Episode Transcript
Now we are running, I think, very much against time this morning, but we will read in the first chapter of Revelation. In Revelation and chapter one. Revelation chapter one, and I will read from verse ten.
I was in the spirit on the Lord's day. And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying, what thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamum, unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turn to see the voice that speaks spake with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto burnished brass as if it had been refined in a furnace. And his voice as the voice of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth proceeded 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 one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one. And I was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and hell.
Write, therefore, the things which thou sawest and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter.
We've been thinking this morning about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this verse has been so much with me. Fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one, and I was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and hell. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ spells absolute victory, not just relative victory, but absolute victory. That is the meaning of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Neither, for my part, have I any time at all for this new theology which tells us that the story of the resurrection is a story. It is a myth which has real value insofar as it contains tremendous spiritual truth. Jesus did not rise from the dead.
He died, according to this new theology, a genuine death, and remained dead, but in the minds of his people, they sort of wove around his life and the facts of his life, all these great spiritual truths. Now, I don't understand that.
For me, spiritual truth is actual truth.
And to take certain things and say they were myths and that all these people, when Peter said the patriarch David both died and his tomb is with us today, to say that these men were either the cases of hallucination or were absolute frauds to me, I cannot believe that the whole gospel and our experience of the risen Christ rests upon such a mythological foundation.
No, I cannot help but feel that people who've never known a miracle in their own lives must of necessity feel that the miracles in the word of God cannot be genuine.
The greatest miracle that any one of us can know is to be converted, to be truly converted. That's not a psychological exercise.
It is something that happens within us in the spiritual realm. We are born of the spirit. And when that happens, it has a tremendous manifestation in the whole of our body, spirit, soul and body.
What a tremendous thing it is to be saved. What a miracle it is to be saved when you see the blindness of people to spiritual realities. What a wonderful thing it is when God has touched a human being and opened their eyes to a spiritual dimension so that they see those things which are invisible. They endure as seeing those things which are invisible. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is a real resurrection. It was the resurrection of his physical body.
And oh, what a victory that is. Now I often used to puzzle, when I was younger than the Lord and had no Christian background and had never read my Bible until I was twelve years of age, I used to question when I was first saved, why the Christians made so much about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Because I thought, they seem to think it's unique. And yet Lazarus was raised from the dead. Jairus's daughter was raised from the dead. The widow of Nain's son was raised from the dead. What's so unique about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus?
And then some people say, well, well, he went into heaven, but Enoch went into heaven. Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. And where, may I ask, did Elijah go when he went up, caught up in a whirlwind? Is that another myth?
Or was he caught up by God and taken? What is the uniqueness of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ? Here is the uniqueness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It is contained in his own words. And these words spell absolute victory, such as this world has never known from its beginning, nor shall it ever know till its end. Here are the words of our Lord Jesus in John 10:17-18. Therefore doth the Father love me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. That is the uniqueness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jairus’ daughter couldn't raise herself. The widow of Nain's son couldn't raise himself nor could the widow of Nain raise him.
Lazarus couldn't raise himself. Nor could all the love and sorrow and longing and even hope of those around him raise him from the dead.
It was the Lord Jesus that stepped in and raised them from the dead.
But the uniqueness of our Lord's resurrection is he laid down his life and he took it again. Never in the whole history of man has a man laid down his life and lay in death for many hours and then took his life again. It has never so happened. That is the absolute victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Death could not hold him.
That is the point. Here was a life so spotless. Here was a life so perfect. Here was a life lived in the centre of God's will. Here was a life which knew absolute, fulfilment of the divine plan for it. Death was foreign to this life. The death that he died, he died for us all.
He tasted death for every man. But death couldn't hold him. It had no power over him. It had, as it were, no investment in him. It had no purchase hold on him. It couldn't hold him. And when the moment came, Jesus stepped out of it, the victor. Now, death, the Bible says, is the last enemy.
And no matter how great a saint we are, death must remain the last enemy.
