O Lord, Thou art the great God, and
greatly to be praised.
As we are gathering in Thy presence, what
else can we do but to bow low
and worship Thee?
Thou art not only the one who is
high above all, but Thou art the one
who is so near, so dear to us.
O how we praise and thank Thee that
we can commune with Thee.
We can behold Thee.
We can worship Thee.
O Lord, our hearts just bow low at
Thy feet.
We want to gaze upon Thee, gaze and
gaze again.
O how we praise and thank Thee a
sight of Thyself.
Thou slays everything else, makes everything worthless, because
Thou art the only one who fills our
hearts.
O Lord, tonight we do pray that Thou
will afresh.
Give us a sight of Thyself.
Lord, unless Thou dost reveal Thyself to us,
we can never see Thee.
We can never hear Thee.
We can never understand Thee.
Thou art so beyond our human capacity and
ability.
But Lord, how we praise and thank Thee
because of Thy great love.
Thou dost desire to reveal Thyself to us.
So Lord, give us the spirit of wisdom
and revelation.
O that we may know Thee.
And to know Thee is life eternal.
O Lord, Lord, be gracious unto us tonight.
In Thy precious name.
Amen.
Will you please turn to the book of
Revelation.
Revelation, chapter 1.
Beginning with verse 9.
Revelation, chapter 1, verse 9.
I, John, your brother, and fellow partaker in
the tribulation and kingdom and patience in Jesus,
was in the island called Patmos for the
word of God and for the testimony of
Jesus.
I became 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 to
the seven churches, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna,
and to Pergamos, and to Tyatira, and to
Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
And I turned back to see the voice
which spoke with me.
And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.
And in the midst of the seven lampstands,
one like the Son of Man, clothed with
a garment reaching to the feet, and good
about at the breast with a golden girdle,
his head and hair white like white wool,
as snow, and his eyes as a flame
of fire, and his feet like fine brass,
as burning in a furnace, and his voice
as the voice of many waters, and having
in his right hand seven stars, and out
of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword
going forth, and his countenance as the sun
shines in its power.
And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as 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
living to the ages of ages, and have
the keys of death and of Hades.
The apostle John was the last of the
twelve apostles.
And in his old days, for the sake
of the word of God and the testimony
of Jesus, he was exiled to an island
called Patmos.
Evidently before he was exiled to that island,
he was laboring in those churches in the
Roman province of Asia.
You remember that?
Paul was used of God to raise up
these churches in Asia.
But apostle John was privileged to labor in
the same churches in Asia.
But he was taken away from his field
of labor, and was exiled to Patmos.
Patmos was an island in the Aegean Sea,
near the coast.
From the island he could still see, if
it was a good day, he could still
see the faint outline of the Roman province
of Asia, where these churches were.
And he said, On the Lord's Day.
Now, especially on the Lord's Day, usually, you
know, with God's people, the Lord's Day was
the day when we come together to remember
the Lord, to worship Him, and to serve
Him.
The Lord's Day must be the day that
the apostle John will be among God's people.
He will be fellowshipping with them, and probably
he will be ministering to them the grace
of God.
But because he was in exile, he was
taken out of his work, and was put
on an island all by himself.
There was no fellowship with any saints.
So naturally, on the Lord's Day, probably he
will be sitting on a rock, on something
that is high up, and he will look
longingly across the sea.
He could faintly see the outlines of these
cities, of the churches among which he had
labored faithfully and lovingly.
While he was longingly looking, the Bible said
he was in the Spirit.
And in the Spirit he heard a voice,
as of a trumpet, saying that, what you
have seen, write to the seven churches in
Asia.
The voice came from behind.
So he turned back to see the voice.
We often think the voice is to be
heard, but John turned back to see the
voice.
And as he turned back to see the
voice, he was given a vision.
He saw seven golden lampstands.
And in the midst of the seven golden
lampstands, one like the Son of Man.
Brothers and sisters, why is it that God
gave this vision, this revelation, to John and
not to just anybody else?
Our God is a God who reveals Himself.
I often think that God delights to reveal
Himself to us.
It is His pleasure.
He is trying to reveal Himself.
He is trying to reveal His Son to
us.
There should be no lack of visions and
revelations.
Of course, by visions and revelations, we do
not limit them to something you see physically.
The Lord is able to allow us to
see physically.
I do believe that.
But I think, by vision and revelation, it
is something deeper than that which is physical.
A vision and a revelation is an unveiling
of God Himself.
