Revelation moves further toward the climax of the end time, we see Satan chasing after the Lord’s people.
Let us look at Revelation 12:15. Satan is the devil, the dragon, the serpent.
Satan can take one-third of the stars out of the sky by his power. But when he is in the great war in heaven, and he is overcome and thrown down upon the earth, what does Satan do?
He spends his time chasing after God’s people who hold the testimony of Jesus. Just clay vessels. These are no kings, no emperors, no big shots.
The only thing they are doing wrong is bearing the testimony of Jesus.
Let us read Revelation 12:15-17.
Then the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman,
so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.
But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth
and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.
So the dragon was enraged with the woman,
and went off to make war with the rest of her children,
who keep the commandments of God
and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Why is he running after these children who hold the testimony of Jesus?
We find out back in Revelation 12:11. It is because these little children overcame Satan.
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb
and because of the word of their testimony;
and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
Satan came to grab them, and they said, “The blood of Jesus.” Satan could not do it.
Satan said, “I am going to huff and I am going to puff and I am going to blow your church down.” And so the church just held up the testimony of Jesus, and he could not do it.
Satan said, “I am going to kill you.” They said, “We are not afraid to die.” Satan had no weapons against these simple children of God.
That is why Satan is chasing after them. And the whole time he is chasing them, he cannot get them, because nature itself is helping them escape and hide in the wilderness during the time.
Is that not a beautiful picture? Listen: be faithful to the Lord in such a way that you, as God’s people, as an assembly, can bear the testimony of Jesus.
If that is your heart, Satan cannot touch you. And if you are touched, it is because the Lord has a higher purpose for you.
Those who bear the testimony are borne up by the Lord Himself.
The final thing I want to say is this: those who bear the Lord’s testimony bear it and bring the whole matter of the church into glory.
We have a wonderful picture of the testimony of Jesus in Revelation 21. God, when He created this world and when He created man, had a purpose in His heart, and now we see it fulfilled.
If the Lord can find His church holding the testimony of Jesus tonight, the Lord Jesus will come back.
When Jesus can see Himself in His people, He will say, “They are ready.” These matters are very near.
But look at God’s purpose fulfilled. We will just notice a few things in Revelation 21. Begin at verse 1.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth;
for the first heaven and the first earth passed away,
and there is no longer any sea.
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
She is ready for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people,
and God Himself will be among them.
And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
and there will no longer be any death;
there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain;
the first things have passed away.”
God our Father is happy. He can dwell among men. They have been glorified sons who can dwell with Him because of His Firstborn Son and His finished work. Now there are many sons who can dwell with God.
Man was always meant to be a dwelling place of God. And now here is a great corporate man, the New Jerusalem, dwelling with God and He with them—an absolute union together.
What a glorious testimony. What does it look like? Let us read two verses.
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain,
and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
having the glory of God.
Her brilliance was like a very costly stone,
as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
The material of the wall was jasper;
and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
Now look at that picture. Here is a city absolutely transparent. It is not only pure gold; it is transparent gold.
I wonder why it is transparent. We find out a few verses later, in Revelation 21:22.
And I saw no temple in it,
for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple.
And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God has illumined it,
and its lamp is the Lamb.
Now look at that beautiful cubic city. It is fifteen hundred miles by fifteen hundred miles by fifteen hundred miles. It is cubic. We know in the Bible that this is the Holy of Holies.
This is a spiritual city. I hope you are not looking forward to living in a city with streets of gold, because this is a picture of you and me.
We are living stones in a city that has been transformed into transparent gold.
In the center of that city is the Lamp. It is the Lamp. It is the glory of the Lamb, and it shines through you and me.
Oh, what a marvelous lamp. You and I will one day be a huge cubic lamp of transparent gold.
You will be able to look at everybody and see the light of the Lamb.
And the nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
The nations will live by the glory of this New Jerusalem. You are the New Jerusalem.
This is the final revelation in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. He is united with His people. He is the Lamp and the Light, and they are, as it were, the lampstand.
This is God’s end.
Now who has a burden for the testimony of Jesus?
We need to be willing to hold up our Lord Jesus faithfully in this very, very dark world.
I live in Manhattan with a number of brothers and sisters. They are young brothers and sisters, but they have a real heart to witness to the people of Manhattan.
We have had some gospel meetings, and we have been talking and praying about how to find God’s open door to preach the gospel to the people of Manhattan.
One of the sisters tells a story. After the prayer meeting, she went down to the local coffee shop.
There was a guy before her in line, and he was a very proud and rather arrogant man. He was giving the woman a hard time.
As he was waiting for his order, he noticed our sister and a few other sisters fellowshipping over at a table.
When our sister went up to get her coffee, this guy said, “What are you guys doing over there talking?”
Our dear sister said, “Well, to be truthful with you, we are just talking about Jesus.”
She said that his countenance completely changed.
He said, “You mean you really have something like that to talk about? Maybe I need to talk about Jesus.”
They never saw the guy again. I am just making a simple point.
In this dark world, there are people so hungry for truth. Even when they see some people enjoying talking about Jesus, they are attracted to the light.
Who has a burden for the testimony of Jesus? You are the one who will be kept through all of the opposition.
Many brothers and sisters will be satisfied with the good, but you want the best—the glory of the Lord in the midst.
Who has a burden for the testimony of Jesus? It begins by defining the church according to God’s thought and not according to man.
Now who is able to bear the testimony of Jesus? He who has an ear to listen to the Spirit.
He who is willing to repent of anything that stands in the way of the testimony.
Jesus says to those who overcome: when He looks at His church, He is not looking for perfection, but He is looking for the perfecting process in that church.
He is looking for the Holy Spirit’s hammering going on in the midst. He is looking for people who together are willing not to believe the lie of their self-life, but rather to live for the Lord Jesus.
One day soon, God’s purpose will be fulfilled. He is waiting even now for those who are holding the testimony of Jesus.
None of us are perfect. There is no assembly that is perfect. But what is your heart?
I have really appreciated what our brother Godwin has been sharing about faithfulness. I say amen to all of those matters he is talking about—being faithful.
This matter of holding the testimony of Jesus is not just a sentimental thing. It involves the work of the cross and the work of the Spirit.
The Lord is waiting for the Bride to make herself ready. And this is her job: to hold the testimony of Jesus.
May the Lord help us in these last days. Even now He is raising up people all over this world who are willing to pay the price, who are running in order to gain the reward.
May we be faithful here as well.
Let us pray.
Lord, we all love the Gospel of John because we can just see Jesus. When we see Him, we say, “Oh, look at God. That is really God. Oh, look at man. That is really man.”
Now You want us, as Your people, to hold that testimony up in this world.
We know that the father of lies would want us to be put down and made to look like fools. But every time the testimony of Jesus is borne, Satan sees that he is a defeated foe.
So give us the heart and the courage to be faithful to the end—called, chosen, faithful.
For Jesus’ sake, we pray. Amen.