The Coming and Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ: The Appearing, Part 2

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THE APPEARING.
During the short interval when the apostasy will ripen, and the beast and the false prophet are in power on the earth, the heavenly saints are viewed in the Revelation as twenty-four elders surrounding the throne of God in heaven. Just at the close of that period, following upon the downfall of Babylon on the earth, we have the description of the marriage of the Lamb in the glory of God. This is the moment when Christ shall present the church to Himself glorious, and without spot, for the joy and satisfaction of His own heart of love (Eph. 5:2727That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)). It will also be the consummation of her joy, when, united as the Bride to Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, she becomes the Lamb’s wife. And all heaven will be jubilant with joy (Rev. 19:6-96And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (Revelation 19:6‑9)). “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white (margin, bright): for the fine linen is the righteousness (or righteousnesses) of saints” (Rev. 19:88And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Revelation 19:8)). From this we learn that the bridal robe of the church, on the day of the espousals of the Lamb, is the righteousnesses of the saints, wrought by them in the power of the Holy Ghost, whilst living on the earth, then woven together as one beautiful garment, to adorn her when Christ shall present her to Himself, glorious, “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph. 5:2727That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)).
Then, the heaven being opened, Christ is seen in the vision ready to come forth in power to judge and make war, and take the kingdom. He is seated on a white horse (symbolic of conquering power), and is variously called, Faithful and True, The Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords; also having a name written that no man knew but He Himself. His clothing is a vesture dipped in blood—figurative of the blood of His enemies about to be shed for their wickedness in opposing Him. Following Him are seen the armies which are in heaven on white horses, like unto their Leader, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. These are the saints here, not angels, as some have thought. For if we turn to Revelation 17:1414These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. (Revelation 17:14), we are told that those “that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful;” and angels are never spoken of as called, though it is perfectly true that angels will also accompany Him at His revelation from heaven (2 Thess. 1:77And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (2 Thessalonians 1:7)).
An angel standing in the sun cries with a loud voice to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God” (or the great supper of God) (Rev. 19:1717And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; (Revelation 19:17)) to eat the flesh of the mighty of the earth. The hour of His judgment is come. The beast and the kings of the earth and their armies are gathered together to make war against the Lord and His army. And the beast is taken, the great leader of Western Europe, and with him the false prophet (antichrist), which wrought miracles before him (Comp. 2 Thess. 2:8, 98And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (2 Thessalonians 2:8‑9); Rev. 13:11-1411And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. (Revelation 13:11‑14)), and both are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone, and the rest are slain. Thus suddenly the Lord will judge the leaders of the apostasy, and the boasted military power of the great nations of the West is destroyed. Europe goes on arming; immense standing armies are the order of the day. Men little think what Satan is leading them on to. Nation fights against nation, until the beast comes to the forefront, when the ten kings, who have one mind, give their power and strength to him (Rev. 17:1313These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. (Revelation 17:13)). He leads one great league against the Christ of God, when they receive the cup of judgment at His hand, and all the fowls are filled with their flesh.
We have several other descriptions in the Word besides this of the Lord’s coming in judgment upon His enemies, not only upon those of the West, but also many others. He doth both judge and make war (Rev. 19:1111And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (Revelation 19:11)). Having come in warrior judgment upon the Western Powers directly opposed to Him, He then summarily deals with those to the north and east of the pleasant land, Palestine (Rev. 19:19-2119And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:19‑21); Zech. 14:3,12:15). “For,” saith the Lord, “My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all My fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy” (Zeph. 3:88Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. (Zephaniah 3:8)). “Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth” (Jer. 25:32, 3332Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. (Jeremiah 25:32‑33)).
In Jude 1414And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (Jude 14) we find a prophecy of Enoch, “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 which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
“Behold,” again saith the Lord, “I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah, and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the Lord I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness” (Zech. 12:2-42Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 4In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. (Zechariah 12:2‑4)).
(Continued and to be Continued)