Chapter 40 : God’s People Delivered

When the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from

those who honor the law of God, there will be, in different lands, a

simultaneous movement for their destruction. As the time appointed

in the decree draws near, the people will conspire to root out the

hated sect. It will be determined to strike in one night a decisive

blow, which shall utterly silence the voice of dissent and reproof.

The people of God—some in prison cells, some hidden in solitary

retreats in the forests and the mountains—still plead for divine

protection, while in every quarter companies of armed men, urged

on by hosts of evil angels, are preparing for the work of death. It

is now, in the hour of utmost extremity, that the God of Israel will

interpose for the deliverance of his chosen. Saith the Lord: “Ye

shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and

gladness of heart, as when one goeth ... to come into the mountain

of Jehovah, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause

his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of

his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a

devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.” [Isaiah

30:29, 30.]

With shouts of triumph, jeering, and imprecation, throngs of evil

men are about to rush upon their prey, when lo, a dense blackness,

deeper than the darkness of the night, falls upon the earth. Then a

rainbow, shining with the glory from the throne of God, spans the

heavens, and seems to encircle each praying company. The angry

[636] multitudes are suddenly arrested. Their mocking cries die away.

The objects of their murderous rage are forgotten. With fearful

forebodings they gaze upon the symbol of God’s covenant, and long

to be shielded from its overpowering brightness.

By the people of God a voice, clear and melodious, is heard, saying,

“Look up,” and, lifting their eyes to the heavens, they behold the

bow of promise. The black, angry clouds that covered the firmament

are parted, and like Stephen they look up steadfastly into Heaven,

and see the glory of God, and the Son of man seated upon his throne.

In his divine form they discern the marks of his humiliation; and

from his lips they hear the request, presented before his Father and

the holy angels, “I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be

with me where I am.” [John 17:24.] Again a voice, musical and triumphant,

is heard, saying, “They come! they come! holy, harmless,

and undefiled. They have kept the word of my patience; they shall

walk among the angels;” and the pale, quivering lips of those who

have held fast their faith, utter a shout of victory.

It is at midnight that God manifests his power for the deliverance

of his people. The sun appears, shining in its strength. Signs and

wonders follow in quick succession. The wicked look with terror

and amazement upon the scene, while the righteous behold with

solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Everything in nature

seems turned out of its course. The streams cease to flow. Dark,

heavy clouds come up, and clash against each other. In the midst of

the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence

comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying, “It is

done.” [Revelation 16:17, 18.]

That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty

earthquake, “such as was not since men were upon the earth, so

mighty an earthquake and so great.” [Revelation 16:17, 18.] The

firmament appears to open and shut. The glory from the throne of

God seems flashing through. The mountains shake like a reed in [637]

the wind, and ragged rocks are scattered on every side. There is a

roar as of a coming tempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is

heard the shriek of the hurricane, like the voice of demons upon a

mission of destruction. The whole earth heaves and swells like the

waves of the sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very foundations

seem to be giving way. Mountain chains are sinking. Inhabited

islands disappear. The seaports that have become like Sodom for

wickedness, are swallowed up by the angry waters. Babylon the

Great hath come in remembrance before God, “to give unto her the

cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.” [Revelation 16:19,

21.] Great hailstones, every one “about the weight of a talent,” are

doing their work of destruction. The proudest cities of the earth are

laid low. The lordly palaces, upon which the world’s great men have

lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves, are crumbling

to ruin before their eyes. Prison walls are rent asunder, and God’s

people, who have been held in bondage for their faith, are set free.

Graves are opened, and “many of them that sleep in the dust of

the earth” “awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and

everlasting contempt.” [Daniel 12:2.] All who have died in the faith

of the third angel’s message come forth from the tomb glorified,

to hear God’s covenant of peace with those who have kept his law.

“They also which pierced Him,” [Revelation 1:7.] those that mocked

and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the most violent opposers

of his truth and his people, are raised to behold him in his glory, and

to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.

Thick clouds still cover the sky; yet the sun now and then breaks

through, appearing like the avenging eye of Jehovah. Fierce lightnings

leap from the heavens, enveloping the earth in a sheet of flame.