God unveils Himself.
God reveals Himself.
God makes His mind known to man.
That is a vision.
That is a revelation.
Not necessarily to the naked eyes.
Not necessarily to our physical ears.
But especially, reveal Himself by His Spirit in
us.
And when such revelation and such vision comes
to our spirit, we can truly say, we
now see it.
We haven't heard it.
It is real.
Probably, to many of us today, to our
experience, it is almost like in the days
of Eli.
The vision of God is rare.
And the Word of God is scarce.
Not because God does not want to reveal
Himself.
Not because God does not want to speak.
The problem is with His people.
Because the people's hearts are not towards the
Lord.
Because our ears are dull.
Our eyes are dim.
And that is the reason why God's vision
is rare.
And His Word is scarce.
I do believe that if our eyes are
open, if our ears are open, if our
hearts are open to the Lord, there will
be no lacking of visions and revelations.
God delights to reveal Himself to us.
Why is it that this vision of the
seven golden lampstands, with the Son of Man
in the midst of them, was revealed to
Apostle John and not to just anybody else?
It was because here was a man who
had the testimony of Jesus and who was
willing to pay the cost because of it.
He was exiled to the island Patmos for
the Word of God and the testimony.
In other words, if we are faithful, God
will trust Himself to us.
God wants to trust Himself.
God wants to, in a sense, God wants
to commit Himself, but He cannot.
Not because He will not, but because He
cannot.
If God shall commit Himself to us and
trust Himself to us, there must be a
faithfulness on our part.
If we are playing religion, if we are
playing with God, God will not play with
us.
But if we really mean business with the
Lord, if we are fully committed to Him,
as we hear in the morning, if we
are dedicated to Him, not to things, not
to cause, not to project, but if we
are really committed to Him as a person,
to the living person, we are committed to
Him, dear brothers and sisters, you can be
assured that God will commit Himself to you.
He will reveal Himself.
So here you'll find John on the island
of Patmos.
He saw that vision.
Brothers and sisters, I do believe this vision
that John saw on the island of Patmos
is a further revelation of the testimony of
Jesus.
Did John know the Lord Jesus?
He certainly did.
Was John faithful to the Lord?
He was.
To the extent of suffer for the Lord's
sake, but thank God, there on the island
of Patmos you'll find there was a new,
a fresh, a fuller revelation of Jesus Christ.
And this revelation of Jesus Christ, given to
him on the island of Patmos, becomes the
testimony of Jesus.
That which he has seen and heard and
report to the seven churches in Asia.
And dear brothers and sisters, tonight he is
reporting that very same thing to us.
What is the testimony of Jesus?
John saw seven golden leptades.
You know, even though in the book of
Revelation you'll find many symbols, and yet many
of them are explained to us.
You do not need to try to figure
out what these symbols represent.
Because many of the symbols in the book
of Revelation are being explained to us.
So the seven golden lampstands, as we find
in the last verse of the first chapter
of Revelation, the seven golden lampstands are the
seven churches in Asia.
John was thinking of the seven churches in
Asia.
So the Lord showed him the seven golden
lampstands.
And then he saw the Son of Man
standing in the midst of the seven golden
lampstands.
Brothers and sisters, I would like to call
your attention to this thing.
You know, sometimes you are looking at a
picture.
When you look at a picture, usually the
painter will first paint a kind of background.
And then he will paint what is really
in his mind.
He will use the background for the sake
of bringing that which he is going to
paint out.
Now it will be very foolish if we
only see the background and do not see
the foreground.
Because you miss the whole point.
But, without the background, you will not be
able to be arrested by the foreground, as
it were.
So here you will find when God gave
that vision to the Apostle John, what did
he saw?
As he turned back, he saw seven golden
lampstands.
Oh, these must be beautiful lampstands.
Even though there is no description.
But if you know anything of the Old
Testament, and certainly the Apostle John was familiar
with that, and if you know anything of
the Old Testament, you will find the golden
lampstands in the temple are beautiful vessels, instruments,
beautiful.
And yet, the seven golden lampstands are only
the background.
What stands out as John saw it, and
he had the spiritual discernment to know what
is the center of that vision.
The seven golden lampstands standing there, then he
saw in the midst of the seven lampstands
one like the Son of Man, and that
caught his attention.
Brothers and sisters, the seven lampstands represent the
seven churches in Asia.
And the one who stands in the midst
of the lampstands, of course, is our Lord.
