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The Great Controversy
of Patmos: “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see
Him.”
Revelation 1:7
.
About His coming cluster the glories of that “restitution of all
things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets
since the world began.”
Acts 3:21
. Then the long-continued rule
of evil shall be broken; “the kingdoms of this world” will become
“the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for
ever and ever.”
Revelation 11:15
. “The glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” “The Lord God will cause
righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” He
shall be “for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the
residue of His people.”
Isaiah 40:5
;
61:11
;
Isaiah 28:5
.
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It is then that the peaceful and long-desired kingdom of the Messiah
shall be established under the whole heaven. “The Lord shall comfort
Zion: He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her
wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.” “The
glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and
Sharon.” “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy
land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called My Delight,
and thy land Beulah.” “As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so
shall thy God rejoice over thee.”
Isaiah 51:3
;
35:2
;
62:4, 5
, margin.
The coming of the Lord has been in all ages the hope of His true
followers. The Saviour’s parting promise upon Olivet, that He would
come again, lighted up the future for His disciples, filling their hearts
with joy and hope that sorrow could not quench nor trials dim. Amid
suffering and persecution, the “appearing of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ” was the “blessed hope.” When the Thessalonian
Christians were filled with grief as they buried their loved ones, who
had hoped to live to witness the coming of the Lord, Paul, their teacher,
pointed them to the resurrection, to take place at the Saviour’s advent.
Then the dead in Christ should rise, and together with the living be
caught up to meet the Lord in the air. “And so,” he said, “shall we ever
be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
1
Thessalonians 4:16-18
.
On rocky Patmos the beloved disciple hears the promise, “Surely
I come quickly,” and his longing response voices the prayer of the
church in all her pilgrimage, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Revelation
22:20
.