Revelation, chapter one. Revelation, chapter one. We're going to read verses nine, verses nine to 20. Excuse me, verses nine to 20 of Revelation, chapter one.
I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on 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 I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And what you see right in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.
And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars.
Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 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. I am the first and the last.
I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death.
Write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands, which you saw are the seven churches. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we ask now that you be with us as we consider your holy scriptures. We pray, God, that we would have high thoughts of what you have revealed in your holy word and that we would be able, by the power of your spirit, to continue in this lower world according to your word and according to your will. We ask, Father, for the ministry of the Holy Spirit now, for edifying the saints, for building up your people in this place, and Lord God, for the salvation of sinners in this place. that for those who do not know you, they would, by the power of the Holy Spirit, working by and with your word, depart this place, resting upon Jesus Christ and singing along with us. Hallelujah.
What a Savior. And it's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.
Introduction
Well, we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter one verses nine to eleven this morning and Lord willing, this evening we'll look at the following verses. But the Christian ought never to shy away from a consideration of the book of Revelation. It is the case that sometimes people tend to because of the amount of symbolism, because of a lot of the things that are going on in the book of Revelation. But it is very instructive in verse three of Revelation for Christians as to as to how we are to approach it or to support the fact that we are to approach it, to read it and to love the words revealed within its pages.
Revelation one, verse three. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. Now, of course, there was a particular meaning or a particular application for this book written to the seven churches in Asia Minor. However, we can gain and Christians have gained much benefit from this book as we live our lives here in this lower world.
And I just want to read one quote, one quote to you. From David S. Clark, he wrote a commentary on the book of Revelation as we look to consider it this morning and this evening. This is what Clark says.
If we have been disposed to think that there is nothing practical in Revelation, we have not penetrated its surface. What is the whole book about but the trials of the Christian on earth, the doom of the wicked, and the glorious reward of those who are faithful unto death? Go and meet your fiery trials, as did the faithful in John's day, and you will wear the crown and wave the palm and sing a song that angels cannot sing. We don't shy away from the book, but we do penetrate its pages, and we consider, if nothing else, the glory of the Christ revealed therein, and we give him praise, him honor, and him all things.
But first, what we're going to do this morning is we're going to look at Revelation 1 verses 9 to 11, and we're going to consider three things, the connection of the author, the current state of the author and the commission of the author. Again, those three things, the connection of the author, the current state of the author. and the commission of the author.
The Connection of the Author
First off, the connection of the author. Notice verse nine. I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. John, the apostle here, the writer of the book of Revelation, had a particular connection with the saints that he is writing to.
He was with them, if you will, in their tribulation, in the kingdom of Jesus Christ and in the patience of Jesus Christ. Now, very often when we pray, and it's not a bad thing, but when we're praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted in faraway countries, we might have the idea that we are with them and that we share in the same faith. We feel for them in their sufferings and we are actively in prayer for them. But we do not share with them in that peculiar way and that we do not have daily the heat and the pressure of God, God haters pressing down upon us.
We live in general and we live in a general liberty and a general freedom here in Canada or in the United States. But John, with these brothers and sisters in Christ to whom he is writing, he shared with them in these things. And we'll get to that when we get to when we get to the current state of the author. But John was also undergoing tribulation.
John could speak and he could write to these people. He wasn't seated up in some lofty ivory tower. He was in the midst of tribulation and he could write to them in this in this particular time. I mean, as we read, as we read the gospel accounts, more as we get into the book of Acts, but as we read here in the book of Revelation, the Christians at this particular time were going under tribulation that we know nothing of.
They had the heat and the venom and the violence and the hatred and the anger of the unbelieving Jews coming down upon them daily. They also had the force and the anger of the Roman Empire mounting down upon them also. So they had these dual enemies. They were not in a good place, in a good position, temporally speaking.
But as we as we read this morning, with regards to spiritual things, with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ, and him reigning over them, they were in a very good position. And as we come to, when we approach the book of Revelation, we see that the book of Revelation is good for one party of individuals, but it is bad, if you will, for another party of individuals. This Christ, of whom John sees a vision, is a comfort and a strength to believers. A comfort and a strength to Christians, but to those who would oppose King Jesus, This Christ is one that they will call upon the rocks and the trees to hide themselves from.
He is a one who rules and justice, one who rules and righteousness and one who will exercise his wrath for those who do not bend a knee to him. But again, what we see here is John relating to believers that he is writing these letters to. He shares in their tribulation. And while we may not see the tribulations of the first century church, we still have tribulations.
