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We are continuing our series
in the book of Revelation And today we are in chapter 1 and
we will be looking at verses 9 to 11. So only a few verses. I was kind of thinking of maybe
doing the rest of the first chapter first but then I figured out
there's too much there that I want to speak on and so I chose to
only do verses 9 to 11. Here we will see important themes. Important themes again relating
to the rest of this last book in the Bible. Last week when
we looked at, or not last week, but last time when we looked
at the book of Revelation, we looked at verses 7 and 8, and
in particular 7, which I believe summarizes the essence of the
whole book of Revelation. Namely, the greatness of the
Christ, the greatness of Jesus, and His soon return, His soon
second coming. But in these verses, as we now
then continue, we are given, it's kind of part in some ways
of the introduction still, what this book is about, who are the
different people in this book, so to say, who is writing, and
where is he writing from. And also, We will here encounter
an interesting phrase, namely, the Lord's Day. The Lord's Day. Sometimes you will hear me even
referring to the Lord's Day on Sundays like this. In fact, I
think I did that earlier today in our meeting. The Lord's Day,
and then there's a little bit of even debate, what does this
mean here? And in fact, this phrase, this
name, this title, the Lord's Day, is found only once in the
whole Bible. And it is found here. And I think it is very significant
and I think it's right that Christians use it and refer to it. And I'll get to what I strongly
believe and what most Christians agree what it means, the Lord's
Day. And in my study even this week
for this sermon, I was just in a good way kind of encouraged
in my like, yeah, this is a beautiful truth and we should use this
phrase more often, the Lord's Day. Well, before we look at that
in detail, I do want to now begin again by reading the Word of
God. The Word of God is always first and primary. If something
should be taken away from a sermon or from a gathering of Christians,
it should not be the reading of God's Word. You know, if we're
so short on time, you can cut off my sermon. but you cannot
cut off the reading of God's Word. God's Word should be always
primary, and then the explanation based on God's Word is important,
and of course we're committed to that, and I do that. But it
is sad if you basically just assume the reading of God's Word,
and you don't really do that, or you just briefly, maybe one
verse or something like that. And then it's just the pastor
talking about those verses. No, we actually need to hear
the Word of God as well as read. And in a unique way, I believe
the book of Revelation, this book that even begins with reminding
us, blessed is the one who reads. Maybe it's a bit selfish, but
I want to be that blessed person who reads this to you. But it's
not just selfish because you also, it says, blessed is the
one who hears. and keeps. It's not just hearing
as in like, you know, I could go and read to a person on the
street who doesn't want to hear it and he just kind of, well,
he just hears the words. No, it's hearing as in joyfully
receiving it and seeking then to live in accordance to it.
So there's a unique blessing for you as you hear the Word
of God, all of the Word of God, but in a unique way. Revelation
reminds us about that. So I want to I read chapters
1, 2, and 3, and I was thinking that maybe it's too much, but
then I figured out, no, it's not. And I will read all those
three chapters, because it's so important. Because the verses
that we will look at today, verses 9, 10, and 11, They speak about,
it's part of this introduction, John who is writing this, and
he speaks about tribulation, the kingdom and patient endurance
that are in Jesus. Then he speaks that he receives
this calling to write what he sees in a book and then send
it to these seven churches that are listed. So, the one who is
writing this book, John, And then he reminds his audience
who he is and the relationship to them, these churches, and
where he is when he got this, and that this calling was given
by Jesus to him, and that this is in Jesus, these patient, endurance
partakers of the tribulation and kingdom. And then that these
send it to these seven churches. So I think it's very good for
us to be reminded what has come before in the book of Revelation,
these first eight verses. And I think it's very helpful
for us, even if I would read it every week, it's only once
a week. And I mean, I forget these things and I'm sure you
forget as well. So that we are then reminded,
what are the kind of things that Jesus wants his churches to hear? What are the things that Jesus
says to these seven churches? Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira,
Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea? And these are obviously the same
kind of things that many of us still need. We might not have
the same problems. No church has all those problems.
But, you know, Christians have different problems. Churches
have these different problems. What does Jesus say? And in all
of this, I want to again remind you, as we'll then see later
in the sermon, how central the Christian church is in the book
of Revelation. How central the churches are
in the book of Revelation. Jesus does not here speak to
lone ranger Christians who are not committed to a local church. He does not. I don't believe
in general he does that. He speaks to his churches. And
what you will see again as I read these letters to these churches,
some of these churches are like, whoa, man, they have some serious,
serious problems. And most of the churches get
a strong rebuke from Jesus saying, repent. They're still churches
though. They're still churches of Christ. And also the faithful ones in
those churches who were not part of whatever, even if he was even
if he was frotten from the leadership up or whatever, there were serious
problems in the church, Jesus commends the faithful ones. I
know there are still some there who are faithful. And those churches,
they need to repent and they need to change. But my point
is here, notice how central the church is with all its failures. Some churches are more healthy
than others. No church is perfect. But with
all its failures, these seven churches are still churches of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus expects people in those
cities, in that area, that if you're a believer, you're part
of a church. If you're not part of a church, Jesus doesn't speak
to you as some kind of a lone ranger who is not willing to
commit to other believers and churches, local churches. He speaks to His church. And yes, those churches have
serious faults at times. And then they need to repent
if they have problems. But they are churches. The church
is central to Jesus. Jesus loves His own. And His love, His guidance, and
His message to His own, His believers, come in the form of churches.
