Revelation 1:4-20

Revelation 1:4-20 Outline: I. INTRODUCTION Verses 1-3(LAST WEEK) II. SALUTATION verses 4-11 III. VISION OF THE RISEN CHRIST verses 12-18 IV. OUTLINE OF THE BOOK verse 19 V. PREPARATION FOR CHAPTERS 2-3 verse 20 ∞> II. <∞ Salutation A. Verse 4 “John to the seven churches which are in Asia:” 1. This tells us to whom the letters and this book is written. It clearly says that it is from John and to the seven churches in Asia. 2. This Book was originally addressed to seven selected churches in Asia. However the book definitely is not limited to them only. We will see in the next chapter that the even each letter to itʼs specific church says “he who hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches” So the question is not are you part of one of these churches but do you have an ear. 3. The Churches that were selected were not the only churches in Asia at this time. To name a couple of others there was Colosse and Hierapolis as well. These were two other important churches in the area that is spoken of as Asia in the text. 4. Why these seven then? a) Well first because the geographical location is in keeping with the vision in verses 12-18 of this chapter with Jesus in the midst and these Churches forming a circle around Him. The seven churches actually did form a rough circle geographically. b) But also, and more importantly, “the internal conditions of these Churches were suited to portray the whole sphere of Christian profession in seven distinct periods, from the apostolic days to the close of the churchʼs testimony on earth.” 1 In fact the outline of the book given to us at the end of this chapter will give us the things which John saw, the things which are and the things that are hereafter. “The things which are (chapters 2-3) have to do with the current dispensation. The seven churches give us a picture of the whole professing churchʼs history from the apostolic period to the coming of the Lord 1 H.A. Ironside, Commentary on Revelation, Pg. 15 1 Jesus. These two chapters portray the condition of the church on earth in seven distinct periods. The churchʼs history ends at the Rapture, when Jesus comes as the bright and morning star. That event closes the current dispensation.”2 5. When John speaks of Asia he does not mean the continent of Asia. When we think of Asia we tend to think of the far east but that is not the place reference to by Asia in our text. This speaks of the a Roman proconsular province which makes up today ⅔ of western Turkey. Asia minor. B. Verse 4 “Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.” 1. “Grace and peace” be unto you. a) Grace and peace speak of our position and our experience. (1) Positionally we a have a righteous standing before God the Father because it is by Godʼs grace that we are saved. Godʼs grace in and through Jesus Christ is giving us what we donʼt deserve, namely the very righteousness of God. In Godʼs eyes we are righteous and that righteousness canʼt be added to because it is Godʼs own righteousness. (2) Our experience now is that of peace. Because we have peace with God, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we now can walk in the peace of God. (3) So here in this salutation we see our standing and our experience as believers. It is much more than just the greek and the hebrew way of greeting. b) This way of salutation was very common of Paul the apostle. But Paul only expressed grace and peace as coming from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see John invoke the entire trinity. Listen to what it says… C. Verse 5 “from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth” 1. Grace and peace from“Him which is, which was, and which is to come” speak of the Father. a) The title John gives the Father is that which closely resembles how the Lord revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush. It says in Exodus 3:14 “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” This is the name of God. The unpronounceable name of God known as the tetragrammaton. It speaks of who He is. He is the eternal selfexistent one. As Isaiah puts it He is the “Everlasting Father”. So John in this title of God the father makes direct reference actually to His very name which in turn speaks of His nature and who he is. 2 H.A. Ironside, Commentary on Revelation, Pg. 24 2 2. Next we see the Spirit of God. Grace and peace“from the seven Spirits which are before his throne” a) John uses this unique title to describe the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 11:2 can help us understand a little better that John speaks of the seven fold nature of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit is seven fold in His gracious character and imputation of spiritual attributes. However It can also, because of itʼs symbolic seven-ness, emphasize that, while the Spirit is indeed “before the Throne,” he is also omnipresent.”3 b) Some think that the “seven spirits” represent the seven angels spoken of later on in this chapter. However no where in scripture do we find grace and peace having itʼs source in or coming through angles. They too are indeed recipients of grace and peace by virtue of the fact that they exist. Also consider where this title of the Holy Spirit is placed. In between the Father and the Son. It would be inconsistent and out of place if John meant angles. 3. Lastly but not least we see the Son, grace and peace from “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth” a) So John also incorporates Jesus in his salutation of grace and peace and so we see the trinity very clearly in this passage. b) Now it says here of Jesus that… (1) Jesus is the “faithful witness” - this speaks of the death he died for you and me at Calvary. It is the past tense or the “which was” from verse four. The word “witness” is mä'r-tüs (μάρτυς) in greek. It is from this word that we get our english word martyr from. To be martyred is to be killed for what you believe. However Jesus is different from any other martyr in that He and He alone had the ability to lay down His life and the power to take it up again (John 10:18). That brings us to the next thing the text says about Jesus… (2) He is “the first begotten of the dead” - this speaks of His resurrection. This is the present tense or the “which is” from verse four. He is the risen one seated at the right hand of the Father to one day come again for His bride and to bring in His kingdom upon earth. And that brings brings us to the next thing mentioned about Jesus…and that is… (3) He is the “prince of the kings of the earth” - This is the the future tense or the “which is to come” of verse four. He will one day have every knee bow to Him and every tongue confess Him to be Lord. Presently we see the world rulers rebelling against Him as Psalm 2 says, but one day He will come and be acknowledged as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” The greek word for prince is archōn (ἄρχων) in greek and means chief or first. 