Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/175

 the heavens with a great noise. The sentences, "the heavens being on fire," and the "melting of the elements with fervent heat," are derived from the Lord's statement that His second advent should be as the lightning coming out of the east and shining even unto the west; while the Apostle's declaration that the earth and the works therein shall be burnt up, appears to be founded upon the Lord's words, when treating of judgment, namely, "As the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world." But the original for "the end of this world," as it has been seen, simply means the termination of the state of things treated of: so that all the Apostle's statements are founded upon parallel passsages in the Lord's discourses. Now, as Peter has simply repeated the sentiments of his Divine Master, he never could have intended to convey, by his expression of them, any other ideas than those which they were originally designed to communicate; and as it is plain that they are all purely figurative in their original form and connection, that, also, must be the sense in which the Apostle has employed them. Therefore, to accept his statements in a merely literal sense, would be a great mistake. They were never intended to be so understood: indeed their own form is singularly figurative. The very introduction of the matter, namely, that the Lord would come as a thief, shows this with great clearness. The passing away of the heavens cannot be taken as a literal declaration that the blue expanse above us will be dissolved. Of what does that expanse consist, and of what utility would be its destruction? Besides, passing away does not mean dissolution, but removal; and where could the natural heavens be removed to? How plain is it that such expressions are