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"a \ 3 I 5 e I \ 3 a a 3 3 a 9 m 3 t)(.r»i;x--nr[;(;i[, n v.. a; i'I!i:h(ott, c.w. ; 'IMNTKI) r.V UOliKltT KKNNKItV, '• F.V ANClll.lZKir' lU'l'M( I.'. 18U1. |'<;t5i.M,....'t,'«.'..M.,.,,.«,.|,M,..,,.,,''.l..-'l.'.. '>.■!.»«.,'>.•>.".>'. .■V,'.,»./'>lU'>.. ..".(■. .•>.-'.>>.Cl.'>." '■'<• '¥■■ THE NEW HEAVENS, AND THE NEW EARTH. BY THE BEV. PATBICK GRAY, OF KINGSTON, CANADA WEST. OGDENSIUTKGH, N.Y., & PRESCOTT, C.W. : PKLNTED BY BOBERT KKNXEDY, "EVANGELIZEtt" OFFICE. 18t>l. (a PREFATORT NOTE. The substance of the following essay was first delivered to the anthol-'a congregation, several years ago. A portion of it was, at a »ubsequoiit period, reproduced in a lecture read before " The Young Men's Christian Association," of Ottawa. The lecture appeared in one of the Ottawa papers at the time, and afterwards repeated enquiries were made for copies which could not be supplied. Quite recently, requests of a similar nature have been made, and the result is the present publication. The subject is believed to be one of great practical importance, and fitted to exert a powerful salutary influence upon the thoughts and actions of men. As a matter of such consequence, it was intended to be treated.-— And now the attempt is given to the public, in the hope that the represen- tation of " the things above,*' and of the fututo blessedness of " the ran- somed of the Lord," so much less dwelt upon by Christians now, than by Christ and His apostles, may have, through God's blessing, the effect ot* making "the Father's house dearer" — more like "sweet home" to His children, and also of awakening thought and desire, and helping towards their right direction in all classes of readers Kingston, Oct, 1861. THE NEW HEAVENS, AND THE NEW EARTH After life and immortality have been brought to light, after all the advances made by men in the knowledge of divine and human tilings, the certain, solemn, awftil future has still a veil of impenetrable mystery hanging over it. We know, from the works and word of (Jod, from the instincts and yearnings of our nature, that there is to be a resurrection, judgment, retribution, heaven, and hell! We khow that, though we die, we shall five again in conscious jDCi-sonal identity, and in conscious possession of Miss or woe; but what shall be the nature and manifestations of that future life, what its conditions, sphere of action, and place of abode, we 'Can answer in great measure only by conjecture. Ignorance on our part regarding sucli matters is, to a great extent, unavoidable. We have neither llhe means of obtsdning, nor the capa- city of understanding full informattion. Unexplained mystery obscuring so large a portion of " the world to come," w hen, doubtless, God could have given us a more extensive, if not a complete revelation of its wondei-s, must be seen by the All-wise to be a right and necessary arrangement for Us in our present state. Even we o&n understand how clearer views ©f the future would invade the pi vince of faith, displace the truest tests of conduct and character, and aker or render vain the system of things suitable to our state of probation, and pro- bably unfit us for every duty of life. We have no reason, therefore, to complain because tliere is a veil between us and the future, nor should we wish for more than the glimpses into that within this veil which God has given; trustfulness in God should be the predominating feature of character now, but we mntj strive to see and understond clearly^ vihatis revealed to its through these partial opeuinc/s. Now I fear that generally we do not under- stand, nor take sufficient pains to understand, what God has actually made known to us about the future state. Not only is it impossible rr; THE NEW HEAVENS '»': for us now to suney and realize in its vastness tbat " Avorkl to come " whose giijantic shadow is yet looming over the infant in the crsvlle as well as the at;ed man just about to enter it* unexploretl domains, but what we might know of it is much unknown. The actually ret'euled ift, to a great degree, a vayue and dreamij conception. The little child thinks of heaven away uj) in the blue sky, beyond the sun and the twinkling stars; of happy and ble<=(sed b*»ing8 there, reclining upon couches formeit of wol-, and wretched l>eing.s there; of a dark .nbyss away down b(jneath soiuewlure, its gloom onl\' lightened bv bnmstonct flauu's — its silence onlv broken bv the voice of blasphemy and tlie screams of ajmny extorted by the lash of cruel demons. And the conceptions of grown-up men are not Ion< crude, while neither so beautiful nor so terrible. Kow, we are such — so reliitcd to and bound up in that, mysterious future, that ouv ideas of it cannot but exert a powerful influence upon us in this present state; — and just in so far as our \iews of it are accu- rate or 5naccm'}»te reflections of the light of truth, will our conduct and oharacter be right or wrong to the extent that conduct and character are moulded by "the powers of the world to come." Thus, refi^'ring to the prospect of immortality, the Apostle John says* "Now are we the sons of (lod, and it doth not yet appear what •we shall be; but we know that, when He shall ai)pear, we shall lie like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." If besides, and connected with this sublime yet avowedly indefinite statement, certain so-called spiritual nivstical, perha))s absurd notions of the stale of glory are entertained, the etlect of these fantasies, so far as views of the future do afloct a luan, is to make the Christian a childish visionary. If, on the other band, with the full belief of the unutterable and inconceivable felicity and grandeur of the heavenl}' state, which scri])tnre poetry and metaphor have labored, and labored in vain, to rejiresi-nt, the Christian liolds sober, rational, and as accurate views of huaven as an^ revealed, the etlect of such faith and opinion is to make him a faithful, and at the same time an ijitelligent expectant of eternal life. Bearino- these ])reliminary observations in mind, lot us fry, by a careful induction of facts re\ ealed to us in tlie Word and works of Gad, AND THE NEW EARTH. and by a cautious and reverential reasoning upon sucli data, to impress upon and infuse into oar conceptions of the world to come, tha t'orni and lite of truth, as nmch hh it is ]K)88iblo for us to do in suoli a caae. All descriptions of the heavenly state found in the Bible are fijrti- vative, literal, or niixed-^that is, the figurative and the literal blended or meeting in the aaim* statement. This distinction is ol)vious and examples of these different classes of statements will readily occur to your memory. To save time I shall not quote, as I might.j passages J>eloni;ing to each kiml, but at onw call attention to a plain, literal sUitement regarding the abode and character of man re<1eemed and rostoied to I'ighteousucss, on which I propose to found the obser- vations which fbllow. In the second epistle of Peter, the Apostle, speaking of the cer- tainty of a future stale of retribution, to warn infidel and Ungodly ■scoffers, and to eheer and urge to energetic dutif'ulnefs those who waited for the coming of the Lord, says, "The day of the Tiord will come as a thief in the niglit, m the which the heavens shall pai-^s away with a great noise, and the elenienus shall melt with fer\ent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall l>e burnt-d up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persens ought ye to Ikj in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of tile day of God ? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, vlwrinn dwelhtk ri(//dcoii)incss." — 2 Pet. iii. 10-13. This statement does not occur in a poetical writing, but in a calm, instructive, friendly letter. We aw not pivsented with metaphors in the glowing and gxjrgeous language of the enraptured seer, which wo must K'ceive just as so many symbolic signs, or sensuous ]iicture8 of the reiiiity. Wo have » plain, simple description of what is to be, so far as language can depict, and iw it is proper for us to know. There is to be "new heavens and a new earth;'"— a real heav.'us and earth for lestored man. It is the future, not tlie millennia), stat<^ of whieli the ^ijostle speaks. The people whom he aects — and that the diti"o!"i nee will be chiefly in a moral and spiritual reH]iect, for in the new esirth ' dtvelleth risjhteouaneBs." In that, with such changes and modifications ns are necessary to adapt the aliode for a regenerate*! and koly and happy race of t>eing9, liea probably all tbe diflerenco l)etwei'n tbe earth that now isy and *'tbe inlieritance of the saints." How many airy and fantastic and groundless notions are dissipatetl on this supposition ? Heaven, as we have thonght of it, has been a dream, a myth, a receptacle and commixture of all fanciful and evon impossible things, to perplex, and confound, and fill with dismay every one who strove to gaze ujwn tbe holy place, and desired to enter into the joy of the Lord. And yet these notions were dignified with the name of devotional feelings and holy beliefs. And tbo simple-minded and tiie most earnest sonb have feared and mourned because they could not work up within thoir minds an appreciation of, and desires for thes© fancy sketches ; because they found nothing within to meet with, ami correspond to what they fondly thought was heaven, but what was in fact the disorderly, monstrous product of human ignorance and weak pietism. In proof and illustration of what has been advanced, let me call your attention first of all to the nature of the being iix whom the new heavens and earth are designed. 