8.
Grace is a charming sound, harmonious to the
ear.
Heaven with the echo shall resound, and all
the earth shall hear.
Number 8, please.
Revelation this evening, and we're at the very
first chapter.
Revelation, chapter 1.
And if God wills, we're going through all
the chapters in this book, and we're touching
every phrase, and stopping at every comma, and
taking a special stop at every stop, and
we're bypassing no phrases, and we're dealing with
all the symbols and all the problems, and
I can tell you now there's a thousand
of them.
Yes, I've called these studies that we're commencing
just now, reading and weeping in revelation.
And in a moment or two, in one
of the verses in this chapter, I will
tell you why I have called it reading
and weeping in revelation.
You can see that we're dealing with the
first eleven verses this evening, every phrase in
these eleven verses.
And I think we have got a great
paragraph this evening.
There are three great personalities standing on the
center of the stage of this paragraph.
Jehovah, and Jesus, and John.
And of course, as we get into the
depths of this book, we'll find that Jehovah
is revealed in this great book of the
Eternal Sovereign.
We will find that Jesus is revealed as
the Exalted Savior.
We will find John revealed as the Entrusted
Servant.
These are the great personalities, Jehovah, the Eternal
Sovereign, Jesus, the Exalted Savior, John, the
Entrusted Servant.
And the first thing we're going to look
at tonight is the title of the book.
Now, I think you know by now that
I believe that every jot and tittle and
sound and sentence of the original Scriptures were
God breathed.
I believe that all Scripture was given by
inspiration of God.
I'm sure that every word was produced and
placed and preserved in the original by a
divine person.
That this book is the inspired word of
the living God.
Now, when I say that I'm sure that
every jot and tittle and sound and sentence
of the original Scriptures were God breathed, I'm
not thinking about the chapters and verses, because
these were great letters that were written.
Of course, somebody put them into chapters and
verses, and there are times when we're most
thankful that they did.
For reference sake, and going back to here
and there, and even directing a meeting like
this, we ought to thank the folks who
did.
But then some of us believe there were
times they made the chapter divisions maybe in
the wrong place.
I'm sure it would be difficult to always
make it in the right place.
And then they gave headings to some of
these books that some of us are not
too happy with.
You see how this one's termed?
It's termed the revelation of Saint John the
Divine.
Now, I'm perfectly sure that that is completely
wrong.
First of all, I am sure that John
never called himself Saint John.
That, to me, is foolish completely.
And I think he never did it.
In fact, I shall prove he never did
it.
And most certainly, he never called himself Saint
John the Divine.
Never.
This is completely wrong.
I don't know who is responsible for this,
but I know when John meets him in
heaven, he has something to say to him.
And I'm sure the Lord will have something
to say at the judgment seat of Christ.
Furthermore, you know, it is not only wrong
being called the revelation of Saint John the
Divine, it's wrong being called the revelation of
Saint John.
This is completely wrong.
Have a look at the chapter 2, you
see.
Do you see verse 1?
The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave
unto him to show unto his servants things
which must shortly come to pass, and he
sent and signified it by his angel unto
his servant John.
It is not unto Saint John the Divine.
Now, when John starts writing here in verse
4, here's how he begins.
He begins with the word John.
It's a pity that the scholars didn't read
this.
For surely the way a man writes his
name is the way he wants you to
write it.
He just calls himself John.
There is no ecclesiastical nonsense about him.
You know that Paul wrote 14 letters in
the New Testament.
You can go back to them any time
you like.
Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, there are 14 of them.
And 13 of them begin with the word
Paul.
Just like that.
No Pastor Paul.
No Reverend Paul.
No Doctor Paul.
Just Paul.
And you'll find that Peter.
They tell me he was the first Pope.
Well, I'll tell you how he signed his
name.
Peter.
You look his letter, and you look the
second letter, and he began Simon Peter.
This old ecclesiastical nonsense annoys me.
Because I know it comes from Popery.
And there's nothing I detest more than Pastor
Mullen, for that is not my name.
Pastor is a gift given to certain folks
in the church, and he did give gifts
unto men.
But if it is the description of a
gift, it is not the title for a
man.
Not a bit of it.
Here's John writing again down the chapter.
Do you see verse 9?
He says, I, John, who also am your
brother and companion in tribulation.
