covenant . Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror . Not now a " Man of Sorrows ," to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe , He comes , victor in heaven and earth , to judge the living and the dead . " Faithful and True ," " in righteousness He doth judge and make war ." And " the armies which were in heaven " ( Revelation 19:11 , 14 ) follow Him . With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels , a vast , unnumbered throng , attend Him on His way . The firmament seems filled with radiant forms-- " ten thousand times ten thousand , and thousands of thousands ." No human pen can portray the scene ; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor . " His glory covered the heavens , and the earth was full of His praise . And His brightness was as the light ." Habakkuk 3:3,4 . As the living cloud comes still nearer , every eye beholds the Prince of life . No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head ; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow . His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun . " And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written , King of kings , and Lord of lords ." Revelation 19:16 .
Before His presence " all faces are turned into paleness ;" upon the rejecters of God ' s mercy falls the terror of eternal despair . " The heart melteth , and the knees smite together , . . . and the faces of them all gather blackness ." Jeremiah 30:6 ; Nahum 2:10 . The righteous cry with trembling : " Who shall be able to stand ?" The angels ' song is hushed , and there is a period of awful silence . Then the voice of Jesus is heard , saying : " My grace is sufficient for you ." The faces of the righteous are lighted up , and joy fills every heart . And the angels strike a note higher and sing again as they draw still nearer to the earth .
The King of kings descends upon the cloud , wrapped in flaming fire . The heavens are rolled together as a scroll , the earth trembles before Him , and every mountain and island is moved out of its place . " Our God shall come , and shall not keep silence : a fire shall devour before Him , and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him . He shall call to the heavens from above , and to the earth , that He may judge His people ." Psalm 50:3,4 .
" And the kings of the earth , and the great men , and the rich men , and the chief captains , and the mighty men , and every bondman , and every freeman , hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains and rocks , Fall on us , and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne , and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of His wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ?" Revelation 6:15-17 . The derisive jests have ceased . Lying lips are hushed into silence . The clash of arms , the tumult of battle , " with confused noise , and garments rolled in blood " ( Isaiah 9:5 ), is stilled . Nought now is heard but the voice of prayer and the sound of weeping and lamentation . The cry bursts forth from lips so lately scoffing : " The great day of His wrath is come ; and who shall be able to
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