1. Man is a erontnro of complex strnctnre and manifold endow- ment. He is formed with a material body, by which be is allied l<» earth, and to the lower wders of creatures there. He possesses an immortal soul, by which he is alUed to other intdligent creatures, and to God above, tbe Creator of all. As having a God, his Father and (iovornor, and a soul which, as it came ft-om (Jod, can find its rest and liai)]>iness only in God, he needs a heaven, a dwelling-place of the Most Hicrb, whither to tnrn his eyes and heart in de\ otion ; he needs a temple and a religion to be the channel of conimunJon with that God. So he r?e composed, as now, of heaven and earth. A brighter heaven, indeed, for regenerated and gloiiiied humanity, shall stand in a new r<^lation to heaven-*— as it were nearer, " before the throne;" a more beautiful, an altogether lovely earth, for it shall be formed to he the fit and pure abode of immortal and sinless men. It might be objected to this reasoning, proceeding as it does mainly upon analogy, that it is inconclusive, because man, in the world to come, may not be at ail like man as he is now. To this point I call particular attention, as it aSfocts most m:iterially the whole process of investigation, and the conclusion to which we may be led. In the gloiified state man cannot be as he is now, nor is it possible for us to conceive fully what shall be the nature and extent of the changes to be undergone, or the nature of that blessed state for which he is adapted by these changes. "We know not what we shall be." Man was created in God's image, a perfectly holy, happy, intelligent creatn-e. He required and he had " heavens and earth " then. From that state of bliss man by transgression fell, and became an unholy, degnuled, guilty, and wretched creature; an object of just abhorrence to, and deserving the wrath of God. But man is also an object of compassion to the blessed Grod, and, in His love and pity for the poor victim of sin, He sent His own Son "to seek and to save that which was lost." Christ is " able to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God by Him." He saves from the curse, the pollution, and practice of sin. He delivers from degradation and woe all who flt-e to Him for refuse. Ho sends the promise of the Father — the life and light-bringing Spirit — to regenerate the nature corrupted by sin, that it may have fellow- ship with God. And finally. He exalts His redoeined to glory, i)ower, and immortality in heaven. There the twilight is exchanged for cloud- less, daj' death is swallowed up of life, the mortal puts on immortality, and all the redeemed are, as creatures may be, holj^ as God is holy : — they are jwrfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity! How unlike the present life, that life with God ! And yet the redeemevlien all things are restored. And the change which passes on it, and 'ii^tirignishes it from humanity here, is not such as to make it iinothor kind or form of life, it is simp-ly a change to perfectness. Sin and guilt upon the soul, tendencies to decay and elements of dissolution in the bo'l} , roi-iuptions of every kind, are left behind. Incorruptibility in ev( 1 V Sviii>o is the nature of redeemed and glorified man — man still, iis nt»\v, witU notliing wanting but what sin and earthly circumstunco had iiiV(-,ti.'d him with. ]>!ii .■^onn- niJiy object to this conoliisioii \\\ the very words of C'hri.-I : "Tiiiv thai are counted worthy to obtain that world, and th© resunvnii>u ttoin tlie dead . . . are ecjual unto the angck; and are the eii;i.liv;u nf (iod;" Lidie xx. 35, 36 — meaning, if they me^in any- thing- (iill'ciout from what 1 have said, that glorified men shall be like angeis, vunicioo a ])Uysical change, and become another and higher order oi' boiiits. To this objection it is suflicient to rejdy, that Christ's \\crout the nature and rank of redeemed men hereafter. Putting an erroneous construc- tion upon such passages of Scripture as these, " Know ye not that wo fihali judge angels?" " Christ took not on him the nature of angels," py if just regarded in heaven as sinners saved l>y grace? Would it not be honor enough to be able to claim kindred with Jesus, to know God as your Father, to b« loved by llim, as pure and holy human hcingt? Would it add to your felicity to be exalted above holy creatures who never did but obey their God ? Would it be right in God to elevate to a hijjher state of dignity rebels, caught in arms against Him and only saved by grace, than He assigns to those who ever did His pleasure i It is true, honoi and blessings shall be cont'ejied on saved men of H kind not bestowed on angels. Salvation is granted to men and not to angels, but it is to the high honour of holy angels tb-it tliey did not netnl salvation I They loved God. They served Him still, wlien all our race had dared to hate and defy their Maker ! Goas awanting to the splendid mansion; but the cottage would be a cottage still, and the [yalace a palace still. So " God in Christ" appeared in hunuin and not angelic form, and God in grace exalts humanity to glory; but humanity is still humanity, and angel life and excellency are still angel life and excellency. Still more, what is the value of the information given us by those who talk and write and ])rint about man being like the anjrels, or ex- ulted above angels ? Can they tell us what angels are like ? In very eommon parlance and cpinion angels are pure, immaleilal spirits, jws- scshing neither bodily organs nor form. Now, who taught men this? Books! Systems of tlieology! Who taught the authors of these books and systems? They never considered that tliey mi'iht be asked the tpu'stion. They may quote the Scriptiue, "He niaketh His angels spirits, His ministers a flaming fire;" but if you tuin to Psal. civ., 10 THE NEW HEAVENS wli«!ti»« the proof is takfn, jrou will find that the whole psalm refers to CickI'm control of all tho «!l«inef»tH, and creatures in the material world; mtvern7n«nt of His creatures. It is an amazing fttcl, that nil human hoadn seem to have been filled with the idea of niHfcU hfcing what are cuilwl puro Hpirits, while not a passage of Scrip- ture aHinns it, and while in strict propriety we cannot conceive of pure spirit at all; our neitrest approach to that btiing an approach to the a)n(e)iti<»n of y7« One IFncreuted, Infinite, Glorious God, who fills imrnetiHilif loilh HIh presence. 13y the very nature of finiteness — the UuiiKJ lied. If it be still objected lluit the ang(tls are (iod's ministers to the heirs of salvation, and that limy are inviisibl*!, though doubtless ever near to men; I reply, that Itivisibility is as much an at I'ibule of matter in many a form, as it can \\« of spirit, (lod makes the air wo breathe His messenger for good to us. AVe feel the exhilarating influence of the cool breeze when it fans our fnvored brow. Wo witness the destructive effects of the wind in a storm s«»metinn'8. liut who over saw the air? Yet it is matter, possessing form and parts. (Jod makes the electric fluid a beneficial atgont. pt'rviiding, so fur as we know, all material things, and essential 1«> tJH'ir utility, and oxistonce it may be. We hear the roUing thunder, but have we lu«ard its noiseless cause? We see the flashing lightning; — that is «)nly the combustion of a portion of the air ignited by the paN»agi» of the subtlo lluid, which we have not seen. We may have stood unu»ug the eagt^r «i»)wd at the telegraph station, waiting with anxiety for oajhhM^iI and im]>ortant iut^'Uigcnoe, and when the message came, to glsddt'ii lioarti* with the tidings of triumph, or to sadden with the dismal nvital of sutlering and sliame and death; who of all that multitude, *lisjH«rsing in joy or sorrow, s»w the swift messenger who leajMjd o'er spaiv at a lu>und, .uiul brought the thrilling report? And yet electri- city is niattor, anil doubtless has its proj^r form and pans. And so ruigels n\;iy have sulv*tantial form, so puri>, so ethereal as to be invisible to moiUil ove. And so too may the matter of wb.ioh the immortal body of pert'vvteil tnan is com|>oseil be refined, and every way adapted for the uiulviiij; life. AND THE NEW EARTH. n ing of The cone'"?' to wliicli we are biought ihen, at thia stage, is that man redt^med i, .. restored shall continue ever man; that a poifoct humanity, an undying body and holy soul, shall occupy the future state of blessedness, and partake of its unfading joys. This being atl- mitted, and I do not see how it can be denied, it follows that, not oiJy for the enjoyment, but for the actual existence of men, there must be idl the requisites and accompaniments of perfect human life: there must he for it both material and spiritual aliment and objects : there must be literally " Lew heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- ness;" an earth or world like this to dwell in, and a heaven above with our God there to lo:)k up to and adore. 