April 7, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Jesus' earthly appearance was probably quite ordinary like any other
Jewish man, but when we see him in heaven, his
appearance will be anything but ordinary. Today, on turning point,
doctor David Jeremiah shares the Apostle John's vision of the
glorified Christ in the Book of Revelation and what it
(00:25):
means for us today. Listen as David introduces his awe
inspiring message Christ and his churches.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And thank you so much for joining us. If you
want a picture of Jesus Christ that will put wonderful
awe in your soul, it is here in the first
chapter of the Book of Revelation that you will find it.
In dramatic terms, John describes him in all of his
glory as he is seated in heaven, and we will
(00:54):
discuss much of that here in these next few days.
But here are the opportunities that we have coming forward.
Each of these churches that he's going to address is
representative of churches in the past and churches in the present.
But it's even more than that. Each of these churches
represent individuals. You will find yourself in one of these churches.
You will say that's me, and you will find instruction
(01:17):
from the Lord as to what to do. So we'll
get to the first edition of Christ and His Churches
in just a moment. First, there's no doubt that the
world is in trouble, and we look out at streets
that are filled with violence. We hear increasingly divisive political
debates that spotlight deep and bitter divisions in our culture.
(01:39):
We feel the pain and confusion of a world that
seems to be coming apart at the seams, and we
don't know what to do, and we don't know where
it's going, and we don't know what to expect. But
if we're Christians, we must not go down that road
because we have been given a map. We've been given
a full length picture of where this is headed. And
(02:01):
if we know this, if we know what God is
up to and what is going to happen as we
move into the future, it is so settling and so
calming and so important. Now, wonder the Bible says that
when you read the Book of Revelation, you're blessed. It
is true. So let me encourage you to stay with
us through this whole series. And today we continue our
(02:21):
discussion of the Book of Revelation as we turn to
the first chapter again and talk about Christ and his churches.
This is part one of this discussion, and it centers
on Revelation chapter one, verses nine through twenty.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
When you think about the days in which Jesus walked
upon this earth, do you ever find yourself wondering, I
wonder what he looked like. I wonder what his speetures
were while here on the earth. Well, depending upon how
you interpret the Book of the Song of Solomon, many
believe that the Song of Solomon is a pre incarnate
(03:01):
picture of the Lord Jesus. And there's a wonderful passage
in Song of Solomon chapter five, verses ten through fifteen
that describes him ahead of time, so to speak, and
it describes him like this. It says, his locks are
bushy and black, as a raven that would fall right
into the keeping of his being a jew, Jesus probably
(03:24):
had black hair and eyebrows and beard. This picture that
we view in the Book of Revelation is not the
lowly Galilean of the gospels. This is the glorified risen
Jesus Christ, the Almighty God, with eyes like a flame
(03:44):
of fire that pierce and burn. This Jesus of Revelation
one is the judge before whom all of us will
someday stand. He is not seen here as the Lamb
of God, as he is found often in the Book
of Revelation, but here in chapter one he is seen
as the lion from the tribe of Judah, and his
(04:06):
eyes are as a flame of fire. Now, the picture
that we have of Jesus in the first chapter was
a picture that John saw while he was a prisoner
on the Isle of Patmos. The vision, first of all,
was seen by John while in exile on Patmos. It
(04:29):
is interesting as you read back through the scripture to
discover just how much of the Bible was written under duress.
Moses wrote the Pentituke in the wilderness. David wrote many
of his psalms while he was running away from Saul.
Isaiah lived in difficult days and died of martyr's death.
Ezekiel wrote in exile, Jeremiah's life was a life of
(04:52):
trial and persecution. Peter wrote his two letters just before
his martyrdom, and when Paul was an Antioch he tried
to prepare the Christians in Antioch for such a lifestyle.
He told them, it says in Acts chapter fourteen twenty two,
that he confirmed the souls of the disciples, and he
exhorted them to continue in the faith, and that we must,
(05:14):
through much tribulation, inherit the Kingdom of God. And Paul
lived to see that in his own life. Paul didn't
get by without experiencing the tribulation which he prophesied. He
suffered much tribulation and literally gave his life for that
which he believed for you see, tribulation is the common
heritage of the people of God, and the apostle John,
(05:36):
who writes the Book of Revelation, did not enjoy any
immunity from tribulation. He was exiled on a lonely island
by the Roman Emperor Domitian in retribution for his vibrant
testimony for Jesus Christ. In these dark circumstances, on that island,
isolated from all of his loved ones and all of
(05:58):
the human fellowship that he had come to know with
his fellow believers, John the Apostle received the most extensive
revelation of future events shown to any writer in the
New Testament. He was shut out from the world, but
in that position of being shut out from the world,
he was shut up to God, and in that exile,
(06:19):
God gave to him the glorious revelation that we have
commenced to study. He was banished, the scripture says to Patmos,
a small barren, rocky island in the Aegean Sea, ten
miles long six miles wide, some ten miles southeast of Ephesus.