We may go through it, we may face it and know, as we say, that it is but the gateway to life. But death is really foreign to God's creation.
Corruption and death. This all belongs to that domain of evil, to the domain of the powers of darkness. And the Bible speaks of the last enemy, death being abolished forever through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. The writer to the Hebrews speaks of those who all their lifetime are subject to bondage through fear of death by the operation of the one who has the power of death, even the devil.
Now, here we have a great realm of things, have we not? And what I'm trying just to say this morning is this, that the Lord Jesus’ resurrection is an absolute victory.
I want to get over to you just this one single thing. That if the Lord Jesus as man could surrender his life and take it again, then, every single thing that stands against God has been beaten hollow.
There is not a single thing in the whole realm of things visible and things invisible which have not been beaten by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead.
That's why the New Testament thrills with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It's why it goes far beyond our sort of faulty understanding of it. It declares the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead something absolutely unique.
There were others that were raised from the dead, but that was for a different reason.
Only the Lord Jesus has beaten death and overcome Satan and all that whole realm and order of things. Now, in the little time we have, why do we read the first part of the first chapter of Revelation? Why? Because this book of Revelation is for many people the most fearful book in the Bible. Not only because it is complex, but because so many of us are like flypaper or like cello tape. Everything sticks to us. And somehow all the dark side of the book of Revelation seems to stick to some people so that they fear this book. And yet it is said at the end of it that there's an especial blessing for all those who read and understand this book.
Before ever John, a prisoner in a concentration camp in the Isle of Patmos, in a forced labor camp, before ever he could see vision after vision after vision, the first thing he saw was the risen Christ in the midst of seven local churches.
These churches were anything but perfect. There were all kinds of things that were wrong about them. But there, in the midst of these seven faulty, failing local churches, was the risen Christ. Before John saw visions of beasts and dragons and false prophets and worldwide antichrist systems, before he saw martyrdom after martyrdom after martyrdom, before he saw the triumph of the overcomer in every single phase of the history of the church, before he could see any of it, the first thing he saw was the risen Christ in the midst of seven local churches.
And what were the words of the risen Christ? Fear not, I am the first and the last.
That is, I am all inclusive.
I comprehend the whole thing from its beginning to its end. I am the first and the last. And now listen, and the living one, and I was dead. Literally, I became dead, and I am alive forevermore. Do you see the force of the living one? What our Lord is saying is this, that he is the living one in such a way that death could not hold him. He beat it.
And so it comes to us with great force to every one of us. Fear not.
I am the first and the last. John, you may have to spend your whole life in a forced labour camp, but I am the beginning and the end. I include everything in the purpose of God.
I am the living one. I became dead and I am alive forevermore. Of course, John didn't spend all his days in that forced labor camp on the isle of Patmos.
God released him and he returned to the mainland. But nevertheless, here is the most wonderful thing to me. Listen to the words of our Lord Jesus. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he stopped there? But he doesn't. He says, fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I became dead and I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and hell. You're going to see the most fearful things in these revelations, in these visions. You are going to see great, gigantic beasts as it were, rising out of earth and out of the sea with power to crush things. But, John, John, I have the keys.
Don't ever think for one single moment that those great political and spiritual giants have got the keys to world history or to the fulfilment of things human.
Never. I have the keys of death and hell.
Oh, what a comfort that is for us. Dear child of God, there are many situations that we are facing today in which we need to see as never before, that the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead spells absolute victory. If we lose our freedom, if we lose our lives, if we lose all our possessions. It makes not one whit of difference to the fact that Jesus has beaten this whole antichrist, anti-God system hollow.
In the end, it will be publicly and finally, universally manifested.
We need something of that to get into us both on the worldwide issues that we face today, on the situation that we face as the people of God, and on personal issues. On the worldwide situation, permit me just to say a few things on this fleeting visit of mine to you here.
