A Study of The Book of Revelation, Part #7

On Quiet Waters

The Patmos Vision

Revelation 1:9-12

Many times I am tempted to question those of us who use cavalier expressions concerning the works of God.  God is often spoken of in a manner that is offensive to some of us who are suffering and is enduring their suffering as a good soldier and whos focus is shifted outward.  There are those who will not agree with me, but I tell you there are worshippers of God are often quietly offended while suffering through hardships, death, and diseases,  knowing their life will never be the same, and hearing these cute expressions of what God is doing all all over the world.  There are two biblical patriarchs that come to mind when I think of suffering, Job and John.  If we speak of our sickness we are often reminded that God is a healer.  If we speak of our lost loved ones  we are reminded that God does not make mistakes.  When our indoctrinated hopes and expectation does not hold up to the realities of Gods involvement in our lives we are reminded that God is a deliverer.   Through this study we shall see that Jesus is behind the scenes observing and he has already prepared our "time" of deliverance and no amount of prayers is going to change that.

Through a vision recorded by and old man trapped on the lonely isle of Patmos, Jesus sent a message of hope to his embattle church.  It was not the type of messages we hear today that brings on a false state of euphoria.  There was no promise of instant deliverance, but a simple message that stressed, I know you are suffering, I know times are tough but if you repent, do your first work over and endure until the end I will give you a crown of life.   This was Jesus message of hope.

Revelation 1:9-12  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;…

In verse 9 of this dissertation we learn that John was not a superhuman. He was a man just like you and me. John was our brother in the Lord. He was also our brother in persecution and in patience. With the changing focus and the mentality of Christianity today, many would conclude that John did something wrong, because of his close relationship with the Lord he should have been enjoying the blessing of God.  The church of today no doubt would react with righteous indignation at the salutation of John’s testimony.  “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation.”  This does not sound like the happy-go-lucky attitude of Christianity today.  In today’s religious community we are taught to of speak of God favors.  Jesus message to the church might have taken on a more believable status if John had said, " I prostrated myself before the Lord and begged of him to deliver me from my persecution."

Earl Gillespie
Religious  Author

 John lived during that time of great persecution under Nero, and received the Revelation during his exile to Patmos for his testimony and for the Word of God.  With the exception of him, all of the disciples had been martyred; but in God’s providence John was exiled to the lonely island of Patmos because God had one more job for him to do, and after that job was done it would time for him to go home. 

If you serve the Lord Jesus, how do you hope to live on easy street if these men suffered for righteousness’ sake? The line of least resistance is the route of the devil. Suffer with Christ and you will certainly reign with Him; but if you deny Him, He will certainly deny you.  God’s servant  John was indestructible, he could not be destroyed by the devil and all the forces of Hell until God had finished with him here on earth, even though it seems that John was going through Hell here on earth.  John was such a servant. He was faithful and true to the Lord God Almighty.

If we allow the book of Revelation to become a dated book, a book that is irreverent in todays society, we have laid the foundation for denying the second coming of Christ. We can then state that Christ has already returned and we are to rule with in favor today.  The trimming and shaping of the scripture is nothing new, the devil tried it when he perverted a third of God's "Stars," and in the garden of Eden.  John the beloved disciple was not schooled in the ability to trim and shape the Word of God to fit the times in which he lived. Many of the pious prelates and liberal ministers of today are trained how to preach a gospel that will suit the times and the people to whom they preach. But John preached the Word without apology, and because of his true Gospel he was banished for his testimony and the Word of God which he preached. This modern “Santa Claus” religion that is sweeping the country today is not the religion Jesus taught and John practiced. Jesus did not say, “Follow me and I will put a big automobile in your garage, money in your bank, and give you a host of friends and a flowery bed of ease!” Jesus said, “Follow me - and I will give you a Cross to carry.

That does not sound like the modern, easy-going, happy-go-lucky, chocolate-covered, the streamlined religion of today. Certainly it does not. Every saint will suffer for his testimony if he or she is godly and lives a godly life. But “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).   John served God with all of his heart and soul, with all of his strength. He was perfectly contented to suffer whatsoever he was called upon to suffer for the sake of the Word of God. He did not mention the trial, the condemnation, not one word of reproach or complaint fell from the lips of John. His arrest, trial, and the proceedings before his cruel exile, are passed over in complete silence, not even worthy to be mentioned by him. He simply says, “I was in the Isle called Patmos.”

Verse 10: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” The term “the Lord’s Day” is found only once in the Scriptures. Most Bible teachers agree that the first day of the week is meant by the statement here in verse 10. The reason is found when we faithfully compare Scripture with Scripture. There is a difference between “the Lord’s day” and “the day of the Lord.” The day of the Lord refers to a prophetic day. Read carefully I Corinthians 5:5, II Corinthians 1:14, I Thessalonians 5:2. It seems evident that “the Lord’s day” here refers to the first day of the week because of the character of the first vision.

