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When the
protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those who honor the
law of God, there will be, in different lands, a simultaneous
movement for their destruction. As the time appointed in the decree
draws near, the people will conspire to root out the hated sect. It
will be determined to strike in one night a decisive blow, which
shall utterly silence the voice of dissent and reproof.
The people of God--some in prison
cells, some hidden in solitary retreats in the forests and the
mountains--still plead for divine protection, while in every quarter
companies of armed men, urged on by hosts of evil angels, are preparing
for the work of death. It is now, in the hour of utmost extremity, that
the God of Israel will interpose for the deliverance of His chosen.
Saith the Lord; "Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy
solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth . . . to
come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the
Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the
lighting down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and with
the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and
hailstones." Isaiah 30:29, 30.
With shouts of triumph, jeering, and
imprecation, throngs of evil men are about to rush upon their prey,
when, lo, a
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dense blackness, deeper than the darkness
of the night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining with the
glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens and seems to encircle
each praying company. The angry multitudes are suddenly arrested. Their
mocking cries die away. The objects of their murderous rage are
forgotten. With fearful forebodings they gaze upon the symbol of God's
covenant and long to be shielded from its overpowering brightness.
By the people of God a voice, clear
and melodious, is heard, saying, "Look up," and lifting their eyes to
the heavens, they behold the bow of promise. The black, angry clouds
that covered the firmament are parted, and like Stephen they look up
steadfastly into heaven and see the glory of God and the Son of man
seated upon His throne. In His divine form they discern the marks of His
humiliation; and from His lips they hear the request presented before
His Father and the holy angels: "I will that they also, whom Thou hast
given Me, be with Me where I am." John 17:24. Again a voice, musical and
triumphant, is heard, saying: "They come! they come! holy, harmless, and
undefiled. They have kept the word of My patience; they shall walk among
the angels;" and the pale, quivering lips of those who have held fast
their faith utter a shout of victory.
It is at midnight that God manifests
His power for the deliverance of His people. The sun appears, shining in
its strength. Signs and wonders follow in quick succession. The wicked
look with terror and amazement upon the scene, while the righteous
behold with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Everything in
nature seems turned out of its course. The streams cease to flow. Dark,
heavy clouds come up and clash against each other. In the midst of the
angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comes
the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying: "It is done."
Revelation 16:17.
That voice shakes the heavens and the
earth. There is a
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mighty earthquake, "such as was not since
men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." Verses
17, 18. The firmament appears to open and shut. The glory from the
throne of God seems flashing through. The mountains shake like a reed in
the wind, and ragged rocks are scattered on every side. There is a roar
as of a coming tempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard the
shriek of a hurricane like the voice of demons upon a mission of
destruction. The whole earth heaves and swells like the waves of the
sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very foundations seem to be giving
way. Mountain chains are sinking. Inhabited islands disappear. The
seaports that have become like Sodom for wickedness are swallowed up by
the angry waters. Babylon the great has come in remembrance before God,
"to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath."
Great hailstones, every one "about the weight of a talent," are doing
their work of destruction. Verses 19, 21. The proudest cities of the
earth are laid low. The lordly palaces, upon which the world's great men
have lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves, are crumbling
to ruin before their eyes. Prison walls are rent asunder, and God's
people, who have been held in bondage for their faith, are set free.
Graves are opened, and "many of them
that sleep in the dust of the earth. . . awake, some to everlasting
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Daniel 12:2. All who
have died in the faith of the third angel's message come forth from the
tomb glorified, to hear God's covenant of peace with those who have kept
His law. "They also which pierced Him" (Revelation 1:7), those that
mocked and derided Christ's dying agonies, and the most violent opposers
of His truth and His people, are raised to behold Him in His glory and
to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.
Thick clouds still cover the sky; yet
the sun now and then breaks through, appearing like the avenging eye of
Jehovah.
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Fierce lightnings leap from the heavens,
enveloping the earth in a sheet of flame. Above the terrific roar of
thunder, voices, mysterious and awful, declare the doom of the wicked.
