Did you know God promised you a blessing as you study this book in the Bible.
Look at Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.
• Notice, the book of Revelation begins with a blessing, chapter 1 verse 3, “Blessed is he that readeth…”
• It ends with a blessing, chapter 22 verse 7, “…blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.”
It is the only book in the Bible that begins and ends with a promise of blessing to the one who reads.
It is the first book that many new converts want to read while it is often neglected by older Christians.
Revelation is certainly different from other books of the New Testament.
Many preachers have concluded the book of revelation is a very mysterious book of the Bible and they do not even attempt to teach it.
The word "revelation" in the Greek is apokalupsis, which means "an uncovering" or "unveiling."
Part of the challenge in understanding the book of revelation is that it is written in a style not familiar to modern man. It is an example of what is called "apocalyptic literature" which was quite popular from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D.
There are other examples of apocalyptic literature in the Bible. In the Old Testament, for example, the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah each contain elements of this style of writing.
The book of Revelation is about the revealing of Jesus Christ. We’re going to learn things about Jesus Christ in this book that we wouldn’t know if it weren’t for this book.
God wanted to reveal Jesus Christ in His full glory. And so, he sent the message about this with an angel who delivered it to John and now John is delivering it to the seven churches and to us as well.
Verse 2 says John wrote it down, “He bore witness of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.”
• So, in verse 1, God sets out to reveal the revelation of Jesus Christ.
• In verse 2, John takes the responsibility to write down that revelation,
• In verse 3 it says, “Blessed is the one who reads this book
We need to look at the closing of verse 3 we read these words, “for the time is at hand.” That’s not related necessarily, to time itself, but more to the sequence of events. That is, these things that John will tells us in the Book of Revelation are the next things on God’s calendar of events.
Before we get into the teachings of chapter one we first need to take a few minutes and consider…
I. THE AUTHOR
The apostle John was the writer and the youngest disciple of the twelve disciples of Jesus who became an apostle of the church.
Apart from the Book of Revelation, John has written other Bible books such as: Gospel of John, I John, II John, Third John but the Book of Revelation is the last book he wrote around 96 AD.
At this time, John was the leader of the Church and the only remaining disciple of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ who were alive, others having been persecuted and killed by the Roman Empire, except Judas Iscariot who killed himself after betraying Jesus.
John was about 100 years old when Titus Domitian came to power and ordered the Apostle John to be banished on an island called Patmos to die there.
Patmos is a Greek island. At this time of the Apostle John, the island had no vegetation, very rocky, and people were banished there by the Roman Empire to die. The island was about 10 miles long and 6 miles wide.
But God preserved John in Patmos and in this isolation God appeared to Apostle John and gave him the Revelation of Jesus Christ (The Book of Revelation).
John survived in Patmos until Titus Domitian died and the next Roman Emperor who came to power allowed John to come out of Patmos. And he came out with the Book of Revelation.
We have a good idea of who John is but now let us look at the…
II. THE OUTLINE
(1) Chapter one deals with things which John was seeing.
Verses 1 and 2 speaks about “The things which are”.…(present tense)
(2) Chapter two and three
Deals with (the church age). Realize that when John was being presented with this Book in Patmos, he was living in the Church age which we are in today.
WHEN DID THE CHURCH AGE START?
The church began on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after the Passover when Jesus died and rose again.
(4) Chapter 4 and 5 reveals the rapture and the church as seeing in heaven.
The things which shall be hereafter (future) in chapter 4 when the rapture of the church takes place.
(5) Chapter 6 to 18 reveals the tribulation; God pouring His wrath to a disobedient world.
(6) Chapter 19 reveals the Second Coming of Christ
(7) Chapter 20 reveals the coming back of Jesus Christ (his third coming) and the Millennium Kingdom.
(8) Chapter twenty-one to twenty-two reveals the new heaven and the new earth.
Let’s get into chapter one…
John is addressing the seven churches of Asia. They are listed for us in chapters 2 and 3.
These were actual congregations. They were the initial recipients of this letter, and then it was passed on from them to all the other churches and down to us as well.
HOW DO WE KNOW IT WAS WRITTEN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA.
Look at Revelation 1:4 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 that are before his throne.
Before we go further; let me call your attention to the number seven.
In this verse there is the mention of seven churches and seven spirits.
WHAT IS THE SEVEN SPIRITS?
So that you don’t become confused, this is the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah tells us about the seven fold ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Look at Isaiah 11:2 And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.
