The Vision of the Resurrected Christ—Rev 1:8-20

Brother Charley Buntin, Trace Creek Baptist Church, Mayfield, KY

1. The Person of Christ Re-Stated Again—(Rev 1:8) "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

a. The I AMs of the Gospel of John

(1) (John 6:35) "And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life…”

(2) (John 7:28-29) "… I am from Him, and He sent Me.""

(3) (John 8:12) "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world…”

(4) (John 8:23) "… I am from above.

(5) John 8:24 “…if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.""

(6) (John 8:58) "… before Abraham was, I AM.""

(7) (John 10:7) "… I am the door of the sheep."

(8) (John 10:9) ""I am the door. …."

(9) (John 10:11) ""I am the good shepherd…”

(10) (John 11:25) "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life…”

(11) (John 14:6) "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

(12) (John 15:1) ""I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser."

(13) (John 15:5) ""I am the vine, you are the branches…."

(14) (John 18:5-6) "They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am He." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. 6 Now when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground."

b. The titles of Christ in just the first 7 verses:

(1) The first four titles refer to Who He Is—

(a) “…Jesus Christ…” As the Angel told Joseph in Matthew—I (Mat 1:20-21) "”…you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.""

(b) “…the faithful witness…”
(c) “…the firstborn from the dead…”
(d) “…the ruler over the kings of the earth…”.

(2) What He Has Done for us

(a) “…Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood…”

(b) “…[Who]{6} has made us kings and priests to His God and Father…”

(3) The Worship to which He is entitled

(a) “…Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. …” (Psa 96:8) "Give to the LORD the glory due His name…”

c. The other “I Am” verses of Revelation

(1) (Rev 1:11) "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,"
(2) (Rev 1:17-18) I am the First and the Last.
(3) {18} "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.
(4) (Rev 21:6) I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
(5) (Rev 22:7) "Behold, I am coming quickly!
(6) (Rev 22:12-13) "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me
(7) {13} "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

(8) (Rev 22:16) "I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."

d. More titles …” come in this passage:

(1) He is the first “Word” and the last “Word”—“…Alpha and the Omega…”

(a) He was the first word—“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was With God, and the Word Was God…”

(b) He will be the last Word—(Rev 22:20-21) "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

(2) He is Eternal God—“…the Beginning and the End…” — (Rom 9:5) "of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen."

(3) (1 Tim 6:15-16) "… He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. …”

(4) He Has the Dominion, He is the King— “…the Lord…”

(5) “…who is and who was and who is to come…”

(a) He Came as the Suffering Servant

(b) He is now the Exalted Intercessor

(c) He is returning as reigning King

(6) “… the Almighty." This is a title addressed to God several times in Revelation, as His might is stressed as the power behind this great unveiling.

(Rev 4:8) "The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!""

(Rev 11:17) "saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned."

(Rev 15:3) "They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!"

(Rev 16:7) "And I heard another from the altar saying, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.""

(Rev 16:14) "For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

(Rev 19:15) "Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."

(Rev 21:22) "But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple."

2. The Setting of the Vision—(Rev 1:9) "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."

a. John, the last apostle, a witness to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, addresses the churches as brother and companion—he is saying, “we are all in this together—“… John, both your brother and companion…”

(1) He was their companion in Tribulation

(2) He was their companion in the Kingdom—All saved people are in the Kingdom of God—Col 1:13

(3) He was their companion in “the patience of Jesus Christ…” This speaks of the perseverance of those who are truly born again.

b. A time of Tribulation—a time of persecution—“…John was…on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."

(1) Before we even look at the persecutions, note this—the base cause of persecution is the reaction of the lost when the truth is preached, proclaimed, and lived.

(2) The Enemy has no particular drive to persecute silent Christians, nor to disturb those who compromise with the world—John was under persecution because he would not shut up!

(3) This was the Persecution of Domitian, the first empire-wide persecution

(4) Early on, the Romans saw the Christians as a subset of the Jews, who were a religio licta (legal religion—and only the Jews were exempt from the requirement to worship Caesar—though they did pray and sacrifice FOR the emperor.)

(5) During reign of Nero, Christianity was declared a religio illicta (an illegal religion), but the Neronian persecution was limited to Rome.

(6) The heart and soul of John’s “offense” was his obedience to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ—another name for the Bible

(7) How to deal with the Christians is the subject of a famous exchange of letters between the Emperor Trajan and the Governor of Bythinia, Pliny


Pliny's written With Trajan (reigned 98-117) About The Christians
How the Romans viewed the Christians:

This correspondence between the Emperor Trajan and Pliny, governor of Bithynia shows how Christianity had spread, and how it was treated. in the second century AD.