The words spoken are not comprehended by all; but they are distinctly
understood by the false teachers. Those who a little before were so
reckless, so boastful and defiant, so exultant in their cruelty to God's
commandment-keeping people, are now overwhelmed with consternation and
shuddering in fear. Their wails are heard above the sound of the
elements. Demons acknowledge the deity of Christ and tremble before His
power, while men are supplicating for mercy and groveling in abject
terror.
Said the prophets of old, as they
beheld in holy vision the day of God: "Howl ye; for the day of the Lord
is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty." Isaiah
13:6. "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the
Lord, and for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be
humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts
shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that
is lifted up; and he shall be brought low." "In that day a man shall
cast the idols of his silver, and the idols of his gold, which they made
each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go
into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for
fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to
shake terribly the earth." Isaiah 2:10-12, 20, 21, margin.
Through a rift in the clouds there
beams a star whose brilliancy is increased fourfold in contrast with the
darkness. It speaks hope and joy to the faithful, but severity and wrath
to the transgressors of God's law. Those who have sacrificed all for
Christ are now secure, hidden as in the secret of the Lord's pavilion.
They have been tested, and before the world and the despisers of truth
they have evinced their fidelity to Him
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who died for them. A marvelous change has
come over those who have held fast their integrity in the very face of
death. They have been suddenly delivered from the dark and terrible
tyranny of men transformed to demons. Their faces, so lately pale,
anxious, and haggard, are now aglow with wonder, faith, and love. Their
voices rise in triumphant song: "God is our refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be
removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof." Psalm 46:1-3.
While these words of holy trust ascend
to God, the clouds sweep back, and the starry heavens are seen,
unspeakably glorious in contrast with the black and angry firmament on
either side. The glory of the celestial city streams from the gates
ajar. Then there appears against the sky a hand holding two tables of
stone folded together. Says the prophet: "The heavens shall declare His
righteousness: for God is judge Himself." Psalm 50:6. That holy law,
God's righteousness, that amid thunder and flame was proclaimed from
Sinai as the guide of life, is now revealed to men as the rule of
judgment. The hand opens the tables, and there are seen the precepts of
the Decalogue, traced as with a pen of fire. The words are so plain that
all can read them. Memory is aroused, the darkness of superstition and
heresy is swept from every mind, and God's ten words, brief,
comprehensive, and authoritative, are presented to the view of all the
inhabitants of the earth.
It is impossible to describe the
horror and despair of those who have trampled upon God's holy
requirements. The Lord gave them His law; they might have compared their
characters with it and learned their defects while there was yet
opportunity for repentance and reform; but in order to secure the favor
of the world, they set aside its precepts and taught others to
transgress. They have endeavored to compel
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God's people to profane His Sabbath. Now
they are condemned by that law which they have despised. With awful
distinctness they see that they are without excuse. They chose whom they
would serve and worship. "Then shall ye return, and discern between the
righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that
serveth Him not." Malachi 3:18.
The enemies of God's law, from the
ministers down to the least among them, have a new conception of truth
and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment
is the seal of the living God. Too late they see the true nature of
their spurious sabbath and the sandy foundation upon which they have
been building. They find that they have been fighting against God.
Religious teachers have led souls to perdition while professing to guide
them to the gates of Paradise. Not until the day of final accounts will
it be known how great is the responsibility of men in holy office and
how terrible are the results of their unfaithfulness. Only in eternity
can we rightly estimate the loss of a single soul. Fearful will be the
doom of him to whom God shall say: Depart, thou wicked servant.
The voice of God is heard from heaven,
declaring the day and hour of Jesus' coming, and delivering the
everlasting covenant to His people. Like peals of loudest thunder His
words roll through the earth. The Israel of God stand listening, with
their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances are lighted up with His
glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai.
The wicked cannot look upon them. And when the blessing is pronounced on
those who have honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy, there is a
mighty shout of victory.
Soon there appears in the east a small
black cloud, about half the size of a man's hand. It is the cloud which
surrounds the Saviour and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in
darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man.