4. Of Jesus this verse and the next go on to speak very beautifully of what Jesus has done for us and all we have in Him. Here John is so moved that He blurts out a magnificent doxology to the lord. (see chart on next page) 3 Henry Morris, The Revelation Record, Pg. 37 3 Past God Present Which Was Rev 1:4 Jesus Christ Which is Col 1:15-17; Jn 8:58 The Faithful Witness (Martyr) Rev 1:5 Unto Him (Jesus) That Rev 1:5 Our Salvation 2 Cor 1:10 Jn14:1-3 Loved us Which is to Come Heb 7:25 First Begotten of the Dead Col 1:18-20 Washed us from our sins in His Blood Gal 2:20; Jn 3:16 Who delivered us from the penalty of sin Justification Future Heb 7:25; 9:24 Rev 1:7 Prince of the Kings of the Earth Mt 25:31; 1 Cor 15:24 Made us Kings and Priests 1 Pet 2:9; Lk 19:17; Rev 2:26; 5:10; 20:4; 22:5 Doth deliver us from He will yet deliver the power of sin us from the presence of sin Sanctification Glorification D. Verse 6 “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” 1. Saved by the Blood of the lamb we are no longer slaves to our sins (Romans 6:20-22) but to Jesus. But being freed from our sins and being brought into a living relationship with almighty God is just the beginning. 2. He has not saved us to no purpose at all or only saved us but does not go beyond that, but like Adam who was given the garden to tend and take care of after being created, so to, the Lord sends us forth as new creatures in Christ to tend the fields of the world, ministering to the lost the gospel of Jesus Christ that the Lamb of God, who freed us from our sins with His own blood, may receive the reward of His sufferings. He has made us kings and priests! a) We have been seated with Him in the heavenly places, Ephesians 2:6 b) We have been made a royal priest hood to offer up sacrifices to our God, 1 Peter 2:5 c) And in the coming kingdom he has promised that we will reign with Him, Rev 20:6; 2 Tim 2:12; Rom 8:17. E. Verse 7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” 1. This was nothing new to John. he heard Jesus say this very thing in the Olivet Discourse. Matthew 24:30. This also refers to to that great prophecy in Zechariah 12:10 that tells us the inhabitants of Jerusalem would one day look upon Him whom they have pierced. This scripture was partially fulfilled on the day Christ was crucified but still has itʼs complete fulfillment in the future. 2. John fittingly says Amen to the things that he had just penned. And so do we! 4 F. Verse 8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” 1. Alpha and Omega is the same as the Hebrew Aleph and Tao or in English A and Z. He is the beginning and the ending and everything in between. The word of God tells us “that in him should all fulness dwell;” (Col 1:19) and “in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2:9). He is truly our all in all! 2. He is not only our beginning and end and everything in between, but he is also the Almighty! This word is pantokratōr (παντοκράτωρ) in the greek and means “the one of all power” or “he who holds sway, rule, or control over all things” He is omnipotent! G. Verse 9 “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” 1. “Who also am your brother” a) John did not claim seniority over his brothers. he considered himself to be one of those who he was writing to and therefor he felt that the things which he wrote were also applicable to himself. 2. “was in the isle called Patmos” a) About 40 km off the coast of Tukey 3. For the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ a) What a great thing to be accused of, even punished for! (1) 1 Peter 4:14-16 “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy [are ye]; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or [as] a thief, or [as] an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.” 5 H. Verse 10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,” 1. “The Lordʼs day” 3 views a) “the day of the Lord”, Day of judgment. This canʼt be the meaning of the phrase “the Lordʼs day” because of itʼs construction which demands the meaning to be “the day which belongs to the Lord” b) the sabbath. Possibly this is what is meant. The Lord did infact hallow the sabbath, therefor it can also be called “the Lordʼs day” c) Sunday. The problem with the sunday view is that no where else in scripture is the “first day of the week” (the day in which the early church gathered to worship, Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2) called the Lordʼs day. Perhaps though John started the saying and was referring to the day in which he and us celebrate our new beginnings in Christ. (1) Colossians 2:16 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” (2) Romans 14:5-6a “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.” (3) I. Verse 11 “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send [it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” 1. This verse is very important to us and can be used as a great tool to show JWʼs that Jesus truly is God. Take them through the following 2.Smyrna 3.Pergamos verses in the order that they are given: a) I am the first and the last (1) Isaiah 41:4 (2) Isaiah 44:6 1.Ephesus (3) Isaiah 48:12 (4) Revelation 1:11 Revelation 1:11 The Churches are enumerated in clockwise order, Ephesus on the coast, then northward to Smyrna and Pergamos, east to Thyatira, and southeast to Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. 4.Thyatira 5.Sardis 7.Laodicea (5) Revelation 1:16-17 (6) Revelation 2:8 (He which was dead and is alive) 6.Philadelphia (7) Revelation 22:13 6 III. VISION OF THE RISEN CHRIST verses 12-18 IV. OUTLINE OF THE BOOK verse 19 A. The things which are 1. “Specifically the situation in the church in Johnʼs day, representing the needs of all the churches throughout the church age” Henry Morris V. PREPARATION FOR CHAPTERS 2-3 VERSE 20 7