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Translation of the Righteous, October 24
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.
1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17
.
Soon appeared the great white cloud. It looked more lovely than ever
before. On it sat the Son of man. At first we did not see Jesus on the cloud,
but as it drew near the earth we could behold His lovely person.... The voice
of the Son of God called forth the sleeping saints, clothed with glorious
immortality. The living saints were changed in a moment and were caught
up with them into the cloudy chariot. It looked all over glorious as it rolled
upward. On either side of the chariot were wings, and beneath it wheels.
And as the chariot rolled upward, the wheels cried, “Holy,” and the wings,
as they moved, cried, “Holy,” and the retinue of holy angels around the
cloud cried, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!” And the saints in the
cloud cried, “Glory! Alleluia!”
We all entered the cloud together, and were seven days ascending to the
sea of glass, when Jesus brought the crowns, and with His own right hand
placed them on our heads. He gave us harps of gold and palms of victory.
Here on the sea of glass the 144,000 stood in a perfect square. Some of
them had very bright crowns, others not so bright. Some crowns appeared
heavy with stars, while others had but few. All were perfectly satisfied with
their crowns. And they were all clothed with a glorious white mantle from
their shoulders to their feet. Angels were all about us as we marched over
the sea of glass to the gate of the city. Jesus raised His mighty, glorious
arm, laid hold of the pearly gate, swung it back on its glittering hinges, and
said to us, “You have washed your robes in My blood, stood stiffly for My
truth, enter in.” We all marched in and felt that we had a perfect right in the
city.
A voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, will be heard
saying, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world.”
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