You can never separate our Lord from His
church, or His church from the Lord.
The Lord is the head, and the church
is the body.
Wherever is the head, there is the body.
Wherever is the body, there is the head.
A body without the head is dead.
A head without a body cannot express Himself.
So, brothers and sisters, you find there is
a unity, there is a union of the
Lord and the church whom He gave Himself.
But the church is the background, the foreground.
That which is the center of everything is
Christ.
A lampstand is not to attract attention to
itself.
That is not the purpose of a lampstand.
A lampstand is to uplift the light.
And that is the function of a lampstand.
Brothers and sisters, do we see the relationship
between the Lord and His church?
This is the vision that was given to
the Apostle John.
And I do believe that this is the
vision that God wishes to reveal to us.
Brothers and sisters, we must see the Lord.
And if you are able to see the
Lord, you cannot help but see the church.
If you say you have seen the church
and yet you do not see the Lord,
now what kind of a church is that?
The Lord is the foreground.
The churches form the background.
Brothers and sisters, there are people today who
seem to emphasize the Lord, but they forget
the church.
Their Christian life is more on an individual
basis.
They say, the Lord and I, that's all
that matters.
I do not need my brothers and sisters.
I do not need a body.
I am the body.
It is just the Lord and I.
How many so-called spiritual Christians boast of
themselves, saying that I know no man, I
know the Lord and myself alone.
I have no other relationship with anybody else.
It seems to be, it sounds very spiritual.
But dear brothers and sisters, this is not
God's purpose.
If you really see the Lord, how can
you help to see the church?
But to see the church.
Because the Lord and His church.
And yet on the other hand, you may
find other people who can see nothing but
the church.
And the church seems to loom so big
in their eyes that it overshadows the Lord.
The church never speaks of itself.
It speaks only of the Lord.
If the church speaks too much of itself,
something must be wrong.
So brothers and sisters, you'll find a vision
there.
It is the Lord who is the center
of the picture.
But not without His churches.
The church, as it were, makes the Lord
stand out.
Dear brothers and sisters, what we need is
a vision of the Lord.
Not because we do not know Him, but
because we know Him.
If we know Him, we need to know
Him more.
So this evening we would like to share
together just on this one thing.
What is the testimony?
The testimony of Jesus is that which He
testifies of Himself.
And He testifies of Himself in two different
ways.
He can reveal Himself by vision.
That is to say, you can see Him.
Or He can reveal Himself by His word.
You can hear Him.
These are the two ways that we come
to know Him.
Either by sight or by sound.
And here you'll find in this chapter our
Lord uses both ways, both means, to reveal
Himself.
First, as John turned back, He saw one
like the Son of Man.
And He saw.
He saw the Lord.
And because He saw, He knew.
Then following that, you'll find the Lord began
to speak to Him.
And by hearing the voice of the Lord,
He knew the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need to see
the Lord.
Not outwardly, but inwardly.
We need to hear the Lord, not outwardly,
but inwardly.
And once we see and hear in our
spirit, we touch reality.
And that becomes a testimony.
What did John see?
He saw one standing in the midst of
the seven golden lampstands.
In other words, the Lord today can only
be known in relation to His Church.
It is not the will of God that
we should know the Lord as it were
nakedly.
Not in any connection with the Church.
You cannot know the Lord that way.
Today, the only way to know the Lord
is to know Him with the background of
the golden lampstand.
But what do you know of Him?
He was one like the sun.
Dear brothers and sisters, you remember what Paul
said when he was in Corinth.
When he wrote to the Church at Corinth,
he said, When I come to your midst,
I am determined to know nothing but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.
Paul knew the conditions of the Corinthians.
They were a people who talk about worldly
wisdom, made a boast of it.
They were a people who were supposed to
know everything and they talk about everything.
But nothing really touched their life.
Their life was unchanged.
They lived a most wicked life.
So there was a problem at that time.
He lives like a Corinthian.
It means that he lives a very wicked
and dissipated life.
In spite of all the knowledge they have,
all the wisdom they profess to know, their
lives were wicked, corrupted.
So when Paul was led to the city
of Corinth, he waved before the Lord.
What should he say?
How should he approach these people?
And he was determined to know nothing among
them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
You know, it wasn't easy for Paul to
make that determination.
Paul was a man of great learning.
He could not match his wisdom with their
wisdom.
He knew all these Greek philosophies to come
into their midst and know nothing but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.
