Will you please turn to the book of Revelation?
We read Revelation 1:17-18:
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead.
And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not;
I am the first and the last,
and the Living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore,
and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
Dear Lord, as we gather together in Thy name, how precious it is to be assured of Thy presence with us.
We do realize, Lord, that we are standing on holy ground. Teach us how to remove our shoes, to take the place of Thy bondslaves, looking unto Thee to reveal Thy mind to us, that we may serve Thee as we ought.
Lord, we do realize this is a holy time. We pray that we will put our flesh under the cross, and every one of us will be face to face with Thee in this holy environment. Speak, Lord. Thy servants hear. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Thank God. Well, gathering us together again at this time, as our brother mentioned last night, there is a question and there is an answer. The question was asked by God. He asked Adam, “Where art thou?”
And I believe that, even today, this is the question that the Lord is asking every one of us: “Where are you?” Brothers and sisters, are we where we ought to be? Are we anxious to meet the Lord for fellowship, or are we hiding ourselves from the Lord?
I think it is a valid question. It is a question that we should ask ourselves every day, every moment. The Lord is coming. He is coming to have fellowship with us. Do we welcome His fellowship? Are we eagerly looking for His return, ready for Him? Where are you?
Thank God for the answer that the little boy Samuel gave to the Lord. In spite of his youth and official inexperience, he did have a heart for the Lord. So he answered the Lord, “Here am I. Speak.”
Brothers and sisters, as we gather here this year, do we come with such an attitude? Can we say from the very depths of our heart, “Lord, speak. We are here”?
I think if we assume this heart attitude, I believe this will be a very pleasant time. Shall we, as we meet these days, continue to maintain such a heart attitude before the Lord?
Do not think that we have heard all these things before. Have a heart hungry and thirsty for Him, longing for Him, that whatever His word may be, we may hear and we may obey. I think this is a preparation for every one of us.
The theme of this conference is God’s testimony. Now, I do realize that over the years we have been repeating this theme in several different ways.
Maybe, brothers and sisters, when you hear this theme, you may think that you have already heard it more than once. Why should we go back again and again? Brothers and sisters, this is the question I ask myself.
And I think the answer is this: God’s testimony is so essential. On the one hand, it is very basic; it is our foundation. If our foundation is not firmly set, how can we go through the stormy times today?
And yet, on the other hand, I believe nothing is more sublime than this thing: God’s testimony. And why? Why? Because this is related to God’s eternal purpose.
Anything that is closely related to God’s eternal purpose—think of that. Even before the foundation of the world, before there was anything but God, God purposed a purpose. And He purposed a purpose according to His good pleasure. This is something that pleases Him deeply.
And what is that purpose? This is God’s testimony. He wants to testify to the world what is uppermost in His heart, what He is going to do, and how He would deal with us—what will satisfy Him.
Brothers and sisters, this is not something merely basic. This is not something for fun. God’s eternal purpose, even before the foundation of the world, He purposed in His heart. And the Bible says that when He purposes, it is according to His good pleasure. It is something that pleases Him.
And what is that purpose? He wants to glorify His Son.
If we are able to look into the heart of God, you can see nothing there but His Son, because everything is in His Son. This is God’s testimony. God’s testimony is, “Behold My Son.”
Brothers and sisters, if this is God’s will, is it our life pursuit?
You remember, when our Lord Jesus was on earth, how God testified of Him again and again and again.
In Matthew 3, we find that when our Lord Jesus was baptized at the Jordan River, after He came out of the water, the heavens opened and the voice said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Brothers and sisters, here you find a Person. The heavens had been closed for four hundred years, because after Malachi, in Old Testament times, God was silent to the world. He was even silent to His own people. They drove Him to silence.
But then, when our Lord Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened, and the voice of heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Why?
Because His only begotten Son, the Heir of all things, was willing to leave His glory and come into this world, take up the form of a man, and live for God—to accomplish God’s purpose and to bring out God’s salvation.
He took the place of a sinner who needed repentance and baptism. Brothers and sisters, God testified of His Son.
And again, you find in Matthew 17, when our Lord Jesus went to the Mount of Transfiguration. He had lived a life for God, and there on the Mount of Transfiguration His glory appeared.
Moses and Elijah appeared to talk with Him, and they were talking about His exodus. In other words, He had come into this world; the Word had become flesh. But now He was going to leave this world, to take His exodus from it. And how was He going to take His exodus?
