[0:00] Lord's blessing then. Let's turn back to the portion of scripture that we read. And we can read again at verse 17. Revelation chapter 1 verse 17.
[0:11] And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me saying to me, Do not be afraid.
[0:23] And these words should then read like this, I am the first and the last and the living one. And was dead or became dead. And behold I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. Again as it is, it should be. And I have the keys of death and Hades.
[0:51] Write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this. As we said in the morning, the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the main character of this book. Just as he is the main character throughout the whole Bible.
[1:21] It is all about him. It is all part of the unfolding and the unveiling of the history of redemption. From that first great promise that the seed of the woman would come to bruise the head of the serpent.
[1:40] The great mother promise. Everything else that you see in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is an unfolding. An unfolding and unveiling. And here a particular unveiling. The apocalypse is an unveiling.
[1:58] That's what the word apocalypse means. The unveiling of his glory. Oh, the unveiling. The revelation of the risen, exalted, glorified Savior.
[2:15] The Savior of whom we read in the New Testament. God who came into this world. Who took upon himself a human nature. Who came to die.
[2:26] Who came into a state of humiliation. His glory veiled. The path of the world. So that as the God man he could walk this earth. And that he would walk this earth in a particular way and on a particular path.
[2:43] What was the path? It was the path of obedience. Where was the path of obedience leading? And he was obedient unto death.
[2:54] The death of the cross. The death of the cross. And here we see him.
[3:07] No longer in a state of humiliation. But there was an exalted, glorified God man. The son of man.
[3:18] Yes, even out of nature. Even out of nature. And we saw about the particular message that came to John.
[3:30] To write to the seven churches which are in Asia. To comfort them and to encourage them. How was he to comfort them and encourage them? He was to comfort and encourage them with Christ himself.
[3:45] With Christ himself. We noted in the morning. That he is the grace that he gives. He is the grace that he gives.
[3:59] The people were suffering severe persecution at the hand of the Romans. John himself was exiled. To Patmos as a punishment.
[4:12] For his testimony. For his witness. For his preaching of the gospel. There was a reign of terror. Under the rule at the time.
[4:24] The Roman rule of Domitian. Much suffering. Much persecution. Much death. And John is given this revelation.
[4:36] He assures them. And we looked at this in the morning. He assures them of seven things. He assures them that Christ is in the midst. He assures them that Christ is interceding for them.
[4:52] He assures them that Christ is purifying them. That Christ is in control. That Christ speaks. That Christ protects. That Christ shines in.
[5:06] On and in and through his people. And he assures them of this. That he's coming again. That he's coming again.
[5:18] Behold. Verse seven. Behold. Behold. We must pay particular attention to this. Behold. He is coming. And that's the second coming of Christ.
[5:31] And every eye will see him. Even they will pierce him. Those who continue to reject. To ignore. To deny Jesus.
[5:42] Who reject. Who ignore. Who deny the offer of the gospel. Who reject life. The offer of eternal life.
[5:54] The free gift of God. Through Christ Jesus. Our Lord. Lord. He's coming again to judge. And he tells us that.
[6:06] And he says. Even so. Amen. Surely. And certainly. This is the case. And at verse 17.
[6:17] We see. The effect. That this vision. Had. On John. What was the effect. Of the vision.
[6:28] And when I saw him. I fell. I fell. At his feet. As dead. I fell. At his feet. As dead.
[6:42] John. Was confronted. With unveiled. Deity. Deity. Resurrected.
[6:53] Exalted. And glorified. And he was gripped. With fear. With fear. With fear. It was a reverential fear.
[7:09] They knew each other well. When Jesus. In the days of his flesh. Walked the earth. They knew each other. Well.
[7:19] You can say. In a sense. That. They knew each other. Almost. For. Their whole. Lives. Their mothers.
[7:30] Their sisters. So. John. And Jesus. Would have been. First cousins. He had laid. His head. On the.
[7:41] Buson. Of Jesus. He stood. At the cross. He saw. The saviour. Nailed. To the cross. He saw.