He will be looked upon by the Corinthians
as a fool.
But he was willing to be a fool
for God's sake.
He knew that they need to know the
crucified one.
The one who died on the cross for
their sins.
The one who could change their life.
They need to know the Christ of the
cross.
That's what they needed to know.
And he was determined to do that.
For a year and a half, he talked
to them day and night, in public and
in private.
And there was nothing but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified.
Think of that.
For a year and a half, he talked
nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And God honored that.
The church in Corinth was brought.
But dear brothers and sisters, these Corinthian believers
know Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
They knew the crucified one.
But they did not know the risen Lord.
They knew that Christ died on the cross
for them.
But they did not know that the Lord
Jesus was risen from the dead.
And He is made the Lord over all.
They were saved.
But their vision of the Lord was limited,
very limited.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes we hear people boast
and say, I know nothing but Jesus Christ
and Him crucified.
Thank God that you know Jesus Christ and
Him crucified.
But if you try to catch the tone,
you know, when you listen to somebody, if
you only hear the words and you do
not catch the tone, you don't understand.
The words may be the same, but the
tone may be different.
And it makes all the difference.
Oh, people say, I know nothing but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.
And sure enough, he knows nothing but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.
Of course, that's a lot.
That's a lot.
We need to know the crucified one.
But as the angel said to the woman,
why do you come to find the living
among the dead?
Do you know that the one who was
crucified on our behalf is now the man
in glory?
Do you know that he is no longer
the despised one?
He is no longer the one that you
can treat him as you like?
Do you know that he is now far
above all?
Everything is under his feet.
Do you know him in that way?
He thought Jesus of Nazareth was to be
persecuted.
And he did.
But on the road to Damascus, the Lord,
he didn't know him.
Who are you, Lord?
You are so glorious, so great, so powerful.
You are in glory.
The light of the glory blinded Saul's eyes.
Who are you?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus of
Nazareth whom you persecuted.
The same one, and yet in a different
position.
Brothers and sisters, what we need today is
a fuller vision of our Lord Jesus.
Thank God that we see him crucified.
And as in Corinthians it said, he was
crucified because of weakness.
As he took our weakness upon him, he
was crucified.
But he is not weak in you.
Why?
Because he is risen.
He is now a man in glory.
Oh, when John turned back and saw one
like the Son of Man.
What a difference!
Notice what the description says.
Like the Son of...
Like the Son of Man.
John knew the Son of Man while he
was on earth.
John was the first disciple of our Lord
Jesus.
The first one.
He and Angel were the first disciples.
He knew the Lord so well.
He knew the Son of Man who walked
upon the earth.
And he was so close to him that
he leaned his head upon the breast of
our Lord Jesus.
You cannot be nearer to him.
He knew the Son of Man.
He was at the cross of all the
disciples.
He was the only of the twelve who
were at the cross.
He saw the Lord crucified.
He saw it all.
But as he turned back and saw, yes,
the same one.
And yet, not exactly.
He is no doubt the Son of Man.
But he is like the Son of Man.
There is a change of position.
The Christ that he knew was the Christ
in his days of humiliation.
Everybody can treat him any kind, any way
you like.
He was like a lamb led to the
slaughter.
But dear brothers and sisters, today he is
at the right hand.
The same Son of Man and yet so
differently.
Oh, you remember Stephen when he was stoned
to death.
He said, I saw the heavens open and
the Son of Man standing at the right
hand.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you know the
Lord Jesus as the Son of Man at
the right hand.
Once upon a time, he came to this
earth to join himself with man.
He is God.
Eternally God.
But he emptied himself, not of his deity.
He emptied himself of his glory, of his
honour, of his position, of his power, of
his privilege.
He emptied himself and he took upon himself
the form of a slave and being made
in the likeness of him.
Once upon a time, he came to us
to be one of us.
He joined himself to us.
Therefore, he is called the Son of Man.
Once upon a time, he was THE man,
the Son of Man.
Just like Adam was the head of the
old creation.
The Lord Jesus being the Son of Man,
he is the head of the new creation.
Thank God.
Today, he is in glory.
Dear brothers and sisters, we need not only
a vision of the cross, we need a
vision of glory.
Thank God, if we see the crucified one,
we are saved by his grace.
But only when we see his glory, we
will be caught into the purpose of God.
Oh, brothers and sisters, I do not know
how to say it.
Many, many believers are in the good of
the salvation of the Lord, but they never
see the purpose.