The first day of the week known as the Lord ’s Day is very significant in Scripture. - Our Lord Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week (John 20). - The New Testament church was born on the first day of the week (Leviticus 23:16 and Acts 2). - The saints in the New Testament church brought their gifts to God and presented them on the first day of the week (I Corinthians 16:1, 2).  There are many arguments about the Sabbath, in the attempt to make the church a Jewish institution under the law, Paul argued against this.  

“I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” These words are very significant  because  they make known to us the position of John: His back was toward the church, his face was toward the Kingdom. John heard the voice behind him. The voice was in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (or lampstands) - the churches. Therefore, we know John’s back was to the Churches and his face were toward the kingdom of God, even at that early date, it seems as he was looking forward to going home.  In my lectures I often refer to this as, "staring down range." 

Ecclesiastical ruins and decay foretold by the Apostle Paul (Acts 20:28-32; Romans 11; I Timothy 3) had already set in. During the days of Paul, certain heresies (An opinion or a doctrine at variance with established religious beliefs), had already crept into the church, Paul denounced these heresies  in his Corinthian and Colossian letters. Heresies were much more fully developed in John’s day, and in the second century of Christianity they had their own distinctive schools and in all boldness openly fought the person of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, denouncing His deity, His grace, and His blood. In John’s day not only were the heresies very prominent, but added to these church dangers was the terrific persecuting power of the ungodly emperors and their henchmen. Certainly we do not wonder that the eyes of the aged apostle and honored prisoner of the Gospel were directed outward and downrange to the glory and the strength of the coming kingdom

The Church was not put in the world to convert the world. The Church was put here for a testimony.  One day there will be peace on earth and good will toward men, but the Church will not bring about this peace nor the good will. King Jesus will bring peace to earth when He sits on the throne of David in Jerusalem and the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters now cover the sea.   

The “great voice as of a trumpet” would suggest that a matter of public importance was about to be communicated to John the Beloved, in which the whole Church then and today should be definitely interested. The vision which John was about to witness behind him is introduced to the entire series of visions revealed one by one in the remaining chapters of Revelation. This vision which John is about to see is the first of the many visions given to him.  The message that John is about to receive is,  Jesus message to the Churches.  It is not a message of Moses floating down the river in a boat. 

Verse 11: “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest,write in a book,  and send It unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia and unto Laodicea.” The trumpet-voice of the Lord Jesus signified that something of great importance was about to be announced. The trumpet voice instructed John to write in a book what he was about to hear and see. The book was to be sent to the seven churches in Asia. The seven churches were named by the voice. As I have already  pointed out, there were other churches in Asia Minor. But the Spirit of God had a moral end in view when He chose these seven churches to whom the message was directed. Seven times the Spirit admonishes, “Let him that hath an ear hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”

The messages to these seven churches were directed to the seven local assemblies there in Asia Minor at the time John received the Revelation; but it is equally clear that they were representative of the whole Church, not only at any given moment during her stay here on earth, but also in the successive moral stages of the history of the Church, up to the moment the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. As we study these churches one by one we will see that secular history bears out the fact that conditions did exist as they are pointed out in the messages to the seven churches. After the third chapter of Revelation, we have no mention of nor allusion to these seven Asiatic churches.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches” is seven times repeated and signifies that the believer should have a keen ear to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit as long as the Church remains here upon this earth. As long as the Church remains on earth, the Spirit will remain on earth; however, when the Church is caught up to meet Jesus in the air, the Holy Spirit will go out with the Church (II Thessalonians 2:7). Born again believers are led by the Spirit in this day of grace, and every born again person is indwelt by the Spirit (Romans 8:9; Romans 8:14; Romans 8:16).

Verse 12: “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.” John, on turning to see the voice of the speaker, saw seven golden candlesticks - or, as the Greek word means, “lamps.” What these lamps signified is made known in verse 20: “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels (messengers) of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” We see clearly that the seven candlesticks (or golden lamps) are seven assemblies. The number seven in the Word of God points to what is morally complete.  Gold, the most precious of metals, signifies divine righteousness.

Therefore, in the symbol of seven golden lamps, we have the Church in its completeness and perfection here upon the earth. The true Church is perfect, and without spot or wrinkle . . . not the local assembly, the visible church, but the invisible Church as described in Ephesians 5.  So the “seven golden lamps” symbolize the Church in its perfect estate. The seven Asiatic lamps have long since been removed according to the divine threat (Revelation 2:5). And a similar judgment is about to overtake the professing church as a whole (Romans 11:22). Where are the lampstands of gold today? This is a solemn and a searching question for the church on earth today. But thanks be unto God, the gates of hell shall never prevail against the true Church (Matthew 16:18).

The Patmos Vision Continues

Revelation 1:13-18