I. Banished to God’s Glory!
A. Text: Revelation 1:1-20
B. John, known as the “Revelator,” was banished/exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the Gospel and his testimony of Jesus Christ.
C. John the apostle, the writer of the Fourth Gospel, son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of James the elder. He is that disciple who (without mention of his own name) is spoken of in the Fourth Gospel as especially dear to Jesus and according to the traditional opinion is the author of the book of Revelation.
D. Verse 10 John wrote, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day…”
a. He had created an atmosphere for God to move.
b. When we create an atmosphere for God to move, we will see miraculous things take place! We will see Him in His glory!!!
II. John – The Revelator, the Lover and the Worshipper
A. John, the apostle, writes in his Gospel about John the Baptist who was the forerunner of the Messiah who was to come.
B. However, he also wrote of himself, somewhat.
C. He was grateful for the Lord’s companionship, but his desperate hunger to be closer to Jesus caused him to, literally, lay his head on the Lord’s chest as often as possible.
D. In his own hand, he wrote, in chapter 13:23, after Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him: “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.” He was referring to himself.
E. When John wrote of his account of the cross, in chapter 19, you will find him, once again, referring to himself. Listen to John 19:25-27
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”
F. And, again, in chapter 20, verse 2 as well as chapter 21 verses 7 and 20, he refers to himself as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ If Jesus loves you that much that you are constantly be referred to as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved,’ then He must see something special within you!
G. This was a man who had a special place in the heart of Jesus! So much so, that He gave him charge over His own mother! That is someone special!
H. John was a man of integrity, a man of humility (he never mentions his own name). He was a man of worship! True worship! He loved the heart of Jesus!
I. We can safely even assume that John wasn’t one who cared if the other disciples talked about him, belittled him, or expressed their jealousy over his endless search for more of God. All he knew was that if the Master was within touching distance, that he would go straight for the heart!!!!
J. John’s Gospel is considered by many to be the deepest and most spiritual book in the entire Bible. Do you think that has something to do with his love for his Lord?
K. John’s writings are the one that list the “I AMs" of Christ. He quotes Jesus 14 times. John knew the heart of Jesus. He writes:
1. I am the Messiah (4:26)
2. I am the Bread of Life (6:35)
3. I am from above (8:23)
4. I am the Eternal One (8:58)
5. I am the Light of the World (9:5)
6. I am the Door (10:7)
7. I am the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14)
8. I am the Resurrection and the Life (11:25)
9. I am the Lord and Master (John 13:13)
10. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (14:6)
11. I am the True Vine (15:1)
12. I am the Alpha and Omega (1:8)
13. I am the First and the Last (1:17)
L. It would seem that John truly knew Jesus beyond just a head-knowledge!
M. John records 8 miracles of Christ in his gospel (beside the Lord’s own resurrection). Six of those 8 only appear in John’s gospel.
1. The water into wine (2:1-11)
2. The healing of the nobleman’s son (4:46-54)
3. The healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda (5:1-9)
4. The raising of Lazarus (chapter 11)
5. The Second draught of fishes (21:1-6)
6. The man born blind (9:1-7)
N. There certainly was something different about John that separated him apart from the other disciples! He was unique. He was a man who hungered for more of the Lord!
O. What does this have to do with Revelation chapter 1?
P. Understanding who John was will help us to understand how he was chosen to write this great, last book of the Bible. What was it? What did John have that the others didn’t that caused Jesus Himself to appear unto Him in all of heavenly glory!?? What did John do to deserve the window of heaven being opened up over his life?
III. Patmos & God’s Power
A. Notice, in our text, John is now exiled to the isle of Patmos.
1. The Greek word “Patmos” is translated to mean “my killing.”
2. This was a rugged and bare island. It was deserted.
(a) I’m convinced that, many times, the only way God can get through to us…. the only way we can receive a true, first-hand revelation from God is to be somewhere secluded, alone; with no one to bother or distract us from His glory!
(b) I want to show you today, what it takes to become a person that is destined to be exiled to the glory of God’s presence!
B. John was considered to have an interesting personality.
1. He was full of energy. Mark lists him and his brother, James, as the “Sons of Thunder.” This speaks of their fiery zeal! Sometimes negative zeal – possibly even anger.
2. He seemed to be somewhat intolerant at times. He didn’t put up with what didn’t seem right. Because of John’s love for Jesus, Mark wrote (in 9:38) that John spoke to Jesus saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.” To which Jesus told them to never forbid someone who is doing miracles in His name. If he’s not against us, then he’s for us, Jesus said.
