Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/312

 any object upon them no bigger than a man could not be discerned for half a dozen miles around. How utterly untenable, then, is the idea of such an object being a spectacle for all the inhabitants of the earth. What could the people of America see of any atmospheric occurrence in Europe? At night we cannot see the sun, although he is shining upon the other side of our globe: how, then, could our antipodes see any event which may take place in the clouds with us? However reluctant people may be to give up the common interprctation of the above passage, it is quite clear that it cannot be maintained. The mistake has originated in fastening natural ideas upon figurative terms, and it can be rectified only by a knowledge of that spiritual philosophy which recognises the connection between spiritual and natural things. Of this we shall give an example when we come to show what is the true meaning of the expression, "the clouds of heaven.' There is no more reason for supposing that the Lord will make His appearance in the natural clouds, than there is for believing He will come with natural fire, and be surrounded with a natural tempest, or that He will come to judgment riding upon a natural horse. David said, "Our God shall come: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people." And John writes, "I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge." Every one sees that the Lord coming in fire, with tempest, or riding upon a horse, does not mean that He will come according to these descriptions, understood in a natural sense. The fire, the tempest, and the white