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Event 4 - The King Returns |
Overview |

Key Text
"And it shall be said in that
day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save
us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation." Isaiah 25:9
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When the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn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 the Lord, 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 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.

Key Text
"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every
eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." Revelation
1:7 |
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.
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." Verses
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 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 a 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 has come in remembrance before God, "to give unto
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath." Great hailstones,
every one "about the weight of a talent," are doing their work of destruction.
Verses 19, 21. 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.

Key Text
"And the heaven departed as a scroll
when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved
out of their places." Revelation 6:14 |
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 comprehended
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 deity 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 everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone 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, 20, 21, margin.

Key Text
"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 |
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 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.

Key Text
"Here is the patience of the saints:
here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation
14:12 |
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 endeavored
to compel God's people to profane His Sabbath. Now they are condemned by that
law which they have despised. With awful 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.

Key Text
"For as the lightning cometh out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be." Matthew
24:27 |
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 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 which were in heaven" (Revelation
19:11, 14) follow Him. 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; no 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.

Key Text
"And he shall send his angels with
a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew
24:31 |
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 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. Nought 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.

Key Text
"When the Son of man shall come in his glory,
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of
his glory:" Matthew 25:31 |
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 nought 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.
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.

Key Text
"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and
cast lots." Luke 23:34 |
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, "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.

Key Text
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must
put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1
Corinthians
15:52-53 |
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 thy 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 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 His 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.

Key Text
"Father, I will that they also, whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory,
which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of
the world." John 17:24 |
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 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 for ever and ever." Revelation
1:5, 6.

Key Text
"Blessed are they that do
his commandments, that they may have right to the tree
of life, and may enter in through the gates into the
city." Revelation 22:14 |
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 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
His joy, as they behold, among the blessed, those who have been won to Christ
through their prayers, their labors, and their 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.
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