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."(1164)
Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained to acknowledge G.o.d"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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d; 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."(1165)
"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 a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup."(1166) Fire comes down from G.o.d 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.(1167) The earth"s surface seems one molten ma.s.s,-a vast, seething lake of fire. It is the time of the judgment and perdition of unG.o.dly men,-"the day of the Lord"s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion."(1168)
The wicked receive their recompense in the earth.(1169) They "shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts."(1170) 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 G.o.d"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 G.o.d"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."(1171) And a shout of praise and triumph ascends from the whole loyal universe. "The voice of a great mult.i.tude," "as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings," is heard, saying, "Alleluia; for the Lord G.o.d omnipotent reigneth."
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 G.o.d is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield.(1172)
"I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were pa.s.sed away."(1173) The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning h.e.l.l will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.
One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. Says the prophet, beholding Christ in His glory, "He had bright beams coming out of His side: and there was the hiding of His power."(1174) That pierced side whence flowed the crimson stream that reconciled man to G.o.d,-there is the Saviour"s glory, there "the hiding of His power." "Mighty to save,"
through the sacrifice of redemption, He was therefore strong to execute justice upon them that despised G.o.d"s mercy. And the tokens of His humiliation are His highest honor; through the eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will show forth His praise, and declare His power.
"O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion."(1175) The time has come, to which holy men have looked with longing since the flaming sword barred the first pair from Eden,-the time for "the redemption of the purchased possession."(1176) The earth originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. All that was lost by sin has been restored. "Thus saith the Lord ... that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited."(1177) G.o.d"s original purpose in the creation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode of the redeemed.
"The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever."(1178)
A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home. Christ a.s.sured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for them in the Father"s house. Those who accept the teachings of G.o.d"s word will not be wholly ignorant concerning the heavenly abode. And yet, "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which G.o.d hath prepared for them that love Him."(1179) Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of the Paradise of G.o.d.
In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a country.(1180) There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of G.o.d rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, G.o.d"s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.
"My people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places." "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise." "They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them, They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shalt not plant, and another eat:... Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands."(1181)
There, "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree."(1182) "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; ... and a little child shall lead them." "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,"(1183) saith the Lord.
Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. There will be no more tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, ... for the former things are pa.s.sed away."(1184) "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity."(1185)
There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, "a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy G.o.d."(1186) "Her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." "The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it."(1187) Saith the Lord, "I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people."(1188) "The tabernacle of G.o.d is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and G.o.d Himself shall be with them, and be their G.o.d."(1189)
In the city of G.o.d "there shall be no night." None will need or desire repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of G.o.d and offering praise to His name. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning, and shall ever be far from its close. "And they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord G.o.d giveth them light."(1190) The light of the sun will be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet which immeasurably surpa.s.ses the brightness of our noontide. The glory of G.o.d and the Lamb floods the holy city with unfading light. The redeemed walk in the sunless glory of perpetual day.
"I saw no temple therein: for the Lord G.o.d Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."(1191) The people of G.o.d are privileged to hold open communion with the Father and the Son. "Now we see through a gla.s.s, darkly."(1192) We behold the image of G.o.d reflected, as in a mirror, in the works of nature and in His dealings with men; but then we shall see Him face to face, without a dimming veil between. We shall stand in His presence, and behold the glory of His countenance.
There the redeemed shall "know, even as also they are known." The loves and sympathies which G.o.d Himself has planted in the soul, shall there find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all ages, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, the sacred ties that bind together "the whole family in heaven and earth,"(1193)-these help to const.i.tute the happiness of the redeemed.
There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There will be no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of G.o.d. Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body.
All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of G.o.d"s redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar,-worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human woe, and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul.
With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of G.o.d"s handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation,-suns and stars and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator"s name is written, and in all are the riches of His power displayed.
And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious revelations of G.o.d and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of G.o.d, the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption, and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.
"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever."(1194)
The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable s.p.a.ce. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that G.o.d is love.
APPENDIX.
General Notes.
Page 50. t.i.tLES.-In a pa.s.sage which forms a part of the Roman canon law, Pope Innocent III. declares that the Roman pontiff is "the vicegerent upon earth, not of a mere man, but of very G.o.d;" and in a gloss on the pa.s.sage it is explained that this is because he is the vicegerent of Christ, who is "very G.o.d and very man." (See Decretal. D. Gregor. Pap. IX. lib. 1. de translat. Episc. t.i.t. 7. c. 3. Corp. Jur. Canon. ed. Paris, 1612; tom. II.
Decretal. col. 205.)
For the t.i.tle, "Lord G.o.d the Pope," see a gloss on the Extravagantes of Pope John XXII., t.i.tle 14, ch. 4, "_Declaramus_." In an Antwerp edition of the Extravagantes, dated 1584, the words "_Dominum Deum nostrum Papam_"
("Our Lord G.o.d the Pope") occur in column 153. In a Paris edition, dated 1612, they occur in column 140. In several editions published since 1612, the word "_Deum_" ("G.o.d") has been omitted.