In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it
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draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter
and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory
like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Jesus
rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a "Man of Sorrows," to drink
the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth,
to judge the living and the dead. "Faithful and True," "in righteousness
He doth judge and make war." And "the armies which were in heaven"
(Revelation 19:11, 14) follow Him. With anthems of celestial melody the
holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. The
firmament seems filled with radiant forms--"ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands." No human pen can portray the
scene; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. "His glory
covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His
brightness was as the light." Habakkuk 3:3,4. As the living cloud comes
still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns
now mars that sacred head; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow.
His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun.
"And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written,
King of kings, and Lord of lords."
Revelation 19:16.
Before His presence "all faces are
turned into paleness;" upon the rejecters of God's mercy falls the
terror of eternal despair. "The heart melteth, and the knees smite
together, . . . and the faces of them all gather blackness." Jeremiah
30:6; Nahum 2:10. The righteous cry with trembling: "Who shall be able
to stand?" The angels' song is hushed, and there is a period of awful
silence. Then the voice of Jesus is heard, saying: "My grace is
sufficient for you." The faces of the righteous are lighted up, and joy
fills every heart. And the angels strike a note higher and sing again as
they draw still nearer to the earth.
The King of kings descends upon the
cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The heavens are rolled together as a
scroll, the earth trembles before Him, and every mountain and island
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is moved out of its place. "Our God shall
come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it
shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens
from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people." Psalm
50:3,4.
"And the kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in
the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on
us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and
who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:15-17.
The derisive jests have ceased. Lying
lips are hushed into silence. The clash of arms, the tumult of battle,
"with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood" (Isaiah 9:5), is
stilled. Nought now is heard but the voice of prayer and the sound of
weeping and lamentation. The cry bursts forth from lips so lately
scoffing: "The great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to
stand?" The wicked pray to be buried beneath the rocks of the mountains
rather than meet the face of Him whom they have despised and rejected.
That voice which penetrates the ear of
the dead, they know. How often have its plaintive, tender tones called
them to repentance. How often has it been heard in the touching
entreaties of a friend, a brother, a Redeemer. To the rejecters of His
grace no other could be so full of condemnation, so burdened with
denunciation, as that voice which has so long pleaded: "Turn ye, turn ye
from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" Ezekiel 33:11. Oh, that it
were to them the voice of a stranger! Says Jesus: "I have called, and ye
refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have
set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof." Proverbs
1:24, 25. That voice awakens memories which they would fain blot
out--warnings despised, invitations refused, privileges slighted.
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There are those who mocked Christ in
His humiliation. With thrilling power come to their minds the Sufferer's
words, when, adjured by the high priest, He solemnly declared:
"Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of
power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Matthew 26:64. Now they
behold Him in His glory, and they are yet to see Him sitting on the
right hand of power.
Those who derided His claim to be the
Son of God are speechless now. There is the haughty Herod who jeered at
His royal title and bade the mocking soldiers crown Him king. There are
the very men who with impious hands placed upon His form the purple
robe, upon His sacred brow the thorny crown, and in His unresisting hand
the mimic scepter, and bowed before Him in blasphemous mockery. The men
who smote and spit upon the Prince of life now turn from His piercing
gaze and seek to flee from the overpowering glory of His presence. Those
who drove the nails through His hands and feet, the soldier who pierced
His side, behold these marks with terror and remorse.
With awful distinctness do priests and
rulers recall the events of Calvary. With shuddering horror they
remember how, wagging their heads in satanic exultation, they exclaimed:
"He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He
trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him." Matthew
27:42, 43.
Vividly they recall the Saviour's
parable of the husbandmen who refused to render to their lord the fruit
of the vineyard, who abused his servants and slew his son. They
remember, too, the sentence which they themselves pronounced: The lord
of the vineyard "will miserably destroy those wicked men." In the sin
and punishment of those unfaithful men the priests and elders see their
own course and their own just doom. And now there rises a cry of mortal
agony. Louder than the shout, "Crucify Him, crucify Him," which rang
through the streets of Jerusalem, swells the awful,
Page 644
despairing wail, "He is the Son of God!
