Looking Forward by H. L. Hastings

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 18, 1865

Looking Forward.

By H. L. Hastings

THE following article will be found a most interesting survey of the hopes and expectations of the waiting people of God. Having read it much to my own edification, it is herewith presented that others may be benefited by its perusal. The article is from a work entitled, "The Signs of the Times," by H. L. Hastings. This book abounds with valuable statistical information, not easy of access to the general reader, but shedding much light on the signs of the approaching great and notable day of the Lord. G. W. A.

All men have their anticipations and their hopes. Ceasing to look forward, they cease to be natural, healthful men. Extinguish hope, and you crush out humanity. Let man feel that he has no future, that behind is darkness, and before despair, and he is robbed of the attributes of manhood, and left a poor, degraded, aimless, despondent thing. The world has its hopes of wealth or honor, of prosperity or power, and though often baseless, yet they are always alluring. And Christians look forward, also; for the church of God has her hopes, radiant as the bow of promise, glorious as the morning star, reaching beyond the storms and woes of time, grasping the holy splendors of eternity. And it is of these that the apostle says: "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." 2 Peter iii, 14.

Let us consider the objects expected, and the grounds of our expectations; the indications of the speedy consummation of our hopes, and the practical influence which such hopes should have upon believers.

In the epistle from which we have quoted, the following events are plainly predicted; 1. That there should come in the last days, scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?" 2. That the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. 3. That this day will be the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. 4. The dissolution of the atmosphere or heavens, the melting of the earth by fire, and the destruction of the works of man therein. 5. The creation of new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. These are the objects of expectation here specified by the apostle, in view of which he inquires, "What manner of persons ought ye to be?" These, however, only compose a part of that grand and connected series of events which fill the vision of the expectant church, and which pale the waning splendors of a passing world with their surpassing grandeur, and their far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Let us, then, earnestly and carefully glance at the word of God, and learn what are

THE OBJECTS OF CHRISTIAN EXPECTATION.

I. The Scriptures plainly foretell great national troubles, calamities, and convulsions, which shall terminate in the war of the great day of God Almighty. Rev. xvi, 14. There is to be distress of nations, with perplexity, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth. Luke xxi, 26. There is to be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. Dan. xii, 1. Nations are to assemble for conflict, beating their ploughshares into swords and their pruning hooks into spears. Joel iii, 10. They are to rush like the rushing of mighty waters. Isa. xvii, 12. Troubles and evils are to go forth like the whirlwind from land to land. Jer. xxv, 32. The nations are to be angry, and God's wrath shall come upon them. Rev. xi, 18.

II. All these troubles, tumults, and strifes are to be closed up by the personal manifestation of the Son of God to judge, and punish, and destroy his foes. When men's hearts fail for fear, they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Luke xxi, 27. When the time of trouble comes, many of those that sleep in the dust shall awake. Dan. xii, 2. When the nations are gathered to battle, the Lord is to bring down his mighty ones to their overthrow. Joel iii, 2. When the nations shall rush like the rushing of mighty waters, then God shall rebuke them and scatter them like chaff before the wind. Isa. xvii, 13. When the nations are gathered to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, then Jesus comes upon them as a thief. Rev. xvi, 15. When the kings of the earth and their armies assemble to make war with Christ, then he comes as Lord of lords and King of kings, and Heaven's white-robed hosts attend him on his way. Rev. xix, 11-14. When the nations are angry, then God's wrath comes, and the time for the dead to be judged by the Almighty. Rev. xi, 18. But the judgment of the quick and dead is not till the appearing and kingdom of Christ. 2 Tim. iv, 1.