Above the terrific roar of thunder, voices, mysterious and awful,

declare the doom of the wicked. The words spoken are not com-

[638] prehended by all; but they are distinctly understood by the false

teachers. Those who a little before were so reckless, so boastful and

defiant, so exultant in their cruelty to God’s commandment-keeping

people, are now overwhelmed with consternation, and shuddering in

fear. Their wails are heard above the sound of the elements. Demons

acknowledge the divinity of Christ, and tremble before his power,

while men are supplicating for mercy, and groveling in abject terror.

Said the prophets of old as they beheld in holy vision the day

of God: “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come

as a destruction from the Almighty.” [Isaiah 13:6.] “Enter into the

rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory

of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the

haughtiness of men shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall

be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon

every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted

up; and he shall be brought low.” “In that day a man shall cast the

idols of his silver, and the idols of his gold, which they made each

one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into

the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for

fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to

shake terribly the earth.” [Isaiah 2:10-12, 21 (Margin).]

God’s People Delivered 541

Through a rift in the clouds, there beams a star whose brilliancy

is increased fourfold in contrast with the darkness. It speaks hope

and joy to the faithful, but severity and wrath to the transgressors

of God’s law. Those who have sacrificed all for Christ are now

secure, hidden as in the secret of the Lord’s pavilion. They have

been tested, and before the world and the despisers of truth they

have evinced their fidelity to Him who died for them. A marvelous

change has come over those who have held fast their integrity in the

very face of death. They have been suddenly delivered from the dark [639]

and terrible tyranny of men transformed to demons. Their faces, so

lately pale, anxious, and haggard, are now aglow with wonder, faith,

and love. 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.]

While these words of holy trust ascend to God, the clouds sweep

back, and the starry heavens are seen, unspeakably glorious in contrast

with the black and angry firmament on either side. The glory

of the celestial city streams from the gates ajar. Then there appears

against the sky a hand holding two tables of stone folded together.

Says the prophet, “The heavens shall declare His righteousness; for

God is judge himself.” [Psalm 50:6.] That holy law, God’s righteousness,

that amid thunder and flame was proclaimed from Sinai as

the guide of life, is now revealed to men as the rule of judgment.

The hand opens the tables, and there are seen the precepts of the

decalogue, traced as with a pen of fire. The words are so plain that

all can read them. Memory is aroused, the darkness of superstition

and heresy is swept from every mind, and God’s ten words, brief,

comprehensive, and authoritative, are presented to the view of all

the inhabitants of the earth.

It is impossible to describe the horror and despair of those who

have trampled upon God’s holy requirements. The Lord gave them

his law; they might have compared their characters with it, and

learned their defects while there was yet opportunity for repentance

and reform; but in order to secure the favor of the world, they set

aside its precepts and taught others to transgress. They have en542

deavored to compel God’s people to profane his Sabbath. Now they

are condemned by that law which they have despised. With awful

[640] distinctness they see that they are without excuse. They chose whom

they would serve and worship. “Then shall ye return, and discern

between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God

and him that serveth him not.” [Malachi 3:18.]

The enemies of God’s law, from the ministers down to the least

among them, have a new conception of truth and duty. Too late they

see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the

living God. Too late they see the true nature of their spurious sabbath,

and the sandy foundation upon which they have been building. They

find that they have been fighting against God. Religious teachers

have led souls to perdition while professing to guide them to the

gates of Paradise. Not until the day of final accounts will it 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

[641] glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant.

Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a “man of sorrows,”

to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, he comes, victor in Heaven

and earth, to judge the living and the dead. “Faithful and True,”

“in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” And “the armies

God’s People Delivered 543

in Heaven follow him.” [Revelation 19:11, 14.] With anthems of

celestial melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend

him on his way. The firmament seems filled with radiant forms,—

“ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.”

No human pen can portray the scene, nor mortal mind is adequate

to conceive its splendor. “His glory covered the heavens, and the

earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light.”

[Habakkuk 3:3, 4.] As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye

beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred

head, but a diadem of glory rests on his holy brow. His countenance

outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. “And he hath

on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and

Lord of lords.” [Revelation 19:16.]

