Chapter 350—Joy Everlasting
The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs
and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and
gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:10
.
When Christ came to this earth the first time, He came in lowliness and
obscurity, and His life here was one of suffering and poverty.... At His second
coming all will be changed. Not as a prisoner surrounded by a rabble will
men see Him, but as heaven’s King. Christ will come in His own glory, in the
glory of His Father, and in the glory of the holy angels. Ten thousand times
ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, the beautiful, triumphant
sons of God, possessing surpassing loveliness and glory, will escort Him on
His way. In the place of a crown of thorns, He will wear a crown of glory—a
crown within a crown. In the place of that old purple robe, He will be clothed
in a garment of whitest white, “so as no fuller on earth can white” (
Mark
9:3
) it. And on His vesture and on His thigh a name will be written, “King
of kings, and Lord of lords”....
To His faithful followers Christ has been a daily companion, a familiar
friend. They have lived in close, constant communion with God. Upon them
the glory of the Lord has risen. In them the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ has been reflected. Now they rejoice
in the undimmed rays of the brightness and glory of the King in His majesty.
They are prepared for the communion of heaven; for they have heaven in
their hearts.
With uplifted heads, with the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness
shining upon them, with rejoicing that their redemption draweth nigh, they
go forth to meet the Bridegroom....
A little longer, and we shall see the King in His beauty. A little longer,
and He will wipe all tears from our eyes.... Then by innumerable voices will
be sung the song, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God” (
Revelation 21:3
)....
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