2. By the very use of the phrase " new earth" in connection wit}», nnd yet distinguished from, " new heavens," wo would naturally under- stand that a material place of abode was mer.nt; whether this gloI.>e, vhich is our dwelling now, renovated and made a j>ara»li8e, or sonw? other sphere already formed, or to be created i4S a lit receptacle for ransomed and exalted man. The perfect life and life-enjoyment of any being consists in the exercise of all its functions in the proper season and maimer. Now the incorruptible body which springs up in "the resurrection unto life;*' that which the Apostle Paul calls "a spiritual body," to distinguish it from the "natural" or mortal body of this present state, h aome- thing diti'erent from the spirit which animates it. It ditters from its animating spirit in that it is matter, bodi/ and not soul; and it lias at least its germ and type in the dying body here. It is " t?iis corruptifjle" that is to put on "incorruj>tion," and "//«« mortar^ •♦immorUility." Christ did not say to Martha and Mary, "Tiiy brother* s spirit shall live again," but " Thy brother shall rise sjgnin." To use the apostle's own illustration, As the wheat reaped this season had its germ in the seed sown las., autumn or spring, though that was cast into the earth and died there, so the undying germ of human life within us now, to bo consignetl to the grave with the corruptible body, shall never lose its vitality, and from it shall 'irioe on the resur- rection morning the immortal form — the perfect (levelopment of what was so imperfect here. And that perfect form being material, possess^ ing the organs and functions of body, these must b'^ exercised in order to the happiness and usefulness and life of the being who owns that body. In connection with the passages just referred to in 1 Cor. xv., the 12 THE NEW HEAVENS .A]iostle incidentally ca'^ts the light of revelation upon the point I wish to establish. Ho says, "All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of l)easts, another of* fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and bodies teirestrial; but the gloiy of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars ; for one star dittereth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in inoorrui)tion. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raisod in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." The unconstrained meaning of nil which I believe to be this: — All bodies, as such, every- where are material, possessed of all the properties and subject to all the Conditions of matter. But these bo-lies, formed of the same constituent jiarticles, may have the matter of which they are composed so variously arranged, and its particles so combined as to produce great varieties in their appearance, adapting them for various and widely diti'erent cir- cumstances and us»^'s. liordes celestial aie arranged and fitt&l for celes- tial occupants and purposes: bodies terrestrial for earthly inhabitant!^ and ends. Roth are material, both suitable, and even l)eautiful in their adaptation for their respective objects. But the glory of the celestial excels. As the diamond, which, tliongh a stone so precious, in reality so beautiful and rare, is yet composed essentially of the same matter as the common charcoal consumed by the bushel every day in our work- shops, the ilifteience of arrangement and conjbination of the material j)articles actually forming in one case the costly jewel, in the other the useful but c(»mpaiativeh'^ valueless coal; — so in the heavens and on the earth we behold this variety in the aspects of material things, while one essential substance is the basis of them all. In animated nature, m says the apostle, "There is one kintl of flesh," that is, body or form, " of man, another of beasts;" we see all life embodied in matter, with the same properties, but arrayed in many different ranks and orders, each kind constituted for its sjiecial sphere of existence. The fish is fitted for existing in water, the bird is formed lor thing in the air; the great bod^- of (juadrupeds, and man as an animal, arc adapted, for life and action on the firm ground. All are of the earth, earthy, and all need an earth to dwell in. Eveii the wiltl sea-bird that seems ever on the wing, or if it rests, can sit and sleep securely on the bosom of the stormy •K'eau, can ride 'mid the foam on the crest of the hea\ ing billow, ami scream with joy and defiance in the wild conflict of i aging elements — AND THP: new earth. 13 even it, wliich can exist and enjoy where we, with forms adaptetl for another kind of life, would perish, needs earth and is as much allied to earth as we. The air in which it flies, the sou on which it floats are component parts of earth. It cannot soar away above the atmosphere which surrounds our globe and live there. It cannot do without the food it finds i)rovided for it in the threat deep. It is material anarent sense of Scripture. In all ordinary cases the mind of the (Spirit in u THE NEW afiAVSNB Bcriptiifo 78 found in the obvious meaning that would occur to a plain, honest and sensible tnan; anvi, I believe, that the greatest injury to re- ligion, has been done by men putting far-fetched interpretations upon the Word, instead of taking the Bible simply in the fortnthat TJorl has given it. But in references to the events and things of a peiiod long since passed away ; and particularly in passages descriptive of the phenomena of the future life, where figures must be employed if there is to be desciiption at all, and where frequently the boldest metaphora are employed by the aacred writers ; it is most evident that the obvious> literal meaning of the woi-ds, Would very seldom be the true meaning. Even in the sober historic language of the New Testament, when w i-ead of ships on the lake of Tiberias, and women grinding at the mill, if we were to t*ike the words and attach to them the obvious manning, corresponding to matters as they are at the presont day, we would form a most erroneous notioji of the ships and flouring mills of Galilee. It seems to be the plain meaning of one passage, that the earth is an extended plain supporte.l by pillars, which tremble at the rebuke of Jehovah. That is poetic language, and was never designed to teach any other science than that the MajcvStic God is glorious in might; but the infallible Church believed it literally, and persecuted, till he recanted his heresj', the unfortunate philosopher who asserted, on scientific gi'Ounds, that the earth was a globe, careering through space with inconceivable velocity in its appointed orbit round the sun. It seemed the obvious meaning of another passage that the stars would fall into the earth, and the whole universe rush to ruin on the great day of the Lord. I read an old sermon once, i n which this doctri ne was propou nded in the most serious style imaginable. Yet^ if the same statements were made now, probably few men could repress a smile at the preacher's simplicity, if they could suppress their contempt at the preacher's ignorance ; for it is an ascertained fact., that there are heavenly boik of the great lakes being poured into a draw-well, as of the stars falling into the earths In like manner, I think that the meaning we might bo ready to attach to those descriptions of events, that are to transpire at the Ushering in of the day of the Lord — the meaning that we might think the plain reading made obvious and indisputable, may not be the real meaning after all. And, in order to maintain this position, it is not at all necessary to resolve the expressions into figures, far less to dissolve them into unmeaning verbiage. \ AKD THE NEW tlARTfl. Id Thus, ID regftrd to the phrase, " New Earth ;" a slnnor here saved by Christ, and regenerated by the Spirit of Goa, is called in Scripture, "A new man" with perfect propriety, though he is the same person Btill, only changed by grace — •* renewed in the spirit of his mind." — ■ Now, why might not this old earth, restored by God to pristine beauty, and adapted for the reception of holy inhabitants, be called with equal propriety, " a New Earth ?" If a sainted spirit, now with God, can be re-united to the body that was mortal once, but, that shall be immortal then ; if that new man in the highest sense, can be the same who hung a dying thiwf beside Jesus, and heard Him say in his hour of agony, "To-day shalt thou he with me in paradise;" if God can work such marvellous changes on men, Why could He not work rn analogous change upon this earth; and if He did, would it not be, in truth, «*a New Earth ?" With respect to the (juotations from Psalm cii. and Isjiiah, about the heavens vanishing away ; — earth waxing old like a garment; — changing; — perishiwg; — can it be difficult for anyone gifted with ordinary intelligence, to suppose that the change wrought on the present state of things, which is probably all that is meant, may be a revolution so complete, bn ught about by a catastrophe so over* whelming, and resulting in a tr msformation so glorious, as to realize in the most peifoct manner the predictions of the inspired writers? The mankind which God created at fir%t is the mankind of to-day* The earth He formed, is the earth we dwell in now. Yet when man cast away his crown of beauty, and was excluded from paradise, from God, and heavenly beings; when the very ground was cursed for his sake, he became, in a sad sense, a very different man from what he had been; and that earth became another and a very different earth's—old things passed away then, all things became new, to man's bitter experience.