REVELATION LESSON 3


    We will begin this lesson in Revelation chapter 1 verse 9.

    Revelation 1:9 "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."

    John is speaking here. Notice he is not a god.  He is a person, as
we are. Truly he is an anointed servant of Jesus.  He explains that
believers in Jesus, then and now, will have tribulation.  Tribulation
is to make believers strong. Also to see, if under stressful
situations, we still believe. This new message the church is sending
out that Christians do not have problems is in error. In the Old and
New Testament, men and women of God have had to stand midst
tribulations and trials. Even Jesus was tried forty days and nights.
Problems come to all. The difference is in the way you handle the
problems.

    John was not trying to impress anyone of how spiritual he was.  He
was alone on the isle of Patmos.  The authorities had sent John to
this isle to stop him from proclaiming Jesus. But we see that God had
plans for this stay, as well. God's purpose in John being on the isle
was to receive the Word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus. The
enemy planned evil for John's stay here, but God turned something bad
into something wonderful for all time.

    John was full of patience, not his own, but the patience of Jesus.
John knew the bottom line about the kingdom, as well. This was not a
time of despair, he found this a great time to be with Jesus with no
interruptions.

    Romans 5:3 "And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also:
knowing that tribulation worketh patience;"
    Acts 14:22 "Confirming the souls of the disciples, [and] exhorting
them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."

    This isle of Patmos was a special place for what we would call
hardened criminals.

    It was in exile that Jacob met God at Bethel.  God helps us in our
greatest need.
    Moses was in exile when he saw the burning bush.
    Elijah heard the still quiet voice of God while he was running for
safety.
    Daniel was also in exile when he saw the Ancient of Days.
    Sometimes God must get us alone before  He can reveal Himself to
us.

    Revelation 1:10 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard
behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,"
    The Lord's day is Sunday. The Sabbath is Saturday.  The Lord's day
is the first day of the week and practices first fruits.

    We note here that John was in the Spirit.  Spirit is capitalized.
 This indicates that John was totally consumed by the Holy Spirit.
 This great voice is an awesome sound.  There is no question whose
 voice this is.  When the Lord returns and blows the silver trumpet to
 redeem His people from the earth, it will actually be His voice,
 which is like a trumpet. God's voice frightened the children of
 Israel on their way to the promised land.  They thought it thundered,
 the voice was so great.

    Revelation 1:11 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, unto Philadelphia,
and unto Laodicea."

    Everything that was said here is in red, this means it is all said
by Jesus Himself. Here Jesus is saying to John to write down
everything he sees, and put it in a book, and send it to the churches.
I realy believe that it was not just to these seven physical churches,
but to all the churches which are all the believers in Jesus Christ.
As we begin to see the problems in these churches, we can easily
relate it to problems that we see in our churches today.  We can also
look at the things that God is pleased with in these churches, and we
will know what He finds pleasing in our church. These churches were
not physically very far from where John was on the island so he was
familiar with them. There were about sixty known churches at the time
this was written, so we must note that these were chosen for their
peculiarities of worship. John did not choose these, Jesus did. The
purpose in sending these messages to the churches is so they can see
their error and change. Take one more note that this is from Jesus the
everlasting one,  the A to Z.

    This message, that John is to write down, is what he sees and also
hears. Sometimes it is difficult for us to recognize what he is
describing. You have to remember that John is describing things he has
never seen. Things that would not be in existence until thousands of
years after his time. You can imagine how he would describe a
helicopter or a jet airplane. This vision is very similar to the
parables. This, as the parables, must be spiritually discerned.

    Revelation 1:12 "And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;"

    You understand that we cannot see a voice.  This is saying, I
turned to see where this voice was coming from.

    This is not one candlestick with seven flutes, but rather seven
separate stands. John wants us to see, not the happenings, but the one
that causes it to happen. This revealing is not of historical events
but revealing Jesus to us. One thing we see by the seven separate
candlesticks is that there is light enough for each of these churches.
They can have their own light. The gold in these stands indicates the
presence of God, because the spiritual meaning of gold is purity of
God. These churches' light or knowledge is not worldly wisdom. This
knowledge and light comes from God.

    Revelation 1:13 "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."

    Where two or three are gathered in the name of the Lord there He
is in the midst of them.  This garment down to the foot is a priestly
robe. A robe of authority.  This "...Son of man..." is Jesus who is in
the midst of the church.  This golden girdle is saying that this is
God.

    The three gifts that were brought to Jesus at His birth recognized
 Him for who He was. The gold recognized Him as God, the frankincense
 recognized Him as the perfect Lamb sacrifice, the myrrh recognized
 Him as the groom of the bride of Christ.  John sees Jesus in a body
 with a robe. Jesus, our High Priest, represents us before His Father.
 He is not an earthly high priest but a heavenly Priest.  He appears
 before God to bless the Christians, to plead our case if you will.
 His appearance in the churches would be as the Son of man.  In other
 words, in a body as man. The purpose of the high priest was to take
 the sacrificial blood into the Holy of Holies; and that is just what
 Jesus did, when He carried His own precious blood to the Father to
 abolish our sin. Not to cover them up, but to do away with them.

    Revelation 1:14 "His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool,
as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;"

    John was at the tranfiguration of Jesus and had seen a glimpse of
what He would be like then. We are looking here through John's eyes as
he describes what he sees. This white hair can mean several different
things. One is that white hair goes with Daniel's description of the
Ancient of Days.