(06:42):
One historian by the name of Tacitus says that the
sea was thickly strewn with exiles those days. The craigs
were stained with the blood of victims. And the Bible
tells us how it was that John was put on
that island and why he was punished for We read
that he was on the isle called Patmos. Now watch
this for the word of God and the testimony of
(07:06):
Jesus Christ. Literally, the text says, on account of John
was put on the isle of Patmos, on account of
the word of God, and on account of his testimony.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
For Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
He was exiled there because he was a testimony for
his Lord. One writer on the Book of Revelation, Sir
William Ramsay, describes exile, and he said it was much
like the death penalty. It was preceded by scourging, marked
by perpetual fetters, scanty clothing, insufficient food, sleep on the
(07:41):
bare ground in a dark prison, and work under the
lash of military overseers.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
There was no.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Picnic that John enjoyed on the Isle of Patmos. It
was a time of trial and persecution. Now, the reason
that John was chosen to be exiled there is that
he was the patriarch and the leader of the believers
in the Roman province of Asia. He lived in Ephesus,
and he was such a powerful preacher of the Word
of God, and such a clear witness for the Lord
(08:09):
Jesus Christ, that it seemed only logical that if they
could destroy John, they would greatly weaken the Christian testimony.
So they took John out, and they put him on
the Isle of Patmus. And in order to weaken the church,
and so that the Emperor could have his way. We
are reminded in two Timothy three twelve that all that
(08:30):
live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It is
interesting to me as I read about John, that the
title he was given when he was writing the Fourth Gospel,
the title that he spoke so often about himself, was
he was the disciple who Jesus loved.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Mark it down in your book.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Just because he was the disciple who Jesus loved didn't
keep him from going through trouble. He was the disciple
whom Jesus loved, who spent all the time those years
on the isle of Patmos. Walter Scott has written that
tribulation is the appointed path to the Kingdom, and the
only way you can get to the kingdom is in
the patience of Christ. There are trials and sufferings on
(09:14):
that road, he said, and no one ever finally escapes them.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
So the book was.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Written by John while he was a prisoner on the
isle of Patmos. Now the next verse tells us that
he was on the isle of Patmos, but that he
got this vision while he was in the spirit on
the Lord's Day. Verse ten says, I was in the
spirit on the Lord's Day. Now, we hear a lot
(09:40):
today about being in the spirit, and you don't ever
know for sure what people mean when they talk about that,
but you can pretty well tell what John meant. For
this phrase is used quite a few times in this book.
In chapter four and verse two, we read and immediately
I was in the spirit, and behold a throne in heaven,
and one sat on the throne. In chapter seventeen and
(10:04):
verse three we read, so he carried me away in
the spirit under the wilderness, and I saw a woman
sit upon a scarlet covered beast. In chapter twenty one,
in verse ten, we read, and he carried me away
in the spirit to a great and high mountain. Actually,
the phrase I became in spirit is the way you
should say it. He's not saying I was in the spirit.
(10:25):
He said I became in spirit. I was spiritized. What
happened to John was that his normal bodily condition of
limitation of time and space were momentarily set aside. And
now he is in the realm of spirit. And he
moves in the realm of spirit in two directions. He
moves upward and he moves forward. He moves upward, first
(10:46):
of all to see things in heaven he could never
have seen. But he moves forward in time to view
the future he could never live. What did John mean
when it says here, I was in the spirit on
the Lord's Day. When we talk about the Lord's Day today,
we always talk about Sunday.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
That's the Lord's Day.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
And there are some folks that believe that this verse
teaches that John was in the spirit on Sunday and
he got this revelation. Now, there's only one problem with
that in my estimation. In fact, there's two to three.
You can hold to that if you want to. The
first problem I have to ask you is how in
the world that poor man could have gotten his whole
book on one Sunday's more than I can imagine. And
(11:28):
yet that's what it says, he was in the spirit
on Sunday. If that's what you mean, I don't believe
that's what it means at all. Secondly, in the New Testament,
you never have the word Lord's Day to refer to
Sunday except here. The only time that's ever used to
refer to Sunday is here. The rest of the time,
when the believers talked about Sunday, they always called it
(11:48):
the first day of the week. The alternative to taking
this as Sunday is to understand it as.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
The day of the Lord.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
In other words, John is saying, I was in the spirit,
and I was conveyed in the spirit to the day
of the Lord. And that makes the most sense, because
this whole book is about the day of the Lord,
and you say well, why didn't they say that that way? Well,
the Hebrews couldn't say the Lord's day the way the
Greeks say it. The Hebrews didn't have the way of
doing that, so they had to say it the long way.
