Behold He Comes! Revelation 1:9-20
Introduction:
The word translated “revelation” simply means “unveiling.” John’s book is primarily the unveiling, the revealing of Jesus Christ’s coming as King of this world. It is not meant to be the revelation of future events. Jesus is the subject of the book.
Outline: In Revelation 1–3, Christ is seen as the exalted Priest-King ministering to the churches. In Revelation 4–5, He is seen in heaven as the glorified Lamb of God, reigning on the throne. In Revelation 6–18, Christ is the Judge of all the earth; and in Revelation 19, He returns to earth as the conquering King of kings. The book closes with the heavenly Bridegroom ushering His bride, the church, into the glorious heavenly city. Revelation has been called the Epistle of Jesus to the churches. The last book written by the last living apostle is meant to encourage believers because “Behold, He Comes!
Last week in our Christmas service we looked at the birth of Jesus, His first coming, His first revealing to mankind. Now we know that because Jesus is eternal, He has always been here and in that sense there can be no first or second coming, but in the sense of history, or the plan of God for salvation, Jesus came and took on human flesh and was born of Mary. This is the first coming or if you want to get fancy His first Advent. And if you have been reading your Bible using the church Chronological reading plan then you are finishing up the book of Revelation which is about Jesus’ second coming or second advent. There have also been other appearances of Jesus to the apostles, like Paul on the Damascus road or as we are going to look at today, to John on the isle of Patmos. Jesus came to them at crucial, critical times in their lives and they were changed after Jesus came to them. Let’s go to Revelation chapter 1 and look at Jesus Coming to John and then draw some applications for our own crucial times of life when we need Jesus to come to us.
When Jesus Comes - Revelation 1:9-10
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. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Jesus Comes to John
First, I want you to notice John, who Jesus came to that day on the barren rocky island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. John identifies himself to the churches in verse 9. He says, I am your brother. This means he was a member with them of the family of God. This was not just a name or title but the person he was through his new birth and the way that he lived and acted in relationship and in the shared experiences of the other believers. He shared the cares, joys, victories and defeats of those who had also named the name of Christ and now shared the hope and rewards of his coming.
He says he was their companion in tribulation. As you read the letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3, you realize how harsh was the life of a Christian towards the end of the first century. Instead of the Jews persecuting the church, it was the power and might of the Roman empire. The mad emoporer Nero had begun to persecute the Christians in Rome around 65 AD, blaming them for the great fire which had devastated Rome. A few years after Nero, the emperor Domitian expanded the persecution to all the regions of Romes empire. Many believe that it was Domitian who exiled John to die on Patmos around A.D. 95. Which is when John would have written the book of the ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis, which is the Greek for Revelation.
He was the last living apostle it has been over 60 years since he last saw Jesus. In that time all of his fellow apostles had been killed by torture, his own brother James being the first. Thousands of believers have died at the hands of the Jerusalem Jews and now the power of Rome. And now here sits John aged, tortured and surely feeling lost and alone, being cut off from all Christian fellowship. Truly he was their companion in persecution.
But he was also their companion in the kingdom. Isn’t that an encouraging phrase? John knew that the kingdom of Rome was not the kingdom that mattered. The kingdom that he and the believers were citizens of was eternal and all the power of Rome could not resist the power of the coming Kingdom of Christ. He was not looking for an earthly kingdom but for the kingdom where he and the church would rule and reign with Jesus for all eternity.
And finally, he was their companion in the patience of Jesus Christ
Interesting phrase. What does it mean to be a companion in the patience of Jesus Christ? It was the power that made endurance through tribulation possible, and the truth of the coming kingdom a reality to John. The patience, the endurance, to know that all things would happen in God’s time and according to God’s will. That is the incredible power, which empowered John the last apostle, in his last days on earth.
One final thing to not, as John says, “He was in the Spirit on The Lord’s Day.”
In other words he was worshipping God, on Sunday the day which honors the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The only day of worship that does Him that honor.
When will Jesus Come To Us?
I believe it is at those same times and for the same reasons as it was for John. No it won’t be in the same way, you won’t hear a voice like a trumpet nor see an actual manifestation of the Lord as you turn around. But Jesus does come.
First, he comes to those that are His own. He comes to his brothers and sisters in faith.
He comes when we are hurting, when we are struggling, when we are at the end of our strength.
