It is manifest that this judgment, or rulership, cannot begin until Christ, whom Jehovah hath appointed to be the Judge or Ruler of the world, has come again not again in humiliation, but in power and great glory : not again to re- deem the world, but to judge [rule] the world in righteous- ness. A trial can in no case proceed until the judge is on the bench and the court in session at the appointed time, though before that time there may be a great preparatory work. Then shall the King sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall judge them during that age by their works, opening to them the books of the Scriptures and filling the earth with the knowledge of the Lord. And by their condu<5l under all that favor and assistance, he shall decide who of them are worthy of life everlasting in the ages of glory and joy to follow. Matt. 25 : 31 ; Rev. 20 11-13.
Thus we have seen that the second advent of Messiah, to set up his kingdom in the earth, is an event in which all classes of men may have hope, an event which, when folly understood, will bring joy and gladness to all hearts. It is the day when the Lord's " little flock " of consecrated saints has the greatest cause for rejoicing. It is the glad day when the espoused virgin Church with joy becomes the Bride, the Lamb's wife ; when she comes up out of the wil- derness leaning upon the arm of her Beloved, and enters into his glorious inheritance. It is the day when the true Church, glorified with its Head, will be endued with divine authority and power, and will begin the great work for the world, the result of which will be the complete restitution of all things. And it will be a glad day for the world when the great adversary is bound, when the fetters that have held the race for six thousand years are broken, and when the knowledge of the Lord fills the whole earth as the waters cover the sea.
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