At the close of the 1000 years, Christ returns to the earth accompanied by the redeemed and a retinue of angels. He bids the wicked dead arise to receive their doom. They come forth, numberless as the sands of the sea, bearing the traces of disease and death. What a contrast to those raised in the first resurrection!
(HF 401.1)
Every eye is turned to behold the glory of the Son of God. With one voice the wicked hosts exclaim: “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!” Matthew 23:39. It is not love that inspires this utterance. The force of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As the wicked went in to the graves, so they come forth with the same enmity to Christ and the same spirit of rebellion. They are to have no new probation in which to remedy their past lives.
(HF 401.2)
Says the prophet: “His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, ... and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof.” Zechariah 14:4. As the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, it rests upon the place made ready, and Christ, with His people and the angels, enters the holy city.
(HF 401.3)
While cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected, but as the wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive. He determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal the lost under his banner. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader, ready to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the rightful owner of the world whose inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself as a redeemer, assuring his deluded subjects that his power has brought them from their graves. Satan makes the weak strong, and inspires all with his own energy to lead them to take possession of the city of God. He points to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead, and declares that as their leader he is able to regain his throne and kingdom.
(HF 401.4)
In the vast throng are the long-lived race that existed before the Flood, men of lofty stature and giant intellect; men whose wonderful works led the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions caused God to blot them from His creation. There are kings and generals who never lost a battle. In death these experienced no change. As they come up from the grave, they are actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell.
(HF 402.1)
Satan consults with these mighty men. They declare that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs and can be overcome. Skillful artisans construct implements of war. Military leaders marshal warlike men into companies and divisions.
(HF 402.2)
At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on, an army such as the combined forces of all ages could never equal. Satan leads the van, kings and warriors in his train. With military precision the serried ranks advance over the earth’s broken surface to the City of God. By command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan make ready for the onset.
(HF 402.3)
Now Christ appears to the view of His enemies. Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son. The brightness of His presence flows out beyond the gates, flooding the earth with radiance.
(HF 402.4)
Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of Satan, but who, plucked as brands from the burning, have followed their Saviour with intense devotion. Next are those who perfected character in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, who honored the law of God when the world declared it void, and the millions, of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. Beyond is the “great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, ... clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Revelation 7:9. Their warfare is ended, their victory won. The palm branch is a symbol of triumph, the white robe an emblem of the righteousness of Christ which now is theirs.
(HF 403.1)
In all that throng there are none to ascribe salvation to themselves by their own goodness. Nothing is said of what they have suffered; the keynote of every anthem is, Salvation to our God and to the Lamb.
(HF 403.2)
In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven the coronation of the Son of God takes place. And now, invested with supreme majesty and power, the King of kings pronounces sentence on the rebels who have transgressed His law and oppressed His people. “I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Revelation 20:11, 12.
(HF 403.3)
As the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin they have ever committed. They see where their feet diverged from the path of holiness. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart—all appear as if written in letters of fire.
(HF 403.4)
Above the throne is revealed the cross. Like a panoramic view appear the scenes of Adam’s fall and the successive steps in the plan of redemption. The Saviour’s lowly birth; His life of simplicity; His baptism in Jordan; the fast and temptation in the wilderness; His ministry unfolding to men heaven’s blessings; the days crowded with deeds of mercy, the nights of prayer in the mountains; the plottings of envy and malice which repaid His benefits; the mysterious agony in Gethsemane beneath the weight of the sins of the world; His betrayal to the murderous mob; the events of that night of horror—the unresisting prisoner forsaken by His disciples, arraigned in the high priest’s palace, in the judgment hall of Pilate, before the cowardly Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and condemned to die—all are vividly portrayed.
(HF 404.1)
And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes: the patient Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of heaven hanging on the cross; the priests and rabbis deriding His expiring agony; the supernatural darkness marking the moment when the world’s Redeemer yielded up His life.
(HF 404.2)
The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan and his subjects have no power to turn from the picture. Each actor recalls the part he performed. Herod, who slew the innocent children of Bethlehem; the base Herodias, upon whose soul rests the blood of John the Baptist; the weak, time-serving Pilate; the mocking soldiers; the maddened throng who cried, “His blood be on us, and on our children!”—all vainly seek to hide from the divine majesty of His countenance, while the redeemed cast their crowns at the Saviour’s feet, exclaiming, “He died for me!”
(HF 404.3)
There is Nero, monster of cruelty and vice, beholding the exaltation of those in whose anguish he found satanic delight. His mother witnesses her own work, how the passions encouraged by her influence and example have borne fruit in crimes that caused the world to shudder.
(HF 404.4)
There are papist priests and prelates who claimed to be Christ’s ambassadors, yet employed the rack, the dungeon, and the stake to control His people. There are the proud pontiffs who exalted themselves above God and presumed to change the law of the Most High. Those pretended fathers have an account to render to God. Too late they are made to see that the Omniscient One is jealous of His law. They learn now that Christ identifies His interests with His suffering people.
(HF 405.1)
The whole wicked world stand arraigned on the charge of high treason against the government of heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them.
(HF 405.2)
The wicked see what they have forfeited by their rebellion. “All this,” cries the lost soul, “I might have had. Oh, strange infatuation! I have exchanged peace, happiness, and honor for wretchedness, infamy, and despair.” All see that their exclusion from heaven is just. By their lives they have declared: “We will not have this man [Jesus] to reign over us.”
