I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Banished to Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, the aged John was in holy vision by the Holy Spirit on the Lord's day. The Lord's day is the seventh-day Sabbath of creation, blessed and sanctified as God's memorial, not the first day of the week, which has no sanctity in it. Behind him he heard the great trumpet-like voice of Jesus Christ Himself in glorified humanity, declaring Himself Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, who was dead and is alive forevermore. The voice commanded what he saw to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches, which represent the complete church of God to the close of earth's history. What was thus begun is the revelation of Jesus Christ concerning things that must soon take place, given to strengthen and warn God's people in every age and to be diligently studied, kept, and proclaimed.
Exile on Patmos
John was banished to the Isle of Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ, speaking of himself as brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. Men inspired by Satan to persecute faithful witnesses put him there, and Christ knew just where to find him. While on Patmos he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind him a great voice as of a trumpet.
He was an aged man when exiled, very old and nearly one hundred years old, yet preserved as a faithful witness to what Christ had done. He had grown old in the service of the Lord, and even in old age and isolation he continued to receive messages from God. On that lonely isle he received more communications from heaven than he had received during the rest of his lifetime.
It was a time of fierce persecution and great darkness when Satan seemed to triumph over God's faithful witnesses. John was separated from companions in faith and cut off from gospel labor, cut off from the world by the broad ocean on a barren, lonely, desert island, deprived of the society of his brethren while his enemies outwardly triumphed. Yet he was not alone and not separated from God's presence, but visited by the heavenly messenger and by Jesus Himself, who rules the earth and keeps the waters in their appointed channel. No man could deprive him of the light and revelation of Christ, and his ear and heart in solitude were made ready to receive truth for the churches.
So the desolate place of exile became to him the gate of heaven, and light from the Son of God shone on Patmos and made it a heaven to the lonely exile. This proves the all-sufficient and all-powerful One is present with isolated believers, manifesting Himself to those who love Him in tribulation as He did to John, and as He will to all who are faithful in their warfare. The same Jesus visits and manifests His love and His Father's love to all who call upon Him on their own island home, honoring their home by the divine presence when they keep close to Jesus as Elder Brother, keep eyes uplifted to Him, and bring Him all griefs and troubles in childlike trust. The vision gives the church living power and assurance that in oppression and persecution Christ reveals Himself to His chosen ones, even in prison or at the stake, and God's glory shines most clearly in the deepest gloom.
Christ Himself came from heaven to Patmos to speak to John where he was, working him by the Holy Spirit to write what he was told. The Saviour whom he knew and loved came to him in his banishment to comfort and encourage him, to educate him, and to give him a wonderful revelation of what was to take place on this earth and should be in the last days of this earth's history. He charged him to write in a book what he was told and send it to the churches, portraying the events that will occur and giving him a message for the churches in the glory of the holy sanctuary. That personal coming is described in Revelation 1.
In the Spirit
On Patmos John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day in holy vision to receive the wonderful instruction that begins the first chapter with its description of Christ. He was there as Christ's faithful witness banished for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ, as brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, and Christ knew just where to find him. Christ Himself came from heaven to speak to him, working him by the Holy Spirit to write what he was told. He heard behind him a great voice as of a trumpet calling him to write what he saw and send it to the seven churches in Asia, identifying as Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and commanding what he sees to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches. The revelation so given is a wonderful, dignified, exalted, solemn message, and to present it with decided emphasis demands all the talents and capabilities God has given to man.
While in the Spirit he was contemplating Horeb and man's transgression of God's law, and the Spirit of the One who sanctified the seventh day came upon him. The rocky setting of his exile reminded him of Horeb, where God spoke His law to Israel and proclaimed the commandments amid thunder, lightning, and thick cloud with a voice like a loud trumpet. The rocky mountain and the tablets of solid rock signify the power of God and the unchanging nature of His law and precepts. Heaven seemed open before him even under heavy persecution, and he was filled with unspeakable joy as he reflected on God's immense love in giving His Son to redeem the lost. He heard behind him a voice speaking in clear, distinct tones declaring Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and turning he beheld his Master with whom he had walked and talked in Judea and on whose breast he had leaned.
