|
|
| Event 6 - The End of Sin |
| Overview |
Key Text
"And shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog,
to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the
sand of the sea. " Revelation 20:8
|
At the close of the thousand years, Christ again
returns to the earth. He is accompanied by the host of the redeemed and attended
by a retinue of angels. As He descends in terrific majesty He bids the wicked
dead arise to receive their doom. They come forth, a mighty host, numberless
as the sands of the sea. What a contrast to those who were raised at the
first resurrection! The righteous were clothed with immortal youth and beauty.
The wicked bear the traces of disease and death.
Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the Son of
God. With one voice the wicked hosts exclaim: "Blessed is He that cometh
in the name of the Lord!" It is not love to Jesus that inspires this utterance.
The force of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As the wicked went into
their graves, so they come forth with the same enmity to Christ and the same
spirit of rebellion. They are to have no new probation in which to remedy the
defects of their past lives. Nothing would be gained by this. A lifetime of transgression
has not softened their hearts. A second probation, were it given them, would
be occupied as was the first in evading the requirements of God and exciting
rebellion against Him.
Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after His resurrection, He
ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of His return. Says the prophet: "The
Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee." "And His feet
shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on
the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, . . . and
there shall be a very great valley." "And the Lord shall be king over
all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one." Zechariah
14:5, 4, 9. As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling splendor, comes down out of
heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to receive it, and Christ,
with His people and the angels, enters the Holy City.
Key Text
"And when the thousand years are expired,
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison," Revelation
20:7 |
Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived
of his power and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable
and dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes
upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy.
He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner and through them
endeavor to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan's captives. In rejecting
Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive
his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does
not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the rightful
owner of the world and whose inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him.
He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer, assuring them that
his power has brought them forth from their graves and that he is about to rescue
them from the most cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been removed,
Satan works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong and inspires
all with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp
of the saints and to take possession of the City of God. With fiendish exultation
he points to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead and declares
that as their leader he is well able to overthrow the city and regain his throne
and his kingdom.
In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed before
the Flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding to the control
of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation of
themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led the world to idolize their genius,
but whose cruelty and evil inventions, defiling the earth and defacing the image
of God, caused Him to blot them from the face of His creation. There are kings
and generals who conquered nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud,
ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these experienced
no change. As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of their thoughts
just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled
them when they fell.
Key Text
"And they went up on the breadth of
the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about..." Revelation
20:9 |
Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and conquerors and
mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and declare
that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it
can be overcome. They lay their plans to take possession of the riches and glory
of the New Jerusalem. All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans
construct implements of war. Military leaders, famed for their success, marshal
the throngs of warlike men into companies and divisions.
At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on--an army
such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces
of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest
of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite their forces for this final
struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train, and the multitudes follow in vast
companies, each 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 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.
Key Text
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude,
which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands;" Revelation
7:9 |
Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of Satan, but
who, plucked as brands from the burning, have followed their Saviour with deep,
intense devotion. Next are those who perfected Christian characters in the midst
of falsehood and infidelity, 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 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." Revelation
7:9. 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." Verse 10. 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 is said of
what they have done or suffered; but the burden of every song, the keynote of
every anthem, is: Salvation to our God and unto the Lamb.
In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven the final coronation
of the Son of God takes place. And now, invested with supreme majesty and power,
the King of kings pronounces sentence upon the rebels against His government
and executes justice upon those who have transgressed His law and oppressed His
people. Says the prophet of God: "I saw a great white throne, and Him that
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was
found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of
life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works." Revelation 20:11, 12.
Key Text
"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried
with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 |
As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the
wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They
see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just
how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the violation of the law of
God. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the
blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the
waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart--all appear as
if written in letters of fire.
Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear the
scenes of Adam's temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great plan
of redemption. The Saviour's lowly birth; His early life of simplicity and obedience;
His baptism in Jordan; the fast and temptation in the wilderness; His public
ministry, unfolding to men heaven's most precious blessings; the days crowded
with deeds of love and mercy, the nights of prayer and watching in the solitude
of the mountains; the plottings of envy, hate, and malice which repaid His benefits;
the awful, mysterious agony in Gethsemane beneath the crushing weight of the
sins of the whole world; His betrayal into the hands of the murderous mob; the
fearful events of that night of horror--the unresisting prisoner, forsaken by
His best-loved disciples, rudely hurried through the streets of Jerusalem; the
Son of God exultingly displayed before Annas, arraigned in the high priest's
palace, in the judgment hall of Pilate, before the cowardly and cruel Herod,
mocked, insulted, tortured, and condemned to die--all are vividly portrayed.
And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes--the patient
Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of heaven hanging upon the
cross; the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriding His expiring agony;
the supernatural darkness; the heaving earth, the rent rocks, the open graves,
marking the moment when the world's Redeemer yielded up His life.
Key Text
"They shall put you out of the synagogues:
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth
God service." John
16:2 |
The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, his angels, and his subjects
have no power to turn from the picture of their own work. Each actor recalls
the part which he performed. Herod, who slew the innocent children of Bethlehem
that he might destroy the King of Israel; the base Herodias, upon whose guilty
soul rests the blood of John the Baptist; the weak, timeserving Pilate; the mocking
soldiers; the priests and rulers and the maddened throng who cried, "His
blood be on us, and on our children!"--all behold the enormity of their
guilt. They vainly seek to hide from the divine majesty of His countenance, outshining
the glory of the sun, while the redeemed cast their crowns at the Saviour's feet,
exclaiming: "He died for me!"
Amid the ransomed throng are the apostles of Christ, the heroic Paul, the ardent
Peter, the loved and loving John, and their truehearted brethren, and with them
the vast host of martyrs; while outside the walls, with every vile and abominable
thing, are those by whom they were persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. There is
Nero, that monster of cruelty and vice, beholding the joy and exaltation of those
whom he once tortured, and in whose extremest anguish he found satanic delight.
His mother is there to witness the result of her own work; to see how the evil
stamp of character transmitted to her son, the passions encouraged and developed
by her influence and example, have borne fruit in crimes that caused the world
to shudder.
Key Text
"Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren,
ye have done it unto Me." Matthew 25:40 |
There are papist priests and prelates, who claimed to be Christ's ambassadors,
yet employed the rack, the dungeon, and the stake to control the consciences
of His people. There are the proud pontiffs who exalted themselves above God
and presumed to change the law of the Most High. Those pretended fathers of the
church have an 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." Matthew 25:40.
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 independence 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. By their lives they have declared: "We will not have this Man [Jesus]
to reign over us."
Key Text
"All Thy works shall praise
Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee." Psalm
145:10 |
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, "Great and marvelous are Thy
works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints" (Revelation
15:3); 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
the exalted position of this angel might have been his.
Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven. He has trained
his powers to war against God; the purity, peace, and harmony of heaven would
be to him supreme torture. His accusations against the mercy and justice of God
are now silenced. The reproach which he has endeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests
wholly upon himself. And now Satan bows down and confesses the justice of his
sentence.
Key Text
"Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Revelation
5:12 |
"Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art
holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are
made manifest." Verse 4. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing
controversy has now been made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of
setting aside the divine statutes, have been laid open to the view of all created
intelligences. The working out of Satan's rule in contrast with the government
of God has been presented to the whole universe. Satan's own works have condemned
him. God's wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated. It is
seen that all His dealings in the great controversy have been conducted with
respect to the eternal good of His people and the good of all the worlds that
He has created. "All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints
shall bless Thee." Psalm 145:10. The history of sin will stand to all eternity
as a witness that with the existence of God's law is bound up the happiness of
all the beings He has created. With all the facts of the great controversy in
view, the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare: "Just
and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints."