[7:53] The blood. He saw. The water. He saw. The suffering. He heard. The tumult. He experienced. The darkness.
[8:08] But here. It is not. A welcoming. A joy. And a. A full expression. Of joy.
[8:20] As you might. Expect. From someone. You hadn't seen. For a long time. I fell. At his feet. As dead.
[8:34] He was aware. Of. Two things. In particular. The fact. That he stood. In. The presence. Of unveiled. Deity.
[8:45] Remember. That when he was. On. In this earth. His deity. Was veiled. Veiled. Christ's. Deity. Shone through.
[8:55] On the mount. Of transfiguration. For sure. And even then. They fell down. But never like this. Unveiled.
[9:07] Deity. Deity. An unveiled. Deity. Deity. And even. A vision. Of the. Brilliance. Of the.
[9:19] Holiness. Of God. Does something. To people. As we see. In the scriptures. He was aware.
[9:31] Secondly. Of his own. Nothingness. His own. Nothingness. We read. These. Words. In the. Scriptures.
[9:42] We read. In. Ezekiel. One. Verse. Twenty. Eight. We'll read. At verse. Twenty. Seven. And also. From the.
[9:52] Appearance. Of his. Waste. And upward. I saw. As it were. The color. Of amber. With the. Appearance. Of fire. All around. Within it. And from the. Appearance. Of his. Waste. And downward. I saw. As it were.
[10:03] The appearance. Of fire. With brightness. All around. Like the. Appearance. Of a. Rain. With a. Cloud. And a. Rainy. Day. So. Was the. Appearance. Of the.
[10:13] Brightness. All around. It. This. Was the. I saw. It. I fell.
[10:23] On my. Face. I fell. On my. Face. Ezekiel. 1. 28. We read.
[10:34] 2. In Daniel. Chapter. 10. Verse 7. We read. Of. A very. Similar. Experience. Daniel. Chapter. 10. Verse 7. And I.
[10:45] Daniel. Alone. Saw. The vision. For the. Men. Who. Were. With. Me. Did. Not. See. The. Vision. But. A great. Terror. Fell. Upon. Them. So.
[10:55] That. They. Fled. To. Hide. Themselves. Therefore. I. Was. Left. Alone. When. I. Saw. This. Great. Vision. And. No. Strength. Remain. In. Me. For. My. Viggen. Was. Turned.
[11:05] To. Frailty. In. Me. And. I. Retained. No. Strength. Yet. I. Heard. The. Sound. Of. His. Words. And. Touched.
[11:22] Me. Which. Made. Me. Cremble. On. My. Knees. And. Of. The. Palms. Of. My. Hands. In. The. New. Testament. We. Read. As.
[11:32] You. Know. In. That. Great. Chapter. When. Paul. Is. Speaking. In. Acts. Chapter. Twenty. Six. When. He. Speaking. Of. The.
[11:43] Way. That. Christ. Came. To. Saul. Of. Tarsus. On. The. Road. To. Damascus. We. Read.
[11:53] These. Words. At. Verse. Thirteen. And. Fourteen. At. Midday. O. King. King. Agrippa. At. Midday. O. King. And.
[12:03] On. The. Road. I. Saw. A. Light. From. Heaven. Brighter. Than. The. Sun. Shining. Around. Me. And. Those. Who. Jured. With. Me. And. When. We. All. Had. Fallen. To.
[12:13] The. Behold. And. Here. Here. Is. John. Here.
[12:23] Is. John. I. Fell. Down. As. Dead. I. Fell. Down. As. Dead.
[12:34] Deceit. Dead. This. Of course. Is. The. Right. Response. This. Is. The. Right. Response. The. Time. And. Time.
[12:44] Again. In. The. Scriptures. We. See. These. Examples. Isaiah. Himself. Woe. Is. Me. For. I. Am. Undone. For. Am. Mine. Eyes. I.
