Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/108

 came down from heaven; heaven, therefore, could not have been the scene of his action; he finds the dragon, not in the bottomless pit, for he was to cast him into it: where then could have been this dragon at the period of the angel's visit? Is it not plain that it must have been an intermediate region between heaven and hell; and does it not clearly follow that that must have been the scene of judgment? Again, John "saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And it was said unto them that they should rest for a little season, until their fellow-servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." Here the apostle plainly says, that he saw the souls of departed martyrs, and heard them asking for a judgment. What department of the spiritual world could have been the scene of these remarkable occurrences? That it was neither heaven nor hell is manifest; it seems therefore certain that it must have been an intermediate region.

Other passages pointing to the same conclusion could easily be selected from that wonderful book, the "Revelation;" indeed, a very considerable portion of it treats of appearances which were presented to the vision of John in this intermediate region of the spiritual world. Every one who has read it with care and discrimination must have observed that the extraordinary scenery and circumstances which are related to have been seen, were such as could not belong to the pure and peaceful kingdom of heaven, or to the entirely corrupt and abandoned condi-