He is the true Messiah!" They seek to flee from the presence of the King
of kings. In the deep caverns of the earth, rent asunder by the warring
of the elements, they vainly attempt to hide.
In the lives of all who reject truth
there are moments when conscience awakens, when memory presents the
torturing recollection of a life of hypocrisy and the soul is harassed
with vain regrets. But what are these compared with the remorse of that
day when "fear cometh as desolation," when "destruction cometh as a
whirlwind"! Proverbs 1:27. Those who would have destroyed Christ and His
faithful people now witness the glory which rests upon them. In the
midst of their terror they hear the voices of the saints in joyful
strains exclaiming: "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He
will save us." Isaiah 25:9.
Amid the reeling of the earth, the
flash of lightning, and the roar of thunder, the voice of the Son of God
calls forth the sleeping saints. He looks upon the graves of the
righteous, then, raising His hands to heaven, He cries: "Awake, awake,
awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!" Throughout the length and
breadth of the earth the dead shall hear that voice, and they that hear
shall live. And the whole earth shall ring with the tread of the
exceeding great army of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From
the prison house of death they come, clothed with immortal glory,
crying: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1
Corinthians 15:55. And the living righteous and the risen saints unite
their voices in a long, glad shout of victory.
All come forth from their graves the
same in stature as when they entered the tomb. Adam, who stands among
the risen throng, is of lofty height and majestic form, in stature but
little below the Son of God. He presents a marked contrast to the people
of later generations; in this one respect is shown the great degeneracy
of the race. But all arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal
youth. In the beginning, man
Page 645
was created in the likeness of God, not
only in character, but in form and feature. Sin defaced and almost
obliterated the divine image; but Christ came to restore that which had
been lost. He will change our vile bodies and fashion them like unto His
glorious body. The mortal, corruptible form, devoid of comeliness, once
polluted with sin, becomes perfect, beautiful, and immortal. All
blemishes and deformities are left in the grave. Restored to the tree of
life in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will "grow up" (Malachi 4:2) to
the full stature of the race in its primeval glory. The last lingering
traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ's faithful ones
will appear in "the beauty of the Lord our God," in mind and soul and
body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord. Oh, wonderful
redemption! long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated with eager
anticipation, but never fully understood.
The living righteous are changed "in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye." At the voice of God they were
glorified; now they are made immortal and with the risen saints are
caught up to meet their Lord in the air. Angels "gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Little
children are borne by holy angels to their mothers' arms. Friends long
separated by death are united, nevermore to part, and with songs of
gladness ascend together to the City of God.
On each side of the cloudy chariot are
wings, and beneath it are living wheels; and as the chariot rolls
upward, the wheels cry, "Holy," and the wings, as they move, cry,
"Holy," and the retinue of angels cry, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty." And the redeemed shout, "Alleluia!" as the chariot moves
onward toward the New Jerusalem.
Before entering the City of God, the
Saviour bestows upon His followers the emblems of victory and invests
them with the insignia of their royal state. The glittering ranks are
drawn up in the form of a hollow square about their King, whose form
rises in majesty high above saint and angel,
Page 646
whose countenance beams upon them full of
benignant love. Throughout the unnumbered host of the redeemed every
glance is fixed upon Him, every eye beholds His glory whose "visage was
so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men."
Upon the heads of the overcomers, Jesus with His own right hand places
the crown of glory. For each there is a crown, bearing his own "new
name" (Revelation 2:17), and the inscription, "Holiness to the Lord." In
every hand are placed the victor's palm and the shining harp. Then, as
the commanding angels strike the note, every hand sweeps the harp
strings with skillful touch, awaking sweet music in rich, melodious
strains. Rapture unutterable thrills every heart, and each voice is
raised in grateful praise: "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."
Revelation 1:5, 6.
Before the ransomed throng is the Holy
City. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates, and the nations that have kept
the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise of God, the home of
Adam in his innocency. Then that voice, richer than any music that ever
fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying: "Your conflict is ended." "Come,
ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world."
Now is fulfilled the Saviour's prayer
for His disciples: "I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be
with Me where I am." "Faultless before the presence of His glory with
exceeding joy" (Jude 24), Christ presents to the Father the purchase of
His blood, declaring: "Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast given
Me." "Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept." Oh, the wonders of
redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father,
looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin's discord
banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with
the divine!
