Those who believe the secret rapture theory also believe that during the time of the millennium (1,000 year period), while Jesus is here on earth sitting in judgment, each person who is alive will have another chance to accept Christ and be saved. Let us look at this in the light of Scripture and see why this is yet another delusion.

        This delusion flies in the face of the Bible's description of end time events. To believe the idea that all will have a second chance means a denial of the plain teachings of the Bible about the end of the world, the close of probation, and a time of judgment. We will discuss some Scriptural truths about the judgment and the millennium here as they relate to this theory. Later we will look at the judgment as it conflicts with yet another delusion.
 
THE TIME OF JUDGMENT:

        We showed above how Jesus in Luke 17 discussed the kingdom of God being set up WITHIN, in the context of the final judgment of the world. This judgment is the most important event mankind has ever had to face. The consequence of our choice will have eternal consequences.

        Luke 17 infers that the coming of the Holy Spirit within is the basis upon which each person will be judged in these last days of this earth's history, and how this most momentous event - the judgment - is inseparable from receiving His kingdom of the Holy Spirit within. The Holy Spirit has recently shown, through dreams and visions, that THIS FINAL TIME OF JUDGMENT IS TAKING PLACE NOW, AND WILL IN A VERY SHORT TIME BE FINISHED.
Angels and Jesus Himself, through chosen servants, have been warning people that the judgment of all those alive on earth has been going on for some time. The books of our lives are being examined, and a final decision is being made as to whether we are truly sheep of the Heavenly fold.

        Just as soon as Jesus finishes His work, His destructive judgments will fall upon the earth and its inhabitants, in fact, are even now beginning. As previously mentioned, each person's name without their knowing it, is coming up before the judgment bar of the Heavenly tribunal. THIS IS THE MOST SOLEMN TIME EVER IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND AND THE WORLD.  YET, HOW VERY FEW EVEN KNOW THERE IS A JUDGMENT TAKING PLACE!

        Not understanding what Jesus said in these verses, many deceived ones will be found wanting, their probationary time expired, lost for eternity. There is NO SECOND CHANCE HERE, as "kingdom and dominion" advocates would have us believe! The only reason for publishing these delusions monographs is to bring the truth as it is in Jesus to the reader's attention.
At the second coming of the Lord in the clouds of glory, all those not taken up to Heaven will be destroyed by His brightness, and cry for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and cover them from the face of God. There will be no one left upon the earth except Satan and his angels.  Revelation 20:5 says: "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." There is nobody living on earth waiting to be converted. There is NO SECOND CHANCE, no second time after others are taken to Heaven in which to repent and become holy and fit for eternal life with our sinless Creator.

        This is why Paul wrote: "In the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). We each have only one life in which to either overcome sin (Rev. 21:7), or be overcome by sin (Rev. 21:8). God will judge the way you have responded to His love and instruction only once - BEFORE He comes to take you or anyone else to Heaven. He blesses those who love and obey Him with eternal life and a part in His kingdom (Rev. 21:7; 22:14). Those who remain on earth receive no such blessing, and indeed are doomed to eternal death (Rev. 21:8).

        Very soon it will be forever too late. Probation will close as in the days of Noah and Lot. Once the door of the ark was closed, no one else could get in. So likewise now at the close of earth's history, when the last case has been decided, the fateful words will be pronounced: "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." (Rev. 22:11)

        There is only ONE end-time, pre-advent judgment for the world in Scripture, and it is found in the message of the first angel of Revelation 14: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Rev. 14:6-7.

        This judgment message is a warning to all who will listen and understand that this is indeed the hour of His judgment. The purpose of the judgment is to convince the Heavenly hosts that through the merits of the life and death of Christ, each saint should be admitted into Heaven. Each must be safe to save, for "affliction will not rise up a second time" (Nahum 1:9).

        The "Kingdom and Dominion, secret rapture" theory lacks any reference to the present being a time of judgment, or to Jesus' priestly work in the Heavenly sanctuary on our behalf. Since His ascension, Jesus has been graciously providing His divine grace for us by ministering as our high priest in the Heavenly sanctuary (for all who follow Him). (See Hebrews 3:1; 8:1,2; 6:1,2, 18-20; 10:19-23.)

        The lack of these two important doctrines, the judgment and the sanctuary, in the secret rapture theory is not just happenstance, but a plan of the enemy to divert attention to the future, so people will not recognize the serious nature of the present times.