III. This coming of Christ shall bring the utter and eternal overthrow of all the Godless governments of this world. He shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel. Ps. ii, 9. He shall grind them to powder, and the wind shall sweep them away like chaff. Dan. ii, 35. The beastly governments of earth shall be destroyed, and given to the fiery flames. Dan. vii, 11. They shall flee as the chaff of the mountain before the wind, and like the thistle-down before the whirlwind. Isa. xvii, 3. He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Isa. xi, 4. He shall tread the nations in his awful path as vintagers tread the grapes. Jer. xxv, 30; Rev. xix, 15. He shall put down all rule, and all authority and power. 1 Cor. xv, 34. He shall judge the nations in truth and righteousness. Acts xvii, 31. He shall break in pieces the oppressor. Ps. xxii, 4. He shall slay his enemies that hated him, and spurned his rule. Luke xix, 27. To all such, the day of his coming will be a dreadful day; while to the saints it shall be a day of joy, and rapture, and gladness unutterable. For, then, he who once was despised and rejected of men, shall come in the princely majesty that befits his proper character, and shall be glorified by his holy ones, and admired by all them that believe in that day. 2 Thess. i, 10.

IV. This coming of the Lord shall be the signal for the resurrection of the saints of the Most High from their graves. Then the Lord's dead men shall live, and shall awake and sing. Isa. xxvi, 19. Then shall some come forth to everlasting life. Dan. xii, 2. Then shall they that have done good come forth to the resurrection of life. John v, 29. Then shall the good works of the faithful have their recompense, at the resurrection of the just. Luke xiv, 14. Then shall God call, and the patriarchs long hidden in the graves shall answer to the voice. Job xiv, 15. Then shall Job meet his divine Redeemer, and see God in his flesh. Job xix, 26. Then shall they rise out from the dead who shall be equal unto the angels and die no more. Luke xx, 36. Then shall Christ raise up his people at the last day. John vi, 40. Then shall Paul attain unto the resurrection out from among the dead. Phil. iii, 11. Then shall this mortal put on immortality. 1 Cor. xv, 54. Then shall be the glorious manifestation of the sons of God. Rom. viii, 19. Then shall our vile bodies be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. Phil. iii, 21. Then shall they that are Christ's be raised at his coming. 1 Cor. xv, 23. Then shall the dead in Christ rise first. 1 Thess. iv, 16. Then shall those who were tortured, not accepting deliverance, obtain a better resurrection. Heb. xi, 35. Then shall the blessed and holy ones have part in the first resurrection, and be forever delivered from the power and fear of the second death. Rev. xx, 6.

V. The living saints who love the appearing of the Lord, shall then be changed into his own glorious image and similitude. Though they shall not all sleep, yet they shall all be changed. 1 Cor. xv, 51. When he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 John iii, 2. As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Cor. xv, 49. We shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. 1 Cor. xv, 52. Our bodies shall be glorious as that of Christ. Phil. iii, 21. There shall be an end of weakness, infirmity, and pain. Rev. xxi, 4. This mortal shall put on immortality. 1 Cor. xv, 54. This corruptible shall put on incorruption. 1 Cor. xv, 54. There shall be no more death, nor pain, nor sorrow, nor sighing. Rev. xxi, 4. The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Cor. xv, 52.

VI. The people of God shall then be brought to share the presence and the glory of their Saviour. He will open their graves, and gather them from all lands. Eze. xxxvii, 12, 13. His angel-reapers shall gather the wheat into his garner. Matt. iii, 12; xiii, 41. They shall gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Mark xiii, 27. The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout; the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. They shall be gathered together unto him at his coming. 2 Thess. ii, 1. They shall be presented before the presence of his glory, faultless, and with exceeding joy. Jude 24. They shall enter into

their chambers and hide themselves for a little moment, till the indignation be overpast. Isa. xxvi, 20. They shall be delivered from the time of trouble, every one that is found written in the book. Dan. xii, 1. They shall enter into the marriage of the Lamb. Rev. xix, 9. They shall see their Saviour and be like him. 1 John iii, 2. They shall part no more, but shall abide: > Far from a world of grief and sin, > With God eternally shut in.

