Revelation is a Message to Believers

Revelation 1

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click here for a description of the image of the beast.

The “Little Book” is sweet in the mouth but bitter in the stomach.

In my experience, any conversation about the Revelation sparks a lot of debate and controversy. To be more precise, it invites conflict to create interference into understanding its contents. For obvious reasons. It brings to light those who live by the thing which forms what we think, feel, do, and say. It enables the image of the beast to live and speak through people in every city around the world. They make up the global culture of the beast. By what they say and do, they are groomed to the mark of the beast. This book of the Revelation uncovers the whole global agenda of the beast operating through the United Nations. Those things are revealed to us today, we are living in the fulfillment of the Revelation shown to us in this book.

The most important thing to know before delving into the Revelation is who Jesus Christ is. This first chapter explains who He is. The Revelation is a direct message from God to Jesus Christ and then to the Church. It is written on the authority of Jesus Christ. Chapter two is the beginning of the Revelation.

• The Revelation
• Identity of Jesus Christ
• Message is to Be Written to the Church
• The Seven Lampstands and the image of the Lord
• Writing on the Authority of Jesus Christ
• The Seven Messengers and Seven Churches

The Revelation. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place.” Revelation 1:1a. The Scripture of the Revelation is directly from the Lord Jesus Christ to be shared with everyone who lives for Him. The things being revealed were given to Jesus from God His Father. They are things which are already being revealed in this world today.

“And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.” Revelation 1:1b-2 The Apostle John is the one whom Jesus Christ chose to reveal the Revelation to us. He is known as the “beloved disciple” and the one who wrote the Gospel of John. He also wrote 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and is mentioned in the book of Acts alongside Peter. He was a witness to the life of the Lord Jesus and to His testimony about the Kingdom of God. John witnessed the crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, as well as the miracles He did and much more.

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” Revealtion1:3 As followers of Jesus Christ, we are blessed by reading and being able to understand the Revelation [we are actually witnessing the hand of God working in this world]. He is bringing judgment against the global culture of the beast. It’s important to take to heart what is written in the Revelation because the time is already here. The description of the beast given in Revelation 13 is already in the world today.

Identity of Jesus Christ. “John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:” Revelation 1:4a. The Revelation is written to the Seven Churches, which means it is written to everyone one of us who live for God through Jesus Christ. Click here for a post from Zachariah 4 on the Seven Churches. That also means it’s a message to the manmade churches which should be encouraging belief in God, should be a light for the Gospel of Christ, and should be embracing the Holy Spirit. Click here for posts on each of the Seven Churches from the Revelation chapters 2-3.

“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 from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 1:4b.-5a.

The followers of Jesus are sent grace and peace from within the pages of the Revelation. When we see what catastrophes happen against the global culture of the beast, we realize what God’s grace towards us means, which corresponds to our Salvation. Jesus Christ sends us grace and peace as He is alive in us today, He was here on earth to give His life to atone for sin, and He is coming back. Grace and peace are also sent from the Seven Spirits at the throne of God. And from God who existed from the beginning, exists today, and will exist tomorrow. Jesus Christ is the very first one God raised from the dead [which had nothing to do with the laws of Judaism] to inherit eternal life and because He lives, we will also inherit eternal life through Him. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Grace and peace come by keeping that in our heart in these times of the global government of the beast.

“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5b.-6 Glory to God for sending His Son Jesus Christ to wash us from our sins and making us a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9. “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Revelation 1:7 Jesus Christ is coming back, a sad and remorseful day for those who persecuted Him and had a hand in His death. In contrast, The Day of the Lord is a day of grace, peace, and rejoicing for those who hold to His testimony.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8 Jesus Christ is all in all, He is the beginning and the end, He is everything from “A” to “Z”. Through Him all things were created and as we see in the Revelation through Him is the end of this present creation.

Message is to Be Written to the Church. “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:9 The Island of Patmos was an island where prisoners were sent to a prison to keep them far away from any interaction with mainstream society. The Romans and Jews were trying to stomp out the spread of the Gospel of Christ. Today, we who live for the testimony of Jesus Chris are kept from interacting with mainstream society. The teachings of the Bible are not wanted anywhere in the social network dominated by those who live for the thing forming what they say, think, feel, and do. The Apostle John is truly our brother and companion in the tribulation and patience of Jesus Christ.

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” Revelation 1:10-11 While imprisoned on the Island of Patmos, John wrote down everything He saw to write the Revelation to send to the Seven Churches. The message to the Seven Churches mirrors exactly what we are seeing happening in the manmade churches of today. Of the seven churches, there are only two faithful witnesses to the testimony of Jesus Christ. That reveals a lot about the souls of people in every city around the world. As followers of Jesus Christ, if all we can do is write a blog, do it, let’s spread the Gospel of Christ the best way we can.

Click here for posts on each of the Seven Churches from the Revelation chapters 2-3.

The Seven Lampstands and the image of the Lord. “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,” Revelation 1:12 “…the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20c. A lampstand is made to hold a lamp to shine a light in a room. The Seven Golden Lampstands are the Seven Churches which are supposed to be shining a light on the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be a light to the world. Click here for a post from Zachariah 4 on the Seven Golden Lampstands.

“…and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man,” Revelation 1:13a.  Jesus Christ is to be the center of the mission of the churches of today.

“…clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.” Revelation 1:13b. Jesus Christ is clothed with Holiness to cover His whole body. The golden band reveals how valuable the Churches are to Him and how close they are to his heart. “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;” Revelation 1:14 Hair white like wool symbolizes old age to represent the end times of this world, and eyes like fire is because what He sees brings His judgment. “His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;” Revelation 1:15 The feet like brass represents His immovable judgment refined in His Holiness, and with His powerful voice as He speaks against the churches and the global culture of the beast.

 “He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” Revelation 1:16 “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,” Revelation 1:20c. The Seven Stars are His angels in the churches, the sharp two-edged sword is the word of God separating those faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ from those who are not. And His bright and shining face like the sun is to impress on the churches that He is indeed the Light of the World.

Writing on the Authority of Jesus Christ. “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen” Revelation 1:17-18a. The Apostle John was in the presence of the Holiness of God and His immovable judgment. John fell dead at His feet. We are all sinners saved only by the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ and are as dead in the presence of God’s Holiness. However, to all who live for Him through His Son Jesus, He says, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.” He began our Salvation and He will finish it, as quoted below,

…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

“And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” Revelation 1:18b.19 Jesus Christ has the keys to hell and death, which means according to His Holy judgment He decides who are condemned to hell and who has eternal life in Heaven. By what is written in the Revelation we are aware of the reality of His existence and His hand at work in the world. We rejoice to choose life in Jesus Christ and reject the beast who brings death. We know the image of the beast is already in the world because it is living and speaking through people by the thing forming what people say, do, feel, and speak. They are conformed to the global culture as they are groomed to the mark of the beast. The way the churches are in the world today are exactly as described in the Revelation. The future of the world under the United Nations (global government of the beast) is heading for severe catastrophe.

The Seven Messengers and Seven Churches. “The mystery of the seven stars which 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 which you saw are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20

Angels are messengers of God, and there is one in every church to minister to those who will inherit Salvation. “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14 A church without a ministering angel is a church totally devoid of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Seven Lampstands are the Seven churches, meaning they are meant to be the light of the world to shine with the testimony of Jesus who is the Light of the World.