Jesus Walks Among The Churches

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Revelation 1:1-20                                                                                            Lesson 2

Key verse 1:13                                                                                                    Kevin E. Jesmer                    4-18-10

“and among the lampstands was some like a son of man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.”

The words of this book were given by God to all believers to encourage them in times of suffering and persecution. Jesus sent his angel to his servant John to show him what must take place. John testified in this book to what he saw. In essence, Jesus spoke through John to the Christians suffering because of Roman persecution. In this passage we will learn a lot about Jesus. For example, Jesus is the beginning and the end. He was and is and he is to come. He is the faithful witness who died and rose and who will come again in clouds of glory.  He loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood so that we may serve God as a kingdom of priests. He holds the keys of life and death, of heaven and hell. And he holds his church in his hand. May God grant each of you insight into what all of this means as you study this passage. May God open your eyes to be able to see Jesus in all of his glory. I would encourage each of you to give your hearts because a blessing is promised to those who hear the words of this prophecy and take it to heart. Amen!

Part l: The Revelation Of Jesus Christ (1-8)

     First we will discover a very comforting and encouraging aspect of God. He never leaves his servants to suffer all alone. Let’s all read verse 1-2. “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show His servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who testifies to everything he saw–that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” According to Christian tradition, John was the only one of Jesus’ disciples who was not killed for the faith. As an old man, he was in exile on a small rocky island in the Aegean Sea, about 50 miles offshore from the city of Ephesus, called Patmos. He was there as a prisoner of the Roman government for preaching the gospel. (1:9) Though he was a prisoner, he did not live as a prisoner. He lived a spiritual life and still was able to minister to the faithful. God did not leave him there all alone to suffer in misery and despair. God revealed Himself to John in a spectacular vision. It must have been very encouraging to John to know that God did not abandon him. As we study the book of Revelation, may the Holy Spirit reveal many things to your hearts.

What John saw, in most cases, was indescribable, so he was given illustrations and symbols to aid in his comprehension. We don’t have to understand every detail of his vision either but we do need to know the main point…that is “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (2) Jesus is the main point and the focus of our study, of this chapter and of the entire study of the book of Revelation. May you see how glorious and beautiful Jesus is. There is a special blessing for those who seek to understand the words of God in this book. Look at verse 3. “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” Nowadays it is so hard for us to take anything to heart. We can hardly focus on one thing. We tend to want to watch a movie or play a video game. Why? Because it is easy. We don’t have to think too deeply. We may get momentarily entertained, but if we keep on doing this we may end up not being able to read a book or take anything to heart. But the Bible requires our full attention. We need to hear it and take it to heart. This can be done when we accept the Bible as the Word of God. Pray, read, and mediate. Ask for the help of the Holy Spirit and put the words of God into practice. God will grant you deeper understanding.

     We have no time to fool around with the word of God. Jesus says that the time is near. (1:1) John urges us to trust God and to accept God’s message. He wants us to be ready at all times for the day when Jesus comes again. We do not know when this event will take place, but we should be ready for it. And so, let’s wake up from a spiritual slumber and newly decide to take the words of God to heart.

John is concerned about the Christians in the leading Christian centers of the day. Look at verse 4-5. “John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” John is writing to the seven churches in Asia Minor. They were suffering greatly because of Roman persecution. God saw their suffering and served their need through giving them the word of God through these letters. The letters were to be dispatched and read by the seven churches and in this way be passed on to all God’s people. It was a very effective plan, because they are being passed down and read to us, even today.

John really understood the one whom he wrote about…Jesus Christ. Look at verse 5b-6, “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father–to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen” John deeply knew the grace of God personally. When Jesus called him he was a hard working fisherman. He and his brother James worked with their father and hired men in a fishing business. Their father was thundering man, for James and John were called the sons of Zebedee which means, “Sons of Thunder.” John lacked some love and understanding of others. We can see that when he wanted to stop someone from preaching the Gospel but was not one of the Twelve. (Mark 9:38) He was competitive even using his mother to get a top position among Jesus’ disciples. (Matthew 20:21) But later he was a changed man. He was freed from his meaningless life as a small time fisherman and from selfishness by the blood of Jesus. He became known as the Apostle of Love. He served Jesus as a priest of God being raised up as a bishop of the church in Ephesus. He also saw how God worked powerfully in the sixty years that he served Jesus, spreading the Gospel across the entire Roman world. He even saw how God saved him from executions. Tradition has it that he was even dipped in boiling oil and was not harmed. He tasted the love of Jesus. He frequently referred tom himself as the one whom Jesus loved. (John 21:7) He lived to a good old age enjoying his grand kids and even his great grand kids. He knew Jesus and his grace. He knew that it was God’s will that all of the churches may be strong in the grace of Jesus and live as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, as he had done. This was his conviction.

