Audio Download

Revelation 1:10 – Part 2, Being in the Spirit

[Updated September 13, 2023]

Last week we saw many of the scriptures which demonstrate that “being in the spirit on the Lord’s day” is being “the house of God” where judgment has now begun” as we are told in 1 Peter 4:17. We saw and read the scriptures which told us that the only way to avoid being condemned with the world to a later work of grace, known as “the lake of fire… white throne judgment” is to “judge ourselves now, as we are told in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32. We saw that John signifies us as our “fellow servant who also keeps the sayings of this book.” John was “in the spirit on the Lord’s day.” Being “in the spirit” with John we see that those with eyes to see and ears to hear realize that when Christ said that “the blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zacharias would be required of this generation” that ‘this generation’ is, was, and always will be, the generation of him that reads and understands all “the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

We saw in our last study that this, and every word that has proceeded out of the mouth of God, are directed to those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear the things of the spirit.

Do you maintain your innocence of all of these offenses? Will you stand before Christ and declare that you weren’t even alive at the time the prophets were persecuted and killed? Will you maintain that you have not killed or crucified any of God’s prophets, and that you have not scourged them in your synagogues, or persecuted them from city to city? If you do, and all of Babylon does, then you are not yet “in the spirit on the Lord’s day.” You have not yet been brought to a crisis in this life which forces you to choose whether you will place God’s Word above the words of Babylon. You are not yet being judged. For the vast majority of mankind “the Lord’s day” is a yet future event. 1 Peter 4:17 by contrast, is true for very few at this time. At this time, not very many are “in the spirit on the Lord’s day… in the valley of decision.”

Joe 3:14  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

It is only by being “in the spirit on the Lord’s day” that we can see we don’t need to be guilty of physically murdering our brother to be a murderer. We are murderers in our hearts if we hate our brother. We don’t need to be guilty of physically committing adultery to be an adulterer. We have committed adultery in our hearts if we look on a woman to lust after her. We don’t need to be guilty of physically committing fornication. We commit fornication in our hearts when we know “another Jesus, with another spirit, and another gospel” other than the gospel of scripture.  So it is also of “every word” that proceeds out of the mouth of God. The “law” and “the letter” of the law – physical murder, physical adultery, and physical fornication – are really nothing more than shadows of spiritual murder and spiritual adultery and spiritual fornication.  So those who can see and hear spiritually, do not consider someone else to be “chief of sinners.” They know and consider themselves to be “chief of sinners.” They know that it was they who sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver, drove the nails into the hands and feet of our Lord and then denied even knowing who He is. God’s elect do not put one single word of God’s word off on someone else with no personal application. God’s elect know that one jot or one tittle of God’s word will not pass until mankind has acknowledged that he has lived by every word that has proceeded out of the mouth of God, until it has all been fulfilled within the kingdom of God within God’s elect:

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Those who cannot see or hear have seen none of these things. Nevertheless, the Truth remains “This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.”

In our last study we saw that “the Lord’s day” is not a particular day of the week, but it is rather the “great day of the Lord,” the great day of God’s wrath and His judgment upon our “sinful flesh” spoken of, and prophesied of, throughout the law and the Psalms and the prophets. There are five other elements in this verse which we will cover. We will only cover the first two of them today. Those five elements are 1) what it means to be “in spirit,” and 2) what is meant by “hearing a great voice,” 3) we will see who the scriptures reveal can hear this “great voice, 4) we will see why that voice is said to be behind John, and finally 5) why is it said to be “as of a trumpet?” Today we will only get to these first two questions. Remember, we are commissioned to “keep the things which are written therein” (Rev 1:3).

What does the phrase “in the spirit” mean?

Here is where this phrase first appears in the New Testament:

Luk 1:17  And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

These are the words of an angel standing on the right side of the golden altar of incense, speaking to Zechariah, the father of John the baptist. He is speaking specifically of John’s ministry, and says that John the Baptist would come “in the spirit” of Elijah. Likewise we, as God’s elect, are “in the spirit on the Lord’s day” of judgment in our lives. If we are “in the spirit” we will decrease as He increases, and our inner man will live and become more vital as we “die daily.”

Now look at what Christ did “in the spirit:”

Joh 11:33  When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

Is there anything in the revelation of Jesus Christ, which revelation we are commissioned to keep, which would cause one to “groan in the spirit and be troubled?” Yes indeed. Very few words of that revelation do otherwise. After all, the revelation of Jesus Christ is the revelation of the judgment of the old man and the birth of the new man. The birth of that new man, as with any birth, entails “groaning and trouble.” I have two daughters, three daughters-in-law, and a wife who will all vouch for the truth of those words. Christ knew well that none of the people there at the grave of Lazarus could understand His message, and He was “troubled and He groaned in the spirit.” His own disciples could not understand a word He spoke:

Mar 9:31  For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
Mar 9:32  But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Luk 9:44  Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
Luk 9:45  But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

Joh 12:16  These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

We are “in spirit on the Lord’s day” when “judgment begins at the house of God” within us, when we are “keeping the things that are written therein” and being faithful to the words of Christ, which are spirit. We are “in the spirit” only when we are faithful to the words of Christ. Christ is “glorified” in our lives only when our old man is decreasing as Christ is increasing. Only when we are being judged is Christ being glorified in us. Only under those circumstances do we “remember that these things were written of him, and that we have done these things unto Him.”

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. (ASV)

“In the spirit” means that we are living those fiery words of spirit and life spoken by and through Christ and His elect. Anything less is not “in the spirit on the Lord’s day.” Anything less is the exact opposite of being “in the spirit on the Lord’s day.”