He comes when we remember that we are not citizens of this world. We are just passing through; our treasure is laid up somewhere beyond the blue. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and this world and all its pain and sorrow will be overwhelmed when He comes to rule and reign.
He comes because we have the patience and the endurance to keep holding on, no matter the circumstances of what we are going through.
And you better believe He comes when you come to church on Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, Sunday night. Wouldn’t it be a shame to miss the service where Jesus shows up on Sunday. Jesus comes when we like John are in the spirit on the Lord’s Day and in the Lord’s house.
And do you know how the Lord comes to us? Well, we are doing it right now, reading the word of God, the epistle of Jesus Christ and we along we John are hearing and seeing Jesus. Behold, He Comes to us through the miracle of the scripture. Revealed, written and preserved without error by the Spirit of God.
What Is Seen When Jesus Comes – Revelation 1:11
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.
What John Saw and Heard When Jesus Came
He heard the voice of Jesus like “a great voice of a trumpet.” Gone was the mild teacher sitting in a synagogue teaching quietly, now there was a voice as loud as a symphony declaring that He was Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
He heard Jesus give him a commission, “What thou seest write in a book and send it unto the seven churches.”
He then turned and saw the one whose voice was echoing across the island of Patmos. He saw and Heard Jesus as King and High Priest of All
Revelation 1:12-16 And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 -- His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
In the midst of seven golden candlesticks, these were lampstands, not candles as we know them today, and He sees One who resembles the Son of man. He sees Jesus and he uses Jesus favorite title for himself taking from the book of Daniel, “the son of man.” And Jesus stands in the midst of the seven churches, John is commissioned to write to.
He sees that Jesus is no clothed with a garment down to the foot, wrapped up to his chest with a golden sash. His head and hair white like wool, white as snow. He eyes were flames of fire, burning in their intensity. His feet were like refined bronze, glowing as though had just come from the purifying furnace. And once more John tries to help us understand the power of Jesus’ voice. He says it was like the sound of a cascading, crashing, deafening waterfall, shutting out all other sound but what Jesus was saying.
John goes on and says, In his right hand he holds seven stars and out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword.
Finally Jesus now has the appearance literally of what He once said about himself figuratively. He now truly is light, so bright John says it is like the brightest sun on a cloudless day at it greatest height in the sky.
All these things speak of Jesus’ righteousness, his power, his holiness, his judgment, his sovereignty and his glory. Jesus came, magnified in power, clothed in righteousness, and radiant in glory. Jesus came to proclaim who He was and to claim what was rightfully his. Jesus shining like the sun and holding life and death in the utterance of a single word, like a sword proceeding from his mouth.
This is the Jesus in His glory not his humiliation and it is this how Jesus came to John that dark, lonely, broken day on the rocks of Patmos.
What will you see when Jesus Comes to you?
If you only see Jesus as a storybook character. If you only see Jesus the philosopher, the teacher, or the great example for mankind, then let me tell you, you haven’t seen Jesus at all. Nor will you see the Jesus you need to see, Jesus as Savior of your soul, Jesus as Lord, Jesus as King, Jesus as friend and brother.
Some who think they are Christians haven’t really seen Jesus as Savior and Lord in their life. Let me tell you a story.
At the University of Chicago Divinity School each year they have what is called "Baptist Day." On this day each one is to bring a lunch to be eaten outdoors in a grassy picnic area. Every Baptist Day the school would invite one of the greatest minds to lecture in the theological education center.
One year they invited Dr. Paul Tillich. Dr.Tillich spoke for two and one-half hours proving that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the dead in any literal sense.
He then asked if there were any questions. After about 30 seconds, an old, dark skinned preacher with a head of short-cropped, woolly white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium. "Docta Tillich, I got one question," he said, as all eyes turned toward. He reached into his sack lunch and pulled out an apple and began eating it. "Docta Tillich" . . . CRUNCH, MUNCH. "My question is a simple question." CRUNCH, MUNCH . . ."Now, I ain't never read them books you read . . . CRUNCH, MUNCH, and I can't recite the Scriptures in the original Greek. I don't know nothin about Niebuhr and Heidegger." . . . CRUNCH, MUNCH . . . He finished the apple. "All I wanna know is: This apple I just ate - was it bitter or sweet?"