Before his presence, “all faces are turned into paleness;” upon

the rejecters of God’s mercy falls the terror of eternal despair. “The

heart melteth, and the knees smite together,” “and the faces of them

all gather blackness.” [Jeremiah 30:6; Nahum 2:10.] The righteous

cry with trembling, “Who shall be able to stand?” The angels’ song

is hushed, 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.

The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming

fire. The heavens are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles

before him, and every mountain and island is moved out of its place.

“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour [642]

before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He

shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may

judge his people.” [Psalm 50:3, 4.]

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men,

and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman,

and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of

the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and

hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the

wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who

shall be able to stand?” [Revelation 6:15-17.]

The derisive jests have ceased. Lying lips are hushed into silence.

The clash of arms, the tumult of battle, “with confused noise, and

garments rolled in blood,” [Isaiah 9:5.] is stilled. Naught now is

heard but the voice of prayer and the sound of weeping and lamentation.

The cry bursts forth from lips so lately scoffing, “The great day

of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” The wicked

pray to be buried beneath the rocks of the mountains, rather than

meet the face of Him whom they have despised and rejected.

That voice which penetrates the ear of the dead, they know. How

often have its plaintive, tender tones called them to repentance. How

often has it been heard in the touching entreaties of a friend, a

brother, a Redeemer. To the rejecters of his grace, no other could

be so full of condemnation, so burdened with denunciation, as that

voice which has so long pleaded, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil

ways; for why will ye die?” [Ezekiel 33:11.] Oh that it were to them

the voice of a stranger! Says Jesus: “I have called, and ye refused; I

have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. But ye have set

at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof.” [Proverbs

1:24, 25.] That voice awakens memories which they would fain blot

out,—warnings despised, invitations refused, privileges slighted.

[643] There are those who mocked Christ in his humiliation. With

thrilling power come to their minds the Sufferer’s words, when,

adjured by the high priest, he solemnly declared, “Hereafter shall ye

see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in

the clouds of heaven.” [Matthew 26:64.] Now they behold him in his

glory, and they are yet to see him sitting on the right hand of power.

Those who derided his claim to be the Son of God are speechless

now. There is the haughty Herod who jeered at his royal title, and

bade the mocking soldiers crown him king. There are the very men

who with impious hands placed upon his form the purple robe, upon

his sacred brow the thorny crown, and in his unresisting hand the

mimic scepter, and bowed before him in blasphemous mockery. The

men who smote and spit upon the Prince of life, now turn from his

piercing gaze, and seek to flee from the overpowering glory of his

presence. Those who drove the nails through his hands and feet,

the soldier who pierced his side, behold these marks with terror and

remorse.

With awful distinctness do priests and rulers recall the events

of Calvary. With shuddering horror they remember how, wagging

their heads in Satanic exultation, they exclaimed, “He saved others;

himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come

down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God;

let him deliver him now, if he will have him.” [Matthew 27:42, 43.]

Vividly they recall the Saviour’s parable of the husbandmen who

refused to render to their lord the fruit of the vineyard, who abused

his servants and slew his son. They remember, too, the sentence

which they themselves pronounced: The lord of the vineyard will

miserably destroy those wicked men. In the sin and punishment of

those unfaithful men, the priests and elders see their own course and

their own just doom. And now there rises a cry of mortal agony.

Louder than the shout, “Crucify him! crucify him!” which rang

through the streets of Jerusalem, swells the awful, despairing wail, [644]

“He is the Son of God! He is the true Messiah!” They seek to flee

from the presence of the King of kings. In the deep caverns of

the earth, rent asunder by the warring of the elements, they vainly

attempt to hide.

In the lives of all who reject truth, there are moments when conscience

awakens, when memory presents the torturing recollection

of a life of hypocrisy, and the soul is harassed with vain regrets. But

what are these compared with the remorse of that day when “fear

cometh as desolation,” when “destruction cometh as a whirlwind!”

[Proverbs 1:27.] Those who would have destroyed Christ and his

faithful people, now witness the glory which rests upon them. In

the midst of their terror they hear the voices of the saints in joyful

strains exclaiming, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him,

and he will save us.” [Isaiah 25:9.]

