The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 427

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—one class who looked
with joy to the Lord’s appearing, and who had been diligently preparing
to meet Him; another class that, influenced by fear and acting from
impulse, had been satisfied with a theory of the truth, but were destitute
of the grace of God. In the parable, when the bridegroom came, “they
that were ready went in with him to the marriage.” The coming of the
bridegroom, here brought to view, takes place before the marriage. The
marriage represents the reception by Christ of His kingdom. The Holy
City, the New Jerusalem, which is the capital and representative of the
kingdom, is called “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Said the angel to John:
“Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” “He carried
me away in the spirit,” says the prophet, “and showed me that great city,
the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” Revelation

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