Even yes, even in Canada and the United States, we can have our own peculiar tribulations as Christians in this lower world. We may not we may not be having our heads chopped off. We may not be getting thrown into prison and all of these sorts of things, but we can encounter deaths of loved ones. We can know or we have known the anguish of those who do not believe, but rather maybe vocally, whether inwardly or outwardly, they do oppose Christ Jesus and his church.
They oppose us. They ridicule. They laugh. They say, why would you believe in such things?
You can count your tribulations, I'm sure. Perhaps those of a more, those who have lived in this lower world longer can look back in your Christian lives and while you might not be those who are in these seven churches, you can recount times where you have suffered in a small or a large way for the things of Christ Jesus and his glorious gospel. What we need to have is a proper Christian ethic as it when it comes to tribulation. And one man has described it well, and I'm paraphrasing, but he said Christians very often can come to tribulation, can come to affliction, can come to suffering, and they can just resign themselves to the inevitability of it.
What that means is they'll just they'll just be resigned to the fact, OK, I will have grief. It's not going to be very much fun, but I'm just going to resign myself to the fact that there will be tribulation. Christ promised it. The Bible tells us I'm going to endure it, so I'm just going to resign myself to it.
And they'll count it a spiritual growth when they're able to say, OK, I'm going to endure coming tribulation. Well, one man has said it well, but that's not the proper approach that the Christian ought to have to tribulation. The Christian is to have a joyous response to affliction and tribulation. They are to know or to see tribulation.
And when it comes, they are to praise the God of that tribulation. They are to know that it comes. from the hands of a gracious God, a gracious God of Romans 828, who works all things to the good or for the good of those who love them, to those who are the called according to his purpose. So again, we don't resign ourselves. And I'm speaking as something of a 34 year old whippersnapper.
Because I really haven't endured a lot of tribulation. Yes, I have known some of those smaller things, those who ridicule those who laugh and that sort of thing. I've endured some things. But when I I want you to know that when I say we are to approach affliction and tribulation as as a joyful response to the gracious God who grants us these things.
Hopefully, you know that I don't necessarily speak from experience, but I speak as one who hopefully, when I endure hardship, when I endure trial, when I endure affliction, I will commit myself unto God as to a gracious creator, sustainer and redeemer who grants us these things. So, again, as Christians, we ought to have that ethic, not not resigning to tribulation, but rejoicing that rejoicing in a God who graciously grants for reasons we may not know, but for reasons that are perfect in the mind of God.
Companion in the Kingdom of Christ
Now, secondly, John here also shares in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. He shares in the tribulation of Jesus Christ. But John does not have a woe is me attitude. He's not exhibiting a lament here.
Why? Because he is also a partaker in a partaker of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. John's approach to Christian living in the first century was not abandonment to suffering. was not abandonment to suffering, but it was a strong confidence in a ruling in a reigning Christ whom he sees here and whom he falls before as a dead man. John had confidence that he was a partaker of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Now, John could speak of this because the kingdom of Jesus Christ had come. The kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus Christ was a present reality. Christians at this particular time and John being a sharer with them, they were not looking forward to the kingly, the royal and conquering investiture of the king of kings and lord of lords. They were not looking forward to that.
They were dwelling upon a present reality. We read that in the book of Daniel at the outset. Jesus Christ, at His ascension, was given dominion and power and a kingdom. At His ascension.
We read that at His resurrection. We read that as a reality. Remember, Matthew 28, 18-20, Jesus says, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Also, if you want to turn, if you're still in Revelation there, you can turn to Revelation chapter 12 for a moment just to realize something of the fact that Jesus or that Christians rather in the first century through history and up until our time and moving forward are still living in the reality that Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning as the king of his church and truly as the king of the entire world.
Revelation chapter 12. Beginning at verse three and another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads. His tail threw excuse me, his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.
And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born. She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and his throne. It's an allusion to the ascension of Jesus Christ, that male child, that child of Isaiah nine, six unto us, a child is given unto us, a son is born and the government will be upon his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace and Everlasting Father, Mighty God, Prince of Peace.
We have here again an allusion to his ascension. And what happens here or what we see here is that this child is to be one who rules all nations. with a rod of iron. So John in John here in Revelation one at verse nine, when he says that he is a brother and companion in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he was not necessarily here looking forward to a particular reality when Jesus Christ would usher in his kingdom, but rather resting upon an already an already occurring advent. resting upon the first advent of Christ, his death, resurrection and ascension, and the inauguration of his kingdom in accordance with those particular events. And this is a comfort and this is the joy of Christians in our time today.
And we ought to we ought to have this sort of again, while we might not be in first century tribulation, we ought to be resting confidently upon the fact that Jesus Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. It serves as a wonderful joy to those who are, whether persecuted or not, whether under the heat and pressure of God-haters in Eritrea or in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Christians of every type and flavor rest upon a ruling and reigning Christ who conquers for his own reputation and for the enjoyment of his people. And I think one thing that we need to do One thing that we need to do as Christians is we need a reclamation of the kingdom of Christ as far as Christians living and operating in our lower world. I think there is a I'm trying to choose the right word.
