Dear Church:
The Greeting
Scripture: Revelation 1
We’re going to walk for the next 8 weeks through the address to the Church that Jesus delivers in this book. We’ll see through this series that there are some significant promises made to the churches who overcome and stay faithful…who are in effect not leaving or forsaking their bridegroom.
Why do we call the church a bride?
Because the church is the bride of Christ and He is our
Jesus identifies Himself as the bridegroom
Matthew 9:15
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
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It is important that we begin with a little information about the book of Revelation.
Today, we’ll be introduced to the author…and it may not be who you think it is.
The words used in the greek are
ΑΠΟΚΑΛΥΨΙΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ,
or
the Apokalypsis of John.
It is interesting that the title is Apokalypsis.
What do you think of when you hear Apocalypse?
You might think of the end. Given all the Hollywood productions of today with that name, It might be a term that incites fear.
But the truth of the use of the word here is that it means a revealing of something
You see many times in Scripture, people’s response to the revelation of the divine, is simply they fell down as though they were dead. That is John’s response here in verse 17.
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DATE:
The book was written in about 95-96 AD, towards the end of the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian. Domitian lived from 51-96 AD, and reigned as emperor for 15 years, from 81-96 AD.
LOCAION:
It is likely that John’s presence in
AUTHOR:
The book only lists the name John for its author. Traditionally the author is recognized as John, the son of Zebedee, the apostle of Christ. There is some conjecture among some of the early scholars that because of literary form and language that it could be another John. Most though believe it to be the same John as the author of the gospels and epistles.
The location of the text is in Present day
The revelation is actually written to the Seven Churches of the Roman province of Asia.
The seven churches, in the order they are presented in the book are the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
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These wereletters intended for the church body. While this book is specifically written to the 7 churches, as we progress through the first few verses, we will quickly begin to see a pattern of recognition that is familiar to us.
It is kind of like when we learn from other’s experiences.
Growing up, if your sibling did something and got in trouble for it, you learned through their experience that this was something that you didn’t want to do. So, as much as the correction of your parents was for your sibling in that instance, it was also for you.
So… as we saw in our memory verse last week,
2 Tim 3:16-17,
It is also for us today.
1 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 1 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
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Revelation 1:1-3:
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
So immediately, we see a shift.
Did you catch it? Do you remember what I said the title of the book is?
The Revelation of John, but in the first line of the first chapter of the book, the word says:
1
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
This is a very important distinction.
While the author is expressly stated to be John…
this is the inspired word of God,
penned by mankind,
but breathed by the Spirit of God.
And it is not the revelation OF John…
It is the Revelation OF Jesus Christ TO John.
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Why did this revelation come TO John?
Verse 1:
which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
This is the testimony of Jesus Christ to John, and to the Church.
Initially to the Seven churches in
to all the church…the Body of Christ…to the Lord’s people.
It is good that we are here today, and that we hear today.
The word says that because of it, if we keep the words, we will be blessed.
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Greeting to the Seven Churches
Verse 4:
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come,
This is a descriptor that is found several times.
Not only is it said by Him (Christ), it is also said of Him.
Verse 4 here says
“the one who is, and who was, and who is to come”
Who is… He is the I Am.
Forever from eternity to eternity He is.
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John 1 says
1 in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.
This use ofthe Word is referring to Jesus Christ…HE IS
He was…He came to this earth as a human,
and lived a perfect sinless life,
in complete and perfect obedience to the father.
Because of this obedience, he was crucified, gave up His physical life.
Is to come…He is coming again. He has defeated death,
is alive and ascended…and he is coming again…
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Another place in the Book of Revelation that uses this identical language is
Chapter 4 verse 8-11:
8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
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Verse 4 of our text cntinues-
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
This is a representation of the
7 is a number of completion and perfection.
The fact that John uses the words “Seven Spirits” is Him connecting the 7 lampstands (or the representation of the church) in verse 20, with the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.
Zechariah 4 gives us some reference to this…
because in Zechariah 4 (written nearly
1 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
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Next in Verse 5
we have an expounding on the one from whom the Message comes.
Verse 5-9
5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Here John is identifying with the churches, and he calls himself the partner in the
He is on Patmos, why? On account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
He is there as a direct result of His affiliation with Christ.
The Expositors commentary says:
One of the Sporades Islands, Patmos lies about thirty-seven miles west-southwest of Miletus, in the Icarian Sea. Consisting mainly of volcanic hills and rocky ground, Patmos is about ten miles long and six miles wide at the north end. It was an island used for Roman penal purposes.
Tacitus refers to the use of such small islands for political banishment (Annals 3.68; 4.30; 15.71).
Eusebius mentions that John was banished to the island by the emperor Domitian in a.d. 95 and released eighteen months later by Nerva
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Verse 10:
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
He was “in the Spirit”.
This means that there was direct communication to Him from the Holy Spirit of God during this time when He was receiving the Revelation.
This is the only place in the new testament where we see mention of the Lord’s day (Sunday).
He heard a loud voice like a trumpet. This could be the voice of Christ or the voice of an angel, but given that he turns around and he sees Christ, I believe that he heard the voice of Christ. On top of this, it is an imperative and directive…and the voice says:
Verse 11-16:
11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
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Exodus 25:31 talks about the construction of the lampstand for the Tabernacle with 7 lamps.
7 lamps…
This is full of language that refers to Christ.
His hair is white like wool…white as snow…
This is reminiscent of the account of Christ in the book of Daniel in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
His eyes were like a flame…
This represents the piercing gaze of Christ and His perfect
His feet were like burnished bronze…
This represents Christ’s authority and the weight of His judgment, trampling down those who reject Him.
His Voice like the roar of many waters…
This is a description of the Majesty of God…
like a majestic waterfall is awe inspiring…the majesty of God is moreso.
His right hand he held 7 stars.
The Expositor’s commentary here says of the 7 stars
In his right hand he held seven stars. The right hand is the place of power and safety, and the “seven stars” Christ held in it are identified with the seven angels of the seven churches in Asia (v. 20). This is the only detail in the vision that is identified. Why the symbolism of stars? This probably relates to the use of “angels” as those to whom the letters to the seven churches are addressed (chs. 2–3). Stars are associated in the OT and in Revelation with angels (Job 38:7, Rev 9:1) or faithful witnesses to God (Dan 12:3).
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Verses 17-20:
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that 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 are the seven churches.
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Today’s personal point of application is the fact that Christ has commissioned His church as the vehicle for Evangelism and Discipleship.
Here He is communicating to the church.
The question is,
Are you part of the church?
Church membership is important.
Without Christ there is no church.
You are part of a church because of your faith in Christ.
But once you trust Christ, you must then make the step to willingly affiliate with a church.
Not because you have to…but because you need to…you get to.
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Three Questions for Reflection:
- Are you a member of the Church?
What does it mean to be a member of the Church?
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- According to Revelation 1:5-7, What is the promise concerning Christ?
Are you with John in saying “Even So…Amen!” What does this mean?
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- Re-read Chapter 1 out loud each day this week. Verse 3 of chapter 1 says “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” How have you been blessed by the reading of this word?
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