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Chapter 42
The Controversy Ended
AT the close of the thousand years, Christ again returns to the earth. He is accompanied
by the host of the redeemed and attended by a retinue of angels. As He descends in
terrific majesty He bids the wicked dead arise to receive their doom. They come forth, a
mighty host, numberless as the sands of the sea. What a contrast to those who were raised
at the first resurrection! The righteous were clothed with immortal youth and beauty. The
wicked bear the traces of disease and death.
Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the Son of God. With one
voice the wicked hosts exclaim: "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the
Lord!" It is not love to Jesus that inspires this utterance. The force of truth urges
the words from unwilling lips. As the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth
with the same enmity to Christ and the same spirit of rebellion. They are to have no new
probation in which to remedy the defects of their past lives. Nothing would be gained by
this. A lifetime of transgression has not softened their hearts. A second probation, were
it given them, would be occupied as was the first in evading the requirements of God and
exciting rebellion against Him.
Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after His resurrection, He ascended, and
where angels repeated the promise of His return. Says the prophet: "The Lord my God
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shall come, and all the saints with Thee." "And His feet shall stand in that day
upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives
shall cleave in the midst thereof, . . . and there shall be a very great valley."
"And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord,
and His name one." Zechariah 14:5, 4, 9. As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling
splendor, comes down out of heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to
receive it, and Christ, with His people and the angels, enters the Holy City.
Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his
power and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and
dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side,
his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal
all the armies of the lost under his banner and through them endeavor to execute his
plans. The wicked are Satan's captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of
the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet,
true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be
the prince who is the rightful owner of the world and whose inheritance has been
unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer,
assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves and that he is about
to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been removed,
Satan works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong and inspires all with
his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints and to
take possession of the City of God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered
millions who have been raised from the dead and declares that as their leader he is well
able to overthrow the city and regain his throne and his kingdom.
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In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed before the Flood;
men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding to the control of fallen angels,
devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful
works of art led the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions,
defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot them from the face of
His creation. There are kings and generals who conquered nations, valiant men who never
lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death
these experienced no change. As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of
their thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquer that
ruled them when they fell.
Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and conquerors and mighty men.
They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and declare that the army within
the city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome. They lay their
plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem. All immediately
begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans construct implements of war. Military
leaders, famed for their success, marshal the throngs of warlike men into companies and
divisions.
At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on--an army such as
was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since
war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and
his angels unite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his
train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed leader. With
military precision the serried ranks advance over the earth's broken and uneven surface to
the City of God. By command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the
armies of Satan surround the city and make ready for the onset.
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Now Christ again appears to the view of His enemies. Far above the city, upon a foundation
of burnished gold, is a throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of God,
and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ no
language can describe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His
Son. The brightness of His presence fills the City of God, and flows out beyond the gates,
flooding the whole earth with its radiance.
Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of Satan, but who, plucked
as brands from the burning, have followed their Saviour with deep, intense devotion. Next
are those who perfected Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity,
those who honored the law of God when the Christian world declared it void, and the
millions, of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And beyond is the "great
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues, . . . before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms
in their hands." Revelation 7:9. Their warfare is ended, their victory won. They have
run the race and reached the prize. The palm branch in their hands is a symbol of their
triumph, the white robe an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ which now is
theirs.
The redeemed raise a song of praise that echoes and re-echoes through the vaults of
heaven: "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."
Verse 10. And angel and seraph unite their voices in adoration. As the redeemed have
beheld the power and malignity of Satan, they have seen, as never before, that no power
but that of Christ could have made them conquerors. In all that shining throng there are
none to ascribe salvation to themselves, as if they had prevailed by their own power and
goodness. Nothing is said of what they have done or suffered; but the burden of every
song, the keynote of every anthem, is: Salvation to our God and unto the Lamb.
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In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven the final coronation of
the Son of God takes place. And now, invested with supreme majesty and power, the King of
kings pronounces sentence upon the rebels against His government and executes justice upon
those who have transgressed His law and oppressed His people. Says the prophet of God:
"I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works." Revelation 20:11, 12.
As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked,
they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their
feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have
carried them in the violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they
encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised,
the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant
heart--all appear as if written in letters of fire.
Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear the scenes of
Adam's temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great plan of redemption. The
Saviour's lowly birth; His early life of simplicity and obedience; His baptism in Jordan;
the fast and temptation in the wilderness; His public ministry, unfolding to men heaven's
most precious blessings; the days crowded with deeds of love and mercy, the nights of
prayer and watching in the solitude of the mountains; the plottings of envy, hate, and
malice which repaid His benefits; the awful, mysterious agony in Gethsemane beneath the
crushing weight of the sins of the whole world; His betrayal into the hands of the
murderous
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mob; the fearful events of that night of horror--the unresisting prisoner, forsaken by His
best-loved disciples, rudely hurried through the streets of Jerusalem; the Son of God
exultingly displayed before Annas, arraigned in the high priest's palace, in the judgment
hall of Pilate, before the cowardly and cruel Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and
condemned to die--all are vividly portrayed.