Brothers and sisters, so far as He Himself was concerned, He was well ready to take His exodus. He had come into the world according to the Father’s will. He had done everything according to His Father. He had pleased the Father.
And now, so far as He Himself was concerned, He had the glory of leaving this world and returning to His Father. He had every right to do it. Moses and Elijah talked with Him about His exodus: “How are You going to leave this world?”
Brothers and sisters, do you know the exciting moment? Do you know that moment that concerns us for eternity? So far as our Lord Himself was concerned, He was ready—ready to exit from the Mount of Transfiguration.
If He did, what would happen? There would be only one Man in heaven, even today. We would have no hope. We would be condemned, eternally lost.
But thank God, He did not exit from this world from the Mount of Transfiguration. He was willing to come down from the mountain, to go to Jerusalem, and then to Calvary’s cross.
No wonder the heavens opened and a voice came from heaven: “This is My beloved Son: hear ye Him.”
Do not talk. Do not have your own ideas or opinions, whatever good they may be. Hear ye Him. He is the One who is worthy to be heard.
And then you find in John 12 His last entry into Jerusalem—a glorious entry. Even the Gentiles wanted to see Him, as if the whole world was after Him.
But our Lord Jesus knew very well. He said, “A grain of wheat, falling into the ground and dying, bears much fruit.” He is that grain of wheat, fallen from heaven into the ground—not to live, but to die—that He may bring forth much fruit.
And this is why we are here this morning. He said, “Father, glorify Thy name. I came for this moment.” The cross was before Him, and heaven answered, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
Brothers and sisters, this is the Son. This is the Lord Jesus. This is our Savior. This is our Lord. This is God’s testimony.
You remember our Lord Jesus in John 8. He said, “I am the light of the world.” The scribes and Pharisees immediately said, “You testify of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”
But our Lord Jesus said, “Even though I am testifying of Myself, My witness is true, because your law says the witness of two or three is sure. I am testifying of Myself, but My Father, who is with Me—whom you cannot see because you do not know Him—He is also testifying of Me.”
The Lord said, “You liked John the Baptist. He was like a lamp, and he shone in My name.” You remember how John the Baptist, when our Lord Jesus came to be baptized, somehow sensed in his spirit, “This is One by whom I should be baptized. Instead, I am baptizing Him.”
So John refused to baptize Him, and the Lord Jesus said, “Do it, for righteousness’ sake.” And John said, “I saw, when He came out of the water, the Spirit of God like a dove came upon Him and abode upon Him. This is the Son of God.”
And one day, when John the Baptist was standing there with two disciples, he saw Jesus pass by and testified, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Brothers and sisters, this is the testimony that John the Baptist gave concerning our Lord.
And you remember also, after our Lord was resurrected from the dead, two disciples were leaving Jerusalem for Emmaus. They were disappointed. Their hearts were broken.
As they were on the way, they talked about what had happened. Suddenly, the Lord walked with them and said, “Why are you so sorrowful?” And they said, “Did You not hear what has happened in Jerusalem?”
So they told Him what it was, and the Lord said, “How slow of heart you are!” Did not the Old Testament testify of My resurrection, of Me? And He began to go through the Psalms, the prophets, and the books of the law to show them how the Scriptures testified of Him.
“You search the Scriptures. You think that there is eternal life in them, but you do not come to Me,” because the Scriptures testify of our Lord Jesus.
And then again, you remember how, on that very day in Jerusalem, He appeared to the disciples. From the law of Moses, through the Psalms and the prophets, He showed them how the Scriptures spoke of Him.
Peter, on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, also stood up and testified that God had made Him both Lord and Christ.
So there is no doubt: what is God’s testimony? What does God testify to? Whom does He testify to? Everything from God testifies of our Lord Jesus.
So, dear brothers and sisters, it is of tremendous importance to us to know what is the testimony of Jesus. And I think there is nothing better than to come to what the Lord says of Himself.
So this brings us to Revelation 1. You remember the apostle John, how he was exiled to the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Before he was exiled, of the twelve apostles he was the only living one. He was at the end of the first century, and he was ministering faithfully to the churches in Asia Minor.
So after he was exiled to that island, on the Lord’s Day, he must have been facing across the Aegean Sea toward the shores of Asia Minor. On a good day, he could see the seashore. And on the Lord’s Day, he must have been thinking about these churches to which he had ministered before he was exiled.
And suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. He turned back to see the voice, and he saw what we call the Patmos vision.