Especially in the time of the New Testament, the idea that
you can be a Christian without a local church is just an absurd
idea. Of course not. I mean, unless
you're like, Paul, you know, bound in prison and you cannot
go to church. Or like John, who is on Patmos and unable to gather
with at least like a church as such. Maybe there were some other
believers there. And we'll get to that, what he even says on
the Lord's Day, what happens to him and all that. So certainly
there are situations in life that prohibit you, like you cannot. But if it is because of your
own negligence, or laziness, or stupidity, or sin, or whatever
it might be, then you need to deal with that. And without the
context of a local church, without a commitment to a local church,
your confession as a Christian is suspect. Your confession as
a Christian is suspect. You tell me you're a Christian.
I said, where do you go to church? Oh, I don't think that's important.
Well, Christ thinks the church is important. Christ thinks the
church is important. And you might think, I'm just
going to go on a little bit of a rant here, but you might think
he just says those things because he's a pastor. Well, you can
think whatever about my motives, but that's not true. That's not
true. I say that as a Christian and
as someone who knows the Bible, I need the church. I just happen
to be in this point in life a pastor in this church. I need the church.
And so do you. And the commitment to a group
of believers According to the teaching of
the Word of God, the whole New Testament, basically all of it,
most of it, some of them are written to individuals in a unique
situation, but most of them were written to churches, whether
it was in Corinth or Ephesus or Philippi or anywhere else. And these seven churches are
mentioned here. And this message that Jesus now
gives about the grand display of the thing that we even expect
still in the future, His second coming and all these things,
it's given in the context of seven churches. It's given in
the context of seven churches. And these churches would have
then copied it and sent it to other churches. And here we are
2,000 years after still meeting as a church. As a church. A gathering of believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ submitted and formed according to the teaching
of the Word of God with godly leadership and seeking to preach
the Word of God, sing and pray and gather once a week on the
Lord's Day. Okay, well that was my little introduction here, but think
about these things. Think again about the greatness
of Christ, the theme of this last book in the Bible. Think
about the centrality of the church in what Jesus says here. And
think also, notice how they have many failures, yet they are churches
of Christ that then need to repent of those sins. Okay, Revelation chapter 1 verse
1. Please listen, and I'm reading
from the ESV, so if you want to follow along in the English
translation, ESV is what I'm reading, English Standard Version.
Revelation 1 verse 1, "...the revelation of Jesus Christ which
God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take
place. He made it known by sending His
angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God
and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads
aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear
and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near."
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 who are before His throne, and from Jesus
Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and
the ruler of kings on earth. To Him who loves us and has freed
us from our sins by His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests
to His God and Father. To Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with
the clouds and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced
Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of
Him. Even so, Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty. I, John, your brother and partner
in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that
are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a
trumpet saying, Write what you see in a book and send it to
the seven churches, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum,
and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice
that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden
lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands,
one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden
sash around his chest, The hairs of his head were white, like
white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of
fire, his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace,
and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right
hand he held seven stars. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged
sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his
feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on
me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last and the living
one. I died, and behold, I am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore,
the things that you have seen, those that are, and those that
are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven
stars that 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 are the seven churches. To the angel of the
church in Ephesus write the words of him who holds the seven stars
in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your toil,
and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those
who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles
and are not. and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently
and bearing up for My name's sake. And you have not grown
weary, but I have this against you, that you have abandoned
the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where
you have fallen, repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and
remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have. You hate the
works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the
one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which
is in the paradise of God. And to the angel of the church
in Smyrna write the words of the first and the last who died
and came to life, I know your tribulation and your poverty,
but you are rich. And the slander of those who
say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about
to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to
throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested. And for
ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I
will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not
be hurt by the second death. And to the angel of the church
in Pergamum write the words of him who has the sharp two-edged
sword. I know where you dwell, where
Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and
you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful
witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against
you. You have some there who hold
the teaching of Balaam. who taught Balak to put a stumbling
block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed
to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have
some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore
repent. If not, I will come to you soon
and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna
and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the
stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. And
to the angel of the church in Thyatira write the words of the
Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet
are like burnished bronze, I know your works, your love, and faith,
and service, and patience, endurance, and that your latter works exceed
the first. But I have this against you,
that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a
prophetess, and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice
sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave
her time to repent. But she refuses to repent of
her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto
a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw
into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and
I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know
that I am He who searches mind and heart, and I give to each
of you according to your works. But to the rest of you in Thyatira,
who do not hold to this teaching, who have not learned what some
call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on
you any other burden. only hold fast what you have
until I come. The one who conquers and keeps
my works Until the end, to him I will give authority over the
nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen
pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority
from my Father. And I will give him the morning
stars, and he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches. And to the angel of the church
in Sardis write the words of him who has the seven spirits
of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have a
reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen
what remains and is about to die. For I have not found your
works complete in the sight of my God. Remember them. what you
received and heard keep it and repent if you will not wake up
i will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour
i will come against you Yet you have still a few names in Sardis,
people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk
with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers
will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot
his name out of the Book of Life. I will confess his name before
my father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. And to the angel of the church
in Philadelphia, write the words of the Holy One, the True One,
who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who
shuts and no one opens. I know your works. Behold, I
have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut.