When believers keep the Sabbath holy and meet in Christ's name, they may be in the Spirit as John was on the Lord's day.
The Lord's Day
The Lord's day is the seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord, instituted in Eden as the memorial of creation. God made the world in six days, rested on the seventh day and was refreshed, and blessed and hallowed and sanctified it to keep Himself as Creator in the minds of His people. God created only one Sabbath, the seventh day, and that Sabbath lasts through eternal ages. On Patmos John was in the Spirit on that Sabbath day when the Lord of glory appeared to him, and through His angel Christ revealed events to occur before the close of the world's history.
The Lord's day is not the first day of the week but the last day of the week. The verse does not say John was in the Spirit on Sunday, so to render the Lord's day as Sunday is unjustified and cannot prove the apostles observed Sunday as sacred. The first day is a common working day with not one thread of sanctity in it. Its observance originated in setting aside the day God gave as a memorial of creation, the day that defines its Author as the living God who created the world in six days and rested and sanctified and blessed the seventh day of rest. Transgressors of the fourth commandment make the Sabbath fit their own maxims and teachings by declaring the first day is the Sabbath and making restrictions to show reverence for it, and the Protestant world has taken this child of papacy and cherished it and called it Christ's day, the Christian Sabbath, but it is a spurious sabbath, an idol placed where the Lord's day should be, whose defenders like Cain are exceedingly angry because the whole world does not regard it with the sacredness of the Sabbath of the Lord.
John observed the Sabbath on Patmos as sacredly as he had in Judea and while preaching among the people in the cities and towns. To him in exile it was precious through Christ's presence, a wonderful Sabbath on which he was keeping the Sabbath when he received the vision. The precious promises God had given regarding this day he repeated and claimed as his own. It was the sign to him that God was his, because God had declared the Sabbath a sign between Himself and His people throughout their generations forever, a perpetual covenant showing that He is the Lord who sanctifies them.
Those who held a different reckoning identified the Lord's day with Sunday, which Christians substituted for God's seventh-day Sabbath. In that reckoning the seventh day was consecrated by God and observed by those who worshiped Him, and changing it was a human act that tampered with divine law and exalted human authority above God. In the same reckoning early Christians called Sunday the Lord's day, but they did not treat it as a day of complete rest or as an observance required by the fourth commandment.
Voice Like Trumpet
Behind him John heard a great voice like a trumpet, loud and clear in distinct tones. Its sound recalls the voice of God at Horeb when He proclaimed the commandments amid thunder and lightning and a thick cloud with a voice like a loud trumpet. The rocky setting of that mountain reminded John of that scene, and the tablets cut from solid rock signify the power of God and the unchanging nature of His law and precepts.
The voice is that of Jesus Christ Himself, the risen Saviour presenting Himself in His glorified humanity. It is the voice of the One John honored and loved above all others, with whom he had walked and talked and on whose breast he had leaned. It is the same voice that spoke to John from the cross, the same Jesus whom he had almost last seen hanging in human agony while His murderers mocked Him. John saw Him in human form bearing the nail marks in His hands and feet, and then beheld Him in glory beyond what a human being could ordinarily endure.
The voice declares Christ as Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. It declares Him as the beginning and the end. He is the One who lives and was dead and is alive forevermore, holding the keys of hell and of death.
The voice commands what John sees to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches in Asia. Those churches are named as Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Turning to see the voice, John saw seven golden candlesticks with One like the Son of man in the midst, fell at His feet as dead, and was touched and strengthened and told to fear not.
The seven churches represent the complete church of God, all who shall be saved. The messages to the churches in the first three chapters give the history of Satan's effort to bring dissension into the church that must be met today. Through the list of the churches a call is made, reaching to the latest call, the third angel's message to be proclaimed under the banner of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation for Last Days
What John received beginning with this verse is the revelation that God gave to Jesus, sent through an angel to John, to show God's servants things that must soon take place. Revelation 1:10 begins the wonderful instruction given on the Isle of Patmos and introduces the description of Christ in the first chapter. It belongs to instruction about events leading up to the close of the world's history and the coming of the Son of man in the clouds with power and great glory. It is Christ revealing Himself in the true representation God designed, given to give to the people in truth and righteousness as words of warning, revealing Christ Himself in the glory of the holy sanctuary. Christ came personally to the Isle of Patmos to give the revelation to His servant John.
