Pell, Peter: Bristol Conference 1963-01 ~ 7 Churches Of Revelation

Your Bibles, please, to the book of Revelation. In case you wonder where it is, it's the last book in the Bible. Chapter one and verse nine. I, John, who also am your brother and companion. Now, I like that. We have many brethren, but they're not all our companions. There's a difference. I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. Verse twelve. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks was one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. Chapter four, Verse one. 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 show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats I saw uh four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. Chapter thirteen and verse one. And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his head the name of blasphemy, verse seven: uh And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. A chapter seventeen, verse one. And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. Verse 3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. Verse eighteen: And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Finally, chapter twenty one, verse nine. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, verse twenty four: And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and there shall in no wise enter in, enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Now, I'm sure you know what I'm going to speak about this evening for a little while. I want to accompany John the Revelator and view with him the things that he saw as we notice the five viewpoints in the book of Revelation. We were singing about that man of Calgary, and I'm sure that all of us can say he has won our hearts. This world refused him, but they're going to receive him. Oh, not gladly. The nations will weep when he comes. They won't welcome him, but he's going to come again. And the last book in the Bible is the book of his appearing, the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And John was permitted to view this on a Lord's Day. You'll notice that it tells us he was in the spirit on the Lord's Day. That's a good thing for all of us, to be in the spirit on the Lord's Day. He was on the Isle of Patmos, a very lonely island, a forbidding sort of a place, and I suppose that John was thinking of other Lord's days when he met with the Lord's people to remember the Lord Jesus in his love for us that led him to the cross of Calvary, and I suppose he was feeling lonely. And then on the Lord's Day, he heard that voice, and he had that vision, the vision of the man of Calvary. He had seen him before. He had seen him on that cross. He had seen him ere he went to heaven. He saw the wounds in his hands and feet and side. But oh, how different. Here he is, the Lord of glory, shining in all the majesty of heaven. And John, beholding the Lord Jesus Christ, was shown by the spirit of God, for he was in the Spirit, the future, things to come. He begins with a sight of the man in the glory, and when he finishes his book, he has seen that glory flooding the earth where once the Lord Jesus died. And I suppose if that song had been written then, he would have sung only glory by and by, only glory by and by. You know, it's a grand thing for us to look beyond this long, dark night and to see the coming day when Christ to all his saints in light his glories will display. But there's more than that. He's not only going to display his glories to us, he's going to display his glories through us. For the church is the vessel of grace, but it's the vessel of glory, and one day the glory of God will cover this world and this earth as the waters cover the sea. And now when men are so silly in their aspirations and in their attempts to make themselves great, it's good for us who know the Lord Jesus Christ to get a vision of his glory that will dim all that we have in this world. How insignificant is it all when we see what God is going to do? And in these five views, these five viewpoints, as we with John see the man in the glory, and then as we view those who are associated with him up there, and as we see the product of the development of the national spirit, and as we see the outcome of the religious world, and then we see what God has purposed for Christ and those who belong to him, if we won't shout, hallelujah, what a savior, there's something wrong with us. Oh, what a Savior is Jesus the Lord. Well might his name by his saints be adored. He has redeemed us from hell by his blood, saved us forever, and brought us, uh, to God. Now John was on the Isle of Patmos, and let me suggest that if you want a vision of the man in the glow ray, this world must be to you what it was to John. Sometimes we are so disappointed. Sometimes we say, well, I don't get a sight of that man as others do. I can't see in him what they see in. That's because you have a divided vision. Your eye must be focused on him. You have to turn around when you hear that voice and fix your gaze upon him. And then, when you get a sight of him, you'll bow in worship at his feet. I announced one time years ago that I was going to take up the study of the book of Revelation in Grand Haven, where I've ministered the word of God for forty years. And a sister came to me and she said, I'm sorry, Peter, I wish you'd take up the Song of Solomon or the Psalms or Philippians or something like that. I don't like to read the book of Revelation. Why, you know, one chapter we have hell let loose on earth. We have awful things happening. Why, a third of the grass and the vegetation burning up. I said, that's right, and that, that will happen too. And we have all the heavens and earth in convulsions, I said, yes, that's true, that's going to happen. Because just as God showed Pharaoh who Jehovah was, he's going to show this world who Jesus is, whom they refused and rejected. Of course he's going to do that. Well, she says, I don't like to read about that. But I said, listen, that's not the theme of the book. The theme of the book is not Antichrist. The theme of the book is not the beast. The theme of the book is not that scarlet woman who's going to rule over the political element. The theme of the book is not the judgments that sweep over this Christ-rejecting world. The theme of the book is Jesus Christ. That's the theme of the book. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him. God's going to give his son something. The world gave him something. The world gave him the cross. God has something in store for his beloved son. He's going to give him the glory. He's going to reveal him. He's going to manifest him. He's going to appear. And when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. Blessed be God, we're going to be associated with him in his glory because we know him in his grace. And all the dark pictures of the book are just backgrounds on which we behold him, the fairest of the fair. And his glory is brighter than all the brilliant sea of heaven. God's purpose is to make known himself through his beloved Son and to fulfill, fulfill all his purposes in Christ Jesus, the man of his right hand, and to obliterate all darkness and shine with the glory of his grace in a new creation where all will be in harmony with himself. Blessed be God. We can look beyond the long dark night and hail the coming day when Christ to and through all his own, his face in light, his glories will display. Oh, I'm sure that you've seen the man in the glory. I'm sure that his glory has dazzled your eyes and spoilt you for this world, and you've said, take the world, but give me Jesus. We have his letters to his own following this view of himself, and you know how he addresses them? Overcomers, don't see much like it. They're just a feeble few in this great world ruled by Satan, but they're overcomers because they're associated with him. When Israel was on one hill and the Philistines on another. The Israelites were to fight the Philistines, but there was no fight in them. Why not? Because the Philistines just said, Goliath come. And for forty days he defied the armies of Israel. All he had to do was to appear. And when they looked at Goliath, fight was gone. This world doesn't see our field marshal. He's at headquarters. And he is planning the fight, the conflict, and he's going to bring victory, and all the powers of evil will be annulled. We're on that side, the winning side. Our captain has never lost a battle, never lost a man. He'll bring victory. How's he going to do it? Just showing himself, that's all. One look at him. One look at him brings life now. One look at him, and you drop your opposition, and you say, that man for me, he died for me. We say to sinners, oh, how you'd love him if you knew him. If you'd only see him, if you'd only look at him. Why do you turn your eyes away? Why do you allow Satan to blind them? Why don't you look, look, look? He loves you, he dies for you, he's your savior, he's your Lord. Oh, how you'd love him if you knew him, knew the Christ who died to set you free. On Calvary's cross, his heart was broken, broken there for you, for me. One day he'll show himself. And those who opposed him, the Judases, the Pilots, the Herods, the mo- modernists, the hierarchs, the Crusades, and all a bunch of them will cry for the rocks to rent, to cover them, the mountains to hide them from the face of a man. The man at whose feet we fall now and worship and say that man of Calvary is one Maher. John got caught a sight of him, and you and I get a sight of him. Where? Right now. Here in this world, for he's in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. There are little assemblies of God's people that are more important than all the great empires of the world, because the King of glory is in their midst. The light may shine ever so dimly, but it can't dim the light of the glory that shines in his blessed face. And then the second viewpoint. John heard a voice, and he was called to come up hither. A wonderful trip. Come up. Hm. Higher than Glenn. Higher than anybody's going to go. Way beyond the heavens, where he is. A wonderful trip, a wonderful sight. What did he see? Well, he saw a throne up there, and he saw thrones up there, and he saw one on the throne, and he saw those who were associated with him. A lovely sight. What an experience. And then he saw the unfolding of the future. Come up and I'll show you things to come. And of course, it all centered around that person. But I think the loveliest thing about this view is that the man of Calvary in the glory has loved ones with him up there. They have crowns because they're kings. They're sitting because the work is over, they're resting. They have white robes because they're priests and they're engaged in worship, and they sing a song to him who loved them. But did you notice? While they are surrounding the throne and worshiping the one who sits on it, there's a storm brewing. Says John, I saw lightnings, I heard the thunder pealing, and I heard voices. Conversation. What were they saying? I don't know. I sort of think I know what we're going to say when we'll be in the same situation. For we're going to hear the man of Calvary call, and he's going to say to us what he said to John, come up hither. And the door will be opened in heaven, and we'll find ourselves in his blessed presence. And as we gaze upward into his face, we'll gaze downward into clouds of wrath that have gathered. And we'll listen to the thunders of the wrath of God as we see the flashing of his terrible, swift, fiery sword. Storms come. Wrath heard from heaven. I think I have in my Bible words written by Dr. Bonner. Here they are. Earth, what a sorrow lies before thee, none like it in the shadowy past. The sharpest blow that ever tore thee, even though the briefest and the last. I see the fair moon veil her luster. I see the sackcloth of the sun, the shrouding of each starry cluster, the threefold woe of Earth begun. I see the shadow of Earth's sunset, and wrapped in these the Avengers form. I see the Armageddon onset, but I shall be above the storm. There comes the moaning and the sighing. There comes the hot tears, heavy fall, the thousand agonies of dying, but I shall be beyond them all. My hopes are passing upward, onward, and with my hopes my heart has gone. My eyes are turning skyward, sunward, where glory brightens round yon throne. What's going to bring the storm? What is the future? What will be the full development of the movement that we witness today? Briefly, let us look at the three last. I had some meetings in our own hall in Grand Rapids, and the theme was fifty years ago. I studied prophecy quite a bit. I loved it as a young Christian, and I heard some of the great prophetic teachers. I must say, one who impressed me most of all was A. T. Gabeline, very sane and sound and temperate. He didn't put things into the book and then say they were there. He took out of the book what God put there. That's the only way to teach prophecy. But it thrills one today to see at least ten