The Revelation of Jesus Christ - Part 2

This is Chapter Three. He went to South Sea to see his wisdom, and the wisdom of Charlie Solomon is proverbial, if it is not fabulous. He got a long way in this, and when he had done it all, he made it his life's business, he said, all is vanity, all is vanity, all is vanity.

There's a lie in it all. There's a cold pit in that very thing. This attachment, of which the best that man can do, this attachment, is his destiny.

That's the end. Man thinks he'll be free, but he is a prisoner. He thinks he'll be made, but he's not free.

There's nothing sounder in the life of things today, you have to say, of what fools they are. The wisest, and the cleverest, and the strongest of the fucked fools they are. They've, they've, they've missed the way.

He thinks he knows, he's a fool. He thinks he can do, and he does, as he has many things. That's all there is to them, in the hydrogen bomb.

Terror, fear, in all the earth. Apprehension, holding of the breath. No matter what they're taught to do, taught to do, that's what he can do.

He only needs one little, one little work. All that he can do only leads to more trouble. He builds more problems.

He builds on sand, not on rock. His whole world is run by lies. Think, make believe, preface, bullshit.

One of the rarest commodities in this world is downright honestness, in politics, in industry, in commerce, in business, in society, downright honesty. Man can only succeed in this world if he misrepresents, or deceives, or pretends, as he said generally, if he misperceives a bit. He exaggerates a bit.

What about all our adversity? What a marvellous, marvellous world this would be, if a mother couldn't possibly take an advertisement so seriously. Why, we should have reached Europea, we should all have immortal bodies. What a marvellous world.

A golden age would come if only half a dozen advertisements were true. It's true, it's just a custom, isn't it? You just read them, and of course you read them, and you'll catch it, and go off and buy this stuff, food, or medicine, or something, and when you try it out in the afterward way, it hasn't done the thing that it was advertised to do. But man can only run his world like that, he can only get on, he can only make money, he can only get any success by these appearances and exaggerations that are lies, somewhere, in the hell of creation.

And the lie has got into religion. We saw that our Lord made a great surprise for the Pharisees, and it was, in a horrible way, a horrible way, to play at them, to condemn them. Those who are making these hypocrites, whilst the outside of the platter was underneath, the supple-shirt painted white, but inside, rotting bones.

The Lord saw through. It's a horrible story, isn't it? This story of man, his sins, and lying nature. All against that, he said, I am a thief.

I came to bear witness of the thief. The last, well-mentioned last words of the last three statements, the Pharisee had come to bear witness of the thief, and while it was so unfamiliar with that commodity, he said, well, what is thief? I'm not familiar with that, I don't know anything about that, but what is it? What is that thing you call thief? This world doesn't know that that is thief, but to bear witness. You see, it's a great, pithy, foolish, fundamental law.

That is why I said it is so important to note these things at the beginning, that this is an unveiling of Jesus in authority and in judgment, and in just judgment, because it rests upon this. No one has a right to exercise authority or judgment at all. No one has a right to be in a place of judgment unless this can be said of them.

They are two. They are two. Absolutely two.

Two and two. There's no lie in them. There's no prejudice in them.

There is no question about them. There are no two things in them that contradict each other. You see, that is why the Lord Jesus came to the church at the beginning.

He started there with the judgment begins at the house of God, and He began this whole exercise of His authority with the churches. The seven churches symbolize, of course, of the Holy Spirit. And He stands before, and He is really saying to us, You're weak.

You have failed. Your testimony has broken down. The world is not feeling the impact of your presence.

I have even made an inroad into your land of churches, and it is because, this is the implication, it is because there's something false there. Something false there. Notice how again and again in His messages to the churches, He gave us a certain approach to these things.

Everything is a truth. Oh, it is important for the truth to be like this about us. That we are real.

That we are real. That we are genuine. That what we say is true.

That what we pretend or propose is true, Father. It must be like that. In this world, if only the church could recover itself from the weakness through its wife and son, a fifth division.

Something that is not really true, as the truth is in here. If our representation of God's mind were more exactly according to that mind, what power there would be. What power there would be.