[12:55] Am. A. Man. Of. Unclean. Lips. And. I. Dwell. Without. People. Of. Unclean. Lips. For. My. Eyes. Have. Seen. The. King. The. King. And.
[13:07] Job. Himself. In. These. Great. Words. In. The. Last. Chapter. Of. Job. I. Have. Heard. Of. The. By. The. Hearing. Of. The. But.
[13:18] Now. My. Eye. Seize. You. And. I. Abhor. Myself. And. I. Repent. In.
[13:28] Dust. And. Ashes. The. Fear. Of. God. And. Of. Course. The. Fear. Of. God. Is. A. Remarkable. Thing.
[13:41] Note. What. Happens. In. Revelation. Chapter. Six. When. Christ. Does. Come. In. The. Glory.
[13:51] Of. His. Judgment. Revelation. Six. At. Verse. Fifteen. We. Read. These. Words. And.
[14:01] The. Kings. Of. The. Earth. The. Great. Men. The. Rich. Men. The. Commanders. The. Mighty. Men. Every. Slave. And. Every. Free. Man. Everybody. Everybody.
[14:15] Hid. Themselves. In. The. Caves. And. The. Rocks. Of. The. Mountains. And. Said. To. The. Mountains. And. Rocks. Fall. On. Us. And. Hide. Us. From. The. Face. Of.
[14:25] Him. Who. Sits. On. The. Throne. And. From. The. Wrath. Of. The. Lamb. For. The. Great. Day. Of. His. Well. Has. Come. And. Who. Is. Able. To. Stand. Out.
[14:35] No. Not. One. Unless. You. Are. Clothed. With. The. Righteousness. Of. Christ. You.
[14:46] Have. That. Safety. And. That. Security. That. Safety. And. Security. Fear. Not.
[14:56] Do. Not. Be. Afraid. Christ. Says. Do. Not. Be. Afraid. He. Needed. Comfort. When I.
[15:07] Saw. Him. I. Fell. At. His. Feet. As. Dead. But. He. Laid. His. Right. Hand. On. Me. He. Needed. Comfort. And. He. Laid. His. Right. Hand.
[15:18] On. Me. Just. As. He. Laid. His. Right. Hand. On. Them. You. Can. Read it. For. Your. Seves. In. Matthew. 17. At. The. Mount. Of. Transfiguration. When. They. Fell. Down. Christ.
[15:29] Reached. Out. And. Bleed. His. Hand. On. The. Disciples. Here. He. Is. Reaching. Out. Laying. His. Hand. On. John. The. Power. Of. Touch. The.
[15:40] Power. Of. Touch. Can. Say. More. Than. Words. Sometimes. More. Than. Words. I. Remember. Seeing.
[15:51] It. Came. To. My. Mind. I. Remember. Hearing. From. One. Of. The. Late. Elders. About. A. Christian. Who. Had. Run. Into. A. Bit. Of. Difficulty. And.
[16:04] He. Was. Relaying. His. Experience. To. This. Elder. Of. Our. A. Late. Elder. A. Beloved. Elder. And. Do you. Know. What. He. Said. To. Him. He.
[16:15] Said. This. To. Him. There. Are. Many. Things. You. Can.
[16:25] Tell. A. People. In. A. Handshake. That. Christian. Man. Had. Run. Into. A. Bit. Of. Difficulty. But. He. Could.
[16:35] Tell. In. His. Experience. When. He. Shook. The. Hands. Of. Other. Christians. Who. Was. Hard. And. Who. Wasn't. Quite. Hard. Or.
[16:46] Were. Not. Very. Good. At. For. Giving. Each. Other. Now. No. Were. Not. The. Power. Of. A. Touch. The. Power. Of.
[16:57] A. Touch. I. Say. I. Was. Aware. Of. That. When. He. Fell. Apart. He. Fell. Apart. Before. The. King. Before. King.
[17:07] Jesus. He. Fell. Apart. What. Happened. A. Life. Called. Came. Touched. Him. Touched. His. Lips. Touched.