VII. There shall come the judgment day, the day when all nations shall be called before their Judge. He shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. 2 Tim. iv, 1. The Son of man shall come in his glory, and then shall he sit as a judge upon the throne of his glory. Matt. xxv, 31. He shall judge the world in righteousness. Ps. ix, 8. He shall cause every knee to bow, and every tongue to confess his lordship and his rule. Phil. ii, 10, 11. His eyes shall behold, and his eyelids try the sons of men. Ps. xi, 4. Kings and captains and mighty men shall beg for a shelter then, and beg in vain. Rev. vi, 15-17. They must stand uncrowned, unguarded, unattended, in the presence of their Judge, to hear their doom. No covert shall avail. No hiding-place shall be secure. The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow their hiding-places. Isa. xxviii, 17. All must stand before the throne, and give up the last account. The righteous shall not be ashamed before him at his coming. 1 John ii, 28. They shall have boldness in the day of judgment. 1 John iv, 17. But all the faces of the wicked shall gather blackness, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail, all the tribes of the earth shall mourn at the coming of that day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Joel ii, 6; Rev. i, 7; Matt. xxiv, 30; 2 Pet. iii, 7. While the righteous enter into life, the wicked are driven away in their wickedness, to everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his messengers. Matt. xxv, 41, 46.

VIII. There shall also come the resurrection of the unholy dead. These shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt. Dan. xii, 2. They that have done evil shall come forth to the resurrection of condemnation. John v, 29. The saints having been called to awake and sing, the earth shall now cast out the dead tyrants (REPHAIM). Isa. xxvi, 19. All that are in the graves shall hear his voice and come forth. John v, 28, 29. There shall be a resurrection of the unjust. Acts xxiv, 15. They that pierced Christ shall see him then. Rev. i, 7. No spot can hide the guilty. All must hear the summons. John v, 28. Death shall deliver up his dead. The sea shall unfold its waves, and give up the myriads that lie beneath its tidal flow. Rev. xx, 13. Hades itself, with all its bars and bolts, and cords and pains, must yield to the hand of Him who bears its keys, and deliver up its dead. Rev. i, 18. All must come forth at the summons of the Judge.

IX. Death being no covert, the grave no refuge in that day, he who judges the living shall also judge the dead at his appearing and at his kingdom. 2 Tim. iv, 1. God shall bring every work into judgment, and every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Eccl. xii, 14. For all the excesses and vanities of time, God shall bring men into judgment. Eccl. xi, 9. For every pernicious word which men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Matt. xii, 36. We must all be manifested (φανερωθῆναι, phanerothēnai) before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Cor. v, 10. God shall judge the secrets of men, by Jesus Christ, according to the gospel. Rom. ii, 16.

All classes will be there, all ages will be represented. The dead, small and great, shall stand before God and be judged. Rev. xx, 12. The men of Nineveh, who repented at the preaching of Jonah, shall rise up in judgment to confound and condemn the men of Jerusalem, who did not repent at the preaching of Jesus Christ. Matt. xii, 41. The men who ate and drank with Jesus, and in whose streets he taught, shall hear him say at last, "Depart from me; I never knew you." Luke xiii, 26. The Jews who listened to his words shall weep and gnash their teeth, when they see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and they themselves thrust out. Luke xiii, 28. Felix shall find that the judgment to come, at the mention of which he trembled, was no idle tale. Acts xxiv, 25. Judas shall learn how much better it had been for him had he not been born. Matt. xxvi, 24. And all sinners shall find that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Heb. x, 31. None will be so great that they can defy his judgment, so mighty that they can escape his notice. He shall judge the world in righteousness.