John sees the future…when Jesus will come in clouds of glory. Let’s read verse 7. “Look, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen” Paul talks about the coming of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever”. What a wonderful day it will be when Jesus returns to earth! It will be a day of complete victory for all who have placed their hope and trust in Jesus. Jesus’ Second Coming will be visible to everyone, both to believers and unbelievers, both to those who are alive when it happens and to those who have already died. “Those who pierced Him”, the Roman soldiers, those who yelled, “Crucify him!” and those who rejected the gospel and ignored Jesus will mourn for the evil they have done. There will be no question that it is Jesus. They will even call on the mountains and the rocks to cover them because they do not want to see the face of Jesus (Revelation 6:16). When he comes, he will conquer evil and sin and judge all people according to their deeds. But I foresee a brighter future for all of you. Instead of mourning we will be rejoicing. But, to be certain, we all must prepare for this day when Jesus comes again.

Jesus is the eternal God, the beginning and the end. Let’s read verse 8 together. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” “The Alpha and the Omega” are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet. Jesus is the beginning and the end. Jesus was with the Father before creation. (Jn 1:1) Through Jesus all things were made. (Jn 1:3) Jesus once told the religious leaders, “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (Jn 8:58) Jesus was with us at the beginning. He is with us now. He will be with us all the way into eternity. Jesus is the eternal God. Let’s prepare our hearts to spend eternity with our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega.

Part ll: One Like The Son Of Man (9-20)

After John introduces this letter to us, he reveals the setting and the circumstances in which he received this revelation. Look at verse 9. “I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” We tend to think that the best time to receive the word of God is sipping a latte at Starbucks, overlooking a fantastic, sunlit vista, fully rested and on vacation. But the best place for John was in exile on the island of Patmos. God uses the most unlikely places to give us His word, doesn’t he? The island of Patmos had 25 square miles of volcanic hills and stone ridges. It was eight miles long by six miles wide.  The whole island was like a Roman concentration camp, a quarry, where old men were forced to work their fingers to the bone. John describes himself as a “brother and companion the suffering.” (9) History says that around this time, Roman emperor Domitian instituted emperor worship. He claimed himself to be a divine son of God and the Lord of the universe. He built many temples and demanded people to burn incense, confessing that he was the Lord of their lives. When he entered the theater, people rose and shouted that he was the Lord. Men shouted this only because they were afraid of loosing their lives. How can a mere man be the Lord and divine!  Only Jesus is our Lord.  Christians could not confess that the emperor was Lord. They were arrested on the spot and imprisoned. Their property was confiscated and they were thrown into lions in the Coliseum. John was exiled to Patmos because he refused to stop preaching the word of God. The church of God was going through intense persecution by the Roman government in the time that he wrote revelations. We must never despise your place of suffering in life. It may be the best place for you to receive intimate revelations of divine truth from God.

Jesus met John on the Lord’s Day and commanded him to write the words of this revelation. Let’s read verses 10-11 together, “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea” It was on the Lord’s Day. Even in this Roman quarry they allowed John to worship God in a private cave. That’s a lot better than some businesses nowadays. The voice of Jesus was loud and commanding, just like a trumpet. John’s was in the Holy Spirit. He was worshipping God. He let nothing distract him as he was focusing completely on Jesus. When he had such a clear focus and a sincere attitude in worship, the Lord appeared to him in a voice like a trumpet, awakening his soul.

Next, the seven golden lampstands. Let’s read verses 12-14 together. “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet and with a golden sash around His chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like blazing fire.” These lampstands represent each of “the seven churches which are in Asia. Indeed, each of them was like a beacon of light in the dark, superstitious, brutal Roman world. Their light were lifted high to shed the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all to see. They were living a sincere life in Christ, making a difference. May our church be like a light on a stand. That is one reason that they were being persecuted. (2 Tim 3:12) The seven churches also represent the universal church including us. The churches may have felt that God had abandoned them. They may have wondered how Jesus could allow such persecution if they were worshipping him and standing on his side. But they needed to know that there was a purpose for all of their suffering. God knows what he is doing. The fact is that much more work of God can be brought about through suffering than through comfort. They needed to know that God had not abandoned them, but he was always with them, dwelling among them and bringing about his work of salvation.

