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42 - The Controversy Ended - The Great Controversy · Sacred Texts Archive

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Chapter forty two. The controversy ended. At the close of the thousand years,
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Christ again returns to the earth. He is accompanied by the host of
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the Redeemed and attended by a retinue of angels. As he descends in terrific
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majesty, he bids the wicked dead arise to receive their doom. They come
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forth a mighty host, numberless as the sands of the sea. What a
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contrast to those who are raised at the First Resurrection. The righteous were clothed
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with immortal youth and beauty. The wicked bear the traces of disease and death.
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Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the
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Son of God. With one voice, the wicked hosts exclaimed, blessed is
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he that cometh in the name of the Lord. It is not love to
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Jesus that inspires this utterance. The force of truth urges the words from unwilling
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lips. As the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth with
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the same enmity to Christ and the same spirit of rebellion. They are to
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have no new probation in which to remedy the defects of their past. Lives.
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Nothing would be gained by this. A lifetime of transgression has not softened
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their hearts. A second probation, were it given them, would be occupied,
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as was the first, in evading the requirements of God and exciting rebellion
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against him. Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after his
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resurrection he ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of his return. Says
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the prophet, the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with
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thee and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives,
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which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall cleave
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in the midst thereof, and there shall be a very great valley, and
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the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day shall there
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be one Lord and his name one. As the new Jerusalem, in its
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dazzling splendor, comes down out of heaven, it rests upon the place,
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purified and made ready to receive it, and Christ, with his people and
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the angels, enters the Holy City. Now Satan prepares for a last mighty
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struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power and cut off from his
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work of deception, the Prince of evil was miserable and dejected. But as
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the wicked debtor raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his
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hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will
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marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner, and through them endeavor
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to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan's captives. In rejecting Christ,
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they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive
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his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning,
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he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the
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prince who is the rightful owner of the world, and whose inheritance has been
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unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer,
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assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves, and
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that he is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny. The presence
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of Christ having been removed, Satan works wonders to support his claims. He
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makes the weak strong and inspires all with his own spirit and energy. He
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proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints and to take possession of
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the City of God. With fiendish exultation, he points to the unnumbered millions
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who have been raised from the dead, and declares that as their leader,
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he is well able to overthrow the city and regain his throne and his kingdom.
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In that vast throng are multitudes of the long lived race that existed before
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the flood, Men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding to
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the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation
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of themselves. Men whose wonderful works of art led the world to idolize their
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genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions, defiling the earth and to facing
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the image of God, caused him to blot them from the face of his
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creation. There are kings and generals who conquered nations, Valiant men who never
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lost to battle, proud ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death,
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These experience no change as they come up from the grave. They resume
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the current of their thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the
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same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell. Satan consults with his
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angels, and then with these kings and conquerors and mighty men. They look
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upon the strength at numbers on their side and declare that the army within the
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city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome.
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They lay their plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the new
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Jerusalem. All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans construct implements of
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war. Military leaders famed for their success marshal the throngs of warlike men into
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companies and visions. At last, the order to advance is given, and
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the countless host moves on. An army such as was never summoned by earthly
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conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since war began on Earth,
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could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van,
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and his angels unite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors
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are in his train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under
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its appointed leader. With military precision, the serried ranks advance over the Earth's
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broken and uneven surface to the City of God by command of Jesus. The
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gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan surround the
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city and make ready for the onset. Now Christ again appears to the view
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of his enemies. Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold,
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is a throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the
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Son of God God, and around him are the subjects of his kingdom.
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The power and majesty of Christ. No language can describe, no pen portray
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the glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding his son. The brightness of his
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presence fills the City of God and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the
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whole earth with its radiance. Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous
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in the cause of Satan, but who, plucked as brands from the burning,
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have followed their Savior with deep intense devotion. Next are those who perfected
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Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who honored the Law
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of God when the Christian world declared it void, and the millions of all
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ages who were martyred for their faith. And beyond is the great multitude which
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no man could number. Of all nations and kindreds, and people and tongues
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before the Throne and before the Lamb. Clothed with white robes and palms in
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their hands, their warfare is ended, their victory won. They have run
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the race and reached the The palm branch in their hands is a symbol of
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their triumph. The white robe an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ,
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which is now theirs. Their Redeemed raise a song of praise that echoes and
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re echoes through the vaults of heaven. Salvation to our God which sitteth upon
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the throne and unto the Lamb. And Angel and Sarah. Unite their voices
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in adoration. As the Redeemed have beheld the power and malignity of Satan.