(12:19):
The Greek has an expression for this, and so it's
possible to say the Lord's day and mean the day
of the Lord. I personally believe that what John is
saying is this.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
I was in the.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Spirit, I was spiritized, and I was conveyed upward to
see the universe from heavenly viewpoint. And I was conveyed
forward so that I could see everything in my vision
of the day of the Lord. And what transpires in
this book, then, is what he saw when he was
in the spirit and conveyed forward to the Lord's Day. Now,
(12:50):
the third thing we note about this vision is that
it not only was received by John while he was
on the Isle of Patmos and received in the spirit
in the Lord's day, but it was thirdly a vision
written by John and sent to the seven churches. Notice
verse eleven saying, I am Alpha and Omega the first
and the last. What thou seest write in a book
(13:10):
and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia,
and then it lists the churches. John was told by
the Lord that he was to see this vision in
the spirit, and he was to write it down.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
In fact, twelve.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Times in the Book of Revelation, John's told to write
it down. Every time he gets a great vision, He's
reminded by the Lord, make sure to write it down. Now,
as John turns from his vision, he sees in his vision,
first of all, seven golden lamp stands appear before him,
and they are declared to be the seven churches. Lamp Stands,
(13:46):
of course, are a picture of light, and they represent light.
And lamp stands, of course are for the night. While
the day lasts day are needless. Jesus said, I must
work the works of Him that sent me while it
is day. The night comes when no man can work.
As long as I.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Now that Jesus Christ has been banished from the world,
the night will continue until he comes back, and then
we'll have day again. But in the night of the
absence of Jesus, he has lifted up the lamp stands
to bring light to this world. And the Bible tells
us that these lamp stands are seven in number, and
they represent the Church of Jesus Christ. They are seven,
(14:28):
and they represent the corporate Church. They represent all of us.
John saw, first of all, in his vision, the vision
that God told him to write down.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
He saw in a dark night.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Seven lamp stands, representing the light of Christ in a
dark world. And those seven lamp stands were the churches
of Jesus Christ. And then we read and in the
midst of the seven candlesticks, verse thirteen, one like unto
the Son of Man. And John, in his vision sees
(15:02):
these seven churches in a circle, and in the midst
of that circle, he sees Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ in
the midst of his churches. Now, let's notice that this
vision that John sees is a vision of the glorified
risen Son of Man. He talks now in these next
(15:27):
verses about the Christ that he saw, and he gives
a verse by verse, a word by word exposition of
the one he saw in the midst of the seven candlesticks,
one like untoo, the Son of Man. Before we take
these descriptive terms and look at them individually briefly, it
(15:49):
is interesting that there have been others who have seen
the glorified Lord.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
If you go through the Bible, you will see it.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Moses saw him and came down off the mountain with
a shining face. Job saw him and abhorred himself and
repented in dust and ashes. Isaiah saw him, and then
he saw himself and he cried out, I'm unclean. Saul
saw him and fell down and claimed him as his savior.
Now John sees him, and John falls down at his
(16:19):
feet as if he was dead. What John saw was
for all of us, because you see, the Bible tells
us he was told to write it down. John, I
want you to see it, and you write it down,
because people after.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
You're gone will want to know what you saw.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
And the Bible says John sees one like unto the
son of Man. The phrase the son of Man is
found in the Bible, often, especially in the Book of Ezekiel,
at least once in the Book of Daniel, and some
seventy times. It is used to describe Jesus Christ, the
son of God is the son of man.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
It is a word to talk of his incarnation.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
It speaks of Jesus Christ as the god Man walking
on this Earth, and the Son of Man glorified is
the one that John sees. Now, I want you to
notice two things about the Son of Man in the
midst of the churches. First of all, I want you
to note his position, the position of Christ in the
vision It says here and in the midst of the
(17:18):
seven golden candlesticks was Jesus Christ. Notice down in verse
one of chapter two, unto the Angel of the Church
of Ephesus, right these things saith he that holdeth the
seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks. That is a wonderful
(17:38):
picture of Jesus Christ right in the midst of his church,
all of us in the Church of Jesus Christ, and
Christ in the center. The lamp stands which represented the
churches were arranged in a circle, and in the midst
of this circle stood the Son of God. And that
is a true picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and
(17:58):
the desired relationship he would have with us. Matthew eighteen
twenty says, where two or three are gathered together in
my name, what is the rest of it? There?
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Am I ware? In their midst?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
John has pictured the centrality of Christ in the midst
of his churches, and then he begins to describe him.
The second part of this vision is not only the
position of Christ in the midst of his church, but
now the portrait of Christ. I wish I were an
artist if I could adequately portray the description of Jesus
(18:34):
in this passage. It would be such an awesome picture.
I doubt if it is paintable. I doubt if it
was ever intended to be painted. For while it is
a picture given to us in human terms so that
we can understand it, it is also a symbolic picture
which could never ever be totally fleshed out in the
(18:56):
body of an individual as we know him. Take it
and describe it as John does. First of all, he
talks about his clothing. He said, and in the midst
of the seven candlesticks, one like under the son of Man,
clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird
about the paps with a golden girdle. Two parts of
(19:17):
his clothing are mentioned. First of all, the long flowing robe.
