Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/352

 events are symbolically described: and "He who sat upon the throne said" concerning it, "Behold, I make all things new." This newness, then, is to be a leading characteristic of His final dispensation.

But why make all things new? How is it that they have become old; and why is it that a new creation has been promised? We are accustomed to say, "To Thee, great God, there's nothing old appears; to Thee there's nothing new." And yet, as all things are to be made new, it seems plain that prior things must have become old. In the minds of some readers there may be a little obscurity about this matter, which it will be desirable and useful to remove.

The old and new things which are so frequently spoken of in the Scriptures in connection with the establishment and progress of Christianity, are not to be understood in reference to the Divine estimation of their age, but in their relationship to man's spiritual condition. Thus, a thing of the Church is said to be old when it ceases to agree with the true light and life of heaven. The reason is, because in that light and life there are perpetual beauty and eternal youth; and a departure from those graces necessarily brings its subject into a state of spiritual feebleness and age. Again, a thing is said to be new when the Divine mercies which constitute it are perceived by men and become objects of their affections and thoughts. That which is so received will be perpetual in its newness, because it belongs to the Lord: whenever men lovingly receive anything from the Divine, it is necessarily attended with new evolutions of light and life to all eternity. Who can imagine the possibility of terminating an activity that is infinite? It is continually raising its recipient to higher ground, and thus, at every step, preparing him for some-