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They have seen as never before that no power but that of Christ could have
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made them conquerors in all that shining throng. There are none to ascribe salvation
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to themselves, as if they had prevailed by their own power and goodness.
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Nothing is said of what they have done or suffered, but the burden of
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every song, the keynote of every anthem, is salvation to our God and
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unto the Lamb. In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven.
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The final coronation of the Son of God takes place, and, now
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invested with supreme majesty and power, the King of Kings pronounces sentence upon the
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rebels against his government, and executes justice upon those who have transgressed his law
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and oppressed his people. Says the Prophet of God. I saw a great
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white throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and
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the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And
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I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the
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books are opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of
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Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in
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the books according to their works. As soon as the books a record are
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opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious
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of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their feet
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diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion
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have carried them in the violation of the law of God, the seductive temptations
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which they encouraged by indulgence in sin. The blessings perverted, the messengers of
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God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the
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stubborn, unrepentant heart. All appear as if written in letters of fire.
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Above the throne is revealed the Cross, and like a panoramic view, appear
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the scenes of Adam's temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great
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plan of redemption. The Saviour's slowly birth, his early life of simplicity and
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obedience, his baptism in Jordan, the fast and temptation in the wilderness,
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his public ministry unfolding to men Heaven's most precious blessings, the days crowded with
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deeds of love and mercy, the knights of prayer and watching in the solitude
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of the mountains, The plottings of envy, hate and malice which repaid his
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benefits. The awful, mysterious agony and gassemine beneath the crushing weight of the
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sins of the whole world. His betrayal into the hands of the murderous mob,
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the fearful events of that night of horror, the unresisting prisoner forsaken by
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his head, best loved disciples, rudely hurried through the streets of Jerusalem,
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the Son of God exultingly displayed before Ennis arraigned in the High Priest's palace,
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in the judgment Hall of Pilot, before the cowardly and cruel Herod, mocked,
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insulted, tortured, and condemned to die. All are vividly portrayed,
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and now before the swaying multitude a revealed the final scenes. The patient sufferer
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treading the path to Calvary, the Prince of Heaven hanging upon the cross,
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the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriving his expiring agony. The supernatural darkness,
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the heaving earth, the rent rocks, the open graves, marking the
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moment when the world's redeemer yielded up his life. The awful spectacle appears,
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just as it was Satan. His angels and his subjects have no power to
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turn from the picture of their own work. Each actor recalls the part which
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he performed. Herod who slew the innocent children of Bethlehem that he might destroy
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the king of his Liad, the base Herodius, upon whose guilty soul rests
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the blood of John the Baptist, the weak time serving pilot, the mocking
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soldiers, the priests and rulers, and the madam Throng who cried his blood
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be on us and on our children. All behold the enormity of their guilt.
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They vainly seek to hide from the divine majesty of his countenance, outshining
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the glory of the sun. While the Redeemed cast their crowns at the Saviour's
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feet, exclaiming he died for me. Amid the ransomed Throng are the apostles
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of Christ, the heroic Paul, the ardent Peter, the loved and loving
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John, and their true hearted brethren, and with them the vast host of
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martyrs. While outside the walls, with every vile and abominable thing, are
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those by whom they were persecuted, imprisoned, and slain. There is Nero,
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that monster of cruelty and vice, beholding the joy and exaltation of those
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whom he once tortured, and in whose extremest anguish he found satanic to Diday.
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His mother is there to witness the result of her own work, to
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see how the evil stamp of character transmitted to her son, the passions encouraged
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and developed by her influence and example have borne fruit in crimes that caused the
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world to shudder. There are papist priests and prelates who claimed to be Christ's
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ambassadors, yet employed the rack, the dungeon, and the stake to control
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the consciences of his people. There are the proud pontiffs who exalted themselves above
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God and presumed to change the law of the most High. Those pretended fathers
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of the Church have an account to render to God from which they would fain
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be excused. Too late. They are made to see that the omniscient One
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is jealous of his law, and that he will in no wise clear the
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guilty. They learn now that Christ identifies his interest with that of his suffering
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people, and they feel the force of his own words. Inasmuch as ye
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have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye
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have done it unto me. The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar
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of God on the charge of high treason against the government of Heaven. They
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have none to plead their cause. They are without excuse, and the sentence
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of eternal deaths pronounced against them. It is now evident to all that the
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wages of sin is not noble independence and eternal life, but slavery, ruin,
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and death. The wicked see what they have forfeited by their life of
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rebellion. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered
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them. But how desirable it now appears. All this Christ, the lost
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soul, I might have had, But I chose to put these things far
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from me. Oh, strange infatuation, I have exchanged peace, happiness,
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and honor for wretchedness, infamy, and despair. All see that their exclusion
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from heaven is just by their lives. They have declared, we will not
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have this Jesus to reign over us. As if entranced. The wicked have
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looked upon the coronation of the Son of God. They see in his hands
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the tables of the Divine Law, the statutes which they have despised and transgressed.