I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept
my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those
of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews but are
not, but lie. Behold, I will make them come
and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have
loved you. because you have kept my word
about patient endurance. I will keep you from the hour
of trial that is coming on the whole world to try those who
dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what
you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who
conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never
shall he go out of it. And I will write on him the name
of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem,
which comes down from my God out of heaven. and my own new
name. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. And to the angel of the church
in Laodicea write the words of the Amen, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of God's creation. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold
or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will
spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have
prospered, I need nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched,
pitiful, poor, blind and naked, I counsel you to buy from me
gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments,
so that you may clothe yourself, and the shame of your nakedness
may not be seen, and salt to anoint your eyes, so that you
may see. Those whom I love I reprove and
discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the
door and knock, If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me. The
one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne,
as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. That's the first three chapters
of the book of Revelation. And after that then, you know,
continues all the divisions and everything related. But this
is the The introduction of the book and also the letters to
the seven churches which Jesus commands that John should write
to. And now we will look at verses
9 to 11 in chapter 1. Verses 9 to 11 in chapter 1.
What does it begin with there? In verse 9, he says, I, John. We already know John has mentioned
his name already before, so we kind of talked about this in
the first few verses there. And in verse 4, it says, John
to the seven churches who are in Asia. But here again, he refers
to himself and he says, I, John. And as we noticed in the past,
he just said, which John? Well, This is John, the John. He doesn't even need to say who
he is, because everyone knows which John. They knew, and John
seems to have a relationship with these seven churches. In
fact, according to early church history, John, I think, spent
time, especially in Ephesus, before he was put under persecution to Patmos,
the island, which we'll talk about in just a moment. And also
after that he was released and so he basically ministered much
of his latter part of his life in Asia Minor, which is obviously
quite far from Jerusalem. So there in modern-day Turkey,
Asia Minor. So it seems that he had close
relationships with many of these churches, and they knew who he
was, and not just them, but people in general would have, I'm sure,
known, but especially this. It is John the Apostle. It is
John the Apostle, and this is the unanimous testimony of church
history. And even though some people try
and say maybe it's some other John, no. It's John the Apostle,
the one who wrote the Gospel of John, the one who wrote the
letters of John, and here writes the book of Revelation, commanded
by Jesus to do so, and receives this vision. But he just says,
I, John. And notice then how he refers
to himself, you know, like, this is John the Apostle. Does he
go on like, I, John, the great, magnificent Apostle, you know,
the one who, the last of the living Apostles, make sure you
know how great I am, and here's my titles, or whatever. No, none
of that. He doesn't even mention that
he's an Apostle, although he is, but he doesn't need to here.
He just says, I, John. And what does he say? Your brother. Your brother. Such a simple statement. And this truth that is communicated
here is central to the Christian faith. The Christian faith teaches
obviously that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, are then adopted
into the family of God and therefore are brothers and sisters among
each other. They're part of the same family.