Dr. Tillich paused for a moment and answered in exemplary scholarly fashion, "I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven't tasted your apple." The white-haired preacher dropped the core of his apple into his crumpled paper bag, looked up at Dr. Tillich and said calmly, "Neither have you tasted my Jesus."
The 1,000 plus in attendance could not contain themselves. The auditorium erupted with applause and cheers. Dr. Tillich thanked his audience and promptly left the platform.
That old white-haired preacher had truly seen Jesus in his life, while the so-called scholar had not. I wonder how many of us are like the preacher and how many might be like the scholar?
Will we seen this Jesus come to us?
Even many Christians, saved by faith in Jesus, won’t see Jesus as He is now and as they need Him to be in the critical times of life. They won’t see Him this way because they have not obedient to His word, not patient in tribulation, not dedicated to worshipping Him in His church.
But if we begin to long for the kind of relationship with Jesus that John had, when we desire to walk with him, sup with him, suffer with Him, then we will begin to see Jesus as He came to John. I don’t want a Jesus that I can hang like a poster on my wall, I want Jesus who dwells in my heart and comforts me in my sorrow.
For this to be true, then I must do as John did, I must turn to face Him. I must open my eyes to the brightness of His holiness. I behold Him in his fiery hatred of sin. I must be swept away by His voice like a crashing waterfall so I no longer hear the world. I must be blinded by His glory that I no longer can see the world.
When Jesus came to others.
I can learn so much about Jesus coming to me from the times I read about in the Bible that He came to others. Like blind Bartimaeus on the Jericho Road we must cry out no matter who tells us to be quiet. Like Moses on Mt Sinai, be are willing to walk seek out fire that is burning in the wilderness. And like John on Patmos, when I’ve suffered, been broken, been emptied of myself, then Jesus will come.
I know one day at the end of my life, I will see Him face to face, but there are many time before then end of my life that I need Jesus to come when I’m at the end of my strength, my dreams, my youth, my confidence, the end of myself. And can I tell you I’ve been there many times and Jesus has never failed to come.
What Happens When Jesus Comes – Revelation 1:17-20
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Jesus Comes and John is Changed
John is at the end of his life, the end of his ministry, the end of his strength, but then Jesus comes and John is changed.
When Jesus comes, John fell at his feet as dead, then Jesus laid his hand upon him and said, “Fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that lives and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore. I have the keys of hell and death.”
John collapses when Jesus appears, like Isaiah before him, he is undone in the overwhelming presence of Jesus in His glory. John falls like a dead man and Jesus reaches out and lays his right hand on His beloved disciple.
John is emptied out but with that touch, Jesus fills him with His power and he takes up the greatest task that was ever given to him. He must now tell of this revelation, this unveiling, the apocalypse of the returning King.
In the greeting of the letter John wrote to those persecuted, suffering church, Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
At this point in his life, that Jesus is the Jesus John needs to come to him.
How Will We be changed when Jesus comes to us?
When I read this account of Jesus coming to John I think there are many things that should apply to us when Jesus comes. Whether it be hearing His vice in the Gospels or feeling His touch in our worship service.
I think that falling at His feet, speaks of worshipping him and also of total dependance on Christ for life and for the strength to serve Him.
The touch of Jesus will be gentle and yet the most powerful touch you have ever experienced. It will sweep softly through your heart as light as a melody and yet have the power to move you to the greatest service you have been called to do.
His voice will calm your fears with the assurance of who He is, The alpha and omega, the first and last. The one who has conquered life and even death and who even now stands victorious for all eternity.
When Jesus comes to us, we will be moved to do greater things than we have done before.
When Jesus Came to His Own
When Jesus came to Moses in the burning bush and then on Mt Sinai, he was empowered to lead a nation of millions across the wilderness and into the promised land. When He came to Isaiah, high and lifted up in the Temple, Isaiah wrote the with the mind of God, the book that carries his name. He came to Daniel as he stood in the lion’s den and in the vision of the Ancient Of Days and in his old age recorded the vision that would be completed by John in the book of Revelation. Jesus come to John unveiled and John saw him in all his glory and power and he knew as Paul, who Jesus came to on the Damascus road, and later wrote, Romans 8:16-19 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God!
And so we also will be changed in those times when I most need Him, Jesus will comes and we will know how wonderful He truly is.
Conclusion: Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
