Jesus Will Come
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”
1 Thessalonians 4:16
“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 4:17
By the people of God a voice, clear and melodious, is heard, saying, "Look up," and lifting their eyes to the heavens, they behold the bow of promise.
The black, angry clouds that covered the firmament are parted, and like Stephen they look up steadfastly into heaven and see the glory of God and the Son of man seated upon His throne. In His divine form they discern the marks of His humiliation; and from His lips they hear the request presented before His Father and the holy angels: "I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." John 17:24.
Again a voice, musical and triumphant, is heard, saying: "They come! They come! Holy, harmless, and undefiled. They have kept the word of My patience; they shall walk among the angels;" and the pale, quivering lips of those who have held fast their faith utter a shout of victory.
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It is at midnight that God manifests His power for the deliverance of His people. The sun appears, shining in its strength.
Signs and wonders follow in quick succession.
The wicked look with terror and amazement upon the scene, while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Everything in nature seems turned out of its course.
The streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up and clash against each other. In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying:
"It is done." Revelation 16:17.
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That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake, "such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great."
Verses 17, 18. The firmament appears to open and shut. The glory from the throne of God seems flashing through. 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.
The sea is lashed into fury.
There is heard the shriek of a 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.
Babylon the great has come in remembrance before God, "to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath."
Great hailstones, every one "about the weight of a talent," are doing their work of destruction. Verses 19, 21.
The proudest cities of the earth are laid low.
The lordly palaces, upon which the world's great men have lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves, are crumbling to ruin before their eyes.
Prison walls are rent asunder, and God's people, who have been held in bondage for their faith, are set free.
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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.
"They also which pierced Him"
(Revelation 1:7),
those that mocked and derided Christ's dying agonies,
and the most violent opposers of His truth and His people, are raised to behold Him in His glory and to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.
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Thick clouds still cover the sky;
yet the sun now and then breaks through, appearing like the avenging eye of Jehovah.
Fierce lightnings leap from the heavens, enveloping the earth in a sheet of flame. Above the terrific roar of thunder, voices, mysterious and awful, declare the doom of the wicked. The words spoken are not comprehended by all;
but they are distinctly understood by the false teachers. Those who a little before were so reckless, so boastful and defiant, so exultant in their cruelty to God's commandment-keeping people, are now overwhelmed with consternation and shuddering in fear. Their wails are heard above the sound of the elements.
Demons acknowledge the deity of Christ and tremble before His power, while men are supplicating for mercy and groveling in abject terror.
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Said the prophets of old, as they beheld in holy vision the day of God: "Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand;
it shall come as a destruction from the
Almighty."
Isaiah 13:6.
"Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low."
"In that day a man shall cast the idols of his silver, and the idols of his gold, which they made each one for himself to worship,
To the moles
and to the bats;
to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord,
and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth."
Isaiah 2:10-12, 20, 21, margin.
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Through a rift in the clouds there beams a star whose brilliancy is increased fourfold in contrast with the darkness. It speaks hope and joy to the faithful, but severity and wrath to the transgressors of God's law. Those who have sacrificed all for Christ are now secure, hidden as in the secret of the Lord's pavilion.
They have been tested, and before the world and the despisers of truth they have evinced their fidelity to Him who died for them.
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. Their voices rise in triumphant song: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear,
though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof."
Psalm 46:1-3.
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"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
Revelation 22:12
"Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return,
and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away."
Isaiah 51:11