There's the man writing now.
He says, they call me John.
He says, I'm your brother and companion in
tribulation.
I preached at a funeral yesterday, and determined
that I would preach the gospel.
And felt that the Lord came upon this
meeting at the grave, and men stood still
and not an eye blinked.
And God spoke to the crowd.
And a complete stranger whom I'd never seen
before, an old man, came over to me
after that.
He said, you must be my brother.
How do you make that out of that?
Well, he said, you love the same gospel
as I do.
He's an old Brethren fellow from a Brethren
meeting.
And it warmed the cockles of his heart
to hear the gospel being preached.
Oh, we're brothers.
I, John, who also am your brother and
companion in tribulation.
And don't let any one of us get
this spiritual pride until we think we are
something.
Because the moment you think you are something,
the Lord will come round and say, Thou
know'st not that thou art poor and blind
and miserable and wretched and naked.
So I think this is an injustice to
John.
I don't know who is guilty of it,
but I'm pointing it out.
I'm defending John just now.
And of course this title, The Revelation of
St. John, this is completely a sin.
I don't know why this ever happened.
See the first phrase of the first verse.
Have a look at it now.
First phrase.
What does it say?
It says, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
That's not The Revelation of St. John.
It's a pity they couldn't read, isn't it?
This book is not The Revelation of St.
John.
This book is The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
And here's how the original Greek reads there,
The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave
of Him to show unto His servants.
It's God's Revelation of Christ.
And if I were putting the title on
the book, I should say, God's Revelation of
Christ.
And I think that's the key to the
whole book, of course.
Because once you get this, and you know
this, you realize that this book is God's
great Revelation of Christ.
And you can outline the whole book now.
Because I can tell you this, that the
first three chapters, you see Christ in the
midst of the churches.
God is revealing His Son, our Lord, in
the midst of the churches.
And we shall be looking up the glory
of the Lord in these first three chapters,
in the midst of the churches.
Then when you come to chapters four and
five, you will find that the scene is
in heaven, and the Lamb is upon the
throne.
You see, God is revealing His Son of
Lord in the midst of the churches.
Then God reveals His Son of Lamb in
the midst of the throne.
It's the Lamb glorified now.
Or we looked at the Lamb identified by
John the Baptist, behold the Lamb.
And then we looked at the Lamb crucified
on Calvary.
But this is the Lamb glorified, yes, in
the midst of the throne.
And then when we start chapter six, and
we go right through to the end of
the scene, there we see the Lamb, the
Lord, revealed again.
God is revealing Him, not so much as
Lord in the midst of the churches, or
as Lamb in the midst of the throne,
but as Lion.
He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
He's taking a dealing with the nations, in
the midst of the nations.
And that's the wonderful part of this book,
because we're going to learn what lies ahead
just from here, for all the nations.
And the details are in this book.
When you come to chapter 19, you know
you can see another revelation given.
It's the revelation of the lover.
He's in the midst of the marriage feast,
and the bride is there.
Can't you see what God is doing?
It's a wonderful book, it's a picture book.
It's God's picture book of Christ.
And God reveals Him as the Lord in
the midst of the churches.
And as the Lamb in the midst of
the throne.
And as the Lion in the midst of
the nations.
And as the lover in the midst of
the marriage feast.
And then when you come to the closing
chapters, and we're into the eternal day, and
the New Jerusalem is there, there would be
no need of the sun, neither of the
moon.
The Lamb shall be the light, capital L,
yes.
For God is light.
And He'll be the light in the midst
of eternal glory.
What a picture book of Christ.
I don't know why they missed this, but
I think it's wrong.
And so that's just a word about the
title of the book.
But let's read the first two verses carefully
now.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
of Him, to show unto His servants, just
like us, things which must surely come to
pass.
And He sent and signified it.
And the word signified just means that He
used signs.
He sent and signified it by His angel
unto His servant John, who bared record of
the word of God and of the testimony
of Jesus Christ and of all things that
He saw.
And now we come to what I have
called the trait of the book.
The word trait in your dictionary just means
the noticeable feature.
And the noticeable feature of this book is
this, that it makes a promise to every
one of us here, Blessed is he that
readeth.
You know, there's a blessing for you if
you even read the book of the Revelation.
Blessed is he that readeth.