There is a light. and an unheavy and a wimpy approach to the kingdom of Jesus Christ on the part of Christians in the modern world. We will grant him. We will grant him. Christians will grant him the fact that he is, yes, king in the hearts of his people, but in other realms and in other areas and in other spots.
Well, he's just not king. We'll be content with the back of the bus, we'll be content with the back of the auditorium, but we won't grant Jesus Christ rule and reign over all things. Yes, Jesus Christ did say that his kingdom is not of this world, or he said, my kingdom is not of this world. But that didn't mean that he wasn't king, that he wasn't given authority in heaven and on earth.
That didn't mean that he was, yes, only ruler in the hearts, but everywhere else. He's not sovereign. He's not king. It meant primarily that his kingship or his kingdom didn't have an earthly source.
And it was not it was not it was not ruled by an earthly power. His kingdom came from above, yea, from God himself. And this is a quote, it's an extended quote that I want to read to you, but it's something that we need to get into our minds, that Christians ought to get into their minds, that Jesus Christ is king in heaven and on earth and over all things. Jesus Christ, by the gospel, has asserted his absolute sovereignty and dominion over the rulers and nations of the earth.
Again, this is a long quote, but please bear with me. They have a choice. Either submit to his government and law, accepting his non-negotiable terms of surrender and peace, or be smashed to bits by the rod of his anger. It would have been much easier on the early Christians, of course, if they had preached the popular retreatist doctrine that Jesus is content to be Lord in the realm of the spirit, while Caesar is Lord everywhere else, i.e. where we feel it really matters.
Such a doctrine would have been no threat whatsoever to the gods of Rome. In fact, Caesar couldn't ask for a more cooperative religion. Toothless, impotent Christianity focused on the clouds. But the early church was not aware of this escapist teaching.
Instead, it taught the biblical doctrine of Christ's lordship, that he is Lord of all, ruler of the kings of the earth. It was this that guaranteed their persecution, torture, and death at the hands of the state. And it was also this that guaranteed their ultimate victory. Because Jesus is universal Lord, all opposition to his rule is doomed to failure and will be crushed.
Because Christ is King of Kings, Christians are assured of two things. Warfare to the death against all would be gods and the complete triumph of the Christian faith over all its enemies. That's that's the Christ who is King, that's the Christ who was exalted at his ascension, and that's the Christian approach to the kingdom. Jesus Christ is not just the wimpy Lord of the heart who prances around with long hair and a beard smiling.
Jesus Christ is the one that John sees by way of vision, the one that has all authority, all power, that is sovereign over all things. He's the Christ that we read throughout the book of the throughout the book of Revelation, who treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And we need to regain that kingdom approach, that approach to Jesus Christ as king and that approach to Christianity as that faith that will have complete triumph over all its enemies. John here is a companion in the tribulation and in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Companion in Patient Endurance
And thirdly, with regards to the connection of the author, he is a brother and companion in the patience of Jesus Christ, a brother and companion in the patience of Jesus Christ. Now, we need to consider what this patience doesn't mean. We can use patience lightly and when we use it in other contexts, that's fine. But what this patience certainly doesn't mean is is some ability on the on behalf of individuals just to lay around and and just wait for things to happen with a handful of Pringles in their hand. just having some sort of ability just to lay around and wait for things.
It's not the sort of patience. Secondly, and you can turn to Revelation chapter 6 to consider this, it's not the type of patience that just lets people walk all over us. As Christians, yes, we are to be patient, but we should not buckle under the weight of God-haters. We should not buckle under those who are unbelievers and let them trample over us as if as if we were just wimpy Christians eking out our lives in this lower world.
And hopefully you can see the connection with regards to patience here. Revelation 6 at verse 9. Revelation 6 at verse 9. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? You see what I'm getting here, the brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus ought not to just be content with the trampling of God haters, whether trampling upon brothers and sisters literally and physically, or whether dumping upon the doctrine of Jesus Christ and the blessed word of our triune God. We don't stand around and watch blasphemers have their way and have their sway. We ought to have this approach to righteousness and vengeance and justice, the vengeance of God and giving place to God's wrath.
How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? They didn't have that sort of patience. They had the proper patience, which we'll get to in a moment. But they cried out with a loud voice, pleading with God to exact his vengeance upon those who had it coming.
It's also not, if you want to turn to Revelation chapter two, it's also not that type of patience which allows heretics to have their sway in the church. It does not entail patience here in Revelation one nine does not entail tolerating those who are God haters, who are heretics, who seek to propagate false doctrine. Jesus Christ condemns the church in Pergamos. for such a thing. Revelation 2 verse 14.
