We'll leave the reading there.
We see this ninth verse starts with this word, I, John. So there's no doubt who wrote
this book. And it's John that is speaking
to us now. And he very wonderfully writes. He writes to the church of God
and to his servants. And we're all servants if we're
believers. And he says, I, John, who also am your brother. And that's wonderful to think,
isn't it? That we as unworthy sinners, living so many, many
years after when John wrote this, to recognise that by the grace
of God, John is our brother, our spiritual brother. What a
wonderful blessing and consideration that is. I, John, who also am
your brother. And then he goes on to say, and
companion in tribulation. Again, it's interesting that
the Holy Spirit directed him to write in these words, in these
terms, to realise that he has this obvious example for us that
as he lived on the earth, he faced tribulation. We're told,
aren't we, that it's through much tribulation that we shall
enter the kingdom. And therefore he tells us, and
companion in tribulation. So here we have an eminent disciple,
John, who suffered tribulation. And therefore we today, so many
years afterwards, can recognize the relevance of these things
and to realize that as John had tribulation, so were we. And then to think that we are
therefore, we're joined together. We are a companion. With John,
he is our brother. And to think that he wasn't exempt
from it. No, he had to walk this path. And of course, he may have been
quite lonely. He was on this isle of Patmos. It's a small,
rocky and barren island, and a group of the Sporades in the
Aegean seas. He was probably quite lonely
and it would appear that he was the last disciple or the other
disciples had died and he was therefore by himself and we understand
he was probably about 90 years of age when he actually wrote
this book, The Revelation. So here we have a companion in
tribulation. But of course he doesn't stop
there. And it's good, isn't it, when
we recognise the Word of God is very complete and therefore
he says, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. So there is that kingdom and
patience of Jesus Christ and that unity, that wonderful fellowship
with indeed none less than our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says, companion in
the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. What a blessing, therefore,
if as we read this revelation, and we won't go through it all,
but part of it, to see that, yes, by the grace of God, We
are part of this kingdom. We do understand what the Apostle
writes. It's not some strange language. It's a language which we can
enter into by the grace of God and be blessed with that fellowship
then with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. So we're told,
and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, Then he says,
was in the isle that is called Patmos, and he was there for
a reason. He hadn't just arrived, just
in some casual way. He was there for a very specific
reason, and we're told what it was. For the word of God, and
for the testimony of Jesus Christ. We may think, well of course,
that was John, he was a special character, and he was, but also
we should recognise it has relevance to us today. That we are on this
earth, here, in this country, for a purpose, isn't just something
which has occurred by chance. We're here, and what a wonderful
blessing if it's true of us, we're here for the Word of God
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. To be able to speak,
well of Him, to testify of what He means to us, testify of what
He's done, and to never be ashamed of our great and glorious Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Word of God, well, Revelation
is the last book of Scripture, but we have the whole Word of
God, and what a wonderful and blessed Word it is, and how we
should be thankful for it. and how we should encourage people
to read the Word of God. It's the best book in the world.
It's the most wonderful book in the world. It's God's book.
And what a wonderful favour and testimony it is for us. And then he says, I was in the
Spirit on the Lord's Day. Now this is the only place where
we read the Lord's Day. And we believe that the Lord's
Day was the first day of the week. It was the day that the
Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And therefore it supersedes
the Old Testament Sabbath. And the Lord's Day is therefore
the day which now is set apart for worship. And we find here
the example of John. What was he doing? He was in
the Spirit. What a blessing it is for us
if on the Lord's Day we also are found in the Spirit. It's a blessed thing, isn't it,
to desire, as we get up on the Lord's Day morning, to be found
with a real desire after spiritual things, spiritual blessings,
and therefore to recognise this wonderful blessing. He was in
the Spirit. on this little island, isolated
perhaps from many people, but nonetheless God was with him. And therefore he was in the Spirit
on the Lord's Day. And as he was in the Spirit on
the Lord's Day, we're told, and heard behind me a great voice
as of a trumpet. Well, it was obviously a loud
voice, loud voice and he describes a great voice as of a trumpet
and this poor voice spoke to him telling him I am Alpha and
Omega the first and the last and of course we know the Lord
Jesus Christ was indeed from everlasting And He is too everlasting. And so how true is this grand
statement, I am? It's the Saviour speaking directly
to John. John didn't know who it was when
it spoke, but nonetheless the saying was very clear and He
was given very good and clear directions. And He was told,
what thou seest, write in a book. write in a book. And it's good
sometimes just to ponder these directions. It doesn't obviously
mean that you and I have to sit down and write a book, but it's
good sometimes to just ponder and to write down those things
that God has done for our souls, and also perhaps done in providence. if it brings honour and glory
to God. And so here he was then directed
to write in a book, and having written it in a book, And that's
the messages which we saw God willing come onto the seven messages
to the seven churches which are in Asia and he was to send it
to them so that every church had the message which God gave
to John to the seven churches. It wasn't only just the individual
word to the church, it was to those messages which were given.
write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are
in Asia and to Ephesus and unto Smyrna and unto Pergamos and
unto Thyatira and unto Sardis and unto Philadelphia and unto
Laodicea. Now it was obviously a blessed
time and there were obviously churches in those places and
if you look now there aren't any churches as far as I know
in any of those places. God raised up churches, God raises
up people, they gather together, and then perhaps they're dispersed. The Lord knows what he will do. Well, it's a wonderful introduction,
this really, to this book of the Revelation. And it's good
if we just ponder the words, therefore, that God has left
on record for us. And God willing, if we're spared
next week, we'll go on to the further verses in this chapter. We'll leave our few comments
there. May God instruct us from them.