3. Luke tells the story of how a Samaritan Village rejected Jesus because He was headed for Jerusalem. When ‘the sons of thunder’, James and John, heard this, they said, “Lord do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven upon them?” Luke’s rendition here shows us that John was also quite vindictive.
4. Lastly, we go back to Mark and read that, it seems, John was a little to ‘over-ambitious.’ In Mark 10 we read that James and John both come to Jesus with a certain request. They each wanted Jesus to grant them the opportunity of one sitting on His left and one on His right in the heavenlies. Rather impetuous wouldn’t you say?
C. Okay, so let me get this straight. This man John, who had the glorious task of writing the last book of the Bible; the most important revelation ever given to mankind….this man who got to walk with Jesus, see Him perform miracles and change lives…who was granted the privilege and honor of receiving the Savior’s mother to himself…who got to experience the transfiguration, the crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ….not to mention was privileged enough to experience Him in all of His splendor and glory on the Island of Patmos….this man was a man was:
1) Overzealous
2) Intolerant
3) Vindictive and
4) Impetuous!
D. WHY would God choose someone like this to experience his glorious presence in such a powerful way? There is one answer: his heart of love, compassion and worship toward Jesus!
E. If you want to capture the heart of Jesus, just honor Him with your worship and praise. Be like John- go for the heart! Go straight to the heart of God! Fall into the bosom of God’s grace and glory! Go for the gusto!!! (If you want to be captured by God’s presence, then you must first capture God’s heart!)
F. In his other writings, the 3 Epistles, (the 3 small Johns), over 25 times or more John refers to the importance of Christian love.
G. In his First Epistle (I John), we find seven instances of his certainty of his relationship with God. He says, “We know…”
1) That a righteous life indicates regeneration (2:29; 5:18).
2) That we shall be like Christ at His coming (3:2).
3) That Christ came to take away our sins (3:5).
4) That brotherly love indicates that we have passed from life to death (3:14).
5) That He abides in us by the witness of the Holy Spirit (3:24).
6) That we have eternal life (5:13).
7) That our prayers are answered (5:15).
H. His knowledge of God’s grace and mercy and the reality of Christ’s sacrifice show John to be a man, not only whom Jesus loved, but who also loved Jesus with all his heart, soul and mind!
I. While in his second Epistle, his acknowledges that loving one another with Godly love isn’t a new revelation, it is certainly important enough to echo, time and again. Love, love, love. This was the heart of John. The heart of love. Let’s not forget one very important thing, if you want to get to the heart of God, you must love. In fact, to love is to reach His heart, for God is love! (Just as John reminds us in I John 4:8).
J. The central theme in John’s life? Love. And, when the central theme in your life, in your home, in your church is love, God is going to show up!
K. Again, how did a man with a not-so-nice attitude get to experience such a powerful glory of God? Let’s not forget what he wrote in his Gospel. In John 3:30 he wrote, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
L. While he had some bad personality ‘quirks’ that he had to contend with, John realized one important thing: In order to see the glory of God, something within myself has to die!!!
M. Remember what the meaning of the word “Patmos” is? Patmos means ‘my killing.’ Maybe this meant that John had to first crucify the flesh, and like Paul, die daily, in order to experience such power and glory. Incidentally, the book of Revelation is the last place that we find someone being ‘slain in the Spirit’ under the power of God! Remember our text? Revelation 1:17: “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.”
N. John was able to write the last few chapters of the Bible, in striking contrast to the first few of the Bible.
1. Genesis speaks of the creation of the sun. Revelation tells of a place that needs no sun.
2. Genesis speaks of the entrance of sin into this world. Revelation tells of the banishment of all sin.
3. Genesis speaks of the sin-curse that is pronounced upon mankind. Revelation tells of the broken curse.
4. Genesis speaks of Satan’s first triumphant victory over mankind. Revelation speaks of Satan’s demise!
5. Finally, Genesis speaks of the exclusion from the ‘tree of life.’ Revelation speaks of the admission to the ‘tree of life.’
O. What a privilege it was for John to be asked to write such an important revelation!
P. Finally, isn’t it interesting that, of the seven churches John is asked to write to, the first one he is to write to is the church of Ephesus – known as the ‘loveless church.’ This was probably the church that represented the church of John’s day. The last church he was to write to was to the church of Laodecia. The church that represents the church of today – ‘the lukewarm, lazy, blind and poor church.’
Q. Then, John gets to write of the final destruction of Satan, and the victorious and glorious triumphant church. He then ends the entire Bible with his vision of the holy city, a type of the church, the Lamb’s bride. In Genesis chapter 3, man is kicked out of Paradise, the Garden. In Revelation chapter 22, God recreates Paradise.