— •So once again, when redemption is completed> and the day of con- summation has come, if God were to take His curse from earth, and place on it his blessing; if He were to form new and intimate con- nexions between that earth and the heavenly world ; if He established new relations between Himself and His ransomed creatures, and between these and all holy creatures, — might we not say, old heaven and earth have passod away, and a new world has begun ? So also the explicit statements of the Apostle Peter, respecting the melting of the elements with fervent heat, — the burning up of earth and the works therein, — and the dissolution of these things, may be verified to the letter, all on the supposition that this globe nuiy become hereafter the fit abode of iutelligent and happy creatui'es. Even now this solid globe, as wo eaH 16 THE NEW HEAVENS it, has nothing; solid about it, but its covering or surface; a covering so thin in comparison with its diameter, as to he fitly culled the crust of the earth, though on it are reared the lofty mountains, and in it deep oceans scoop their bed. And, it is conjectured that beneath that crust, iilling the vast abyss, is fire that has burned since the world began; — literally elements molten with fervent heat. Beside us, beneath our L'iit, may be the tremendous agent raging, ready to break through the barriera which confine it, to lick up with all devouring flame the earth that now is, and the works therein, whenever God sliall give the Word, We have seeming evidence for this in the plutonic rocks up- ]ieavey the po^vor of evil? It is ruined now. How worthy AND THE NEW EABTH. ir <^ Him to restore the old fabric as Ho redeems those who dwelt therein ! All men had their home here, ^very s^ot of earth ia hallowed or d^crated. Each foot of its surface shall be known and interesting to solTie one of the multitude no man can number. How kind of God, if He presented to man as his eternal happy home that earth, with tlu2 atains of its battle fields, deas of infamy, thrones of iniquity, and Gvihennas of every kind, all washed away, — lit up by heaven's sunlight, -■^nd its scenes where quiet well-doing sung its hymn of praise to God, where patient suffering said, "Thy will bo done," where heroic devotion stood alone for truth, — all its Bethels, Bethesdas, and its Calvary, known, and shining with a lustre such as was never seen in the olden time! What a world of wonders it would he for all to look Ui^on, and learn, and improve, and adore. This, however, is but opinion, — it may be, — it is likely ; but what 13 of greater consequence is this, — thore shall be *>a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness" — a terrestrial abode — a proper rest, and field for exertion, for immortal men. There shall be again, may we not suppose, verdant plains, cultivated fields, mountains rising to the clouds, rivers runnmg to the sea, oceans uurufftcd by storms, and laving with crystal waves shores, which goodness, and peac'3, and love have made their own ? There shall be again, may we not think, populous cities, busy marts, congregations of holy worshippers, and happy homes? And that bright world shall be peopled by a race claiming kindred with the skies— God's chosen, and redeemed, and adopted children, all bearing the lineaments of the Father in heaven— all united ia brotherhood to Jesus and to one another -^all abounding in the fruits of righteousness, to the praise of restoring Love ! What! work and commerce! the same troublous life over again! Wherj thon the rest — the eternal Sa'jb:iths— rthe unceasing sound of jjolden harps? All that shall be, in truth, but in another manner than most men suppose. The rest and the service of heaven, and the dreamy inanitiei which weakness has fondly depicted as the ecstacy of bliss, will be found to have nothing in -eommon. The New EJarth will be the abode of J|f(j«. 4. In tliat now earth there wilj be found provision for perfected humanity — ralimeut and exercise for all its inhabitants — having resptjct to the physical, intellectual, and emotional, as well as the moral nature of the new man, All derived life is supported by nutriment adapted for it, providetl B 18 THE NEW HEAVENS by God, and to bo labored for. No cbange of place or ciroum8tanceriitions of the law in tlie future state altogether. Wo cannot think of f*^>otl, now so necessary to prol(MTu; existence, without thinking of waste, reproduction, and decay, which retarded for a while, at length bailies all etlbrts to stay it, proceeds faster and farther than all restoratives, and terminates in death. Man is mortal licre, ami Death lui-ks iu every thing we meet, and touch, aixl taste. Giowlh and honlth, the evitlenees of morUd life in its best e.stat is enthroned ou "the mercy seat;" rather, it obtains there a stimulus and sti-engtii for the prosecution of that work, which is at once its essence and its evidence, •' the doing justly, and loving mercy, and walking htmbly with Ck>d." True n^ligion does not scowl with misan- thropic aversion upon innocent recreation, or the ebulition of joyous feel- ings which God has implanted in man; it does not prefer tlie lierniit's cell to the wide field of the world which calls all our energies into i)lay ; it does not stigmatixeartas devilisb, science as godless, lawful employment as secukr and profane ; but it comes with a hallowing leaven to imbue and consecrate all art, all science, all work to the Great Jehovah. And it constrains its subjects, in Uamelessness of life, in kindne-le iu Umq religion, is not confined to this world, nor will it Ite unknown wlien this world has parsed away. On all God's works in the universe is h ritten what he that runs might read, Work; and Worship. God Hinii^elf, \vho dwelleth on liiorh, " who needeth not anything, seeing that be giveth to ail life, and breath, and all. things," Avorks unceasingly. He is, aud Ho shall be through eternity, the God that doeth wonders ly His strong right arm. Angels who isee His face and sing His pi-ai.-e, work, as Lap[)y, as truly His servants, jis honourably engaged when employed in work in a far distant world, as when bowed before the throne. Man, iu his state of innocence, when he did glorify and enjoy his God, was set to till the garden of Eden. And when Eden is restored — when the new earth is peopled hy its holy inhabitants, thei'o will bo work in it for their hands, and heads, aud hearts — a service of doing, and a service of song, which together shall form the life exercise, the felicity, and the gloiy of the ransomed throng. As it would be silly and presumptuous to pretend to tell what specific works shall engage the powers of the glorified body, so it is equally beyond our ability to tell what prospects shall open before the unclouded mind of tlie new man. Here the human mi nd is charactenzc" I by restless activity and progressive advancement and enlargement: — we have instincts as have the lower animals: — we have intuitions peculiai to us as the intelligent otlspring of the all-creating spirit : — and we liave an acquired knowledge derived from the stores aud traditions of the past, which is increased continually, by new research and disoon-eiy [f so THE NEW HEAVENS I (i: ' Hi What would we be if, notwithstapdiDg all that has been lost in the fe» votutionfl of time, we had not the riches of thought of former nges to call our own ? What would we be if we had no food for thought every day, and no occasion nor call for ingenuity and study 1 What would we be if we had not realms, extending farther than the distant star, and deeper than the abyss, whither, when every other faculty fails, we can betake ourselves on the wings of imagination ? Yet here we are limited on every side; there is a bound which no created intellect can pass :'^there may be mental progression to a certain point, and the ma^s of men, by education and culture, may advance from their present standing to a height that seems lost in tbe heavens, but men have reached that point, and mon shall never occupy a higher here. But there, in that new earth, there will be a wider liekl, a clearer vision, and new and unheard of means of advancement. There will be minds en- larged, engaged in deep research and great thought, — and over, as new wondere break upon the