Amid the reeling of the earth, the flash of lightning, and the roar

of thunder, the voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints.

He looks upon the graves of the righteous, then raising his hands to

heaven he cries, “Awake, awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust,

and arise!” Throughout the length and breadth of the earth, the dead

shall hear that voice; and they that hear shall live. And the whole

earth shall ring with the tread of the exceeding great army of every

nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From the prison-house of death

they come, clothed with immortal glory, crying, “O death, where is

thy sting? O grave, where is the victory?” [1 Corinthians 15:55.]

And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a

long, glad shout of victory.

All come forth from their graves the same in stature as when

they entered the tomb. Adam, who stands among the risen throng,

is of lofty height and majestic form, in stature but little below the

Son of God. He presents a marked contrast to the people of later

generations; in this one respect is shown the great degeneracy of the

[645] race. But all arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal youth. In

the beginning, man was created in the likeness of God, not only in

character, but in form and feature. Sin defaced and almost obliterated

the divine image; but Christ came to restore that which had been

lost. He will change our vile bodies, and fashion them like unto his

glorious body. The mortal, corruptible form, devoid of comeliness,

once polluted with sin, becomes perfect, beautiful, and immortal.

All blemishes and deformities are left in the grave. Restored to

the tree of life in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will “grow up”

[Malachi 4:2.] to the full stature of the race in its primeval glory. The

last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ’s

faithful ones will appear “in the beauty of the Lord our God;” in mind

and soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord. Oh,

wonderful redemption! long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated

with eager anticipation, but never fully understood.

The living righteous are changed “in a moment, in the twinkling

of an eye.” At the voice of God they were glorified; now they are

made immortal, and with the risen saints are caught up to meet their

Lord in the air. Angels “gather together the elect from the four winds,

from one end of heaven to the other.” Little children are borne by

holy angels to their mothers’ arms. Friends long separated by death

are united, nevermore to part, and with songs of gladness ascend

together to the city of God.

On each side of the cloudy chariot are wings, and beneath it are

living wheels; and as the chariot rolls upward, the wheels cry, “Holy,”

and the wings, as they move, cry, “Holy,” and the retinue of angels

cry, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.” And the redeemed shout

“Alleluia!” as the chariot moves onward toward the New Jerusalem.

Before entering the city of God, the Saviour bestows upon his

followers the emblems of victory, and invests them with the insignia

of their royal state. The glittering ranks are drawn up, in the form of [646]

a hollow square, about their King, whose form rises in majesty high

above saint and angel, whose countenance beams upon them full of

benignant love. Throughout the unnumbered host of the redeemed,

every glance is fixed upon him, every eye beholds His glory whose

“visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than

the sons of men.” Upon the heads of the overcomers, Jesus with his

own right hand places the crown of glory. For each there is a crown,

bearing his own “new name,” [Revelation 2:17.] and the inscription,

“Holiness to the Lord.” In every hand are placed the victor’s palm

and the shining harp. Then, as the commanding angels strike the

note, every hand sweeps the harp strings with skillful touch, awaking

sweet music in rich, melodious strains. Rapture unutterable thrills

every heart, and each voice is raised in grateful praise: “Unto Him

that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and

hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be

glory and dominion forever and ever.” [Revelation 1:5, 6.]

Before the ransomed throng is the holy city. Jesus opens wide

the pearly gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in.

There they behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his

innocency. Then that voice, richer than any music that ever fell on

mortal ear, is heard, saying, “Your conflict is ended.” “Come, ye

blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world.”

Now is fulfilled the Saviour’s prayer for his disciples, “I will

that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am.”

“Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” [Jude

24.] Christ presents to the Father the purchase of his blood, declaring,

“Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me.” “Those that

thou gavest me I have kept.” Oh, the wonders of redeeming love!

the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the [647]

ransomed, shall behold his image, sin’s discord banished, its blight

removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine!

With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes his faithful ones to the

“joy of their Lord.” The Saviour’s joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of

glory, the souls that have been saved by his agony and humiliation.

