Says the prophet : " Who may abide the day of His coming ? and who shall stand when He appeareth ? for He is like a refiner ' s fire , and like fullers ' soap : and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver : and He shall purify the sons of Levi , and purge them as gold and silver , that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness ." Malachi 3:2 , 3 . Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator . Their robes must be spotless , their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling . Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil . While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven , while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary , there is to be a special work of purification , of putting away of sin , among God ' s people upon earth . This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14 .
When this work shall have been accomplished , the followers of Christ will be ready for His appearing . " Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord , as in the days of old , and as in former years ." Malachi 3:4 . Then the church which our Lord at His coming is to receive to Himself will be a " glorious church , not having spot , or wrinkle , or any such thing ." Ephesians 5:27 . Then she will look " forth as the morning , fair as the moon , clear as the sun , and terrible as an army with banners ." Song of Solomon 6:10 .
Besides the coming of the Lord to His temple , Malachi also foretells His second advent , His coming for the execution of the judgment , in these words : " And I will come near to you to judgment ; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers , and against the adulterers , and against false swearers , and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages , the widow , and the fatherless , and that turn aside the stranger from his right , and fear not Me , saith the Lord of hosts ." Malachi 3:5 . Jude refers to the same scene when he says , " Behold , the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints , to execute judgment upon all , and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds ." Jude 14 , 15 . This coming , and the coming of the Lord to His temple , are distinct and separate events . The coming of Christ as our high priest to the most holy place , for the cleansing of the sanctuary , brought to view in Daniel 8:14 ; the coming of the Son of man to the Ancient of Days , as presented in Daniel 7:13 ; and the coming of the Lord to His temple , foretold by Malachi , are descriptions of the same event ; and this is also represented by the coming of the bridegroom to the marriage , described by Christ in the parable of the ten virgins , of Matthew 25 .
In the summer and autumn of 1844 the proclamation , " Behold , the Bridegroom cometh ," was given . The two classes represented by the wise and foolish virgins were then developed-
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