"The Age to Come"
BY JOSEPH MARSH
ROCHESTER, N. Y., PUBLISHED AT THE ADVENT HARBINGER OFFICE 1851
CHANGE OF THE LIVING SAINTS
The living righteous will be changed from mortal to immortal beings.
"Behold, I show you a mystery. 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.
"Shall not all sleep." Though, when Christ comes, the great mass of the church will be turned away from
the truth unto fables, and there will be comparatively no genuine faith on the earth, nevertheless there will
be some true children of God living at the time: for "we shall not all" die. But
"We shall all be changed." The few who will be favored with the privilege of living until the coming of
Christ, though they will not die, will undergo a change tantamount to death and
resurrection. All
pertaining to them that is mortal, corruptible, weak, dishonorable or imperfect, will be changed for glory,
honor and immortality. This change will be necessary, to fit them for the society of immortal beings, in
the everlasting kingdom of God: for "flesh and blood," i.e. men and women in their
natural state, cannot
inherit the kingdom of God."
"In a moment, in the twinkling of any eye." There will be no time for the timid, doubting, yet pure and
humble Christian to fear and tremble, before the glorious change begins, or is accomplished. But as quick
as the electric flash, the work is done!
"At the last trump." When the dispensation of grace is closed, when the saints who sleep in Jesus are
raised to a state of immortality, and the living righteous are changed to the same glorious state, then all
will be "caught up together in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air," and ever be with him. 1 Thess. iv.
17.
O what glory surrounds him! Glory and splendor by mortals never seen before!
He comes attended by all the holy angels. A retinue such as never graced the mightiest earthly monarch's
march to the throne of his kingdom.
As the all-conquering KING and his heavenly train approach in sight and hearing of astonished mortals, a
shout breaks through the opening heavens from the innumerable throng! A shout such as Earth never
heard before! A shout of angels! a shout of saints! A shout full of seraphic joy! They shout at the triumph
of their KING: at their victory, through Him, over death and the grave: they shout in view of the unfading
glories of the times of Restitution, now begun! A shout of redemption! of victory! of glory! The great
men, and the mighty men, and the despots, and all sinner, tremble and quake with fear! The sons of God
break forth in songs and anthems of ecstatic, indescribable joy!
Then is heard the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, louder than seven thunders, sounding to
the uttermost parts of the earth, calling from its bosom and from the depths of the sea, to eternal life and
immortality, all who sleep in Jesus! They hear the voice of the SON OF GOD, and come forth to the
resurrection of Life! Then they sing the triumphant song:
"O Death, where is thy sting?
O Grave, where is thy victory?
Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory
Through our LORD JESUS CHRIST!"
Simultaneously with the resurrection of the just, are the living saints changed, in a moment in the
twinkling of an eye, to a state of immortality. O, what a change! and how sudden! and how wide the
contrast between their condition before and after! The moment before, bowed down by the infirmities of
old age; but now, in the health, strength, and vigor of immortal youth! Before, stretched on beds of
sickness, and groaning with pain; now, freed from all infirmity, and soaring away with angels and saints to
meet the Lord! Before, frail, imperfect mortals, mingling in scenes of suffering and death; now,
immortals, mingling with angels in scenes of bliss and rapture, forever in the presence of God.
This moment, the oppressed, yet pious slave is groaning under all the cruelties of slavery; the next, he is
freed eternally from every species of bondage, and made possessor of the kingdom of God. Some are
prostrated in humble prayer; and while the oft-repeated petition, "Thy Kingdom come," is yet unfinished
on their lips, their prayer is answered; they are made immortal, and their supplications are changed to
songs of highest praise. Before, a loathsome, corrupt and worm-eaten corpse, wrapped in the rotten
cerements of the grave; now, a form of living, celestial beauty, shining in the robes and glowing in the
radiance of life and love and holiness, and singing rapturous hosannas to the great God! O glorious
change! Come! Lord Jesus, and consummate it! May I, and you, dear reader, share therein.
When this work, the resurrection of the just and change of the living, is accomplished, all are caught up to
meet the Lord, who, it appears, will remain for a time, in the air, before descending to earth with his
angels and saints. At any rate, it is evident, they go up to welcome and escort back to his kingdom, their
long absent but now returning and triumphant KING. Earthly monarchs were never honored with such an
escort. Theirs, a few thousand perishing mortals: his, the redeemed of all the earth! Honorable and happy
escort! May we be one in the immortal train!
Do the saints remain in the air, while he descends to prepare the kingdom for their reception? or, do they
descend with him and take part in the great and glorious work of Restitution? As they are "joint heirs"
with him, we infer that they will take part in reclaiming and restoring the inheritance; and, as Paul assures
us they will be "ever with the Lord," we infer that they will return with him, to do it.
But an event of this importance is not left in the dark, to be inferred or guessed out by uninspired minds:
the golden chain of Restitution is not broken here: God supplies every link in his inspired word. For
Zechariah says:
"The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." Zech. xiv. 5.
They come to the earth from which they had been caught up; For Zecharian says in the preceding verse:
"His feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east."
Hence, it will be seen, from the united testimony of Paul and Zechariah, that the saints will be caught up
to meet the Lord, and return with him to the mount of Olives.
Thus far the order of the Restitution is clear, and the work grand and glorious, and worthy the infinite
mind of him who devised, and of the great Restorer who will accomplish it. And the residue of that order
will be found equally clear and harmonious, if we follow the inspired word for our guide.
The next event, which we will notice, is the . . .