We enjoy his salvation, but we do not
know what is behind it.
We are little children.
We never grew up.
It is a vision of the man in
glory that will catch us up into the
very purpose of God.
What is the purpose of God?
That he will lead many sons into glory.
Oh, brothers and sisters, there is a man
in glory.
The man, the only man.
But because there is a man in glory,
one day there will be many sons.
He has gone ahead of us in order
that he may lead us there.
Brothers and sisters, this is being caught into
the purpose.
This, who is like the son of man,
he is in the midst of the seven
golden lampstands.
He is in glory.
But he is in relation.
As a matter of fact, his very being
in glory is to lead us into glory.
He is the son over the house.
Whose house are we?
If we continue in the confidence and boast
of hope to the end.
You find a very detailed description of the
son of man.
And brothers and sisters, this is to show
us who he is, what he is.
And the very revealing of who he is,
what he is, is to draw us into
himself.
This is the testimony of Jesus.
To be committed to us.
To become our testimony.
What did John see?
He saw one like the son of man
with a garment reaching down.
Garment in the scripture always refers to our
outward conduct.
Because it is something that covers you.
Our righteousness, all like filthy rags that cannot,
cannot cover our nakedness, is our righteousness.
Here you'll find the son of man has
a garment reaching down to the feet.
Of course, it is the priestly garment.
Because the priests wear a garment that reaches
down to the feet.
Covers everything up.
In other words, full of righteousness.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have no righteousness
whatsoever.
But Christ is the righteous one.
He is full of righteousness.
And his righteousness give us.
I cannot forget one story.
I have said it before, but I would
like to repeat it.
You know, the one who wrote Pilgrim's Progress,
John Bunyan.
If you read the autobiography of John Bunyan,
which is the book called Grace Abounding.
That is actually his autobiography.
You'll find he had a hard time in
getting saved.
You know, sometimes you wonder why some people
got saved very quickly and easily.
And other people got saved very difficultly.
I was one who got saved very, very
difficultly.
And John Bunyan, he was saved in a
most difficult way.
As a young man, you know, he was
very worldly.
And yet from time to time his conscience
bothered him.
And whenever his conscience bothered him, he tried
to reform himself.
He began to go to church and try
to be good.
But that always, only lasted for a short
period.
And then he would go back again.
And back and forth, back and forth, back
and forth.
One day, he was walking in the field.
And he was during that period of being
under conviction.
And as he was walking in the field,
he was meditating.
How could I be saved?
How can my sins be forgiven?
I have no righteousness of any kind.
I am full of sins and transgressions.
Is there any hope for me?
And as he was meditating and walking, and
it seemed to him it was a hopeless
case.
Because he tried and tried and tried.
But it got him nowhere.
So while he was meditating, he suddenly, he
said, he heard a voice.
A voice came out of heaven.
Now whether he heard it with his ear
or his inner ear, I don't know.
He said he heard a voice.
And the voice said, My righteousness is in
heaven.
My righteousness is in heaven.
He was trying to manufacture righteousness on earth.
He was trying to manufacture righteousness in himself.
And he couldn't.
Then he heard a voice, My righteousness is
in heaven.
And you know, it dawned upon him.
And it came to him stronger and stronger
until he was saved.
He began to realize righteousness is not something
we do.
Righteousness is a person that we put on.
We have no righteousness whatsoever.
But Christ is our righteousness.
God has made Him righteousness.
Brothers and sisters, do you know that the
Lord Jesus is your garment?
Any covers you throw and throw.
The Apostle John says, I write these things
to you that you may not sin.
But if anyone sins, we have an advocate
with the Father.
Even Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
I remember dear Brother Lee said, My behavior
may change, but my righteousness never changes.
Do you see the difference?
As our behavior changes, we think we have
changed.
Oh, if this morning you got up and
you felt yourself very close to the Lord,
and if through the day you lived a
good life, before you go to bed, when
you come to pray, you have boldness.
Why?
Because you live a good day.
You have righteousness.
You can come to God because you are
righteous.
But suppose one day, the day didn't start
right, and through the day everything was wrong.
When you come to the evening, there you
pray, before you have to go through a
long process, before you feel you can touch
God.
This is not to encourage us to be
careless.
Not at all.
But this is to help us to see
that our righteousness is not us.
Our righteousness is Him.
He never changes.
Oh, walk in the light as He is
in the light, and we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanses us from all our sins.
If we confess our sins.
