Evening, will you please turn back again to the first chapter of Leviticus? The first chapter of Leviticus. And we are going to read a few verses at the opening of the chapter. Verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servant things which must shortly come to pass, and he sent unsignified by his angel unto his servant John, who bear record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that he spoke. 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. Will you please come down to the eighth verse? I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I, John, who also am your brother and companion in stipulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, within the island 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 out of a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what I seest write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in India, unto Ephesus and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Pythaeia, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that stayed with me, and being turned, I saw seven gold candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and just about the top 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 shiners in his prime. 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 forevermore. Amen. And have this keys of hell and of death, like the things which thou hast seen, 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 showest are the seven churches. May the Lord bless to us the reading of his word. The first thing I want you to observe is that the title of this book is The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Please remember, it does not say the revelation of Jesus Christ. The word is in the finger. We have here one great unfolding of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. It is called the revelation of Jesus Christ, because it is a revelation which God gave to Jesus Christ, and also because it is a revelation of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. And you will notice, as was pointed out in our meeting last evening, that the message, while it is for all of the Lord's people, it is particularly for his servants, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. If we are going to serve God and give him our death, put our death into his service, then everything that we do must be done in light of the shortness of time and of the soon coming of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. The time is at hand, he said. Five times, if I am not mistaken, in the New Testament, you have those two words, at hand, referring each time to the coming again of our blessed Lord. His coming is at hand. And if that ripped the hearts of all God's servants, what a change it was made there. You know, there are series of meetings at times, whole series of meetings, in which the coming of the Lord is freshly referred to. A sister said to me some time ago, we had a series of meetings in our hall, there were two brothers there preaching, and she said that the six weeks that they were with us, they never made more than a passing remark to the subject of the coming again of Christ. Oh, what a difference it will make to me as a servant of Christ. If I realize that the time is short, that the coming of the Lord is at hand, it will make my appeal more urgent and forceful. Don't you think so? I believe, dear brethren, that if this truth ripped our hearts as his servants, that every gospel hall would be served with the message that Jesus is coming soon. And I believe that it would revolutionar- revolutionize our lives as God's servants, if only this great truth may grip our souls. May it be so for this. Before passing on, I want you to notice, dear brethren and sisters, that there is a very close comparison between the first chapter of John's gospel and the first chapter of the book of Revelation. As you know, both of these great books were written by the same apostle, John. And if you take your Bible and read John one and then read Revelation one, I think that you will see the comparisons and also some of the contrasts that are presented. In the first chapter of John's gospel, the Lord Jesus is seen as the Son of God. In the first chapter of Revelation, he is seen as the Son of Man. In the first chapter of John's gospel, we are told that he came that he might declare the Father. That was the purpose of his coming, to declare the Father. In the first chapter of the Revelation, he reveals himself, his wonderful personage and his majestic glory in resurrection. Further, in John's Gospel chapter one, we have his past glory, the glories which were his as the Son of God from the timeless past, from eternal ages. But in Revelation chapter one, there are brought to full of rather his resurrection glory, his future glory. John one therefore, looks back to the past. Revelation one, while it looks back to the past, looks forward to the future. John chapter one, the blessed person who is the Son is seen to make us. Because that's the message of John message and John as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God. The Son makes us sons. That's a wonderful truth. Hebrews chapter two, corroborates that because it says about this blessed one that he is bringing many sons unto glory. Marvelous, isn't it? That God had only one son, and now God has many sons, and he wants his many sons to be like his one. It should be the aim of the Christian to be more like Christ. But here, in our chapter in Revelation chapter one, that one who is described as king and priest makes us kings and priests. Through that we are sons, John one, and we are kings and priests. Revolution. Think of our behavior. We love and say. Sons. And not only sons, but children. And priests. It is perfectly true that the time of reigning has not yet come. But the time of reigning will come, and it's