Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/159

 merciful character of God. To us it appears plain that the whole idea respecting the dissolution of the universe is founded in error and mistake. God has established the earth; He formed it to be inhabited, and created man for His glory.

It is true that there are some passages in the Word in which the destruction of heaven and earth is spoken of; but what are the "heaven" and the "earth" of which they speak? Dovthey mean the physical things of nature, or the spiritual things of the Church? We think it is the latter idea to which they are intended to refer. But let us turn our attention to the passages themselves. The strongest, perhaps, will be found in Isaiah and the Revelation. Isaiah says, "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner." All who will carefully look at these statements will readily see that they were not intended to speak of natural phenomena; the context forbids such an interpretation; indeed, the very terms "vanish away like smoke," "the earth shall wax old like a garment," show that it is the spiritual things of the Church which are treated of; hence the verse closes with these remarkable words, "My salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished." The heavens mean the internal life of the Church which then existed, and the earth its external observances; when these are perverted they perish; still the Church of the Lord, in which there are salvation and righteousness, will remain. Hence, in another place it is written, "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, or come into mind." How clear is it that