CHAPTER 40 (The Great Controversy)
The Second
Resurrection
Then Jesus and all the holy retinue of angels,
and all the redeemed saints, left the City.
The holy angels surrounded Jesus, and escorted him on his way, and the
train of redeemed saints followed. Then
Jesus in terrible, fearful majesty called forth the wicked dead; and as they
came up with the same feeble, sickly bodies that went into the grave, what a
spectacle! what a scene! At the first
resurrection all came forth in immortal bloom; but at the second, the marks of
the curse are visible on all. Kings and
the noble men of earth come forth with the mean and the low, learned and
unlearned together. All behold the Son
of man; and those very men who despised and mocked Jesus, and smote him with
the reed, and that put the crown of thorns upon his sacred brow, behold him in
all his kingly majesty. Those who spit
upon him in the hour of his trial, now turn from his piercing gaze, and from
the glory of his countenance. Those who
drove the nails through his hands and his feet, now look upon the marks of his
crucifixion. Those who thrust the spear
into his side, behold the marks of their cruelty on his body. And they know that he is the very One whom
they crucified, and derided in his expiring agony. And then there arises one long protracted
wail of agony, as they flee to hide from the presence of the King of kings and
Lord of lords. All are seeking to hide in the rocks, and shield themselves from
the terrible glory of him whom they once despised.
As all are overwhelmed and pained with his
majesty and his exceeding glory, they with one accord raise their voices, and
with terrible distinctness exclaim, Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the
Lord.
Then Jesus and the holy angels, accompanied by
all the saints, again go to the City, and the bitter lamentations and wailings
of the doomed wicked fill the air. Then
I saw that Satan again commenced his work.
He passed around among his subjects, and made the feeble and weak
strong, and then he told them that he and his angels were powerful. He then pointed to the countless millions who
had been raised. There were mighty
warriors and kings who were well skilled in battle, and who had conquered
kingdoms. And there were mighty giants,
and men who were valiant, and had never lost a battle. There was the proud, ambitious Napoleon whose
approach had caused kingdoms to tremble.
There stood men of very high stature, and of dignified, lofty bearing,
who had fallen in battle. They fell
while thirsting to conquer. As they come
forth from their graves, they resume the current of their thoughts where it
ceased in death. They possess the same
spirit to conquer which ruled when they fell.
Satan consults with his angels, and then with those kings and conquerors
and mighty men. Then he looks over the
vast army and tells them that the company in the City is small and feeble, and
that they can go up and take that City, and cast out its inhabitants, and
possess its riches and glory themselves.
Satan succeeds in deceiving them, and all
immediately commence to fit themselves for battle. They construct weapons of war; for there are
many skillful men in that vast army. And
then with Satan at their head, the multitude move on. Kings and warriors follow close after Satan,
and the multitude follow after in companies.
Every company has a leader, and order is observed as they march over the
broken surface of the earth to the holy City.
Jesus closes the gates of the City, and this vast army surround it and
place themselves in battle array. They
have prepared all kinds of implements of war, expecting to have a fierce
conflict. They arrange themselves around
the City. Jesus and all the angelic host
with the glittering crowns upon their heads, and all the saints with their
bright crowns, ascend to the top of the wall of the City. Jesus speaks with majesty and says, Behold,
ye sinners, the reward of the just! And
behold ye my redeemed, the reward of the wicked! The vast multitude behold the glorious
company on the walls of the City. And as
they witness the splendor of their glittering crowns, and see their faces
radiant with glory, expressing the image of Jesus, and then behold the
unsurpassed glory and majesty of the King of kings, and Lord of lords, their
courage fails. The sense of the treasure
and glory which they have lost, rushes upon them, and they have a realizing
sense that the wages of sin is death.
They see the holy, happy company whom they have despised, clothed with
glory, honor, immortality and eternal life, while they are outside of the City
with every mean and abominable thing.
See Matthew 23:29; Revelation 6:15-16, 20:7-9,
22:12-15
Mat 23:29 Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the
prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Rev 6:15 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 free man, hid
themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 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
Rev 20:7 And
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison,
Rev 20:8 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.
Rev 20:9 And
they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints
about, and the beloved city
Rev 22:12 And,
behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according
as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13 I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14
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.
Rev 22:15 For
without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and
idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
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