I saw him, and the Bible says in verse thirteen,
there was a garment down to the foot, a long
flowing robe down to the foot. There is a passage
in Isaiah that explains that Isaiah the prophet in the
sixth chapter of Isaiah, saw a picture of the Lord
(19:40):
just like this one.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
And this is what he said.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
In the year that King Eusiah died, I saw the
Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and
the train of his robe filled the entire temple. Wow,
I can't imagine that. I've seen some long train, but
I can't imagine a robe long enough to fill the temple.
(20:03):
That's the majestic picture that John sees of our Lord
clothed in his robe of majesty. And that's the first
thing that he notices. And then he has a girdle
wrapped around his breast. And that girdle, according to the scripture,
is a golden girdle, and it speaks of the righteousness
of Christ. Isaiah eleven five says, and the righteousness shall
(20:27):
be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle
of his reigns.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
On one occasion in the.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
New Testament, we read about Jesus Christ girding himself, do
you remember, And he took a towel and he girded
himself with a servant's towel, and he washed the feet
of his disciples. He's no longer the servant. He's the king.
And he is dressed in a long, majestic robe, with
(20:56):
that golden girdle around his breast, signifying his righteousness. And
then the Bible goes on to describe his head and
his hair. His head and his hairs were white like wool,
as white as snow. What that means is this, This
speaks of his eternity or his duration. The snowy white
(21:18):
hair of his head is not the white hair of senility,
but of absolute holiness. It represents the wisdom of a judge.
Have you ever seen any of those old television programs
where they have the English courts and they put on
those white wigs. They do it because it was something
(21:39):
that came to be a symbol of the judge, a
symbol of righteousness and justice. This description of the Lord
is like that of Daniel in the seventh chapter. Let
me just rate a verse from Daniel seven, verse nine.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Listen to it. And the ancient of days.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Did sit whose garment was white as snow, and the
hair of his head like pure wolf. Now are you
getting the picture? John sees Jesus standing in the midst
of his churches, a long flowing robe, girt about the
breast with the golden girdle, and his hair white as snow,
pure white. And then he describes his eyes watch this,
(22:22):
and his eyes were as a flame of fire verse fourteen.
You know, I can't help but make the comparison. John
was the one who walked with Jesus most closely when
Jesus was on this earth. Can you imagine the contrast
that John must have felt. John had remembered seeing Jesus
(22:44):
with his eyes filled with tears.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Now they are filled with fire.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
His eyes penetrate into the deepest depths of the soul.
His eyes see everything in life, and in your life.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
And in mind.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
There is nothing hidden from the piercing fire eyes of Jesus.
His x ray vision and his anger are symbolized by
this close up of his eyes. Hebrews four thirteen says this,
neither is there any creature that is not manifest in
his sight, But all things are naked and open unto
(23:20):
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
I hear people talking about how they're gonna fool God.
And I want to tell you something. When you stand
before this judge draped in the long robe with the
white hair and his eyes like fire, his piercing eyes
will look right through your life and uncover everything you've
ever done. There is no escaping the eyes of the
(23:42):
judge who comes to judge.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Well, we'll have more of the description of Christ from
Revelation chapter one as we get together tomorrow here on
this good station for Christ and his churches. Part two.
Let me remind you there are a study materials available
for this series. There are study guides. There are four
of them. It takes four full length study guides to
get through this and encouraging study from the Book of Revelation.
(24:10):
So we're going to be at this for a while,
and you may want to go to David Jeremiah dot
org and order all four of the study guides so
you'll have them as we go along. There's also a
book that you might want to have that will help
you as you read through the Book of Revelation. This
is a contemporary commentary and it's called Escape the Coming Night.
(24:31):
It's two hundred and ninety pages of contemporary teaching on
the Book of revelation that goes right along with this series.
Yours for the asking when you send a gift to
Turning Point during the month of April. I hope you'll
do that, and we'll see you right here tomorrow for
the next edition.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
For more information on Doctor Jeremiah series Escape the Coming Night,
please visit our website, where we also offer two free
ways to help you stay connected, our monthly magazine Turning
Points and our daily email devotional Sign up today at
David Jeremiah dot org slash Radio. That's David Jeremiah dot
org slash Radio, or call us at eight hundred nine
(25:17):
four seven nineteen ninety three ask for your copy of
David's best selling, in depth book on revelation, Escape the
Coming Night. This helpful resource is yours for a gift
of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study
Bible in the English Standard, New International and New King
James versions, complete with notes and articles from doctor Jeremiah's
(25:39):
decades of study. Get all the details when you visit
our website. David Jeremiah dot org slash Radio. This is
David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the
series Escape the Coming Night on Turning Point with doctor
David Jeremiah
Jesus' earthly appearance was probably quite ordinary like any other
Jewish man, but when we see him in heaven, his
appearance will be anything but ordinary. Today, on turning point,
doctor David Jeremiah shares the Apostle John's vision of the
glorified Christ in the Book of Revelation and what it
(00:25):
means for us today. Listen as David introduces his awe
inspiring message Christ and his churches.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And thank you so much for joining us. If you
want a picture of Jesus Christ that will put wonderful
awe in your soul, it is here in the first
chapter of the Book of Revelation that you will find it.