PLINY'S LETTER TO TRAJAN: "It is my custom, lord emperor, to refer to you all questions whereof I am in doubt. Who can better guide me when I am at a stand, or enlighten me if I am in ignorance? In investigations of Christians I have never taken part, hence I do not know what is the crime usually punished or investigated, or what allowances are made. So I have had no little uncertainty whether there is any distinction of age, or whether the very weakest offenders are treated exactly like the stronger, whether pardon is given to those who repent, or whether a man who has once been a Christian gains nothing by having ceased to be such; whether punishment attaches to the mere name apart from secret crimes, or to the secret crimes connected with the name. Meantime this is the course I have taken with those who were accused before me as Christians. I asked them whether they were Christians, and if they confessed, I asked them a second and third time with threats of punishment. If they kept to it, I ordered them for execution; for I held no question that whatever It was that they admitted, in any case obstinacy and unbending Perversity deserve to be punished. There were others of the like insanity; but as these were Roman citizens, I noted them down to be sent to Rome. Before long, as is often the case, the mere fact that the charge was taken notice of made it commoner and several distinct cases arose. An unsigned paper was presented, which gave the names of many. As for those who said that they neither were nor ever had been Christians, I thought it right to let them go, since they recited a prayer to the gods at my dictation, made supplication with incense and wine to your statue, which I had ordered to be brought into court for the purpose together with images of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ- things which (so it is said) those who are really Christians cannot be made to do. Others who were named by the informer said that they were Christians and then denied it, explaining that they had been, but had ceased to be such, some three years ago, some a good many years, and a few even twenty. All these too worshipped your statue and the images of the gods, and cursed Christ. They maintained, however that the amount of their fault or error had been this, that it was their habit on a fixed day to assemble before daylight and recite by turns a form of words to Christ as a god; and that they bound themselves with an oath, not for any crime, but not to commit theft or robbery or adultery, not to break their word, and not to deny a deposit when demanded."

TRAJAN'S REPLY TO PLINY: "You have adopted the proper course, my dear Secundus, in your examination of the cases of those who were accused to you as Christians, for indeed nothing can be laid down as a general ruling involving something like a set form of procedure. They are not to be sought out; but if they are accused and convicted, they must be punished - yet on this condition, that whose denies himself to be a Christian, and makes the fact plain by his action, that is, by worshipping our gods, shall obtain pardon on his repentance, however suspicious his past conduct may be. Papers, however, which are presented unsigned ought not to be admitted in any charge, for they are a very Bad example and unworthy of our time."

c. Why did the Romans hate the Christians?

(1) They were different—most pagans, no matter what their religious beliefs, had essentially the same pagan worldview and sinful lifestyle.

(a) Drunkenness
(b) Sexual immorality
(c) Pedophilia
(d) Homosexuality
(e) Violence of a cruelty

Augustine’s comment on the gladiatorial contests—

When they had got in and taken their places in such seats as were available, the whole place was boiling with the most savage passions. With his eyelids tightly closed, he forbade his [eyes] to [look at] such wicked things. Would that he had been able to stop his ears, too! For, when one man fell in the fight and an immense roar from the whole audience struck his ears with a violent shock, he was overcome by curiosity. Convinced that, whatever it was like, he could defy and overcome it, he opened his eyes and was wounded more seriously in his soul than the gladiator, whom he lusted to observe, had been wounded in his body. Thus he fell more wretchedly than that man whose fall had caused the uproar which had entered through his ears and laid bare his eyes so that the means was provided by which his daring mind could be wounded and knocked down . . . As he looked upon the blood, he drank in the savagery at the same time.
(ConfessionsVI.8)

(2) The Romans did not trust the Christians politically—the Empire was always worried about attacks from invaders, and they saw Christians as potential turncoats, sort of like the attitude Pharaoh had in Exodus

(3) The Romans did not trust the Christians economically

(a) Acts 19 and the idol business
(Acts 19:24-27) “…For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no small profit to the craftsmen. {25} He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: "Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. {26} "Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands. {27} "So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship."

(b) Also, many slaves were Christians, and there was always a fear that they would help slaves escape

(4) The Romans did not trust the Christians socially, because believers of all classes honored and associated with each other

(5) The Romans feared Christians in the Army, that they might be disloyal, since they would not worship the emperor, and since their moral habits were different from the other soldiers.

(6) If there was a natural disaster, superstitious pagans would often blame the Christians, because the Christians did not worship the pagan gods.


3. The Voice of the Vision—(Rev 1:10-11) "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 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.""

a. John was worshiping on the Lord’s Day—Heb 10:25—in spite of the fact that he was exiled to this barren rock to die (hopefully, as the Romans thought)

(1) The Loud voice—When Jesus speaks, all must listen

(2) The titles are repeated

(3) A very important phrase: “…"What you see, write in a book and send it…” John’s assignment was not interpretation, nor editing, he was to write ALL that he saw. He received the instructions to write 12 times in this letter.

b. The Address to the seven churches

(1) These were city churches

(2) They were on the same postal route

(3) They were the first ones to hear what the Spirit said to the churches.


4. The Appearance of the Lord Jesus—(Rev 1:12-16)

a. The Voice: "Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me…”

b. The Vision

(1) The Lampstands“…. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands…”

(a) What did the lampstands represent? (Rev 1:20) ""The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches."

(b) And the stars? “…He had in His right hand seven stars…” The “angels” of the churches…

(2) The One in the midst—obviously Jesus— 13… “ …and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man…”

(3) Dressed in an outfit that resembled the Old Testament high priest’s garb—“…clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band….”

(4) Not a normal mere man, and not in appearance like the Christ Who ascended I Acts 1:9-11 “… 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; …”

(5) Everything about Him speaks of power and glory

(a) He stands where He wants, and his footstep is heavy! “ … 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace…”

(b) When He Speaks, all must listen—“… and His voice as the sound of many waters…”

(c) His Word Rules, and His Word can destroy—“…out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword…”—(Psa 138:2) "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: “…Ps 138:2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name…”

(d) His brilliance, now manifested, is too bright to view—“… and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength."

(i) (Mat 17:1-2) "Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light."

(ii) But even then, His Glory cannot be fully contained nor shown—(Hab 3:2-4) "O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy. 3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power."