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They witness the outburst of wonder, rapture, and adoration from the saved,
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And as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city,
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all with one voice exclaim, great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God,
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Almighty, Just and true are thy ways, Thou King of saints,
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and falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of Life. Satan seems paralyzed as
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he beholds the glory and majesty of Christ. He who was once a covering
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cherub remembers whence he has fallen a shining seraph, son of the Morning,
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How changed, how degraded From the council where once he was honoured, he
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is forever excluded. He sees another now standing near to the Father, veiling
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his glory. He has seen the crown placed upon the head of Christ by
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an angel of lofty stature and majestic presence, and he knows that the exalted
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position of this angel might have been His memory recalls the home of his innocence
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and purity, the peace and content that were his until he indulged in murmuring
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against God and envy of Christ. His accusations, his rebellion, his deceptions
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to gain the sympathy and support of the angels, his stubborn persistence in making
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no effort for self recovery when God would have granted him forgiveness. All come
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vividly before him. He reviews his work among men and its results, the
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enmity of man toward his fellow man, the terrible destruction of life, the
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rise and fall of kingdoms, the overturning of thrones, the long succession of
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tumults, conflicts, and revolutions. He recalls his constant efforts to oppose the
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work of Christ and to sink man lower and lower. He sees that his
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hellish plots have been powerless to destroy those who have put their trust in Jesus.
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As Satan looks upon his kingdom, the fruit of his toil, he
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sees only failure and ruin. He has led the multitudes to believe that the
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City of God would be an easy prey, but he knows that this is
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false. Again and again, in the progress of the Great Controversy, he
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has been defeated and compelled to yield. He knows too well the power and
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majesty of the Eternal. The aim of the Great Rebel has ever been to
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justify himself and to prove the divine government responsible for the rebellion. To this
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end he has spent all the power of his giant intellect. He has worked
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deliberately and systematically, and with marvelous success, leading vast multitudes to accept his
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version of the Great Controversy, which has been so long in progress. For
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thousands of years, this chief of conspiracy has palmed off falsehood for truth.
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But the time has now come when the rebellion is to be finally defeated,
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and the history and character of Satan disclosed. In his last great effort to
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dethrone Christ, destroy his people, and take possession of the City of God,
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the ark deceiver has been fully unmasked. Those who have united with him
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see the total failure of his cause. Christ's followers and the loyal angels behold
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the full extent of his machinations against the government of God. He is the
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object of universal abhorrence. Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for
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heaven. He has trained his powers to war against God. The purity,
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peace, and harmony of Heaven would be to him supreme torture. His accusations
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against the mercy and justice of God are now silenced. The reproach which he
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has endeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests wholly upon himself, and now Satan bows
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down and confesses the justice of his sentence. Who shall not fear thee O
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Lord and glorify thy name, for thou only art holy. For all nations
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shall common war worship before Thee. For thy judgments are made manifest. Every
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question of truth and error in the long standing controversy has now been made plain.
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The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes have
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been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of
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Satan's rule in contrast with the government of God has been presented to the whole
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universe. Satan's own works have condemned him. God's wisdom, his justice,
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and his goodness stand fully vindicated. It is seen that all his dealings in
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the Great Controversy have been conducted with respect to the eternal good of his people
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and the good of all the worlds that He has created. All thy works
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shall praise THEE, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless THEE. The
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history of sin will stand to all eternity as a witness that with the existence
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of God's law is bound up the happiness of all the beings he has created.
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With all the facts of the Great Controversy, and the whole universe,
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both loyal and rebellious with one accord, declare just and true are thy ways
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Thou, King of saints, before the universe has been clearly presented the great
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sacrifice made by the Father and the Son in man's behalf. The hour has
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come when Christ occupies his rightful position and is glorified above principalities and powers and
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every name that is named. It was for the joy that was set before
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him, that he might bring many sons unto glory, that he endured the
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cross and despised the shame. And inconceivably great as was the sorrow and the
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shame, yet greater is the joy and the glory. He looks upon the
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Redeemed renewed in his own image, every heart bearing the perfect impress of the
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Divine, every face reflecting the likeness of their king. He beholds in them
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the result of the travail of his soul, and he is satisfied. Then,
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in a voice that reaches the assembled multitudes of the righteous and the wicked,
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he declares, behold the purchase of my blood for these I suffered,
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for these, I died that they might dwell in my presence throughout eternal ages.