X. There shall come the solemn and eternal separation of the righteous and the wicked. They have been mingled together from the beginning, but now they shall mingle no more. Cain shall no more slay Abel. The Sodomites shall no more vex Lot. Pharaoh shall no more oppress Israel. The child of the bondwoman shall no more mock the son of the free. Haman shall no more plot against Mordecai. Nero shall no more afflict Paul. Herod shall no more imprison John. Nations shall no more persecute Christians, nor shall rulers put them to torture or to death. God shall make an eternal severance of these different classes. He shall thoroughly purge his floor, garnering his wheat, and burning up the chaff with fire unquenchable. Matt. iii, 12. Saints shall return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not, for the day that cometh shall burn the wicked up; while on the servants of the Lord shall rise the healing beams of the Sun of righteousness. Mal. iv, 1, 2. The angels shall divide the tares from the wheat, casting the tares into the furnace, and gathering the wheat to the storehouse. Matt. xiii, 41. The harvest will have come, and they shall grow together no longer. The Judge shall divide nations, churches, societies, and households. Two shall be in one bed, and one shall be taken and the other left. Luke xvii, 34. Two men shall be in one field; one shall be taken and the other left. Luke xvii, 36. Tender ties shall be broken. Old bonds shall be sundered. Loved ones shall part, and part to meet no more. He shall separate them as the shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats. He shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left. Matt. xxv, 32, 33. On this great separating rock shall the in-rolling tide of humanity be divided, and flow to the right or the left. Resistless forces shall bear the righteous to their rest and peace, and hurl the wicked like an avalanche down the dark declivities that overhang the lake of fire. Rev. xx, 15. Reader, in that day we shall part never to meet, so meet never to part! Where shall we be in that hour? Shall we stand on the right hand of the Judge, or on the left? Shall we be borne on that current that flows sweetly to the city of delights, or shall we be swept on the gulf-stream of perdition downward to the dread abyss of fire?

XI. The day of judgment shall be the day of perdition or destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter iii, 7. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; out of heaven shall be thunder upon them. 1 Sam. ii, 10. He shall make them like a fiery oven in the time of his anger, and shall swallow them up in his wrath. Ps. xxi, 9. On the wicked, God shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, and this shall be the portion of their cup. Ps. xi, 6. As thorns cut up, shall they be burned in the fire. Isa. xxxiii, 12. The destruction of the transgressors and the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. Isa. i, 28. The proud, and they that do wickedly, shall be as stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, and leave them neither root nor branch. Mal. iv, 1. They shall depart into everlasting fire; they shall go away to everlasting punishment. Matt. xxv, 41-46. They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. 2 Thess. i, 9. Fire shall come down from God out of heaven, and devour them. Rev. xx, 9. And all the faithless, the Godless, and the vile shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Rev. xxi, 8.

XII. The heavens and earth are reserved unto fire against this day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 2 Pet. iii, 7. God shall rend the heavens and come down, and the mountains shall flow down at his presence. Isa. lxiv, 1. He shall tread upon the high places, and they shall be like wax before the flame, and like waters poured down a steep place. Micah i, 3, 4. A fiery flood shall issue from his presence. Dan. vii, 10. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. Ps. xvii, 3. Before his face the heavens and the earth shall flee away, and every mountain and island shall be moved out of its place. Rev. xvi, 20; xx, 11. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise; the elements shall melt, and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 2 Peter iii, 10-12. The same word that doomed the world to a deluge of water has also reserved it to a deluge of fire. 2 Pet. iii, 7. The doom of Sodom and the cities of the plain shall fall upon their modern imitators, to whom they are set forth as an ensample, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 7. Then shall come, like a whirlwind of wrath, that tempest of desolation which shall oversweep the world. Then shall the ungodly and the sinner know their terrible destiny, and be recompensed in the earth. Prov. xi, 31. Then shall this world roll, an orb of fire beneath a sky of flame, till sin and sinners, and curse, and death shall be forever removed. The works of man shall be burned up. The towers, the palaces, the dwellings, the mansions, the works of art, the trophies of war, the products of science, the monuments of fame, the implements of labor, and the instruments of death, shall all be consumed. He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth; he breaketh the bow; he cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. The heathen have raged. The kingdoms have been moved, and when he utters his voice the earth melts. Then shall men behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. Ps. xlvi.