coming very quickly. You see, at the present time, this kingdom, according to Matthew thirteen, is in the form of a mystery. That is, that is to say, it's not an outward display or manifestation. Men do not see it. Nevertheless, there is a kingdom, a spiritual kingdom. On one day, that spiritual kingdom will be seen in open manifestation, and we are going to live with him. And our place in that coming kingdom and glory is going to be determined, brothers and sisters, by our faithfulness now in the day of his resurrection. God help us then to be faithful to him. Yet we are kings and we are priests, and we are ever going to be priests. Isn't that lovely? Oh, the dignity of being a child of God. Oh, the honor that is compared upon us. We know, of course, that the world, the world knoweth us not. John is the same as everybody says, the world knoweth us not. That is to say, they don't recognize who we are. They never dream of the dignity that God has conferred upon. But there's a day coming, dear sense of God, when it is all going to be seen. It's all going to be manifested. And God says it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that we are going to be like him when he appears. The Lord help us then in our life from day to day. Dear brethren, that we may be put ourselves of those that have been called with a high and heavenly call. It will make all the difference in the world to my life if I remember, day by day, that I'm God's son, that I'm a king and that I'm a priest. I'm no ordinary person, if I'm a Christian. This is the dignity of heaven that has been conferred upon me. That in myself, what was I but a poor, guilty, lost, held, deserving sinner? But God has saved us, and God has ennobled us. And God has dignified us and given us this wonderful honor and distinction. Though, as I said, men do not see it now, but they should see Christ in all our life. And then one day, thank God, it's all going to be seen in outward display and manifestation. Praise be to his name. Another thing that I want you to notice is that in the first chapter of John's gospel, the witness bearer is John the Baptist, because there we are told that John, that is John the Baptist, bear record. And here in Revelation chapter one, another John, John the Apostle this time, uses almost those same words. It says here that he bear record. Both of them bear record to the wonderful person of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you take your Bible now and read it very carefully and thoughtfully down this first chapter of Revelation, I think that there's one thing that will, will strike you, and that is how many of the truths in it are stated in a threefold manner. For instance, in it, we read about the three persons of the Blessed Trinity. We read about the Father, we read about the Lord Jesus, we read about the Holy Spirit, the three persons of the Blessed. And then you have one single after another, right there in the chapter. I couldn't point them all out. I don't propose to do so. But the subject matter of the book of the Revelation is divided into three parts. It's spoken of as the Word of God, John her record here, the Word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ, and it says of all things that be so. Notice that that is, that is the subject matter is described in a threefold manner. Then again, the blessing or the benediction is threefold. There's a special blessing here upon the one that reads the word, the reader, he that read it, and then upon the hearer, and then upon the doer. I think that that certainly is very precious, that God, for some good reason, he has conferred a special blessing upon the one that publicly reads the book of the letter. We know, of course, that there is a blessing for, eh, those that lead any part of God's work. But is it not singular that here we read that there is a blessing particularly for the one that leads these words, and for him that hears them read, and for the one that does them? Well then, brothers and sisters, may be- may we all be doers of the word and not hearers only. And then indeed, our readings here in Cumber will be a real blessing to all of us. But to come back again to our chapter, please notice that God the Father is described in a threefold way, which is, and which was, and which is to come. And further, notice the threefold description of Christ, his beloved son. He has spoken of here as the faithful witness, as the first begotten of the dead, and as the prince of the kings of the earth. Oh, how one would, would love to dwell upon each of these great titles which he bear, but we cannot take time to do that. You can think of that for yourself, dear brethren. Then notice three things that he has done for us. We are told that he has loved us, and he has washed us, and he has made us kings and priests unto our God. Praise be to his name. When you come further on down the chapter, verse nineteen, you notice that it divides the whole book into three parts, as we saw last evening. The things which thou hast seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be after those men. Now, if you, if you are a student, if you're not really a student of the word, many of these things will not appeal very much to you. But if you are a student of the word, you will find that here is a nine of well. That is to say, in these trios found right down the first chapter of the book of the Revelation. I want you to think of the vision of Christ that is here brought before us. Please notice how he is. He has spoken out as the Alpha and the Omega. The Alpha, Alpha was the first letter of the Greek alphabet, as you know. Omega was the last letter of the last alphabet. