Three Reasons for the Christian to be Encouraged – Revelation 1:4-20
1 (4) John, addressing the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne, (5) and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and who released us from our sins by his blood—(6) and caused us to become a kingdom and priests for his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever!
(7) Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth shall mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. (8) I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
(9) I, John, your brother and a participant with you in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (10) On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, (11) that said, Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
(12) I turned around to see the voice that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, (13) and in the midst of the lampstands was someone like the Son of man, dressed in a robe that reached down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. (14) His head and his hair were as white as white wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. (15) His feet were like polished bronze, as if it had been refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. (16) In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in its brilliance. (17) When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. But he laid his right hand upon me and said, Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, (18) I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. (19) Now then, write the things you saw, the things that are now happening, and the things that will happen in the future. (20) With regard to the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars represent the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands represent the seven churches.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