understanding, filled with a mightier and more glowing devotion. There will be no limit to science, there will be a universe to furnish facts, and the intellect, though still of necessity a finite intellect, will start in its explorations from a higher stand-point, fiud career a gigantic intelligence, before which Newton's would shrink to comparative imbecility, through an expanse that might be called in- finitude — eternally progressing in the knowledge and enjoyment of good. And there shall the heart of perfect man have its sweetest, and purest, and noblest emotions called forth. There will be friendships never decaying, never deceinng, never heart-breaking by sharp, abrupt severance of ties that bind souk together, never heart withering and crushing, by lingering tortures slowly rending strand by strand of the uniting cord. There will be pure relationships — more dear than tlie mast endear- ing on earth, — not restricted as necessarily now, to one true heart, or to one little band, but extending to all the members of tho family of God, with thrilling memories of the past, and with undimmed and un- divided hopes of an ever brightening future. There will be scenes of surpassing loveliness to molt tho spirit with the overpowering sense of beauty, and sceties of surpassing grandeur to inspire the spirit with the exalted and sublime. And there will be bounties and blessings— ra profusion of good in never-ceasing, never- lessening stream from God the Father of all — ^awakening ever more re- collections of His goodness and mercy in the days of the pilgrimage — ■ F iii kTKt) THE NEW fiAllTfl. 21 exciting evermore grand thoughts of love for the Greatest and Best of Being*— opening evermore new fountains of grateful emotion to flow f Ilim, and of tcnderest affection for all fellow-partakers of that grace aad glory>. One dass of emotions alone \' iU find noil h^r place nor provision there, though beautiful and necessary in tiiis present state ; there will be no pity, no compassion, nor sighs, nor tears, nor heavy hearts ; — none needs commisseratioB there. No pain, sickness, want, nor woe, no calamities, no partings, nor bitterness of soul in the happy land. If ye would prize "the blessing of him that is ready to perish," seek it now; if ye would do good as ye have ojiportunity, do it now; for there will bo «o poor and needy ones there I Nor will there be indignation> nor even just resentment there, because there shall be no craft, nor wrong, nor one unholy in the land of the blest* In that new earth there "dwdleth rigkteousneis.'" Simple, but gmnd expressive words. Thorough, perfect rifjhieousness is there. — RiGiiTNESs with HO WR0NGNE88 at all ! Righteousness, not looking down from heaven high, as it did upon old earth, as if it wished to alight but could find no place for the solo of its foot, but dwelling at hume in that fair world. Righteousness, not in the breasts of some exalted saints, or, as once on earth, in Emmanuel alone, but the very spirit-hfe and moral essence of ail redeemed humanity. Righteousness, — the complement of all virtues,- — the consummation of all graces — the crown which the Lord, the righteous Judge shall give, and which they all shall wear, who, looking to, and for Jesus, fight the good fight, and finish their course, keeping the faith. Such or such like, we gather from the intiinations of God's word, and the survey of His works, shall be the " new earth." And such the character and joys of its blessed inhabitants. The Father loves them. And they are beginning to learn " what is the length and breadth, and depth and height of the love of God which paaseth un- derstanding." Thus far, our contemplation of the Christian's heritage in " the wwld to come," has been confined to the new earth and its inhabitants. In order to complete the view, to form and fix in our minds a more e&tiro and definite conception of the future state of glory, it is recjuisite that we next give attention to the " new heavens" as distinguished from, and yet i^nnccted with that •* new earth." In endeavouring to puisue the cou.ae thus indicated, let us, as before, take the Bible for our guide, 22 THE NEW HEAVENS and by cautious induction try to gather together and underatand tb« intimations it aflfords, and then look upon the conchisions to which they lead. By the terms "Heaven," and "Heavens," Scripture designates; — 1. The firmament — the atmofipherlc expanse surrounding the earth, in which the light and heat of Ihe heavenly Inxlies are dittust-u, where the clouds are formeil, whence the rains deseeud, .and many varied natmal agencies are in operation for the benefit of earth and its; occupants. " God called the firmament, heavon," Creu- i. 8. " God give thee of the dew of heaven," Gen. xxvii. 28. " The Leaven that is over thy head bhall be brass," Dent, xxviii. 23. " See if 1 will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing." Mai. iii. iO. 2. The stariy woi-lds, as .s(^cn from eartli, and the creatures of God who may have their dwelling in them. " Thou liast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, Avith all their host, .... and the host cf heaven woi-shipjx^th Thee," Neh. ix. 6. "When the morning staiv. Bang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy," Job. xxxviii. T. " He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven," Dan. iv. 35-. 3. The pui-ity, happiness, and other excellencies of nnfnilen, and of saved and sanctified intelligent beings, — as lioly angels, and redeemed men. "Ix't heaven and earth praise Kim," Ps. Ixix. 34. "Joy shall };e in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," Lnke xv. 7. "The kino-dom of heaven is at hand," Matt. iv. 17. "The kingdom of God h within you," Luke x\ii. 21. "The kingdom of God is not moat nnd drink; but righteousness, and j>eace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," Kom. xiv. 17. 4. The throne and temple of the Divine Majesty, where infinitely beyond all other manifestations, tl>e glory of Jeliovah is displnyed, — "Is not God in the hefglit of heaven," Job xxii. 12. "The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool," Isii. Ixvi. 1. "Hear thou in heaven Thy dwelling place," 1 Kings, viii. 30. "My FatherV house," John xiv. 2. Such are the prominent distinctive sigjiifications of the words, "heaven"' and " heavens," in the Scri]>tures; and, kee[)ingthem in mind, Biirely we will not stray widely from the truth, nor be chargeable witli rnsh assumption, if we suppose that the heaven of the future will be " new heavens" in each of the senses mentioneil, and that we have, in the combination of them all, a description of wh.at these "new heavens?* jihall bo to the inhabitmats of the earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. AND THE NEW EARTH. 23 fit least, approximating as nearly to the actual as it wonld be possible for us to understand in the pi^sent state. Following the method suggested by the supposition just made, our thoughts will for a while yet, be necessarily directed to the new oarth and those who dwell tlierein, but to them as related to the new heavens, and as affected by the influoncos, physical and mitral, prococil- ing thence — the influences exerted by the celestial upon the terrestrial in the world to come. I. We may think, then, of the " new heavens" as a new firma- ment, an upper region of aii- and azure sky encircling tlie renovated world, A heaven high, presenting to the gaze of the dwellers below a celestial glory, fixr transcending that of the heavens we now see, shedding over the new earth light, and color, and ]>eaut3', and exerting ou it sweeter influences than Orion and the Pleiades, than sun, ;;nd moon, and the starry host.s have done in the present ocouomy. Tlie Leavens and the earth that are now, or as now constituted, arc to papa away. "All these things shall be dissolved." But that predicted catastrophe is not to bring chaos back again, it is to bring in tlie cosmos. It is to be the closing scene in a long series of woDdevud e\ents all shaded by imperfection and sin, and the opening scone in another series of wonderful events, wh'ch are to unfold in tlie endless ages without a shadow of any kind to darken thorn. It is to be the ,st pos- sible condition of all things; and, therefore, the heavenly IxiUcs that look down upon the earth, tlie atmospheric influences tliatafle/'! it, and its own surface dia|X)9ition which, in connection with the atmo.