Notice these are the seven Spirits of Christ in this verse:
(1) Spirit of Jehovah
(2) Spirit of Wisdom
(3) Spirit of understanding
(4) Spirit of counsel
(5) Spirit of Might
(6) Spirit of Knowledge
(7) Spirit of Fear of Jehovah
Remember, I told you that this book is about the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST!!!
God wants us to know what is going to take place in the book of revelation He is well equipped to carry out everything that is in this book.
These are seven unique ministries of the Holy Spirit which speaks of the fullness of His (Jesus) ministry here called the seven Spirits before the throne.
But let us look at some more things about the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.
Revelation 1:5, And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood.
We now are getting a grocery list of things telling us about the Lord Jesus greatness.
(1)He is the faithful witness
Jesus is the faithful witness that we can believe everything He says about what is going to take place in the book of Revelation.
(2)The first born of the dead
Jesus is the firstborn of the dead. Others have died and was raised to life again but they died again. But He is the first to die for our sins and came back to life again and never died again.
The Bible tells us He died ONCE FOR SIN!!!
Romans 6:10 For the death that he died, he died unto sin once: but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
(3)The ruler of the kings of the earth
Jesus is the King of all kings, He rules and reign over all kings.
(4)King of the earth.
Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings (Plural) of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;
(5) And then it tells us in verse 7, “Behold, He cometh” (future tense)
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
This is not the rapture. In the rapture we will be caught up to meet Him in the air and the lost world will not even know what has taken place.
In verse 7 this coming will take place in Revelation 19 when every eye shall see him. (the battle of Armageddon)
And that’s a kind of a glimpse of what the whole book is about, the coming of Jesus Christ.
(6)And then it says in verse 8 that He is “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the one who is, who was, who is to come, the Almighty.”
It all started with Him and it is going to end with Him!!!
So, we find that in verses 4 to 8 give us some introductory information about the book of Revelation of the Lord Jesus.
So, the book the book of Revelation is about the second coming of Jesus Christ. It’s about His return, and about the facts that are going to occur around that return.
Now, we’ve established then that the theme of this book is about the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST…
Now let us look at…
III. THE VISION
In verse 9, he gets into the first of his visions, and it is a series of visions that God gives to John.
Revelation 1:10-18 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
This first vision of John astounded John. In fact, when he saw the Lord the Bible tells us And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead.
But notice the first of this vision of the Lord start off with “I, John.” It’s almost as if he was in a state of shock. It’s almost as if he’s saying, “Can you believe this? I, John, saw this…little old Me!”
You almost get the idea that there’s a certain amount of astonishment in his own mind as to why God would ever allow him to see the Lord Jesus.
Revelation 1:9 I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
He was exiled to Patmos.
WHY WAS HE EXILED?
In order to shut him up they put him on the isle of Patmos. He tells us “And I was there, for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
That’s why I was there. I was put there because I preach Christ, and I preach God’s Word.
But notice he says, “I was in the Spirit”
Today it is not usual to hear people that does not have a good testimony talk about God appearing to them and showing them all kinds of things. And when we hear these people talk about having these experiences we who live close to the Lord do not have such blessings.
Listen, if you have not learned this yet, please learn this now, do not believe everything you hear.
John saw this vision of the Lord but he make a point that he was IN THE SPIRIT.
When we live close to God we might have such experiences but never will some ungodly person have such experiences. John said, I WAS IN THE SPIRIT WHEN I SAW THIS!!!
But notice what took place after John saw the Lord in His glory…
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
Revelation 1:11 saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
So, there’s John’s orders, “Write these things down and send them to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.”
These were actual cities…They had churches…local congregations.
Notice, in this vision John saw Jesus Christ moving among seven golden lampstands.
These seven golden lampstands represent the seven churches. Each lampstand represents a church.
So, what you have here is a representation of all the churches, and Christ is moving among the churches, ministering to the churches.
In chapter 2 and 3 He will have some good things to say to some of these churches and He will have some bad things to say to others.
Notice, in verse 16, “He holds in His right hand seven stars…”
WHO ARE THESE STARS?
The Bible tells us, down in verse 20, that the seven stars are the (angels) ministers of the seven churches, but it is the Lord moving through His church, ministering, trimming the lamps, doing His work of purification and judgment, applying wisdom and so forth. And he sees Christ in His glory, ministering to the church.
And that introduces us really to the outline of the book, which comes in verse 19, “Write the things which you have seen…”
The things which speak to the time in which John lives, the present tense kind of time, and that comes in chapters 2 and 3,
“…and then the things which shall be hereafter…” which begin in chapter 4.
In revelation chapter one we have looked at:
I. THE AUTHOR
II. THE OUTLINE
III. THE VISION
