The Visionary
‘…and of all things that he saw’
Beloved Apostle John received the book of Revelation through visions he had during the great persecution of believers. The persecutors had boiled him in a drum of oil but he escaped death miraculously even though he was well advanced in age. Domitian, the Roman Emperor, incarcerated him in the isle of Patmos to suffer and die there. At that time, all the seven churches he wrote to were under persecution. Domitian employed different murderous forms to persecute the church at the time as experienced firsthand by John:
‘I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ’ (Revelation 1:9).
Before John saw this vision, he had written so much about Christ already. He must have thought that he has seen Christ in His fullness. On the contrary, when he saw Christ in His full glory, majesty and complete authority, he fell down at His feet as if dead.
‘And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death’ (Revelation 1:17-18).
Before that time, John had written all he knew about Christ in the Gospel of John. John was an apostle but in all humility that he introduced himself as a brother and companion, banished to suffer in the isle of Patmos for Christ’s sake. When he saw Christ in His full authority, great beauty, glorified by God, he fell down at his feet as a dead man.
The Persecution Of The Church
“I know your works, and tribulation, and poverty...”
In John’s time, just like in ours today, the church was under severe persecution from internal and external forces. Throughout the ages, God has always been mindful of all the persecutions the body of Christ endures as revealed here:
Fear none of those things, which you shall suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be you faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan’s seat is: and you hold fast my name, and has not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells’ (Revelation 2:10, 13).
To them that remain faithful to God until the end, God gave the following promises:
I will put upon you none other burden.
…and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy
I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for you hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name’ (Revelation 2:24, 3:4, 8).
To them that betray God and the body of Christ, to them God also gave the following promises:
I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
So then because you art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth’ (Revelation 3:9, 16).
However, God is forever a faithful God. He says, ‘As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent’ (Revelation 3:19).
It is equally important to note that at the time of Revelation, there were evil people in the congregation who made life very difficult for true believers. The profession of faith by so many of them was fake. Many Christians suffered and died at the hands of these wicked people because of their faith in Christ. Others went through trials, persecution, and incarceration and were handed over to murderous tormentors. Majority of them lived at the mercy of their enemies, where Satan’s seat was, yet they kept their faith. They refused to deny Christ but remained firm to the last hours.
Antipas was maltreated by the agent of Satan in Smyrna, troubled, denied of his rights, benefits and attacked with poverty. He refused to give up his faith or blaspheme God in other to receive defiled deliverance and corrupt freedom. Antipas was bold and fearless before the wicked government of Domitian, the Roman Emperor. He chose to suffer in hunger, preferred to be cast into prison and to serve God, right before satanic throne. He died a faithful martyr, slain before his brethren, by demonic militants of the power that was.
Other faithful saints overcame evil doctrine such as the doctrine of Balaam, who allowed evil to reign and taught Barak to cast stumbling block before God’s children. Wicked people at the time encouraged believers to eat things that were sacrificed unto idols and commit fornications. Only fake believers followed the doctrine of Nicolaitans that God hates.
Clement of Alexander who lived at the time that Nicolaitans practiced their deeds said that people abandoned themselves to pleasure like goats, leading a life of self-indulgence, immorality and loose-living. Liberty was replaced with license for immorality and people perverted God’s grace. When this evil people from Smyrna came to Ephesus with this doctrine, the people and church at Ephesus rejected it. God commended them for standing up for sound doctrine, laboring, persevering for Christ, standing steadfast with courage and serving the Lord. Their faith was militant; a missionary faith that went after people to convert them to Christ despite all odds.
The Reasons and Tragedies of Persecution
The reason for persecution was largely baseless other than hatred for truth and desire to suppress the faith that threatened the government of the day. Here are few reasons why Christians suffered great persecution at the time:
- Preaching the gospel: Preaching was prohibited by law and attracted severe punishments like indefinite incarceration or death. Nevertheless, fearless Christians were determined to fulfill the great commission.
- Cannibalism: Christians were falsely accused of cannibalism. This is because unbelievers grossly misunderstood the concept of the Lord’s Supper.
- Idols: Christians refused to bow down to heathen idols but worshipped the only true God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
- Loyalty: Christians declared absolute loyalty to their Lord, Jesus Christ, the king of kings, instead of Caesar or any other principality.
- Hatred: Many Christians were slaves and poor, so the authorities looked down on them naturally and persecuted them easily because of cheer hatred. In those days, there was no democracy, freedom of worship or any recognized body to look into the cases of believers’ complaints.
Despite what the church of Christ on earth had been through, there are still tragedies that still occur in the present day body of church. These are few present day tragedies in the body of Christ –
- It is very tragic to see believers take fellow believers to court. While some arrest or harass fellow believers with police, others kill, burn churches, fight for positions to embezzle church funds without settling issues internally, even when they have opportunities to do so.
- It is tragic to see a whole congregation fall out of love with Christ and abandon the heat and warmth of their first love. It is tragic to see a whole congregation backslide, break Christ’s heart, grow cold in love for God and for one another, become orthodox and unsound in doctrine but mechanical without affection and love for God and for one another.
- It is extremely tragic for many churches of God to allow evil preachers and prophets to teach, deceive and seduce church members with their false prophecies. Any prophet, prophetess, teacher or leader that has been consumed by greed for money, immorality, pride, jealousy, anger, covetousness, and occultism or is unfaithful to his or her family must not be allowed or permitted to minister to the body of Christ no matter what.
It is tragic to allow spiritually dead, defiled and immoral leaders to continue leading the church. We must not permit leaders who convert churches to social clubs to continue in leadership positions. There are leaders who boast of high educational qualifications, enormous wealth, etc., but in God’s eyes, they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. They are spiritually dead. Their congregation is a gathering of unrepentant sinners and backsliders who profess to be Christians but are worse than sinners. They are vile, sinful, and pitiable without any robe of righteousness. They are insincere, religious, hypocritical and very hard to win to Christ than cold irreligious sinners (see Matthew 21:23-32).