And they that hear the words of this
prophecy, while there are many evangelical things in
the book, and many fundamental things in the
book, and many practical things, it is really
a prophetical book.
It's the prophecies of this book.
So that this is the trait of the
book, it will bring blessing to the reader,
it will bring blessing to the hearer.
And it goes that little bit further, Blessed
is he that readeth, and they that hear
the words of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written therein, for the time
is at hand.
And the trait of the book ensures us
that there are many blessings in store for
us as we read, and hear, and keep.
And then we come to the task of
the book.
Once we get this task set up properly,
John, to the seven churches, which are in
Asia, and let's be quite clear about this,
that these were literal, actual, local churches.
Make no mistake about that.
He was writing to churches.
See, down at verse eleven, the Lord is
speaking to him and saying, What thou seest,
write in a book and send it unto
the seven churches which are in Asia.
And he names them, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna,
unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, unto
Philadelphia, unto Laodicea.
And John was to write to these seven
literal, actual, local churches.
They were local churches in Asia Minor.
And we'll notice this just in a moment.
We're back at verse four.
John, to the seven churches which are in
Asia, Grace be unto you and peace.
From.
Now this letter is not just to go.
He's writing to these churches.
He's writing from, from him which is, and
which was, which is to come.
And from the seven spirits.
And from Jesus Christ.
But we'll get back to that in a
moment.
We're just trying to get the task of
the book.
The task is to write to the churches.
To write from the Trinity.
Now, what is to write about is a
part of next week.
But we'll look at it now just for
a moment.
Down at verse nineteen.
The Lord Jesus is speaking to John.
And he's saying, Write the things which thou
hast seen.
And the things which are.
And the things which shall be hereafter.
That's what is to do.
You see, he's getting special revelations.
It's God's revelation.
And it's God's revelation of Christ.
And you'll find that when we start next
week at verse twelve, that John turns to
see the voice that speak with him.
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks,
one like unto the Son of Man.
And then we get a description of the
Son of Man like we've never had before.
At any time in the whole Bible.
It's one of the great revelations.
And you see, that's why John is being
instructed to write the things which thou hast
seen.
Because he has just seen the glory of
the Lord.
And here and there throughout the book he
writes a revelation of the glory of the
Lord.
So many departments of the glory of the
Lord.
But he's not only to write the things
which he has seen, he's to write the
things which are.
And you see, when we start at chapter
two and go on through chapter three, we're
looking how things are in the treacherous.
And I can tell you, God speaks out
loudly, you know.
Because when God comes into an assembly, a
local assembly like this, God looks at everything.
All the sermons are such.
And all the mortals are measured.
And all the saints are scrutinized.
And then God says what he sees.
And sometimes maybe you'll not like what he
says.
But then he doesn't just talk to you
about the things you want him to talk
to you about.
He talks to you about your need.
It's not what you want you get.
It's what you need you get.
And so John's to write about the things
which he has seen and the things which
are.
But the big bit of the book is
and the things which shall be hereafter.
That makes it prophecy.
That's outlining things to come.
Happenings ahead, we called it once upon a
time.
Well there's a lot of them in this
wonderful book.
So this is the task.
You can see the task.
I think you can see the title.
And I think you can see the truth
of the book.
And I think you can see the task
that John had before him is to write
to the seven churches.
And he's to write about the things which
he has seen and the things which are
and the things which shall be hereafter.
And now we come to the Trinity in
the book and we're going back to verse
four.
John to the seven churches which are in
Asia.
Grace be unto you, he says, and peace.
From him, and it's a personality we're thinking
about when we say from him.
From him which is and which was and
which is to come.
Want you to get that.
Because we're looking at God when we're looking
at that.
And we're looking at the God of the
present.
Him which is.
And we're looking at the God of the
past.
Him which was.
And you can't take me to a place
where he was not.
In the beginning when anything that ever had
a beginning began.
The Word was and the Word was God.
He was always there.
Which was.
It's the God of the present and it's
the God of the past and it's the
God of the future which is to come.
He'll always be there.
In fact you know the best name for
God is I Am.
He's the Great I Am.
When you go back as far as you
can go way before the foundation of the
world the I Am is there.
And when you go away in the other
direction till time shall be no more and
you sail out into eternity He is still
the I Am.