        The following passage shows what will take place during the thousand years: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." Rev. 20:4-6

        Verse 5 mentions "the first resurrection," that of the righteous at the second coming. Verse 4 shows the saints reigning with Christ in Heaven ("I saw thrones") during the thousand years, when they will go through the records ("judgment was given unto them") of the wicked.  It also states that the wicked ("the rest of the dead") are not resurrected until "the thousand years are finished," after which they will experience "the second death" (verse 6), destroyed by the fire that purges the earth. This death will be eternal, their second death, since they died before (the first death), and then will be raised from the dead (after the 1,000 years) to die a second time.

The next verse (7) clearly says that "when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." His prison will be this earth, which will be totally desolate for the thousand years (Jer. 4:23-25). He and his angels will be confined here with no humans alive to tempt or harass. Thus he will be "bound" to this earth. "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." Rev. 20:1-3.

        This text certainly does not sound like Kingdom and Dominion teaching about a coming thousand years of peace when all nations will learn to live in harmony with each other, with Jesus as King in Jerusalem and the saints in control of the nations of the earth. Neither does it sound like the New Agers' "Age of Aquarius." Tangled up in the web of false doctrines surrounding death, judgment, and the return of Jesus is the mistaken theory that the millennium is the time of preparation for Heaven. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
This deceptive belief pleases Satan well. As mentioned earlier, the Kingdom and Dominion theory maintains that Jesus is going to be here on earth during the thousand years, ruling from Jerusalem in Israel as King of kings. They further believe that He will convert the whole world, as Isaiah 3:2 says. Then the whole world will be converted. Then the glory of the Lord will prevail, and swords will be made into plowshares (This is a conditional promise [see Deut. 7:9-12]). What a totally different scene is painted by the secret rapture theory, widely different from the truth John the Revelator was shown!
 
TWO RESURRECTIONS:
 
        We will expand our explanation of Scripture truth with Jesus' announcement of two resurrections in John 5:28-29. "...the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [the first resurrection, at the second coming]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [the second resurrection, at the end of the millennium]." "The rest of the dead [the wicked] lived not again until the thousand years were finished" (Rev. 20:5).

        We see this also in Isaiah 24:22: "And they [the wicked] shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited [resurrected]." Then for a short time, "a little season" (Rev. 20:3), the wicked are resurrected.

        Seeing the beautiful city (New Jerusalem) which will have descended to earth a short time before they were resurrected, they will want to possess it for their own. They are jealous of the saints whom God has so blessed, as they see them standing on the walls. Led by Satan they will try to force their way into the holy city (Rev. 22:15; 20:7-9). Their unsuccessful attack results in their second and final, permanent death (Rev. 21:7-8; 20:14-15).

        The wicked, who are alive at the second coming of Jesus which takes place at the BEGINNING of the millennium and not after, will in great fear call for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them "from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" (Rev. 6:16).

        This shows that they are at enmity with God and would never be happy in Heaven. They would not want a second chance for salvation. And as they are not clothed with the garment of Christ's righteousness, they are all destroyed by the brightness of His coming (the first death) (2 Thess. 2:8,10).

        The righteous, both those who were resurrected and those who are alive, are taken up into the air and go to Heaven with the Lord, and will be with Him forever (1 Thess. 4:17). During this thousand years the saints are in Heaven examining the records of the wicked. Then they will understand why their loved ones and friends were accounted with the wicked and destroyed by the brightness of Jesus' second coming. God's justice and mercy will be fully understood by all.
 
        Only Satan and the angels who followed him in his rebellion are left alive (Jude 5,6), "chained" to this earth for a thousand years to walk thoughtfully and dolefully among the desolate remains of a once beautiful planet. The bones of the wicked dead will be strewn over the whole earth where they were killed. Terrible natural disasters, nuclear radiation, and the heaven-sent fires of destruction foretold by Scripture, associated with the end of the world, will destroy not only the wicked, but all life, both plant and animal. There will be no life here except for Satan and his angels and the demons of hell. They are truly in a prison, bound by a chain of circumstance (Rev. 20:2) with nothing to do, no one to tempt or harass. This again is not the scene the rapture advocates would have us believe.

        John saw nothing of a temporal millennium where Jesus will rule the world and convert all of the remaining sinners. Rather, he describes in great detail what will happen after the thousand years are past.

        There is no penitence or repentance here among these wicked - only more deception, preparation for war, and then their final destruction (the second death). "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.  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. 20:7-8.

        Since all the wicked were killed by the brightness of Christ's second coming at the beginning of the thousand year period, who are these that Satan goes out to deceive? In verses 11-13 we find our answer as John flashes back to Heaven during this millennial period. They are the wicked dead temporarily resurrected, only to be forever punished by the second death. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (12) And I saw the DEAD, SMALL AND GREAT, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged [the records examined] out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (13) And the sea gave up THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN IT; AND DEATH AND HELL [the grave] DELIVERED UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN THEM: and they were judged [sentenced and punished] every man according to their works." Rev. 20:11-13.