XIII. In connection with these events shall come the rewards of the saints of the Lord. They have not yet been given, but have been deferred until the time appointed of the Almighty. When the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, then shall he reward every man according to his works. Matt. xvi, 27. Then the Lord shall come with a strong hand; his reward shall be with him, and his work before him. Rev. xxii, 12. The Lord the righteous Judge shall give the crown of righteousness in that day to all who love his appearing. 2 Tim. iv, 8.

The unfading crown of glory shall be bestowed when the chief Shepherd shall appear. 1 Peter v, 4. The time to reward the saints, the servants and prophets of God, and those that fear his name, small and great, is when the kingdoms of this world become our Lord's and his Christ's. Rev. xi, 15-18. When the nobleman returns, having received the kingdom, he reckons with, and rewards his faithful servants. Luke xix, 15.

The wealth of the divine blessing, in all the amplitude of its unfoldment, shall then be bestowed upon the poor pilgrims of the Lord. They shall then put on immortality. 1 Cor. xv, 53. They shall then go away into life eternal. Matt. xxv, 46. They shall be crowned, and honored, and rewarded. They shall be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Rev. xix, 9. Blessed are they who wash their robes, for they shall have right to the tree of life, and enter through the gates into the city. Rev. xxii, 14. They shall be heirs of God,—joint heirs with Christ. Rom. viii, 17. Their inheritance shall be incorruptible, and undefiled, and unfading. 1 Peter i, 4. They shall inherit all things. Rev. xxi, 7. In their Father's house they shall find many mansions of bliss and glory prepared for them. John xiv, 2. They shall dwell in a quiet habitation, and in tabernacles which shall not be taken down. Isa. xxxiii, 20. They shall come up out of the great tribulation. Rev. vii, 14. They shall enter into the joy of their Lord. Matt. xxv, 21. They shall be victorious over death. 1 Cor. xv, 54. Their enemies shall be destroyed, and God shall bruise Satan under their feet. Rom. xvi, 20. They shall be kings and priests unto God, and shall reign on the earth. Rev. i, 6; v, 10. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Rev. xxi, 4. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. Rev. vii, 16. They shall know God's great and glorious gift,—eternal life,—and shall live forevermore. Rom. vi, 23. They shall serve him in the heavenly ministries of his kingdom. Rev. xxii, 3, 4. Having suffered with him, they shall also reign with him. 2 Tim. ii, 12. And whatever of love, and joy, and light, and life, and peace, and transport, and music, and song, and blessing, shall spring from the exceeding riches of God's grace in all the ages to come, shall be given to the saints as an everlasting portion.

XIV. God shall renew the heavens and the earth, and make them his glorious abode. He shall create new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind, for the excellency of the new creation. Isa. lxv, 17. He shall fill the whole earth with his glory as the waters fill the sea. Isa. xi, 9. He shall remove the curse from the burdened world. Rev. xxii, 3. The thorn shall give place to the fir tree, and the briar to the myrtle tree. Isa. lx, 13. The mountains shall be brought low, and the valleys exalted, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Isa. xl, 4. Then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our own God, shall bless us. Ps. lxvii, 6. The people shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever. Isa. lx, 21. The meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Ps. xxxvii, 11. The saints of the Most High shall possess the kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heavens. Dan. vii, 27. The inhabitants shall not say "I am sick," and the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. Isa. xxxiii, 24. Violence shall be no more heard in the land, wasting nor destruction within its borders. Isa. lx, 18. The wilderness and solitary place shall rejoice and be glad, and the desert shall blossom like the rose. Isa. xxxv, 1. The creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Rom. viii, 21. God shall renew the face of the earth, and the glory of God shall endure forever; the Lord shall rejoice in his works. Ps. civ, 30, 31. We, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Pet. iii, 13. The first heaven and the first earth shall have passed away, and the sea shall be no more. Rev. xxi, 1. Tears, and pain, and sorrow and death shall be past, and all the traces of sin and temptation and iniquity removed. Rev. xxi, 4. God's light shall fill the world with eternal radiance, and the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. Isa. xxiv, 23.