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the Alpha and the Omega. That is to say, he reveals all. That is to say, dear friends, when he has finished speaking, he has said everything. Everything that can be said has been said when he finishes speaking, because he is the Alpha and the Omega. Further in the passage, we are told that he is the first and the last. He is the first because he is the origin of all things, and he is the last because that he is the consummation of all things. Now I want you to think further of some of the things that John saw in this wonderful Revelation chapter one. He tells us here what he saw. He saw seven golden candles. The candles that you'll notice are marked upon our chart. You'll notice that upon the chart, you have them twice. You have them up here, and you have them down here. We shall see the significance of that later. He saw seven candles, or it would be better to read it seven lampstands. Now, you know the purpose of a lampstand, don't you? It supports the light. So here you have got the thought of light bearing. And in that connection, you will remember that in the Old Testament, Israel had a candlestick. You had been allowed to see enter the holy place there, you would have beheld Israel's golden candlestick. What did that signify? It symbolized the fact, dear brethren and sisters, that the children of Israel were God's testimony bearer, and that they were responsible to diffuse the light of the knowledge of the one true God to all the peoples that were round about them. We know, of course, that the people of Israel failed in that respect, and because they failed, they were set aside. And then, dear friend, God brought into this world his only begotten son. And where Israel failed, he triumphed, praise his name. He said, I am the light of the world. And while he was here, he was the light of the world. But now, our blessed Lord and Savior is no more in this world. Has he light bearers today? Has he had light bearers during ages? Oh yes, he has. Oh yes. And let me say, first of all, that the individual believer is called upon to be a light bearer for him. Don't we read, let your light so shine before men that they may behold your good work. Didn't the apostle in writing to the Philippians say, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. We have the knowledge, not only the knowledge of the one true living God, but we have the knowledge of Jesus Christ, his beloved son, the redeemer of the world. That light God has put into our hearts, as into a vessel, Second Corinthians chapter four. and we are his light bearers. Let me pause and ask, how are we shining for Jesus? Of course, we are responsible to shine, you in your small corner, and I in mine. Are we shining for him? Is my life a testimony for him? That is something that is exceedingly solemn, beloved brethren. Because let me tell you, it is possible for a believer so to walk that sinners will stumble over his past testimony into hell. Yes. Who are we light bearers? Or are we stumbling blocks? May the Lord search our hearts with that thought. And may God help us to answer that question. What about my life before my unconverted friends alone? What about my life in the shop, in the workshop, on the road, in the field, or wherever I may be? What do people think about my Christianity? God has left you and me here to be testimonies for him. And you remember that John the Baptist was one such testimony. The Lord said of him in John John chapter three, he was a burning of the shining light. He was burning, that is, he gave warmth, both warmth and light. And those two things also characterize the testimony of every believer in Christ. We ought to have the warmth of the love of Christ dwelling in our hearts, and the knowledge of his great salvation to present to those that sit in darkness and the shadow of death. So the individual believer is called upon to be his light bearer. But the same thing is here true of these assemblies. John saw seventy Seven gold golden lump lumps. sum. And I want you to notice that John names them. And please notice the order in which he names them. Number one is Ephesus. Then Smyrna. Then Pergam, then Thyatira, then Sardis, then Philadelphia, and last of all, Neuilly. Now, it is an interesting thing to notice, to understand, that different scholars and archaeologists have gone to Asia Minor and have visited these localities where these assemblies once stood for God. Notable among those that have gone was the late Sir William Ramsay. Sir William Ramsay, eh, went to Asia Minor to do excavations and to come back again and write a book against the Bible, because he was a skeptic and he didn't believe in the Bible. He went to Asia Minor, and he came back again a converted man, because he found that all his excavations revealed the absolute trustworthiness of what was stated in the Bible. And as a matter of fact, he wrote a book upon that very subject. He wrote a book upon the seven churches in Asia, and he wrote another book upon the trustworthiness of the New Testament. On the earth, one thing that he found was this, that when he moved from one place to another, in a semi-circular, eh, movement, he found that these churches mentioned in Revelation one had been just in the very order, the geographical order in which they are mentioned in the Bible. That is to say, if you would go, or if I would go to Asia Minor, and we would go to the site of what once was Ephesus, and then we would inquire where the next church was, we would assume that the next church was Smyrna. And going on a little further, the next church, or at least the next face of an ancient church, we would find would be Pergamos. And the next one would be Thyatira. He found that when the order in which these names are given in the, in the book of Revelation, he found that when that order was tested, that that order was exactly the order in which any traveler would visit these different places. Have to convince Sir William Ramsay of the trustworthiness of the New Testament. Now, the assembly of the Lord's