They're brothers. There's brotherhood. This is
not just You know, hey, brother, hey, mate, hey, you know, whatever,
hey, whatever you say in some culture, you know, in some culture,
everyone is a brother. I know, yeah, in the big picture,
everyone is a descendant of Adam, so sure, in that sense, okay,
we are brothers, and in that sense, But this is deeper, this
is a spiritual reality, and this is not just John wasting words
and like, hey mates, hey whatever. He's communicating a deep reality
of the fact that he is a brother. He's a brother in Christ. He's a brother in Christ. He's a true brother. Those who
are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ in those churches, they
are true brothers to Him as well. As we just read in those chapters,
there are some who seem like they are not, or maybe they claim
to be, and they're like, Jesus says, if you don't repent, that's
it, kind of a thing. And some of those churches are
at the brink of being no longer churches at all. So there certainly
are, even still today, there are churches that call themselves
churches that are no longer Jesus's churches, because they've gone
on so long, and in so serious sin and rebellion against God,
that they are no longer Christian churches. It's just an empty
shell. The lampstand has been removed by Jesus. those kind
of churches which preach a false gospel and deny Christian beliefs. They might call themselves churches,
they might claim to be, but they are not. They lie. But here,
John reminds and says, I, John, your brother. It also reminds
us a little bit of even the book of Daniel, which is very important
in understanding also prophecy. Many times in the book of Daniel,
Daniel refers to himself also saying like, I, Daniel, or me,
Daniel, I heard this and that, just Daniel, me, Daniel. And
here, in a little bit of a similar way, like I, John, your brother. Remember what Jesus said about
this. I mean, there's many places, but let me just give you one.
In Matthew chapter 12, Matthew chapter 12, verse 50. There's this scene here and Jesus
is speaking and his mother and his brothers are trying to find
him. I won't preach this and the whole
detail and context here, but notice what Jesus says in this
situation, Matthew 12, verse 48. This is Jesus speaking, but he
replied to the man who told him, he said, who is my mother and
who are my brothers? And stretching out his hand toward
his disciples, he said, here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother,
sister, and mother. Jesus even calls His own as His
brothers, and even mother and sister here, and communicating
this deep spiritual reality that by faith in the true God, faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, this unites people at such a deep
level that it's even deeper than blood relations. where your actual
mother and father. And obviously then, sadly, sometimes
it happens that a person becomes a Christian and their actual
mother and father or brothers or sisters reject them because
of their Christian faith and persecute them or whatever. But
the Christian faith teaches that a person who truly turns to Christ,
trusts in Him, is now a brother. It's not just empty words. It's
not just something cool we say. There's this reality. I'm a brother. But as you then go through life,
and as John himself also knew, and as you might also know if
you've been a Christian for any time longer, the sad reality
is that people come and go. The longer you're a Christian,
the longer you are in a church, The more you get to know brothers
and sisters in Christ, the sad reality is that some of those
brothers and sisters end up proving that they are not. Their witness
is false. They are not brothers. Even though
they might claim that they reject the truth or they continue in
persistent sin and unwilling to repent, and therefore their
testimony is false. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, let
me read to you. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse
11, reads this way. I'll read from verse 9. 1 Corinthians
5, verse 9. I wrote to you in my letter not
to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning the
sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers or
idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world,
but... Now I am writing to you not to
associate with anyone who bears the name of brother, if he is
guilty of sexual immorality, or greed, or is an idolater,
reviler, drunkard, or swindler, not to even eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging
the outsiders? Is it not those inside the church
whom you are to judge? God judges those on the outside.
Purge the evil person among you. Here is this circumstance and
obviously like some of those churches that Jesus when he's
speaking to in some of those churches, some of those people
even on leadership levels were acting in ways and they were
allowing false prophets, there was sexual immorality and whatever.
Those then that were not part of that were told by Jesus, well
on you, you have not failed. But then others needed to repent.
But the sad reality is that in our Christian life, in our Christian
walk, the longer we are, we will see this, and it is certainly
a sad, sad reality when that happens. But here, the main emphasis is
still on the, and I think in that, when that also happens,
that disappointment with someone who used to be a brother and
now rejects the faith completely, or rejects to repent, or just
continues on and that witness is no longer true, he might still
claim to be a brother, but they're not. At the same time, it should be
a reminder of that the preciousness of those who remain, the preciousness
of those that continues, and the preciousness of friendship,
brotherhood, sisterhood. And I think John certainly knew
some of this. And as the churches heard this,
and they said, John, our brother. That old apostle who has poured
into our life, he's our brother. He's a brother in the faith.
What a great reality. Not only does he say that, then
he continues saying there in Revelation 1 verse 9, and partner,
and partner, or some translations like the Legacy Standard Bible
and others also, fellow partaker. The idea is that you are a partner
in something. You are together. So he's saying
to these churches, so John is saying, I'm your brother, so
we're together. And not only are we just brothers, we are
fellow partakers. Just something that we partake
of, that we are partners in together. Something that we're in together.
