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            Rev. 1:5,6: . . . . and  from Jesus Christ, the faithful  witness, the first born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To  Him who loves  us, and  released  us from our sins  by His  blood, and  He has made  us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to  Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
            Everything is given to us through Jesus Christ for it is only by Him can anything be given.
            Lord, You are the faithful witness; You have signed Your testimony with Your blood. And what is that testimony? You have established, between God and man, the testimony of reconciliation, and formed an alliance with human nature. In the presence of such a witness, we can be sure of Your love for mankind. You have given Yourself on the cross as a pledge of that love. You have kept the promises You have given us with an unbroken faithfulness. We see You standing before John, and before us, and we declare we doubt You not, oh Faithful Witness.
           Jesus Christ was the first born in the bosom of death. He found immortality springing from the tomb. That tomb became the cradle of a life that can never be lost. In this unique birth, life out of death, He communicates life to all those who are fortunate enough to follow Him. Having life in Himself, He communicates it to others and, in so doing, withdraws them from death.
          See Him, the King of kings. Through Him, and in Him, they (and we) all reign. All dominion is in Him alone.
          Mankind must then acknowledge Your power and submit to it, giving You power over their lives.
          Oh Jesus, You have loved us beyond all measure, in giving Yourself to death to raise us from the dead, delivering us from a second death.
       And the dead ones mentioned here were filled with the corruption of their sins, yet You washed them in Your blood, opening thus an abundant fountain sufficient for all.

Rev.1:7: 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. Even so. Amen.
        The Scriptures rightly say, "Behold," because the Lord's coming to you is a present happening.  He comes, oh man, to knock at your heart.  Do you not want to receive Him? Yes, He comes; to you! But the happy, fortunate day is nearer than we think, when the Bridegroom of our souls comes. Nothing is more certain! And how do You come, oh God? On the clouds? In the sacred darkness of faith? Every eye (that is to say, every understanding heart) will discover Him. That heart can see Him in those dark clouds-clouds in which He chooses to hide Himself.
        The time is coming when every redeemed man will become "an inward being" and will embrace this light of faith . . . believe in Him, adore Him in spirit and truth . . . perhaps even those who pierced Him. Yes, those, the greatest sinners, the gentiles, and the Jews. Then every eye will see Him.  All will believe in Him, all will worship Him; all will submit to Him. Then all the tribes of the earth, without exception, will shout for joy He will become the admiration, the joy and wonder of all men.  In that day, all will delight themselves in the Lord.
        But before these times, oh God, how many crosses, persecutions, changes!
        You alone know, Lord Jesus.

Rev. 1:8: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is  and who was and "who is  to come, the Almighty."
         The Word is the beginning and the end.
         He is the beginning of all things, because all has been made by Him. But He wants to be something else also; He wishes to be IN US, to be the beginning of all our works. HE IS IN US, the beginning of all works. One day all men will know this simple fact . . . and will let Him move and direct their life, and give Life-- and be their life. He comes to give all men His unique life, to turn them inward. As soon as He is the start of our actions, He becomes also their end; when we do all by Him, we do all for Him. This is the whole desire of Jesus Christ now. He desires to be the beginning and ending of all His creatures. Of you.  For to the Word belongs the beginning-- all beginnings-- and end-- and the ending-- of all things. His Father gave Him all power and put all in His hands. All has been made by the Lord Jesus. Nothing was made without Him.
        This is true, also, of the inner life. We begin by Jesus Christ and, wonder of wonders, we end by Him. After the believer has been hidden in God with Him, He is born in that believer, and lives and works in that one until He submerges him in the bosom of God. This is the Lord Who is, the Lord Who will always be, and the Lord Who comes into us-- into you-- in a special way.

Rev.  1:9: I, John, your  brother and  fellow  partaker in  the  tribulation  and  kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the  island  called  Patmos, because  of the word  of the  Lord and the testimony of  Jesus.
        John is, of all apostles, the deepest . . . inwardly He seemed to know, inwardly, what was given to each of us. John partook of the sufferings and afflictions of Jesus Christ. He, alone, accompanied Him to Calvary with unfailing loyalty John shared His patience, suffering persecution, and bore with the weak believers (that is, all of us) in a gentle, loving, unusual way This great Apostle did not rest till he was filled with love. What fire and flame he must have seen burning in his master's heart . . . and what fiery love then came to dwell in his own.
       Yet, this man was persecuted. We must not be surprised to be persecuted for the same thing; on the contrary, we must rejoice.

Rev. 1:13:...and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle.
        The long garment covering the Lord Jesus is His purity and innocence; and the golden girdle is His love.

Rev. 1:14: And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; ...
        The Lord's head, here, represents His upper part, the whiteness of which shows His extreme integrity. His hair also was very white, signifying two things: the simplicity and purity of His thoughts, and His antiquity, since He was eternal as God, even though He had come in time as man. His eyes are as flames of fire. You see, the Word imparts the knowledge of the Father. This makes us understand that He is not present only to enlighten us but also to warm us with His love.

Rev. 1:15: ...and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.
        His feet stand for His humanity. His feet are fire standing in the furnace of divinity. Here is divine love for this, His earthly people. "His voice is as the sound of many waters," because His voice-in us-is the Word and is the strongest and deepest grace.  All graces that come to us and are granted to us are watered, immersed and made fruitful in us by means of a voice that is as mighty waters.

Rev. 1:17: And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, ..."
        Now He appears as He truly is, to a man!
        Oh Lord, as soon as You appear, truly man must fall as dead. All that you and I have, which we received from Adam, has no strength! This Adam must die, so that the new Adam may do His work. But do not be afraid, for-- by the touch of His right hand-- He sustains the fallen believer and when he seems to be on the verge of perishing... there, in the midst of loss and death, he finds a greater salvation, a stronger life, a surer help. "Do not fear," says your Lord to you, "because I am the first and the last."
        He says to you, "Indeed, I am the first to be found as soon as you enter in My way...I am the last to complete My work with you. It is as the First that I met you. You lost sight of me for a time. Now I am here again. The first meeting and the second are similar, yet different. Your second sight of Me is greater, and far better, than the first."

Rev. 1:18: "...and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."
        Oh Word of God, You have life in Yourself and all live by You. Yet, though You are our very life and came to give life to men, You did not hesitate to suffer death willingly. You were immortal by nature, yet were willing to take on the form of a mortal body to destroy death. Ah, here is Your immense love and charity...submitting Yourself to death. Oh Essential Life, Your love made You find the way to submit to death and thereby free men from the certainty of death. You destroyed death with Your own death. It seemed, for a moment, that You allowed death to devour You; but You destroyed death. Now, death, through Your death, has produced Life! Death died! Now your Savior holds in His hands the keys of death and hell.
        Oh Love, if You close, who can open? If You open, who can close? Open and close as You wish. But, the believer who puts his trust in You has such a special advantage: No one can enter hell unless You open hell's door; and You will never open it for that one who comes to Your open arms trustingly.

Rev. 1:19: "Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things."
        John has received the command to write all that he has seen and will see. We can place Revelation at the level of the Gospels since in it we find Jesus Christ. We find Him as He is after His resurrection, ascension, and enthronement.
        The faithful saints are the church, in perfect union; they are like a fire, a pure golden candlestick. That is, they are united in love, burning with the same fire as their Lord and enlightened with the same light.
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^{(1) Guyon, Mme. Jeanne, CHRIST OUR REVELATION, Gardiner, Main, Reprinted 1987 Christian Books Publishing House (no longer in print)}

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