02.05. LECTURE No. 5 -- Rev_1:18-20
LECTURE No. 5 -- Revelation 1:18-20
Jesus Risen and Alive Forevermore - What John Was Commanded to Write About -
Mystery of the Seven Stars - Encouragement for All True Ministers of God’s Word - The Mystery of the Seven Golden Candlesticks
WE HAVE ALREADY considered the introduction of chapter one which gave to us the TRUE TITLE OF THE BOOK, and which explained to us the DIVINE ORIGIN, and the PROPHETIC CHARACTER of the material which the Book contains. The introduction also pronounces a special blessing upon all who READ and HEAR, and KEEP the words of this prophecy.
We have also studied the remarkable SALUTATION OF THE BOOK given in Revelation 1:4-8, in which we have a marvelous WORD PICTURE of Christ, based principally upon CERTAIN TITLES which belong to Him, because of His sacrifice and suffering, and which reveal His eternal, and Kingly character.
The salutation also contains that bold, startling PROPHETIC ANNOUNCEMENT which says: “Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.”
In our last lesson we began a study, of the vision of Christ, given to the Apostle John upon the Isle of Patmos, as recorded in Revelation 1:9-17.
In this remarkable vision Christ was presented to John as the LORD AND JUDGE AMONG THE CHURCHES! His divine authority over the churches, as Lord and Judge of all they do, was revealed in this passage, by the description of the glorified person of the Son of God, as He now is, and as He will appear when He comes again.
When the aged Apostle received this unusual vision of the Christ, he fell at His feet as dead. But Jesus laid His right hand upon him saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last.” Our Lesson For Today Now let us continue our study by reading what is recorded in verses Revelation 1:18-20, where He FURTHER SAID:
“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 the 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.”
Here, my friends, is some wonderful truth which well deserves our careful and prayerful attention!
We Need The Holy Spirit May the Holy Spirit Himself guide us and help us into an understanding of those things which this passage is intended to reveal.
There is one point in the vision, which John had of Christ, which we have not considered as yet in our present discussion. The Seven Stars In Revelation 1:16 it says: “And He had IN HIS RIGHT HAND SEVEN STARS.”
This is a very important statement and is full of suggestive and interesting truth. We need not be in doubt as to what is meant by the Stars in His right hand, because this is fully explained in Revelation 1:20, where it says: “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven Golden Candlesticks. The seven stars are the Angels (or messengers, or Pastors) of the seven churches: And the seven candlesticks are the seven Churches.” In His Right Hand
It is very significant, my friends, that the angels, or messengers, or pastors of these seven churches are here presented as being IN CHRIST’S RIGHT HAND!
It is true that Christ is both LORD and JUDGE in the midst of the Churches, but it is also true that HE HOLDS THE MINISTERS OF THOSE CHURCHES IN HIS OWN RIGHT HAND!
Who would dare say that this is not a place of shelter and of security for those who serve God in the ministerial office during this dispensation of grace.
The fact that all truly called and anointed ministers of God’s Word are positionally in His own right hand, should serve to impress upon them a sense and feeling of their great and utter dependence UPON HIM, who is their LORD and MASTER. It should also serve TO IMPRESS OTHERS with the high and holy calling of those who are the true ministers of Christ.
I must say that we are living in a day of extremes as regarding the ministerial office, and the work of the Ministry.
Today Satan has brought GREAT REPROACH upon the work of all true ministers of the Gospel, by causing some, who labor in this office, to commit some of the most terrible crimes imaginable! The newspapers give wide publicity to such news stories, with the result that public confidence is rapidly being broken down, and many have little confidence left, in THE CALLING and WORK of the ministry. Ministers themselves who are careless regarding their conduct, and who fall into Satan’s traps, are themselves bringing reproach upon the Christ they profess to love and serve, and are proving themselves unworthy of the HIGH HONOR to which their office and high calling entitle them. But IT IS COMFORTING TO KNOW that the true minister of God’s Word, the true Pastor who is the Undershepherd of the sheep, is positionally in Christ’s right hand.
We Are Subject To Christ Alone What a solemn thought this is! This makes Christ’s ministers subject to Him and to Him alone!
I know that our present day DEMOCRATIC IDEA OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT is different from this! Churches today have gotten the idea that all MINISTERIAL AUTHORITY PROCEEDS from the people themselves. Therefore they can hire the kind of a preacher they want at a stated salary, and if he doesn’t preach to suit their stubborn hearts, and narrow conceptions of divine truth and church order, they can fire him over night, and hire another man to take his place, WHO WILL PREACH to suit their carnal minds, and who will compromise the Word of God, enough, to allow certain sinful indulgences within the Church and rock them to sleep in their carnal security. All this they do in the name of Christ.
And if the preacher refuses to compromise the truth, and refuses to yield to their demands for a low standard of living, and to their sinful practices within the church; then a board meeting is held and OUT HE GOES! If they can’t kick THE TRUE MAN OF GOD out, ROUGH SHOD, then they will take a little more time at the job and STARVE HIM OUT. This is just a little more polite and dignified way of getting the job done. That’s all.
