A 7-year-old girl was helping her mother prepare for dinner, when the mother asked her to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomatoes. The girl said she was afraid to go in there because it was dark.
The mother told her it was okay, as nothing was going to hurt her because Jesus was in there to protect her.
She went to the pantry, opened the door, and said, “Jesus, if you are in there, hand me a can of tomatoes, okay?”
In some respect, we are like that girl, we can be fearfully intimidated by a circumstance in our life. But we shouldn’t be because Jesus is our deliverer.
Let’s set the background of chapter 1. The apostle John is a ninety-year-old man banished to a rocky volcanic island by the government authorities. We know why He was exiled there; according to the end of verse 9, “for his faith in the Word of God and testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Yet, John is re-assured that Jesus is with him! Notice verse 17 “He laid His right hand on me saying, ‘Do Not be afraid.’”
Could you envision a time in your life when you were in a difficult situation? Disappointed, or in despair and probably not thinking that Jesus is faithful to bring you through it.
Every one of our circumstances is an opportunity to know and trust God better and encourage other believers to do the same. Knowing this the apostle John……….
- Assured Others. 1:9-11
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. Revelation 1:9
Notice the key words that John’s used to relate to all the believers in verse 9. “Brother, companion in tribulation, and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.”
First, he relates to other believers by using the word “brother.” This word is something special, it’s about being in God’s family. It’s a connection that can’t be broken. When we call each other “family” we should really mean it. When it’s used the person should really feel a deep family connection with you.
How important is having another person care about you like family? This kind of love can be the difference between making it through a trial or succumbing to it. Being a Christian means that each of us have a special connection with other Christians.
Jesus reminded His disciples to love one another in John 15:17 “These things I command you, that you love one another.
The second word; John relates to their suffering by using the word “tribulation.” The Greek word thlipsis {thlip’-sis} means to be under pressure, oppression, affliction, or distress. The people in John’s day were under stress politically, socially and financially and so was John. The apostle John understood the pressure they were under and knew how to sympathize with them. Likewise, we receive special comfort from Jesus, knowing that He was tempted as we are:
Hebrews 4:15
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The third word is very peculiar “kingdom.”
This word “kingdom” is the reason for the descriptive words that are used in verse 9. “And kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.”
Remember what Jesus said to the authorities’ intent on killing Him;
John 18:35-36 “Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
This helps us understand that this not our kingdom, we need to endure what this world is until He comes.
The final word is “patience” some translations use the word “endurance” in Jesus Christ. As believers we must endure in this present world until Jesus Christ’ kingdom takes precedence. We will face difficulties and afflictions in our everyday life, but it’s all only temporary.
This present world should not be what our hope is in.A believer is not of this world. We are to endure and wait for Jesus’ kingdom. Later the book of Revelation will describe what will happen to this world. The short and sweet: “It’s all temporary, but the rest is eternity!”
How does a Christian endure? Notice the priorities of a faithful follower of Jesus Christ like John.
John is a 90-year-old man that learned that the irreducible focus of life is to honor God. While John is under persecution he has a Godly attitude.
There are two priorities in life, both honor God.
The first priority is being controlled and yielded to the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 10. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” The New Testament describes the filling of the Spirit in the book of Ephesians .
Ephesians 5:15-18 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”
The second priority is to be dedicated to the Lord’s Day. Although John was isolated on the island he knew what the Lord’s Day meant to himself and others. The phrase “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” conveys a message about what Sunday means to a believer!
This last Wednesday evening a question was asked during the study of Psalms. “What resources do we have to help us grow in righteousness?” There is an answer in this passage, we have the Spirit , His Word and other believers.
Most Bible scholars accept that “the Lord’s Day” refers to Sunday. What does Sunday have to do with our attitude towards tribulations? Well, this small phrase in Revelation 1:10 is a testimony of how Christians recognized the Lord’s Day. It was a priority for corporate worship because, the first Day of the week commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ’s and His victory over sin. Sunday is a day that reminds us of our hope and the eternal Kingdom that Jesus promised.
Hebrews 10:23-25 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Gathering to worship with others on Sunday helps us keep our focus in this world and encourages us to be patient until He comes again. We have the Lord’s Day as a reminder to reassure to each other. On the Lord’s Day we celebrate with each other the promised hope of the resurrection of Jesus.
In the rest of verse 10 “and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,…” The word John used to describe God’s voice is a trumpet!