^phevo, dtutermines the chai'acter of climate, shall all be so ordered and arranged by the wise and loving God, as to produce results at once transccn- dently beautiful and beneficial. u I'HE l^EW HEAViJirs ::B In the syrtem of worlds to which our earth belongfii there 8Ji9 planets at a vastly greater distance from the sun than othere, and con- sequently prevented from sharing, to the same extent, in the benefits of solar light and heat. But this deficiency seems to be compensated by the number of secondary planets with which they are supplied ; one has four, another six^ and another seven satelites ; one, if not more, ha» a luminous ring or belt around it, maintaining peihaps continual day in that globe. Already we know of worlds of which it might almost be said, " Their sun goes not down, neither does thdr moon withdraw itself:" and in some such way God's new earth may possess an encircling celestial glory, a new firmament, with lights therein above the bright- ness of the sun, and literally " no night there." The earth, &> at present constituted, is subject to various atmos- pheric influences, which, being in their turn modified by the surface- conditions of different areas, are in certain circumstances baneful, though obviously they are designed to be, and mainly are, highly beneficial and indispensable to natural life of evciy kind. We have warm, cold and temperate climsstes. There are hot winds and sea-currents which convey Warmth, and minister to life in cold regions; and cold winds and currents which temper the heat of tropical climes, and invigorate their languid inhabitants. The burning simoom generated in the parched desert, sweeps on in its destructive career, withering vegetation and prostrating roan. The bitter northern blast brings frost, and snow, and driving sleet, spreading o'er earth winter's dreariness, benumbing the unsheltered traveller, and increasing the hardships and woes of poverty, and sickness, and old age. And the malaria arising from the rank growth.* and putridities of the steaming marsh, infects with its fe\er-breath the dwellers in the valleys over which it hovere, and some- tifnes starts the pestilence to traverse country after country around the globe, turning everywhere happy homes into houses of mourning. In respect to these phenomena, we know for most part by what natural causes they are produced, and undei-stand how, by other con* fv >rmation, and disposition, and level of land and water, the evils referred to might be mitigated and even done away. Thus, in this land we are expased to extreme heat and cold in tbo alternate seasons. Sailing due east across the Atlantic, wo reach the Sdtith of France, and find the most genial climate of Europe; while considerably farther north than the parallel cm which we are situated, in the British islands, such a breadth of divergence in the temperature letween summer and winter as we are subjected to, is unknown. The AND THE NEW EARTH, 25 t-eason of this is, that to the north of us the broad continent extends far within the arctic circle to the frozen ocean^ with no warm sea-current flowing towards it, nor soft winds blowing over it, to mitigate the eererity of the rigorous wintei*; and to the south of us there is the broad continent again, not intersected by cooling seas nor lofty moun- tain ranges, to impart a freshnes3 to the heated air, in the summer season. The Gulf of Mexico, scooped out of the centre of America, forms a great sea-basin whose waters, heated as in a cauldron, flow out and run northward, ^^>en, diverted by the projecting land, more easterly towards north-western Europe, and give those regions their mildness of climate in comparison with ours. Agair, an arid desert of utter desolation covere almost the whole extent of Northern Africa; while farther south, nearer to the equator, tnore directly under the hot sun on that same continent, there are, it is now known, the most fertile lands and as fine a climate as is to be found. I'he reason is, that the north is a depressed, flat expanse, unwatered, burned up; while the south is more elevated, with great lakes, and mountain ranges whose towering peaks are mantled with snow, and down whose side? streams are running to rivers winding through rich vaHeys to the sea. Even hero now, a cliange in the conformation of continents, an altered disposition of the earth's surface — its depression in one urea, its elevation in another, would change climates, might make all tem- perate, healthful and fruitftil, and render every breath of air life-gi\iiig and pure. Perhaps hko this, earth would have been, but for man's ^ostasy: it i.^ not as it was; that some portions of it now bleak and wintry were once under a more genial sky is proved beyond a doubt by abundant fossil remains. And in some such manner may the new ^earth be so laid out that **the precious things of the heavens" shall pour down in affluence on it, " the precious fruits brought forth by the aun, and the precious things put forth by the moon.'* " The inhabi- tants shall never say, We are sick." Above them the glorious sky — the curtain of God's pavilion. Around them fertility and adornment on every side, with fi-agrance and music in every breejse. And beneath thle appellation of friend of God ; to hear him tell of the olden time and its manners, — of the fearful doom of Sodom,— of his feelings just when tlu^ angel stiiyed his hand, and pointed to the ram caught in the thieket, indicating even then how the Lsimb of God saves the chasen seed. To converse with Paul about JoAvish sects and Grecian schools: to hear from his own lips the stoiy of his conversion, and what took place in the jail at Philippi, and how Nero looked, and Rorae^ in these byegoB<^ 28 AND THE NEW EARTH days; and learn all about his adventures by field and flood wberf, " ihough the least of all saints," to him was the grace given to preach tlio unsearchable riches of Christ. To understand exactly what kind of men the noble army of martyrs and confessors of every land and age were, to hear them 8peak in their several ways of the work of grace as exemplified in their various hiatorieu. And to meet there also the men that are yet to come and do God's work on earth, — to talk with Africans and Asiatics, men of every clime and language, and of every stage of social and moral progress, that have done anything for Christ's cause, having been redeemed by Christ's grace. Surely there will be deepest interest, and precious instruction and joy in all that. But besides, glorified mi'U shall have felkwrfhip with angels, with holy beings from other — from all worlds : and the intercourse will be mutuaL The blight spirits abotc are endowed with powers by which they can pass from world to world in God's service. May we u oc eoncludo that in this respect saved men shall be "as the angels of God?" that as God's servants they too shall be gifted with faculties enabling them to survey God's works everywhere, and to learn fi'om all His creatures now cause to sing, and it may be new ways of singing the praises of the ijlorious Kino; of earth and heaven. Recurring to a statement made before, — all God's works that we can scan are progressive: development, advancement, characterize them all. Man progresses in knowledge and i-eligion; Christianity, with its principles fully reve^ded, unfolds new beauties and enlarging applica- tions in each succeeding age. All tilings are in motion, and all, except sin and sin-cursed beings, are moving towards a higher destination. Are not these indications and parts of a univei-si' and eternal law? May there not be an ascending to a nobler and a nobler state of exist- ence in the world to come ? Is it a groundless fancy to suppose that there shall be a ceaseless progression, and transition or translation fromi world to world of the many mansions in a series reaching to the noblest, the Holiest of all, where God dwells in the light that is inaccessible and full of glory ? And may we not think of the redeemed in the kingdom prepared for thosn, all having intercoui-se with all All filled to the extent of their capacity with the love and joy of God, and all in the long eternity asGOTding in serried rank to si)here after sphere of growing beauty, »eiq5k)ring the mansions above with entrancing delight, and coming by turns into direct and intimate connexion with every order of holy being, and with the God within them all ? This would b« ♦' new lieavens" for them io a very precious sense. THE NEW HEAVENS 29 3. Having respect to the third class of significations given to the terms "heaven" and "heavens" in Scripture— .those which refer to the iqyiritual purity, the (Jod-lilteness of saved and holy creatures. We jnay next think of the ** new heavens " as denoting the entire heavenly- mindednesa of those counted worthy to obtain a place in the glorious kingdom of God, This is just a reference to perfection of character again, which has been already noticed in another connexion, and may bo therefore dis- miaaed with brief remark. Heavenly-mindedness shall be the characteristic of glorified men. It is the sentiment and the mould and spirit of life in the kingdom. From God who sits upon the throne, down through the ranks of clierubim and seraphim and angels and men, to the least in heaven, all we heavenly-minded. Regarding the new earth as one of the many mansions, and redeemed men as one of many classes of holy creatures, they, with all worlds and all their inhabitants, shall be one in spirit, '♦ holy," to the extent of created capacity, " as God is holy." Puri .^ in (WOry thought, righteousness in every action, harmony in all relations, ties of holy brotherhood, bind to<3ether all the members of the fiimiiy that is named after and provided for by the Son of God. Ties of filiation and affinity bind them to God Himpelf. They are all the Sons of God — the first and the last born— and all like their Father, 6<^ng Him as He is, "The kingdom of God is within them.' 4, One other element in the blessedness of Christ's redeemed in the world to come — the best of all, and the ground of all other blessing ^-^•emains to be considered. Scripture means by the term "heaven," in the highest sense, the Throne and dwelling-place of Almighty God, This signification of the word suggests to us, in connection with the promise of the " new haavens," the thought that, in that fair world where the ransomed of the Lord dwell with Him and see His glory, they shall have a know- ledge of, and a liberty of access to the Holiest place, and to Him who sanctifies it with His immediate presence, and this in a manner so infinitely superior to all former communion with God, that it is fitly described by the phrase " new heavens." In the solar system all the planets revolve around the sun in their respective orbits. It is more than conjectured by men of science that our sun and other suns, with all their dependent planets, revolve in Almost measui'eless orbits round a more glorious central sun, v.hicb 30 AND THE NEW EARTH. letiiins all worlds in connection with itself, regulates their movements, and maintains harmonious action amonjjj them. Revelation, as well as science, points to this central sun, and (.'alls it the throne of the Lord of Hosts, where sits the Creator ami King, sustaining and controlling tl submissive universe. (jod is indeed in all His worlds; they all doclaro His glory; lut Scripture speaks of one high and holy place where Jehovah dwells, — ivhero, mora than anywhere else, lie displays Hie majesty, and rctfjives the homage of His beloved and loving subjects. Everywhere in the new heavens and new earth shall the tnices of His footsteps bo seen, .*iuil in all objects shall be recognized the impressioas of His wisdom, trutii, and love. But around that visible throne, within that temple in the midst of heaven, shall be clustered togelhei- all the beauty, and the worth, all the goodness and the grandeur, tJie scattering rays from which gave gloiy to all worlds and beings they fell upon. How awful, and yet how entrancing is that throne! With over- shadowing cherubim, and seraphs kneeling round, veiling their faces with gol 'en wings: with angel chorus pe.'iling, and voices of redeemed sinners bleuJing with the thrilling, overcoming strains of heaven's adoring melodies. Who can speak of that? If bye hath not seen, nor ear heiird : if it is know n to none beside God, what He hath prepared for them that wait for Him, what nmst His own glory be ? what the glory of the Lamb in the midst of that throne? If the momentary vision, seen through the surrounding haze parent to the reader; but it is quoted, for the purpose of helping us in the consideration of some other analogies. If there are typical forms in creation — patterns and pre- iigurations on a lower i)latform of better and more perfect forms upon a higher — have we not reason to conclude that, in like maimer, there are typical forms — patterns and foreshadow! iigs of better things to come — in the ordinances and ways of God in His present admiuistra- tiou of providence and gr;ice ? r n AND THE NEW EABTH. In the church of old there were festive days, when the tribes of Israel went up, all the families of the land — the men, their wives, and their little ones together, to appear before the Lord in His holy place : when the roads leading to Jerusalem were thronged with travellers, and the " city of solemnities" and temple courts were filled with devout and happy worshippers. And though often at hist, much of the seeming devotion was but hollow show, yet many and many a time in Israel's history their passovers and pentecosts were times of joy and refreshing. In the Christian church too, though it possesses no visible temple of which God says exclusively, " Hero will I stay, for I do like it," there is the spiritual temple in which God the Spirit dwells: there arc f(«tive seasons — -times of special access to the mercy-seat, of spociid afproaeh and communion with the Father, with Jesus and saints in gospel ordinances. Why may we not regard these .i^s typical forms of what shall be hereafter, of festival, of access to God, and high com- munion with Him and all His family in the state of glory ? We may thus thinlv— that there, where the gloiious God has gathered around Him all His majesty, where unseen, yet present and declared Deity is enthroned, will "the gathering of the poople be:" to that Temple of the Universe shall go up with haiT) and song, with offerings, and homage, and burning love, no*, tribes of Israel alone, not even all kindreds and tongues of earth alone, but all worlds shall pour fiirth their myriads, and from one end of heaven to the other bV.all they fl&semble, and ascend the hill of God, to prostrate themselves in lowly reverence before that August, Presence, to feast upon His love in the house of their Father, to drink of the rivers of His pleasures, and to mingle their hallelujahs till the melodious strains swell louder than the voice of many waters, attuning eveiy element in their being in harmony with the nature of the God they adore. What times of refreshing then from the presence of Jehovah, and never to be followed by declension and languor ! Never ! That we can think such thoughts! That we can gaze on such a vision, at such a distance I We, poor creatures of a day, crushed befot j the moth, stained all with sin. Rebels against that God ! And yet to U3 the hope is given, to us the way is laid open, and we are invite I to that new world, to that glorious throne, and to Him who redeems, and qualifies for dwelling there. This representation of the "new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness" — not so entirely unlike the present heavens and earth as we may have iraagir.ed, yet warranted, it is THE NEW HEAVENS. m believed, by all wo know of tbo Wonl and woik-t of Ood — is gi\Oi, .m a humble c libit towaixls the foi-eahaclowinijj of th.it, luippy state whore i'atist)nied and restored niaii shall meet all th(3 renuirtitos of ]K'il'oct huinjinity, fullil the cud of his being, and be perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God for ever. As represented, it is a .state of txlstencc, with elements in it to ■evoke all our pynipatbie.s, to cxerci.'^c in higlic.-it |»ur.suits all ' nr facul- ties, to enlist and elevate all our atlect.ion.s and desires : its social iiapi i- iiess is st?curcd by an intelligent, holy companioii^liip: and its ffliciiy i,s completed and crowned by a God and 8a\iour to know, and love, and rtervt', and prai.se for eser. May the delineation have the elTect cf leading those who look upon it to think nice frequently of luaveii as "tjie Father's house," arnl "the .sweet home" of the follfnvers of Jesus, than even Chiistians generally do; and may it fuUlier tend to induce them to sei'k now tlie grace that culiniuatos in glory, that so an entrance may bo ministered ^mto them abundantly into the eveila-sting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Je.sus Christ. Wo have seen that the " new heavens, and new earth, Avhei'ein dwellelh rio'hteousness," is a state of existence wherein humaniiv k restored from the ruins of ih.' fall, renewed unto perfection, and exalted to a sphere of glor}', where ail its powers llnd meet employ n^ent, all its beauties are unfolded, and all its excellencies are deseloped in an end- less career of progre.-'vsion : — where all clrcunistanccs are designed and titted to atlbrd i-'ratilication, to call into exercis(j blissful thouofht and feeling and effort, and to furnish matter for unceasing praise: — where the Giory of the Divine Majesty, and i le Glory of the Divine Lovo beamino'on all, and irradiatinij that heaven and earth, form the Li"ht of the Eternal Day. For such a state of being, assured to them by the promise of God, the faithful followers of Jesus have looked and longed in every age : and th(i prospect has ever been to them an encouiage- ment, and a directory in tlie discharge of Chj-istian duty. There are pre-eminently two effects that will naturally follow the believing view of this prospect of the saints' inheritance: First, an emotional one ; the man who looks ii2)on the representation, and relit.'s ujx)n it as a truthful foreb'.adowing of what God hatli prepared for them that love Ilira, will be filled with emotions of desire, hope, joy, with gi-atitude to the lledeemer, and increasing love lo Him and to all that He loves and ordains: and secondly; a practical effect, — the man ^ 84 THE NEW HEAVENS vho roalizes tliis vision of pnrmliso, atirl whose spirit thrills with the emotions referred to, will bo stimulatetl to every virtuous exertion, to active and i)atien« wvll-tloing, to meek resignation unrecepl8 of the holy law which the Sauctilier has written on his heart. Some brief observations in reference to the ])ractical issue spring- ing from the contempl.