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With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes
His faithful ones to the joy of their Lord. The Saviour's joy is in
seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the souls that have been saved by His
agony and humiliation. And the redeemed will be sharers in His joy, as
they behold, among the blessed, those who have been won to Christ
through their prayers, their labors, and their loving sacrifice. As they
gather about the great white throne, gladness unspeakable will fill
their hearts, when they behold those whom they have won for Christ, and
see that one has gained others, and these still others, all brought into
the haven of rest, there to lay their crowns at Jesus' feet and praise
Him through the endless cycles of eternity.
As the ransomed ones are welcomed to
the City of God, there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of
adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing
with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race--the being whom
He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of
the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour's form. As Adam discerns the
prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his Lord,
but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying: "Worthy, worthy is
the Lamb that was slain!" Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him
look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.
After his expulsion from Eden, Adam's
life on earth was filled with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim of
sacrifice, every blight upon the fair face of nature, every stain upon
man's purity, was a fresh reminder of his sin. Terrible was the agony of
remorse as he beheld iniquity abounding, and, in answer to his warnings,
met the reproaches cast upon himself as the cause of sin. With patient
humility he bore, for nearly a thousand years, the penalty of
transgression. Faithfully did he repent of his sin and trust in the
merits of the promised Saviour, and he died in the hope of a
resurrection. The Son of God redeemed man's failure and fall; and
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now, through the work of the atonement,
Adam is reinstated in his first dominion.
Transported with joy, he beholds the
trees that were once his delight--the very trees whose fruit he himself
had gathered in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines
that his own hands have trained, the very flowers that he once loved to
care for. His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that
this is indeed Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was banished
from it. The Saviour leads him to the tree of life and plucks the
glorious fruit and bids him eat. He looks about him and beholds a
multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God. Then
he casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus and, falling upon His
breast, embraces the Redeemer. He touches the golden harp, and the
vaults of heaven echo the triumphant song: "Worthy, worthy, worthy is
the Lamb that was slain, and lives again!" The family of Adam take up
the strain and cast their crowns at the Saviour's feet as they bow
before Him in adoration.
This reunion is witnessed by the
angels who wept at the fall of Adam and rejoiced when Jesus, after His
resurrection, ascended to heaven, having opened the grave for all who
should believe on His name. Now they behold the work of redemption
accomplished, and they unite their voices in the song of praise.
Upon the crystal sea before the
throne, that sea of glass as it were mingled with fire,--so resplendent
is it with the glory of God,--are gathered the company that have "gotten
the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and
over the number of his name." With the Lamb upon Mount Zion, "having the
harps of God," they stand, the hundred and forty and four thousand that
were redeemed from among men; and there is heard, as the sound of many
waters, and as the sound of a great thunder, "the voice of harpers
harping with their harps." And they sing "a new
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song" before the throne, a song which no
man can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand. It is the
song of Moses and the Lamb--a song of deliverance. None but the hundred
and forty-four thousand can learn that song; for it is the song of their
experience--an experience such as no other company have ever had. "These
are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." These, having
been translated from the earth, from among the living, are counted as
"the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb." Revelation 15:2, 3; 14:1-5.
"These are they which came out of great tribulation;" they have passed
through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation;
they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble; they have
stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God's
judgments. But they have been delivered, for they have "washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." "In their mouth
was found no guile: for they are without fault" before God. "Therefore
are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His
temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." They
have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having
power to scorch men with great heat, and they themselves have endured
suffering, hunger, and thirst. But "they shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall
lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes." Revelation 7:14-17.
In all ages the Saviour's chosen have
been educated and disciplined in the school of trial. They walked in
narrow paths on earth; they were purified in the furnace of affliction.