The trumpet or “shofar” had great significance in Hebrew culture and this era. In Hebrew culture the sound of the trumpet brought assurance.
There are four ways Hebrews used a trumpet or “shofar” announcement.
- A shofar was used to signal the charge for warfare or was battle cry of a determined army (Judges 3:27 Ezekiel 7:14),
- A shofar was used to herald the Kings arrival to the public (2 Samuel 15:10. 1 Kings 1:34-35),
- The shofar was used to initiate an event or public worship processions (2 Samuel 6:15, Nehemiah 12:35-36),
- The shofar was used to announce Rosh Ha·sha·nah (New Year) and Yom Kippur the annual sacrificial offering for the nation. (2 Chronicles 29:27-28).
All four examples of the trumpet call apply to the voice that John heard and was commanded to write for others in verse 11 “…I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” By these words every believer is reassured that Jesus is: He is Sovereign. He is our defense, fortress, our King.
By His word “trumpet” reassures believers of the fact that Jesus is coming soon, He will arrive as Sovereign. He will demand righteousness. And at the trumpet, a new era will begin.
The assurance to trust God can come from another, but God’s assurance is awesome…
- Assured by God’s Presence. 1:12-16
“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 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. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 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.”
John was told to write about this powerful scene for our benefit.
All these images in verses 12-16 mean that Jesus Christ is with us!
- He is standing in our midst, (Omnipresent)
- A powerful figure; a Son of Man: (Omnipotent)
- A long robe and golden sash, (Just)
- White hair, (Omniscience)
- Eyes blazing (Almighty, preeminent)
- feet of bronze (Immutable or unchanging )
- A powerful voice with a sword piercing penetration. (Eternal),
- His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. (Sovereign, the exalted One).
For John and all believers these descriptions assures that Jesus Christ is with us. He will carry us through all of our circumstances that are beyond our control. Remember the words of Jesus to the disciples in Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
For John and the believer, Jesus revealed His presence, in ways we can understand and be encouraged.
There are two very interesting images in this passage. The two images I am referring to are of the seven lamp stands and the seven stars in His right hand. Recall that the number seven is the number of completeness or totality. Each object has the adjective “seven” meaning totality. The “Stars” represent (messengers) referring to believers.
The “seven lampstands” represent God’s light of salvation, which is the eternal activity of the church, showing forth God’s salvation.
That is the meaning of the Hebrew menorah (seven candles). The Menorah represents God’s presence and His light of salvation and interestingly in Hebrew culture stars represent messengers of the light or people of God.
Both of these visuals are based on God’s Word and activity with His people as their guide and deliverer. They go back to Moses day:
Exodus 13:21–22 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.”
Genesis 15:5 “Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”
These images are assurance for John and all believers. Note where the stars are! In the palm of His right hand.
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Revelation chapter 1 reminds believers that even in the bleakest moments God is present.
While we might not experience God’s assurance the way John experienced it. We can know the reality of Him in our circumstances because we are…
- Assured by His Faithfulness. 1:17-20
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. 18 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. 19 Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.”
John’s vision was awesome.
I like verse 17, Jesus is “the First and the Last.” Jesus Christ is with us! We might not know how God is working or what He is doing, but we must have the confidence that He is.
In addition to that statement notice the Words of verse 18 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.” Jesus assures every believer that He also has the authority over all that happens to our flesh and soul. Nothing is out of His control.
Can you envision a 90-year-old man who needed encouragement in his situation, is now finding out that through his difficulty, he is going to be used to encourage and admonish other believers in the world?
There are three phrases in verse 19 that are a guide to the book of Revelation. John is told to write…
- What he has seen – Revelation 1;
- The things that are – Revelation 2-3;
- And the things that will be – Revelation 4-22.
Finally in verse 20, this vison that John sees is interpreted for the reader.
“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.”
The image of Christ holding the stars in His hands portray Christ holding the churches. He supports them and keeps them secure in the midst of the chaos of life. One can hear the power of this symbolism in the African American spiritual “He’s got the whole world in His hands.”
Just as Jesus promised in Mathew 16:18 “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Next week we will learn how Jesus evaluates and admonishes His Church.
For today- go from this place enjoying the blessed assurance you have been given by Christ. If you don’t know Christ, would you believe that He is Lord and the Savior of the world.
John 20:28-29 “And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”