        Verse 11 describes the second coming and how the earth and the heavens surrounding it were destroyed. There was no place found on earth for the wicked to live. They were destroyed along with the earth's surface and the heavens.
     
SAINTS TO JUDGE FOR 1,000 YEARS:

        Then the scene changes in verse 12 to the judgment of the wicked, all of whom are judged "according to their works" WHILE THEY WERE ALIVE. This is the second phase of the judgment, that of jury deliberation (with the redeemed from earth being the jury). God had previously judged all men Himself to determine who could be saved by Jesus' blood and who must die.

        During the thousand years when the saints are in Heaven, they, with access to all of the records, review the cases previously judged by God, so they will have no question of His fairness or justice.  In verse 13 we see that the books are closed for the last time. Then the wicked are raised to life at THE END OF THE THOUSAND YEARS - AFTER the saints and Jesus have finished judging the wicked. Each has been judged according to their deeds.
There is no second chance, no second judgment after the millennium to receive into Heaven any converted wicked. What is the fate of the wicked? Verse 13 and 14 says "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." The wicked will be burned up, root and branch - Satan and all who followed him.  Their end is sad beyond description.
From the wall of the New Jerusalem the saints will see friends and loved ones die, and it will make them cry, knowing they could have enjoyed Heaven with them, if only they had wanted to be there. Even Heaven's glories dim at the sight of these loved ones lost; and that is why God steps up and tenderly wipes away their tears, and no doubt His too (Rev. 21:4). On the next several pages, Ellen White (1823-1915), prophet of yesteryear, was shown the end of the earth and the millennial era. You will see a perfect blend of ancient Scripture and modern expression teaching the same truths. You will also see how Ellen White's heavenly vision differs from the secret rapture and Kingdom and Dominion theory.
 
DESOLATION OF THE EARTH - A VISION:

        "The Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isa. 26:21 "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor." Jer. 25:33 In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by the awful outpouring of God's unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants of the earth - priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high and low. "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: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried" (Zech. 14:12,13). [Because there is no one left alive on earth to bury them.]

        At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole earth - consumed with the spirit of His mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of His glory. Christ takes His people to the city of God, and the earth is emptied of its inhabitants. "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.... Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned" (Isa. 24:1,3,5,6).

        The whole earth appears like a desolate wilderness. The ruins of cities and villages destroyed by the earthquake, uprooted trees, ragged rocks thrown out by the sea or torn out of the earth itself, are scattered over its surface, while vast caverns mark the spot where the mountains have been rent from their foundations.

        Now the event takes place, foreshadowed in the last solemn service of the Day of Atonement. When the ministration in the holy of holies had been completed, and the sins of Israel had been removed from the sanctuary by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, then the scapegoat was presented alive before the Lord; and in the presence of the congregation the high priest confessed over him "all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat" (Lev. 16:21).

        In like manner, when the work of atonement in the Heavenly sanctuary has been completed, then in the presence of God and Heavenly angels and the host of the redeemed, the sins of God's people will be placed upon Satan; he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commit. And as the scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, so Satan will be banished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited and dreary wilderness.

        The revelator foretells the banishment of Satan, and the condition of chaos and desolation to which the earth is to be reduced; and he declares that this condition will exist for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3).... That the expression "bottomless pit" represents the earth in a state of confusion and darkness is evident from other scriptures. Concerning the condition of the earth "in the beginning," the Bible record says that it "was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." [The word here translated "deep" is the same as the one in Revelation 20:1-3. It is rendered "bottomless pit."]

        Prophecy teaches that it will be brought back, partially at least, to this condition. Looking forward to the great day of God, the prophet Jeremiah declares: "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" (Jer. 4:23-27). Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other worlds to tempt and annoy those who have never fallen.

        It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole delight. The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the time of Satan's overthrow exclaims: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!... Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?" (Isa. 14:12-17)

        For six thousand years, Satan's work of rebellion has "made the earth to tremble." He has "made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof;" And "he opened not the house of his prisoners."  For six thousand years his prison house has received God's people, and he would have held them captive forever, but Christ has broken his bonds, and set the prisoners free. Even the wicked are now placed beyond the power of Satan; and alone with his evil angels he remains to realize the effect of the curse which sin has brought. "The kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house [the grave]. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch.... Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people" (Isa. 14:18-20).