Which is.
Which was.
Which is to come.
And John is writing to these seven churches
from God the Father.
And his great statements here at the end
of verse 4 are from these seven spirits
which are before his throne.
There's another translation by that great translator Williams.
You know I think that I should say
this I would like to say this.
Old Dr. Williams was a Quaker and I
think that he has made one of the
greatest translations of the New Testament that was
ever made.
In his own quaint style he got things
right you know.
Remember we were looking at a phrase the
other night the Lord is at hand.
And you could think it up wrong you
see.
You could think it had a reference to
the Lord's coming and it has nothing of
the kind.
And Old Williams translated it like this The
Lord is at thine elbow.
The Lord is at hand.
Dr. Ironside translated it The Lord is beside
thee.
And all the different places through the scriptures
I find that Old Williams in his quaint
way comes out on top as far as
I'm concerned.
So I would like to pay honour to
him where it is due.
And he translates this phrase here that has
puzzled so many John's writing from him which
is, which was, which is to come and
from the seven spirits which are before his
throne and here's what Williams says And from
the seven fold Holy Spirit.
Ah, that's really charming.
Because it is the Holy Spirit that's in
view here.
Well you can see that God is first.
You can see that Jesus Christ is coming
in a moment or two and the Spirit
is in between.
And it's the seven fold Holy Spirit that
he's to write from.
Now this is most interesting because we believers
are exhorted all the time to be filled
with the Spirit.
And that means that we're to be continually
being filled with the seven fold Holy Spirit.
And you know this puzzled quite a lot
of scholars.
And I don't know why.
Our Lord Jesus Christ when he began his
ministry you remember he took up the book
and he said the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me.
And you remember a way back in Isaiah
I wonder do you remember this, let's go
back there.
It's Isaiah chapter eleven.
Let's go back there for a moment now.
Because this is most interesting.
Speaking of the Lord Jesus in verse two
just to make you sure we'll read verse
one.
The prophecy of Isaiah chapter eleven And there
shall come forth a rod out of the
stem of Jesse And that's a rod coming
out of the stem of Jesse.
And you know that David came from Jesse.
And you know that our Lord came from
David as far as his flesh was concerned.
He was of the house and lineage of
David.
And a rod out of the stem of
Jesse and a branch Capital B you'll notice
that.
Because this branch is Christ.
And verse two says And the Spirit of
the Lord shall rest upon him.
And let's get that phrase proper because it's
the Spirit of Jehovah.
The word Lord is the old Hebrew word
Jehovah.
It's the Spirit of Jehovah.
And this is the first thing we must
always remember about the Holy Spirit that He
is because He's a person He is the
Spirit of Jehovah.
Spirit of God He's sometimes called.
That's the first thing.
He is also the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding.
The Spirit of God, the Spirit of wisdom,
the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel,
the Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge,
and the Spirit of the fear of the
Lord.
And there is the sevenfold explained for you.
Count them now.
The Spirit of God, Spirit of wisdom is
two, Spirit of understanding is three, Spirit of
counsel is four, the Spirit of might is
five, Spirit of knowledge is six, the Spirit
of the fear of the Lord is seven.
This is the sevenfold Holy Spirit.
And you know this is something that I
want to say quickly and you preachers can
take it up sometime.
When a man is constantly being filled with
the Spirit, he's conscious that all the thoughts
and all the things that's happening and all
the doings and deeds that's going on is
being wrought by the Spirit of Jehovah.
Never takes any glory to himself.
He sort of knows he's no use, but
he knows the Spirit's at work.
And you know this man has great wisdom.
You'll always find a man that's filled with
the Holy Ghost.
He has wisdom.
He is no fool.
He's a man that has understanding of many
things because the Holy Ghost makes him understand
things.
He's a man who can give counsel because
the Spirit of counsel dwells in him.
He's a man who has might against the
enemy.
He'll not run.
He's a man who has knowledge because the
Spirit of knowledge dwells in him.
He's a man who is always reverent before
the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is there.
And that's the sevenfold Holy Spirit.
And it was good that old Williams got
that because that just helps us back here.
Let's get back to this.
You see, John is writing.
This is his task.
He's to write to the seven churches and
he's writing from him which is, which was,
which has become.
And from the sevenfold Holy Spirit.
