In the Spirit

Revelation 1:9-11

Revelation 1:9 (NKJV) 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.

John was on the island of Patmos. Having been Jesus’ closest friend and companion, John was a long way from Judea. He had traveled many miles and spent many years serving Jesus as an Apostle. He was now approximately 96 years old and historians from around 100 years after these events testified that at one time John was dipped in boiling oil and miraculously did not die.

As he gives his account, notice the humility with which he approaches us. He was an Apostle, chosen by Jesus, and He wrote one gospel and three epistles in the New Testament. However, he does not claim any position or authority but counts himself as a brother and a companion with us in the tribulation, kingdom, and patience of Jesus Christ.

Let’s consider tribulations, since John was suffering for the sake of the gospel at the time he received the Revelation. The Lord Jesus and the Apostles stressed that we must go through trials. For example, Acts 14:22 says:

Acts 14:22 (NKJV) “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

John knew what suffering is. He witnessed the suffering of Jesus, he knew of the deaths of all the other Apostles (who were his friends and companions), and he, himself, was exiled as a criminal. John MacArthur says the following in his commentary on Revelation. 

John was probably sent to Patmos as a criminal (as a Christian, he was a member of an illegal religious sect). If so, the conditions under which he lived would have been harsh. Exhausting labor under the watchful eye (and ready whip) of a Roman overseer, insufficient food and clothing, and having to sleep on the bare ground would have taken their toll on a ninety-year-old man. (John MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 1)

These comments from John MacArthur are consistent with what historians from that era have recorded. 

 

This is what has become of the cave where John is believed to have received the Revelation!

What is important to us is the brotherhood we have in our suffering for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We are members of a kingdom this world cannot see. As for the kingdom, the gospel of Luke gives the following account.

Luke 17:20-21 (NKJV) ²⁰Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ²¹“nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

In this passage, Jesus says the kingdom of God is within us. As members of God’s kingdom, we have values, goals, and objective that the world does not accept or understand. While the world persecutes us because of these differences, we must remember that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. The world lies in the power of the evil one and as members of God’s kingdom, we are at war with the evil one. Jesus said that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. In other words, the devil is doing everything he can to stop us.

Gates are built to protect against invasion. In 2 Corinthians 10 we are told:

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NKJV) ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

In Christ Jesus, we have overcome the world; the victory is already ours.

Our tribulation is for the kingdom, filling up what is lacking in Christ sufferings,(Colossians 1:24 (NKJV) I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,). As the body of Christ on earth, we are advancing His kingdom and saving souls from destruction. 

(Going back to Rev. 1:9) According to John, we labor for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. He says, that he is, our “brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:9). The labor he speaks of requires perseverance. (The NKJV says “patience” but this “patience” means not quitting or giving up.) We bear up under tribulation because we know that we are victors in Christ Jesus. Revelation tells of the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over all His enemies. The benefit for us of reading and knowing this book is that we gain courage to persevere because we know the end of the story.

In order to receive the Revelation, John first was “in the Spirit.” He serves as an example for us. We are commanded to walk by the Spirit and we need to learn what this means. We know that we are to abide in Jesus by obeying His word, and the key to walking by the Spirit is found in yielding our will to God and obeying His word even if our flesh wants to do something else.

While in the Spirit, John was given the Revelation and saw things that for God are history, but to us are still future. God is not limited by time. For this reason, Jesus said, “before Abraham was born, I AM.” Jesus spoke these words more than a thousand years after Abraham’s day, but He speaks in the present tense. In the same way, the things that John saw while “in the Spirit” were more than a dream, according to Jesus, John was seeing things which were, things which are, and things yet to come.

Revelation 1:19 (NKJV) “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.”

By recording what he saw, John wrote things which are, were, and will be. John saw these things with spiritual eyes and says:

Revelation 1:10 (NKJV) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

He was in the Spirit. The things that John saw were not seen with his physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes. In 2 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul tells of seeing visions and not knowing whether or not he was in the body or in the Spirit. While John was aware that he was in the Spirit, the things that he saw were more certain than what we see with our physical eyes. Seeing with spiritual eyes is a significant part of the book of Revelation. Four times, John reminds us that he was shown things “in the Spirit.”

Revelation 1:10 (NKJV) I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet

Revelation 4:2 (NKJV) And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne.

Revelation 17:3 (NKJV) So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Revelation 21:10 (NKJV) And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God…

Revelation must be understood with spiritual eyes. As is true with all the word of God, we must have the help of the Holy Spirit to understand what is being said. With each of the four verses referring to being in the Spirit, what John is seeing changes. These changes mark transitions that help us as we work through the text of Revelation.

On the Lord’s day that John tells us about in chapter one, while in the Spirit, he heard a voice. We are told that the voice was loud, like a trumpet, and it was behind him.

When Elijah was on the mountain, God sent fire, wind, and earthquake, but God was not in any of these.  God came in a still, small voice. The Holy Spirit whispers to our inner man saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” However, when Jesus comes for His Church, He will come with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and a trumpet sound. At that time, the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). This does not say anything about the unbelieving dead, nor those who do not believe, but speaks exclusively to those who belong to Christ. And this is one occasion where the Lord uses a loud voice. He does this to call His people from every part of the earth. In John 11:43, Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb with a loud voice. The Lord Jesus did not need to raise His voice to bring Lazarus out. He shouted for the benefit of those around Him so that there was no question what was happening. A loud voice is meant to get our attention, and a trumpet is used for the same thing. When the events of 1 Thessalonians 4 take place, only those who are in Christ Jesus will answer the call. When John heard the voice, only He answered the call.

John was in the Spirit when He heard the voice so it is apparent that he was waiting quietly before the Lord, which is a good practice for the Lord’s Day. When John heard the voice, it was behind him. The Lord Jesus was not trying to sneak up on John, rather like all of us when we come before the Lord, we do not know where the Lord will come from. We must wait before the Lord in humility. In our conceit and pride, we tend to anticipate where the Lord will come from, and find that He comes in a way and from a direction we did not anticipate. For some reason, John was not facing the Lord when He came.

The voice said:

Revelation 1:11 (NKJV) 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.”

This is Jesus; the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. He says something similar in verse 18.

Revelation 1:18 (NKJV) “I [am] He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. 

John introduces Him in his gospel account as:

John 1:1 (NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

As we observed in the introduction to Revelation, in the gospels we see the suffering Savior who was despised and rejected by men. Now, in Revelation we see the risen, triumphant Lord and King; we see the beginning and the end, the everlasting Father.

Jesus tells John to put what he sees in a book, and that is the book we hold in our hands today. John wrote it in Greek, but if you have the ESV, NASB, NKJV, KJV and other literal translations, you have as close as we can get to a word-for-word rendering of what John recorded in the book he was commanded to write. 

As we observed in the introduction, there were more than seven churches in Asia, but the number seven represents completeness or fullness and therefore these seven stand for the whole Church throughout history. We are represented in those who are to receive the book and indeed we have.

John was on Patmos, exiled for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. The rest of the Apostles had been killed for their testimony and John was the last of those who had walked with Jesus. Twelve men gave their lives for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. We are called on to do the same. As John was instructed to write what he saw, we are commanded to teach what we have been taught concerning the way. We are commanded to give testimony to the truth.

We do not have much time. The days of the book of Revelation are upon us; therefore, we must be prepared to leave this earth soon. We need to spend more time in the Spirit and less time pursuing the things of the flesh. There are only a few things that really matter.

1. Love God
2. Love your neighbor
3. Tell others about Jesus
4. Teach others how to walk with Jesus.

We have been left with these commandments. This is what we are to be doing.