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himself he ca
down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God;
let him deliver him now, if he will have him.” [Matthew 27:42, 43.]
Vividly they recall the Saviour’s parable of the husbandmen who
refused to render to their Lord the fruit of the vineyard, who abused
his servants and slew his son. They remember, too, the sentence
which they themselves pronounced: The Lord of the vineyard will
miserably destroy those wicked men. In the sin and punishment of
those unfaithful men, the priests and elders see their own course and
their own just doom. And now there rises a cry of mortal agony.
Louder than the shout, “Crucify him! crucify him!” which rang
through the streets of Jerusalem, swells the awful, despairing wail,
“He is the Son of God! He is the true Messiah!” They seek to flee
from the presence of the King of kings. In the deep caverns of
the earth, rent asunder by the warring of the elements, they vainly
attempt to hide.
In the lives of all who reject truth, there are moments when con-
science awakens, when memory presents the torturing recollection
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of a life of hypocrisy, and the soul is harassed with vain regrets. But
what are these compared with the remorse of that day when “fear
cometh as desolation,” when “destruction cometh as a whirlwind!”
[Proverbs 1:27.] Those who would have destroyed Christ and his faithful people, now witness the glory which rests upon them. In
the midst of their terror they hear the voices of the saints in joyful
strains exclaiming, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him,
and he will save us.” [Isaiah 25:9.]
Amid the reeling of the earth, the flashing of lightning, and
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the roaring of thunder, the voice of the Son of God calls forth the
sleeping saints. He looks upon the graves of the righteous, then
raising his hands to heaven he cries, “Awake, awake, awake, ye that
sleep in the dust, and arise!” Throughout the length and breadth
of the earth, the dead shall hear that voice, and they that hear shall
live. And the whole earth shall ring with the tread of the exceeding
great army of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From
the prison-house of death they come, clothed with immortal glory,
crying, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
[1 Corinthians 15:55.] And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory.
All come forth from their graves the same in stature as when
they entered the tomb. Adam, who stands among the risen throng,
is of lofty height and majestic form, in stature but little below the
Son of God. He presents a marked contrast to the people of later
generations; in this one respect is shown the great degeneracy of the
race. But all arise from their last deep slumber with the freshness
and vigor of eternal youth. In the begi
likeness of God, not only in character, but in form and feature. Sin
defaced and almost obliterated the divine image; but 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. All blemishes and deformities are left in the
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grave. The redeemed bear the image of their Lord. Oh, wonderful
redemption! long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated with eager
anticipation, but never fully understood.
The living righteous are changed in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye. At the voice of God they were glorified; now they are
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made immortal, and with the risen saints are caught up to meet
their Lord in the air. Friends long separated by death are united,
never more to part. Little children are borne by holy angels to their
mothers’ arms, and together, with songs of gladness, they ascend to
the city of God.
On each side of the cloudy chariot are wings, and beneath it
are living wheels; and as the chariot rolls upward, the wheels cry,
“Holy,” and the wings, as they move, cry, “Holy,” and the retinue of
angels cry, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.” And the people
of God shout “Alleluia!” as the chariot moves onward toward the
New Jerusalem.
Before entering the city, the saints are arranged in a hollow
square, with Jesus in the midst. In height he surpasses both the
saints and the angels. His majestic form and lovely countenance
can be seen by all in the square. Upon the heads of the overcomers
the Saviour, with his own right hand, places the crowns of glory.
For every saint there is a crown, bearing his new name, and the
inscription, “Holiness to the Lord.” In every hand is placed the
victor’s palm and the shining harp. The commanding angels strike
the note, and every voice is raised in grateful praise, every hand
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sweeps the harp-strings with skillful touch, awaking sweet music in
rich, melodious strains.
Before the ransomed throng is the holy city. Jesus opens wide the
pearly gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There
they behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his i
Then that voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, is
heard, saying, “Your conflict is ended.” The Saviour’s countenance
beams with unutterable love as he welcomes the redeemed to the joy
of their Lord.
Suddenly there rings out upon the air an exultant cry of adoration.
The two Adams are about to meet. The Son of God is standing with
outstretched arms to receive the father of our race,—the being whom
he created, who si
marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour’s form. As
Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon
the bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at his feet,
crying, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly the
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Saviour lifts him up, and directs his attention to the Eden home from
which he has so long been exiled.
After his expulsion from Eden, Adam’s life on earth was filled
with sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim of sacrifice, every blight
upon the fair face of nature, every stain upon man’s purity, was
a fresh reminder of his sin. Terrible was the agony of remorse
as he beheld iniquity abounding, and, in answer to his reproofs,
met the reproaches cast upon himself as the cause of sin. With
patient humility he bore, for nearly a thousand years, the penalty
of transgression. Faithfully did he repent of his sin, and trust in