God's People Delivered - The Great Controversy, Chapter 40

Welcome to God's People Delivered chapter of The Great Controversy eBook

In Short:

• Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 25:34.

• The living righteous are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. 1 Corinthians 15:52.

• Throughout the earth the dead who will hear the Son of God's voice will live - O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is the victory? 1 Corinthians 15:55.

• The dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: 

• and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

It is now, in the hour of utmost extremity, that the God of Israel will interpose for the deliverance of His chosen.

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.

They look up steadfastly into Heaven and see the glory of God, and the Son of man seated upon His throne.

And the voice of God comes like the sound of many waters, saying, It is done. Revelation 16:17.

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.

The Second Coming signs

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.

The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. As it draws nearer the earth and becomes lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud. 

Its base is a glory like consuming fire and above it is the rainbow of the covenant.

The holy angels - a vast and unnumbered throng attend Him on His way.

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. 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.

The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. 

The earth trembles before Him, and every mountain and island is moved out of its place.

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.

Moreover, the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory.

Furthermore, the ransomed ones are welcomed to the City of God

Nature's wonders

Everything in nature seems turned out of its course. The streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up, and clash against each other.

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.

Moreover, the sea is lashed into fury. There is heard the shriek of the 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.

Great hailstones, every one about the weight of a talent, are doing their work of destruction. The proudest cities of the earth are laid low.

Fierce lightning leap from the heavens, enveloping the earth in a sheet of flame.

God's people experience

Those who have sacrificed all for Christ are now secure, hidden as in the secret of the Lord's pavilion.

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.

The voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory.

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.

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, soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord

Entering the City of God

The Saviour bestows upon His followers the emblems of victory. With His own right hand He places the crown of glory upon their heads.

For each there is a crown, bearing his/her 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.

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 forever and ever. Revelation 1:5, 6.

Jesus opens wide the pearly gates of the Holy City and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. 

There they behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his innocence.

Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, Jude 24, Christ presents to the Father the purchase of His blood:

Here am I, and the children whom thou hast given me. Those that thou gavest me I have kept. 

The meeting of the two Adams

The Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our race - the being whom He created, who sinned against His Maker. 

Moreover, for whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour's form.

In humiliation Adam casts himself at His feet, crying: Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!

Tenderly the Saviour lifts him up and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has so long been exiled.

Furthermore, the Son of God redeemed human's failure and fall. Thus now, through the work of His atonement, Adam is reinstated in his first dominion.

Jesus leads him to the tree of life, plucks the glorious fruit, and bids him eat. 

He looks about him, and beholds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God.

Experience of the unrighteous

Those who a little before were so reckless, boastful and defiant, so exultant in their cruelty to God's commandment-keeping people, are now overwhelmed with consternation and shuddering in fear.

It is impossible to describe the horror and despair of those who have trampled upon God's holy requirements.

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.

Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God. Moreover, too late they see the true nature of their spurious sabbath.

Furthermore, 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.

In conclusion

The people of God have gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name. Revelation 15:2.

These, having been translated from the earth, from among the living are counted as the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 

These are they which came out of great tribulation. Revelation 14:1-5; 15:3; Revelation 7:14-17.

Thus having been partakers of Christ's sufferings, they are fitted to be partakers with Him of His glory.

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References:

1. The Ellen G. White Estate

2. The Bible, King James Version (KJV)

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