XV. In glorious association with this new earth, shall appear the New Jerusalem, which shall come down from God out of Heaven, adorned as for a bridal day. Rev. xxi, 2. The long deferred hopes of the pilgrim patriarchs shall then and there be realized, and they shall behold the city that hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Heb. xi, 10. He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness shall there abide in God's tabernacle, and dwell in his holy hill. Rev. xxi, 3, and Ps. xv, 1. Those long homeless and afflicted shall then see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. Isa. xxxiii, 20. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High, and God shall keep that dwelling in eternal peace. Ps. xlvi, 4. He shall make Jerusalem indeed a praise in all the earth. Isa. lxii, 7. He shall rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in his people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of sighing. Isa. lxv, 19. Then shall Jerusalem be indeed "The city of the Great King." Matt. v, 35. It shall be the city of God. Heb. xii, 22. Her many children, whose names have long been enrolled upon her registers, shall rejoice in a city which is free, which is the mother of us all. Gal. iv, 26. It shall be in truth our Father's house, a house where there are many mansions. John xiv, 2. Entering it, we shall be clothed upon with our house which is from Heaven, and so shall we be houseless and homeless no longer. 2 Cor. v, 2. No death, no pain, nor tears, shall enter there. Rev. xxi, 4. No sin, nor misery, nor vileness, shall pollute it. Rev. xxi, 27. It shall be redolent of life. Its atmosphere shall be full of health and blessing. Its trees shall spring up in the strength of divine vitality to bear healing leaves and monthly fruits. Its waters shall swell with life from the living fountains. Rev. xxii, 2. Its citizens shall feel within, the upspringing of eternal life, and shall glow without, in the lustre of undecaying strength.

Thus shall this city shine forth in all the glory of divine adornment as the home of the saints. Men shall come from earthly wanderings to celestial homes; from dens and prisons here, to joys and mansions there; out from iron doors and in through pearly gates;—and feet that woke the dull echoes of the gloomy dungeon's floor shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem! Hands that clanked their chains with slow and tedious move shall strike the instruments of heavenly melody, and wake the harp-notes of enduring joy. Brows once crowned with thorns and grimmed with smoke and burning, shall grow smooth, and fair, and royal, beneath the crowns that never fade. Sackcloth shall be exchanged for fine linen, clean and white; and, gazing on the least of all the gathered throng, we may say, "Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Matt. vi, 29.

Here is the palace of angels and of God. Here stands the throne of God and the Lamb. Rev. xxii, 3. Here shall the nations of the saved walk lovingly and peacefully in the calm still light that beams through jasper walls and radiant palaces. Rev. xxi, 24. All shall be pure, and bright and blessed; for the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,—their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things shall be done away. Rev. xxi, 3, 4. "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst, of the fountain of the water of life freely." Rev. xxi, 5-7.

Glorious shall be that city, the new metropolis of the established kingdom of God. And as Israel's sons, returning to their own land to dwell forever, shall join themselves with ties of love and vows of attachment to its soil, and call their land married, so shall Jesus, taking this as his eternal residence, consecrate it as the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Isa. lxii, 4, 5; Rev. xix, 7, 8.

And all this glorious garniture of gates of pearl, and streets and buildings of transparent gold, and walls of jasper, and foundations of amethysts, and chrysotites, and emeralds and gems set by the cunning of its divine Architect, shall abide and adorn the home of the saints, the city of their glory, the palace of their King, the dwelling of their God. Blessed city of nightless day and tearless joy, where enemies never come, and whence friends never depart; city expected by Chaldean patriarchs, and foretold by Hebrew prophets; seen in the visions of God on Patmos, and by the eye of faith in all ages and in all lands;—we hail thy coming, and welcome thee as our endless home,—the peaceful Paradise of God.