Its words are to be read, heard, and kept, to be read and understood with the Holy Spirit's help, heard attentively, and put into practice. Its truths concern people living in the last days and have a sanctifying influence. The first chapter is important and solemn and is to be clearly understood, marked verse by verse and interpreted without mistake. Its true meaning is to be taken in with an open heart, bringing solemn humility and awe matching the vision, and it was to be given to all who will be alive on the earth to hear and receive the representations made. These prophetic matters are to be studied and understood, and the account is to be taught in camp-meetings to people unacquainted with the truth and to be studied, believed, and preached.
In exile for faithfulness in witnessing to Christ, John beheld his glorified Redeemer receiving special light for the church and saw more distinctly than ever before what will be at the close of this earth's history. Jesus met him and revealed events of the last days extending through the ages to Christ's coming. He was shown the counsel of God for future ages, the glories of the heavenly home, God's throne, and the redeemed who came through great tribulation and were made clean by the Lamb's blood. He also heard the songs of angels and of those who overcame through the Lamb's blood and their testimony. He saw the mercy, tenderness, and love of God blending with His holiness, justice, and power, and saw sinners finding a Father in Him of whom their sins had made them afraid. Mercy and truth meet together and righteousness and peace kiss each other, so that instead of fleeing from God because of sin, sinners flee to His arms for protection and pardon, and the throne terrible in unbelief becomes a place of refuge in repentance.
The words uttered were not for John alone nor for the seven churches in Asia alone, but an inspired message to come through those churches for the people, to make its powerful impression in every age to the close of this earth's history. There Christ gave a revelation of Himself and divine truth to enlighten the churches, and its message was to strengthen the church until the end of time. John was directed to communicate these messages portraying the events that will occur in the last days to the churches, and what he sees was to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. The seven churches represent the complete church of God, all who shall be saved. Therefore labor must not be confined to those nominally united with the church and no Jerusalem center must be made in any place, but the power of the Holy Spirit must be earnestly sought to act a faithful part in giving the message to every nation on earth until the work of salvation is accomplished. The message is to be made known to the world and proclaimed widely today, and these revelations are worthy of careful study and contemplation because they contain broad lessons the angels are seeking to communicate.
The revelation Jesus Christ gave to John repeats what Moses recorded in Exodus and in the plagues the Lord brought upon Egypt. Its trumpet voice is linked to the final day when Christ calls the dead to life. Persecuted witnesses will rise at the sound of the trumpet and the voice of God, and the Waldenses who died on the mountains will rise from their burial places.
Study and Faithful Living
The opening chapter is important and solemn and must be clearly understood, marked verse by verse and interpreted without mistake. The book as a whole is not sealed but unfolded, a mystery opened concerning scenes to take place in the last days of this earth's history, and therefore it is to be read, heard, and kept. Its truths concern those living in the last days and carry a sanctifying influence, and they are to be understood with the help of the Holy Spirit, studied carefully and prayerfully, diligently searched, and taken in with open heart in solemn humility and awe. It was given to John to give to the people in truth and righteousness as words of warning, to be believed, preached, taught in camp-meetings, and given straight and clean to all alive on the earth to hear and receive. Wisdom requires desiring to understand what is to take place on this earth, because the enemy will bring in everything possible to carry out his deceptive designs.
The message is wonderful, dignified, exalted, and solemn. To present it with decided emphasis demands all the talents and capabilities God has given to man. Its broad lessons are worthy of careful study and contemplation because they are what the angels are seeking to communicate.
