Revelation of Jesus Christ, 1:5-20

Revelation 1:5-20; Philippians 2 ; Zechariah 12:10; 4:1-6; John 14:9, 8:36; Psalm 121:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:7; Mark 8:23-25; Proverbs 8:17; Isaiah 49:16

We are walking in today:  Revelation of Jesus Christ, 1:5-20

 Jesus, the beginning and the end of the book: John the writer of the book.
Revelation1:5 And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.  Who He--Jesus is:  The faithful witness--what he says is TRUE (Basic Reality), The first begotten of the Dead (Resurrection), First to step into the glorified body--The Life Giver, The Prince and Ruler of the Kings of the Earth--the Great Lawmaker.  What He--Jesus does: 1. He loves us; 2. He washes us; 3. Frees us with the price of His own blood. He is our Completeness.  He is, it is finished!  Basic Reality, He Loves Us.  The Life-giver, He washes Us.  The Lawmaker, frees us with the price of His blood.  Revelations 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  The Prince and the Ruler of the Kings of the earth as stated in the 5th verse is referring to us.  Now this is a good place to give Him glory for His Dominion is forever and ever.  Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.  In the book of Philippians chapter 2, it states that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;  Take some time out and read the whole chapter for yourself.  Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.  When He appears those who pierced Him shall look upon Him and mourn because of Him.  Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.  The emphasis is made as a constant reminder that God is sovereign and eternal.  Several times John applied the same title used of the Father also to Christ.   He is.  John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?  The symbolism is used here to express and reveal the great love and care God has for us, the desire He has for us to overcome, the desire God has to save us and the character of a Father to protect us.  Those who love Him will find Him because they will seek Him and it is His desire to be found.  Revelation 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.   Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and the Omega, The First and the Last.”  In the current time the Roman empire maintains mindsets which were baffled by John’s life despite attempts of destruction by Roman authorities.  When the Roman Empire shifted authority, with Caesar no longer as ruler and knowing of the failed attempts made on John’s life--John was sent into exile.  In Rev. 1:10 On Sunday, John was in the Spirit.  He was worshipping, allowing His mind in His (Jesus’) glory and majesty to worship.  This expression may be known as a praise and meditation on the goodness of the Lord.  John was the one who wrote to us that in order to worship God you must do so in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24).  Revelation 1:11 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 Laodecia.  Revelation 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, and in the midst of the seven lamp stands One like the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.  Cross referenced:  You have seen this before--Zechariah 4:1-6 (please read).  Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?”   So I said, I am looking, and there is a lamp stand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it. And on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.  These were the tabernacle(church) lamp stands which were to be tended by a priest from evening to morning serving as a perpetual light in the otherwise dark tabernacle(church).  When we look at the positioning of Jesus between the churches or the lamp stands in Rev. 1:12 He represents the priest eternal (evening to morning) serving as a perpetual light (the light of the world).  The 7 lamp stands represent the seven churches and Jesus stands among them watching over to attend and care for them.  Thus, revealing the importance of the message to John for us the church.  The 7 stars (ironically) represent the messenger of the churches.  Also you will see the reference often made to the angels of the church throughout the letters addressing the churches.  The messenger or angels of the churches are the pastors or overseers of the churches.   Please understand the term messenger does not limit the address to the pastor, it directs these messages to the fivefold ministry as each are a type of messenger of Jesus Christ.  It is upon the receipt of the knowledge Peter discovers, and the way in which he discovers it that Jesus identifies as a method Jesus will use (revelation of Himself) to build His church.  Therefore, do not get stuck on the idea of a building.  Yet, instead the concentration should be placed on the process of building--your knowledge of who Christ is, and building yourself up on your most Holy faith (Jude 1:20).  Peter when he received the revelation of who Jesus was is when Jesus informed Him that it is that rock upon which He will build His church.  The church is being built, a building not made by hands, Selah.  The disciples never had one and they were truly his messengers. 