things that we taught then and learned then from the word of God and see them fulfilled now. Rome's rise to power, Israel a nation, Russia in the north, Syria and Egypt, the kings of the east. At the time those things were taught, there wasn't a semblance, not the tiniest evidence of their fulfillment. It's different now. I just want to notice two. John is brought to the seashore, and he looks out upon the sea which represents the sea of nations, the placing of the winds that sweep over it. Satan is the power, the prince of the power of the air. He's the god of this world. He's behind all the movements in this world, and he has only one purpose. And that is to displace the Christ of God with his man, and there will be a seeming success. Out of the agitation of nations rises an empire. In that empire, an emperor, one who reaches the height of power, higher than any man ever yet attained to. He'll have his lieutenant, the Antichrist, who will introduce a universal religion. He will have power through the image to whom he gives life, to destroy everyone who refuses to bow. You must have the corresponding number, you must have the corresponding name to this image, man's full development, so to speak, of the radar system. And what this world refused the Christ of God, they'll give Satan's man worship. The whole world will worship him. Contrast Psalm two. the whole world gathered together to put Christ on the cross. That's the development of the national spirit that we find in the world today. The agitation of nations will develop in an empire and an emperor and an Antichrist and an image in the temple in Jerusalem. The abomination of desolation that will call forth God's judgment upon this world. I needn't tell you that the scarlet woman is rising to power. I needn't tell you that she's going to ride the beast. I needn't tell you that she's Satan's masterpiece. As John goes to the wilderness and finds her at home in the wilderness, a contrast to the Song of Solomon, where we have the bride coming up out of the wilderness, leaning on the arms of her beloved. Well, I want to say just a little word about the last picture before I close. How delightful it is. John is on an exceeding high mountain, and he sees the bride, God's masterpiece. There was a secret locked up in the heart of God from all eternity. And as he delighted in that son who was his, and in a past eternity there was that sweet fellowship, Father and Son and Holy Spirit of God. God purposed to introduce into that joy a bride for his son. Just as he gave to Adam Eve to share with him all earthly blessings. Here we have God's masterpiece. It's being built now. I hope you put everything you've got into the church. Put every penny you've got into it. Put all your talents into it. Put everything you've got into the only thing that's going to last, everything else going. One day, God, who sent his son into this world. God who sent his spirit into this world. God is going to send the church into this world. And the New Jerusalem will descend from heaven, having the glory of God. And that city will be the metropolis of the coming kingdom. And it's light will flood this world and remove every vestige of darkness, for a groaning creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. And when he who is our life shall appear, then shall we appear with him. Oh, what a day that will be. How we bless God for it. But you notice what it says about that city. I was in Chicago. And while the wife was preparing the meal, Mother Urban said to me, I have something you might be interested in. I said, what is it? He said it's a volume of Bobby Burns' letters that he wrote. Oh, I said, I'd like to read that. He says, this is really a, an original copy, one of the first editions. Well, I said, I'd like to read that. I read a letter there, touched me. Bobby was writing to his father, and in that letter he said, I've been reading the book of Revelation. I've reading, I've been reading about a company in heaven. I've been reading about a city, and naught that defiles enters into that city. No pain, no death, no tears, and the heart longs for it. Oh, a scene like that, but it's not for me. I'm just defiled with sin and no power to free myself from. You know, when I read that, I said, oh, that someone had been at his side and looked over his shoulder and saw him pen those words and say, Bobby, you can be there. Bobby, Jesus died that you might be there. His precious blood cleanses from the vilest sin. He'll receive anyone who comes to him. In my boyhood days, I read Christy's Old Ork, one of the finest little books for children ever written. And it's touching to read a preppy's last day, when that dear organ that he loved so well was put into Christy's hand, and Christy went out. And you know how he loved to play Home Sweet Home. And then he learned a little hymn in the mission he went to. Treppy's dying. And Christy says, where are you going, Treppy? I don't. Are you going to that happy home, Trappy? No, no. Why not, Trappy? Oh, Christy boy, it's all right for you. You're a good lad. But you know the song you sang? Naught that defileth, naught that defileth shall ever enter in. No, Christy boy, it's not for me, it's not for me. Thank God there was someone there to tell him it was. And Christy told him about the Savior, whose precious blood cleanses from all sin. That's one side. Oh, I trust that you have come to this conference. Every one of you know that. You know that your sins are gone. You know that you belong to the man of Calvary. But oh my, when you discover all that the future holds for one who trusts in Christ, it overwhelms you. His grace you experience now, his glory you will share forever and ever. Shall we sing in closing number one hundred twelve? After that wonderful keynote of our conference, this song kept coming through my mind as he presented Christ through so wonderful night. Thou alone, Lord Jesus, canst true peace impart. Thou dost know the sorrow of the human heart. Thou who camest from glory, hear that heart to win, and in love for sinners, suffered once for sin. Number one hundred twelve. Thou alone, Lord Jesus, can sup piece this far, that of love and power Hagar, harbor are worthy in the and dark. Thou came from glory, ill and hearted bed, and in my bosom the first one for me. There is none like me now. There is none like me. For the brokenhearted, there is none like me. Cars come down with sadness, laten with envy. No, my heart for she comes, only Loving with is for my me. faith. Loving with.