The chapters give earnest warning to prepare to meet the Lord in the clouds of heaven, for He comes with power and great glory, confronting indifference to foretold signs with evidence that the end of the world is right upon us. They show how to escape the perils of the last days now present, where to place dependence, to make no gods of men, to worship the Lord God with all heart and mind and soul and strength, and to love neighbor as self, since all the law and the prophets hang on love to God and love to man. Their great light from Jesus Christ reveals solemn truths and events preceding His second coming, leaving no excuse for claiming spiritual insight while secretly practicing impurity and evading God's truth. Through the messages to the churches reaching to the latest call, the third angel's message is to be proclaimed under the banner of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, rejecting spiritualistic ideas that deny a personal Christ and a personal God, and holding fast to the sanctuary, to Christ Jesus and to the Father, and to every experienced point of present truth. The work given for these last days remains under Christ's supervision, while Satan, not dead nor palsied but having learned much, prepares minds by degrees to become imbued with his spirit and to work against those bearing responsibilities, and will carry out his last exploits with more power than ever through full scientific scheming.
The vision gives the church living power and assurance that the all-sufficient and all-powerful One is present with isolated believers. As Christ manifested Himself to John in tribulation on the barren isle, cut off by the broad ocean yet visited by the heavenly messenger and by Jesus Himself, so He will manifest Himself to all who are faithful in their warfare and who call upon Him in childlike trust. In oppression and persecution He reveals Himself to His chosen ones, even in prison or at the stake, and God's glory shines most clearly in the deepest gloom. Light from the Son of God made Patmos a heaven to the lonely exile, and that same Jesus honors the island home of believers by the divine presence when they keep close to Him as Elder Brother, keep eyes uplifted to Him, and bring Him all griefs and troubles. God leads His children by a way they do not know, and permits trials to assail those who trust Him not by forsaking them but so that by constancy and obedience they may be spiritually enriched and strengthen others to lay burdens at His feet and receive His peace. Even in old age and isolation John continued to receive communications from heaven, indeed more on Patmos than during the rest of his lifetime, proving that ministers who faithfully bore the burdens must still be honored by God when feeble and must not be forgotten or neglected but have their needs cared for.
In that solitude John communed with God and studied His creation in nature when the voice of the Son of God spoke to him. His exile did not separate him from his divine Teacher, for there Jesus taught him and unfolded things that would take place in the future.
Banished to Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, the aged John was in holy vision by the Holy Spirit on the Lord's day. The Lord's day is the seventh-day Sabbath of creation, blessed and sanctified as God's memorial, not the first day of the week, which has no sanctity in it. Behind him he heard the great trumpet-like voice of Jesus Christ Himself in glorified humanity, declaring Himself Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, who was dead and is alive forevermore. The voice commanded what he saw to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches, which represent the complete church of God to the close of earth's history. What was thus begun is the revelation of Jesus Christ concerning things that must soon take place, given to strengthen and warn God's people in every age and to be diligently studied, kept, and proclaimed.
Exile on Patmos
John was banished to the Isle of Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ, speaking of himself as brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. Men inspired by Satan to persecute faithful witnesses put him there, and Christ knew just where to find him. While on Patmos he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind him a great voice as of a trumpet.
He was an aged man when exiled, very old and nearly one hundred years old, yet preserved as a faithful witness to what Christ had done. He had grown old in the service of the Lord, and even in old age and isolation he continued to receive messages from God. On that lonely isle he received more communications from heaven than he had received during the rest of his lifetime.
It was a time of fierce persecution and great darkness when Satan seemed to triumph over God's faithful witnesses. John was separated from companions in faith and cut off from gospel labor, cut off from the world by the broad ocean on a barren, lonely, desert island, deprived of the society of his brethren while his enemies outwardly triumphed. Yet he was not alone and not separated from God's presence, but visited by the heavenly messenger and by Jesus Himself, who rules the earth and keeps the waters in their appointed channel. No man could deprive him of the light and revelation of Christ, and his ear and heart in solitude were made ready to receive truth for the churches.
So the desolate place of exile became to him the gate of heaven, and light from the Son of God shone on Patmos and made it a heaven to the lonely exile. This proves the all-sufficient and all-powerful One is present with isolated believers, manifesting Himself to those who love Him in tribulation as He did to John, and as He will to all who are faithful in their warfare. The same Jesus visits and manifests His love and His Father's love to all who call upon Him on their own island home, honoring their home by the divine presence when they keep close to Jesus as Elder Brother, keep eyes uplifted to Him, and bring Him all griefs and troubles in childlike trust. The vision gives the church living power and assurance that in oppression and persecution Christ reveals Himself to His chosen ones, even in prison or at the stake, and God's glory shines most clearly in the deepest gloom.