[17:18] And. Cleansed. Him. The. Power. Of. A. Touch. And. Here. Is. The. Hand. The. Right. Hand. Of. The. Mighty. Lord.
[17:28] Doth. Ever. Valiantly. And. He. Reaches. And. He. Touches. John. Touches. John. Hands. Marked.
[17:40] With. The. Marks. Of. Crucifixion. Marked. With. The. Marks. Of. Love. Engraved.
[17:53] On. His. Hands. The bible. Teaches. As are his people. They are engraved. On the palms. Of his hands.
[18:05] What hands. They are. What hands. They are. And what better hands. Could we be in. He laid.
[18:17] His. Right. Hand. On. Me. This is. The majesty. And glory. Of the church. This is. The majesty. And glory. Of the church.
[18:28] That the. Arisen. Exalted. Glorified. Saviour. Is in the midst. Of the church. As we noticed. And his hands. Sat all. Over his church.
[18:41] Now is that. Not a beautiful picture. What kind of picture. Do you make. Of Jesus. Who do you think he is. Who do you think God is. As you meditate.
[18:53] On your own. What do you think. Of God. Really. When he's. He's so far away. That. Really. I don't have very much. To do with him. Oh he's not.
[19:05] He's very. Very close. Very close. He's here. Tonight. Very close. This is the majesty.
[19:17] And glory. Of the church. We are in his hands. In the hands. Of the king. And head. Of. The church. Not only.
[19:29] The comforter. But. The comfort. He is not only. The comforter. But the comfort. He himself. He himself.
[19:41] Do not. Be afraid. What great words. Fear not. Do not. Be afraid. And he speaks.
[19:54] To John. And we'll look at those. Words. Under three headings. Firstly. Eternal. Eternal. Eternal. Godhead. Eternal.
[20:06] Godhead. Secondly. Eternal. Love. And thirdly. Eternal. Authority.
[20:18] So let's look at. The first point. Eternal. Godhead. Of the eternal God. I am the first.
[20:29] And the last. And the living one. I am the first. And the last. And the living one. I am the author.
[20:42] Of all things. I am the creator. Of the ends. Of the earth. The sustainer. I am the eternal.
[20:53] God. I am. I am. The first. And the last. And the living one. And John would have recognized.
[21:06] These words. I am. I am. John in his gospel. As you know. Speaks to us. Of these gates. Seven. I am.
[21:17] Says. I am. What comfort to John. What comfort to you. And to me. I am.
[21:28] The first. And the last. And the living one. I am the eternal God. Without beginning. Without end. God.
[21:42] Of very God. Three persons of the Godhead. The father. The father. And the son. And the holy spirit. The first. And the last.
[21:54] In divine. Predestination. The first. And the last. And the living one. In divine. Covenant. In the covenant.
[22:06] Of redemption. In the covenant. Of grace. The first. And the last. And the living one. In creation. In the business. Of salvation. In his church.
[22:18] In all the affairs. Of the whole universe. He is the head. In the covenant. I am the author. Of the author.
[22:31] The almighty. The almighty. I am the first. And the last. And the living one.
[22:44] The eternal God. The author. Of salvation too. The author. Of salvation. That he offers to you.
[22:57] And to me. Secondly. Eternal. Love. I am the first.
[23:08] And the last. And the living one. And. Was. Dead. Or. As the words. Ought to be. And.
[23:19] Came. To be. Dead. It is very. Very. Important. That we. Understand. The distinction. Not.
[23:30] I was. Dead. As. Something. That refers. To a past. Condition. But. I came. To be. Dead. As.
[23:40] Describing. A past. Act. A past. Act. What. Was. That. That. Great. Act. Oh.
[23:51] Well. Is it not. Sounded up. In these. Great. Words. Eternal. Love. What. Did. Eternal. Love. Do. God. God. So.
[24:02] Loved. The world. That he. Gave. His only. Begotten son. That whosoever. Should believe. In him. Should not. Perish. But have. Everlasting.
