General pattern of the seven letters…  Description of Jesus – “The words of Him who…”  Commendation – “I know your…”  Condemnation – “But I have this against you…”  Admonition – “Remember, therefore…”  Warning – “If now, I will…”  Conclusion  Promise – “To the one who conquers…”

To the one who conquers… “…I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” “…will not be hurt by the second death.” “…I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

To the one who conquers… “…to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.  Authority over the nations

Ephesians 2 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Genesis 1 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.

To the one who conquers… “…to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.  Authority over the nations  The Morning Star “The meaning seems to be that as the morning star, one of the brightest in the heavens, heralds the approach of dawn and a new day, so Christ here promises that He will give to the conqueror a new day; the night is almost over.” Homer Hailey, Commentary on Revelation, 142

To the one who conquers… “…to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.  Authority over the nations  The Morning Star “…the expression is a metaphor announcing the dawn of a new day and the fulfillment of hope after the night of longing and expectation.” Bruce Metzger, Breaking the Code, 37

To the one who conquers… “…will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”  Clothed in white garments  Never blot your name out of the book of life

Exodus The LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.

Revelation Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21 – Description of heaven 27 …and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

To the one who conquers… “…will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”  Clothed in white garments  Never blot your name out of the book of life  I will confess his name

To the one who conquers… “…will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”  Clothed in white garments  Never blot your name out of the book of life  I will confess his name

To the one who conquers… “…I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”  Pillar in the temple of my God

Apollo’s Temple at Corinth (built in the middle 6 th cent. BC)

To the one who conquers… “…I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”  Pillar in the temple of my God  Never shall he go out of it “The people would leave the city and go out into the open fields and live in tents. When all danger was passed, and they did the necessary rebuilding, they would go back into the city.” Ferrell Jenkins, Notes on Revelation, 397

To the one who conquers… “…I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”  Pillar in the temple of my God  Never shall he go out of it  I will write upon him the name of my God

1 Kings 7 21 Thus he set up the pillars at the porch of the nave; and he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz. 22 On the top of the pillars was lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished. “When the city was rebuilt by Tiberius after the AD 17 earthquake, the city was renamed Neocaesarea to honor the emperor. The name did not stick. Later, in the reign of Vespasian, the city assumed the name Flavia.” -Ferrell Jenkins, Notes on Revelation, 68

To the one who conquers… “…I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”  Pillar in the temple of my God  Never shall he go out of it  I will write upon him the name of my God

To the one who conquers… “…I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”  We do everything like Jesus (Rom. 6)

To the one who conquers… “…I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

To the one who conquers… “…will not be hurt by the second death.”

To the one who conquers… “…I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

To the one who conquers… “…to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.

To the one who conquers… “…will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”

To the one who conquers… “…I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”

To the one who conquers… “…I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”