Christ Himself came from heaven to Patmos to speak to John where he was, working him by the Holy Spirit to write what he was told. The Saviour whom he knew and loved came to him in his banishment to comfort and encourage him, to educate him, and to give him a wonderful revelation of what was to take place on this earth and should be in the last days of this earth's history. He charged him to write in a book what he was told and send it to the churches, portraying the events that will occur and giving him a message for the churches in the glory of the holy sanctuary. That personal coming is described in Revelation 1.
In the Spirit
On Patmos John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day in holy vision to receive the wonderful instruction that begins the first chapter with its description of Christ. He was there as Christ's faithful witness banished for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ, as brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, and Christ knew just where to find him. Christ Himself came from heaven to speak to him, working him by the Holy Spirit to write what he was told. He heard behind him a great voice as of a trumpet calling him to write what he saw and send it to the seven churches in Asia, identifying as Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and commanding what he sees to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches. The revelation so given is a wonderful, dignified, exalted, solemn message, and to present it with decided emphasis demands all the talents and capabilities God has given to man.
While in the Spirit he was contemplating Horeb and man's transgression of God's law, and the Spirit of the One who sanctified the seventh day came upon him. The rocky setting of his exile reminded him of Horeb, where God spoke His law to Israel and proclaimed the commandments amid thunder, lightning, and thick cloud with a voice like a loud trumpet. The rocky mountain and the tablets of solid rock signify the power of God and the unchanging nature of His law and precepts. Heaven seemed open before him even under heavy persecution, and he was filled with unspeakable joy as he reflected on God's immense love in giving His Son to redeem the lost. He heard behind him a voice speaking in clear, distinct tones declaring Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and turning he beheld his Master with whom he had walked and talked in Judea and on whose breast he had leaned.
When believers keep the Sabbath holy and meet in Christ's name, they may be in the Spirit as John was on the Lord's day.
The Lord's Day
The Lord's day is the seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord, instituted in Eden as the memorial of creation. God made the world in six days, rested on the seventh day and was refreshed, and blessed and hallowed and sanctified it to keep Himself as Creator in the minds of His people. God created only one Sabbath, the seventh day, and that Sabbath lasts through eternal ages. On Patmos John was in the Spirit on that Sabbath day when the Lord of glory appeared to him, and through His angel Christ revealed events to occur before the close of the world's history.
The Lord's day is not the first day of the week but the last day of the week. The verse does not say John was in the Spirit on Sunday, so to render the Lord's day as Sunday is unjustified and cannot prove the apostles observed Sunday as sacred. The first day is a common working day with not one thread of sanctity in it. Its observance originated in setting aside the day God gave as a memorial of creation, the day that defines its Author as the living God who created the world in six days and rested and sanctified and blessed the seventh day of rest. Transgressors of the fourth commandment make the Sabbath fit their own maxims and teachings by declaring the first day is the Sabbath and making restrictions to show reverence for it, and the Protestant world has taken this child of papacy and cherished it and called it Christ's day, the Christian Sabbath, but it is a spurious sabbath, an idol placed where the Lord's day should be, whose defenders like Cain are exceedingly angry because the whole world does not regard it with the sacredness of the Sabbath of the Lord.
John observed the Sabbath on Patmos as sacredly as he had in Judea and while preaching among the people in the cities and towns. To him in exile it was precious through Christ's presence, a wonderful Sabbath on which he was keeping the Sabbath when he received the vision. The precious promises God had given regarding this day he repeated and claimed as his own. It was the sign to him that God was his, because God had declared the Sabbath a sign between Himself and His people throughout their generations forever, a perpetual covenant showing that He is the Lord who sanctifies them.