He saw seven golden lampstands, which represent the seven churches in Asia Minor. And among these seven lampstands he saw One like the Son of Man.
Now, brothers and sisters, John was most familiar with our Lord Jesus while He was on earth. I think we can safely say that, of all the disciples of our Lord Jesus, John was the one closest to the Lord, knowing the Lord more than anybody else.
Even when you read the Gospel according to John, you see the difference. It was different from all the other three Gospels. They all recorded the life of our Lord Jesus, but the record of John is different. It is deeper. It is more intimate. It reveals something within.
So he knew the Lord more than anybody else. And yet, when he saw that Patmos vision, he was stricken. You see how powerful that was. Why? Because it is the vision of the risen Lord.
We know the work of our Lord Jesus when He was on earth. We know how He accomplished the work of redemption for our sake. We know His suffering for us. But do we know what He is doing in heaven?
I remember a story. There was once an elderly sister. She was illiterate, and she believed in the Lord Jesus and asked for baptism.
According to the custom of that time, anyone who asked for baptism had to be examined to see whether her faith was real or not. So one day she was brought before the elders, and the elders began to examine her faith.
One of the questions they asked her was, “What do you think the Lord Jesus is doing in heaven?”
Well, she thought for a while, and she said, “The Lord Jesus is looking down from heaven and looking at me, trying to see what things I have committed.”
Of course, she did not pass. Now, brothers and sisters, do we know better? We may be well familiar with what the Lord has done on earth, but do we know what the Lord is doing in heaven?
On the cross He said, “It is finished.” The work of redemption is finished. Nothing can be added. It is done; eternally effective.
So when our Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, the Bible says He sat at the right hand of God. I mean, you do not sit down until your work is done. And after your work is done, what do you do? You sit down and rest.
So what do you think our Lord is doing there? Is He dozing, having nothing to do? Of course not. He is as busy as He was on earth.
He is there, making intercession for us, that He may save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. In other words, He is applying what He had finished on the earth to our lives, that we may be brought into the reality of all that He has done for us.
Here you see our Lord Jesus. He was there, standing among the seven golden lampstands—not just standing there. He was actually examining every one of these churches. He said, “I know. I know.”
He is the great High Priest, not only for us individually. Brothers and sisters, how often we, the people of God today, know a lot about what our Lord Jesus has done on earth, but may not know much about what He is doing now in heaven.
As a matter of fact, if we do not know what He is doing now in heaven, we cannot walk a Christian walk. That is impossible.
But more so, we do not know what He does to the churches. He said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
But our Lord did not begin to build the church until after He died, resurrected, and ascended. When He was on earth, He was preparing materials for the church, but He was not building the church, because the church did not begin until the day of Pentecost.
After our Lord Jesus ascended, He was anointed by the Father as Lord and Christ. The oil fell upon His head, coming down to His feet and coming down through His whole body. Brothers and sisters, this is Pentecost.
There were one hundred and twenty believers, the best you can know, but nevertheless one hundred and twenty individual believers—a congregation. But on the day of Pentecost, a tremendous change came. In one Spirit they were baptized into one body.
Brothers and sisters, do not look at Pentecost merely for the sound and the sight. Do not be occupied with the blowing of the wind or the speaking of a person. Do not be occupied with the fire, as tongues, falling upon their heads.
These are secondary and complementary. They may happen; they may not happen. But, brothers and sisters, what happened on Pentecost is of tremendous value, because in one Spirit we have been baptized into one body.
That is the beginning of the church. So, dear brothers and sisters, the building of the church begins after His death, resurrection, and ascension. That is what our Lord is doing today: He is building His church.
He is looking at every one of these seven churches, representing the churches in the first century as well as the churches even today. Our Lord is diligently ministering to build up His church.
Brothers and sisters, when people say, “We are building the church,” how dare we? If we are building the churches, no wonder the gates of Hades have overwhelmed us.
There is no one who can build the church but Christ Himself. He is the High Priest, building His churches.
And the way He is building His church is such that even John fell down as dead.
And then came a voice. That is the testimony of our Lord Jesus concerning Himself.
The Lord said, “I am the first and the last, and the Living One.” That speaks of His deity. He is the first.
Time-wise, even before the foundation of the world, there He was with the Father. He is the first—not only time-wise, but He is the first quality-wise, because in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells.
He is the first, and He is the last. In other words, He is the end. He is what God is after. He concludes everything. He is the motive of everything. He gets the glory of everything.