What is it that he says? Partner in the tribulation and
the kingdom. and the patient endurance that
are in Jesus. Three things. So this Christian
brotherhood consists in a partnership or partaking in these three things. Notice, tribulation, kingdom,
and endurance, patient endurance, or also other translations, perseverance. These well communicate, again,
what the book of Revelation is about. The main theme of the
book of Revelation, the book of Revelation talks a lot about
difficult times that are ahead. It also talks about difficulties
that the churches are already there experiencing. And John
himself is experiencing, as we'll get to in just a moment, as he
says where he is. And this reality that the Christians will have
tribulation in this world. And then he talks about the kingdom,
which is what we await, and the book of Revelation ends with
the kingdom of Christ coming, and His rule and reign on the
new heavens and the new earth, and the promises throughout the
book of Revelation that those who are faithful will rule and
reign with Him, and sit on His throne, and all these things.
I believe these three, tribulation, kingdom, and patience, endurance,
and they're given like they're all in this one kind of package.
I believe it's basically, it may be most helpful to summarize
that Tribulation essentially summarizes much of our experience
in the present. Tribulation, different kind of
difficulty. And this is not simply, this is not tribulation as in,
I did a stupid decision and now I'm suffering because of it,
or I sinned and now I'm suffering because of it. Yeah, that might
be tribulation as well, but that's not, you know. If I suffer as
an evildoer, there's no glory in saying, oh, look at me, I'm
suffering, you know. It's like, yeah, you're just
getting what you deserve. And God is rebuking you and you should
learn not to do that kind of thing. Or, you know, even if
it goes to the courts or whatever. That's not tribulation as in
like rejoicing in tribulation. Tribulation, true rejoicing in
tribulation is where you suffer unjustly. Where you suffer unjustly. And also then God brings different
trials in your life. You do not know what happens,
but you trust Him in it. So you're not suffering because
you've done stupid things and sinful things. No, it's just
part of the life. And then you also suffer because
of faithfulness to Christ. There are times when people will
reject you, speak bad about you. You might be canceled. You might
be this and that, or whatever. People might get angry at you.
People might exile you on an island called Patmos because
of being a preacher of the gospel. They might put you in prison
like Paul. They might crucify you like the Lord Jesus Christ
was crucified for righteousness sake. And many of the apostles
were martyred and killed. It's tribulation, or someone
mocking you at your workplace, or fellow students, whatever
it is. But it's tribulation. But this is the time that we
live in, the difficulty. But we are waiting for the kingdom.
We're going toward the kingdom. We're already partakers of the
kingdom. We're members of the kingdom of faith in Christ. And
that's where we're going. And the way we're going from
the tribulation to the kingdom is through patient endurance.
So that's why I believe he's kind of saying these two things.
We're partners in the tribulation in the kingdom. The way we go
from tribulation to kingdom is through patient endurance. Perseverance. Persevere. Do not give up. Do
not give up. That's one of the constant refrains
throughout the whole book of Revelation. Do not give in. Do not take the mark of the beast. Do not, whatever, do not deny
him even if you would die martyrdom. Be faithful to death. Do not
give in. patient, endurance, persevere,
and the one who perseveres to the end, he will be crowned,
and he will receive. And that perseverance is also
the thing that will then, throughout the time, will show that some
of those brothers and sisters were not true brothers and sisters,
and they flake off. But you continue on. You continue
on. You were not on this journey
in the first place, just because even if someone began that journey
with you, like in the book of, like John Bunyan wrote, The Pilgrim's
Progress, you know, and if you remember, there's different people
who come and some want to be with him in the first place,
then they give up. It's now the pilgrim, is he going to give
up? Because they know. I'm going. Keep your eye focused
on Christ. And it's to be expected that
there's people who come and go, and praise God for those who
are faithful and continue on and love them and care for them.
And do not become cynical, even if people fail you many times. Take them at their word, but
at the same time, do not be surprised when some of them flake out.
But you keep patient endurance. Let me read to you from John
chapter 16 what Jesus says about relating to this theme as well.
In the Gospel of John, again written by the same one who receives
this revelation, John 16 verse 33, Jesus said, I have said these
things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world
you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome
the world." Christianity offers those who
believe and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ himself
promises to his followers, depending on how you summarize it, you
could say a longer list, but let's just keep it simple. Let's
just take two things. He promises tribulation and persecution
in this age, eternal life, forgiveness of
sins in the Kingdom of God, and ruling with Him in the age to
come. He hasn't promised that a Christian
life is an easy life. In fact, it usually is the opposite.
If you want just ease, if you just want always what is the
easiest, simplest, be like Esau who sells his birthright for
a bowl of soup, which I'm going to preach about in the Finnish
service later today. It's easy to live a life of ungodliness,
but it's difficult to live a life of patient endurance, continuing
as a follower of Christ. But we do not ultimately do it
in our own strength. In Him we have peace, and we
know, take heart, I have overcome the world. And the reason we
can do all of this is, getting back there to Revelation 1, verse
9, He doesn't just say, I'm your brother and partner in the tribulation,
kingdom, and patience, endurance, end of sentence, new thought.