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And the song of praise ascends from the white robed ones about the throne.
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Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom
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and strength, and honor and glory and blessing. Notwithstanding that Satan has been
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constrained to acknowledge God's justice and to bow to the supremacy of Christ, his
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character remains unchanged. The spirit of rebellion, like a mighty torrent again bursts
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forth. Filled with frenzy, he determines not to yield the great controversy.
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The time has come for a last desperate struggle against the King of Heaven.
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He rushes into the midst of his subjects and endeavors to inspire them with his
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own fury and arouse them to instant battle. But of all the countless millions
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whom he has allured into rebellion, there are none now to acknowledge his supremacy.
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His power is at an end. The wicked are filled with the same
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hatred of God that inspires Satan. But they see that their case is hopeless,
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that they cannot prevail against Jehovah. Their rage is kindled against Satan and
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those who have been his agents in deception, and with the fury of demons,
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they turn upon them, Saith the Lord, because thou hast set Thine
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heart is the heart of God. Behold, Therefore, I will bring strangers
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upon THEE, the terrible of the nations, And they shall draw their swords
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against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They
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shall bring THEE down to the pit. I will destroy thee o covering cherub
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from the midst of the stones of fire. I will cast THEE to the
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ground. I will lay THEE before kings, that they may behold THEE.
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I will bring THEE to ashes upon the earth and the sight of all them
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that behold THEE. Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be
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any more. Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled
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in blood. But this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. The
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indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their
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armies. He hath utterly destroyed them. He hath delivered them to the slaughter
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upon the wicked. He shall reign quick burning coals, fire and brimstone,
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and a horrible tempest. This shall be the portion of their cup. Fire
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comes down from God out of heaven. The earth is broken up, the
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weapons concealed in its depths are drawn forth. Devouring flames burst from every yawning
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chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The day has come that shall
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burn as an oven. The elements melt with fervent heat. The earth also,
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and the works that are therein are burned up. The earth's surface seems
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one molten mass, a vast, seething lake of fire. It is the
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time of the judgment and perdition of ungodly men, the day of the Lord's
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vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Sion. The wicked
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receive their recompense in the earth. They shall be stubble, and the day
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that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts. Some are
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destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days. All are punished
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according to their deeds, the sins of the righteous having been transferred to Satan.
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He is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for
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all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit. His punishment is
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to be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all
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have perished who fell by his deceptions. He is still to live and suffer
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on in the cleansing flames. The wicked are at last destroyed, root and
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branch, Satan, the root, his followers the branches. The full penalty
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of the law has been visited. The demands of justice have been met,
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and Heaven and Earth beholding declare the righteousness of Jehovah. Satan's work of ruinous
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forever ended. For six thousand years, he has wrought his will, filling
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the earth with woe and causing grief throughout the universe. The whole creation has
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groaned and travailed together in pain. Now God's creatures are forever delivered from his
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presence and temptations. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet. They
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the righteous, break forth into singing, and a shout of praise and triumph
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ascends from the whole loyal universe. The voice of a great multitude is the
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voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings is heard saying
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alle Luyah for the Lord, God omnipotent reigneth. While the earth was wrapt
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in the fire of destruction, the Righteous abode safely in the Holy City,
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upon those that had part in the first resurrection. The second death has no
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power. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, he is to
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his people both a son and a shield. I saw a new heaven and
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a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.
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The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the
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curses swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransom to the
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fearful consequences of sin. One reminder alone remains. Our Redeemer will ever bear
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the marks of his crucifixion upon his wounded head, upon his side, his
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hands and feet are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought,
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says the prophet, beholding Christ in his glory. He had bright beams
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coming out of his side, and there was the hiding of his power that
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pierced side whence flowed the crimson stream that reconciled man to God. There is
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the Savior's glory, there the hiding of his power, mighty to save through
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the sacrifice of redemption. He was therefore strong to execute justice upon them that
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despised. God's mercy, and the tokens of his humiliation are his highest honor.
