I, John, who also am your brother, and
companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and
patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle
that is called Patmos for the word of
God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day and heard behind me a great voice
as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last, and
what thou seest, write in a book, and
send it unto the seven churches which are
in Asia, unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and
unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis,
and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voice that
spake with me, and being turned, I saw
seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of
the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son
of Man, clothed with the garment down to
the foot, and gird about the patch with
a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs were white like
wool, as white as snow, and his eyes
were as a flame of fire, and his
feet like unto fine brass, as if they
burned in a furnace, and his voice as
the sound of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven
stars, and out of his mouth went a
sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was
as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead.
And he laid his right hand upon me,
saying unto me, Fear not, I am the
first and the last.
I am he that liveth, and was dead,
and behold, I am alive for evermore.
Amen.
And have the keys of hell and of
death.
Write these things which thou hast seen, and
the things which are, and the things which
shall be hereafter.
The mystery of the seven stars which thou
sawest in my right hand, and the seven
golden candlesticks.
The seven stars are the angels of the
seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou
sawest are the seven churches.
May the Lord add his blessing to this
reading of his word.
It is our privilege this morning again to
have with us, ministering to us, Dr. Cornelius
Van Till, Professor of Apologetics at Westminster Theological
Seminary.
We pray the Lord's blessing on him as
he speaks.
Congregation of Jesus Christ, when Jesus was about
to leave for heaven, he told his disciples,
I go to prepare a place for you.
If it were not so, I would have
told you.
So the twelve apostles saw Jesus as he
went to glory, and saw him disappear beyond
the clouds.
They knew that he went further than the
clouds, that he went to glory.
A bit later this same Jesus disappeared to
the Apostle John, I mean the Apostle Paul,
on his way to Damascus.
For the Apostle Paul was persecuting those that
were of this way, the followers of Jesus.
And Jesus, by revealing himself thus from heaven
to John, to the Apostle Paul, converted him
from a persecutor to an apostle.
The Apostle John did not make such a
conversion.
He had been with Jesus for many a
day, for several years.
He had been especially one who loved Jesus,
and who was loved by Jesus.
He had lain, as we are told, on
Jesus' bosom.
He had been present when Jesus instituted the
supper by which his people were to remember
him.
And he had seen Jesus after he had
risen from the dead in all his glorified
body after the tomb.
And now this last of the apostles, the
one remaining of the twelve, when all others
had been taken away by death, some of
them likely murdered and slain by some of
the men of the emperors of Rome, this
last one of the apostles alone remaining was
cast away from the possibility of speaking of
this Jesus.
He was put on lonely Patmos Isle.
There was no radio broadcasting station there, nor
certainly a TV transmission equipment.
He was shut off.
And now he is concerned about those disciples
of his, those followers of his, those seven
churches of Asia Minor, which stand of course
for the church of all the future, for
the church of Jesus Christ even down to
our day.
He has a special sense of responsibility for
them.
If he can't speak to them anymore, who
can?
Then nobody can.
And so he is in the Spirit on
the Lord's day, in a special sense concerned
about this lot that he must soon leave
behind altogether when the angel of death shall
seize him too, and when the last possibility
of his being restored to an opportunity of
preaching the gospel will be passed away forever.
And so he tells us that he is
here on this rock-bound coast of this
little island of Patmos with a monotonous beating
of the waves that constantly comes into his
ears.
He can hear nothing but that noise of
those waves.
He cannot hear the voice of his fellow
man.
He cannot speak to them.
But he can speak to Jesus who is
above this noise.
And if nobody else can speak of him
or show himself to him, Jesus can.
And he does open the doors of heaven,
and he appears to John, and he appears
to this last of the apostles also for
the benefit of each of the believers and
of all the church of Jesus Christ.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day and heard behind me a great voice
as of a trumpet on the Lord's day
in a special sense.
Of course he was concerned.
Would these people be able to meet together
on the radio this morning?
One of our graduate students, Mr. Jonathan Chow,
told us how in China there's scarcely any
opportunity left today from what he hears of
one of the Red Guards that has escaped
for Christians to meet together.
They are forbidden to meet and to consider
the word of Christ together.
They must individually, secretly, surreptitiously meet with Christ
and meet with him alone.
Well, now John is concerned about the fact
of persecution.
The church then was persecuted.
They were then forbidden to meet.
And it was in spite of the edict
of the emperors of Rome frequently that these
little groups had to meet in catacombs, in
underground meeting places.
And now John is concerned about them.
Now we may be concerned.