What is this tribulation, kingdom, and patience, endurance? Where
is it found? Notice what he says, that are
in Jesus. You patiently endure in Jesus. You go through tribulation in
Jesus. You wait for the future kingdom
and you pray, may your kingdom come in Jesus, in Him alone,
in Him alone. And if you're outside of Him,
if you reject Him, and if you reject His call to repent, if
you need to repent, if all that, you are outside. You're not walking
in darkness. You are not following in light. And you have no hope without
Him. But in Him, you have all this. And in Him, you have confidence. You can have peace, and you know
that He has overcome the world. So the book of Revelation, before
it gets to all the visions about the future, and even the terrible
things about the beast, and the mark of the beast, and tribulation,
and plagues upon the earth, and all these kind of things, There's
a reason why the book of Revelation begins by focusing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And as we will then see next
week, what does John after this see? He sees a vision of the
greatness of Christ. Like, let that sink into your
brain and my brain, how great Jesus is. If you have that clear
in you, then you will go through tribulation with patience, endurance,
even if it would cause you to be martyred, which some of our
brothers and sisters are still today in the world in different
parts. People are still killed as being Christians. We might
just face a little bit of mockery or, you know, inconvenience or
something like that. But the point is, in Jesus, in
trusting in Him, knowing that He is great and He is in charge
of the kings and rulers of the earth, He's overall, it's like,
no one can do anything to me. apart from His purpose. The worst
thing they can do is they can kill me. They might torture me
or kill me. Okay, at the end of the day,
I'll be with Him and I'll wait for resurrection and His Kingdom.
Keep your conscience clear before Him. Live for the audience of
one and not for the approval of people around you in one way
or another. Live for the approval of Him. This is what John reminds them
of, and John is a faithful example. And John then, I need to hurry
up here, John says, he says, so this is in Jesus, I, John,
was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus. So when John says that he's a
partner in tribulation, and patient endurance, and he knows that
some of these churches are being persecuted by the synagogue of
Satan, as he calls themselves, and there's even false leaders,
there's false prophets, and all these kind of things. So when
John says that he's a partner, he's not just, John is just not
like somehow like, I'm living in this ivory tower, and everything
is easy and comfortable, and you know, like I'm saying, you
just have it okay there, you know, I'm just like, king in
my castle, everything is fine, I'm eating luxury food and you're
just barely getting by. No, he is actually, and he's
on the island called Patmos, and at the same time we're like,
what is he doing at the island of Patmos? He doesn't go on saying,
oh look at me, my circumstances, and you know, start moaning about
it. He just mentions it. Then by church history, we know
and we can make educated guesses, but basically Patmos is an island
right off the coast there. So there's the, you can look
it on a map, but you know, just Google again, Patmos, it's in
Greece, modern Greece. It's there like Patmos is on
Greece side, Ephesus and all the other towns in Asia Minor
are in Turkey. And it's like, you know, there's
not much between there. It's this island. And on that
island, He is on the account of the Word of God and the testimony
of Jesus. There's basically two options.
Some people say that he is there because he went to evangelize.
Okay, it could be possible. But this island is a very small
island. It's about 12 kilometers long,
8 kilometers wide. And it's like a volcanic barren
desert island. And according to history, basically
it's a military occupation. And these islands were used by
Romans to send troublemakers. Get rid of them, cancel them,
shut their mouth by setting them on an island where they can't
reach people. And that is the... So it's unlikely
that he just went there to evangelize. And if you imagine, like, why
is he still there? Why didn't he come there? Okay, maybe he
went to visit. Why didn't he then come? He's
like stuck there somehow, it seems. And that's the early church
witnesses that John was taken there about 95 AD during the
reign of domination, and that he was sent there because he
was a Christian, a preacher of the gospel, and therefore they
wanted to get rid of him, and he was probably maybe working
in the mines there or at the very least he was estranged from
people. He had obviously some freedom
because he was able to then send this letter and stuff but he's
on this island as an old man in difficult circumstances. This is where he is on this island
called Patmos and he says verse 10, I was in the spirit on the
Lord's day. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day. And what does this now mean here?
I believe spirit here is referring to both the context of what's
happening to him and the reason it's happening to him. Some people,
there's the debate, is he talking about the Holy Spirit or is he
talking about basically the human spirit? It's like a spiritual
thing that's happening. I believe it's purposefully a
little bit vague that it's both. It is a spiritual thing that's
happening to him and so he's in the spirit. He's not just
sleeping and having a vision in sleep. He's receiving this
supernatural vision in his spirit as he's bound in Patmos. He can't
get off this island. But God reveals to him. He sees these things. Supernaturally,
he receives these things. And the way he receives these
things is by who? The Spirit, the Holy Spirit.