And the redeemed will be sharers in this joy, as they behold, among

the blessed, those who have been won to Christ through their prayers,

their labors, and loving sacrifice. As they gather about the great white

throne, gladness unspeakable will fill their hearts, when they behold

those whom they have won for Christ, and see that one has gained

others, and these still others, all brought into the haven of rest, there

to lay their crowns at Jesus’ feet, and praise him through the endless

cycles of eternity.

As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the city of God, there

rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams

are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with outstretched

arms to receive the father of our race,—the being whom he created,

who sinned against his Maker, and for whose sin the marks of the

crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour’s form. As Adam discerns

the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the bosom of his

Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at his feet, crying, “Worthy,

worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly the Saviour lifts him

up, and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which

he has so long been exiled.

After his expulsion from Eden, Adam’s life on earth was filled

with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim of sacrifice, every blight

upon the fair face of nature, every stain upon man’s purity, was

a fresh reminder of his sin. Terrible was the agony of remorse

as he beheld iniquity abounding, and, in answer to his warnings,

met the reproaches cast upon himself as the cause of sin. With

[648] patient humility he bore, for nearly a thousand years, the penalty

of transgression. Faithfully did he repent of his sin, and trust in

the merits of the promised Saviour, and he died in the hope of a

resurrection. The Son of God redeemed man’s failure and fall, and

now, through the work of the atonement, Adam is re-instated in his

first dominion.

Transported with joy, he beholds the trees that were once his

delight,—the very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered in the

days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands

have trained, the very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind

grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed

Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was banished from

it. The Saviour leads him to the tree of life, and plucks the glorious

fruit, and bids him eat. He looks about him, and beholds a multitude

of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God. Then he

casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus, and, falling upon his

breast, embraces the Redeemer. He touches the golden harp, and

the vaults of Heaven echo the triumphant song, “Worthy, worthy,

worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and lives again!” The family of

Adam take up the strain, and cast their crowns at the Saviour’s feet

as they bow before him in adoration.

This reunion is witnessed by the angels who wept at the fall of

Adam, and rejoiced when Jesus, after his resurrection, ascended to

Heaven, having opened the grave for all who should believe on his

name. Now they behold the work of redemption accomplished, and

they unite their voices in the song of praise.

Upon the crystal sea before the throne, that sea of glass as it were

mingled with fire,—so resplendent is it with the glory of God,—are

gathered the company that have “gotten the victory over the beast,

and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of

his name.” [Revelation 15:2.] With the Lamb upon Mount Zion,

“having the harps of God,” they stand, the hundred and forty and [649]

four thousand that were redeemed from among men; and there is

heard, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great

thunder, “the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” [Revelation

14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17] And they sing “a new song” before the throne,

a song which no man can learn save the hundred and forty and

four thousand. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb,—a song of

deliverance. None but the hundred and forty-four thousand can learn

that song; for it is the song of their experience,—an experience such

as no other company have ever had. “These are they which follow

the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” These, having been translated

from the earth, from among the living, are counted as “the first-fruits

unto God and to the Lamb.” “These are they which came out of

great tribulation;” [Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; Revelation 7:14-17.]

they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since

there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of the time of

Jacob’s trouble; they have stood without an intercessor through the

final outpouring of God’s judgments. But they have been delivered,

for they have “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood

of the Lamb.” “In their mouth was found no guile; for they are

without fault” before God. “Therefore are they before the throne of

God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth

on the throne shall dwell among them.” [Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3;

Revelation 7:14-17.] They have seen the earth wasted with famine

and pestilence, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat,

and they themselves have endured suffering, hunger, and thirst. But

“they shall hunger no more; neither thirst any more; neither shall

the sun light on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the

midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living

fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their

eyes.” [Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17.]

In all ages the Saviour’s chosen have been educated and disci-

[650] plined in the school of trial. They walked in narrow paths on earth;

they were purified in the furnace of affliction. For Jesus’ sake they

endured opposition, hatred, calumny. They followed him through

conflicts sore; they endured self-denial and experienced bitter disappointments.