But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balaam to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. Verse 15. Thus, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which things I hate. Jesus condemns those who had patience, if you will, in enduring the heresy of those enduring heretics who would seek to propagate doctrine that was in opposition to the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's not the patience, of course, that John envisions here when he says that he's a companion and a brother with them. The type of patience that we have here is perseverance. It's that type of patience which is marked by or which is faithful endurance, enduring unto the end. We see as Jesus is commending or as Jesus is is commanding John to write to the angels of these churches, he rewards them as being overcomers or he rewards those who are overcomers, those who do faithfully endure, those who, when tribulation comes, they don't have that unbiblical anxiety that Paul exhorts against in the book of Philippians.
They rather, with prayer and with supplication, mingled with thanksgiving, make the requests known to God. They have a faithful endurance. And we could think of an example, perhaps in Stephen. Stephen was an example, I think, of this sort of patience.
He was undergoing something of a tribulation. He's brought before that council and he's he's condemned as as a heretic, one who's preaching against God, against the law and against the holy place. And he doesn't he doesn't, you know, try and finagle his way. He doesn't try and wiggle out of and try and defend himself.
Rather, he testifies to the glory of Christ or the fulfillment of Christ, that he that Christ brings the fulfillment of old covenant religion. And then he indicts patiently and faithfully enduring the venom and the spitting and the teeth gnashing of unbelieving Jews. He indicts them for having not believed in Jesus Christ. And then and then he even in Acts chapter seven, he even exercises some of that same stuff his master exercised on the cross of Calvary, mercy.
And he says, into thy hands, I commit my spirit. Patiently, and we read we read the one the wonderful end to Stephen in the book of Acts isn't one that isn't one of panic. It isn't one of lamentation. It isn't one of woe.
It is a peaceful end to our brother in in Acts chapter seven. Lord, do not charge them with this sin. And when he said this, he fell asleep. Stephen is a wonderful, a wonderful example of faithful, patient endurance.
And when John is writing here again, when John is saying that he's with his brothers, he's with his sisters, he's a companion with them in these things, he is he is marked by that faithful endurance. Come what may, by way of unbelieving Jews, come what may, by way of the Roman Empire, They will, in Christ Jesus, endure to the end. And Jesus both commends this and rewards this type of patience as we continue throughout the book, throughout the book of Revelation, particularly in Revelation two and three. But again, John is not a stranger to these three things.
He is a sharer with them. He is with his brothers and sisters in tribulation, impatience and in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
The Current State of the Author
Secondly, the current state of the author. Note verse 10. I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day, or excuse me, the end of verse nine. Rather, I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
We noted this just earlier.
John on Patmos: Walking the Walk
John was a companion in the tribulation. And we'll get to a little bit more of this with other apostles. But one thing that we need to appreciate here One thing that we need to appreciate, again, is that John was not on some Mediterranean island just lounging back and relaxing. John is writing to them and identifying with them.
He wasn't at an all-inclusive resort sipping ouzo and eating white Santorinian eggplant. He was on the island, which is called Patmos. He was no doubt there, deemed dangerous by the Roman Empire for preaching Christ and him crucified. We see that's why he was on the island.
Notice, on the island called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. He could relate to them because he was living with them. or he was living, enduring the same trials. And again, it is for doing something, not that he was guilty of. He did not have here some sort of legitimate criminal action against him.
He was doing what he was supposed to do as a servant of God. He was for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. The apostles in the wisdom and in the plan of God could talk the talk with regards to exhortation, with regards to encouragement, with regards to rebuke, because they had walked the walk along with their brothers and sisters in Christ. Very often, a lot of people can talk the talk But it can just come out as it can just come out as, you know, as just speak because they haven't walked the walk.
They haven't endured. They haven't walked in the way everlasting like those to whom they are speaking. Now, very often the preacher does that. The preacher can do that because he's asked to preach the word of God.
He's asked to grip the pulpit and to preach the word and the will of God. But he doesn't do it from a position from a position of unwholesome command or anything like that. He does it. because that is his commission and his calling. John here and the apostles could do it.
They could talk to their brothers and sisters in Christ because they had walked along with them in their trials. And for more examples, we could think of Paul. When Paul wrote to the Philippians in Philippians 1 29, when he wrote to them, it has been graciously given to you not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for his name. He was writing that not from the Rancho Las Palmas resort in Palm Springs.
He was writing that first off, he was writing that in prison. He was in prison for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. But he could also write, it has been graciously granted to you to suffer for the sake of Christ because he because he had been stoned. Because he had five times received 40 stripes minus one, he had been beaten three times.