Those who held a different reckoning identified the Lord's day with Sunday, which Christians substituted for God's seventh-day Sabbath. In that reckoning the seventh day was consecrated by God and observed by those who worshiped Him, and changing it was a human act that tampered with divine law and exalted human authority above God. In the same reckoning early Christians called Sunday the Lord's day, but they did not treat it as a day of complete rest or as an observance required by the fourth commandment.
Voice Like Trumpet
Behind him John heard a great voice like a trumpet, loud and clear in distinct tones. Its sound recalls the voice of God at Horeb when He proclaimed the commandments amid thunder and lightning and a thick cloud with a voice like a loud trumpet. The rocky setting of that mountain reminded John of that scene, and the tablets cut from solid rock signify the power of God and the unchanging nature of His law and precepts.
The voice is that of Jesus Christ Himself, the risen Saviour presenting Himself in His glorified humanity. It is the voice of the One John honored and loved above all others, with whom he had walked and talked and on whose breast he had leaned. It is the same voice that spoke to John from the cross, the same Jesus whom he had almost last seen hanging in human agony while His murderers mocked Him. John saw Him in human form bearing the nail marks in His hands and feet, and then beheld Him in glory beyond what a human being could ordinarily endure.
The voice declares Christ as Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. It declares Him as the beginning and the end. He is the One who lives and was dead and is alive forevermore, holding the keys of hell and of death.
The voice commands what John sees to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches in Asia. Those churches are named as Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Turning to see the voice, John saw seven golden candlesticks with One like the Son of man in the midst, fell at His feet as dead, and was touched and strengthened and told to fear not.
The seven churches represent the complete church of God, all who shall be saved. The messages to the churches in the first three chapters give the history of Satan's effort to bring dissension into the church that must be met today. Through the list of the churches a call is made, reaching to the latest call, the third angel's message to be proclaimed under the banner of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation for Last Days
What John received beginning with this verse is the revelation that God gave to Jesus, sent through an angel to John, to show God's servants things that must soon take place. Revelation 1:10 begins the wonderful instruction given on the Isle of Patmos and introduces the description of Christ in the first chapter. It belongs to instruction about events leading up to the close of the world's history and the coming of the Son of man in the clouds with power and great glory. It is Christ revealing Himself in the true representation God designed, given to give to the people in truth and righteousness as words of warning, revealing Christ Himself in the glory of the holy sanctuary. Christ came personally to the Isle of Patmos to give the revelation to His servant John.
Its words are to be read, heard, and kept, to be read and understood with the Holy Spirit's help, heard attentively, and put into practice. Its truths concern people living in the last days and have a sanctifying influence. The first chapter is important and solemn and is to be clearly understood, marked verse by verse and interpreted without mistake. Its true meaning is to be taken in with an open heart, bringing solemn humility and awe matching the vision, and it was to be given to all who will be alive on the earth to hear and receive the representations made. These prophetic matters are to be studied and understood, and the account is to be taught in camp-meetings to people unacquainted with the truth and to be studied, believed, and preached.
In exile for faithfulness in witnessing to Christ, John beheld his glorified Redeemer receiving special light for the church and saw more distinctly than ever before what will be at the close of this earth's history. Jesus met him and revealed events of the last days extending through the ages to Christ's coming. He was shown the counsel of God for future ages, the glories of the heavenly home, God's throne, and the redeemed who came through great tribulation and were made clean by the Lamb's blood. He also heard the songs of angels and of those who overcame through the Lamb's blood and their testimony. He saw the mercy, tenderness, and love of God blending with His holiness, justice, and power, and saw sinners finding a Father in Him of whom their sins had made them afraid. Mercy and truth meet together and righteousness and peace kiss each other, so that instead of fleeing from God because of sin, sinners flee to His arms for protection and pardon, and the throne terrible in unbelief becomes a place of refuge in repentance.
