The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 237

The European Union in Prophecy
About His coming cluster the glories of that "restitution of all things, which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3:21.
Then the long-continued rule of evil shall be broken; "the kingdoms of this world" will
become "the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and
ever." Revelation 11:15. "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall
see it together." "The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth
before all the nations." He shall be "for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty,
unto the residue of His people." Isaiah 40:5; 61:11; 28:5.
It is then that the peaceful and long-desired kingdom of the Messiah shall be
established under the whole heaven. "The Lord shall comfort Zion: He will comfort all
her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the
garden of the Lord." "The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of
Carmel and Sharon." "Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land
any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called My Delight, and thy land
Beulah." "As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over
thee." Isaiah 51:3; 35:2; 62:4, 5, margin.
The coming of the Lord has been in all ages the hope of His true followers. The
Saviour's parting promise upon Olivet, that He would come again, lighted up the
future for His disciples, filling their hearts with joy and hope that sorrow could not
quench nor trials dim. Amid suffering and persecution, the "appearing of the great
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" was the "blessed hope." When the Thessalonian
Christians were filled with grief as they buried their loved ones, who had hoped to
live to witness the coming of the Lord, Paul, their teacher, pointed them to the
resurrection, to take place at the Saviour's advent. Then the dead in Christ should
rise, and together with the living be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. "And so,"
he said, "shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these
words." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
On rocky Patmos the beloved disciple hears the promise, "Surely I come quickly,"
and his longing response voices the prayer of the church in all her pilgrimage, "Even
so, come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20. From the dungeon, the stake, the scaffold,
where saints and martyrs witnessed for the truth, comes down the centuries the
utterance of their faith and hope. Being "assured of His personal resurrection, and
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