Revelation Chapter One, Companionship

Revelation 1:9a I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,

Verse 8 appears to be the conclusion of John’s greeting, with verse 9 beginning the purpose of Christ’s revelation to him. Verse 4 solidified that this letter was (initially) to the seven churches of Asia. John states that he was both a brother and companion to these churches.

It is of note that John does not elevate himself above his station, naming himself a brother and companion. He does not wrest an esteemed title for himself, nor accept such a title from others. Peter expressed the same humility as John when confronted by Cornelius, Acts 10:25, 26. John is, by his own account, a brother in Christ and a fellow companion. A companion in what? The tribulation, kingdom, and patience of Jesus Christ.

Jesus informed His apostles shortly before His arrest and trial, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” John 16:33. This of course is not the Tribulation period of Revelation, the seven years of judgment and wrath God metes out on an unsaved, ungrateful, Christ-hating and God-rejecting world. We have been saved from this wrath, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9, 10. No, this is the tribulation that comes from being associated with Jesus Christ. This is the essence of what our Lord meant when He said that His followers must take up their cross, Matthew 16:24. Persecution, scorn, derision, contempt, hatred, animosity, etc. All that our Lord experienced from unsaved men who hated Him, His followers will also, to one degree or another, experience for their faith in Him and confession of Him. Paul experienced this intensely during his lifetime; a lifetime that was prefaced by this succinct statement: “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake,” Acts 9:16. Other believers are not exempt. Christ divides; He does so by simply existing. When we come to know Him, we are separated or sanctified to Him. We think God’s thoughts after Him, as Johannes Kepler was quoted as saying. What applied to approaching science as a rational, orderly, reasonable pursuit is equally applied to morality, ethics and the welfare of man’s spirit. What God tells us through Scripture is wrong is an immutable injunction His followers dare not, and should not want to, cross. When we do we compromise our faith in order to make peace with a world that hates the God we serve. We capitulate to an enemy that will not be satisfied until it can dethrone God and replace Him with corrupt human reason and fallible human wisdom.

We are companions with John in this tribulation today. Furthermore, we are companions in the kingdom of Christ. Our Lord’s kingdom is not of this world, as He stated to Pontius Pilate, John 18:36. “World” is the Greek term, “kosmos,” and can mean, “anyone not of the ekklasia, or called out ones.” This present world, which Christ said was not His kingdom, is the same world John mentions in 1 John 2:15-17. The unsaved world, the kingdom of the enemy, offers carnal delight and, “lies under the sway of the wicked one,” 1 John 5:19. This makes sense Scripturally, since the wicked one or Satan is the god of this world, 2 Corinthians 4:4, KJV.

Christ’s kingdom begins in the human heart as we surrender control of our lives (a control we do not possess anyway) to the authority of the Holy Spirit. We are born again through faith and made members of God’s household and Christ’s kingdom. The kingdom will appear in power on earth at the height of the Tribulation, when the armies of the Antichrist are overthrown by our Lord’s visible return and descent to the Mount of Olives. The Beast will seek to wage war, Christ will capture him and His kingdom will commence on earth. This is the culmination of the prayer our Lord taught when He said, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” Luke 11:2. Now this is not to say that Christians can’t become involved in politics or government. What the Bible is clear about, however, is that like science and morality, we bring Christ with us into the political sphere. We cannot compromise because He does not compromise. We do not cavort or curry favor; we do not endorse or tacitly accept that which is blatantly evil for the sake of godless peers or political party lines. Whether we are politicians or police officers, military or mailmen, we must one and all acknowledge that our allegiance eternally belongs with Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. If we deny Him before men, He too will deny us before His Father, Matthew 10:33, 2 Timothy 2:12, see also Mark 8:38.

Lastly, John is a companion in the patience of Jesus Christ. Our Lord did not retaliate when He was persecuted. He endured the hatred and violence of the Jews and Romans that put Him on trial and executed Him as a criminal. Before that He endured the angry and violent thoughts, words and actions of godless men during the entirety of His ministry leading to His trial and death. The apostles, learning the lesson of Christ’s patience, twice suffered public humiliation and injury on account of their association with Jesus, counting it as blessing, Acts 4:3, 17, 18, 21, 5:17, 18, 40, 41. Stephen patiently endured martyrdom, Acts 7:59, 60. James suffered a like fate, Acts 12:2. Did God forget His children and allow this travesty to unfold without a care? Of course not. For the saints this was a great honor to suffer for their Lord, even to chains or death. But for those who harmed the saints, we are informed that these incidents result in, “treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who, “will render to each one according to his deeds,” Romans 2:5, 6. When faced with injustice and persecution, James offers this counsel, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord…You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand,” James 5:7, 8. Then James holds up the patriarch Job as an example of patient endurance when trials unfold. The trial is meant to test the mettle of our faith and prove its quality before the witnessing world. In our country, Christians tend to suffer much less for our faith than in numerous other places across the world. If we are heckled, jeered at, sworn at or called names, or even put in jail for our faith, our call to arms is the livery of patience, not violence. The writer of Hebrews spoke at length about the persecution of the saints, how they, “endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated,” Hebrews 10:32, 33. When we enter into this persecution, we simultaneously enter into extremely fine company, Hebrews 11:36-38.