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258 – John’s Visions

Revelation 1:1-20, 4:1-5:14

John was exiled to the island of Patmos for being a follower of Jesus and preaching the word of God. On the Lord’s Day, he was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly he heard a loud voice behind him. It sounded like a trumpet blast that said, “You are going to see amazing things. Write all of it in a book and send it to the seven churches of Asia.”

John turned to see who was talking. There, right in front of him, were seven gold lamp stands with the Son of Man standing in the middle of them. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His hair was white like wool—it was as white as snow! His eyes were like flames of fire and his feet like polished bronze. His voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and when he spoke, it was like a sharp, two-edged sword came from his mouth. His face was shining like the sun!

John fell to the ground as if he were dead. The Son of Man put his hand on John and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. Yes, I died, but look … I’m alive forever! I hold the keys of death and the grave. Write what you see—about the things happening now and the things that will happen in the future.”

John was told what to write to the seven churches. And after that, he saw a door in heaven, standing open. Suddenly that same voice, blasting like a trumpet, said to John, “Come up here!” Instantly, his spirit was in heaven and he saw a throne, and someone sitting on it. There was a rainbow around the throne. John then saw there were twenty-four elders next to the throne, but each of them was sitting on his own throne. They were clothed in white and wearing gold crowns.

There were also four heavenly beings and they worshiped God all day and all night saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty!”

Flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder came from the throne. In front, there were seven flaming torches, which were the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne, John saw a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.

He focused on the one sitting on the throne and saw that he had a scroll in his hand. It was sealed with seven seals. A strong angel shouted, “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” No one was able to open the scroll and read it—not anyone in heaven or on earth.

When John saw this, he started to cry because no one was worthy. One of the twenty-four elders turned to him and said, “Stop crying! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the victory. He is the heir to David’s throne, and he is worthy to open the scroll.”

Then John saw a Lamb that had been killed but was now standing among the elders. The Lamb stepped forward and took the scroll from the one sitting on the throne. As he did, the heavenly beings and the elders fell down before him and sang a new song. Then millions of angels came and joined them. Together, they all sang, “Worthy is the Lamb!”