He had been shipwrecked three times. He had been a night and a day in the deep. He had endured many perils in many places. He endured sleeplessness, hunger, nakedness and coldness.
He could write to them, blessed is it or blessed are you those who are the recipients of affliction, of tribulation, of trial. And he could write, it has been graciously granted to you. But when we when we pray for brothers and sisters, we do it genuinely and earnestly, I hope, who are persecuted for the cause of Jesus Christ and for the cause of his truth when we pray for persecuted brothers and sisters. But we can't do it necessarily from the same position that Paul can.
We say, and we pray for them, we say that they ought to have that ethic, that you would give them, God, that ethic to consider it, that they have been graciously granted the opportunity to suffer for the sake of Christ Jesus. John here, though, could directly identify with his brothers and sisters. He had endured such things. He was undergoing such things.
Or Peter. Peter and first Peter 412 when he writes, therefore, that those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him as to a faithful creator. Peter also could. He was a brother and a companion with them in tribulation.
Peter wasn't preaching from some sort of lofty tower. You wouldn't find you're not going to find Peter bouncing around in a ridiculously obscene hat. adorned in pompous garb, waving his hand at the downcast and saying be well, and then hopping into a bulletproof popemobile and going off to his deluxe tower in the sky. You're not going to see Peter do that. Why?
Because he endured the trials and he endured the tribulations of his brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. He knew the venom and he knew the hatred of his countrymen. He knew the expectation of his own countrymen that wanted to see that desire to see his head on the platter. He knew that the murderous desires of Herod, he knew imprisonment and he knew beatings.
And he could say, therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God, commit their souls to him in doing good as to a faithful creator. And this is also the fact that that these brothers, that Paul, that Peter, that John were undergoing The trials were undergoing the tribulations that John was on Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. This is in fulfillment to Christ's prophecy that they would undergo these things. And they knew that Jesus had told them, you will surely be baptized with the baptism that I am being baptized with.
They were fully immersed in the trials and tribulations and sufferings that came upon them. They they knew that this not only have these things been graciously granted, but Jesus promised these things. Jesus said that these things would happen to us. And so they endured.
So they patiently and faithfully endured these things for the cause of their great king. John was banished. John was on the island called Patmos as a banished insubordinate in the eyes of the empire. But according to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he was a faithful servant carrying out his providential contributions for his king.
And this is, not alone, the job of John the Apostle, being about the Word of God and about the testimony of Jesus Christ. Yes, John peculiarly commissioned here for these things, but it is not solely and alone John's job. Christians, we are to be about the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Turn to Revelation 12 for a moment, if you're so inclined.
Revelation 12, verse 17. Just to see that Christians, generally speaking, also are to be about the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12 at verse 17, And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. This is something that marks Christians.
Generally speaking, that ought to. We are to be those. We are the offspring. We are the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
We are to be jealous for the reputation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, to defend it, to proclaim it and to propagate its truth. This is what John Gill says on this particular verse. This they had in their hearts, speaking of the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. This they had in their hearts, a spiritual knowledge and saving experience of it.
And this they had in their hands. They made a profession of it. They held it forth and held it fast, all which was the reason of Satan's enmity against them and war with them. We're going to have the enemies of Christ, the enemies and the enemy and the enemies of Christ and his church come upon us.
And it will be because we are the church. We are Christ's ransom. And it should also be because we are doing what Christ Christ's ransom ought to do. We are keeping the commandments of God and we have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
We do what what Gil here says. We make a profession of it. We hold it forth and we hold it fast. This is something that ought to mark every Christian in under God's good heaven.
John's Modesty and Christ-Centeredness
And one thing we ought to notice also here and that we all we also ought to drink in this ethic. We ought to notice John's modesty or silence regarding his suffering on Patmos. I know it's probably not always the best thing or it's it's generally speaking it's not a good thing to exegete the silence or the blank spots on the pages. But I think it's notable in this example because John is setting forth the glory of Christ.
Not the glory of John or the accomplishments of John, but it is notable that John here just says that he was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. He doesn't need to outline a litany of things that he's endured for the cause of Christ and his truth. Why? Because revelation is about Christ.
Why? Because Christianity is about Christ. We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord and ourselves, your bondservants for Jesus sake. Now, yes, Paul, in his letters to the Corinthians, would defend his apostle ship and he would write that he was shipwrecked, that he was that he was five times received 40 stripes minus one and that sort of thing.
Different application, different example. But very often you can get those Christians that are very much about themselves. We all have pride. I have it.
You have it. But you can get, when you get stories of conversion and testimonies and all those sorts of things, biographies written by 35-year-olds, you can often get that these things are all about them and there's not a whole lot about Christ first. It's me first. Let me tell you about my tribulations.