But as I said, as the creation is beginning to left and goes to pieces because a lie entered in, it's an abiding, an abiding fact. That whatever goes anything that is questionable, doubtful, not true, not real, there will be sooner or later, hidden truth to left. We have to be built upon the foundation of the truth.

Now this psalmist explains that it's not the very title of the Holy Spirit, but Jesus gave him. Then he, the Spirit of Truth, is God. The Spirit of Truth.

The Holy Spirit is that. He is a self. He is particular.

He. He. To everything.

If you and I walk in the Spirit, we could be very true. We could be very real. But there's nothing that is doubtful and false about us.

We could be set up on everything. That may be an exaggeration. May be an exaggeration.

It may be a pretense. A make-believe. Anything that is not true, that is false.

The Holy Spirit will set us up on that. Not because he would like to bring us into judgment. But simply because it is so very important for the building of that which is going to stand, abide, and go through, and go right through to the end, and come out triumphant at the end, it is so important that right from the foundation, the things will be true.

The Lord will take us down, take us down, take us down, all the pieces, and bring us right down to the bottom in order to begin with what is true. If there is a superstructure that is untrue because it is mixed, or because it is not true. And we ought to be thankful to the Lord that he's like that.

I'm sure we would say, Lord, let there be no falsehood in my position. No untruth in what I possess. Let there be nothing that is not absolutely real in what people think about me.

Very important. The Lord Jesus stands as he does, and as he knows to judge, and to be the murderer because he is the true witness. The true witness.

That is, he is the embodiment of the truth. Now that is a Sunday word. It's a certain word.

It is not perhaps a very inspiring and uplifting word. But you see, after all, this is a title of the risen Lord. The title of the risen Lord.

Why did God raise him from the dead? Why could he be raised from the dead? God won't raise alive. God will never even resuscitate a falsehood. He was raised because he was a true witness.

He had, in his own person, borne a true testimony to his Father and to the thoughts of his Father. It's a matter of life, whether there's truth to it. Life can never go alongside of anything that's not true.

Life demands that truth. We leave that then and go to the second of the titles, the firstborn of the dead. Firstborn of the dead.

What he has become in triumph over death. This phrase, firstborn, is used, as you probably know, quite a number of times in the New Testament, in Romans 8.29, we have it that he may be the firstborn among many, brethren. The idea is here again and again in the New Testament, in that great little lection, chapter 1, Corinthians 15.

It's there again, Christ is risen, the first, the firstborn from among the dead. Very interesting reference to this. It impressed me very much because I admit that I had not noticed it or it hadn't struck me, very possibly, before in Acts chapter 26.

It plays a great significance that here in Acts 26 and verse 23 here is Paul making his defense before Christus and the others and this is what he says, how that the Christ must suffer and how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim life both to the people and to the Gentiles. He first by the resurrection of the dead. The first witness.

The first preacher. The first one to take place. It begins with the resurrection.

He's the first of the long line of preachers. Well, I'm not going to dwell upon that and make much of it but I'm saying that this plays the firstborn of things and again it says in the New Testament very well. Why does it imply? Well, firstly it says that obviously it implies it implies that there is to be a succession and here we are back in Isaiah 53.

We shall see his feet. We shall see his feet. He is the firstborn.

It doesn't say in John 12, 24 the calling of preachers and the abundant result of it falling into the ground and dying. The firstborn among many brethren. Firstborn from the dead.

Then it means that all these are to be the first. The many brethren the seed the progeny of his resurrection will share the same deathless triumphant life. There are families who have a life which has proved itself already in the chest of the family more than a month for death.

Great hope. Great assurance. Great comfort.

Wonderful truth that if we are of this company of the family of the many brethren he has passed on the same life to us that he has his heart so marvelously and gloriously proved that death is not equal to it. Oh death. Oh death raised by the Spirit.

Oh grace raised by the Spirit that comes as we know in the letter to the victim sufferer now is Christ raised. We brethren the many brethren sharing the same death-conquered life we have it. We have it.