[24:12] Life. It is referring. To. An act. It is referring. To the incarnation. It is referring. To God.
[24:24] The second person. Taking to himself. A human nature. So that he could die. For his people. So that he could die. For John. So that he could die.
[24:35] For you. For you. And for me. And for sinners. And the word. Became flesh. The eternal word.
[24:47] Became flesh. And he dwelt. Among us. And he arrayed himself. He arrayed himself. In human nature.
[24:58] In that which can die. He arrayed himself. In a garment. In a nature.
[25:08] That could die. The mystery. Of eternal love. The mystery. Of divine love. The death. Of the Lord.
[25:20] Of life. I came to be dead. The death. Of the Lord. Of life. The death.
[25:30] Of the Lord. Of life. Of the Lord. The death. Of the Lord. The death. Of the Lord. The death. The death. The death. The death. The death. The death. The death. And in these words.
[25:43] Are summed up. The reason. Why. He came. To be dead. Why. Did he come. To be dead.
[25:55] Because he came. Into this world. To undo. What. Adam. Did. And to do.
[26:06] What Adam. Failed. To do. He came. Into this world. To repair. The breach. Between God. And man.
[26:17] To repair. That great. Chasm. That our sin. Had caused. The alienation. Between God. And man. Who could stand.
[26:27] In the breach. Only a divine person. Coming to take. Upon himself. A human nature. To deal with sin.
[26:38] To deal with sin. Who came. To be dead. Sin. And God. Dealing with sin.
[26:50] God. Demanded it. His holiness. His justice. His law. Demanded. That sin. Be dealt with. And who could deal with it. Except Jesus.
[27:04] Who could deal with it. Except Jesus. And he went. The way of the cross.
[27:16] He laid down. His own life. It was a voluntary. Death. To take away. To take away. Our sin. And our misery. I am the first.
[27:29] And the last. And the living one. And came to be dead. His coming to be dead. Is the cause of our justification.
[27:40] And our sanctification. And our hope. Of eternal life. That we must die. To sin.
[27:51] To sin. Through him. Or else. We will die. For our sin. Without him.
[28:04] Eternal love. That sentiment. To this world. To deal with the very depths. Of our sin. I love these words.
[28:15] Of Corrie Ten Boom. There's a. Various websites. That one uses. For preparing. Sediments. And there's one. Website.
[28:25] That I visit very frequently. And. Always on that website. There is this. These words. Of Corrie Ten Boom. And.
[28:36] They often make me think. And the words are this. There is no. Pit. So deep. That he.
[28:46] Is not. Deeper still. There is no. Pit. So deep. That he. That is the Lord. Jesus Christ.
[28:57] Is not. Deeper still. And you can. Add life like this. The pit. Of sin.
[29:08] And death. And misery. It was endless. It had in a sense. No. Bottom. But he went there.
[29:21] He went there. And he came back from there. He came back from there. Here he is. Touching John. Speaking to John. And it also refers.
[29:35] You could apply it like this. That whatever your experience might be. But I don't know your experiences. Whatever your experience might be. Whatever pit.
[29:47] That you might find yourself in. Or that you might be tempted to fall into. There is no pit. There is no pit so deep. That he is not deepest. What does his grace do?
[30:01] It rescues us. It's a rescue mission that he came on. It rescues us. And in a sense it's always rescuing us. It's transforming us.
[30:13] And it's always transforming us. Rescuing and transforming grace. One writer put it like this. Oh the love that sought me.
[30:27] Oh the blood that bought me. And the grace that brought me to the foreword.
[30:38] Oh eternal love. And there is another thought in this. There is another thought in this. Who came to be dead.
[30:49] One day we are going to die. And there is confidence.
[31:03] And assurance for the people of God. Despite the fact that death is the final enemy. There is comfort. And assurance in this.
[31:17] Oh that there are footprints there. That there are footprints. And that they know. Belong to another. Even the Lord of life.
[31:31] Who came to be dead. Eternal laugh. Eternal laugh.