Let me tell you about what I've endured for Christ. Let me tell you about me. Me, me, me, me, I, I, I. When it should be about Christ Jesus, the one who received or the one who gave this vision to John, it should be about, let me tell you about Jesus Christ.
If anybody ever, autobiographies, in a sense, are good. We can read about a lot of godly men, Spurgeon, Edwards, Owen. Great. We should read them because properly done, and a lot of them are, they actually do point Christward.
But I'd have to I think if I was to ever write an autobiography, it would it would just, you know, maybe be one page because my autobiography at this point really isn't all that long. It would just be Christ. Jesus is ruling and reigning over his enemies and subduing the hearts of his people unto himself. The end.
We can have or Christians can have this sort of idea where, oh, where they're the tortured artist. where they just want to unload about how they've endured when it should be about Christ Jesus, Him ruling, Him reigning, Him having previous to that died upon that tree, bloodied and battered for guilty sinners, rising again and ascending to the right hand of the majesty on high. That's what we ought to be about. And John's notable silence here, I believe, is for that reason, because he gets to the one whom he hears behind him, that one with a loud voice as of a trumpet, the Alpha and the Omega.
The Commission of the Author
Lastly, lastly, we'll look at the commission, the commission of the author. And we'll close with this particular point, the commission of the author versus 10 and 11. Notice, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And what you see right in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.
John Commissioned in the Spirit
The first thing we should notice here is the one being commissioned. John rewrites of himself, I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day, and I think it's good to dwell a little bit here upon what this means. You know, a couple of things that we can look at first off in the spirit on the Lord's Day. It is certainly true that Christians, generally speaking, are to be in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
John 4, 23, we are to worship in spirit and in truth. Jude 20, we are to be praying in the Holy Spirit. Christians devoid of the Spirit are not Christians. Christians have the spirit of God and endure and walk through this lower world, fellowshipping with and being or enjoying the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew Henry puts it this way. Those who would enjoy communion with God on the Lord's Day must endeavor to abstract their thoughts and affections from flesh and fleshly things and be wholly taken up with things of a spiritual nature. So, yes, there is generally speaking that fact or that reality that all Christians are to be in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. We need the influence and the assistance of the Spirit in order to rightly and properly worship.
We need the instrumentality, we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit in order to rightly and properly preach, in order to rightly and properly hear, in order to rightly and properly exercise and carry out our Christian lives in the lower world. We need the Holy Spirit. But when John writes here that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, there is something of a difference than what we just Consider, there is something special and peculiar to those commissioned to inscription rate. The word of the living and true God that just does not go on today anymore.
And just to see some of this, just we'll turn to a couple of places in Revelation, Revelation 4 to Revelation 4 to. And we'll also look briefly at an Old Testament example, but Revelation 4 to immediately John speaking here again, a writing immediately. I was in the spirit and behold, a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne. So, John here, again, is in the spirit, I believe in the same manner that he was in the spirit, of course, in Revelation 1.10.
He's in the spirit and he's given, he beholds this throne set in heaven and one who sat on the throne. Also, Revelation 17 at verse 3. Revelation 17 at verse 3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness.
And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And just one other example, Revelation Chapter 21 at verse 10. Chapter 21 at verse 10, and he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city and holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God. So we get the idea here that this in the spirit, while John certainly would have had on the Lord's Day that that ethic that Matthew Henry spoke of, where he's abstracting his thoughts from the affections of flesh and fleshly things, wholly taken up into things of a spiritual nature, that general Christian in the spirit.
But also, as we read here throughout Revelation, John in the spirit is taken and he's given these visions in order that he might follow through with his commission to write the things that you see to the seven churches in Asia Minor. So there is something peculiar to John here or something peculiar to God's ordained and commissioned messengers that we do not enjoy as Christians in the 21st century. Again, we no longer look for or wait for visions from God because God has already spoken with authority through the 66 books of the Old Testament and New Testament. And we have them.
We have them here with us, and John received this in the spirit. these in the spirit visions in order that he might pen this book to the seven churches which are in Asia Minor. And one other thing with regards to the one being commissioned is that John is in the vein of the Old Testament prophets. John is identified by these things or by the language of revelation He's identified with the Old Testament prophets because they, in a very similar manner, in fact, we could say in an exact manner, received visions from God and they were likewise in the spirit. You don't have to turn here if you don't wish to.
But Ezekiel chapter two at verse two. Ezekiel chapter 2 at verse 2, just to see that John is just like the Old Testament prophets here, bringing a message of judgment upon enemies, upon apostates, and messages of encouragement for those who are truly Christ's. Ezekiel 2, 2. Then he, excuse me, then the Spirit entered me and when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet.