In dramatic terms, John describes him in all of his
glory as he is seated in heaven, and we will
(00:54):
discuss much of that here in these next few days.
But here are the opportunities that we have coming forward.
Each of these churches that he's going to address is
representative of churches in the past and churches in the present.
But it's even more than that. Each of these churches
represent individuals. You will find yourself in one of these churches.
You will say that's me, and you will find instruction
(01:17):
from the Lord as to what to do. So we'll
get to the first edition of Christ and His Churches
in just a moment. First, there's no doubt that the
world is in trouble, and we look out at streets
that are filled with violence. We hear increasingly divisive political
debates that spotlight deep and bitter divisions in our culture.
(01:39):
We feel the pain and confusion of a world that
seems to be coming apart at the seams, and we
don't know what to do, and we don't know where
it's going, and we don't know what to expect. But
if we're Christians, we must not go down that road
because we have been given a map. We've been given
a full length picture of where this is headed. And
(02:01):
if we know this, if we know what God is
up to and what is going to happen as we
move into the future, it is so settling and so
calming and so important. Now, wonder the Bible says that
when you read the Book of Revelation, you're blessed. It
is true. So let me encourage you to stay with
us through this whole series. And today we continue our
(02:21):
discussion of the Book of Revelation as we turn to
the first chapter again and talk about Christ and his churches.
This is part one of this discussion, and it centers
on Revelation chapter one, verses nine through twenty.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
When you think about the days in which Jesus walked
upon this earth, do you ever find yourself wondering, I
wonder what he looked like. I wonder what his speetures
were while here on the earth. Well, depending upon how
you interpret the Book of the Song of Solomon, many
believe that the Song of Solomon is a pre incarnate
(03:01):
picture of the Lord Jesus. And there's a wonderful passage
in Song of Solomon chapter five, verses ten through fifteen
that describes him ahead of time, so to speak, and
it describes him like this. It says, his locks are
bushy and black, as a raven that would fall right
into the keeping of his being a jew, Jesus probably
(03:24):
had black hair and eyebrows and beard. This picture that
we view in the Book of Revelation is not the
lowly Galilean of the gospels. This is the glorified risen
Jesus Christ, the Almighty God, with eyes like a flame
(03:44):
of fire that pierce and burn. This Jesus of Revelation
one is the judge before whom all of us will
someday stand. He is not seen here as the Lamb
of God, as he is found often in the Book
of Revelation, but here in chapter one he is seen
as the lion from the tribe of Judah, and his
(04:06):
eyes are as a flame of fire. Now, the picture
that we have of Jesus in the first chapter was
a picture that John saw while he was a prisoner
on the Isle of Patmos. The vision, first of all,
was seen by John while in exile on Patmos. It
(04:29):
is interesting as you read back through the scripture to
discover just how much of the Bible was written under duress.
Moses wrote the Pentituke in the wilderness. David wrote many
of his psalms while he was running away from Saul.
Isaiah lived in difficult days and died of martyr's death.
Ezekiel wrote in exile, Jeremiah's life was a life of
(04:52):
trial and persecution. Peter wrote his two letters just before
his martyrdom, and when Paul was an Antioch he tried
to prepare the Christians in Antioch for such a lifestyle.
He told them, it says in Acts chapter fourteen twenty two,
that he confirmed the souls of the disciples, and he
exhorted them to continue in the faith, and that we must,
(05:14):
through much tribulation, inherit the Kingdom of God. And Paul
lived to see that in his own life. Paul didn't
get by without experiencing the tribulation which he prophesied. He
suffered much tribulation and literally gave his life for that
which he believed for you see, tribulation is the common
heritage of the people of God, and the apostle John,
(05:36):
who writes the Book of Revelation, did not enjoy any
immunity from tribulation. He was exiled on a lonely island
by the Roman Emperor Domitian in retribution for his vibrant
testimony for Jesus Christ. In these dark circumstances, on that island,
isolated from all of his loved ones and all of
(05:58):
the human fellowship that he had come to know with
his fellow believers, John the Apostle received the most extensive
revelation of future events shown to any writer in the
New Testament. He was shut out from the world, but
in that position of being shut out from the world,
he was shut up to God, and in that exile,
(06:19):
God gave to him the glorious revelation that we have
commenced to study. He was banished, the scripture says to Patmos,
a small barren, rocky island in the Aegean Sea, ten
miles long six miles wide, some ten miles southeast of Ephesus.