We should be on this Lord's day about
the Chinese church, those that cannot meet as
Christians behind the iron curtain, behind the bamboo
curtain.
And we should also think of those in
our community and of all God's children that
cannot meet with us this morning or in
some other house of worship because they are
aged, afflicted, ill.
We thank God for the measure of recovery
given to Sterling Hart, the young man of
whom we were reading in the letter in
the basement just before, in whom you are
interested too.
We thank God that he may be restored
and become active again in the service of
his country, most of all in the service
of his Lord, that there are many who
will not again come to a house of
prayer.
For then is our concern that with us
this moment, this day, this hour, they too
may see this vision which John the Apostle,
the last of the Apostles, saw for us.
I saw his voice as of a trumpet.
It's not only the Lord's day, but to
him it is the trumpet, the season of
the year of jubilee, the year that was
introduced by the sound of trumpets, calling the
people of the God to gather to Jerusalem,
there unitedly to worship him, Jehovah, their God.
And now then he says that he heard
this voice speaking to him.
He was there for the testimony of Jesus.
He was there as one with us in
tribulation.
He doesn't speak of himself as experiencing great
things any more than Paul spoke of those
times that he had been taken up into
glory.
As Paul spoke of those things that he
had with us, simple believers in common with
us.
So John says, I am your fellow servant
with you in tribulation, but also in patience.
That is, in patience, waiting for the fulfillment
of this promise which Jesus gave to us
that he would go out to prepare a
place for us.
We shall patiently wait for this in spite
of circumstances, in spite of persecution, in spite
of bulla, the world of the nations and
the turbulence of men that are opposed to
this God and of this Christ.
We shall with patience, with perseverance, abide the
day of his coming.
Now my fellow brethren who are with me
in this tribulation and in this patience, he
says, I was here for the testimony of
Jesus because he had spoken.
He wouldn't have been there if he had
kept his mouth shut, if he had said
nothing, if he had just been listening, but
he was an activist.
He was one of the sons of thunder.
He was converted and so as a son
of thunder, he had lost his violent temper,
maybe, through the influence of his master, but
he was nevertheless a powerful man because he
was a son of thunder.
That the voice of the thundering of Jesus
might be heard about the voice of all
the thundering of the nations.
And so he says, I was in the
spirit and I heard this voice saying, I
am Elf and Omega, the first and the
last.
What thou see it, write in a book
so that the Weller Grove Church people can
also hear it.
Write in a book and send it to
the seven churches so that the Weller Grove
people is also one of those seven churches.
Now these churches are quite different, he says
to himself, I am writing about to write
to them.
Some of them are quite active.
They are busy in the things of the
Lord, but of the best of them, he
says, I, you have lost your first love.
And if you do not receive again and
show forth that first love, I will wipe
you out from my book of life.
So serious it is that God's people be
always in the spirit of this first love
as a bridegroom loves his bride and a
bride loves her bridegroom.
In that sense, must God's people with the
wholeness of devotion love their Lord and their
Savior, or else they will be rebuked for
this.
Laodicea was lukewarm.
He was about to spit it out of
his mouth.
Oh, you can stand something cold, you can
stand something hot, but you can't stand lukewarm.
Well, this congregation is lukewarm.
Now send my word to Laodicea, to Philadelphia,
to Pergamos, and to all the seven churches,
each of them having maybe something of the
nature of these various seven churches.
Send this, write it in a book and
send it to all these churches.
And I be in turn to see the
voice that spake with me, and be in
turn I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in
the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one
light unto the Son of Man.
Now obviously we know what this is.
All of us understand the book of Revelation,
and none of us understand it.
That's not untrue, either one of them.
All of us get the main impact, but
it is a book of comfort.
Christ is coming to redeem his people, to
save them out of the midst of this
world, out of all tribulations.
It's the philosophy of history in which Christ
comes conquering and conquering over all the opposition
of this world.
And it is for the whole church of
Jesus Christ, what the Heidelberg Catechism says for
the individual Christian, what is your only comfort
in life and in death, that I belong
not to myself but to my faithful Savior
Jesus Christ, and that without the will of
my Heavenly Father not a hair shall fall
from my head.
Well now, so the church of Jesus Christ
is protected, is kept.
He is coming for her.
The whole of history, all of the future
is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We frequently think of things, well, history as
a conglomeration of events.
This is happening, that's happening, and the other
thing is happening.
And then in the midst of it, Jesus
is coming.
The reverse is true.
Jesus is coming.
That's history, and that's all there is to
history.
Everything else is subordinate to it, and must
serve the purpose of his coming.
He's coming to take his church, his redeemed
people, into his presence.