And I heard him who spoke to me, and he said to me, Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me." Again, Ezekiel, then the spirit, entered me. Also in 312, 312 Then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice, just like the Apostle John here, just like the Apostle John. Blessed is the glory of the Lord from his place. And then also Ezekiel 43 at verse five, Ezekiel 43 and verse five.
The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. So John here, in the vein of the Old Testament prophets and unlike Christians today, is in the spirit in the manner by which God Christ, the ruling and reigning Christ, is communicating to him these visions and these messages so that he might indict apostate Israel and that he might encourage the church, that he might encourage the church Christians in the lower world to endure in the face of persecution by way of Jews and the unbelieving Roman Empire.
The Lord's Day and Worship
Also, what we see here, excuse me, what we see is that this took place on the Lord's Day. And just a brief note, revelation again, one at verse 10. I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day. No doubt this was the first day of the week, Sunday, the Christian Sabbath. the day today that we are enjoying the worship of our gracious God and something that we ought to notice here.
And this is this is interesting. John Gill notes this observing or commenting on this passage. And it's notable for us today. Now, though John was driven from the house in worship of God and could not join with the saints in the public worship of that day, yet he was employed in spiritual contemplations and exercises.
And what we can take from this, brethren, John is on the island that is called Patmos. He's banished for preaching and teaching the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, for adhering to Christ Jesus, for proclaiming that there is only one name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, Jesus Christ, that he is king of kings and Lord of lords, not Caesar. He's there banished away from the house of the Lord, away from the people of the Lord. Yet he is still engaged in spiritual contemplations and exercises.
Now, this ought to serve as an indictment to us. We're not on the island that is called Patmos. And sometimes we just don't even want to come to church. Sometimes we get up and whatever the weights of the week, the weights of the day, we're tired, we're lazy, whatever it might be, we're not banished for proclaiming Christ.
And sometimes we just don't want to engage in the worship of the triune God. Well, John is on the island called Patmos being undergoing tribulation, undergoing persecution, undergoing suffering and affliction. And he is nevertheless engaged in spiritual contemplations and exercises. Were it normative for John, he would have come to church.
He would have entered in with the people of God, entered within the doors, the walls of whatever church he would be attending, and he would be engaged in worship with the brethren, not forsaking the assembling of themselves together. But he's on the island called Patmos. undergoing affliction. And nevertheless, he does not engage in absenteeism in his own context. He engages in participation in the things of Christ and in the things of his glorious truths.
Authority of the Commissioner
Now, very lastly and finally here, the commission. the commission that we get by or that the commission that Jesus Christ gives to John and the authority of the commissioner. Notice that Jesus here gives to John a commission to write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia. Jesus did not forget the promise that he gave to his disciples during his earthly ministry. I think two promises here that we could see sort of in the background.
First, he promised in Matthew 16 that the gates of hell would not prevail over his church. I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Well, how is Jesus building his church? He's commissioning his ordained messengers to bring his word and his precepts to people, to the world, to all nations under heaven.
He's commanding, in this case, John, to bring the message to these seven churches which are in Asia Minor. He is commissioning and he's building his church as he promised. Also, John chapter 16, I believe we could see here as one of those promises that are in the background In the background here, as we read, as we read Revelation 1, 9 and 10. And you can turn there if you'd like.
John, chapter 16. Maybe verse 12, John, chapter 16, verse 12, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will tell you things to come.
He will glorify me for for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. All things that the father has are mine. Therefore, I said that he will take of mine and declare it to you. And so we get to the book of Revelation and we we see something of that bearing out, something of that coming to fruition, the promise of Christ. that he would communicate things to things, he would declare truth to his disciples.
And of course, they in turn put them to letter in accordance with their commission for the growth of the church, for the strength of the church. for the propagation of precious truth. And we see the authority of the commissioner here. We'll get to the vision of Christ, Lord willing, again tonight. But notice the authority of the commissioner before we finish and close in prayer.
I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. When God's when God's messengers are commissioned, they're left with no mystery who it is that is giving the commission. And by virtue of that, the people of God are given the certainty and the surety that this message is coming from God most high. The giver of the commission or the one commissioning identifies himself.
First off, we hear that John hears behind him a loud voice as of a trumpet. We ought to have in the back of our minds that exodus manifestation or that exodus presence of God who came to Moses with thunderings and with loud noises, thunderings and lightnings. And we ought to we ought to remember those times where. At those times in the Old Testament, where the glory of God or the glory of the pre-incarnate Christ is given to messengers in the Old Covenant, we could think of Isaiah chapter 6 here in this example of John 1, 9 to 20, very similar to Isaiah.
