Summary:
When the Lord says to ‘behold’, it’s important for us to pay attention and ponder over.
1. Behold His second coming: Will we be among those who weep or those who rejoice at the return of the King?
2. Behold false teachings and judgement if we don’t repent: He who sows in the flesh will reap corruption, he who sows in the spirit will reap eternal life.
3. Behold the open door of salvation: The Philadelphia church used their little strength to preach, and God opened the door. We may only have little strength; we may only have a few people to preach to. God looks to see if we will exercise our little strength to preach, and He will open the door for us.

According to the Chinese version of the Bible, there are 10 ‘看哪’s (‘behold’ or ’see’). To say ‘behold’ reflects urgency and that it’s worthwhile looking. But the very same thing may be viewed as not urgent or worthwhile by others. However, these 10 things are said by the Lord Jesus through John. When the Lord says to ‘behold’, it’s important for us to pay attention and ponder over. This is a cry of the End Times and of life.

1st behold

Rev 1:7
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

This is the call of the Lord before He comes. He’s coming with clouds and every eye will see Him.

But in 3:3, He says, “I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”

How can 1:7 and 3:3 be reconciled? Some Christians say Jesus comes twice. The first time is coming as a thief in secret. The second time is coming with the clouds where all eyes will see Him in the open. But the Bible tells us He will only come again once - openly and not in secret.

Acts 1:11
who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

When the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, all His disciples gazed up into heaven. Suddenly an angel appeared and said to them, “Why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Jesus ascended into heaven openly, all eyes were able to see His ascension. He will come again in the same manner - openly and all eyes able to see Him.

When the Lord says He will come like a thief, the emphasis is that we won’t know exactly when His returning is. Just like how we don’t know when the thief will come to our house, we don’t know when Jesus will come again. But on the day He returns, we will see Him with our own eyes. We don’t know when exactly the Lord will come. But we believe that He will one day come. Hence our faith isn’t about just gazing into heaven. Instead, we should urgently prepare ourselves to welcome His returning.

Rev 1:7
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

The day the Lord comes again, those who pierced Him will see it. The Roman soldier wanted to ascertain if Jesus was really dead, so he pierced Jesus’ side. John witnessed this and recalled Zech 12:10. This prophecy baffled the people of Israel. They had looked upon the Lord. How was it possible for them to pierce the Lord they looked upon? How are they able to pierce the Lord? The prophecy said God would come into the world. They didn’t believe Jesus is God come in the flesh. When they pierced Jesus, they pierced the Lord. In reality, it was the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus. Why was it said the people of Israel pierced Him? While they weren’t the perpetrators, they were the culprits who brought death to Him. When they called out, “Crucify Him!”, the cruelty of their hearts was evident. But when the Lord comes again, they will see the one whom they pierced and be filled with remorse.

We may not pierce the Lord with a spear today, but do we pierce Him with our words? Some believers in the church of Corinth didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. That was like piercing Jesus. As if the Lord hadn’t resurrected. They indulged in the enjoyments of their flesh. “I don’t care if I sin because there’s no judgement. Death ends all. Why are you so afraid?” The people who originally believed in the Lord ended up denouncing the Lord’s resurrection and His coming again.

When the Lord comes again, all the nations who see His coming will be weeping. They will cry because they ask themselves why they sinned; for not preparing themselves; because they’re going to meet with God’s judgement.

When the Lord first came to this world, He fell into the hands of men and was judged by them. In His second coming, men will fall into the hand of God and will be judged according to His righteousness. We must pay attention to this and take it very seriously.

Are we among those who weep or among those who rejoice?

2nd behold

Rev 2:22
Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.

(Note: English version doesn’t have the word ‘behold’ but Chinese version has the words ‘看哪’.)

This is the cry of judgement. ‘Her’ refers to Jezebel. In the Old Testament she appears in the nation of Israel. She led the people of God away from the truth to worship Baal and to practise adultery. She appeared in the Thyatira church in the New Testament. She misled the people of God to depart from the truth. Jezebel doesn’t just appear in Thyatira, she appeared in all the churches. The Lord hence told all the churches to 看哪/see/behold. This is the cry of the Lord to all the churches. This is the authority of judgement.

“unless they repent of their deeds”

We must pay special attention to Jezebel. Don’t listen to her teachings nor practise sexual immorality. The church in Corinth heeded her teachings and practised sexual immorality in those days. They thought it was alright to eat food offered to idols and to practise sexual immorality.

1 Cor 6:9-11
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

The members in the church of Corinth actually understood the word of God. But they accepted the teachings of doctrines because it allowed them to gratify their desires and also get to the Kingdom of God. Paul sternly warned them that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Let us not be misled by the teaching that we will not be judged for our works as long as we have faith. Where did it ever say we only need to believe and not repent?