(HF 405.3)
As if entranced, the wicked look upon the coronation of the Son of God. They see in His hands the tables of the divine law they have despised. They witness the outburst of adoration from the saved; and as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city, all exclaim, “Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” Falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of life. Revelation 15:3.
(HF 405.4)
Satan seems paralyzed. Once a covering cherub, he remembers whence he has fallen. From the council where once he was honored he is forever excluded. He sees another now standing near to the Father, an angel of majestic presence. He knows that the exalted position of this angel might have been his.
(HF 405.5)
Memory recalls the home of his innocence, the peace and content that were his until his rebellion. He reviews his work among men and its results—the enmity of man toward his fellow men, the terrible destruction of life, the overturning of thrones, the tumults, conflicts, and revolutions. He recalls his constant efforts to oppose the work of Christ. As he looks upon the fruit of his toil he sees only failure. Again and again in the progress of the great controversy he has been defeated and compelled to yield.
(HF 406.1)
The aim of the great rebel has ever been to prove the divine government responsible for the rebellion. He has led vast multitudes to accept his version. For thousands of years this chief of conspiracy has palmed off falsehood for truth. But the time has now come when the history and character of Satan are to be disclosed. In his last effort to dethrone Christ, destroy His people, and take possession of the City of God, the archdeceiver has been fully unmasked. Those united with him see the total failure of his cause.
(HF 406.2)
Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven. He has trained his powers to war against God; the purity and harmony of heaven would be to him supreme torture. He bows down and confesses the justice of his sentence.
(HF 406.3)
Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been made plain. The results of setting aside the divine statutes have been laid open to the view of the whole universe. The history of sin will stand to all eternity as a witness that with the existence of God’s law is bound up the happiness of all the beings He has created. The whole universe, loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare, “Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”
(HF 406.4)
The hour has come when Christ is glorified above every name that is named. For the joy set before Him—that He might bring many sons unto glory—He endured the cross. He looks upon the redeemed, renewed in His own image. He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and He is satisfied. Isaiah 53:11. In a voice that reaches the multitudes, righteous and wicked, He declares: “Behold the purchase of my blood! For these I suffered, for these I died.”
(HF 406.5)
Satan’s character remains unchanged. Rebellion like a mighty torrent again bursts forth. He determines not to yield the last desperate struggle against the King of heaven. But of all the countless millions whom he has allured into rebellion, none now acknowledge his supremacy. The wicked are filled with the same hatred of God that inspires Satan, but they see that their case is hopeless. “Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; 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.” Ezekiel 28:6-8, 16-19.
(HF 407.1)
“The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations.”“Upon the wicked he shall rain quick burning coals, fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” Isaiah 34:2; Psalm 11:6. Fire comes down from God out of heaven. The earth is broken up. Devouring flames burst from every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein are burned up. 2 Peter 3:10. The earth’s surface seems one molten mass—a vast, seething lake of fire. It is “the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.” Isaiah 34:8.
(HF 407.2)
The wicked are punished “according to their deeds.” Satan is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit. In the 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. Satan’s work of ruin is forever ended. Now God’s creatures are forever delivered from his temptations.
(HF 408.1)
While the earth is wrapped in fire, the righteous abide safely in the Holy City. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people a shield. See Revelation 20:6; Psalm 84:11.
(HF 408.2)
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” Revelation 21:1. The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.
(HF 408.3)
One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion, the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. Through eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will show forth His praise and declare His power.
(HF 408.4)
Christ assured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for them in the Father’s house. 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 God!
(HF 408.5)
In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called “a country.” Hebrews 11:14-16. There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. There are everflowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. Wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.
(HF 408.6)
“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 shall not plant, and another eat: ... Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”“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.” Isaiah 65:21, 22; 35:1; 11:6, 9.
(HF 409.1)
Pain cannot exist in heaven. There will be no more tears, no funeral trains. “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying: ... for the former things are passed away.”“The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” Revelation 21:4; Isaiah 33:24.
(HF 409.2)
There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth. “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.”“The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Revelation 21:11, 24, 3.
(HF 409.3)
In the City of God “there shall be no night.” Revelation 22:5. There will be no weariness. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning and ever be far from its close. The light of the sun will be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet which immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. The redeemed walk in the glory of perpetual day.
(HF 409.4)
“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” Revelation 21:22. The people of God are privileged to hold open communion with the Father and the Son. Now we behold the image of God as in a mirror, but then we shall see Him face to face, without a dimming veil between.
(HF 410.1)
There the loves and sympathies which God Himself has planted in the soul shall find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings and the faithful of all ages, the sacred ties that bind together “the whole family in heaven and earth”—these help to constitute the happiness of the redeemed. Ephesians 3:15.
(HF 410.2)
There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not exhaust the energies. 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.
(HF 410.3)
All the treasures of the universe will be open to God’s redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar. The children of earth enter into the joy and wisdom of unfallen beings and share treasures of knowledge gained through ages upon ages. 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.
(HF 410.4)
And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring still more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. The more men learn of God, 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 devotion, and ten thousand times ten thousand voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.
(HF 410.5)
“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 for ever and ever.” Revelation 5:13.
(HF 411.1)
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 space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.
(HF 411.2)