        For a thousand years, Satan will wander to and fro in the desolate earth, to behold the results of his rebellion against the law of God. During this time his sufferings are intense. Since his fall, his life of unceasing activity has banished reflection; but he is now deprived of his power, and left to contemplate the part which he has acted since first he rebelled against the government of Heaven, and to look forward with trembling and terror to the dreadful future, when he must suffer for all the evil that he has done, and be punished for the sins that he has caused to be committed.

        During the thousand years between the first and the second resurrection, the judgment of the wicked takes place. The apostle Paul points to this judgment as an event that follows the second advent.... Daniel declares that when the Ancient of days came, "judgment was given to the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7:22). At this time the righteous reign as kings and priests unto God. John in the Revelation says: "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.... They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4,6). It is at this time that, as foretold by Paul, "the saints shall judge the world" (1 Cor. 6:2,3).  In union with Christ they judge the wicked, comparing their acts with the statute book, the Bible, and deciding every case according to the deeds done in the body.

        Then the portion which the wicked must suffer is meted out, according to their works; and it is recorded against their names in the book of death. Satan and his evil angels are also judged by Christ and His people. Says Paul, "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" (1 Cor. 6:2,3) And Jude declares that "the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6).

        At the close of the thousand years the second resurrection will take place. Then the wicked will be raised from the dead, and appear before God for the execution of "the judgment written." Thus the Revelator, after describing the resurrection of the righteous says, "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished" (Rev. 20:5). And Isaiah declares, concerning the wicked, "They shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited" (Isa. 24:22).
 
THE CONTROVERSY ENDED:

        At the close of the thousand years Christ again returns to the earth. He is accompanied by the host of the redeemed, and attended by a retinue of angels. As He descends in terrific majesty, He bids the wicked dead arise to receive their doom. They come forth a mighty host, numberless as the sands of the sea. What a contrast to those who were raised at the first resurrection! The righteous were clothed with immortal youth and beauty. The wicked bear the traces of disease and death. Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the Son of God. With one voice the wicked hosts exclaim, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!"

        It is not love to Jesus that inspires this utterance. The force of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth, with the same enmity to Christ, and the same spirit of rebellion. They are to have no new probation in which to remedy the defects of their past lives. Nothing would be gained by this. A lifetime of transgression has not softened their hearts. A second probation, were it given them, would be occupied as was the first, in evading the requirements of God and exciting rebellion against Him. Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after His resurrection, He ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of His return.

        Says the prophet: "...the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee." "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof,...and there shall be a very great valley." "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one" (Zech. 14:5,4,9). As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling splendor, comes down out of Heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to receive it, and Christ, with His people and the angels, enters the holy city.

        Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power, and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised, and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner, and through them endeavor to execute his plans.

        The wicked are Satan's captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the rightful owner of the world, and whose inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves, and that he is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny.

        The presence of Christ having been removed, Satan works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong, and inspires all with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints, and to take possession of the city of God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead, and declares that as their leader he is well able to overthrow the city, and regain his throne and his kingdom.

        In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed before the Flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielded to the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions, defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot them from the face of His creation. There are kings and generals who conquered nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these experienced no change.

        As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of their thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell. Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and conquerors and mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and declare that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome. They lay their plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem.

        All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans construct implements of war. Military leaders, famed for their success, marshal the throngs of warlike men into companies and divisions. At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on - an army such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed leader.

        With military precision, the serried ranks advance over the earth's broken and uneven surface to the city of God. By command of Jesus, the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan surround the city, and make ready for the onset.

        Now Christ again appears to the view of His enemies. Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son. The brightness of His presence fills the city of God, and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the whole earth with its radiance....

        In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and Heaven the final coronation of the Son of God takes place. And now, invested with supreme majesty and power, the King of kings pronounces sentence upon the rebels against His government, and executes justice upon those who have transgressed His law and oppressed His people. Says the prophet of God: "I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead small and great stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" (Rev. 20:12).

        As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart - all appear as if written in letters of fire.

        Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear the scenes of Adam's temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great plan of redemption. The Saviour's lowly birth; His earthly life of simplicity and obedience; His baptism in Jordan; the fast, and temptation in the wilderness; His public ministry, unfolding to men Heaven's most precious blessings; the days crowded with deeds of love and mercy, the nights of prayer and watching in the solitude of the mountains; the plottings of envy, hate, and malice which repaid His benefits; the awful, mysterious agony in Gethsemane beneath the crushing weight of the sins of the whole world; His betrayal into the hands of the murderous mob; the fearful events of that night of horror - the unresisting prisoner, forsaken by His best-loved disciples, rudely hurried through the streets of Jerusalem; the Son of God exultingly displayed before Annas, arraigned in the high priest's palace, in the judgment-hall of Pilate, before the cowardly and cruel Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and condemned to die - all are vividly portrayed.
And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes - the patient Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of Heaven hanging upon the cross; the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriding His expiring agony; the supernatural darkness; the heaving earth and rent rocks, the open graves, marking the moment when the world's Redeemer yielded up His life. The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, His angels, and his subjects have no power to turn from the picture of their own work. Each actor recalls the part which he performed.... Amid the ransomed throng are the apostles of Christ, the heroic Paul, the ardent Peter, the loved and loving John, and their true-hearted brethren, and with them the vast host of martyrs; while outside the walls, with every vile and abominable thing, are those by whom they were persecuted, imprisoned, and slain....