I do not believe that the world situation has been so grave at any time since the Berlin crisis. Our outlook, the outlook of freedom and the free world, has never before been so somber or so gloomy since Berlin. I say Berlin, I do not mention Cuba, because Cuba was just a show of force. What is happening in Southeast Asia is one of the greatest tragedies that our generation is living through, and will be but the beginning of one after another further tragedies. Once South Vietnam goes, Cambodia will shortly go, Thailand will go, Malaysia will go, Burma will go, Singapore will go, Indonesia will go, and the Philippines will go. The situation is as dark as dark can be. One and a half million people don't just get up and run away for no reason at all. Whatever the other side may say about them just being panicked, the fact of the matter, as someone has said, they are voting with their feet.
This, for us all, must of necessity make us realise that things are not getting better. America's growing isolationism, which I can fully understand. It would be foolish to sort of berate the United States. She has given and given and given and given, and all she has got is criticism and backbiting and disloyalty from friends. Until now, she's in a full wave of isolationism. But we must remember this, that what is happening today in Southeast Asia will happen in the free world tomorrow. And it's not only that, I don't want to just be political, but the fact of the matter is this, that what is happening in Portugal is probably infinitely more serious than what is happening in Southeast Asia. All our freedom, the freedom of these islands, which depends upon a strong NATO, is being outwitted by marxist manoeuvres. Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, now Portugal. The whole thing is in pieces. Are we waking up to the fact?
Do we realise that we are facing a very gloomy and dark situation from the human point of view? Do I have to mention the Middle east situation? It is a powder keg which at any single moment could go up and take with it most of the world. Now, my dear friend, why do I give all that, that sort of political talk?
Because the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead spells absolute victory. The will of God is going to be done in the end in this world, whether the whole world is taken by marxism or antichrist forces or not, the fact of the matter is our Lord has overcome and he has in his hands it at this very moment, the keys of death and hell.
Praise God for that. Our Lord Jesus said a very remarkable thing in Matthew and chapter 26 and verse 41. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
I have often thought that if those eleven disciples had heard what the spirit of God was saying, as it were to them at that time, they would have watched and prayed and would not have fallen.
They just somehow, the words of our Lord fell on deaf ears. My dear, dear friends, I believe that many words from this book are falling on deaf ears.
There are things our Lord has said about the last phase of world history, practical things, direct things, things which are quite clear, which appear to be falling on deaf ears.
When the moment of our trial comes, it will find us out. The Lord Jesus said, don't panic, don't fear. I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I became dead and I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of death and hell. But, my friend, we have got to watch and pray that we enter not into trial.
The word watch is just keep awake, keep awake, keep alive, keep alert. Don't just get lulled into sleep by a routine of things.
Thank God that he has given us some warning of these things some year or two ago and has at least alerted us as a company of God's children to these things. But dear, dear child of God, dear people of God, don't be lulled into any false sense of security.
Don't just be lulled by the routine of life and the routine of our gatherings into some false sense of security. Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. And then may I just say something about the situation that confronts us as the people of God. I find wherever I go that there is a major counterattack by the enemy at present upon the people of God. It is most interesting when you travel around to see that the effects and consequences are the same, but the causes are different. And that makes me recognise one thing, that at present there is a major satanic onslaught on the people of God. Wherever I go, I find confusion, faction, division.
It comes from different sources. Sometimes it's from excesses in the charismatic. Sometimes it's from things like our brother Witness Lee and the “local church movement” in quotes.
It's strange how it is different in different ways, but the result is the same confusion and faction everywhere in the midst of it all, don’t be too depressed, God is doing something.
God is doing something. And I believe our Lord's words come to us. Here he is in the midst of seven local churches. And you know, some of these churches have got anything but beauty in them. In one, there's a Jezebel. In another, there's Nicolaitanism. In others, they think they're everything and they have nothing. They think they're rich and clothed and have all knowledge. And the Lord says, you're poor and miserable and blind and naked.