And so, my friends, you see that we are in a bad state of affairs. So-called ministers are bringing reproach upon the HIGH OFFICE, and the NOBLE CALLING of their profession, by wrong and shameful conduct. And the people of the churches themselves, in many instances, despise the MINISTERIAL OFFICE and treat their preachers as if they were hirelings, and subject to men only.
But I would remind you just here that all true ministers of the Word, are represented here, as being IN CHRIST’S OWN RIGHT HAND. Therefore, we would advise that you touch not the Lord’s anointed, and that you do His prophets no harm. SOME DAY, SOME WHERE, SOME TIME, God is going to bring vengeance upon every individual, man or woman, and upon every CHURCH COLLECTIVELY, who have in any way mistreated the true man of God, whom God, by the Holy Ghost, made an overseer over the flock.
Fellow Ministers: Press On! To my fellow ministers of the Gospel, I want to say that if we are God-called men for the work of the ministry, we have indeed a high and holy calling, and one of which we need not be ashamed, no matter what others may think or say about our profession. We are related to Christ in a very intimate and definite way! We are in His right hand!
Therefore, let us LABOR ON, in the fear of God, and continue our preaching of the whole Word of God, even though all men should be against us!
The Bible contains A DIVINE MESSAGE from God, for the people, and we are messengers of His Word. We are Ambassadors for Christ!
Preach The Word
Therefore, let us heed Paul’s admonition to Timothy when He said: “Preach the Word; be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”
He also said to Timothy: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in Spirit, in faith and in purity.”
If we who are preachers of the Word will do these things; and adorn the work we do, with noble, unselfish conduct; then we can preach the Word of God both WITH AUTHORITY, and with POWER; and the HIGH OFFICE, and the DIVINE CALLING, and the WORK OF THE MINISTRY will be ELEVATED IN THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE, whom, under God, we are called to serve.
Truly, the office of the ministry offers to those who fill it well, the highest honors, and the greatest rewards of any profession upon the earth! But to those who USE IT DECEITFULLY, and who depart from the high and rigid standards which it requires, it will plunge them, sooner or later, into greater shame and reproach than any other profession known among men!
Therefore, FELLOW MINISTERS, who are called of God; realizing the full weight of our glorious high calling, and the GREATNESS OF THE TASK to which we are called, let us watch and wait and labor on ’till the Master comes.
Well, so much for the work of the ministry! The Divine Title
Now, let us return to our lesson text, and consider the DIVINE TITLE which Jesus gave to Himself when He addressed the Apostle John. To John he said: “I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forever more, Amen: and have the keys of Hell and death.”
I wonder, my friends, if there is any place in the Scriptures where more truth is expressed, in so few words, than in this remarkable passage?
Talk about a man with titles to express his name and the character of his attainments! Well, the titles which the Lord here assumes are far above those which any COLLEGE, or SECRET ORDER, or MILITARY ORGANIZATION could possibly bestow upon any man, however great.
The expression: “I am the first and the last” is a title employed by God the Father to express His own deity, and the eternal character of His being.
In Isaiah 4:4 it says: “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first and the last: I am He.”
In Revelation 1:17, Christ assumes this title, and appropriates it to Himself. This was just another way of asserting HIS OWN DEITY, and His ONENESS WITH THE FATHER! Jesus used this expression to announce to John that He was BEFORE ALL THINGS, and that He would OUTLIVE ALL THINGS!
He next said: “I am He that liveth, and was dead, and, behold I am alive forever more!”
Here indeed, my friends, is a wonderful truth expressed in only a few words. By this expression Christ meant to tell John that He was “The LIVING ONE!” This is ANOTHER TITLE OF DEITY. It refers to God who is the self-existing One: the great “I Am,” who is the very author and fountain head of all life.
Therefore, when Jesus said, “I am He that liveth,” or the “Living One,’! He again assumed a title which belongs only to deity. But we may ask, was He mistaken in doing this? No indeed! For in John 1:1-4 it says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him; and without Him, was not anything made that was made, IN HIM WAS LIFE and the life was the light of men.” A Profound Mystery!
Now, the PROFOUND MYSTERY of this passage is this: He who was THE LIVING ONE “BECAME DEAD!”
There is no doubt but what the glorified Christ, in speaking to John, was here referring to the fact of HIS DEATH! UPON THE CROSS! It is utterly impossible for us to understand how He who was THE LIVING ONE, and the very FOUNTAIN HEAD of all life, could, or should die and become dead! But however contradictory these expressions may seem to be, the fact remains, and we cannot dispute it, that Jesus “THE LIVING ONE” actually DIED UPON THE CROSS, to make an atonement for our sins, through the sacrifice of Himself, and that on the third day He arose again from the dead. And because of His resurrection HE IS ALIVE FOREVERMORE!
As He said Himself, He laid down His life in order that He might take it up again, and thereby prove to all men that He is THE LIVING ONE! By His death and resurrection Jesus proved beyond controversy that He is the PRINCE OF LIFE and the MASTER OF DEATH.
Therefore He was able to say to John, “I am alive forever more and have the keys of hell and death.”
~ end of lecture 5 ~