And the Spirit is the person.
Because, you know, I know that that's questioned.
Sometimes people come to our door selling certain
kinds of books and they don't believe that
the Holy Spirit is a person.
Two of them told me, at least tried
to tell me some time ago, the Holy
Spirit is not a person.
The Spirit is just an influence.
Just an influence.
I said, now, define that a wee bit
for me.
And they have bothered defining it, you know.
I said, you mean just to start with
something about like a virus or the flu?
You think that the Holy Spirit is something
like the flu?
You can't see it but you can take
it.
And he admitted that this is what he
believed.
Well, I said, it wouldn't do for me,
friend.
And I took them back to here.
And you young ones, Marcus, because I'm doing
this for you.
This is the Acts of the Apostles and
it's chapter five.
Acts of the Apostles, chapter five.
Now watch it very carefully.
But a threatened man named Ananias with Sapphira,
his wife, sold a possession and kept back
part of the price.
His wife also being privy to it and
brought a second part and laid it at
the apostles' feet.
He was pretending he was giving his all
but he wasn't.
He had kept back part of the price.
But Peter said, Ananias, you see, Peter had
a gift which is called in this book
the spirit of discernment.
Now if a fellow brought in some money
to this place and said, I'm giving you
all the money I have, I just wouldn't
know whether he was or not.
I would thank him.
I could do no more.
Because I haven't got the spirit of discernment.
I wouldn't know.
I would just thank the man.
Then Peter was just a little bit more
than I am.
He was an apostle with great gifts.
And Peter said, Ananias, why half-sit and
fill thine heart to lie to the Holy
Ghost?
Now that's the bit I asked the two
fellows to look at.
That here was a man called Ananias and
his wife, and they were lying.
Lying to the Holy Ghost.
Do you think you can tell lies to
an influence?
What way would I tell lies to the
flu?
It all almost is ridiculous to say.
But watch this.
Sit and fill thine heart to lie to
the Holy Ghost and to keep back part
of the price of the land.
While it remained, was it not thine own?
And after it was sold, was it not
in thine own power?
Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine
heart?
Thou hast not lied unto men, but answer
quick now.
God!
Because the Holy Ghost happens to be God.
Is that clear enough?
Because the two boys were stuck.
Then when they get stuck, they're always wanting
to say, there's a wee thing over here.
I'm not in your life, you're not going
over there.
You just answer this.
I'm waiting on your answer.
And if you don't answer, clear off.
I can't be bothered.
No time to waste.
You know, old Churchill was a terrible drunk
man.
He was lying sleeping one day, and a
wee small fellow, about five year old, crept
into the room.
He said, Are you the greatest man in
the world?
He said, I am.
Clear off.
The wise men of Notre Dame.
Now let's get back to Revelation 1, verse
4.
And John's task is to write to the
seven churches.
And he's writing from him which is, which
was, which is, which was, which is to
come.
And from the seven fold Holy Spirit.
And from Jesus Christ.
You can see the whole Trinity is behind
the message, can't you?
You can see John's task.
It's to the churches.
You can see he's to write about the
things which he has seen, the things which
are, the things which shall be hereafter.
And the whole letter is coming from the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
I like the way that the wording comes
here.
And from him which is.
And from the seven fold Holy Spirit.
And from Jesus Christ.
And then it puts a bit to that.
Who is the faithful witness?
And you know the faithfulness of our Lord
is on the line.
And then it says, and the first begotten
of the dead.
You know, that's a very wonderful phrase.
First begotten of the dead.
You know, I remember a lady challenging me
about this.
She said, it says in this book that
Christ was the first begotten from the dead.
Well, surely that Lazarus rose again from the
dead before him.
Surely Jairus' daughter rose again from the dead
before him.
Surely the widow's son rose again from the
dead before him.
I said, I think you've missed the point
madam.
You see, when we talk about our Lord
Jesus being the first begotten from the dead,
the dead, we're talking about his victoriousness.
He rose never to die again.
He rose in the power of an endless
life.
Lazarus died again.
Jairus' daughter died again.
The widow's son died again.
But our Lord will never die again.
You see, this book underlines his faithfulness.
The faithful and true witness.
Then it underlines his victoriousness.
It says, and from Jesus Christ, who is
the faithful witness, and the first begotten of
the dead, and the prince of the kings
of the earth.