By their own painful experience they learned the

evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe; and they look upon it with

abhorrence. A sense of the infinite sacrifice made for its cure, humbles

them in their own sight, and fills their hearts with gratitude and

praise which those who have never fallen cannot appreciate. They

love much, because they have been forgiven much. Having been

partakers of Christ’s sufferings, they are fitted to be partakers with

him of his glory.

The heirs of God have come from garrets, from hovels, from

dungeons, from scaffolds, from mountains, from deserts, from the

caves of the earth, from the caverns of the sea. On earth they were

“destitute, afflicted, tormented.” Millions went down to the grave

loaded with infamy, because they steadfastly refused to yield to the

deceptive claims of Satan. By human tribunals they were adjudged

the vilest of criminals. But now “God is judge himself.” [Psalm

50:6.] Now the decisions of earth are reversed. “The rebuke of his

people shall he take away.” [Isaiah 25:8.] “They shall call them, The

holy people, The redeemed of the Lord.” He hath appointed “to give

unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment

of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” [Isaiah 62:12; 61:3.] They are

no longer feeble, afflicted, scattered, and oppressed. Henceforth

they are to be ever with the Lord. They stand before the throne clad

in richer robes than the most honored of the earth have ever worn.

They are crowned with diadems more glorious than were ever placed

upon the brow of earthly monarchs. The days of pain and weeping

are forever ended. The King of glory has wiped the tears from all

faces; every cause of grief has been removed. Amid the waving of

palm-branches they pour forth a song of praise, clear, sweet, and

harmonious; every voice takes up the strain, until the anthem swells [651]

through the vaults of Heaven, “Salvation to our God which sitteth

upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” And all the inhabitants of

Heaven respond in the ascription, “Amen: Blessing, and glory, and

wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be

unto our God forever and ever.” [Revelation 7:10, 12.]

In this life we can only begin to understand the wonderful theme

of redemption. With our finite comprehension we may consider

most earnestly the shame and the glory, the life and the death, the

justice and the mercy, that meet in the cross; yet with the utmost

stretch of our mental powers we fail to grasp its full significance.

The length and the breadth, the depth and the height of redeeming

love are but dimly comprehended. The plan of redemption will

not be fully understood, even when the ransomed see as they are

seen and know as they are known; but through the eternal ages, new

truth will continually unfold to the wondering and delighted mind.

Though the griefs and pains and temptations of earth are ended,

and the cause removed, the people of God will ever have a distinct,

intelligent knowledge of what their salvation has cost.

The cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed

through all eternity. In Christ glorified they will behold

Christ crucified. Never will it be forgotten that He whose power

created and upheld the unnumbered worlds through the vast realms

of space, the Beloved of God, the Majesty of Heaven, He whom

cherub and shining seraph delighted to adore,—humbled himself to

uplift fallen man; that he bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the

hiding of his Father’s face, till the woes of a lost world broke his

heart, and crushed out his life on Calvary’s cross. That the Maker of

all worlds, the Arbiter of all destinies, should lay aside his glory, and

humiliate himself from love to man, will ever excite the wonder and

adoration of the universe. As the nations of the saved look upon their

Redeemer, and behold the eternal glory of the Father shining in his [652]

countenance; as they behold his throne, which is from everlasting to

everlasting, and know that his kingdom is to have no end, they break

forth in rapturous song, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain,

and hath redeemed us to God by his own most precious blood!”

The mystery of the cross explains all other mysteries. In the light

that streams from Calvary, the attributes of God which had filled us

with fear and awe appear beautiful and attractive. Mercy, tenderness,

and parental love are seen to blend with holiness, justice, and power.

While we behold the majesty of his throne, high and lifted up, we

see his character in its gracious manifestations, and comprehend, as

never before, the significance of that endearing title, our Father.

It will be seen that He who is infinite in wisdom could devise no

plan for our salvation except the sacrifice of his Son. The compensation

for this sacrifice is the joy of peopling the earth with ransomed

beings, holy, happy, and immortal. The result of the Saviour’s conflict

with the powers of darkness is joy to the redeemed, redounding

to the glory of God, throughout eternity. And such is the value of

the soul that the Father is satisfied with the price paid; and Christ

himself, beholding the fruits of his great sacrifice, is satisfied.