SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 145
speculative astronomy adverted to.—Destruction, contrary to the character of God, who is not only the Creator but the Preserver.— Passages from the Scripture which declare the perpetuity of creation.—Destruction not conformable with the Divine Providence.— The earth must abide for ever.
If} it be true that there is a region in the spiritual world between heaven and hell, and that the souls of all enter into it on the dissolution of their natural bodies; if it be further true that the world of spirits is the scene of judgment, and that no resurrection of the material body will be effected, then the doctrine that contemplates the end of the world, which event is commonly associated with such a resurrection and judgment, can have no foundation in necessity, or in the teachings of the true Christian religion. The object of this chapter will be to show that "the earth abideth for ever;"[1] and to reconcile this Divine statement with those passages of the Word from which an opposite conclusion has been drawn.
The idea of the destruction of the world has fixed itself upon the mind of the populace with remarkable firmness; it is a sort of floating thought, somewhat curiously mixed up with the notion of a physical resurrection. The cause of this may be traced to the poetry of men rather than to the revelation of God. It is certainly no part of His divine teaching; it contravenes a variety of express statements to be found in His word, and is utterly inconsistent with His character as the Creator, and His purpose in creation. Those who assign to Him the performance of so terrible an event, should be enabled to show some reasonable cause for its execution. God does not act from caprice, but from wisdom. Now, is the criminality of men to be regarded as a reasonable cause for the destruction of the world? Those who
