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God’s People Delivered
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to Him who died for them. Their faces, so lately pale and haggard,
are now aglow with wonder. Their voices rise in triumphant song:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof.”
Psalm 46:1-3
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While these words of holy trust ascend to God, the glory of
the celestial city streams from the gates ajar. Then there appears
against the sky a hand holding two tables of stone. That holy law,
proclaimed from Sinai, is now revealed as the rule of judgment. The
words are so plain that all can read them. Memory is aroused. The
darkness of superstition and heresy is swept from every mind.
It is impossible to describe the horror and despair of those who
have trampled upon God’s law. To secure the favor of the world,
they set aside its precepts and taught others to transgress. Now they
are condemned by that law which they have despised. They see
that they are without excuse. The enemies of God’s law have a new
conception of truth and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath is the
seal of the living God. Too late they see the sandy foundation upon
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which they have been building. They have been fighting against
God. Religious teachers have led souls to perdition while professing
to guide them to Paradise. How great is the responsibility of men in
holy office, how terrible the results of their unfaithfulness!
The King of Kings Appears
The voice of God is heard declaring the day and hour of Jesus’
coming. The Israel of God stand listening, their countenances lighted
up with His glory. Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud.
It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour. In solemn silence the
people of God gaze upon it as it draws nearer, until it is a great white
cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow
of the covenant. Not now a “Man of sorrows,” Jesus rides forth as a
mighty conqueror. Holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend
Him, “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.”
Every eye beholds the Prince of life. A diadem of glory rests on His
brow. His countenance outshines the noonday sun. “And he hath on