That's what the future is all about.
Be of good courage and strengthen your heart
in the Lord your God.
Cast your cares and burdens upon him.
He will bring it to pass.
Now then, it is this Jesus who is
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
The last verse tells us, of course, that
these golden candlesticks are the seven churches.
Therefore, it's Jesus walking in the midst of
his church.
That's the vision that the Apostle, this last
of the Apostles sees.
He's not concerned about seeing Jesus alone.
He wants to show us Jesus, the risen
one, the glorified, in all the insignia of
his glory, in just a moment.
But first, he wants to show us that
he is walking in the midst of his
church, that he is with his church, that
in the midst of all the opposition of
the world to that church, which is opposition
to the Christ himself, he is the one
that runs, that rules, and that overrules among
men and nations.
The hearts of kings are in his hands
as water courses.
The whole of history is subject to his
bidding.
Well now, when he has given us this
first general vision of Christ walking in the
midst of the golden candlestick, then he goes
into detail describing unto us the appearance of
this risen Lord.
He wants us to see him in the
insignia of his glory.
John has seen him in his humiliation, in
his lowliness.
He saw him as a man of sorrow
and acquainted with grief.
He saw him weep at Lazarus' tomb.
He saw his face worn and dilapidated because
of the burden of the sins of his
people that he was bearing.
He was restless.
He was sleepless.
He bore all those things, and John had
seen that face that signified all those things.
He had been with him.
How often has not John seen him thus
in his humiliation?
And now he sees him in his glory.
And now John wants to tell us that
as we must see him too in his
humiliation, we must also see him in his
glory.
And so he describes him to us, this
glorified Lord, his head in the midst of
the seven candlesticks, one light unto the Son
of Man.
Of course, this is the Son of Man,
the Son of God, truly God and truly
man, as the Church has always confessed.
Clothes with the garment down to the foot,
and girt about the paps with a golden
girdle.
Now that's the first general description, a beautiful
white flowing garment.
You remember that on the occasion of the
Day of Atonement and the Old Testament tabernacle
and temple service, the high priest would be
clothed with a white flowing garment.
But then he had on him a girdle,
a belt, which held that garment up so
that he wouldn't trip over it as he
was performing the services for his people, as
he was taking the blood off the altar
of burnt offering in the court, as he
was passing through the sanctuary, as he was
presenting it through that curtain, winding through that
curtain and presenting it in the presence of
the holiest of all.
But now this girdle is no longer around
his metal, it is around his chest.
He is one who is all dignity, his
work, his heavenly high priestly work, his suffering
in the behalf of his people, his giving
his life as the priest after the order
of Melchizedek rather than of Aaron.
That's all finished, that's all accomplished.
Nothing remains to be done.
He said on the cross, it is finished
and it was finished.
And here it is shown that he who
finished it is now himself reaping the reward
of glory and waiting for his people to
come in and to join him in the
everlasting presence of the Father.
He is the heavenly high priest and he
is also of course the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords.
I am Alpha and Omega, the first and
the last, that was and is and is
to come.
He that ruleth is the ruler of the
kings of the earth.
He is the great high priest and the
great king and then he speaks with the
voices of thunder.
His truth shall prevail.
The lie that is of man, of the
sinner which opposes this truth is defeated.
It's all done, it's finished.
The heavenly high priest, the great king of
glory and the great prophet of all prophets.
He now is here in great resplendence bearing
this white robe of accomplishment.
It's finished and it is done.
Now his head and his hairs were white
like wool and white as snow and his
eyes were as a flame of fire.
He has the accomplishment of dignity that goes
with old age if it is honorable and
he now has eyes as a flame of
fire.
He means to say the apostle as he
is impressed by this that this one who
had eyes to see the heart of man
and who knew what was in the heart
of man though man himself knew it not
that it is this same one that has
cleansed the heart of man.
The heart of man is deceitful above all
things who can know it says Jeremiah but
Jesus has cleansed the heart.
He has looked into it, he has washed
it and now his eyes are as flaming
fire and you need not be afraid of
them any longer for he has forgiven you.
You will look him straight in the face
as he looks you straight in the face
because all between you now is right.
Justice has been done for your sin and
you have been redeemed and you are healed
as a father looks with love upon his
child so Jesus looks with love upon his
own.
His feet like a fine brass as if
they had burned in a furnace and the
voice the voice of many waters.
Now his feet are coming of course symbolizes
the walking process the coming.
Come Lord Jesus says the last of the
apostle in the end of this book come
quickly we thy church have looked up to
thee.
