The Great Controversy - Ellen G. White | Page 466

Now Christ again appears to the view of His enemies . Far above the city , upon a foundation of burnished gold , is a throne , high and lifted up . Upon this throne sits the Son of God , and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom . The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe , no pen portray . The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son . The brightness of His presence fills the City of God , and flows out beyond the gates , flooding the whole earth with its radiance .
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 deep , intense devotion . Next are those who perfected Christian characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity , those who honored the law of God when the Christian world declared it void , and the millions , of all ages , who were martyred for their faith . And beyond is the " great multitude , which no man could number , of all nations , and kindreds , and people , and tongues , . . . before the throne , and before the Lamb , clothed with white robes , and palms in their hands ." Revelation 7:9 . Their warfare is ended , their victory won . They have run the race and reached the prize . The palm branch in their hands is a symbol of their triumph , the white robe an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ which now is theirs .
The redeemed raise a song of praise that echoes and re-echoes through the vaults of heaven : " Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne , and unto the Lamb ." Verse 10 . And angel and seraph unite their voices in adoration . As the redeemed have beheld the power and malignity of Satan , they have seen , as never before , that no power but that of Christ could have made them conquerors . In all that shining throng there are none to ascribe salvation to themselves , as if they had prevailed by their own power and goodness . Nothing is said of what they have done or suffered ; but the burden of every song , the keynote of every anthem , is : Salvation to our God and unto the Lamb .
In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven the final coronation of the Son of God takes place . And now , invested with supreme majesty and power , the King of kings pronounces sentence upon the rebels against His government and executes justice upon those who have transgressed His law and oppressed His people . Says the prophet of God : " 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 .
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