For Jesus' sake they endured opposition, hatred, calumny. They followed
Him through conflicts sore; they endured self-denial and experienced
bitter disappointments. By their
Page 650
own painful experience they learned the
evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe; and they look upon it with
abhorrence. A sense of the infinite sacrifice made for its cure humbles
them in their own sight and fills their hearts with gratitude and praise
which those who have never fallen cannot appreciate. They love much
because they have been forgiven much. Having been partakers of Christ's
sufferings, they are fitted to be partakers with Him of His glory.
The heirs of God have come from
garrets, from hovels, from dungeons, from scaffolds, from mountains,
from deserts, from the caves of the earth, from the caverns of the sea.
On earth they were "destitute, afflicted, tormented." Millions went down
to the grave loaded with infamy because they steadfastly refused to
yield to the deceptive claims of Satan. By human tribunals they were
adjudged the vilest of criminals. But now "God is judge Himself." Psalm
50:6. Now the decisions of earth are reversed. "The rebuke of His people
shall He take away." Isaiah 25:8. "They shall call them, The holy
people, The redeemed of the Lord." He hath appointed "to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness." Isaiah 62:12; 61:3. They are no longer feeble,
afflicted, scattered, and oppressed. Henceforth they are to be ever with
the Lord. They stand before the throne clad in richer robes than the
most honored of the earth have ever worn. They are crowned with diadems
more glorious than were ever placed upon the brow of earthly monarchs.
The days of pain and weeping are forever ended. The King of glory has
wiped the tears from all faces; every cause of grief has been removed.
Amid the waving of palm branches they pour forth a song of praise,
clear, sweet, and harmonious; every voice takes up the strain, until the
anthem swells through the vaults of heaven: "Salvation to our God which
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." And all the inhabitants of
heaven respond in the ascription: "Amen: Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and
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thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and
might, be unto our God for ever and ever." Revelation 7:10, 12.
In this life we can only begin to
understand the wonderful theme of redemption. With our finite
comprehension we may consider most earnestly the shame and the glory,
the life and the death, the justice and the mercy, that meet in the
cross; yet with the utmost stretch of our mental powers we fail to grasp
its full significance. The length and the breadth, the depth and the
height, of redeeming love are but dimly comprehended. The plan of
redemption will not be fully understood, even when the ransomed see as
they are seen and know as they are known; but through the eternal ages
new truth will continually unfold to the wondering and delighted mind.
Though the griefs and pains and temptations of earth are ended and the
cause removed, the people of God will ever have a distinct, intelligent
knowledge of what their salvation has cost.
The cross of Christ will be the
science and the song of the redeemed through all eternity. In Christ
glorified they will behold Christ crucified. Never will it be forgotten
that He whose power created and upheld the unnumbered worlds through the
vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, the Majesty of heaven, He whom
cherub and shining seraph delighted to adore--humbled Himself to uplift
fallen man; that He bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding of
His Father's face, till the woes of a lost world broke His heart and
crushed out His life on Calvary's cross. That the Maker of all worlds,
the Arbiter of all destinies, should lay aside His glory and humiliate
Himself from love to man will ever excite the wonder and adoration of
the universe. As the nations of the saved look upon their Redeemer and
behold the eternal glory of the Father shining in His countenance; as
they behold His throne, which is from everlasting to everlasting, and
know that His kingdom is to have no end, they break forth in rapturous
song: "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb
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that was slain, and hath redeemed us to
God by His own most precious blood!"
The mystery of the cross explains all
other mysteries. In the light that streams from Calvary the attributes
of God which had filled us with fear and awe appear beautiful and
attractive. Mercy, tenderness, and parental love are seen to blend with
holiness, justice, and power. While we behold the majesty of His throne,
high and lifted up, we see His character in its gracious manifestations,
and comprehend, as never before, the significance of that endearing
title, "Our Father."
It will be seen that He who is
infinite in wisdom could devise no plan for our salvation except the
sacrifice of His Son. The compensation for this sacrifice is the joy of
peopling the earth with ransomed beings, holy, happy, and immortal. The
result of the Saviour's conflict with the powers of darkness is joy to
the redeemed, redounding to the glory of God throughout eternity. And
such is the value of the soul that the Father is satisfied with the
price paid; and Christ Himself, beholding the fruits of His great
sacrifice, is satisfied.
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