You remember when the disciples went to the
mount to see Jesus the son to glory
that they saw him and they saw him
vanish and they were looking upward and then
the angels came why do you look thus
upward this one who has left you thus
will come again and now then he comes
his feet are walking in your direction he's
coming forward you do not see it perhaps
you look at history today you are disheartened
and discouraged you are dismayed because of the
god is dead theology because of neo-orthodoxy
taking the truth out of the church and
replacing the preaching of the gospel of salvation
by the blood of Christ with a preaching
of salvation by good work as though the
reformation had never occurred as though Luther had
never spoken but most of all as though
Christ had never died.
Now you are disheartened you are dismayed you
are discouraged and you wonder whether this effort
that we are putting for building a new
church here hoping and praying that God will
give us a fine new Christian school here
in the community let's hope and pray that
he will but is it all worthwhile it
wouldn't be if it were not for this
one full assurance that he is coming that
he will establish this work and that he
will use this as an instrument for the
bringing in of others to whom we witness
for we are impatient still those that witness
John can't any longer witness it's up to
us it's up to the younger ones now
as the older ones disappear from our midst
to witness by this church by the Christian
school system by every avenue that is legitimate
by the foreign mission enterprise and the home
mission effort we witness individually and collectively and
then our witness is not in vain in
the law be not afraid little flock it
is the well the pleasure of your heavenly
father says jesus to give unto you the
kingdom and now this is the assurance that
he gives and he establishes this fact still
further when he says and he had in
his right hand seven stars now the seven
stars are the angels of the seven churches
that is the proclaimers of the gospel the
seven churches are the churches the seven candlesticks
are the churches but the angels are the
preachers of the gospel now he holds them
in his right hand he upholds them he
sustains them if they are disheartened if they
do not know what will come because they
are disheartened and it's about circumstances about apostasy
in the church and about unbelief rounded up
and about men enveloped exclusively as it seems
in the face of this world alone he
holds them in their right his right hand
he will enable them to proclaim in the
face of opposition it may be true that
just now in china christians cannot meet together
it may become true in this country also
that we cannot any longer meet together as
christian believers who know how much persecution will
come to us none of us know but
what we do know is this that through
it all beyond it all and through it
all jesus is walking toward us it's coming
it's upholding this and those that are seeking
for him truly those that witness of him
with honest unafraid they will be upheld by
him even though they put be put in
prison or be put to death for out
of his mouth goes it to our head
sharp sword and his countenance was less the
fun shineth in his strength his mouth went
to a sharp sword we remember in hebrews
we are told that the word of god
is powerful like a sharp sword cutting a
thunder to bone and marrow and it's a
divider of the soft and intense of the
heart well now this jesus who is now
in glory said to those that opposed him
the pharisee and the others that they would
be defeated that he had come to establish
his kingdom and when pilate said what is
truth a skeptic who knows nobody knows jesus
comes that i am the truth the way
and the life and he now with this
word the part of his mouth will conquer
and he will prevail as those that are
upheld by him speak that word through their
mouths and when i saw him says the
apostle i fell at his feet as dead
is it any wonder who wouldn't you would
if i would have we don't hear of
course now it isn't as close to us
it isn't as real to us no matter
what i try to say our language our
ability is too feeble if we had dr
martin lord jones speaking to us he would
do the most eloquent job such as i
scarcely have ever heard in my life when
i was here for three evenings listening to
him but even dr martin lord jones could
do no justice to the overwhelming magnificence of
this fact of the christ the glorified christ
coming with his feet as a burnished brass
walking through history approaching us encouraging us beckoning
us onwards don't stop your witnessing in spite
of her persecution continue it build your new
church build a new school sacrifice for it
more than you've ever done before it will
all be repaid to you in the glory
land not as deserving repayment but as the
reward of glory and when i saw him
when i realized this i fell down and
steve was dead with the apostle he was
just overwhelmed for the moment so may we
be overwhelmed by this presentation but he laid
his right hand upon me saying unto me
fear not i am the first and the
last i am he that liveth in what's
dead and behold i am alive forevermore and
have the keys of hell and of death
be not afraid john stand upon your feet
and when the angel speaks to john i
am your fellow servant worship not me but
worship god then john tells us in turn
oh do not look to this experience of
mine something so special but look to your
own experience of this self-same joy the
truth is yours as well as it is
mine that christ redeems that christ has the
keys of hell and of death if there's
one thing in modern theology that is obvious
in all movements that i know anything about
it is this that nobody believes in hell
anymore even in the roman catholics are now
vying with the modern new protestants and the
neo not the neo-evangelicals the new protestants
so-called killish and nebo and nelson ray