The Lord said to repent and believe in the gospel. If we truly believe, we would be very serious in our repentance. Yes, we may have all kinds of weaknesses, but the Lord will help us.

The Lord says Jezebel will be stricken on the sickbed. While she’s alive, she’s bedridden and death is certain.

We may have made mistakes and made missteps. But the biggest mistake is refusing to repent. If we refuse to repent, we will be like lying on a sickbed awaiting death.

Lying on a sickbed also tells us a man reaps what he sows. Her sin was because of the things she did on the bed. Her punishment was hence on her sickbed. He who sows in the flesh will reap corruption, he who sows in the spirit will reap eternal life. We must submit ourselves to the teachings of the Lord and not the teachings of Jezebel.

3rd behold

Rev 3:8
“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

This is the cry of preaching the gospel/evangelism. The Lord encourages us to evangelise, even though the work is harder now. But He will help us. He gives us an open door who no one can shut. Since this door is already open, why is it that men find it so difficult to enter?

The open door doesn’t mean the pathway to it has no obstacles. The devil makes use of many obstacles so men cannot believe and cannot enter this door. He uses means to put men who preach the gospel in chains, but the gospel will never be chained. This was a fact in Acts. The disciples obeyed the Lord to preach the gospel. Many came to believe. At the same time, we see how many disciples were persecuted. But that didn’t make them afraid or stop them from preaching.

We see the Lord opening the door of salvation to them. Just like the Macedonian call. Today, have we heard the cries of Singaporeans? Are we willing to do our part so they have the opportunity to believe and enter the door of salvation?

Today we live in the Last Days of the end times. The work of evangelism in these times is far harder as compared to the start of the Last Days in the apostolic era. The devil knows he’s running out of time. He comes to this world in great anger to make the final destructions and obstructions. We will meet with greater difficulties and persecutions when we do the work of evangelism in the end times. We may work and toil very hard but not reap the expected harvest. But if we don’t even work, we won’t reap anything!

Yes, the work is becoming more difficult. But do we fall back because of the difficulties we face? Or do we work even harder because of the greater difficulties? We find the effective methods of evangelism in the past don’t seem very effective today. Do we become weary and disappointed? Or do we pray to God for wisdom to serve Him in evangelism and continue in this work?

Our zeal as well the strength we have initially is insufficient now. Are we so tired to the extent we want to give up? Should we not pray to God for strength to do the work of preaching the gospel?

We also see that those who work for God are getting lesser and lesser. We also see those working for God getting older and older. Have we prayed to the Lord of harvest for more workers in the field? We pray for our own family. Can we pray for our spiritual family too?

“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Even with the little strength left, the church of Philadelphia preached the gospel. We have to note God didn’t open the door and then they preached. Rather, He saw that when they used their little strength to preach, He opened the door.

Let us be able to hear the voice/plea of the Lord, regardless of how difficult the situation may be, or how adverse the situation is when working for God. We shouldn’t use the adverse situation to stop work and rest. The day is coming nearer. This is just the beginning of sorrows. We need not be worried. These things WILL happen. We cannot escape it.

Last time people sought refuge in the western countries when they were undergoing turmoil in their own. But in the case of the virus, there is no safety anywhere.

We are very fortunate in Singapore. But we must pray for our neighbouring countries. We must realise that there’s no place that’s safe on this earth. Only the place the Lord prepares is truly safe. The calamities that happens in the end times is also a form of plea. It’s to tell us the day of His coming is getting nearer. Have we done our part to evangelise and preach? So that our relatives and friends who have yet to believe will be given the opportunity to come and believe.

We may have our own sets of weaknesses and problems. The environment and situation may be adverse and there may be many inconveniences. But the church of Philadelphia used their little strength to preach, and God opened the door. We may only have little strength. We may only have a few people to preach to. God is looking at us to see if we will exercise our little strength. He will open this door for us.

On one hand, let’s do our part. On the other hand, let’s turn our eyes upon Jesus.

Only then can we regain the strength and have the courage to evangelise for Him. It’s because of the Lord we have the faith to continue this work. It’s for the Lord that we are willing to bear this responsibility. It’s because we are thankful to the Lord that we willingly offer.

Therefore we have to rely on the Lord, persevere and work for Him.

Let us pray for our relatives and friends who have yet to believe. Let us also pray zealously for the Holy Spirit. We really don’t know when the Lord is coming again. Probably it won’t tomorrow. Probably it won’t be next year. But when will we see the Lord? Maybe it’s tomorrow. Maybe it’s next year. Every day could be our last day, especially in the environment we are living in today. Life is truly full of uncertainties. We don’t know who’s going to leave first. Let’s prepare ourselves with great urgency. It is not that we fear when death comes upon us, instead, what we fear is that we aren’t ready to meet the Lord. We need to realise this and prepare ourselves seriously.