Isn't that a great thing?
Because that's his majesticness.
You see, it's underlining his faithfulness and his
victoriousness and his majesticness.
Now, this book has this tendency, we'll get
to it in a moment, it breaks into
song at times.
You know, it seems that the spirit is
so thrilled talking about Christ that song just
breaks out.
And this is a bit of the song,
but we're not doing it just now.
Unto him that loved us and washed us
from our sins in his own blood, and
hath made us kings and priests unto our
God, and his Father to him be glory
for ever and ever.
But let's go on with this.
Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye
shall see him, and they also which pierce
him, and all kindreds of the earth shall
will because of him.
You see, when he begins to talk about
from the God of the present and the
past and the future, when he begins to
talk from the sevenfold Holy Spirit, when he
begins to talk about Christ, he talks about
his faithfulness, his victoriousness, his majesticness, and then
his fearfulness.
When he comes with clouds, that's the day
that he's coming to this earth again.
And in that day his feet shall stand
on the Mount of Olives.
What a wonderful day that will be.
The whole world will be afraid of him,
or quick.
And the Jewish nation that pierced him will
be terrified.
What a beautiful picture it is.
God is giving pictures, and we've got to
gather them up here.
His faithfulness, his victoriousness, his majesticness, his
fearfulness.
Now, that's the Trinity, isn't it?
You can see God the Father, you can
see God the Spirit, you can see God
the Son.
And we'll find the Trinity again and again
and again in this book, you know.
Now, you've seen the title of the book
and the treat of the book and the
task of the book and the Trinity of
the book.
I want you to look at the tendency,
because there are more songs in this book
than any other book.
The tendency is to break out into song.
You see, I think that the Spirit was
so thrilled writing about Christ that in the
middle of verse 5 there's a song.
It's unto Him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood
and hath made us kings and priests unto
God and His Father.
You can see that it's a song, alright,
because it ends, to Him, the glory and
dominion forever and ever.
Amen.
Now, as you look at the song, it's
all about this great person.
Unto Him.
It's always about Him.
Our song shall be of Him.
Sometimes the philoists sing here, my theme shall
be of Jesus.
Now, notice this.
It's not only His personality that's taken up
in the song, but His passion.
Him that loved us.
Well, let's get that bit quite clear.
You know, it's wonderful that God's Son loved
me.
I was born in the back streets, you
know.
And my mother wore a shawl.
Still my mother.
And she loved the Lord Jesus, shawl and
all.
And she could stand on her knees and
prayed for us every night.
And she had them 2D sometimes.
But she still loved Him.
And oh, I was born in a back
street, in a tumbledown shack.
And I went to school on my bare
feet all my days.
Jesus loved me.
Loved me.
Why He loved me, I shall never know.
The answer is He loved me because He
loved me.
The Son of God loved me and gave
Himself for me.
Hallelujah!
What a thing.
Who will sing in heaven?
When you think of it, you almost break
out into song yourself.
Yes, you see, this song talks about this
person and then it talks about His passion
unto Him that loved us.
And then it talks about His performance washed
us from our sins in His own blood.
Any boy here that doesn't like the word
washed, get out!
And don't come back.
They don't want your cane around here.
This book talks about being washed in the
blood of the Lamb.
Some of the modernists.
An old modernistic minister said to me once,
I detest the blood of Jesus.
I felt like swallowing Him.
Grace saves them sometimes.
I said, do you have a communion table
where you are?
Yes.
Do you have bread on it?
Yes.
What does it symbolize?
The body of Jesus.
He knew the answers.
Do you ever got a cup on it?
Yes.
What does the wine symbolize?
He wouldn't answer that question.
Doesn't grace really save them?
I said, if you had, you were a
bigger man in your physical being as you
are with your mouth.
You go down and pitch the cup out.
A man that says, I detest the blood
of Jesus shouldn't have a cup on the
table.
He hasn't got the guts to throw it
out.
He's only a rebel.
And some of you people support these sort
of rebels.
Name that would deny them.
The blood of Christ that washes you whiter
than snow.
How do you get stuck in there?
You need to put your shoulders back and
take a stand for the Lord.
And get out!
From such!
Turn away!
It's what this book says.
There are rebels running round now saying you
should stick in these places.
