Sermon Tone Analysis

“John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.

Even so.

Amen.” [1]

We often read the initial words of apostolic missives so quickly that we miss important truths.

The Apocalypse is one such book that we must not read so quickly that we fail to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

The prophecy is in the form of a letter—a letter from God that was written to be read in seven churches in the Province of Asia.

John’s opening sentence might lead some to believe that these were the only churches then in existence in that Roman province, though that is clearly not the case.

We know, for instance, that churches also existed in Colossae [COLOSSIANS 1:2] and in Hierapolis [COLOSSIANS 4:13].

It is also likely that there were then churches in Miletus [ACTS 20:17] and in Troas [2 CORINTHIANS 2:12].

What is important for us to know is that these churches were not dissimilar to any seven churches in this day.

Some were commended; some were censured.

John begins this letter by pronouncing a divine blessing on the churches; then, he dedicates to Jesus Christ all that he is about to write.

The purpose of this message is to encourage Christians by drawing attention to John’s initial description of what Jesus has accomplished for us as Christians.

I am intrigued by the fact that John dedicates this book to Jesus Christ.

It would not have been difficult to imagine that he would dedicate his book to the Father.

Among modern worshipers, many of our brothers and sisters would perhaps dedicate such a missive to the Spirit of God.

John is not ignoring the Father, for he will speak often of the Father throughout the letter.

Neither is he ignoring the Spirit of God.

In fact, John is Trinitarian in his theology since he states that the letter is from the Father and from the seven-fold Spirit (probably a reference to ISAIAH 11:2), as well as being from Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless, the book is dedicated to Jesus Christ.

In part, I believe this is because the letter is inspired by the Spirit of God.

When the Master prepared to depart this earth, He prophesied that the Spirit whom He would send would guide the disciples into truth, glorifying the Son in all things [JOHN 16:13, 14].

Here, we see the Spirit directing John to glorify the Son, just as Jesus promised.

I claim no mystical insight into this book that attracts such incredible attention, but I do have a desire to glorify Christ the Lord by reminding each of us that though He is coming for us very soon, He has already richly provided for those whom He loves and whom He has redeemed.

Focus then on the greeting John pens to seven churches.

GREETINGS FROM THE SON OF GOD — “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.”

John pronounces a benediction for those who are reading this book—grace and peace emanating from the Triune God.

Each Christian reading this book should take courage from the knowledge that God begins His missive by identifying Himself as the Triune God.

Grace is mentioned as being given by the Triune God because we who believe are the recipients of His love and mercy.

Peace is identified as flowing from the Triune God precisely because our sin is forgiven and we are accepted in the Beloved Son.

What a rich heritage is ours as worshippers of the True and Living God.

While John presents the truth that the Triune God reigns in Heaven and rules over the earth, he quickly shifts his focus to the Son of God.

Jesus Christ is identified as “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.”

This is not the only time John refers to Jesus as the “faithful witness.”

In REVELATION 3:14, the Reigning Son of God is presented to the Laodiceans as “the faithful and true witness.”

When John identifies Him as the “faithful witness,” he is undoubtedly referring to His confession before Pontius Pilate.

Paul testifies that “in His testimony before Pontius Pilate [Jesus] made the good confession” [1 TIMOTHY 6:13].

Let’s review Jesus’ testimony before Pilate.

Pilate queried Jesus, “‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew?

Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me.

What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.

But my kingdom is not from the world.’

Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king.

For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice’” [JOHN 18:33-37].

“You say that I am a King.”

The New American Standard version supplies one word in English to bring out the strength of the Greek: “You say correctly that I am a King.”

Jesus boldly attested that He was King of the Jews.

This confession must be seen in the light of His confession before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin when asked, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus firmly replied, “I am” [MARK 14:61, 62].

Because Jesus is “the faithful witness,” all who are born from above will likewise witness truly.

In the letter to Pergamum, Jesus says, “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.

Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” [REVELATION 2:13].

The redeemed of the Lord are bold and will prove faithful when challenged by the wicked.

Thus, we Christians are encouraged to “stand firm.”

[2]

Jesus is also identified as the “firstborn of the dead.”

The term does not mean that He was first in time, but rather it speaks of Him as first in pre-eminence.

The Greek term prōtótokos has no chronological implication; rather the word speaks of rank.

Jesus is pre-eminent since He is the first to conquer death.

Paul presents Jesus as “the firstfruits of those who are asleep” [1 CORINTHIANS 15:20].

Paul testifies that the Son of God “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” [COLOSSIANS 1:15].

Let’s expand on that thought by reading Paul’s words.

“[Jesus] is … the firstborn of all creation.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” [COLOSSIANS 1:15-20].

Therefore, since Jesus is “the faithful witness” and because He is pre-eminent, He has been appointed “the ruler of kings on earth.”

There is a day when Jesus shall reign over all the earth and the redeemed—those whom He has saved—will reign with Him.

Though the world now ridicules the child of God and dismisses the gentleness that we display as we declare the love of God as we call all people to life in the Beloved Son, we are assured that the Lamb of God will return as the Lion of Judah.

Paul declares of the Master, that “though He was in the form of God, [He] … made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” [PHILIPPIANS 2:6-11].

In a powerful prophecy of the Day when Christ shall reign, the Psalmist writes:

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,

‘Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.’

“He who sits in the heavens laughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

and terrify them in his fury, saying,

‘As for me, I have set my King

on Zion, my holy hill.’

…

“Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son,

lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

“

[PSALM 2:1-6; 10-12]