        The whole wicked world stands arraigned at the bar of God, on the charge of high treason against the government of Heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them.... As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of God. They see in His hands the tables of the divine law, the statutes which they have despised and transgressed. They witness the outburst of wonder, rapture, and adoration from the saved; and as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city, all with one voice exclaim, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, thou King of saints;" [Rev. 15:3] and falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of life.

        Satan seems paralyzed as he beholds the glory and majesty of Christ. He who was once a covering cherub remembers whence he has fallen. A shining seraph, "son of the morning;" how changed, how degraded! From the council where once he was honored, he is forever excluded. He sees another now standing near to the Father, veiling His glory. He has seen the crown placed upon the head of Christ by an angel of lofty stature and majestic presence, and he knows that the exalted position of this angel might have been his.... With all the facts of the great controversy in view, the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious with one accord declare, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints."...

        Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained to acknowledge God's justice, and to bow to the supremacy of Christ, his character remains unchanged. The spirit of rebellion, like a mighty torrent, again bursts forth. Filled with frenzy, he determines not to yield the great controversy. The time has come for a last desperate struggle against the King of Heaven.
He rushes into the midst of his subjects, and endeavors to inspire them with his own fury, and arouse them to instant battle. But of all of the countless millions whom he has allured into rebellion, there are none now to acknowledge his supremacy. His power is at an end. The wicked are filled with the same hatred of God that inspires Satan; but they see that their case is hopeless, that they cannot prevail against Jehovah.

        Their rage is kindled against Satan and those who have been his agents in deception, and with the fury of demons they turn upon them. Saith the Lord: "Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit." "I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.... I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.... I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.... Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more" (Eze. 28:6-8; 16-19). "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire." "The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter." "Upon the wicked He shall rain quick burning coals, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup" (Isa. 9:5; 34:2; Psalms 11:6).

         Fire comes down from God out of Heaven. The earth is broken up. The weapons concealed in its depths are drawn forth. Devouring flames burst from every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The day has come that shall burn as an oven. The elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein are burned up (Mal. 4:1; 2 Pet. 3:10). The earth's surface seems one molten mass - a vast, seething lake of fire. It is the time of the judgment and perdition of ungodly men - "the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion" (Isa. 34:8).  The wicked receive their recompense in the earth (Prov. 11:31). They "shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts." Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days. All are punished "according to their deeds." The sins of the righteous having been transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the sins which he has caused God's people to commit. His punishment is to be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell by his deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch - Satan, the root, his followers the branches. The full penalty of the law has been visited; the demands of justice have been met; and Heaven and earth, beholding, declare the righteousness of Jehovah.

        Satan's work of ruin is forever ended. For six thousand years he has wrought his will, filling the earth with woe, and causing grief throughout the universe. The whole creation has groaned and travailed together in pain. Now God's creatures are forever delivered from his presence and temptations. "The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they [the righteous] break forth into singing" (Isa. 14 :7). And a shout of praise and triumph ascends from the whole loyal universe....

        While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous abode safely in the holy city. Upon those that had part in the first resurrection, the second death has no power. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield (Rev. 20:6; Ps. 84:11)....
 
GOD'S NEW KINGDOM ESTABLISHED ON EARTH:

        "I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away" (Rev. 21:1). The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.  One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought.  The earth originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. All that was lost by sin has been restored....

        God's original purpose in the creation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode of the redeemed.... In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a country (Heb. 11:14-16). There the Heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits.

        On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God's people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home. "My people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise." "They shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shalt not plant, and another eat:.... Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands [the elect not spirits, but flesh and blood]" (Isa. 32:18; 60:18; 65:21,22).

        There, [after the thousand years] "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree" (Isa. 35:1; 55:13). "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;...and a little child shall lead them." "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain" (Isa. 11:6,9; 33:24; 62:3; 65:19), saith the Lord.  Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of Heaven. There will be no more tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,...for the former things are passed away." "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." [Rev. 21:4; Isa. 33:24]

        The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space.