If we are of this company. But it means a people of a distinctive character and then it has opened a certain life that people of a distinctive character the illustration of this as we know is the Levites you remember the story of the Levites and their inception when the people broke down and worshipped the golden calf at the foot of the mountain. Moses came down and saw what had happened he took the tent of meeting right outside of the tent and then standing at the door he cried who is on the Lord's side let him come unto me and all the sons of Levi went to him and the Levites as we so well know were taken as representatives and in the place of all the firstborn and became the church of the firstborn why? Because they separated themselves from that initiative they separated themselves from that pain from all idolatry from all disobedience from all corruption they separated themselves and went outside for that unusual thing what it was it's a great type of illustration that the many brethren of whom our Lord is the firstborn comes to this church of the firstborn so different in character and so the context context is vividly appropriate to what we have here about the firstborn he unto him that loved us and missed us or watched us from us in his own blood it's a different character that is here in the firstborn one they take their character from him and then during the firstborn days he is in every sense the prototype of the family for given us the grace to turn out to the heart of God from eternity past and he has said to be transformed to the image of his son transformed to the image of his son in resurrection he is the prototype of all the sons to be we hold to the third title the ruler of the kings of the earth that we use in exaltation and vindication ruler of the kings of the earth ruler founder title is given us in the 17th chapter of this revelation king of kings and lord of death now at present this is not official and cultural in a sense not literal it is spiritual it is a long term thing I say this because I know the problem that arises when you say Jesus is on the throne he is ruler of the kings of the earth king of kings and lord of lords then then then why why these men doing what they are doing these rulers of the earth taking the course that they are taking these kings of the nations why Jesus is on the throne let us remind ourselves that this is first first of all spiritual and it is a long term thing on his throne as ruler of the kings of the earth he will over a long term be utter utter fallacy and falsehood of all their sons you dear friends hearing this all this afternoon even younger ones have lived through a period in which we have seen the lifting up of certain heads the rulers of this world I did mention their names I am not going to this one that one within our lifetime we have lifted up their heads to take the government of this world to take the government of this world their whole idea has been world dominion one who is going to bring all the nations under Jesus government to be the dictator not of his own nation English but of all the nations and he said himself to do and another one is going to be the final king to gather all the people under his control and yet another we have seen them rise we have seen them go so far and seem to be seem to be in the way of doing it there is no end of these men the early fathers did that to others did the same thing to all these men of country shame and dishonor yes there is someone on the phone who says the world dominion belongs to me belongs to me the father has made him ruler of the kings of the earth and no one can take their place it may be a long term and painful out working but there it is and it happened like that right through history you see it happened with Babylon it happened with Rome it happened with Adam and fire and it is right up to date right up to date God has given the empire to his sons he may let men go so far but he only will let them go so far as he did tell in order to show his superior might and strength over all that man can do and can be that's such history and that is still history in the he is the lord of the kings of the earth but I can assure you in this way that his government is on TV screen on character such a thing as truth you know in the truth, in the end, who says the very? in the end it's the only thing that men may set up a whole regime and system of lies lies and oh it's a terrible thing today we have great world power based upon lies indeed they don't seem to know what the truth is, they are laying themselves out to get their way by lies they say wait and see history today and the lying thing which David teaches he is ruler of the kings of the earth so it is now the day is coming and this book of the regulations gave us the day that is coming when it will not be the long term business and not be just the outworking of political things he will come and very swiftly he will arraign the kings of the earth and all the prophets of this world he will have the kingdoms before him and he will pronounce the judgment and the verdict for eternity upon them, that day is coming when it shall be seen by all we heard this morning it arrives this evening all shall mourn because of him and David Pearson what the fuck they said they are dead two thousand years their backs could not respond in the earth their eyes shall see him David Pearson they shall see him oh yes he can't get away from this one can't get away from him time or any other thing does not get rid of him the end you have to face him he is ruler of the kings of the earth because God has exalted him and God has vindicated him it's like that these five great things all bound up with his revelation titles of the living Lord they are titles of great comfort to the sick a great instruction to us believers they are titles of great terror to the ungodly the Lord give us new joy and comfort and blessings that's the richness of our living Lord