Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/183

 God to create the world, and by wisdom He created it; how reasonable then is the conclusion that a perpetual existence must be the end of such a work! To destroy it God would have to change His nature. He could no longer have pleasure in that which He creates; and in the withdrawal of His love, its infinity would cease. We feel assured that God has not created the physical exponents of His existence for the purpose of destroying them. Regarding Him as the creator, we believe Him to be the preserver of that which He creates.

But there are many passages recorded in the Word, in which God has declared the perpetuity of His creation. Thus He said, "Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David: his seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me; it shall be established for ever as the moon." He hath "laid the foundations of the earth that it should not be removed for ever." "They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever." "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth for ever." "He built His sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which He hath established for ever." And after calling upon the sun and moon and all created things to praise the Lord, it is added, "He hath also established them for ever; He hath made a decree which shall not pass." We also read of "the everlasting hills," and of a kingdom which shall never be destroyed—a kingdom that shall stand for ever. Surely these evidences upon the subject