(06:42):
One historian by the name of Tacitus says that the
sea was thickly strewn with exiles those days. The craigs
were stained with the blood of victims. And the Bible
tells us how it was that John was put on
that island and why he was punished for We read
that he was on the isle called Patmos. Now watch
this for the word of God and the testimony of
(07:06):
Jesus Christ. Literally, the text says, on account of John
was put on the isle of Patmos, on account of
the word of God, and on account of his testimony.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
For Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
He was exiled there because he was a testimony for
his Lord. One writer on the Book of Revelation, Sir
William Ramsay, describes exile, and he said it was much
like the death penalty. It was preceded by scourging, marked
by perpetual fetters, scanty clothing, insufficient food, sleep on the
(07:41):
bare ground in a dark prison, and work under the
lash of military overseers.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
There was no.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Picnic that John enjoyed on the Isle of Patmos. It
was a time of trial and persecution. Now, the reason
that John was chosen to be exiled there is that
he was the patriarch and the leader of the believers
in the Roman province of Asia. He lived in Ephesus,
and he was such a powerful preacher of the Word
of God, and such a clear witness for the Lord
(08:09):
Jesus Christ, that it seemed only logical that if they
could destroy John, they would greatly weaken the Christian testimony.
So they took John out, and they put him on
the Isle of Patmus. And in order to weaken the church,
and so that the Emperor could have his way. We
are reminded in two Timothy three twelve that all that
(08:30):
live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It is
interesting to me as I read about John, that the
title he was given when he was writing the Fourth Gospel,
the title that he spoke so often about himself, was
he was the disciple who Jesus loved.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Mark it down in your book.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Just because he was the disciple who Jesus loved didn't
keep him from going through trouble. He was the disciple
whom Jesus loved, who spent all the time those years
on the isle of Patmos. Walter Scott has written that
tribulation is the appointed path to the Kingdom, and the
only way you can get to the kingdom is in
the patience of Christ. There are trials and sufferings on
(09:14):
that road, he said, and no one ever finally escapes them.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
So the book was.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Written by John while he was a prisoner on the
isle of Patmos. Now the next verse tells us that
he was on the isle of Patmos, but that he
got this vision while he was in the spirit on
the Lord's Day. Verse ten says, I was in the
spirit on the Lord's Day. Now, we hear a lot
(09:40):
today about being in the spirit, and you don't ever
know for sure what people mean when they talk about that,
but you can pretty well tell what John meant. For
this phrase is used quite a few times in this book.
In chapter four and verse two, we read and immediately
I was in the spirit, and behold a throne in heaven,
and one sat on the throne. In chapter seventeen and
(10:04):
verse three we read, so he carried me away in
the spirit under the wilderness, and I saw a woman
sit upon a scarlet covered beast. In chapter twenty one,
in verse ten, we read, and he carried me away
in the spirit to a great and high mountain. Actually,
the phrase I became in spirit is the way you
should say it. He's not saying I was in the spirit.
(10:25):
He said I became in spirit. I was spiritized. What
happened to John was that his normal bodily condition of
limitation of time and space were momentarily set aside. And
now he is in the realm of spirit. And he
moves in the realm of spirit in two directions. He
moves upward and he moves forward. He moves upward, first
(10:46):
of all to see things in heaven he could never
have seen. But he moves forward in time to view
the future he could never live. What did John mean
when it says here, I was in the spirit on
the Lord's Day. When we talk about the Lord's Day today,
we always talk about Sunday.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
That's the Lord's Day.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
And there are some folks that believe that this verse
teaches that John was in the spirit on Sunday and
he got this revelation. Now, there's only one problem with
that in my estimation. In fact, there's two to three.
You can hold to that if you want to. The
first problem I have to ask you is how in
the world that poor man could have gotten his whole
book on one Sunday's more than I can imagine. And
(11:28):
yet that's what it says, he was in the spirit
on Sunday. If that's what you mean, I don't believe
that's what it means at all. Secondly, in the New Testament,
you never have the word Lord's Day to refer to
Sunday except here. The only time that's ever used to
refer to Sunday is here. The rest of the time,
when the believers talked about Sunday, they always called it
(11:48):
the first day of the week. The alternative to taking
this as Sunday is to understand it as.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
The day of the Lord.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
In other words, John is saying, I was in the spirit,
and I was conveyed in the spirit to the day
of the Lord. And that makes the most sense, because
this whole book is about the day of the Lord,
and you say well, why didn't they say that that way? Well,
the Hebrews couldn't say the Lord's day the way the
Greeks say it. The Hebrews didn't have the way of
doing that, so they had to say it the long way.