John here falls at his feet as dead. Isaiah cried out, Woe is me, for I am undone, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. And we, of course, know that in Isaiah chapter six is identified, of course, as as the holy one of Israel. But here we have the authority of Jesus Christ announced with the loud voice as of a trumpet, but then also with the fact that Jesus Christ is God.
We have a clear, a clear declaration here of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the cultic God-haters, no amount of interpretative gymnastics can get around the fact that Jesus Christ is God, as depicted here in Revelation 111. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. And if your Bible has red letters, it's That's not the reason that we know that Jesus Christ here is being spoken of.
If we if we if we move down to verse 13 or verse 12 and 13, we know that this is Christ Jesus identified. Then I turn to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the son of man. And this same son of man then identifies himself in verse 17.
Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore.
This is Jesus Christ. And it is John certainly declaring and Jesus Christ certainly asserting that he is God manifested in the flesh who died upon the cross of Calvary. rose again the third day, ascended into heaven and now seats at the right hand is seated at the right seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. And just so we understand Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. This is how Yahweh identified himself.
The covenant Lord identified himself in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah. You don't have to turn there. I'm going to read these for you. Isaiah 41 for who has performed and done it, calling the generations from the beginning I, the Lord, am the first and with the last I am he.
Isaiah 44, 6. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last. Besides me, there is no God. And also Isaiah 48 at verse 12.
Isaiah 48 at verse 12. Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called. I am he. I am the first.
I am also the last glorious declaration, the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ isn't something that we have to infer. It's not something that comes from the Bible as good and necessary consequence. It is something that is clear and explicit within the pages of Holy Scripture. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.
Wonderful. The authority of the commissioner, John, is receiving this commission from God most high. He's receiving this commission with a loud noise, with a loud voice, rather the sound of a trumpet. And he will and he will put pen to paper and write glorious things of judgment and glorious things of encouragement for his people.
And just very briefly, as we close now,
Application
Confidence in the reigning Christ is what we ought to take from this. And we get more of this tonight as we read through the through verses 12 to 20. But we are to have confidence in the reigning Christ, confidence in that one who is the king of the kingdom that John was a partaker of with his brothers and sisters and that we are all partakers of also. We are partakers of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and we bend a knee and we worship such a glorious king and such a glorious Lord.
We are and we ought to be imitators of the apostles were to be about the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We might not be banished to Patmos. We might not be persecuted like the first century Christians, but we are nevertheless in trial or out of trial. to be about the Word of God and about the testimony of Jesus Christ. We read our Bibles.
We know doctrine. We learn doctrine. We seek to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And we are to love that Word, to hold it forth and to hold it fast.
And lastly, we are to respond properly to the commission in Christ. And we'll see this more tonight. But we are to worship. Verse 17, And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.
We are to have that John the Apostle ethic of falling to our feet as dead men before the ruling and before the reigning Christ. And if you're here today and you have not done that, if you're here today and you're not in Christ Jesus unto the saving of your souls, you need to bend a knee to this Jesus. You need to be you need to be found in him, not having your own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through Christ or by God, through faith in Jesus Christ. John here is the blessed recipient of a gracious Christ who lays his right hand on John and says to him, do not be afraid.
But if you do not believe in Christ Jesus and this is for child and adult, that Christ won't be your Christ in the day of judgment. Your Christ will be the one that you will be hiding from. You will be calling upon the rocks and the trees to hide you from the wrath of Christ, because you did not believe His Gospel, because you did not bend a knee to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. What must you do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. And He will be this Christ to you. You will fall at His feet as dead, but He will put His right hand on you and say, Do not be afraid. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you so much for Jesus Christ, for your revelation of him. We pray, Lord God, that we would all be found in him. We know that this is possible with you, Father. It's not possible with men, but it is possible with you.
And I would pray, Father, because of because of your character, because of your power, because it is possible with you, Lord God, that every single person might even leave this place singing the praises of Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, that you would, by the power of your Holy Spirit, convict men and women, boys and girls of sin, that they would know something of their own depravity, not just something, but Lord God, that they might even know that they might even know just the amount of sin, the amount of depravity, the amount of those things and the number of times that they have transgressed the laws of a holy God, but that they might also know your holiness, your righteousness, your mercy and your kindness. that they might know, Father, even more, the Savior who is able to save from such a place, that they would know Jesus Christ and Him crucified, Him resurrected, and Him ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high. I ask, Father, that you would work that work of salvation and that we would rejoice in this church, seeing those, whether young or old, believing in our Redeemer, believing in our victor, the Lord Jesus Christ. We just pray that you'd go with us, that you'd help us to order our lives according to your word, according to the testimony of Jesus Christ, and that we would live in a manner worthy of the gospel and of our profession in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.