The Great
Controversy continued…
Chapter XLII - The
Controversy Ended
At the close of the
thousand years, Christ again returns to the earth.
(Rev_20:4 And
I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I
saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the
word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither
had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived
and reigned with Christ a THOUSAND years.
Rev_20:5 But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the THOUSAND years were finished.
This is the first resurrection.
Rev_20:6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a THOUSAND years.
Rev_20:7 And
when the THOUSAND years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison)
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 life-time 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.
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.
Here presents 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.
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 war like 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.
To be continued….
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