Introduction: Part Two

Revelation 1:9-20 New King James Version

Revelation 1:9

1. I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,

a. Revelation 7:14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

b. Matthew 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

c. John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

2. was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

a. PATMOS (Πάτμος, Patmos). A small island in the Aegean Sea off the southwest coast of Asia Minor (Rev 1:9). According to a tradition preserved by Irenaeus, Eusebius, Jerome and others, John, the author of Revelation, was exiled there in the 14th year of the reign of Domitian and subsequently released to Ephesus under Nerva (96 ad).

Revelation 1:10-11

1. (v.10) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,

2. and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

3. (v.11) saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and,

a. Used of God the Father (Revelation 1:4, 8).

4. “What you see, write 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.”

Revelation 1:12-13

1. (v.12) Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.

2. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,

3. (v.13) and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man,

4. clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

Revelation 1:14-16

1. (v.14) His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,

2. and His eyes like a flame of fire;

3. (v.15) His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace,

4. and His voice as the sound of many waters;

a. Daniel 7:9 “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;

b. Daniel 10:5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz!

c. Daniel 10:6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.

5. (v.16) He had in His right hand seven stars,

6. out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,

7. and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

Revelation 1:17-18

1. (v.17) 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.

a. Revelation 1:4, 8, 11

2. (v.18) I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.

3. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Revelation 1:19

1. Write

2. the things which you have seen, (Revelation 1)

3. and the things which are, (Revelation 2-3)

4. and the things which will take place after this. (Revelation 4-22)

a. Revelation 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

Revelation 1:20

1. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands:

2. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,

a. ‘The term ἄγγελος, like the Hebrew מלאך malʾāk, means “messenger” and may refer to a supernatural being or a human being. The term ἄγγελος occurs seventy-seven times in Revelation, and only in 1:20–3:22 is the term used for the angels of the seven churches (eight times). Elsewhere in Revelation ἄγγελος is used of supernatural beings serving as messengers or agents of God (within 1:20–3:22, this meaning is clearly intended in 3:5).[1]

b. Matthew 18:10 “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

3. and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

Application:

1. We need God’s grace and peace in times of trouble (Revelation 1:4).

a. Revelation 1:4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

b. Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

2. We need to worship despite our circumstances in times of trouble (Revelation 1:10).

a. Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

3. We need a fresh vision of Jesus in times of trouble (Revelation 1:12-16).

4. We need to know that Jesus is in our midst and moving even in times of trouble (Revelation 1:20).

a. Revelation 1:20 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.

b. Revelation 1:13 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.

c. Revelation 2:1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst ofthe seven golden lampstands:

[1] Aune, D. E. (1997). Revelation 1–5(Vol. 52A, p. 108). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.