11 The Revelation of Jesus Christ , which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants , the things which must soon take place ; and He sent and [1]communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John , 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ , even to all that he saw .
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy , and [2]heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near .
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia : Grace to you and peace , from Him who is and who was and who [3]is to come , and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne , 5 and from Jesus Christ , the faithful witness , the firstborn of the dead , and the ruler of the kings of the earth . To Him who loves us and released us from our sins [4]by His blood - 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom , priests to [5] His God and Father - to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever . Amen . 7 BEHOLD , HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS , and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen . 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega ," says the Lord God , " who is and who was and who [6]is to come , the Almighty ."
9 I, John , your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and [7] perseverance which are in Jesus , was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus . 10 I was [8] in the Spirit on the Lord's day , and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet , 11 saying , " Write in a [9]book what you see , and send it to the seven churches : to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea ." 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands ; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like [10]a son of man , clothed in a robe reaching to the feet , and girded across His chest with a golden sash . 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool , like snow ; and His eyes were like a flame of fire . 15 His feet were like burnished bronze , when it has been made to glow in a furnace , and His voice was like the sound of many waters . 16 In His right hand He held seven stars , and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword ; and His face was like the sun [11]shining in its strength . 17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man . And He placed His right hand on me, saying , " Do not be afraid ; I am the first and the last , 18 and the living One; and I [12] was dead , and behold , I am alive forevermore , and I have the keys of death and of Hades .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Revelation 1:1-18
Commentary on Revelation 1:1-3
(Read Revelation 1:1-3)
This book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ; the whole Bible is so; for all revelation comes through Christ, and all relates to him. Its principal subject is to discover the purposes of God concerning the affairs of the church, and of the nations as connected therewith, to the end of the world. These events would surely come to pass; and they would begin to come to pass very shortly. Though Christ is himself God, and has light and life in himself, yet, as Mediator between God and man, he receives instructions from the Father. To him we owe the knowledge of what we are to expect from God, and what he expects from us. The subject of this revelation was, the things that must shortly come to pass. On all who read or hear the words of the prophecy, a blessing is pronounced. Those are well employed who search the Bible. It is not enough that we read and hear, but we must keep the things that are written, in our memories, in our minds, in our affections, and in practice, and we shall be blessed in the deed. Even the mysteries and difficulties of this book are united with discoveries of God, suited to impress the mind with awe, and to purify the soul of the reader, though he may not discern the prophetic meaning. No part of Scripture more fully states the gospel, and warns against the evil of sin.
Commentary on Revelation 1:4-8
(Read Revelation 1:4-8)
There can be no true peace, where there is not true grace; and where grace goeth before, peace will follow. This blessing is in the name of God, of the Holy Trinity, it is an act of adoration. The Father is first named; he is described as the Jehovah who is, and who was, and who is to come, eternal, unchangeable. The Holy Spirit is called the seven spirits, the perfect Spirit of God, in whom there is a diversity of gifts and operations. The Lord Jesus Christ was from eternity, a Witness to all the counsels of God. He is the First-born from the dead, who will by his own power raise up his people. He is the Prince of the kings of the earth; by him their counsels are overruled, and to him they are accountable. Sin leaves a stain of guilt and pollution upon the soul. Nothing can fetch out this stain but the blood of Christ; and Christ shed his own blood to satisfy Divine justice, and purchase pardon and purity for his people. Christ has made believers kings and priests to God and his Father. As such they overcome the world, mortify sin, govern their own spirits, resist Satan, prevail with God in prayer, and shall judge the world. He has made them priests, given them access to God, enabled them to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices, and for these favours they are bound to ascribe to him dominion and glory for ever. He will judge the world. Attention is called to that great day when all will see the wisdom and happiness of the friends of Christ, and the madness and misery of his enemies. Let us think frequently upon the second coming of Christ. He shall come, to the terror of those who wound and crucify him by apostacy: he shall come, to the astonishment of the whole world of the ungodly. He is the Beginning and the End; all things are from him and for him; he is the Almighty; the same eternal and unchanged One. And if we would be numbered with his saints in glory everlasting, we must now willing submit to him receive him, and honour him as a saviour, who we believe will come to be our Judge. Alas, that there should be many, who would wish never to die, and that there should not be a day of judgment!
Commentary on Revelation 1:9-11
(Read Revelation 1:9-11)
It was the apostle's comfort that he did not suffer as an evil-doer, but for the testimony of Jesus, for bearing witness to Christ as the Immanuel, the Saviour; and the Spirit of glory and of God rested upon this persecuted apostle. The day and time when he had this vision was the Lord's day, the Christian sabbath, the first day of the week, observed in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ. Let us who call him "Our Lord," honour him on his own day. The name shows how this sacred day should be observed; the Lord's day should be wholly devoted to the Lord, and none of its hours employed in a sensual, worldly manner, or in amusements. He was in a serious, heavenly, spiritual frame, under the gracious influences of the Spirit of God. Those who would enjoy communion with God on the Lord's day, must seek to draw their thoughts and affections from earthly things. And if believers are kept on the Lord's holy day, from public ordinances and the communion of saints, by necessity and not by choice, they may look for comfort in meditation and secret duties, from the influences of the Spirit; and by hearing the voice and contemplating the glory of their beloved Saviour, from whose gracious words and power no confinement or outward circumstances can separate them. An alarm was given as with the sound of the trumpet, and then the apostle heard the voice of Christ.
Commentary on Revelation 1:12-20
(Read Revelation 1:12-20)
The churches receive their light from Christ and the gospel, and hold it forth to others. They are golden candlesticks; they should be precious and pure; not only the ministers, but the members of the churches; their light should so shine before men, as to engage others to give glory to God. And the apostle saw as though of the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in the midst of the golden candlesticks. He is with his churches always, to the end of the world, filling them with light, and life, and love. He was clothed with a robe down to the feet, perhaps representing his righteousness and priesthood, as Mediator. This vest was girt with a golden girdle, which may denote how precious are his love and affection for his people. His head and hairs white like wool and as snow, may signify his majesty, purity, and eternity. His eyes as a flame of fire, may represent his knowledge of the secrets of all hearts, and of the most distant events. His feet like fine brass burning in a furnace, may denote the firmness of his appointments, and the excellence of his proceedings. His voice as the sound of many waters, may represent the power of his word, to remove or to destroy. The seven stars were emblems of the ministers of the seven churches to which the apostle was ordered to write, and whom Christ upheld and directed. The sword represented his justice, and his word, piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, Hebrews 4:12. His countenance was like the sun, when it shines clearly and powerfully; its strength too bright and dazzling for mortal eyes to behold. The apostle was overpowered with the greatness of the lustre and glory in which Christ appeared. We may well be contented to walk by faith, while here upon earth. The Lord Jesus spake words of comfort; Fear not. Words of instruction; telling who thus appeared. And his Divine nature; the First and the Last. His former sufferings; I was dead: the very same whom his disciples saw upon the cross. His resurrection and life; I have conquered death, and am partaker of endless life. His office and authority; sovereign dominion in and over the invisible world, as the Judge of all, from whose sentence there is no appeal. Let us listen to the voice of Christ, and receive the tokens of his love, for what can he withhold from those for whose sins he has died? May we then obey his word, and give up ourselves wholly to him who directs all things aright.