Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)
Ms 92, 1891
Diary/Thoughts on Revelation 1
NP
January 10, 1891
Previously unpublished.
Revelation 1:1-10. “The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.” One thousand years is with the Lord as one day. “The Word was with God and the Word was God.” [John 1:1.] “And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw.” [Revelation 1:1, 2.] 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 1
Shall we leave this revelation unread, unsearched, and represent it as dwelling upon events that we are not capable of understanding? God forbid. Revelation is all that the book signifies. What is this word to John to be written in a book so that we might not be taken unaware of the great things which are to take place just prior to the closing-up work of this world's history? These are His words, and if you would understand them, there is the Holy Spirit accompanying the Word to give the sacred impress upon the human heart. “Blessed is he that readeth.” [Verse 3.] This then is the first action on the part of the human agent: to read the instruction presenting the facts that are in the book, and it is the privilege of every soul to understand the sacred, important lessons given which mean so much to every soul living in our world. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 2
If the blessing is given to him that readeth, then let us read to a purpose, opening the windows of the chambers of the mind, that Christ's beams of light may shine into the mind and heart, enlightening the intellect and filling the soul temple with the softening, subduing influence of His Holy Spirit. The human agent should read with prayerful, intense interest for the purpose of obtaining divine knowledge. Blessed are “they that hear the words of this prophecy.” [Verse 3.] There are to be diligent, open ears to hear the message as well as to read it. There is to be no indifference. This book is handling things which are of eternal interest to all who shall hear the messages of warning and instruction. But this is not all. “Blessed is he that keepeth these things which are written therein.” There is a decided practicing of the truth so important. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 3
All the lessons given are to be kept in mind and worked out in character, not a jot or tittle is to be forgotten, for the time is at hand when the symbols given in Revelation will be fulfilled. And every soul is to be guarded lest he shall fail and not “keep” the words given, to practice the solemn warning for his present and eternal good. These are those that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. We are to receive every word of His lessons as testimony and conclusive. We are to give earnest heed to His words lest at any time we should let them slip. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 4
“Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,” which is a yoke of restraint from evil and is obedience in all righteousness. “Learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.] Learning of Christ we understand His warnings are given against the specious working of the enemy, for Satan is always vigilant, watching to catch souls. His words are spirit and life which are to be brought into our minds and hearts and into our character building. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 5
“John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from Him which is and which was and which is to come.” [Revelation 1:4.] Where can those striving against God place His precious, faithful ones and God will not be there? John was on the lonely rocky isle of Patmos. He was not considered worthless, although he was near a hundred years old and his hair was hoary with age. But there is no one who receives Jesus Christ but that He gives them power to become the sons of God. Where can one of God's people be, and where cannot the loving Father find His faithful sons and His people find Him, their Father? 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 6
Jacob was the lonely wanderer, fleeing for his life from his brother's wrath in dreary waste places; a rock was his pillow, but the love of Jesus Christ seeks the discouraged, helpless wanderer and gives him a glorious vision of heaven—the heavenly similitude of the ladder placed firmly upon the earth, with the topmost round reaching from the earth to the throne of God. He sees angels of God descending and ascending this ladder of shining brightness, for God was above the ladder and the glory of God's brightness glorified that ladder, which all who love God must ascend round after round heavenward. Jacob, the petted son of his mother, had his new birth unto God then and there in his discouraged state in his wanderings, and his stone pillow was the most precious to him that his head ever rested upon. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 7
When Moses, heartsick and burdened because of the repeated murmurings of the children of Israel, became afraid of that vast multitude, afraid of himself, lest he should be left to his own human wisdom, he does that which every soul must do in like circumstances for his family and property. He does not go to any man in that vast multitude, but he tells it all to God, just as we should do. Exodus 33:12-23. The fainting heart of Moses was strengthened. Thus has it been and always will be. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 8
“Grace unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful and true witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. 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.” [Revelation 1:4-10.] 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 9
This was the very day that the Lord had sanctified and set apart and given to the world as His memorial. This creation Sabbath, given to Moses in Exodus 31:12-18, has shown its importance, which was to keep God, the Creator of the world, ever in the minds of His people. Who was the Speaker? It was Jesus Christ enshrouded in the pillowy cloud. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou to the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doeth sanctify you.” “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.” (verses 16, 17.) 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 10
It was on the Lord's Sabbath, the Lord's day, that Christ revealed Himself to John. He alone of all the apostles and chosen disciples was preserved as a witness to testify of all the things which Christ had done. He was a very old man, but to him was this grand revelation made. He had enough to talk about of the Christ on whose loving bosom he laid his head. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 11
The Lord presented to Jeremiah, “Then I went down to the potter's house and behold he wrought a work on the wheels and the vessel that he made of clay was marred, in the hand of the potter so he made it again, another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mind hand, O house of Israel. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 12
“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 13
“Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.” [Jeremiah 18:1-17.] 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 14
In those words everything depended upon the course of action that God's professed children shall take in their experience which will determine their relation to God and His dealing with them. The mightiest nations, no less than the weakest human agents, are at God's disposal. And He can prosper them or overthrow them. The sins of the fathers will not be reckoned unto the nation that forsakes their sins and turns to God with true purpose of heart. And the virtues of the fathers will not protect the degenerate children who propose to practice them. These lessons I present briefly now, to be more fully expressed in the future. But here are things that need to be carefully pondered and the heart and mind take them in to understand them. 7LtMs, Ms 92, 1891, par. 15