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Through the eternal ages. The wounds of cavalry will show forth his praise
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and declare his power. O Tower of the Flock, the stronghold of the
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Daughter of Zion. Unto thee shall it come even the first Dominion. The
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time has come to which holy men have looked with longing since the flaming sword
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barred the first Pair from Eden. The time for the redemption of the purchased
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possession. The earth, originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayed by
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him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by the mighty foe,
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has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. All that was
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lost by sin has been restored. Thus saith the Lord that formed the earth
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and made it. He hath established it. He created it, not in
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vain, He formed it to be inhabited. God's original purpose in the creation
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of the earth is fulfilled, as it has made the eternal abode of the
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Redeemed. The Righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever. A fear
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of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the
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very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home. Christ assured
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his disciples that he went to prepare mansions for them in the Father's house.
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Those who accept the teachings of God's word will not be wholly ignorant concerning the
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heavenly abode. And yet ey hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have
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entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
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love him. Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous.
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It will be known only to those who behold it. No finite mind can
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comprehend the glory of the paradise of God. In the Bible, the inheritance
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of the saved is called a country. There the heavenly shepherd leads his flock
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to fountains of living waters. The tree of Life yields its fruit every month,
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and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations.
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There are ever flowing streams clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast
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their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. Where the
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wide spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear
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their lofty summits on those peaceful plains beside those living streams God's people, so
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long pilgrims and wanderers shall find a home. My people shall dwell in a
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peaceful habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Violence
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shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting, nor destruction within thy
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borders. But thou shalt call thy wall's salvation and thy gates praise. They
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shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the
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fruit of them. They shall not build in another inhabit they shall not plant,
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and another eat mine. Elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
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There the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and
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the desert shall rejoice and blossom, as the rose instead of the thorn,
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shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up
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the myrtle tree. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the
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leopard shall lie down with the kid, and a little child shall lead them.
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They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountains, Saith,
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the Lord, Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. There will be
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no more tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. There shall
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be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, For the former things are
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passed away. The inhabitants shall not say I am sick. The people that
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dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. There is the new Jerusalem, the
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metropolis of the glorified New Earth, a crown of glory in the hand of
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the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Her
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light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone,
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clear as crystal. The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the
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light of it, and the kings of the earth to bring their glory and
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honor into it. Saith the Lord, I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy
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in my people. The Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will
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dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And God himself shall
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be with them and be their God. In the City of God. There
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shall be no night, none will need or desire repose. There will be
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no weariness in doing the will of God and offering praise to his name.
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We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning, and shall ever be far
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from its close, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun.
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For the Lord God giveth them light. The light of the sun will
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be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet which immeasurably surpasses
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the brightness of our noontide. The glory of God and the Lamb floods the
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Holy City with unfading light. The Redeemed walk in the sunless glory of perpetual
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day. I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the
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Lamb are the temple of it. The people of God are page to hold
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open communion with the Father and the Son. Now we see through a glass
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darkly we behold the image of God reflected as in a mirror, in the
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works of nature and in his dealings with men. But then we shall see
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him face to face, without a dimming veil between. We shall stand in
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his presence and behold the glory of His countenance. There the Redeemed shall know,
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even as also they are known, the loves and sympathies which God himself
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has planted in the soul. Shall there find truest and sweetest exercise the pure
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communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life, with the blessed angels,
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and with the faithful ones of all ages, who have washed their robes and
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made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The sacred ties that bind
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together the whole family in heaven and earth. These help to constitute the happiness
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of the Redeemed. Their immortal minds will contemplate with never failing delight, the
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wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There will be no
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cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be
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developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind
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or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the
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loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized. And still there will arise new
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heights to surmount, new wonders, to admire new truths, to comprehend fresh
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objects, to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body. All
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the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God's Redeemed.
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Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar worlds that thrilled
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with sorrow with the spectacle of human woe, and rang with songs of gladness
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at the tidings of a ransomed soul. With unutterable delight, the children of
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Earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the
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treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages, in contemplation of God's
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handiwork. With undimmed vision, they gaze upon the glory of creation, suns
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and stars and systems, all in their appointed order, circling the throne of
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Deity, upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator's
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name is written, and in all are the riches of his power displayed.
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And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still
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more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so
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will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God,
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the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before
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them the riches of redemption and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan,
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the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and with more
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rapturous joy, they sweep the harps of gold, and ten thousand times,
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ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of
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praise. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth,
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and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all
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that are in them, heard, I saying, Blessing and honor, and
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glory and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
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Lamb. Forever and ever, the great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners
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are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and
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gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who create it. All flow
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life and light and gladness throughout the realms of illimitable space, from the minutest
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atom to the greatest world. All things animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed
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beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is Love. End of Chapter forty two.