John then goes on to describe this vision of Jesus to us. Look at verses 12-16, “¹²I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,”^[b]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. What kind of meaning do you find from this description of Jesus? Let’s take a closer look at each description. Who wears a robe reaching down to his feet with a sash around his chest? This describes the robes that were worn by the Old Testament priests. (Exodus 28:4). Jesus is a priest who prays for us when we go through sufferings. (Heb 7-10) How about his head and hair? White like wool, and white as snow.  Daniel had a similar vision, and said, “As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white as snow; the hair of His head was white like wool” This shows his holiness and infinite wisdom. His eyes like a blazing fire…no one can hide their sins before Jesus’ penetrating eyes. Everything will be laid bare before His eyes in which we must give an account of what we have done in this body (Heb 4:13; Romans 3:19). His feet like bronze glowing in a furnace. He is solid as a rock and could crush all of his enemies under his feet, including sin and death and the devil. His voice is like the sound of rushing waters. Nothing can resist a torrent of rushing water. Nobody or nothing can resist the voice of God, not even the Roman Empire. Out of his mouth came a double-edged sword. A double-edged sword is very efficient, cutting both ways. The sword is the word of God. (Eph 6:17) The sword reveals to us His power and His force in His message. His word will be the standard when he comes to judge the nations. Lastly, Jesus’ face is like the sun shining in all its brilliance. Indeed Jesus is the glorious God. Many times more glorious than Rome and its deluded Emperor and much more glorious than anything this world has to offer. Can you see this Jesus with eyes of your heart, standing with you as you live by faith?

How did John respond to what he saw in this vision? Look at verse 17a, “When I saw him, I fell at His feet as though dead”. No one can stand upright before this Holy God. We are unholy. Our sinfulness will condemn us. John knew this and automatically fell at Jesus’ feet as though dead. Look at verse 17b. “Then he placed His right hand on him” and he could stand in Jesus’ presence. When we hold our life in our own hands, we will certainly be condemned. But when we place our lives in Christ’s hands, he forgives us and restores us and places His hand on us so that may live in His presence.

Look at verse 17b-18, ““Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” What is Jesus trying to say to us? First and foremost he wants us to know that he is the eternal God who died for our sins, yet he is alive, defeating the power of sin and death. He is the living one. Buddha taught beautiful things, but he died. Mohamed conquered many territories, but died and never to rise. Jesus is the only living one who lives forever and ever. He holds the keys of death and Hades. Believers don’t have to fear hell or death, because Christ holds the keys to both. All we must do is turn from our sin and turn to Him in faith. Jesus will sit on the white throne to judge the world. His name is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the sovereign ruler of the whole universe. We must worship him and honor him and proclaim him to the nations.

Jesus again asks John to write the book of revelations. Look at verses 19-20. “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” Jesus appeared to comfort and strengthen those who were going through severe persecution. Jesus did not come to take them out of the world. Jesus came to strengthen them to overcome this troubled world with him. This is the same Jesus who told his disciples, “in this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world” (John16:33)

In the USA, Christians are not going through the same trials as these early Christians did. But we have suffering nonetheless. Sincere Christians are considered intolerant and elitist. They are ignored and rejected. The message of the Gospel is being illuminated from the public spectrum. The latest battlefield is the push to stop the National Day Of Prayer. If Satan had his way Christians and the church would die a slow painless death, like someone dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. We suffer a lot as we see the graying of the pews, few or no converts for years, churches on the verge of foreclosure. But we must know that Jesus is with us walking among he churches. He knows what we are suffering. He is working out his plan and he wants us to be faithful and fight the good fight of faith to the end with him at our side.

Are you going through troubles? Jesus is with you, holding you in his hand. Do you need to overcome fiery trials of life? Overcomers are the victors. Do you want to be overcomers with Jesus? Jesus will help you. Jesus knows that all true believers will undergo fiery troubles as the end nears. He wants us to know that he is determined to go through the troubles with us until we receive the crown of life. May God awaken our hearts and help us to see His glorious presence in our midst. Be faithful to his word and overcome the world.

Part l: The Revelation Of Jesus Christ (1-8)

1. 1.     Read vs. 1-3.  How was the Revelation of Jesus Christ made known to us? (1)   What does God want to show us through this revelation? What is the central theme of it? (2,19:10)  How can we be blessed by this revelation? (3)

1. 2.     Read vs. 4-8.  In the doxology, how is Jesus described? (5)  How actively is Jesus involved in the events as the ruler of kings of the earth?  How has Jesus made us to be the kingdom and priests to serve God? (6)  How will he come and reign in the kingdom of God? (7,8,19:16)

Part ll: One Like The Son Of Man (9-20)

1. 3.     Read vs. 9-11.  Where was John when he received the revelation? (9)  Why? What did Jesus tell him to do? (11)  Why do you think Jesus sent this revelation to the churches?

1. 4.     Read vs. 12-16.  John saw Jesus standing among the seven gold lampstands. What does it signify? (12,13,6,Da7:13).  Describe the characteristics of the Lord shown here. (13-16)  How do they show about Jesus as the ruler of the kings of the earth?

1. 5.     Read vs. 17-20.  How did John feel when he saw Jesus in glory? (17)  How did Jesus renew his strength?  How did Jesus say about his kingship? (17,18)  What does it signify that the seven stars are in his right hand? (20)