The words uttered were not for John alone nor for the seven churches in Asia alone, but an inspired message to come through those churches for the people, to make its powerful impression in every age to the close of this earth's history. There Christ gave a revelation of Himself and divine truth to enlighten the churches, and its message was to strengthen the church until the end of time. John was directed to communicate these messages portraying the events that will occur in the last days to the churches, and what he sees was to be written in a book and sent to the seven churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. The seven churches represent the complete church of God, all who shall be saved. Therefore labor must not be confined to those nominally united with the church and no Jerusalem center must be made in any place, but the power of the Holy Spirit must be earnestly sought to act a faithful part in giving the message to every nation on earth until the work of salvation is accomplished. The message is to be made known to the world and proclaimed widely today, and these revelations are worthy of careful study and contemplation because they contain broad lessons the angels are seeking to communicate.
The revelation Jesus Christ gave to John repeats what Moses recorded in Exodus and in the plagues the Lord brought upon Egypt. Its trumpet voice is linked to the final day when Christ calls the dead to life. Persecuted witnesses will rise at the sound of the trumpet and the voice of God, and the Waldenses who died on the mountains will rise from their burial places.
Study and Faithful Living
The opening chapter is important and solemn and must be clearly understood, marked verse by verse and interpreted without mistake. The book as a whole is not sealed but unfolded, a mystery opened concerning scenes to take place in the last days of this earth's history, and therefore it is to be read, heard, and kept. Its truths concern those living in the last days and carry a sanctifying influence, and they are to be understood with the help of the Holy Spirit, studied carefully and prayerfully, diligently searched, and taken in with open heart in solemn humility and awe. It was given to John to give to the people in truth and righteousness as words of warning, to be believed, preached, taught in camp-meetings, and given straight and clean to all alive on the earth to hear and receive. Wisdom requires desiring to understand what is to take place on this earth, because the enemy will bring in everything possible to carry out his deceptive designs.
The message is wonderful, dignified, exalted, and solemn. To present it with decided emphasis demands all the talents and capabilities God has given to man. Its broad lessons are worthy of careful study and contemplation because they are what the angels are seeking to communicate.
The chapters give earnest warning to prepare to meet the Lord in the clouds of heaven, for He comes with power and great glory, confronting indifference to foretold signs with evidence that the end of the world is right upon us. They show how to escape the perils of the last days now present, where to place dependence, to make no gods of men, to worship the Lord God with all heart and mind and soul and strength, and to love neighbor as self, since all the law and the prophets hang on love to God and love to man. Their great light from Jesus Christ reveals solemn truths and events preceding His second coming, leaving no excuse for claiming spiritual insight while secretly practicing impurity and evading God's truth. Through the messages to the churches reaching to the latest call, the third angel's message is to be proclaimed under the banner of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, rejecting spiritualistic ideas that deny a personal Christ and a personal God, and holding fast to the sanctuary, to Christ Jesus and to the Father, and to every experienced point of present truth. The work given for these last days remains under Christ's supervision, while Satan, not dead nor palsied but having learned much, prepares minds by degrees to become imbued with his spirit and to work against those bearing responsibilities, and will carry out his last exploits with more power than ever through full scientific scheming.
The vision gives the church living power and assurance that the all-sufficient and all-powerful One is present with isolated believers. As Christ manifested Himself to John in tribulation on the barren isle, cut off by the broad ocean yet visited by the heavenly messenger and by Jesus Himself, so He will manifest Himself to all who are faithful in their warfare and who call upon Him in childlike trust. In oppression and persecution He reveals Himself to His chosen ones, even in prison or at the stake, and God's glory shines most clearly in the deepest gloom. Light from the Son of God made Patmos a heaven to the lonely exile, and that same Jesus honors the island home of believers by the divine presence when they keep close to Him as Elder Brother, keep eyes uplifted to Him, and bring Him all griefs and troubles. God leads His children by a way they do not know, and permits trials to assail those who trust Him not by forsaking them but so that by constancy and obedience they may be spiritually enriched and strengthen others to lay burdens at His feet and receive His peace. Even in old age and isolation John continued to receive communications from heaven, indeed more on Patmos than during the rest of his lifetime, proving that ministers who faithfully bore the burdens must still be honored by God when feeble and must not be forgotten or neglected but have their needs cared for.
In that solitude John communed with God and studied His creation in nature when the voice of the Son of God spoke to him. His exile did not separate him from his divine Teacher, for there Jesus taught him and unfolded things that would take place in the future.