The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches. And when does this happen? On
the Lord's day. This is then the thing that I
said is mentioned only one time. What does this mean? Some people
take this to mean that this happened, that He is transformed, He's
in the Spirit, He receives revelation. And I don't think it's a bad
guess in that sense, because the Old Testament talks about
the day of the Lord. Even the New Testament talks
about the day of the Lord. Day of the Lord is this... Phrase
that refers specifically to end time events, the coming judgment
and all those things, the day of the Lord that has not yet
happened. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 2, I
just mentioned it, but it says, the day of the Lord has not come. And there are false teachers
who are saying the day of the Lord has come. It says, no, it
hasn't come. The day of the Lord is still referring to it. So
it would be a good guess in that sense. There is a lot of stuff
in the book of Revelation that speaks about the day of the Lord,
certainly. So maybe it means that he basically,
in the Spirit, he went to see the events that are in the future,
the day of the Lord. I don't believe though that's
what this means here. for a few reasons. First of all, the Greek
doesn't say, and even in English as we say, it doesn't say, the
day of the Lord. The day of the Lord and Lord's
day are very similar, I grant you that, even in Finnish translations,
because in Finnish there's no way to say it differently, but
the Greek words are different. So if John was wanting to say,
for example, what's said in 2 Thessalonians 2.2, He would have said it in
a different way. This phrase only appears here.
It's not, I was in the day of the Lord. I was on the Lord's
day. I know it's minor, but it's a
difference still. Secondly, when he says, I was in the spirit,
and the next thing he hears is not some kind of event in the
future. He just sees the first thing
he hears is this vision of the greatness of Christ. And then
he gets these letters to the seven churches, which are present
reality. So the immediate context is not
even future things yet. That will come. I believe, and
almost all Bible commentators believe, that this is a reference
to Sunday. The first day of the week. Today. The Lord's day. And this is how
Christians have used this phrase ever since that time. and probably
the one who started that was John. We also, in 1 Corinthians,
we call the Lord's supper in a similar way, the supper that
belongs to the Lord, communion. And here now the day, what day?
The first day of the week when Jesus rose from the dead. And
we, I don't have time now, but you can look up. It's told to
us many times that it's emphasized that Jesus rose on the first
day of the week. And then you also read in the gospels and
in Acts, you notice that Christians met on the first day of the week. They may be met other times also,
but uniquely it always emphasizes first day of the week, which
is Sunday. For us, we usually think Monday
is the first day of the week, but in a biblical view, and even
America still today, Sunday is the first day of the week. Sabbath
is Saturday, which is the last day of the Jewish calendar. First
day is Sunday. Jesus rose from the dead and
Christians started gathering on that day. to celebrate His
resurrection. And I believe what John is here
doing is he's reminding them and saying, I'm on Patmos. And
you know, I'm on Patmos. I don't even need to tell you
more except that it's on faithfulness to the Word of God that I'm on
Patmos. And I'm estranged from fellowship with you and any churches. But on the Lord's Day, then when
you are worshipping there in your churches and you are gathering
in your churches, Ephesus, Myrna, Philadelphia, and all the rest,
on that day, that first day of the week, Jesus gives me this
vision and gives me this command to send it to you, which you
will then read in your churches on another Lord's Day as you
are given this, which I'm here still 2,000 years after reading
on another Lord's Day to this particular congregation in Tampere. The Lord's Day. I don't have time here, but I
just want to mention it. In the Didache chapter 14, you
can read about it. It says, when you meet on the
Lord's Day, then it warns about if there's sin, you should not
take communion and all those kind of things. But Didache,
which is one of the earliest church Christian documents, speaks
about the Lord's Day, the Sunday as the Lord's Day. But let me
read here two brief things. One from Ignatius, who died in
107 after Christ, so a very early church father. He writes in the
Epistle to the Magnesians. This is from the early church
fathers. There are writings. He says this, and after the observance
of the Sabbath, he talks about the basically, we're not doing
the Jewish Sabbath anymore, we're doing this spiritual thing. And
he says, after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend
of Christ keep the Lord's day as a festival, the resurrection
day, the queen and chief of all the days. So he's saying, We
don't do the Jewish Shabbat. We do first day of the week,
the Lord's Day, Sunday. And then Justin Martyr, in his
first apology, I don't remember what now, this chapter. I'm bad
at remembering Roman numerals and he has Roman numerals. I
think it was 36 or something. But he says this. He talks about
Christians, and Christians meet together. He talks about this
Jew, and he says that we meet together, people come, and he
says this, and the wealthy among us help the needy, and we always
keep together for all things wherein we are supplied. We bless
the maker of all through his son, Jesus Christ, and through
the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday,
all who live in the cities or in the country gather together
to one place and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings
of the prophets are read as long as time permits. Then, when the
reader has ceased, the president..." Here's the one who is presiding
over the meeting, the leader. "...the president verbally instructs
and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we
all rise together and pray. And as before I said, when our
prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the
president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings according
to his ability, and the people ascend, saying, Amen." And then
he continues on, and then he says here, But Sunday is the day on which
we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on
which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made
the world, and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from
the dead. That then became a tradition
among Christians and it's still today. It's not just the accident
that we happen to meet on a Sunday. And I believe John is there,
he's reminding, it's the Lord's Day. And the gathering of the
church On the Lord's Day, reminded of the Word of God, should remind
us to patiently endure tribulation, wait for the Kingdom, help one
another, pray for one another, encourage one another, regular
observance of the Lord's Supper and baptism and all those things,
even what Justin Martyr talks earlier, which I didn't have
time to read. And then it just, what does it, this is brief now. So he was on the Lord's day,
and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying,
write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches,
to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis,
and Philadelphia, and Laodicea. So as this happens, he's, the
spirit is causing him to see this vision. He hears something.