(12:19):
The Greek has an expression for this, and so it's
possible to say the Lord's day and mean the day
of the Lord. I personally believe that what John is
saying is this.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
I was in the.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Spirit, I was spiritized, and I was conveyed upward to
see the universe from heavenly viewpoint. And I was conveyed
forward so that I could see everything in my vision
of the day of the Lord. And what transpires in
this book, then, is what he saw when he was
in the spirit and conveyed forward to the Lord's Day. Now,
(12:50):
the third thing we note about this vision is that
it not only was received by John while he was
on the Isle of Patmos and received in the spirit
in the Lord's day, but it was thirdly a vision
written by John and sent to the seven churches. Notice
verse eleven saying, I am Alpha and Omega the first
and the last. What thou seest write in a book
(13:10):
and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia,
and then it lists the churches. John was told by
the Lord that he was to see this vision in
the spirit, and he was to write it down.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
In fact, twelve.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Times in the Book of Revelation, John's told to write
it down. Every time he gets a great vision, He's
reminded by the Lord, make sure to write it down. Now,
as John turns from his vision, he sees in his vision,
first of all, seven golden lamp stands appear before him,
and they are declared to be the seven churches. Lamp Stands,
(13:46):
of course, are a picture of light, and they represent light.
And lamp stands, of course are for the night. While
the day lasts day are needless. Jesus said, I must
work the works of Him that sent me while it
is day. The night comes when no man can work.
As long as I.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Now that Jesus Christ has been banished from the world,
the night will continue until he comes back, and then
we'll have day again. But in the night of the
absence of Jesus, he has lifted up the lamp stands
to bring light to this world. And the Bible tells
us that these lamp stands are seven in number, and
they represent the Church of Jesus Christ. They are seven,
(14:28):
and they represent the corporate Church. They represent all of us.
John saw, first of all, in his vision, the vision
that God told him to write down.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
He saw in a dark night.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Seven lamp stands, representing the light of Christ in a
dark world. And those seven lamp stands were the churches
of Jesus Christ. And then we read and in the
midst of the seven candlesticks, verse thirteen, one like unto
the Son of Man. And John, in his vision sees
(15:02):
these seven churches in a circle, and in the midst
of that circle, he sees Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ in
the midst of his churches. Now, let's notice that this
vision that John sees is a vision of the glorified
risen Son of Man. He talks now in these next
(15:27):
verses about the Christ that he saw, and he gives
a verse by verse, a word by word exposition of
the one he saw in the midst of the seven candlesticks,
one like untoo, the Son of Man. Before we take
these descriptive terms and look at them individually briefly, it
(15:49):
is interesting that there have been others who have seen
the glorified Lord.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
If you go through the Bible, you will see it.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Moses saw him and came down off the mountain with
a shining face. Job saw him and abhorred himself and
repented in dust and ashes. Isaiah saw him, and then
he saw himself and he cried out, I'm unclean. Saul
saw him and fell down and claimed him as his savior.
Now John sees him, and John falls down at his
(16:19):
feet as if he was dead. What John saw was
for all of us, because you see, the Bible tells
us he was told to write it down. John, I
want you to see it, and you write it down,
because people after.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
You're gone will want to know what you saw.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
And the Bible says John sees one like unto the
son of Man. The phrase the son of Man is
found in the Bible, often, especially in the Book of Ezekiel,
at least once in the Book of Daniel, and some
seventy times. It is used to describe Jesus Christ, the
son of God is the son of man.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
It is a word to talk of his incarnation.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
It speaks of Jesus Christ as the god Man walking
on this Earth, and the Son of Man glorified is
the one that John sees. Now, I want you to
notice two things about the Son of Man in the
midst of the churches. First of all, I want you
to note his position, the position of Christ in the
vision It says here and in the midst of the
(17:18):
seven golden candlesticks was Jesus Christ. Notice down in verse
one of chapter two, unto the Angel of the Church
of Ephesus, right these things saith he that holdeth the
seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks. That is a wonderful
(17:38):
picture of Jesus Christ right in the midst of his church,
all of us in the Church of Jesus Christ, and
Christ in the center. The lamp stands which represented the
churches were arranged in a circle, and in the midst
of this circle stood the Son of God. And that
is a true picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and
(17:58):
the desired relationship he would have with us. Matthew eighteen
twenty says, where two or three are gathered together in
my name, what is the rest of it? There?
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Am I ware? In their midst?
Speaker 3 (18:10):
John has pictured the centrality of Christ in the midst
of his churches, and then he begins to describe him.
The second part of this vision is not only the
position of Christ in the midst of his church, but
now the portrait of Christ. I wish I were an
artist if I could adequately portray the description of Jesus
(18:34):
in this passage. It would be such an awesome picture.
I doubt if it is paintable. I doubt if it
was ever intended to be painted. For while it is
a picture given to us in human terms so that
we can understand it, it is also a symbolic picture
which could never ever be totally fleshed out in the
(18:56):
body of an individual as we know him. Take it
and describe it as John does. First of all, he
talks about his clothing. He said, and in the midst
of the seven candlesticks, one like under the son of Man,
clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird
about the paps with a golden girdle. Two parts of
(19:17):
his clothing are mentioned. First of all, the long flowing robe.
