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what to do; for the wicked could not understand the words of the voice
of God. Soon appeared the great white cloud. On it sat the Son of
man.
This cloud when it first appeared in the distance, looked very small.
The angel said that it was the sign of the Son of man. And as the cloud
approached nearer to the earth, we could behold the excellent glory
and majesty of Jesus as he rode forth to conquer. A holy retinue of
angels, with their bright, glittering crowns upon their heads, escorted
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him on his way. No language can describe the glory of the scene.
The living cloud of majesty, and unsurpassed glory, came still nearer,
and we could clearly behold the lovely person of Jesus. He did not
wear a crown of thorns; but a crown of glory decked his holy brow.
Upon his vesture and thigh was a name written, King of kings and
Lord of lords. His eyes were as a flame of fire, his feet had the
appearance of fine brass, and his voice sounded like many musical
instruments. His countenance was as bright as the noon-day sun. The
earth trembled before him, and the heavens departed as a scroll when
it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places. 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?
Those who a little before would have destroyed God’s faithful
children from the earth, had to witness the glory of God which rested
upon them. They had seen them glorified. And amid all the terrible
scenes they had heard the voices of the saints in joyful strains, saying,
Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us. The
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earth mightily shook as the voice of the Son of God called forth the
sleeping saints. They responded to the call, and came forth clothed
with glorious immortality, crying, Victory! victory! over death and
the grave. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Then the living saints, and the resurrected ones, raised their voices
in a long, transporting shout of victory. Those sickly bodies that had
gone down into the grave came up in immortal health and vigor. The
living saints were changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,