Once upon a time, a young seminary graduate went to speak for the first time at a local church. He was feeling pretty good about the sermon he had prepared. After the final song, he arose with confidence, stepped onto the stage, turned to face the people, and saw it. Written on the inside of the railing surrounding the stage were the words, "We Would See Jesus." His confidence faded away, and insufficient time spent with Christ weighed heavy upon his heart.
Who does God use to further His kingdom? The fact is, God can use whoever he wants. He can use an ex-general from Egypt fitted to be the next Pharoah to lead His people to the promised land, or he can use a donkey to reprove a wayward prophet. In John's case, he started as a son of thunder, who once asked Jesus, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" (Luke 9:54) John spent three years learning from Jesus, but it was not until his failure at the cross that he began to see what God could do in him through Christ.
After John completes his introductory remarks to his letter to the seven churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, he introduced himself as a brother and fellow participant in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus. No writer of the New Testament ever said following Jesus Christ would be easy. Jesus did say, "The foxes have holes, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." "The servant is not greater than his master."
John proceeded to tell his readers and us by extension that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day; that is to say, he could hear and understand God. "But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God ...But the one who is spiritual discerns all things..." (1 Corinthians 2:14, 15).
John tells us after seeing the Lord that he fell down like a dead man. The John whose feet Jesus washed, who laid his head upon Jesus and could hear His heartbeat, and who referred to himself as the one who Jesus loved, fell down like a dead man.
The opening vision of Jesus is preparing us for the rest of the letter. Jesus is Jesus; He is complete, that is to say holy, and never exercises any characteristic at the expense of any other part of His being. The first time Jesus came to earth, He came to save. The second time He comes, the wrath of the Lord will bring righteous destruction. The vast majority of "Christiandom' are unbelievers. For this reason, there will be a great falling away from the faith (2 Thessalonians 2,3). Therefore, regardless of Jesus' wrath on the pages of Revelation, "...they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds." (Revelation 16:11)
Therefore, Jesus appeared to John, in this way. "His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it had been heated to a glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters ...out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength." (Revelation 1:15). To John, however, Jesus is the One he came to know, love, and serve. Therefore, speaking of Jesus he says, "...placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first, and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." (Revelation 1:17, 18).
John had no reason to be afraid because the appearance of Jesus was not meant for him but for all those who will fall away.
If you have received Christ into your heart, it's because He has given you a new heart and placed you under a New Covenant, you need not worry. You belong to Him and He will comfort you.
Even if we are to pass through the fire, He will enable us to endure it.
If you are born-again.
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