Before the universe has been clearly presented the great sacrifice made by the
Father and the Son in man's behalf. The hour has come when Christ occupies His
rightful position and is glorified above principalities and powers and every
name that is named. It was for the joy that was set before Him--that He might
bring many sons unto glory--that He endured the cross and despised the shame.
And inconceivably great as was the sorrow and the shame, yet greater is the joy
and the glory. He looks upon the redeemed, renewed in His own image, every heart
bearing the perfect impress of the divine, every face reflecting the likeness
of their King. He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and
He is satisfied. Then, in a voice that reaches the assembled multitudes of the
righteous and the wicked, He declares: "Behold the purchase of My blood!
For these I suffered, for these I died, that they might dwell in My presence
throughout eternal ages." And the song of praise ascends from the white-robed
ones about the throne: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power,
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Revelation
5:12.
Key Text
"And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the
saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down
from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Revelation
20:9 |
Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained to acknowledge God's justice
and to bow to the supremacy of Christ, his character remains unchanged. The spirit
of rebellion, like a mighty torrent, again bursts forth. Filled with frenzy,
he determines not to yield the great controversy. The time has come for a last
desperate struggle against the King of heaven. He rushes into the midst of his
subjects and endeavors to inspire them with his own fury and arouse them to instant
battle. But of all the countless millions whom he has allured into rebellion,
there are none now to acknowledge his supremacy. His power is at an end. The
wicked are filled with the same hatred of God that inspires Satan; but they see
that their case is hopeless, that they cannot prevail against Jehovah. Their
rage is kindled against Satan and those who have been his agents in deception,
and with the fury of demons they turn upon them.
Saith the Lord: "Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations:
and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall
defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit." "I will
destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. . . .
I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold
thee. . . . I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them
that behold thee. . . . Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." Ezekiel
28:6-8, 16-19.
Key Text
"For this they willingly
are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens
were of old, and the earth standing out of the water
and in the water: Whereby the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens
and the earth, which are now, by the same word are
kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men. " 2
Peter 3:5-7 |
"Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled
in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire." "The indignation
of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath
utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter." "Upon
the wicked He shall rain quick burning coals, fire and brimstone and an horrible
tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup." Isaiah 9:5; 34:2; Psalm
11:6, margin. Fire comes down from God out of heaven. The earth is broken up.
The weapons concealed in its depths are drawn forth. Devouring flames burst from
every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The day has come that shall
burn as an oven. The elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the
works that are therein are burned up. Malachi 4:1; 2 Peter 3:10. The earth's
surface seems one molten mass--a vast, seething lake of fire. It is the time
of the judgment and perdition of ungodly men--"the day of the Lord's vengeance,
and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion." Isaiah 34:8.
The wicked receive their recompense in the earth. Proverbs 11:31. They "shall
be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts." Malachi
4:1. Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days. All are
punished "according to their deeds." The sins of the righteous having
been transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion,
but for all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit. His punishment
is to be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all have
perished who fell by his deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the
cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch--Satan the
root, his followers the branches. The full penalty of the law has been visited;
the demands of justice have been met; and heaven and earth, beholding, declare
the righteousness of Jehovah.
Satan's work of ruin is forever ended. For six thousand years he has wrought
his will, filling the earth with woe and causing grief throughout the universe.
The whole creation has groaned and travailed together in pain. Now God's creatures
are forever delivered from his presence and temptations. "The whole earth
is at rest, and is quiet: they [the righteous] break forth into singing." Isaiah
14:7. And a shout of praise and triumph ascends from the whole loyal universe. "The
voice of a great multitude," "as the voice of many waters, and as the
voice of mighty thunderings," is heard, saying: "Alleluia: for the
Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Revelation 19:6.
While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous abode safely
in the Holy City. Upon those that had part in the first resurrection, the second
death has no power. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His
people both a sun and a shield. Revelation 20:6; Psalm 84:11.
|
|
