9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
The AV does not make the sense of John's words plain enough in 9. 'Tribulation' should be linked with Christ just as 'Kingdom' and 'patience' are. John is our companion 'in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ'. It has been pointed out that these three words give, so to speak, the pattern and format of the Church's life on earth, and describe what we may expect in our experience as believers. First of all, the Christian life involves tribulation. 'In the world' said Jesus, 'ye shall have tribulation'. A moment's reflection will make it plain that this is in fact inevitable, for to be a believer means to have been translated into a world which must necessarily stand in irreconcilable antagonism to this present evil world. To be 'in the world' but no longer 'of the world', as Jesus puts it, necessarily means that tension will arise. The Church of Jesus Christ is on alien soil, and because this is so, the cross will ever be the badge of our discipleship. But we are also at the same time companions in His kingdom, and this more than offsets the other. The Church of Jesus Christ is also a royal kingdom, and the King of glory reigns in it. The meaning of the gospel is that the kingdom of God has breached this broken and fallen world, and though we do not yet see all things put under His feet, for the reason that His kingdom is as yet hidden and not manifested, we have the glad assurance that one day it will be displayed in all its grandeur and majesty. And in the meanwhile, the Church works on and waits in patience till He come. As one commentator puts it, 'patience means the faithful obedience of the Church to Jesus Christ till He come'. This is why the characteristic exhortation in the letters to the Churches in chapters 2 and 3 is 'Hold fast till I come'.