    My own insight into this whiteness is because of the great Light.
Jesus is the source of all light. We know that in heaven there is no
need for the sun and moon, because of the presence of the Light which
is Jesus. This much light can make anything look white. I am sure this
hair is white, however.  This white is so bright that no bleach on
earth could make it so bright.  The light just makes it look brighter.
Jesus was seen of John as Son of man, but now John is seeing Him as
the second person of the Godhead. This eternity of Jesus (now known as
King of Kings and Lord of Lords) is showing in all His majesty. We
have seen God throughout the Bible associated with fire. We read that
God is a consuming fire.  We saw Him in the burning bush, the fiery
finger of God that burned the Ten Commandments in the rock, and we are
told that Jesus baptizes with fire. This fire of the Holy Ghost
cleanses us inside by burning out the old self making way for the new.
Eyes indicate wisdom. Jesus' look is so full of wisdom and fire that
it looks into our heart and purges out the sin with fire.  This look
(with these piercing, fiery eyes) will come into a Holy Ghost filled
church and will burn so brightly that this look will purge the church.
Those who cannot stand to be purged will leave.  The church that is
left, regardless of how small, will be lined up with the will of God.

    Revelation 1:15 "And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they
burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters."

    There are several things we need to see in this brass.  Brass is a
very strong substance. It is used many times as an alloy to strengthen
silver and gold. Notice the brass feet are what Jesus is standing on.
He is strong; so strong that the devil can not push Him over. This
brass indicates the great strength and steadfastness of Jesus. Brass
also means judgement and Jesus is the Judge. Jesus here is standing in
the midst of the churches.  Judgement begins at the house of God.
Jesus has overcome Satan and the demons.  We know the Word says that
Satan, his demons, and all who reject Jesus have been judged; and they
truly will spend an eternity in hell (furnace).

    The Bible says Satan is under Jesus' feet.  Here this is Jesus,
upright, not defeated, overcoming the devil and his angels.

    This voice is as the sound of many waters.  Waters like this
sometimes speak of large groups of people. I tend to believe that
Jesus speaks for the great masses of believers. I think of a great
waterfall such as Niagara Falls when I read about this sound.  The
sound would be powerful, beautiful, but frightening. I heard the voice
of God on several occasions. Each time, I was frightened with a
reverent fear. There is no doubt who this is, when you hear His
voice.

    Revelation 1:16 "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."

    The right hand has to do with the blessings of God.  The right
hand blessing was always the preferential blessing.  These seven stars
are blessed over abundantly of God because they are in the right hand
of Jesus. It was a double blessing. These seven stars are the
churches. He calls them stars, because they must shine in the world.
They do not produce light; they just reflect His Light to the world.
Jesus said to light this light and set it on a hill where all can see.
The darker the area, the more important it is to shine His Light, so
that those in darkness can come to the Light.

    Jesus is the Word of God. The Bible proceeded out of His mouth.
The Bible is the written Word of God. God is the author.  People like
Paul and John are just the penman, moved upon by the Holy Spirit to
put it down for all to see. This Bible is the two-edged sword, Old and
New Testament. This two-edged sword (law and grace) is the only weapon
that God's people need.  The Bible itself says, "...piercing even to
the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit..." Hebrews 4:12.  The
Word separates good and evil.  The cutting edge of the Word sometimes
even separates families. One who believes the Word cannot go back to
their old sinful lives, and this divides families and friends
sometimes.

    In John 1:1 We read. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
 was with God, and the Word was God." This Word divides the Spirit
from the flesh.  If you read it much, the Word will convict you of sin
in your life.  It will cause you to seek God and be saved.  The Word
is powerful.  The power of Jesus is beyond comprehension. He is the
Word. His Power, through His Word, has changed the whole world.  He is
Power. He is the source of all power, energy, and light. There is no
power greater.

    Read about great tribulation in Acts 14:22 and about weeping in
Psalms 30:5.  Read Exodus 33:14,15 about the presence of God with His
people.

                        Memorize Hebrews 4:12.






































                        Revelation Questions 03


1.  Who did John call himself?
2.  What are we companions with him in?
3.  What two things was John on the isle of Patmos for?
4.  What does John tell us that contradicts some of the teachings of
    prosperity?
5.  What separates believers and nonbelievers in trials?
6.  How many days and nights was Jesus tried?
7.  Whose patience did John possess?
8.  What worketh patience?
9.  In Acts, how does it say that we enter into the kingdom of God?
10. Name four people who had a great experience with God while they
    were in exile.
11. When John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, what did he hear?
    Where?
12. Is the Lord's day and the Sabbath the same?
13. This voice like a trumpet is what?
14. Name the seven churches.
15. These are the physical churches, who are the spiritual?
16. If there were about sixty known churches, why were these seven
    chosen to write to?
17. Why do we not always understand exactly what John is describing?
18. When John turned to see the voice what did he see?
19. What must we notice about the candlesticks?
20. Why is this important?
21. The light for these candlesticks, comes from where?
22. In the midst of the candlesticks, what did John see?
23. What does the garment to the foot show us?
24. What does the golden girdle tell us?
25. Why does Jesus stand before God?
26. What was the purpose of the high priest?
27. What was Jesus' hair like?
28. What were His eyes as?
29. What did Daniel call Jesus that indicates white hair?
30. What do I believe causes the whiteness?
31. What did John the Baptist say Jesus would baptize with?
32. What can this look of the fiery eyes of Jesus do to a church?
33. What were His feet likened unto?
34. What are two things this metal stands for?
35. Where does judgement begin?
36. What did the voice sound like?
37. What did He have in His right hand?
38. What do they stand for?
39. What came out of His mouth?  Why?
40. What is this symbolic of?
41. Why does he call them stars?
42. Who is the Word?
43. What is the Bible?
44. What does two-edged mean?
45. It is so piercing, it can even divide what?
46. Write Hebrews 4:12 from the Bible.
47. Write a short note on what message you received from this lesson.