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Christ Himself Comes for Us, December 7
Christ Redeems Me Unto Eternal Life
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore
comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
Jesus is coming, coming with clouds and great glory. A multitude of
shining angels will attend Him. He will come to honor those who have
loved Him and kept His commandments, and to take them to Himself.
He has not forgotten them or His promise.
There appears in the East a small black cloud.... The people of God
know this to be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze
upon it as it draws nearer the earth, ... 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....
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.” ... The heavens
are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before Him, and every
mountain and island is moved out of its place....
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....
Throughout the length and breadth of the earth the dead shall hear that
voice, and they that hear shall live.... All arise with the freshness and
vigor of eternal youth....
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. Oh, what a glorious meeting!
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