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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4
be known how great is the responsibility of men in holy office, and
how terrible are the results of their unfaithfulness. Only in eternity
can we rightly estimate the loss of a single soul. Fearful will be the
doom of him to whom God shall say, Depart, thou wicked servant.
The voice of God is heard from Heaven declaring the day and
hour of Jesus’ coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to
his people. Like peals of loudest thunder, his words roll through the
earth. The Israel of God stand listening, with their eyes fixed upward.
Their countenances are lighted up with his glory, and shine as did
the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked
cannot look upon them. And when the blessing is pronounced on
those who have honored God by keeping his Sabbath holy, there is a
mighty shout of victory.
Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the
size of a man’s hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour,
and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. 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, becoming
lighter and more glorious, 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, and the armies of Heaven
follow him. With songs of triumph, a vast retinue of holy angels
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escort him on his way. The firmament seems filled with shining
forms, ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.
No pen can picture, no human mind conceive, the glory of the scene.
As the living cloud comes still nearer, Jesus can be clearly seen. He
does not wear a crown of thorns, but a crown of glory rests upon
his holy brow. His countenance shines as the noonday sun. Upon
his vesture and thigh is a name written, “King of kings, and Lord of
lords.”
Before him every face turns pale, and upon those whom God
has rejected, falls the blackness of despair. The righteous cry with
trembling, “Who shall be able to stand?” The song of the angels
ceases, and there is a period of awful silence. Then the voice of
Jesus is heard, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you.” The faces of
the righteous are lighted up, and joy fills every heart. And the angels
strike a note higher, and sing again, as they draw still nearer to the
earth.