Sermon Tone Analysis

Greeting to the Seven Churches

Rev 1:4-8

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, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 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.”

All the Apostles of the Bible (5.

A Confidant of Christ)

The disciple whom Jesus loved!

Is this not true of each, and of all, redeemed by His sacrificial blood?

Love, if it is to be effective, must ever be singular and personal.

Because Christ loved all and died for all, He loved and died for each.

The general is translated into the particular and we exclaim with the apostle Paul, He “loved me, and gave himself for me!”

Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

20 I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

All the Apostles of the Bible (7.

A Witness of Integrity)

Before John could bear witness to the world of the great truths God had chosen him to reveal,

it was necessary for him to see in all His divine glory the Master whom he long loved and served

(Rev.

1:10–20).

What he saw and heard he wrote in a book, the contents of which can be summarized thus—

1.

A vision of the Lord Jesus Christ in all His majesty

2. A vision of His church in all its reality

3. A vision of a lost world in all its hostility

4. A vision of eternity in all its glory.

All the Apostles of the Bible (7.

A Witness of Integrity)

For over seventy years John maintained a firm and fearless witness for his Master, creating, thereby, in the hearts of the saints of all ages both wonder and faith.

All the Apostles of the Bible (The Apocalypse)

The visions contained in Revelation were given by Christ to His much-loved apostle,

during his exile on the Isle of Patmos,

and was published not long after his death, about the year A.D. 97.

Revelation (Churches in Asia (1:4a))

Churches in Asia (1:4a)“ASIA” WAS A common designation for the Roman province of western Asia Minor (modern western Turkey), where

Christianity was flourishing by the end of the first century.

A governor of Bithynia (in northern Turkey) early in the second century even complained to the emperor that the pagan temples were being forsaken because Christians were spreading so quickly.

Revelation (Churches in Asia (1:4a))

Churches had spread throughout the province of Asia and were not limited to the cities mentioned in Revelation

Acts 19:1–10 (ESV)

1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus.

There he found some disciples.

2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?”

They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

John writes to the most prominent and strategic seven cities in the region, from which word would quickly spread to outlying areas

The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter One: A Very Special Book (Revelation 1))

The Holy Spirit used the Apostle John to give us three kinds of inspired literature:

the Gospel of John, the three epistles, and the Book of Revelation.

His purposes may be outlined as follows:

Gospel of John,

Believe, 20:3, Life received, Salvation, The Prophet

Epistles,

Be ready, 22:20, Life revealed, Sanctification, The Priest

Revelation,

Be Sure, 1 John 5:13, Life rewarded, Sovereignty, The King