I'll tell you what the Lord says.
Have no fellowship with them.
But rather reprove them.
That's what I'm doing just now.
And not particularly whether you like it or
not.
I'm just quoting God's word.
Get out!
Touch not the unclean things.
That's God's word.
That's not soft soap, you know.
That's teaching.
Yes!
Watch this song again.
Because it talks about the person and his
passion and his performance washed us from our
sins in his own blood.
And then it talks about the production and
hath made us kings and priests unto God.
Boy, I can tell you that's something.
Yes.
Made us kings and priests.
I used to preach with an old preacher,
you know.
And he was about 50 years older than
I was.
An old man with a beard.
He taught me a lot of things.
And he had no mercy on me.
He taught you what you should know in
the roughest possible way.
And I was big enough to take it.
And I'm so glad.
And you know you should see the cut
of him.
He always wore a claw-hammer coat.
You know what a claw-hammer coat is.
Well, if you never know, it doesn't make
any difference.
And it was green with age.
Green.
And he wore a hard hat and he
had a beard.
And he was the comicalest looking character you've
ever seen.
And when you saw me and him, a
wee small man, I think the wee fellows
used to call us Ham and Bud, but
I don't know why.
It doesn't matter.
I suppose I was the Ham anyway.
But he said to me one day going
down the street, you know, he took the
old hard hat off and tied it in
the hand.
And he said if the folks were passing
by only knew who we are.
We're kings, you know.
And priests.
They would take their hats off.
And you know he believed all this in
his bones.
He didn't want to swipe you the butt.
But he believed that God's Son loved him
and washed him from his sins in his
own precious blood and made him a king
and a priest.
There's a dignity about being a believer, you
know.
And this old fashioned character believed it too.
Yes, this is the great song that's here.
The passion.
The performance.
The production.
And I think you can see the tendency
of this book.
It breaks out into song at times.
Now the great truth of this book just
appears for the first time.
You'll notice that this book has an introduction
in the first three verses.
It's the revelation of Jesus Christ which God
gave to him and so on.
And then John starts really writing in verse
four.
John through the seven churches.
And you can see John's job and the
task that lay ahead of him.
And then how this book breaks out into
song.
And then God takes the writing off him.
In verse eight it is God that speaks.
As if he just pushed John aside a
wee bit.
He said, I am Alpha and Omega.
The beginning and the ending.
That's the Lord.
It's the Lord that's talking.
Which is, which was, which is to come.
The Almighty.
See the first two words, I am.
See the last two words, the Almighty.
I am the Almighty.
And the bit in the middle says, says
the Lord.
Jehovah is Alpha and Omega.
The beginning and the ending.
Which is, which was, which is to come.
The Almighty.
And that's really wonderful.
Because I had a couple of boys came
to the door once.
And knocked the door nicely and said, Are
you Mr Mohan?
That's me.
He said, we believe that you think that
Jesus Christ is God.
I said, you're right.
That's exactly what I believe.
We would like you to take time to
prove it.
Right?
It's a pleasure.
So I, I have about a thousand angles
I can start on.
And I amuse myself.
I may as well tell you.
I amuse myself to see what angle I'll
have a go at now.
So this is the angle that I took
then.
Are you young ones listening?
Because you might meet somebody one day just
like this.
So I opened my Bible and I read
this verse.
Yes, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending, says the Lord.
Which is, which was, which is to come.
The Almighty.
So he said to the big one, See
the first two words, I am.
See the last two words, I am the
Almighty.
Who's talking?
He says, it's simple.
It's Jehovah.
Says, says Jehovah.
In the middle.
It's correct.
So it's God that's talking.
He says, that's right.
I says now, John begins to write again
in verse nine.
I, John, who also am your brother and
companion in tribulation in the kingdom and patience
of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that
is called Bacchus.
John tells you who he is and where
he is.
And what he was there for.
They had shut him up as a prisoner
on the isle of Bacchus, had passed him
by one day in the Aegean Sea.
For the word of God and for the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
John says, I was in the Spirit on
the Lord's day.
And Orm Williams translates that, I was in
the Spirit on the Sunday.
I thought that was nice.
Just like the Quaker, isn't it?
Very good, you know.
So John tells you who he is and
where he is and how he is.
