Basic HTML Version
326
The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4
account to render to God from which they would fain be excused.
Too late they are made to see that the Omniscient One is jealous of
his law, and that he will in no wise clear the guilty. They learn now
that Christ identifies his interest with that of his suffering people;
and they feel the force of his own words, “Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me.”
The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar of God, on
the charge of high treason against the government of Heaven. They
have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the
sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them.
It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble inde-
[484]
pendence and eternal life, but slavery, ruin, and death. The wicked
see what they have forfeited by their life of rebellion. The far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered
them; but how desirable it now appears. “All this,” cries the lost soul,
“I might have had; but I chose to put these things far from me. Oh,
strange infatuation! I have exchanged peace, happiness, and honor,
for wretchedness, infamy, and despair.” All see that their exclusion
from Heaven is just. In their lives they declared, We will not have
this Jesus to reign over us.
As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of
the Son of God. They see in his hands the tables of the divine law,
the statutes which they have despised and transgressed. They witness
the outburst of wonder, rapture, and adoration from the saved; and
as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city,
all with one voice exclaim, “Marvelous are thy works, Lord God
Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints;” and
falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of life.
Satan seems paralyzed as he beholds the glory and majesty of
Christ. He who was once a covering cherub remembers whence he
has fallen. A shining seraph, “son of the morning;” how changed,
how degraded! From the council where once he was honored, he is
forever excluded. He sees another now standing near to the Father,
veiling his glory. He has seen the crown placed upon the head of
Christ by an angel of lofty stature and majestic presence, and he
knows that this office might have been his.
[485]