Amid the ransomed throng are the apostles of Christ , the heroic Paul , the ardent Peter , the loved and loving John , and their truehearted brethren , and with them the vast host of martyrs ; while outside the walls , with every vile and abominable thing , are those by whom they were persecuted , imprisoned , and slain . There is Nero , that monster of cruelty and vice , beholding the joy and exaltation of those whom he once tortured , and in whose extremest anguish he found satanic delight . His mother is there to witness the result of her own work ; to see how the evil stamp of character transmitted to her son , the passions encouraged and developed by her influence and example , have borne fruit in crimes that caused the world to shudder .
There are papist priests and prelates , who claimed to be Christ ' s ambassadors , yet employed the rack , the dungeon , and the stake to control the consciences of His people . There are the proud pontiffs who exalted themselves above God and presumed to change the law of the Most High . Those pretended fathers of the church have an account to render to God from which they would fain be excused . Too late they are made to see that the Omniscient One is jealous of His law and that He will in no wise clear the guilty . They learn now that Christ identifies His interest with that of His suffering people ; and they feel the force of His own words : " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren , ye have done it unto Me ." Matthew 25:40 .
The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar of God on the charge of high treason against the government of heaven . They have none to plead their cause ; they are without excuse ; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them . It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble independence and eternal life , but slavery , ruin , and death . The wicked see what they have forfeited by their life of rebellion . The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered them ; but how desirable it now appears . " All this ," cries the lost soul , " I might have had ; but I chose to put these things far from me . Oh , strange infatuation ! I have exchanged peace , happiness , and honor for wretchedness , infamy , and despair ." All see that their exclusion from heaven is just . By their lives they have declared : " We will not have this Man [ Jesus ] to reign over us ."
As if entranced , the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of God . They see in His hands the tables of the divine law , the statutes which they have despised and transgressed . They witness the outburst of wonder , rapture , and adoration from the saved ; and as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city , all with one voice exclaim , " Great and marvelous are Thy works , Lord God Almighty ; just and true are Thy ways , Thou King of saints " ( Revelation 15:3 ); and , falling prostrate , they worship the Prince of life .
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