Brothers and sisters, this is the testimony of Jesus. It is not just a proclamation, a word. It is a living word. There is reality there.
And brothers and sisters, He, the First, must be applied to our lives. God will not be satisfied unless His Son is the first of your life.
We have many relationships. Some seem to be closer to us, even ones that we would consider more valuable than our very life. But, brothers and sisters, the Father’s testimony to His Son is this: His Son must be your first.
This is the challenge. The Father challenges every believer. Have you ever been challenged by God about this matter? Is Christ the first in your life?
Be honest before the Lord. Can we honestly say, “He is the first”?
And not only that, He is the last. Is He the very motive, object, and goal of your life? Do you have any other end, any other goal in your life? Is He your goal?
Think of Paul, how he despised everything for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, how he forgot what was behind and pressed on to the goal, which is Christ Himself.
Brothers and sisters, the testimony of Jesus is powerful. It is not just a word. It is not just a slogan. It is a life.
When our Lord Jesus said, “I am the first, and I am the last,” He meant this is what He wants to be in each of our lives and in the churches. Anything less than that will not satisfy Him.
And He said, “I am the Living One.” Do we enjoy the life of our Lord Jesus? Do we find Him as living, as our very life? And are we living by His life?
The apostle Paul said, “For me to live is Christ.” Christ is the Living One, not me. This is the testimony of Jesus. Do we have it?
And then He says, “And I became dead.” Brothers and sisters, that speaks of His humanity. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among men, full of grace and truth.
This is the Lord Jesus with whom we are familiar: how He loves us, how He denied Himself, how He died on the cross. Of course He did.
“And behold, I am alive.” That speaks of His resurrection and ascension. Dear brothers and sisters, Christian faith is not an empty faith. It is not just a theological subject. It is living. It is real. Christ lives, and therefore we live.
“And behold, I am alive for evermore.” That is eternal life. “And I have the keys of death and of Hades.” In other words, He is the Conqueror. He has overcome death and Hades. He has cast out the one who held the keys of death.
The church is built on the victory of Christ. Now, brothers and sisters, this is what we find in the book of Revelation. This is the testimony of Jesus.
So the question to us now is: Do we have the testimony of Jesus?
You remember what happened in Ephesus. Seven sons of Sceva, a chief priest, were exorcists. They were doing this work of exorcism, casting out demons.
And when they saw that Paul was so powerful in casting out demons in the name of Jesus, they took that name and tried to cast out demons in the name of Jesus whom Paul proclaimed.
And you see what happened. The demon leaped upon two of them, stripped them naked, hurt them, and they had to flee.
So, brothers and sisters, the testimony of Jesus is not just a slogan that we can use. The testimony of Jesus is very, very real.
So the problem with us today is not a small thing. Brothers and sisters, do we have the testimony of Jesus?
There is a reason why we have to go back again and again over this matter. Dear brothers and sisters, we are living at a very exciting time.
On the one hand, we know we are living in the end time. And the end time means everything is shaking. We find not only the earth is shaking; the heavens are also shaken, that the unshakable may be brought forth.
And while we are living in this age, brothers and sisters, the testimony of Jesus is important. John had the testimony of Jesus.
So the question facing every one of us is one that, I think, brothers and sisters, we cannot escape. Our future, as it were, hangs upon this: Do we have the testimony?
Thank God, we are saved. But the testimony of Jesus is something that God is asking of every one of us.
One day, you will find those who have the testimony of Jesus, at the coming of our Lord Jesus, entering into the kingdom of the heavens, when Christ shall reign and rule for a thousand years.
And those who have the testimony of Jesus, they will reign and rule with Christ. But those who are saved, but do not have the testimony of Jesus, will not be able to enter into the joy of the Lord for those thousand years.
Eventually, by the grace of God, they will also have the testimony of Jesus, and so in eternity we will all be together there as the servants of God.
And this is something the Bible calls the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens. The end shall not come until the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens has been preached to all the nations.
And, dear brothers and sisters, this is what we are teaching this morning. So may the Lord have mercy upon us. Shall we pray?
We do praise and thank Thee that even at the last minute Thou art still seeking us, pleading for us, that we may not live a life that does not meet Thy light.
But we pray, Lord, by Thy grace—it is only by Thy grace—that we, by Thy grace, may have the testimony of Jesus, just like the apostle John. We worship Thee in Thy precious name.