And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes--the patient Sufferer
treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of heaven hanging upon the cross; the haughty
priests and the jeering rabble deriding His expiring agony; the supernatural darkness; the
heaving earth, the rent rocks, the open graves, marking the moment when the world's
Redeemer yielded up His life.
The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, his angels, and his subjects have no
power to turn from the picture of their own work. Each actor recalls the part which he
performed. Herod, who slew the innocent children of Bethlehem that he might destroy the
King of Israel; the base Herodias, upon whose guilty soul rests the blood of John the
Baptist; the weak, timeserving Pilate; the mocking soldiers; the priests and rulers and
the maddened throng who cried, "His blood be on us, and on our children!"--all
behold the enormity of their guilt. They vainly seek to hide from the divine majesty of
His countenance, outshining the glory of the sun, while the redeemed cast their crowns at
the Saviour's feet, exclaiming: "He died for me!"
Amid the ransomed throng are the apostles of Christ, the heroic Paul, the ardent Peter,
the loved and loving John, and their truehearted brethren, and with them the vast host of
martyrs; while outside the walls, with every vile and abominable thing, are those by whom
they were persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. There is Nero, that monster of cruelty and
vice, beholding the joy and exaltation of those whom he once tortured, and in whose
extremest anguish he found satanic delight. His mother is there to witness the result of
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her own work; to see how the evil stamp of character transmitted to her son, the passions
encouraged and developed by her influence and example, have borne fruit in crimes that
caused the world to shudder.
There are papist priests and prelates, who claimed to be Christ's ambassadors, yet
employed the rack, the dungeon, and the stake to control the consciences of His people.
There are the proud pontiffs who exalted themselves above God and presumed to change the
law of the Most High. Those pretended fathers of the church have an account to render to
God from which they would fain be excused. Too late they are made to see that the
Omniscient One is jealous of His law and that He will in no wise clear the guilty. They
learn now that Christ identifies His interest with that of His suffering people; and they
feel the force of His own words: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least
of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." Matthew 25:40.
The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar of God on the charge of high treason
against the government of heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without
excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them.
It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble independence and eternal life,
but slavery, ruin, and death. The wicked see what they have forfeited by their life of
rebellion. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered
them; but how desirable it now appears. "All this," cries the lost soul, "I
might have had; but I chose to put these things far from me. Oh, strange infatuation! I
have exchanged peace, happiness, and honor for wretchedness, infamy, and despair."
All see that their exclusion from heaven is just. By their lives they have declared:
"We will not have this Man [Jesus] to reign over us."
As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of God. They see in
His hands the tables of the divine law, the statutes which they have despised and
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transgressed. They witness the outburst of wonder, rapture, and adoration from the saved;
and as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city, all with one voice
exclaim, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy
ways, Thou King of saints" (Revelation 15:3); and, falling prostrate, they worship
the Prince of life.
Satan seems paralyzed as he beholds the glory and majesty of Christ. He who was once a
covering cherub remembers whence he has fallen. A shining seraph, "son of the
morning;" how changed, how degraded! From the council where once he was honored, he
is forever excluded. He sees another now standing near to the Father, veiling His glory.
He has seen the crown placed upon the head of Christ by an angel of lofty stature and
majestic presence, and he knows that the exalted position of this angel might have been
his.
Memory recalls the home of his innocence and purity, the peace and content that were his
until he indulged in murmuring against God, and envy of Christ. His accusations, his
rebellion, his deceptions to gain the sympathy and support of the angels, his stubborn
persistence in making no effort for self-recovery when God would have granted him
forgiveness --all come vividly before him. He reviews his work among men and its
results--the enmity of man toward his fellow man, the terrible destruction of life, the
rise and fall of kingdoms, the overturning of thrones, the long succession of tumults,
conflicts, and revolutions. He recalls his constant efforts to oppose the work of Christ
and to sink man lower and lower. He sees that his hellish plots have been powerless to
destroy those who have put their trust in Jesus. As Satan looks upon his kingdom, the
fruit of his toil, he sees only failure and ruin. He has led the multitudes to believe
that the City of God would be an easy prey; but he knows that this is false. Again and
again, in the progress of the great controversy, he has been defeated and compelled to
yield. He knows too well the power and majesty of the Eternal.