[31:44] The words that we have in Philippians 2. Are remarkable. These words that remind us. About Christ's humiliation. Who being in the form of God.
[31:56] Thought it not bother to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation. And being found in the form. Of a servant.
[32:07] He humbled himself. And was obedient to death. Even the death. Even the death of the cross. But note what it says after that. Therefore. God has highly exalted him.
[32:23] Because of his life. And his obedience to death. Dealing with sin. Dealing with sin.
[32:34] Dealing with the wages of sin. Dealing with the grave. Dealing with Satan. Dealing with all principalities of earth.
[32:45] Over whom he was victorious. Victorious. And did he not say that. Behold. I am alive. Forevermore. Amen.
[32:57] I shall not die but live. In that great psalm that we sang.
[33:09] And it is a sense. I know that we die when we leave this world. But for the Christian. We fall asleep. In Jesus. We cannot die as long as Christ.
[33:22] Is alive. If we are united to him by faith. The divine glory. Of this glorious person.
[33:38] Flows to his people. He is in the midst of the church. It is flowing to us. Flowing to us. And did he not say himself.
[33:51] Because I live. You will live. Also. You will live. Also. I am the first and the last and the living one.
[34:09] And came to be dead. And behold. Can you not see? Say I am alive forevermore. Amen. Amen. The resurrection was proof.
[34:23] Of the father's acceptance. Of that great once only sacrifice for sin. And then he says this. And I have the keys.
[34:33] Of Hades and of death. Of death and of Hades. So thirdly. Eternal authority. Eternal authority. Eternal authority.
[34:44] Eternal authority. These words which we have here. I have the keys.
[34:55] Of Hades and of death. There are references. As you probably know. In this particular book. In the revelation. In chapter 3.
[35:06] And verse 7. We read these words. These things says. He who is holy. That is the same person. The risen, exalted, glorified.
[35:18] Savior. The person of Christ. He who is holy. He who is true. He who has the key of David. He who opens and no one shuts.
[35:32] And shuts and no one opens. Eternal authority. He has absolute authority.
[35:43] Over the realm of death. Over the realm of death. Of Hades. And of death.
[35:57] Hades simply means the realm of the dead. And the picture you have is this. Savior. Who has absolute authority.
[36:08] Who controls the way in. To eternity. Whether that be to heaven or to hell. That's the picture.
[36:19] He controls. Who gets to heaven. And who goes to hell. He has absolute. And real.
[36:30] Control. And it's as if he's saying to him. I am the eternal God. John. And I have decided your destiny. I have paid the price for your sin.
[36:44] John. You have nothing to fear. I have died for you. Already. You have nothing. To fear. Nothing.
[36:55] To fear. He openeth. He openeth. And no man shutteth. He shutteth. And no man openeth.
[37:09] And you can read for yourselves. The references in. I say to these. Words. His eternal. Authority. Over the realm.
[37:21] Of death. There is not one person here. I'm sure who doesn't worry. About death. About when we will die.
[37:33] We don't know. When we will die. We don't know the day of our birth. We don't know the day of our death. But he knows. He knows.
[37:47] All of this. Ordained. By him. All of this. Ordained. By him. And there is this thought to it.
[37:59] I have the keys. Of Hades. And of death. Or the realm of the dead. How did he get those keys? And where did he get them?
[38:10] Well he got them. In the work that he did. In salvation. In saving sinners.
[38:21] In the work that he did. In destroying him. Who had the power of death. That is the devil. The devil.
[38:34] The God of this world. In whom the whole universe is under bondage to.
[38:48] Imprisoned. Imprisoned in our sin and our misery. Imprisoned in the authority of Satan. Who holds the keys to the prison.
[39:02] And here is the one. The one who by his death. Who by his death destroyed him. And to do that he had to go to that place.
[39:16] That place. That awful place. He had to go down to the depths. To the very depths of hell.
[39:27] To deal with our sin. And with our death. And with him who had the power of death. And he had to destroy him. He had to take away his power.