-tion of the future state of the redeemed, may fitly and usefully close this essay. For while the prospect of glory n\ the world to come will naturally excite every soul looking heavenward, it is still necessary to enjoin dutifulness, and to direct it to the proper channel and end. So does the Apostle, whose words about the new lieavens and erirth hiwo formed the grovndwoik of al} our considerJH tions: immediately after stating what Christians looked for, aceord in g to God's promise, ho adds — " \Vhereft.»rc, beloved, seeing that ye look for siieh tilings, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless." A proper diligence in tliis matter, as ir every olhar, takes its tijiecial directi(m and characteri.stic"* from tlie object desired, and the advantage to be gaiutHl by itb })ursuit. It is God we are to meet with. Tiie prospect boibre us is the bright aboile of perfect humanity ,".nd c^f holy iingels, — the beiiuj' for ever with the Lord; therefore tho diligencu enjoined is a diligent attention to the improvement of everything really and i>roi)erly human about us, — a diligent cultivation of every gracious ])rinciple the Holy Spirit has imj)hinted, or is ready to imidant within n-, — and a diligent use of all commanded means for the accomplish- ment of both ends. In other words, tho prospect of new heavens and !! new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, suggests to the intt^lligent and thoughtful mind the necessity of prej)aration, an.] a prejjaratlon atlecting the material, intellectual, moral, and religious natuie of mr.n, }is requisite for admission into, and enjoyment of that state where per- fect hunian beings rejoice in God their Saviour, and where that holy (rud presides — honored, loved, and served by every member of His iimumerable family. The human body God formed at first from the dust. It is f(ia^ AND THE NEW EARTH. d5 fjilly anil A>Y>nti;d » xistonco of mankind from generation to genera- tion; and tV)r this lie ordys and contiola all the operations of nature, flnd all the events ia providence. In that body, now mortal, doomed to decay and death, lies the germ of the glorified body of the saintg: in v)me form it slmll rino again from the tomb; — "this mortal shall put on immortality^"' and dwell with angels and the God of angels — with Jesus anrl Jil\V. Josus, in tlic case of al! the saved. What was proper for G'xl to croiite, care for, assume to Himseli', redeem, raise again from the 'load, and introduce to hea\'en> sui'cly ilescrves our caie. It is true the bodily app'^tites are generally attended to with injudicious and overweoniiig anxiety— -pampering the llesli, while the precious soul ap.d its interests are unheeded. But notwithstanding, not tho less — ^'lU the more, is it uece&sary to tell men to bcbtow on the body proper care; this is .is much a duty iu its place, as to abstain from moral evil, and to follow that which is good. Human lifo — the lifo of the Inxly, is to be regan.led as tho property of God, given us in trust for usefulitess. It is to be estechied sacred. It.s wanton destroyer is accursed. *' The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endciivours to preserve our own life, and the lifo of others. Ifadth is to be prized; wli< lost we are to resort to proper measures for its rceoverjr, and ail habiLs tending to injure it are to be avoide<]» Cleanliness; sober, industrious comluct; abstinence from intemperate indulgences; and projy altoution to food — its quantity, quality, and wholesome cooking; al! means of preserving health and life which God has piovided directh or indirectly through human industry and art, •re required, and to be sought after. " Wheti er ye eat or drink, cr whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." The importance of tiiis duty is enhanced by the close connect iou between body and mind, and the influence which the sfcite of the one exerts upon the action of tJie other. It is an incontrovertible fact that the healthy, fuJl-toned vitality of the soul is to some extent dependent upon vigor and healthiness in ihe body. Miud is manifested through ibo bodily organ?. Injure, or destroy any organ, and you so far aftect mind injuriously or destructively to all intents and purposes. A morbid physical condition, induced by vicious habits, will produce diatemi)er so THE NEW HEAVENS of Loth mind and morals, wLon tliere is no appearance of disease cv hurt requiring physician's or surfreon's aid. Lowners of spirits, hati temper, even reliiiious melanclioly is most frequently owing mainly to a diseased condition of body; — " that has often caused a diseased con- science, which again has hecome the parent of unhealthy and polluted moral sentiniunts and actions." Time was Avhen men, a;-:piring to the highest order of sanctity, rested their claims to the emiivnce they sought on their austerities, faslinfs, tortures of the bodv, and fillhinesst Thev thought thcTAvere "crucifying the flesh!" Such ideas originated in the old heathen notion of the two principles — Good, and Evil, with their respective proo'cnies — Mind, and ^Matter. The soul was regarded as a spirit imprisoned in tlie hody, and polluted by its lusts. "Waste the body,'* they said, ' it is accursed matter;' and set the spirit free, 'the offspring of Light.'" All the while it was the spirit that was corrupt, histfii], carnal, which made the body the servile instrument of its will, and the putierer in oonsc<|uenco. Such ideas are not altogether dispelled yet, " Crucifying the flesh " is not always undorsto">re truly apprehended the Di\'in8 lif«'v by abstinence from the ordinary more expensive meals, using a little plain footi, and taking the ditferenco between the cost of the more luxurious and plainer living and giving it to the poor. And such, you will find in Isaiah Iviii., is precisely the fast which God has chosen. Care then ft>r t^se body as the instrument of the immortal soul — as that which is to be fashioned yet like Christ's glorious body. Use the gO(xl g-ifis of G(xl as lie designs them to bo used, in moderation, and with thankfulness, and even thatdivty will contribute towards your preparation for a better woild. In the new world to which the Christian loolts forward^the human intellect shall reach its highest state of capacity and culture; the same intellect which man possessed, and which bog*an its enquiries here, shall prosecute them there through eternity, God made Hs intelligent. He seeks fronri us intelligent soi-vice and worship — praSse with the heart uu\ with the unders Landing. The revelation He hath given us ip made to our intelligence ; we cannot understand it till we l^noir of things aboiU us; we cannot comprehend heavenly things, if destitute of the know- ledge of earthly. And God^s Avorks, around us, in MSy. aie also a rovelution to us. They cast light upon the Word, Just va we kuow AND THE NEW EAETn. 37 better all knowledge, shall we know mora fully the sa^■^ng knowledge revealed in Scripture. Cultivate your intelloot then. Give exercise to its powers. Take time. Spend money to nourish the craving for knowledge within you. It is true all secular knowledge may ha well accounted loss for the cxcolleuoy of, or in com{)arisoii with the knowledge of Christ. But if vou seek and find the saving knowlodgo, that will not by any means hind.er you from acquiring all the other you can, and its possession will b-'Defit you in many a way. It is conceded that if a man determines to pursue a course of wickedness, knowledge will make a more accomplished villain of him: hut that is no proof that its tendency is not to better and cK'v.'ite humanity. The intelligent evil-doer is a greater criminal, nut only hocause he knows more; he excels the ordinary criminal chiefly because he has overleaped barriei's of morality Avhich e NEW EARTH. 39 Jesus, and but one way of approach to the Mercy-seat In Christ's name draw near and ask the Fatlier, and He will give. By that new and li\ing way venture to the throne of giace, as suppliants, and the needed mercy will not be withheld. Iluinihty will be our garb then; and penitential feeling will inspire us with hatred of sin, and gratitude to the Saviour; and trustfulness will east a peaceful calm into the wcarv, anxious heart. And there will bo a looking unto Jesus on the Cross, and within the vail; and a pleading for the Holy Spirit of promise; and by (Jod's grace we will become temples wherein that Spirit will dwell.. And thus are ^\ 3 being prepared, and fltly qualified for a place in the tem])le above. Reference has now been made to almost the whole circle of human duty. — the glorifying Ood with the body and spirit which are God's. Of tht' various duties mentioned, all are related in some wav to the future life, and all are of importance, though not all of like imjx>rt- ance. Let us suppose a man of bad character and di.v is, nor the great ones about the soul and God and the world to come, but his Sa\iour has made them all sweet and profitable duties to him. So he pursues the path of commanded duty, Christ's own road; Christ is e^•er before him in it; — Christ, who opened for us heaven's gate, who prepared mansions in the Father's house for all his followers, and who in this manner prepares them for dwelling with Ilim there. I \l i| W