XII. The Triumph of Confession

Publicly, in full view of the whole world, so that every creature shall hear it, He will stand up for His faithful confessors. However despised they may have been in this world, Christ will take their name upon His lips and proclaim it unto every ear that they are His, whom He has bought with His own blood, and of whom no power in the world or in hell shall be able to rob Him.

And as Christ says, so shall it be. His judgment shall be effected in the whole creation. His confession shall concern all creatures. No one shall be able to criticise it. No one shall dare to oppose it. His judgment shall be exalted above all criticism and shall stand high above the judgment of all men and devils. The heavens and the earth and the hell and all creatures shall eternally submit to it.

And what is of greater importance than all this. The Father shall rest in this work of His Son. Even as God after the creation saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good, even so at the end of days He shall look down with divine pleasure upon the great work of redemption brought about by Christ. When the church without spot or wrinkle shall be set before Him, and the Kingdom perfected shall have been given unto Him, then the Father shall accept all the redeemed of the Son as His children, make them participate in His communion and enjoy His presence.

The public confession of the believers by Christ before His Father, which is in Heaven, shall be the surety of their eternal salvation and glory.

CHAPTER XII

The Triumph of Confession Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

- Phil. 2:9–11.

Deep in the heart of man lies buried the hope that truth shall one day gain the victory over untruth, and that good shall one day triumph over evil.

All religions foster that expectation and speak of a triumph that shall be gained at the end of time by the Kingdom of Light over that of darkness. All systems of philosophy conclude by picturing an ideal state, wherein man, surrounded by the pure atmosphere and clear sunshine of the future, shall dwell in peace and joy, true, free, and good. All men long for a paradise, in which innocence shall have returned and prosperity shall be the portion of all. Even the greatest unbelievers surrender themselves to this sweet hope, and dream of a kingdom of truth and goodness and beauty, that shall after a shorter or longer period of time come upon the whole earth.

But alsa! for that hope all ground is lacking. For upon what ground can we believe in a triumph of truth, of righteousness, if there is no God of truth and righteousness, and no Christ, anointed of the Father, to raise that kingdom and to create the new heavens and the new earth? The idols of the heathen are the works of the hand of man; the future expectations of philosophers are the inventions of the human brain; and the truth, the good, and the beautiful are pleasant sounds but no powers which in themselves are able to usurp authority over all the children of men.

Whosoever expects salvation from that, sees himself compelled to build upon man and to expect of them that they shall slowly and

gradually acknowledge the truth and exercise virtue. But by that it also appears immediately that that hope is very weak. For, to be sure, there is progress in material prosperity, a developing of man's authority or power over nature, an ever-increasing servitude of nature's powers to the making agreeable of life.

But, according to all acknowledgment, the moral progress does not keep step with the material progress. In our century, which looks down from on high upon all her predecessors, justice is trampled under foot, righteousness stumbles upon the streets, coveteousness and thirst for gold increases, the glorification of power knows no bounds.

Civilization, knowledge, and science even become subservient to brutal force. On the one hand, there is an insatiableness of culture, on the other, misery and lamentation. And man appears to be farther away from paradise than ever before.

At all events it is clearly proven by history that no salvation is to be expected, either from the exertion of human strength and power, or from the imminent self-development of the world. If there is nothing else, there remains only room for dim despondency and hopeless despair. Whosoever is without God and without Christ, is also without hope in the world. The Kingdom of Heaven was not at one time established upon earth along the lines of succession, neither shall it be completed in the future in this way.

It is again in the spiritual realm even as in that of the natural. Even as the earth must receive her light and her air, her rain and her sunshine, her growth and her fruitfulness from above, so also is mankind dependent for its spiritual life upon the world of invisible and eternal things, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.

From on high therefore is descended He, who is the Light, the Life, the Salvation of the world. And from on high He gathers, preserves and protects the Church, which is His body. For He has been exalted as Head at the Father's right hand, that He should fulfill all things

with Himself, and as King must He reign until all enemies have been brought under His foot.

And thus He shall one day descend from above. His second coming is understood in the first and in her time necessarily flows forth out of it. His second coming is not an arbitrary addition to, but is inseparably united to His first appearance. For the work of Christ consists in saving; not in the opening of the possibility of salvation, but in the granting of salvation itself, perfectly and eternal.

His work was therefore not finished with the meriting of salvation upon earth. Of what profit and benefit to us would be a Christ, who would only die for us but would not live and pray for us and for our good appear before God's countenance? But He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all Heavens, that He should fulfill all things. What He merited, He also applies. What He began, He consummates. He does not rest and may not rest, until He has perfectly saved His people, and renewed Heaven and earth.

Maran-atha! the Lord cometh. He comes again, first of all for His own sake. His name, His office, His honor is at stake. He comes again, to reveal it unto the whole world, that He is the true, the perfect Savior; that He saves not in name but in deed and in truth; that He grants eternal life unto all, who have been given unto Him by the Father; that no one has plucked or is able to pluck them out of His hand; that He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

He comes again, to take vengeance with a flaming fire upon all those who do not know God and who are disobedient unto His Gospel; but also to be glorified in all His saints, and to be admired in all, that believe; to be acknowledged and to receive homage as the Lord, the only and true Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The history of the world therefore ends in unity of confession. One day, angels and devils, the righteous and the godless shall agree in the acknowledgment, that Christ is the only begotten Son of the

Father and therefore the Heir of all things. Then every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is the Lord.

Today that confession can be contradicted and opposed. For she has as contents a world of invisible things. To have an insight into her truth, it is necessary to have faith, which is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. We walk by faith and not by sight. The world, that reckons only with things visible, can contradict the Church, consider her faith foolishness, and look upon her hope as an illusion. Even the appearance is against us. For from the days, that the fathers died, all things remain the same, even as from the beginning of creation, so that the mockers can ask: Where is the promise of his future?

But a change is coming, Maran-atha! John saw, in a vision, 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. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and upon His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew but He

Himself. And He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood; and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.

When Christ appears thus in glory, no one shall be able to oppose or withstand Him. All shall see Him, also they that pierced Him. They shall see Him with their own, corporeal eyes, and no unbelief, no doubt shall any more be possible. Then all creatures shall have to acknowledge that Christ is the Lord. They shall have to acknowledge it, if not freely, then compelled; if not willingly, then unwillingly; if not with, then against their desire. Even from the Throne in the midst of the Heavens, throughout all the realms of creation, to the

very depth of the great abyss, only one voice shall be heard to sound and resound: Christ the Lord! And all creatures together shall bow the knee before Him, who, to be sure, was deeply humiliated and died on a cross, but who was also highly exalted and seated upon the Throne of the Universe at the Father's right hand.

What a future, what a scene! The whole creation upon its knees before Jesus! And upon all lips the one, the brief, the returning to her point of obeisance but nevertheless all including, the now by many scorned but then by all acknowledged confession, that Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father!

Come, Lord Jesus come, yea come quickly!

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. And He, that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, shall in no wise blot out his name out of the book of life, and He shall confess his name before the Father and before His Angels.

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