He is righteous and faithful to cleanse us
from all our sins and from all our
iniquities.
Our righteousness.
Here you find our Lord Jesus is clothed
with a garment, reaching to the feet.
A priestly garment.
And His priestly function is to cover us
with Himself.
Cover us with Himself.
And gird about at the breasts with a
golden girdle.
You know, in the Orient, people wear long
gowns, long dresses, that reach down to the
floor.
It's flowing, you know.
It looks beautiful.
But it is not very efficient.
The reason why in the old days the
Orientals can afford it because they don't need
to be very efficient.
They live a very free life.
You know, they don't need to work, labor
too much.
So, that's why it is good.
But whenever an Orient, Oriental, who usually wear
long garments, is going to work, what will
he do?
He will use a girdle and girdle up
the gowns.
I don't know if you have seen it
when I was a boy.
That's what we did.
You use a girdle and it girdles up
the garment so that you can walk without
being tipped and you can do things more
efficiently.
So usually you'll find the girdle is to
girdle up for work.
When you girdle around the loins you are
strengthened.
It gives you strength to do something.
You are not just loosened up, you know.
And when you are loosened up you don't
want to do anything.
But dear brothers and sisters, you'll find a
difference here.
Here you'll find one like the son of
man who is girded with the girdle not
around his loins.
But across his breast.
Now, who put a girdle across the breast?
Breasts are the place of love, of affection.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is girded
with a golden girdle across his breast.
Gold in the scripture always represents that which
is pure.
That which is permanent.
That which does not change.
That which is of God.
Our Lord Jesus is full of love.
His love is his strength.
His compassion is his strength.
Think of that.
We have a Lord who is in glory,
full of righteousness.
And he covers us up with himself.
We have one who is in glory, full
of love and compassion.
He is fit to be our high priest.
What is the Lord doing today in heaven?
One day, in a certain church, when you
want to baptize people, you know, you go
through a kind of examination.
So one day, an elderly lady came for
an examination as a candidate for baptism.
And all the elders or deacons, you know,
sat around there and if you get into
your midst, well, it's a terrible experience, you
know, to be examined by these big men.
So this elderly lady came and saw these
elders and deacons sitting there and they began
to question her doctrine.
And one elder asked her a question.
He said, what is the Lord Jesus doing
today in heaven?
And this elderly lady thought for a while
and he said, well, he said the Lord
Jesus was standing there in heaven looking down
at me trying to find fault in me.
What a misunderstanding!
The Lord Jesus is in the right hand
of the Father and He has compassion for
us.
And He is able to save those who
come to Him, by Him to the Father,
to the Uttermost.
He is our great high priest full of
compassion and love.
We do not have a high priest who
cannot sympathize with us because He was cantaking
all things except He was.
This is the Lord to us, full of
compassion, never changes.
Oh, often times, brothers and sisters, we doubt
when we are puzzled.
We begin to doubt when we do not
understand.
But we can be sure of one thing,
His compassion, His love, His head
and hair, white like white wool and snow.
White hair is the glory of the aged.
White hair in the Scripture speaks of wisdom.
White hair should be wise, should have learned,
even though it may not be true every
time.
But certainly with the Lord it is more
than true, very true.
But here you'll find His hair is white
as snow, as white wool, full of wisdom.
Oh, brothers and sisters, often times in our
following the Lord you question His wisdom.
Even though you may not say it, but
in your heart you question Him.
Why?
Why this?
Why that?
Suppose He has done something wrong.
But brothers and sisters, remember, He is one
whose hair is white as snow, as white.
It is very strange.
Sometimes, you know, the Bible describes the hair
of our Lord as white as white wool.
In other words, it's all white.
There's not even a hair of black.
But if you read the Song of Solomon,
you'll find His hair is as black as
a raven.
It's all black.
When you see the Lord, when you see
His wisdom, it's all white.
But when you see His strength, His youthfulness,
His freshness, it's all black.
This is our Lord.
And His eyes as a flame of fire.
Oh, His look.
You remember in the Gospels when our Lord
Jesus was being judged?
Peter denied the law three times.
And our Lord just turned back and looked
at Him.
And it just penetrated.
Like a flame of fire.
How discerning.
How penetrating.
Everything is naked before Him.
You cannot hide anything before Him.
You know, one of the things, blessed thing,
of life is, be honest with God.
If you're honest with Him, you're blessed.
Because if you're not honest, He knows it.
It's no use.
We can deceive people, but we cannot deceive
Him.
