Basic HTML Version
Controversy Ended
323
such as the combined forces of all ages since war began could never
equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels
join their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in
his train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each army
under its appointed leader. With military precision, the serried ranks
advance over the earth’s broken and uneven surface to the city of
God. By the command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are
closed, and the armies of Satan surround the city, and make ready
for the onset.
Now Christ again appears to the view of his enemies. Far above
the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne, high and
lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, and around him
are the subjects of his kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ
no language can describe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal
Father is enshrouding his Son. The brightness of his presence fills
the city of God, and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the whole
earth with its radiance.
Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause
of Satan, but who, plucked as brands from the burning, have fol-
lowed their Saviour with deep, intense devotion. Next are those who
perfected Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infi-
delity, those who honored the law of God when the Christian world
declared it void, and the millions, of all ages, who were martyred
for their faith. And beyond is the “great multitude which no man
[480]
could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues,”
“before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands.” Their warfare is ended, their victory won.
They have run the race and reached the prize. The palm branch in
their hands is a symbol of their triumph, the white robe an emblem
of the spotless righteousness of Christ which now is theirs.
The redeemed raise a song of praise that echoes and re-echoes
through the vaults of Heaven, “Salvation to our God which sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” And angel and seraph unite
their voices in adoration. As the redeemed have beheld the power
and malignity of Satan, they have seen, as never before, that no
power but that of Christ could have made them conquerors. In all
that shining throng there are none to ascribe salvation to themselves,
as if they had prevailed by their own power and goodness. Nothing