and brunner and charles bark and the many
others like this they all buy with one
another insane there is no such thing as
death there cannot be science says there can
be philosophy says there can be modern theology
following science and philosophy says there can't be
how do they know are they omniscient have
they been there can they tell that there
is no judgment coming can any man tell
can the greatest the most learned philosopher and
scientists tell you the humblest believers that what
the bible says is not true of course
they can't they do they try to impress
you with their great learning and we respect
their learning in their field but we will
not accept that they are god and can
replace the word of god we believe that
jesus who appears from heaven to john the
apostle and who had appeared already also to
paul the apostle that he has the keys
of death and of hell we shall prepare
to escape the wrath of god paul tells
us that he came to bring this gospel
that jesus was crucified that he was dead
according to the scriptures that he was buried
according to the scriptures that he rose from
the dead according to the scriptures that he
was seen by five thousand at once and
that he is it who is the resurrection
from the dead and that we shall rise
with him from the dead in glory not
just continue in life hereafter as plato might
speculate whether there is a life hereafter and
when some they in some faint fashion the
souls of men up their bodies shall continue
to exist nay but as we are body
and soul as we were created in god's
image restored in the image of christ now
glorified with christ i have the key of
hell and of death i shut up hell
that it can't get you provided that is
that you now put your trust in him
that you now confess your sins to him
that you now repent of these things that
you not follow the wisdom of this world
and follow the crowd the philosophy and the
science of the age but that you think
for yourself into the fact that no man
knows that this is not true and that
god alone can reveal and christ alone has
revealed what are the issues of life and
of death i have the keys of hell
and of death now then once more he
repeats as what he said at the beginning
write all this in a book write these
things which thou has seen the things which
are and the things which shall be hereafter
interpret the whole of history in a this
book which is the bible which is the
word of christ that is the word in
terms of which we are to see all
other things it is the sun in terms
with all other life our life we can't
take a match or an abode and ask
whether the sun exists if we're in the
cave it's nonsense it's because the sun does
exist and has shed forth its light even
if it is a little cloudy outdoors just
now and we don't see the sun we
know that these lights come from the power
that comes from the sun so there is
one fact in this world that doesn't exist
by virtue of the christ through whom it
is made and no law that doesn't exist
and operate except through him who is the
logger the word by whom all things are
made in their relation it is this knowledge
that we may have and possess and therefore
we have the truth as it is in
jesus who said i am the way the
truth and the life what a joy it
is to think on this sabbath morning of
this vision of the christ that appeared to
john the mystery of the seven stars which
thou sawest in my right hand and the
seven golden candlesticks the seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches and the seven
candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches
summing it all up the apostle comes back
to christ walking in the midst of the
church these candlesticks are the churches the light
of christ must shine out through the world
through them through the believers individually through the
churches collectively through the ministry of the gospel
in a special sense as these servants of
his are upheld by his right hand what
an encouragement for a theological student to undertake
his task of learning greek and hebrew and
some other things now then it is for
this encouragement that all of us may have
to live our lives within the presence of
the coming of this christ in glory appear
to john and patrick's lonely eyes that we
may sound out the noise that we may
give forth the light of the gospel of
this grave may that be your joy as
in the days ahead you may worship in
the new house of worship in this place
and as we many of us who have
been interested in this christian school movement from
the beginning may yet by god's grace be
a beautiful new building in jelaton go up
one of these days may all these things
inspire us may they move us may they
make us filled with enthusiasm to give ourselves
our whole our all to love him our
god above all things else and his name
receive the praise world without end amen our
gracious heavenly father we do thank and praise
you the father's repeat reveal thyself in this
resplendent fashion to john on lonely patmas isle
he was shut up on this isle he
was prevented from proclaiming the gospel we are
not yet resented we know not how long
will be we beseech thee will thou maintain
to us the liberty for the proclamation of
the gospel in this land open the opportunity
for the god spread of the gospel behind
the iron and the bamboo curtains be with
those poor benighted children of thine who are
lonely and forsaken because they cannot have fellowship
with one another and with the lord jesus
christ together sustain them and strengthen them bless
the missionaries of the cross and and uphold
them in thy right hand proclaim thy word
through the preaching of this pulpit we thank
thee for those who minister in this capacity
here and will thou now look down upon
us as thou didst look down upon john
with mercy and with grace and teach us
to be in the spirit on the lord's
day not only but every day with enthusiasm
and devotion giving ourselves and our strength to
for jesus our redeemer's sake amen