He has an eye as a flame of
fire.
It is so pure, so clean, so powerful,
so penetrating.
One day we shall all appear before Him.
And a fire will test our worth.
Not a literal fire.
But I think a look from the Lord
is enough.
Is enough.
In a sense, very terrible.
In another sense, very blessed.
Because as a flame of fire, what He
sees, that is impure, He consumes it.
He purifies it.
That we may be blameless and holy in
His love.
And His feet, like fine brass, as burning
in a furnace.
Thrash in the scripture always speaks of judgment.
Burning in the furnace.
In other words, it is so purified by
fire, it is just shining, reflecting.
You know, when people in the temple, when
the priest in the temple, before they serve
at the altar, or even serve in the
holy place, they have to go to the
brazen laver to wash themselves.
But you know, even when they are approaching
the brazen laver, the brazen laver is so
shiny, when you approach the brazen laver, it
is being revealed.
Because it's made with the mirrors of the
women who serve at the gate of the
tent of meat.
First there is the judgment, and then there
is the cleansing.
To make us fit.
Oh, His feet is like shiny brass.
This is the way of the cross.
Feet speaks of walk.
His walk is the way of the cross.
Everything is judged according to God.
How we need to follow.
And His voice, as the voice of many
waters.
Mighty, majestic.
In the gospel according to John chapter 10
said, My sheep hear My voice.
You cannot but hear His voice.
His voice is like many waters.
Many, many years ago, I was on an
island, in China, by the sea coast of
Hanoi.
We call that island Kulong Su.
And it was by the sea.
And you can hear.
I mean, even if you are in the
house, or when you are walking close to
the beach, even it is still a distance,
you can see the voice of many waters.
Oh, it's majestic.
It's majestic.
Overpowering.
And brothers and sisters, when the voice of
God comes to us, you cannot help but
hear it.
And blessed is the one who really hears
it.
And does it.
And having in His right hand seven stars.
Right hand speaks of power.
In His right hand, seven stars.
And we know the seven stars speaks of
the messengers of the seven churches.
In other words, He holds in His hand.
He is responsible.
He is supplying the power for our spiritual
responsibilities.
And out of His mouth, a sharp two
-edged sword going forth.
This sharp two-edged sword is not only
to judge the world, but this two-edged
sword is to divide the spirit and the
soul.
And His countenance as the sun shines.
You know, brothers and sisters, a person's countenance
is the show window of his inward condition.
If you are very healthy, you are very
happy, your countenance will show it.
What is within you is shown by your
countenance.
If you are sad, if you have a
problem, your countenance will reveal it.
And here you'll find the Lord's countenance shines
as the sun in its power.
Oh, the glory.
The glory of it.
Oh, our Lord Jesus is full of glory.
And it just shines out.
May the light of His countenance shine.
Now this is all about, oh, brothers and
sisters, how we need a vision of the
risen Lord.
The Lord who is now in glory.
So, so loving.
So powerful.
When John saw the vision, he fell at
the feet of the Son of Man as
one dead.
Brothers and sisters, during the earthly life of
our Lord Jesus, John was so close to
the Lord, leaning upon His breast.
There was no fear.
But here when John on the island saw
the vision of the Lord in glory, he
fell at His feet.
But Daniel did.
Daniel, the beloved one.
When he saw the vision of the Lord,
what did he say?
He said, My calmliness turned into corruption.
You know, oftentimes we think we are quite
calmly.
We are quite beautiful.
Oh, I, I think it's a modern, modern,
modern English.
Within the last few years, when you talk
to people and people feel it's good, they
say, oh, it's beautiful.
It's beautiful.
Everything is beautiful.
Now, sometimes we think we are beautiful, are
we?
But if you really see the Lord in
glory, your calmliness will turn into...
Oh, here was Job, so self-righteous.
And he was.
There was no one more perfect than Job.
And yet at the end, not arguments.
Arguments only made him stronger and stiffer.
But a sight of the glory of God.
He said, I abhor myself and repent in
dust.
Dear brothers and sisters, the only safe place
for us is ashes.
If we see the Lord, we will be
on the throne.
But if we see the Lord, we will
prostrate as dead.
In other words, everything was brought to naught
by his glory.
Oh, all your spirituality, all your virtues, all
your achievements, all your spiritual positions, everything, may
I say, even that which you receive from
the Lord, gifts, grace.
When you see the Lord himself, all these
things went, all these things go to death,
as it is the sight of the Lord.