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The aim of the great rebel has ever been to justify himself and to prove the divine
government responsible for the rebellion. To this end he has bent all the power of his
giant intellect. He has worked deliberately and systematically, and with marvelous
success, leading vast multitudes to accept his version of the great controversy which has
been so long in progress. For thousands of years this chief of conspiracy has palmed off
falsehood for truth. But the time has now come when the rebellion is to be finally
defeated and the history and character of Satan disclosed. In his last great effort to
dethrone Christ, destroy His people, and take possession of the City of God, the
archdeceiver has been fully unmasked. Those who have united with him see the total failure
of his cause. Christ's followers and the loyal angels behold the full extent of his
machinations against the government of God. He is the object of universal abhorrence.
Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven. He has trained his
powers to war against God; the purity, peace, and harmony of heaven would be to him
supreme torture. His accusations against the mercy and justice of God are now silenced.
The reproach which he has endeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests wholly upon himself. And
now Satan bows down and confesses the justice of his sentence.
"Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy: for
all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest."
Verse 4. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been
made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes,
have been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of Satan's
rule in contrast with the government of God has been presented to the whole universe.
Satan's own works have condemned him. God's wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand
fully vindicated. It is seen that all His dealings in the great controversy have been
conducted
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with respect to the eternal good of His people and the good of all the worlds that He has
created. "All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless
Thee." Psalm 145:10. The history of sin will stand to all eternity as a witness that
with the existence of God's law is bound up the happiness of all the beings He has
created. With all the facts of the great controversy in view, the whole universe, both
loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare: "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King
of saints."
Before the universe has been clearly presented the great sacrifice made by the Father and
the Son in man's behalf. The hour has come when Christ occupies His rightful position and
is glorified above principalities and powers and every name that is named. It was for the
joy that was set before Him--that He might bring many sons unto glory--that He endured the
cross and despised the shame. And inconceivably great as was the sorrow and the shame, yet
greater is the joy and the glory. He looks upon the redeemed, renewed in His own image,
every heart bearing the perfect impress of the divine, every face reflecting the likeness
of their King. He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and He is
satisfied. Then, in a voice that reaches the assembled multitudes of the righteous and the
wicked, He declares: "Behold the purchase of My blood! For these I suffered, for
these I died, that they might dwell in My presence throughout eternal ages." And the
song of praise ascends from the white-robed ones about the throne: "Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and
glory, and blessing." Revelation 5:12.
Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained to acknowledge God's justice and to bow to
the supremacy of Christ, his character remains unchanged. The spirit of rebellion, like a
mighty torrent, again bursts forth. Filled with frenzy, he determines not to yield the
great controversy. The time has come for a last desperate struggle against the King
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of heaven. He rushes into the midst of his subjects and endeavors to inspire them with his
own fury and arouse them to instant battle. But of all the countless millions whom he has
allured into rebellion, there are none now to acknowledge his supremacy. His power is at
an end. The wicked are filled with the same hatred of God that inspires Satan; but they
see that their case is hopeless, that they cannot prevail against Jehovah. Their rage is
kindled against Satan and those who have been his agents in deception, and with the fury
of demons they turn upon them.
Saith the Lord: "Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; behold,
therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall
draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
They shall bring thee down to the pit." "I will destroy thee, O covering cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire. . . . I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay
thee before kings, that they may behold thee. . . . I will bring thee to ashes upon the
earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. . . . Thou shalt be a terror, and never
shalt thou be any more." Ezekiel 28:6-8, 16-19.
"Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood;
but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire." "The indignation of the Lord
is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them,
He hath delivered them to the slaughter." "Upon the wicked He shall rain quick
burning coals, fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of
their cup." Isaiah 9:5; 34:2; Psalm 11:6, margin. Fire comes down from God out of
heaven. The earth is broken up. The weapons concealed in its depths are drawn forth.
Devouring flames burst from every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The day has
come that shall burn as an oven. The elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and
the works that are therein are burned up. Malachi 4:1; 2 Peter 3:10. The earth's surface
seems one molten mass--a vast, seething
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lake of fire. It is the time of the judgment and perdition of ungodly men--"the day
of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion."
Isaiah 34:8.
The wicked receive their recompense in the earth. Proverbs 11:31. They "shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts."
Malachi 4:1. Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days. All are
punished "according to their deeds." The sins of the righteous having been
transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the
sins which he has caused God's people to commit. His punishment is to be far greater than
that of those whom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell by his deceptions, he
is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed,
root and branch--Satan the root, his followers the branches. The full penalty of the law
has been visited; the demands of justice have been met; and heaven and earth, beholding,
declare the righteousness of Jehovah.