Pro 15:4  A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

It is only “in the spirit” that we can see and understand God’s Word. How many people who think they are “in the spirit” cannot receive these spiritual words?

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

“Circumcision is… in the spirit.” Being a Jew is “in the spirit and not in the letter.” The same is true for being “on the Lord’s day.” We can be on the Lord’s day of judgment, which is now on the house of God, only “in the spirit, and not in the letter.”

Why does John see fit to tell us that he was “in the spirit” on the Lord’s day? Look at this verse of God’s Word:

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

So now we know that John was “not in the flesh” and that the spirit of God was dwelling in him on the Lord’s day. That is what is required to hear that “great voice” of the true shepherd. That is what is required to try the spirits and to know the voice and words of the true shepherd of the sheep. John was living a life that was faithful to the words and the voice of his true shepherd. As we have seen, the words of the true shepherd are parables which hide the mysteries of the kingdom of God from the eyes of the masses of Christ’s own “many called” but not chosen disciples.

Here are a few more verses which demonstrate what it means to be “in the spirit on the Lord’s day.”

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Col 1:8  Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

1Pe 4:6  For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Peter uses the word ‘dead’ in the same sense Christ used this word:

Luk 9:60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

The gospel is preached to the spiritually dead men in Babylon, and they will be judged according to men in the [dying] flesh. It is preached “as a witness against them.” Those who walk in the spirit also “live according to God in the spirit.” This has nothing at all to do with Christ preaching to spirits in prison while he was dead and in the grave. The “spirits in prison” are “the dead who bury their dead.” The spirits in prison were the carnal, spiritually dead men of Noah’s day, upon whose deaf ears Noah’s witness fell.

Now notice that all the principle elements of Revelation 1:10 are repeated in chapter 4:1-2:

Rev 4:1  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Rev 4:2  And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

Once again John is “in the spirit” hearing “a great voice as a trumpet,” and once again he sees the “great voice” but this time, instead of “walking among the seven golden candle sticks,” He is “sitting on a throne.”

John was “in the spirit on the Lord’s day” because that was where he lived and walked. All who “keep the things which are written therein” are “in the spirit on the Lord’s day… of judgment which is now on the house of God.”

Being “in the spirit on the Lord’s day” is where all who “keep the things written therein” are. They alone “teach comparing spiritual with spiritual.” That is how they are “living and walking in the spirit… judging themselves… knowing that judgment must begin at the house of God.”

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

What is a ‘voice’ in scripture?

What is John signifying to us when he tells us he heard a “great voice?” When we understand the spiritual meaning of the word ‘voice,’ then the reason it is “as a trumpet” will become much clearer. What does the word ‘voice’ mean in God’s Word?

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

It was not the tone of Eve’s voice, it was the words she spoke which caused Adam to eat of the tree.

Gen 16:2  And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

It was Sarai’s word’s that affected Abram’s actions. It was Sarai’s words which led him to go in to Sarai’s maid. Both Adam and Abram, placed “the voice” of their wives above the words or voice of God. We are Adam, and through Adam, we are Abram. We, too, listen to our spiritual Eve, our Babylonian ministers, instead of the voice of the true shepherd:

Joh 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Joh 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

“The door” is Christ and His words. “The door” is Christ and His Christ, who are faithful to His words, “for they know His voice.” They know His words.

The “great voice as a trumpet” is heard only by those who “know the voice” of the true shepherd; those who can “try the spirits to see whether they are of God.”

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and they are life.

1Co 5:6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

It is not good to glory in being united in our old leaven and the spiritual fornication which is leavening the whole lump of the body of Christ. It is better to be divided by the Truth, than it is to be united in the lies of Babylon.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

That “sword” is the truth of Christ’s words. That sword is also the voice of the true shepherd. It is the “great voice” which John heard. Christ’s words are the sword He has come to send into the world. As surely as Christ’s sheep “know His voice” and obey His words, so too, do those who are not given “the keys to the kingdom of heaven”, which teach us to “try the spirits”, the words of false prophets and false ministers, and who do not know how to “purge out… the old leaven,” who will fall prey to hearing and obeying the “voice” and the words of “another Jesus” and the words of those false “spirits” the false words of false prophets, just as this same apostle warns us in his epistle:

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits [words, doctrines] whether they are of God: because many false prophets [with many false doctrines] are gone out into the world.

We have seen what the scriptures reveal to be the spiritual significance of “being in the spirit.” What we saw was that the scriptures reveal that being in the spirit, is being in, and living our lives, in line with Christ’s words which are spirit and life. We saw that being in the spirit is being willing to “let God be true and every man a liar.” We have also seen that being in the spirit necessitates being capable of “comparing spiritual with spiritual” and rightly dividing the word of Truth.  A “door [is] opened in the heavens” only to those who are “walking in the spirit” in their daily lives.

We saw today that the “great voice” which John heard in the heavens was nothing less than the voice of the true shepherd and the words of that true shepherd. There is another voice which contrasts with the voice of the true shepherd and is heard by many more. That ‘voice’ and those words are “the voice of a stranger” and the spirits and words of the many ministers of all the lies of Babylon. Christ has assured us that His elect know His voice and will not follow the voice of a stranger (Joh 10:1-14).

In our next study we will see why this “great voice” is heard “behind John.” We will also learn to whom it is given to hear this “great voice of a trumpet,” and finally we will undertand why that great voice is said to be “as a trumpet.”