Notice what he hears. He doesn't hear a whisper. Don't
you for one moment imagine that John is just some old senile
man who is imagining things, hoping for the best. No, this is God Himself unquestionably,
clearly shouting like the voice of a trumpet. It's not just like,
oh, I had this kind of vague feeling maybe God spoke to me
or something like that. No, no, no, no. God actually
spoke to him. It's not unclear. It's not some
kind of whiny whisper or guest talk. or just hopeful expectation. No, I heard behind me a loud
voice like a trumpet. It's unmistakably clear. And
that loud voice says, write what you see in a book. Literally,
it's a scroll. They didn't have books as we
think of them, these codex style books. They had scrolls. But
anyway, but write and then send it to the seven churches. And
it's Jesus speaking as he will then turn around and he will
see the vision of the Son of Man. And then the Son of Man
begins to speak to the churches, which we read, and most of it
is, repent, repent, repent, and be faithful. And you're doing
well, some of them. And it's the Lord of the Church
speaking to His Church. And these seven churches were
unique and historical, but they also summarize the problems that
we as churches, Christian churches, even still today and have for
the last 2,000 years. There's a complete picture in
these seven churches given about the different trials that churches
face. And the message is still the
same, be faithful to Christ, endure faithfully, persevere
through tribulation, and wait for the kingdom. Do not give
in. Do not give in. And if you need
to repent, then you need to repent. And there is nothing more beautiful
than repentance. What a beautiful thing that a
person can ask for forgiveness from God and come to Him by repentance
in Christ and have his or her sins forgiven. Not just when
a person becomes a believer, but even throughout his life.
When he does what is wrong, repent. What a beautiful thing. And what
an unloving thing it is if churches and Christians and pastors never
speak about repentance and just let everything slide. And bitterness
and hatred and anger and sexual immorality or whatever it is,
just spreads, spreads, spreads. No. The answer is, turn to Christ. trust in him and endure patiently
waiting for his future kingdom. John did that and he wrote to
churches that were called to do that and we still do the same
thing because Christ has not yet come but he will come one
day we do not know when but he will come And in the meantime,
we should seek to be faithful, living faithful Christian lives,
which includes the weekly gathering of the Lord's people on the Lord's
Day, to strengthen and encourage one another, and then live lives,
work, studies, all that, in light of that. But let's pray. Our
Father, we thank You. We thank You that You've given
Your Word, the Word of God. Thank You that You have spoken.
We thank You that You've spoken through the vision given to John
on the island of Patmos. He was facing great difficulty
and persecution for his faith, yet he gave that beloved disciple
in his old age to one of the most glorious visions ever given. And we partake in that vision. We are blessed by reading it
and hearing it and keeping it. Help us, Lord. Help us, therefore,
to apply these truths to our life. Lord, give us the humility
to, in our own lives, always evaluate our own actions, our
words, our desires, our motives, and that if there's things that
we need to repent, as these churches needed to repent, help us to
do so. That we might repent and joyfully
be restored to relationship with You, and sometimes even relationship
with others. if sin has broken that relationship. So Lord, help us in this. We
rejoice in the truth of your word. Help us to keep it and
joyfully rely upon you, knowing that all these things can only
be done in Christ. In him we endure patiently, because
we know he has overcome the world. I pray these things therefore
in Jesus' name. Amen.
Tribulation, Kingdom, Endurance, and the Lord's Day
Series Revelation
| Sermon ID | 92924511346208 |
| Duration | 1:07:07 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Revelation 1:9-11 |
| Language | English |
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