Satan's work of ruin is forever ended. For six thousand years he has wrought his will,
filling the earth with woe and causing grief throughout the universe. The whole creation
has groaned and travailed together in pain. Now God's creatures are forever delivered from
his presence and temptations. "The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they [the
righteous] break forth into singing." Isaiah 14:7. And a shout of praise and triumph
ascends from the whole loyal universe. "The voice of a great multitude,"
"as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings," is heard,
saying: "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Revelation 19:6.
While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous abode safely in the
Holy City. Upon those that had part in the first resurrection, the second death has no
power. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a
shield. Revelation 20:6; Psalm 84:11.
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"I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away." Revelation 21:1. The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth.
Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the
ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.
One reminder alone remains: Our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon
His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work
that sin has wrought. Says the prophet, beholding Christ in His glory: "He had bright
beams coming out of His side: and there was the hiding of His power." Habakkuk 3:4,
margin. That pierced side whence flowed the crimson stream that reconciled man to
God--there is the Saviour's glory, there "the hiding of His power." "Mighty
to save," through the sacrifice of redemption, He was therefore strong to execute
justice upon them that despised God's mercy. And the tokens of His humiliation are His
highest honor; through the eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will show forth His praise
and declare His power.
"O Tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it
come, even the first dominion." Micah 4:8. The time has come to which holy men have
looked with longing since the flaming sword barred the first pair from Eden, the time for
"the redemption of the purchased possession." Ephesians 1:14. The earth
originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so
long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. All
that was lost by sin has been restored. "Thus saith the Lord . . . that formed the
earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be
inhabited." Isaiah 45:18. God's original purpose in the creation of the earth is
fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode of the redeemed. "The righteous shall
inherit the land, and dwell therein forever." Psalm 37:29.
A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material
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has led many to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our
home. Christ assured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for them in the
Father's house. Those who accept the teachings of God's word will not be wholly ignorant
concerning the heavenly abode. And yet, "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love
Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9. Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the
righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the
glory of the Paradise of God.
In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called "a country." Hebrews
11:14-16. There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The
tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service
of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving
trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the
wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their
lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God's people, so
long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.
"My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet
resting places." "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor
destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates
Praise." "They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they
shall not plant, and another eat: . . . Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their
hands." Isaiah 32:18; 60:18; 65:21, 22.
There, "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert
shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." "Instead of the thorn shall come up the
fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree." "The wolf
also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall
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lie down with the kid; . . . and a little child shall lead them." "They shall
not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," saith the Lord. Isaiah 35:1; 55:13;
11:6, 9.
Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. There will be no more tears, no funeral
trains, no badges of mourning. "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying: . . . for the former things are passed away." "The inhabitant shall not
say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity."
Revelation 21:4; Isaiah 33:24.
There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, "a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." "Her
light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as
crystal." "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." Saith the Lord:
"I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people." "The tabernacle of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself
shall be with them, and be their God." Isaiah 62:3; Revelation 21:11, 24; Isaiah
65:19; Revelation 21:3.
In the City of God "there shall be no night." None will need or desire repose.
There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and offering praise to His name. We
shall ever feel the freshness of the morning and shall ever be far from its close.
"And they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them
light." Revelation 22:5. The light of the sun will be superseded by a radiance which
is not painfully dazzling, yet which immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our
noontide. The glory of God and the Lamb floods the Holy City with unfading light. The
redeemed walk in the sunless glory of perpetual day.
"I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of
it." Revelation 21:22. The people of God are privileged to hold open communion with
the Father and the Son. "Now we see through a glass, darkly."
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1 Corinthians 13:12. We behold the image of God reflected, as in a mirror, in the works of
nature and in His dealings with men; but then we shall see Him face to face, without a
dimming veil between. We shall stand in His presence and behold the glory of His
countenance.
There the redeemed shall know, even as also they are known. The loves and sympathies which
God Himself has planted in the soul shall there find truest and sweetest exercise. The
pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and
with the faithful ones of all ages who have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb, the sacred ties that bind together "the whole family in heaven and
earth" (Ephesians 3:15)--these help to constitute the happiness of the redeemed.
There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative
power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There will be no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to
forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The
acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the
grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest
ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to
admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul
and body.
All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God's redeemed. Unfettered
by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar--worlds that thrilled with
sorrow at the spectacle of human woe and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a
ransomed soul. With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the
wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained
through ages upon ages in contemplation of God's handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze
upon the glory of creation--suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed order
circling the throne
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of Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator's name is written,
and in all are the riches of His power displayed.
And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious
revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence,
and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the greater will be their admiration of
His character. As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption and the amazing
achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with
more fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and ten
thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty
chorus of praise.
"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and
glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and
ever." Revelation 5:13.
The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean.
One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created
all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From
the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their
unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.THE END
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