I saw him, and the Bible says in verse thirteen,
there was a garment down to the foot, a long
flowing robe down to the foot. There is a passage
in Isaiah that explains that Isaiah the prophet in the
sixth chapter of Isaiah, saw a picture of the Lord
(19:40):
just like this one.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
And this is what he said.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
In the year that King Eusiah died, I saw the
Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and
the train of his robe filled the entire temple. Wow,
I can't imagine that. I've seen some long train, but
I can't imagine a robe long enough to fill the temple.
(20:03):
That's the majestic picture that John sees of our Lord
clothed in his robe of majesty. And that's the first
thing that he notices. And then he has a girdle
wrapped around his breast. And that girdle, according to the scripture,
is a golden girdle, and it speaks of the righteousness
of Christ. Isaiah eleven five says, and the righteousness shall
(20:27):
be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle
of his reigns.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
On one occasion in the.
Speaker 3 (20:34):
New Testament, we read about Jesus Christ girding himself, do
you remember, And he took a towel and he girded
himself with a servant's towel, and he washed the feet
of his disciples. He's no longer the servant. He's the king.
And he is dressed in a long, majestic robe, with
(20:56):
that golden girdle around his breast, signifying his righteousness. And
then the Bible goes on to describe his head and
his hair. His head and his hairs were white like wool,
as white as snow. What that means is this, This
speaks of his eternity or his duration. The snowy white
(21:18):
hair of his head is not the white hair of senility,
but of absolute holiness. It represents the wisdom of a judge.
Have you ever seen any of those old television programs
where they have the English courts and they put on
those white wigs. They do it because it was something
(21:39):
that came to be a symbol of the judge, a
symbol of righteousness and justice. This description of the Lord
is like that of Daniel in the seventh chapter. Let
me just rate a verse from Daniel seven, verse nine.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Listen to it. And the ancient of days.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Did sit whose garment was white as snow, and the
hair of his head like pure wolf. Now are you
getting the picture? John sees Jesus standing in the midst
of his churches, a long flowing robe, girt about the
breast with the golden girdle, and his hair white as snow,
pure white. And then he describes his eyes watch this,
(22:22):
and his eyes were as a flame of fire verse fourteen.
You know, I can't help but make the comparison. John
was the one who walked with Jesus most closely when
Jesus was on this earth. Can you imagine the contrast
that John must have felt. John had remembered seeing Jesus
(22:44):
with his eyes filled with tears.
Speaker 4 (22:48):
Now they are filled with fire.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
His eyes penetrate into the deepest depths of the soul.
His eyes see everything in life, and in your life.
Speaker 4 (22:59):
And in mind.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
There is nothing hidden from the piercing fire eyes of Jesus.
His x ray vision and his anger are symbolized by
this close up of his eyes. Hebrews four thirteen says this,
neither is there any creature that is not manifest in
his sight, But all things are naked and open unto
(23:20):
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
I hear people talking about how they're gonna fool God.
And I want to tell you something. When you stand
before this judge draped in the long robe with the
white hair and his eyes like fire, his piercing eyes
will look right through your life and uncover everything you've
ever done. There is no escaping the eyes of the
(23:42):
judge who comes to judge.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Well, we'll have more of the description of Christ from
Revelation chapter one as we get together tomorrow here on
this good station for Christ and his churches. Part two.
Let me remind you there are a study materials available
for this series. There are study guides. There are four
of them. It takes four full length study guides to
get through this and encouraging study from the Book of Revelation.
(24:10):
So we're going to be at this for a while,
and you may want to go to David Jeremiah dot
org and order all four of the study guides so
you'll have them as we go along. There's also a
book that you might want to have that will help
you as you read through the Book of Revelation. This
is a contemporary commentary and it's called Escape the Coming Night.
(24:31):
It's two hundred and ninety pages of contemporary teaching on
the Book of revelation that goes right along with this series.
Yours for the asking when you send a gift to
Turning Point during the month of April. I hope you'll
do that, and we'll see you right here tomorrow for
the next edition.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
For more information on Doctor Jeremiah series Escape the Coming Night,
please visit our website, where we also offer two free
ways to help you stay connected, our monthly magazine Turning
Points and our daily email devotional Sign up today at
David Jeremiah dot org slash Radio. That's David Jeremiah dot
org slash Radio, or call us at eight hundred nine
(25:17):
four seven nineteen ninety three ask for your copy of
David's best selling, in depth book on revelation, Escape the
Coming Night. This helpful resource is yours for a gift
of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study
Bible in the English Standard, New International and New King
James versions, complete with notes and articles from doctor Jeremiah's
(25:39):
decades of study. Get all the details when you visit
our website. David Jeremiah dot org slash Radio. This is
David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the
series Escape the Coming Night on Turning Point with doctor
David Jeremiah
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