But it is in the midst of these seven churches that our Lord says these words, fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I became dead, and I am alive forevermore. Dear child of God, our Lord Jesus has committed himself. He has said, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Oh, how thankful we can be for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Are the forces of death apparently winning in the work of God? Are they pressurising the people of God? Are we being put into positions where we are confused and perplexed and divided? Where faction appears to be coming in? Thank God we can look to the one who has beaten all these works of darkness, all these devices of death. He has beaten them hollow. I am the first and the last and the living one. I became dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and hell.
Years ago, when things were much more peaceful in spite of some of the antagonism and ostracism, we used to meet for the stand that we took here in this company years ago, we used to think about that Zechariah, chapter four. That when those saints cried, grace, grace unto it, you see, I used to think, why don't they shout glory, glory?
Judging by the way things have gone in the last few years, you would have thought that would have been the thing. Glory, glory! As the top stone was put into position, the only thing the saints could say was glory!
But no, they say, grace, grace unto it. And you remember some of you who were there in those days, we used to say to one another, could it be that things will be so dark and so terrible that only those who have faith in the Lord Jesus as the son of God will overcome and will see that the living one, the first and the last, who has the keys of death and hell, he will complete the work as we cooperate with him. And the only word that will be able to escape from our lips will be the grace of God. The grace of God began this work. The grace of God revived it when it was in danger of dying altogether through the history of the church and the grace of God has completed it.
My dear friend, again let me say here is a wonderful word. Fear not, I am the first of the last. If it is true of the world's situation and the purpose of God for the nations, how much more true is it for that church for which our Lord laid down his life and shed his blood? He is the first and the last concerning that great work of God to build a habitation for himself in the spirit.
It exists because of the living one, and his life is the very way in which it is formed and produced and its gifts and its functions. It's all in that life. Oh, my dear friends, should we not expect the forces of death to try and come in on every level possible?
Of course. But here is the message of our Lord.
Fear not, I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and hell. Now, if I've said that about a worldwide situation and about the situation that faces the church of God in these days when the very hatred of Satan would seek to swallow it up, how much more true must it be of your little life?
Do you think that you've got problems so big that our Lord, who can beat death hollow and will fulfil his purpose, his Father's purpose for the nation and will fulfil his Father's purpose concerning the church, do you really believe that he's foiled by your life?
You think that you are too complex, that your pedigree has got a bit too twisted and somehow has produced some kind of complex, intricate sort of giant that the Lord can do nothing about. My dear friend, if I may put it almost irreverently, your life is peanuts when it comes to the Lord. The Lord can deal with you.
Lift up your head. Don't just go down and think, oh, everything's getting dark and gloomy and unhappy. No, no, no.
The Lord's words to you are, fear not, I am the first and the last. Remember, these words were first spoken to one man in a forced labor camp. I have no doubt because he was looking in the wrong direction, you remember, when he heard the voice of the Lord behind, he had to turn round. And only when he turned round did he find that the Lord was there. He'd got his back to the Lord. Remember, these words were to one man, firstly, when first spoken. If you’ve got problems in your lives and in your circumstances, look up. Don’t let the enemy breathe his propaganda into you that you’re an impossible case, that you’re too much for the Lord. The Lord is going to win in your life if you'll let him.
Will you?
There is only one thing God requires from you, and that is faith and obedience. Faith and the obedience of faith. If you will give him that, he’ll win in your life and he will win in such a way that you’ll say grace. The grace of God has done this. It began the work, it continued the work and it has finished the work.
May the Lord help us all then on this Easter Sunday to understand that the risen Christ spells victory, absolute victory, on every single level. Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we lift our hearts to thee.
We pray that every one of us in this place may have a revelation given to us of the risen Christ.
O Lord, thou knowest the situations we face worldwide, the situations we face as thy people on this earth, and the situations which each one of us individually face.
Dear Lord, we thank thee for those words of thine. Fear not. I am the first and the last and the living one. I became dead. And I am alive forevermore. And I had the keys of death and hell.
Thank you, dear Lord, that you can unlock those terrible situations and let us out. And you can lock up the forces of darkness so that they cannot come out. Praise thy name. Amen.