Page 52. IMAGE WORSHIP.-"The worship of images ... was one of those corruptions of Christianity which crept into the church stealthily and almost without notice or observation. This corruption did not, like other heresies, develop itself at once, for in that case it would have met with decided censure and rebuke: but, making its commencement under a fair disguise, so gradually was one practice after another introduced in connection with it, that the church had become deeply steeped in practical idolatry, not only without any efficient opposition, but almost without any decided remonstrance; and when at length an endeavor was made to root it out, the evil was found too deeply fixed to admit of removal.... It must be traced to the idolatrous tendency of the human heart, and its propensity to serve the creature more than the Creator....
"Images and pictures were first introduced into churches, not to be worshiped, but either in the place of books to give instruction to those who could not read, or to excite devotion in the minds of others. How far they ever answered such a purpose is doubtful; but, even granting that this was the case for a time, it soon ceased to be so, and it was found that pictures and images brought into churches darkened rather than enlightened the minds of the ignorant-degraded rather than exalted the devotion of the worshiper. So that, however they might have been intended to direct men"s minds to G.o.d, they ended in turning them from Him to the worship of created things."-_J. Mendham, __"__The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicaea,__"__ Introduction, pp. iii-vi._
For a record of the proceedings and decisions of the Second Council of Nice, A.D. 787, called to establish the worship of images, see Baronius, "Ecclesiastical Annals," Vol. IX, pp. 391-407 (1612 Antwerp ed.); J.
Mendham, "The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicaea;" Ed.
Stillingfleet, "Defence of the Discourse Concerning the Idolatry Practiced in the Church of Rome" (London, 1686); "A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers," second series, Vol. XIV, pp. 521-587 (N. Y., 1900); C. J. Hefele, "History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original Doc.u.ments," bk. 18, ch. 1, sec. 332, 333; ch. 2, sec. 345-352 (T. & T.
Clark ed., 1896, Vol. V, pp. 260-304, 342-372).
Page 53. EDICT OF CONSTANTINE.-The law issued by Constantine on the seventh of March, A.D. 321, regarding a day of rest, reads thus:
"Let all judges, and all city people, and all tradesmen, rest upon the venerable day of the sun. But let those dwelling in the country freely and with full liberty attend to the culture of their fields; since it frequently happens, that no other day is so fit for the sowing of grain, or the planting of vines; hence the favorable time should not be allowed to pa.s.s, lest the provisions of heaven be lost."-_A. H. Lewis, __"__History of the Sabbath and the Sunday,__"__ pp. 123, 124 (2d ed., rev., 1903)._
The original (in the "Codex of Justinian," lib. 3, t.i.t. 12, leg. 3) is quoted by Dr. J. A. Hessey in his Bampton Lectures on "Sunday," lecture 3, par. 1, and by Dr. Philip Schaff in his "History of the Christian Church,"
Vol. III, sec. 75, par. 5, note 1. See also Mosheim, "Ecclesiastical History," cent. 4, part 2, ch. 4, sec. 5; Chambers" Encyclopaedia, art.
Sabbath; Encyclopaedia Britannica, ninth ed., art. Sunday; Peter Heylyn, "History of the Sabbath," part 2, ch. 3 (2d ed., rev., London, 1636, pp.
66, 67).
Page 54. PROPHETIC DATES.-See note for page 329.
Page 56. FORGED WRITINGS.-Among the doc.u.ments that at the present time are generally admitted to be forgeries, the Donation of Constantine and the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals are of primary importance.
In citing facts concerning the question, "When and by whom was Constantine"s Donation forged?" M. Gosselin, Director of the Seminary of St. Sulpice (Paris), says:
"Though this doc.u.ment is unquestionably spurious, it would be difficult to determine with precision the date of its fabrication. M. de Marca, Muratori, and other learned critics, are of the opinion that it was composed in the eighth century, before the reign of Charlemagne. Muratori, moreover, thinks it probable that it may have induced that monarch and Pepin to be so generous to the Holy See."-_Gosselin_, "_The Power of the Pope during the Middle Ages_," _Vol. I_, _p. 321_ (translated by the Rev.
Matthew Kelly, St. Patrick"s College, Maynooth; Baltimore, J. Murphy & Co., 1853).
On the date of the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, see Mosheim, "Ecclesiastical History," bk. 3, cent. 9, part 2, ch. 2, sec. 8. As Dr.
Murdock, the translator, points out in a foot-note, the learned Catholic historian, M. L"Abbe Fleury, in his "Ecclesiastical History" (diss. 4, sec. 1), says of these decretals, that "they crept to light near the close of the eighth century." Fleury, writing near the close of the seventeenth century, says further that these "false decretals were looked upon as authentic for the s.p.a.ce of eight hundred years; and it was with much difficulty that they were given up in the last century. It is true that at present there are hardly any, though meanly instructed in these matters, who do not acknowledge that these decretals are false."-_Fleury_, "_Ecclesiastical History_," _bk. 44_, _par. 54_ (G. Adam"s translation, London, 1732, Vol. V, p. 196). See also Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," ch. 49, par. 16.
Page 57. DICTATES OF HILDEBRAND (GREGORY VII.).-See Baronius.
"Ecclesiastical Annals," An. 1076 (Antwerp ed., 1608, Vol. XI, page 479).
A copy of the "Dictates," in the original, may also be found in Gieseler, "Ecclesiastical History," period 3, sec. 47, note 4 (ed. 1836, tr. by F.