[39:38] He had to take away the keys. And the keys. Where are they? Oh they are now. On his person. Clothed with a garment. Out of the feet. And girded with a chest.
[39:49] With a golden band. And these golden bands. Were often. Were often. Youth for keeping keys. Here is the one.
[40:03] Who has. The keys. That remarkable verse. In Hebrews. 7. And chapter. Hebrews 7. And verse 16.
[40:14] We have these words. And it is far more evident. If. In the likeness of Melchizedek.
[40:24] There arises another priest. And that is Jesus. Who has come. Not according to the law. Of a fleshly commandment. But according to the power.
[40:35] Of an endless life. The words. The words. The words. Mean this. That he. Burst. The chains.
[40:46] Of death. He burst. The chains. Of death. By the power. Of an endless life. The God.
[40:57] The God. The God. The man. And only the God. Man. Could do it. Eternal authority. Is his now.
[41:08] Over the realm. Of death. Over the gate. The door. I. Am. Am. The door. This is the gate of God.
[41:23] By it the just shall enter. Or make sure you enter in at the gate of God. Because there's another gate. The gate of hell.
[41:41] Which one. Which one will you enter? Oh I wonder. Oh make sure it's the gate of heaven. The gate of God.
[41:55] I am the first and the last and the living one. I came to be dead and behold I am alive whatever more. Amen. And I am the keys of Hades and of death.
[42:09] But he says one more thing to him. Oh that he must do. He has a duty. He has a duty. Write the things which you have seen.
[42:21] And the things which are. And the things which will take place after this. It's as if he's presenting him with a. With the key. With the key.
[42:32] And that in many senses is the key to the book. Of the revelation of Jesus Christ. He has a duty. But he has a duty. For John.
[42:46] And when we come into the kingdom of God. There is a duty in all of us. You can never ever separate. Duty.
[42:57] Duty. Duty. From the gospel. And from being in the kingdom. Do you know that some people. And I'm speaking very generally. But perhaps I should say.
[43:13] That a fear. That a danger. That if some people become Christians. That that's it. You've cracked it. You've done it. I'm okay.
[43:25] I don't. If that's what you think. Then that's really not what the scriptures teach at all. At all. At all. In the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[43:39] There is a duty. And in the world. What is that duty? This is the duty. Fear God. And keep his commandments.
[43:54] Love him with all your heart. With all your soul. With all your might. With all your strength. Live out the Christian life.
[44:06] He's saying to John. Now John. You've had this vision. Go. Go and write. Go and do. Write these things.
[44:21] What are you going to do? When you go home tonight. What are you going to do? Are you just going to ignore. Everything that you've heard. Well perhaps.
[44:34] Perhaps. My prayer is that the Lord will come. With a spirit of conviction. To convict you of your sin. To convict us all.
[44:46] Of our sin. To convict us all. Of our spiritual lethargy. That Godic word.
[44:57] Which. Is stronger perhaps. Than. Spiritual. Lethargy. Yes. Spirit. That. That it's a disease that can spread.
[45:10] Through the church. For that God would revive us. And refresh us with his word. And that God would.
[45:21] Make us to deny. Ourselves. To take up on the cross. And to follow him. Ourself.
[45:31] Judging. What a vision. John saw there. What a vision. May the Lord help us to see. The Savior.
[45:43] Others came. And they said. We would see. Jesus. May that be everything. As we leave here. This Lord's day.
[45:56] That the Lord. That the spirit of the Lord. Would come on the Lord's day. And. That we would. Be lifted up. By that.
[46:08] Mighty. Spirit. To. To believe in the Lord. Jesus Christ. And to. Hate. Sin. To crucify the flesh.
[46:21] With all. Its lusts. And all. Its desires. To put to death. By the spirit. The deeds of the flesh. We've been given all.
[46:33] The resources that we need. We've been given. Kingdom. Grace. That hath no end at all. In this great kingdom. O may the Lord.
[46:47] Save us. Amen. God bless. The. Thank you.