Because he was in the Spirit on the
Sunday morning.
He says, I was in the Spirit on
the Lord's day and I heard behind me
a great voice.
Out of a trumpet saying, I am Alpha
and Omega.
I said to the big fella, is this
the same person talking?
He says, yes it is.
Then what's been the same person?
At the chapter he says, I am Alpha
and Omega.
So here's the voice talking, I am Alpha
and Omega.
The beginning and the end.
First and the last, if you like.
So John says, I was in the Spirit.
I heard the voice saying, I am Alpha
and Omega.
The first and the last.
And what thou seest, write in the book
and send it on to the seven churches.
And then he mentions the seven.
And John says in verse 12, it's a
part of our next week, but we'll take
it now.
I turned to see the voice that spoke
with me.
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.
And in the midst of seven candlesticks was
one like unto the Son of Man.
I said, who's that now?
Took his crown now.
Who's the Son of Man?
Tell me who the Son of Man is.
He says, the Lord Jesus.
That's right.
John turned to see the voice that spoke
with him.
The one that said, I am Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last.
Is that God?
Is it the Son of Man?
So the wee one butts in now, you
see.
I think this is where there's two of
them.
Says to the big boy, you were all
wrong when you set up the church.
He says, you lie out of it.
You're out of the argument now.
Your buddy says that you don't know what
you're talking about.
So clear out.
Get out.
Thank you.
We'll start over with you.
Up the chapter it says, I am Alpha
and Omega.
It says there's a verse over here.
Oh, nothing.
You're late.
You're not good over there.
You come to me.
I am not looking for you.
But I'm proving to you.
I'm asking you the questions.
He wouldn't answer.
I believe there's no answer to this.
This is as clear as ABC to anybody
that does any sense.
And in case there should be some extraordinary
stupid sort of character in here this evening,
let me go a bit further with this.
You see, John says, I turned to see
the voice that spake with me, and I
saw one like unto the Son of Man.
You know, this is John the Apostle, and
this is the name or the title that
our Lord Jesus had when he was here
on earth, the Son of Man.
Son of Man hath not where to lay
his head.
But John's seeing him in a new way
now.
That's what we're going to go into next
week.
But I want you to see this.
When John saw him, verse 17, 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.
Is that the same wording?
Quick now.
Because that's what it said to the two
of them.
Is that the same wording?
I'm the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead.
Behold, I am alive.
Is that Jesus Christ?
My, you would be stupid if you didn't
see that, wouldn't you?
Let me tell you that Jesus Christ who
died on the cross.
Let me tell you that he is Jehovah.
Let me tell you that he is God
manifest in flesh.
There's the threshold started.
You must be going home.
I know most of you are going home.
I was very near going to say hands
up for who would stay to half ten.
I did this once and the whole crowd
of them put their hands up and I
said, Well, I'll be home a long time
before that.
I don't think you have any trouble with
that.
Because that's the truth of the book.
That the Alpha and Omega.
Let's take two more minutes now.
Come to the back of the book.
Revelation 21.
Book of the Revelation.
Chapter 21.
See verse 6.
And he said unto me, we'll gather up
where it comes from when we get there.
He said unto me, it is done.
I am Alpha and Omega.
The beginning and the end.
That's the same person.
I will give unto him that is a
thirst of the fountain of the water of
life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things.
I will be his God.
Quick now.
Is this God?
I don't think there's any trouble with it,
is there?
Have a look at the next chapter.
It's chapter 22.
See verse 13.
I am Alpha and Omega.
The beginning and the end.
The first and the last.
And if you take it up through the
chapter and back through the chapter, you'll find
it is Jesus that is speaking.
There's no quibbles in this.
This is the truth of this book, that
Jesus Christ is God.
God manifest in flesh.
You know, friend, when you think that this
great second person of the Godhead stepped out
of the glory, he who is in the
form of God and took upon him the
form of a servant and died for a
thing like me and you, we should praise
him forever.
I think we've had a good start to
the book.
We'll get on with it next week.
Let's sing this together.
Something we've never sung before.
259.
Great God with wonder and with praise, on
all my works I look, but still thy
wisdom, love and grace shines brightest in my
book.
259, please.
Dear Lord, part us in thy fear and
with thy blessing take us to our homes
in safety for thy glory.
Amen.