VISION ON THE HOLY MOUNT.
The Scriptures of the Old Testament abound with promises of a glorious kingdom. "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment." Isa. xxxii, 1. "And in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed." Dan. ii, 44. "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever." "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." "And the kingdom, and dominion, and greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Dan. vii, 13, 14, 18, 21, 22, 27. But the same prophets, who foretell the advent of the king in his glory and majesty, and the honors conferred on the redeemed, as exalted to sit down with him on his throne, and reign with him over all worlds, declare in plain language, that he shall come "in the form of a servant," and appear "in the likeness of men"—that he who shall be revealed as "the Sun of Righteousness," and "the perfection of beauty," shall "grow up as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; that he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty, that we should desire him"—that he who shall come as "Lord of all," claiming "the kingdom, and the power, and the glory," shall come as a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and having no where to lay his head—that he who shall come, receiving the full homage due to him, as God and Christ, and acknowledged by his saints, who shall cast their crowns at his feet; shall appear with a "visage marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men," "despised and rejected of men,"—that he who shall appear as the reigning King of Zion, shall also appear as "the Messiah, to be cut off for sins, but not his own." Dan. ix, 26. Unto the Jews these lively oracles were committed, who, passing by the predictions of his meanness and poverty of his persecutions, sufferings, and death, fixed their minds upon his glorious coming; and, taking a carnal view of these delightful promises and prophecies, at once, concluded, that it should be marked with great pomp and earthly magnificence; and that the effect would be, to them, an exaltation to the possession of privileges and immunities above all the nations of the world. Thus musing in their hearts, the Messiah makes his entry into our world. He came unto his own professing people, but his own received him not; because "they had erred not knowing the Scriptures." He comes, meek and lowly, to seek and to save. How disappointed were the Jews in all their expectations! Instead of riches, here is poverty. Instead of a retinue of nobility, and a grand attendance of the doctors of the law, he is accompanied by the poor, unlettered fisherman of Galilee. Instead of treading upon crowns, and sceptres, and the necks of kings, he is a servant, "a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." Ps. xxii, 6. How is he treated, whom the Jews expected as their king? For a throne, he receives the cross; for a diadem of glory and honor, he has prepared for him a crown of thorns; instead of acknowledging him as the King who sways the sceptre over all worlds, he has given into his hand the mock emblem of empire; instead of yielding that homage that was due to him, as Lord and Christ, they mockingly bend the knee before him, while he hangs, in agony, making atonement for transgression. Thus, was the Son of the Highest delivered, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, to make atonement for transgression, put an end to sin-offering, and to bring in everlasting righteousness. Dan. ix, 34. And, when all was fulfilled that was written of him, as the suffering Messiah, he was taken down from the tree, and laid in the grave. But God raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand, there to abide until he should receive, "the heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession;" after which he shall be revealed in the glory of the Father, to make his enemies his footstool, and to take unto himself his great power, and to reign. Even the disciples of our Lord, long after they were brought under his instruction, entertained opinions of an earthly kingdom. It is written of two of them, who came to him, desiring that the one might sit on his right hand, and the other on his left, in his kingdom. They knew that a kingdom was promised to him, as the Messiah; but, as yet, they knew not the nature of his kingdom. On another occasion, there was a strife among them, who of them should be the greatest; but he immediately corrected the error. When the disciples speak to him of his throne, he turns their attention to the cross. When they speak of his glory, he informs them of his sufferings and death. From which we see the intimation, that his first coming was to suffer, and his second to bring in a kingdom which cannot be moved. Previous, however, to his departure out of this world unto the Father, he gave them the fullest assurance of his return. Of his glorious appearing and kingdom, he gave to some of his disciples a view on the holy mount. This vision was given in fulfillment of the promise, "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, who shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Matt. xvi, 28. "After six days," he fulfilled this promise, "and took with him Peter, James and John his brother, brought them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with them." Matt. xvii, 1-3. As in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word should be established; so three disciples were chosen; and, as these three disciples were chosen to be witnesses of his sufferings afterwards, [Matt. xxvi, 37,] so here they were appointed to be eye-witnesses of "the glory that should follow." On that holy mount, the Son of man laid aside the robes of mortality, poverty, and humiliation, in which he was arrayed as the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, and appeared in his glorious apparel as the King of Zion. His raiment was white as the light; and his countenance as the sun shining in his strength. Before him stood the Hebrew law-giver, and the highly favored Prophet, in a glorified body, who was taken to heaven without seeing death. Moses appears to resign his situation in the house as a servant—to deliver up the Urim and Thummim unto Him who was the substance of all that was typified, and the end of the law for righteousness unto every one that believeth. Elias beheld the great Apostle and Prophet, in whom and by whom all things foretold should be fulfilled. In Jesus they beheld the King in his beauty, with an immortal body, shining, as filled with the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Elias, they saw humanity glorified, and formed in the likeness of Jesus himself. In Moses, they had the assurance of the future happiness of God’s people, who fall asleep previous to the coming of Christ in his kingdom. And as this was a vision of Jesus coming in his glory, to reign on Mount Zion, we see what the redeemed shall be when he appears, both in Elias and Christ himself. "When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is," [1 John iii, 2,] and he "shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." Phil. iii, 21. Elias was taken to heaven without seeing death: how does this show anything of Christ coming in his kingdom? Why, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. xv, 51, 52. Moses fell asleep, and entered into rest: how does he signify anything of the kingdom of the Son of man at his coming? "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others, that have no hope. For, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also, who sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." 1 Thess. iv, 13, 14. As this vision of the Son of man, coming in his kingdom, was designed for the information of the church, when the Redeemer should be taken out of this world, and to give them the hope and assurance of his second and glorious appearing, the three disciples were charged to tell it to no man, until the Son of man was risen from the dead. Matt. xvii, 9. Accordingly, we hear no more of the subject, until one of these three is writing to the church, concerning "the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ," in which he introduces it thus: "For we have not followed cunningly-devised164fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved, Son in whom I am well-pleased." 2 Pet. i, 16-18. The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is not a cunningly-devised fable. The three disciples had a vision of it; and the voice from the excellent glory is an assurance of the kingdom and glory promised. But we have the whole prophetic word, testifying to the same thing; whereunto we do well that we take heed. The night is far spent, and the day is at hand. The word of prophecy is a light and a lamp. Unto that more sure word of prophecy let us take heed, thereby to be guided through this dark night, until we awake, arise, and shine, in the glories of an eternal day. 2 Pet. i, 19.—Signs Times, 1841.