people, you see, is called to be a leader. I want you to think with me for a minute or two of these seven assemblies. I take it for granted that most in our audience here this evening are in assembly territory. And here we have got seven assemblies. Notice some things about them. The first thing we notice about them is this, that these seven assemblies, they were visible, they were corporate, they were contemporary, and they were lupus. And I'm not going to take time to dwell upon each one of those points. You can think about them yourself. I repeat them. They were visible, they were corporate, they were contemporary, and they were lupus. And all of them, please notice about them is this, that they were seven separate, eh, love stones. They were not united in any way. They were all separate the one from the other. You see, in the holy place of the tabernacle and later on the temple, there stood the golden candlestick. But the golden candlestick was one. It had one central stem, and then it had three stems on the one side and three stems on the other side, but it was one. It signified the fact that Israel was God's testimony in the world, but it signified the fact also that God had then one geographical center in the earth. Now, when you come over here to Revelation chapter one, you'll notice the difference. Here, you have got seven lights, which is true, but the seven lights are all independent, the one that God they are. And were they bound together? Were they united? They were united. You couldn't read the, the chapters without seeing that they were united. Uh, but how were they united? They were not united, dear friends, by any formal plea. They were not united i- in any sense as a party. The one thing that united them was the presence of Jesus Christ in their midst. Because the Lord Jesus Christ is not only in the midst of his gathered people when they are met for local testimony, but he also was in the midst of the seven golden temples. And it is his divine presence in the center that binds them together. And the more fellowship that assemblies know within the one that's in the center, the more fellowship they will enjoy the one with the other. Why do you hope that God will sanctify to us these, these simple lessons? They are, they are very important lessons, dear brethren. Please remember that each one of these churches here was independent of the other church. One wasn't leaning upon the other. One had not to look to the other one for advice or for authority to do anything. There's no such a thing taught in the Bible as a central authority. We're never taught in the Bible either that all the assemblies go to make up the house of God, or that all the assemblies go to make up the church of God upon earth. These assemblies were simply churches, individual churches of God, and they walked in happy fellowship one with the other so long as they walked in fellowship with him in the midst. And each one was directly responsible through him for all its internal affairs. As I said, there's no thought at all of any central authority in Revelation chapters one to three. Now, please notice again, dear brethren, that these candlesticks are said to be golden candlesticks. I mentioned this in the meeting last evening. And they are golden, we saw last evening, because there is something divine about them. You see, God dwells there. Christ dwells there. The Holy Spirit dwells there. The angels of God are interested in all that goes on in the local assembly. And so these candlesticks are said to be composed of the most precious metal, and that was gold. But I would suggest to you that they are gold also, because they are responsible to reflect his glory. They are reflected, and they reflect his glory. Oh, I do hope that that God will help us to benefit from these simple thoughts about these seven churches. How now, how are we to understand these seven epistles which we have in chapters 2 and three? Because to each one of these seven assemblies, a letter was addressed in chapters two and three. There you have those seven letters. How are we to understand that? First of all, as we read them, we have to understand this, that these seven letters were sent to seven respective assemblies that were contemporary one with the other. That's the first lesson that we learn. That's what, what anyone would gather from reading right down the two chapters. But here are letters which were sent to assemblies of the Lord's people approximately one thousand nine hundred years ago. But there are other lessons I think that we should learn. I believe this. We also remember in reading down these two chapters that these letters are part of all scripture, which is given for our souls. So that I can sit down as a simple believer, and I can read these 2 chapters, Revelation three and 3, and I can find in them fruit for myself personally. But that's, that's not all. There's more in them than that. Certain features which we see in these assemblies may be found in any assembly today. You read, for instance, about Ephesus, that Ephesus had left her first law. That was ever so many centuries ago, but the same thing may appear in my assembly and our assembly. We too may leave our place. Please remember that, that the different evils that crept into Luther's standards way back, almost at the very beginning of the Christian year, the very same evils can creep into any assembly of the Lord's people today. But then, another thing you will know. We are told that the end of chapter one about the mystery of the seven stars and of the seven golden candlesticks. Did you notice that? There is something of a mysterious nature about that. What is the mystery? Well, it's something that you don't s- that you don't see it at the first glance. It's hidden. It's concealed. It's only when you study it. It's only when it is opened up to you by God, the Holy Ghost, that you see it and that you appreciate it. It's a mystery. And we are told that these things are a mystery. I would suggest to you that at least part of the mystery is the fact that these seven assemblies represent different stages in the history of the Church of Christ down the kingdom. I'm not going to pursue that any further tonight. Tomorrow night, God willing, we shall look at that. But I want you to think about it, that these seven assemblies which are addressed represent different successive stages in the history of the Christian church down the ages of time. I do hope that God will bless to us these, these suggestions and these remarks regarding these different descendants. John saw these seven golden lampstands. What I want you to notice, beloved brethren and sisters, that John saw more than the seven lampstands, because in the midst of the seven lampstands, he saw a majestic, glorious. Who was he? Ah, he was John Lord Ammas. And oh, how overpowering was the sight of this majestic one that John saw. I want you to notice this about him. He was already in garments down to the foot. And you'll notice he does not here appear as a servant. He is not dressed as a servant. Don't you remember that in John chapter 13, he was dressed as a servant? We are told he took the parable. We are told that he girded himself. There you read about his garments. He laid aside his garments. We are told he did so as a servant. Now, dear brethren, in Revelation chapter one, I want you to notice that he has got the attire of the servant, and he has done the attire of the judge and priest. Oh, how very majestic he is. This is the one, remember, that walks in the midst of the seven golden candlestick. He doesn't walk there either. He doesn't walk there as a servant. No, no, he has docked, docked those, those servants' garments, and he is lubed here, lubed with judicial authority. He will come on the assembly of his people. I certainly solemnly think about it. It opens fear into every one of our hearts. Especially when, when we hear of troubles in a assembly, troubles and differences, and strife and division. I wonder, do brethren realize that the assembly is his assembly? That he is not only in the midst of that assembly, but that he moves from assembly to assembly. He's in the midst of the assembly, and he is there, remember, not as a servant, but he is there as a judge and as a priest. He's ruled here with Jews. Nia doesn't make us afraid of doing anything that could cause trouble amongst our dear people, because in his judicial character, he could very soon remove one. He could, and he can remove the candlestick too, as you see from Revelation two. I want to mention some things about him that are, that are brought before us. We are told about his being girded. And notice, he is not girded round the mind, as would be the servant, but in the passage here, he has a golden girdle, and the golden girdle is about his breasts. That would speak of his affection, wouldn't it? Someone has suggested that I only give it to you for what it is worth. I wouldn't open the eyes upon it. Someone has suggested that what it means is that the cause of their new spiritual state, his divine affections were restrained towards them. Yes, he was girded about the blessed with a golden belt. Then we are told further about his hair. His hair was white as snow. That speaks of his wisdom and speaks of his law. Then we are told about his eyes, that his eyes are as flames of fire. That is to say, he is the omniscient one. He sees everything. He knows all that goes on in the assembly of the saints. I may hide something from my breath, I can't hide anything from his eyes. He is omniscient. His eyes are as searching as a love of fire. He says in the two chapters which follow, seven times over, he says, I know, I know, he says, he says that to every church, I know what's going on in your church. I know all about it. I am the omniscient. His eyes are the flame of fire. His voice, that voice that once calmed the angry waves of Galilee, is said to be as the sound Not man. How majestic. of my. But I listen on his mouth. Out of his mouth issues, issues a sword. And that would suggest to us that judgment is executed by this mere word. Again, we speak or of fine brush, we speak of inflexible goodness. I'm, And Hithers it is said, said not that in. in his right hand are seven stars. And his countenance, it says, was as the sun shineth in his strength. Oh, how glorious. Oh, how majestic he is. John saw him. And when John saw this august person as he met another, he died. Dear brothers and sisters, if we got a view of his glory, we would be like John. We would do the same thing. That would be the end of all the total in Danny and the Senate. We would all sing to him, see that he's walking in the midst, and that he has taken cognizance of all that goes on. He says, I know, I know all about it. You can't hide anything from me. If there's separat or anything like that, he says, I know about it. You can't hide it from me. If things are done in an underhand manner, he says, I know about it. I see it all. Job said. That would be the end. You and I could have lived there. Yeah. That would be the end of all trouble. You would think. In the end of all trouble amongst the assembly of the Lord's people. Flawed nothing to say, not a word to say. Every word flopped. Thank God, oh thank God, for the touch of the master's hand. But here John had that touch, lifted him up and stood him up on his feet, given service to do for him. My dear brother, my dear sister, if tonight you are prepared to take your place at his feet, have yawned him. He would touch you with a pierced hand, too, and he would lift you up upon your feet. And he would say to you, why liest thou here? He would say, there's work for you to do. Do it according to the kindness of God. See if God tests you. His word.