Hallelujah God!  What a mighty God we serve!!!  He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.  He went to hell and took back the keys!  John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.  Lord, we just want a closer walk with You!  We have been asking for more and more of You.  Psalm 121:1-2 1) I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2) My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.  As we look at the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ, we see He is truly the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End.  He lets us know that His grace is sufficient.  That He is still on the throne--still in control.  We want more of You and less of us!  We are not seeking the things, but Your presence!  He is sealing this year of abundance with the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ!  He is answering us, His chosen.  Thank You Lord for who You are!!  There is no God like You!!  No more mysteries, we can see clearly now because of Your amazing grace, it has been revealed!!  He is bringing us out and over--out of that lie of lack of knowledge into His abundance of understanding!!  Thank You Jesus for the blood!  He is our keeper, in all tribulations.  He is the Author and Finisher of our faith!  Keep looking to Him--no matter what comes, fiveamprayer!!  We can walk in 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  Lord, we lift up Your vessel, Rev. Christine Duncan for all that she has poured out.  If we had 10,000 tongues we could not thank You enough!  For Your mercy and grace!  Thanks unto You, for all that You are doing in our lives and revealing to us!  You are an awesome God!!  You are amazing God!  You keep us in awe of You!!  Thank You Lord for filling us with Your word and Spirit!  Like the blind man, in Mark 8:23-25 23) And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.  24) And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.  25) After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.  Thank You God for giving us a second touch to see things clearly!!  No more fear or avoidance of the this book, the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ!!  God is telling, fiveamprayer to wash again, what do you see?!  He is I AM, Who Is, Was and Will Be, Jehovah Jireh, Christ, the Messiah!  You have got to see this for yourself!!  Shout glory to His name!!  There is no god, like our God!!!  More of You, Lord and less of us!  We desire to be with You.  Fiveamprayer is seeking You and Your righteous ways!!  Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.  Thank You God for walking us through this book, the Revelation of Jesus Christ!  He is our Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.  Why were we worried?  He is the way out of no way!  A shelter in a time of storm--hallelujah!  Thank You for the revelation about the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ!  That You would teach us and make everything plain!!  We must worship You, in spirit and in truth!  It is not by power nor might but by His Spirit!!  The blood looks so different now!!  Hallelujah God!  He did it for me!!  This is personal, that He opened my blinded eyes, opened up my ears to hear His word, increase my knowledge and understanding of His word!!  Thank You God!!  Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.  All sufficiency lies in Him!!  After walking through this book, we will never be the same!!  Thank You Lord!!  Praise Your holy name!!  God is doing a new thing, have us to walk in humility, Lord!  We lift up prayer requests, those known and unknown.  We come asking for forgiveness, sometimes we walk in fear but we have not been given the spirit of fear--it is not even in our DNA!!  Walking through the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ, we can truly shake off this fear thing and hold on to the sound mind!!  Be in the word daily, fiveamprayer, let the scriptures renew your mind!!
 
We seal this prayer in His precious blood: 1 Chronicles 4:10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.


Welcome to the overflow...
We want more of You God!!  More and more and more!!  Fill us, Lord until we want no more!  Hallelujah God!  Thank You for who You are!  He came that we would have life more abundantly!!  The abundant life includes more and more of Him, and knowledge, wisdom and understanding!  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.  No longer a mystery, we can do all things through Him!  Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in this world!  We have a new revelation of who we are!  We are who we are because of of heavenly Father!!  Give us more of You God!  Keep showing up mighty on this line and revealing more and more of You, to us!  The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!  In this season of 2011, tell the devil, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!!   Cast down that fear and lies of lack!!!  Thank You, Lord, You are the restorer of our souls.  Led us Lord in the paths of righteousness for Your namesake!  Pray for Rev. Christine Duncan, as she is continuing to prepare on this teaching of the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ.  Visit us on facebook, have a blessed day!