"Behold the promised golden throne,— The conquering palm,—the unfading crown; And, more than all, that beaming eye Whose glance is love and ecstasy! But, lo! what sudden splendors beaming O'er heaven's illumined arch are streaming, What hues of varied beauty blending, What fair celestial towers descending! O, Salem! City of our God! The saints'—the martyrs' blest abode! I see thy gates of pearl unfold, I see thy streets of burnished gold, I see thy towers in crystal shine; Meet temple for a King divine. Hail! perfect, pure, in virgin pride, The mighty Lord's resplendent bride! Within thy hallowed courts are found No lurking foes to vex or wound; No dim eye sheds the hopeless tear, No bosom throbs with doubt or fear; And hushed is shame's tumultuous thrill, And passion's warring storm is still. No bright sun beams by day; by night No pale moon sheds her feeble light: But from the throne of living fire, Where sits revealed the eternal Sire, Where seraphs raise their loudest strain To hail the Lamb that once was slain, Though Faith and Hope have passed away, Love sheds a pure, unchanging ray: What faintly shone on earth before, Now beams and burns forevermore."

XVI. Finally, God shall establish his eternal empire in the renovated world. The Son of man shall come in his kingdom. Luke xxiii, 42. His kingdom shall come, and his will be done in earth as it is in Heaven. Matt. vi, 10. The kingdoms of this world shall become our Lord's and his Christ's, and he shall reign forever and ever. Rev. xi, 15. All human rule, and authority and power shall be put down. 1 Cor. xv, 24. To Christ shall be given the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness thereof, and all nations and languages shall serve and obey him. Dan. vii, 14-27. The God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall stand forever, and shall not be left to other people, but shall break in pieces and consume all these. Dan. ii, 44. The Lord shall be King over all the earth. Zech. xiv, 9. Israel redeemed shall inherit long-expected blessings. God shall perform the mercy promised to patriarchs and prophets in the days of old. Micah vii, 20. The Lord shall give to Christ, the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Luke i, 32, 33. His apostles, who continued with him in his temptations, shall, in the new creation, sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matt. xix, 28. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and establish it with justice and judgment from henceforth, even forever. Isa. ix, 7. Then can Israel say, "The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our Law-giver, the Lord is our King; he will save us." Isa. xxxiii, 22. Where sin abounded, there shall grace so much the more abound; and this very planet, disgraced, disordered, and polluted by the sway of the destroyer,—this earth, where Christ has been a homeless outcast, a despised wanderer, and has met a felon's doom,—shall yet shine forth, redeemed, purged, glorified, and arrayed in everlasting splendor, as the center of divine dominion. Rom. v, 20. Then shall trees, and floods and hills rejoice before the Lord, for he cometh to judge the world. He shall judge the earth in righteousness, and the people with his truth. Ps. xcvi, 12, 13. The seas that trembled, and the mountains that quaked at his majestic march over a sinful world, shall welcome him now with gladness as the Lord and King over all. Hab. iii, 6-10; Ps. xxiv, 3, 4; xcviii, 7-9.

The prayer of David, that the whole earth may be filled with God's glory, shall be answered. Ps. lxxii, 19. Everything that hath breath shall praise the Lord. Ps. cl, 6. That universal anthem, beginning amid the heavenly throngs around the throne, shall roll outward and downward till every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, shall be heard, saying, "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever." Rev. v, 13.

Such are some of the things for which we look. The precise mode, order, or succession of their occurrence, I do not undertake to define. We still see but as in a glass, darkly, the majestic outlines of these gigantic facts which constitute the hope of the church of God. But we look for these things, and, as we contemplate their coming, and their glory, we are ready to cry out,— > "Oh long-expected day, begin; > Dawn on this world of woe and sin! > With joy we tread the sacred road > That leads to rest, to rest with God." —Signs of the Times, by H. L. Hastings, pp. 848-870.