Oh, brothers and sisters, one thing that we
need today is to see the Lord.
Not teachings, not doctrines, not interpretations, but a
sight of the Lord in glory.
If you see the Lord, you will fall
down as one dead.
That is inevitable.
How do you know you have seen the
Lord?
If you are at his feet.
If you are brought to death, you know
you have seen the Lord.
Oh, my God.
As John fell at his feet, the Lord
laid his right hand upon him and said,
Fear not.
Oh, the Lord, who is now in glory,
his love has not changed.
This hand that had touched so many while
he was on earth, this one who spoke
words of grace to so many his love,
his hand, his heart, even though he is
today in glory, and yet his love is
just as real as it was before.
The Lord touched him with his right hand,
strengthened him, bringing him into resurrection ground, and
said, Oh, brothers and sisters, that's what we
need, life out of death.
And that is real life.
It is only when we are brought to
death, into resurrection, this is the proof that
we have seen the Lord.
What is of us has gone to death,
and what comes out.
So here you'll find this is what John
saw.
But dear brothers and sisters, there is more.
The Lord Jesus not only gave him a
vision of who and what he is, but
the Lord Jesus, and he said, I am
the first and the last, and the living
one, and I became dead, and behold, I'm
living to the ages of ages, and have
the keys of death and of Hades.
Now this is the...
He not only shows us who and what
he is, but he tells us who and
what he is.
I am the first.
Now you cannot help.
But remember, this is a title of God.
God is the first and the last.
There is no one else.
And here the Lord said, I am the
first and the last, because he is God.
He is the Son of Man, and yet
he is God.
The Alpha and the Omega.
The first letter in Greek, and the last
letter in Greek.
Fortunately, English is like Greek.
You use alphabets, not like Chinese.
We don't have alphabets.
You cannot spell.
But here you'll find Greek is like English.
You spell it with alphabets.
He is the first and the last.
He is the A and he is the
Z.
And of course, he is all the alphabets
in between.
Everything is spelled by him.
Do we know the Lord as the first
and the last?
Is everything begun with him?
Does everything end in him?
How often we initiate things, and ask the
Lord to approve it, and follow us.
How often after certain things are done, we
give the glory to ourselves.
He is not the Z, the last.
And in between, how we depend upon ourselves.
But dear brothers and sisters, he is the
first.
To put it in another way, in Colossians
it is said that he may have the
preeminence in all things.
Or to put it in still another way,
that it is neither Jews nor Gentiles, neither
this nor that, but Christ all and in
all.
The all-inclusive.
Brothers and sisters, do we know Christ as
the all-inclusive?
He is all.
That is the testimony.
He is never contented just by being something
in your life.
God's purpose is, he is the first.
He must be all and in all.
Everything in everything.
That is the testimony.
How much of the testimony do we have?
How much of the testimony of Jesus do
we really know?
How much we can testify that he is
the first and he is the last?
Brothers and sisters, when we are measured by
the testimony of Jesus, I wonder how much
or how little and he is the living
one.
The living one.
He is the life.
He is not dead.
He is living.
And of course, you know the story of
Martin Luther.
Once when Martin Luther was in trouble and
he was so weighed down by all his
problems, he was walking back and forth in
the room and didn't know what to do.
He was really, really worried about things.
And you know his wife, Catherine, tried to
help her husband, but didn't know what to
do.
So when Martin Luther was not comforted, the
Lord gave her wisdom, a woman's wisdom.
So he dressed himself in black.
He came to the presence of her husband.
Her husband looked at her and said, What
happened?
Who died?
Martin Luther said, Never!
God never dies!
He learned the lesson.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is
the living one.
Do you know Him as the living one?
Do you know that His life is operating?
His life is a life that comes out
of death.
I became dead and I am alive.
Oh, brothers and sisters, the life of our
Lord Jesus, the Lord Himself is life.
That life is so powerful it conquers death,
it conquers everything.
He is life, living, life in operation.
And do we know Him?
Whenever we know the Lord as the living
one, you have a testimony.
And then finally, and have the keys of
death and of Hades.
I don't know if I interpreted it right.
If I'm wrong, you forgive me but once,
Satan had the keys of death and Hades.
Why?
Because in Hebrews it is said Satan was
the one who had the power of death.
It seems as if the enemy had the
keys of death and Hades and how he
opened the keys, the doors with the keys,
tried to get people to death and to
Hades.
But thank God.