SCENES AT HIS COMING by Malcolm N. Campbell

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 12, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 18.

SCENES AT HIS COMING

By Malcolm N. Campbell

DESOLATION OF THE EARTH—SATAN IS LOOSED—THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH SUPPLANT ALL EVIL AND MISERY

By Malcolm N. Campbell

DURING the millennium, or the thousand year period spoken of in Revelation, chapter 20, the earth will be a desolate waste, entirely uninhabited by man, but used as the prison-house for Satan and his angels.

At the coming of Christ the wicked are all slain. "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Isa. 13:9.

As shown last week, the righteous are taken to heaven at the beginning of the thousand years. Thus, with the sinners destroyed and the righteous all in heaven, the earth lies bereft of human inhabitant. The prophets say of that time: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." Jer. 4:23-27. "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word." Isa. 24:1, 3. See also Zeph. 1:14-18.

The earth, enshrouded in impenetrable darkness, becomes the "bottomless pit" (Greek, abussos, meaning wild and desolate place) in which Satan is confined for a thousand years, "bound" by his inability to tempt the children of men. There he may reflect upon the appalling ruin that his rebellion has wrought in the earth, and realize to the fullest extent that the way of sin is the way of sorrow, disappointment, and despair.

AT CLOSE OF THE LONG NIGHT

At the close of that long night of a thousand years, the wicked dead are raised from their graves, a vast, unnumbered multitude of every race and condition. They bear on their persons the marks of vice and degradation. What a contrast to the happy company that emerged from the tomb a thousand years before! There stand murderers, adulterers, thieves, Sabbath-breakers, false accusers, unbelievers, and blasphemers.

SATAN IS LOOSED

Satan, now furnished with material much to his liking, no longer bound in idleness by circumstances, immediately goes out to deceive the hosts of the unsaved. "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." Rev. 20:7, 8.

Readily accepting the leadership of Satan, the wicked hosts are led by him against the city of God, the New Jerusalem, which has just descended from God out of heaven. Rev. 21:2, 3. Inside the vast extent of the city are the saved of all ages. Outside are the lost, from Cain down to the last sinner that rejected the Lord's mercy before the end. The wall of the city is the dividing line between the two classes.

THEY SURROUND THE HOLY CITY

While the wicked, under satanic leadership, surround the holy city, fire comes down from heaven and devours them. This is the "second death." Satan and his angels, with those who have chosen their leadership by the rejection of the gospel, are destroyed in this overwhelming storm of fire. "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Rev. 20:9. "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1.

THE REFINING FIRES

The fire that destroys the wicked, also melts the earth, and purifies it from the curse laid upon it when sin entered. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. . . . Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter 3:10, 13. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." Rev. 21:1. "And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him." Rev. 22:3.

The earth, renewed and purified, then becomes the dwelling-place of the redeemed through the eternal ages. Read Isa. 65:17-23; 66:22, 23; Matt. 5:5; and Rev. 22:1-3.

A FATAL DELUSION

The foregoing is a brief account of the events connected with and following the coming of our Lord to this earth again. This is a theme that should appeal with solemn force to every human heart. Let none cherish the fatal delusion that there will be another and more favorable opportunity, in another age, to turn to God. "To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart," is the admonition of the Lord. The coming of Christ seals the reward and fate of every individual for eternity. Just before He comes, the decree goes forth from the heavenly courts: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:11, 12. There is no appeal from this decree. It is final.

We may properly, then, consider whether it is really important that men give heed to this subject of the second coming of the Lord, and to the prophecies bearing upon it.

WHO WILL BE RECOGNIZED

When Christ returns to earth to claim His faithful children, only those will be recognized as such who have been expecting His coming. "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28. "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9. "Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching." Luke 12:37. It is plain, from these scriptures, that none

can with impunity disregard the truths concerning the second coming of Christ.

ON EVERY HAND WE SEE THEM

Upon every hand, we see the fulfilment of the prophecies relating to the second advent of our Lord. Wars and rumors of wars fill the hearts of men with deep apprehension. Crime is alarmingly on the increase. Love of pleasure, with its attendant low moral tone, seems to have well-nigh sapped the spiritual power of religious organizations. Famine, pestilence, and earthquake, with fire, storm, and flood, are uniting their voices in a thunderous warning to this generation to PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD.