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tions of the divine perfections,-"The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever, the Lord shall rejoice in all his works." And the Apostle Peter, when describing the dissolution of the elementary parts of our globe, intimates, at the same time, the continued existence of the visible fabric of nature. "We look," says he, "for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." The same truth is incidentally declared in many other portions of Scripture. In the prophecies respecting the Messiah and the duration of his kingdom, it is declared, that " His name shall endure for ever, his name shall be continued as long as the sun. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me," which expressions evidently imply that the sun will not be blotted out of creation, but continue to hold a station in the universe as long as the Redeemer and his subjects exist. It is also stated, in reference to the same illustrious personage, "His seed will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven;" which intimates, that the heavens will endure as long as the government of Immanuel. In reference to the stability and perpetuity of the celestial luminaries, it is declared, that "Jehovah hath prepared his THRONE in the heavens." And when the Psalmist calls upon all the beings in the universe to celebrate the praises of the Creator, he says, in reference to to the orbs of heaven, "Praise ye him, sun and moon, praise him all ye stars of light-Let them praise the name of the Lord; for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for ever and ever; he hath made a decree which shall not pass ;* which expressions evidently imply, that, whatever changes may happen in particular systems, the great body of the celestial orbs, which constitute some of the grandest scenes of the universe, will remain stable and permanent as the throne of the Eternal.-But, not to multiply quotations—the follow. ing declaration of Jehovah by the prophet Jeremiah is quite decisive on this point. "Thus saith the Lord. who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night: The Lord of

*See Psalm lxxii. 17. Ixxxix. 36, &c. ciii. 19, cxlviii. 3-7

Hosts is his name. If these ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever,' "*which words plainly imply, that if these luminaries continue in existence, the accomplishment of the divine promise is secured to all the spiritual seed of Israel; but should they be blotted out of creation, or depart from before Jehovah, the happiness of the "ransomed of the Lord," and their relation to him as the source of their felicity, would be terminated for ever. And have not these luminaries continued in their stations, since the prediction was announced, during a period of more than two thousand years? And do they not still shine with undiminished lustre? Yes, and they will still continue to display the glory of their Creator while countless ages are rolling on. Hence it is declared, with respect to the "saints of the Most High," 99.66 They that be teachers of wisdom shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."

In short, when we consider the boundless extent of the starry firmament, the scenes of grandeur it displays, the new luminaries, which, in the course of ages, appear to be gradually augmenting its splendour, and the countless myriads of exalted intelligences which doubtless people its expansive regions-when we consider that it constitutes the principal portion of the empire of the Eternal, the most astonishing scene of his operations, and the most striking display of his omnipotence and wisdom,-it would be one of the most extravagant notions that can possibly be entertained, and inconsistent with every rational and scriptural idea we can form of the goodness and intelligence of the Deity, to suppose, that these vast dominions of his, in which his perfections shine with a splendour so ineffable, will ever be suffered to fall to pieces, or to sink into nonexistence. With almost equal reason might we suppose, that the Creator himself would cease to exist, and infinite space be left as a boundless blank without matter and intelligence.

If the considerations now adduced be admitted to have any force, and if the position I have endeavoured to esta

* Jeremiah xxxi. 35, 36.

blish, cannot be overthrown, either on Scriptural or rational grounds-many of our sermons and poems which profess to give a description of the scenes of the "Last day," must be considered as containing a species of bombast which has a tendency to bewilder the mind, and to produce distorted views of the perfections of the Creator, and of the wise arrangements he has established in the system of the universe. A celebrated Poet, when expatiating on this subject, in order to give effect to his descriptions, breaks out into the following extravagant exclamations, when alluding to the starry firmament:

"How far from east to west? The lab'ring eye
Can scarce the distant azure bounds descry-
So vast, this world's a grain; yet myriads grace
With golden pomp the throng'd ethereal space.
How great, how firm, how sacred all appears!
How worthy an immortal round of years!
Yet all must drop, as autumn's sickliest grain,
And earth and firmament be sought in vain.
Time shall be slain, all nature be destroy'd,
Nor leave an atom in the mighty void.-
One universal ruin spreads abroad,

Nothing is safe beneath the throne of God."

Again,

"The flakes aspire, and make the heavens their prey,
The sun, the moon, the stars, all melt away;

All, all is lost, no monument, no sign,

Where once so proudly blaz'd the gay machine," &c.

If such descriptions were to be literally realized, a resurrection from the dead would be an absolute impossibilitythe universe would be reduced to an immense blank-and the visible glories of the Creator, by which alone his perfections are recognised by finite intelligences, would be eclipsed in the darkness of eternal night. Poetical scraps of this description, are, however, frequently reiterated by flaming orators, in order to give effect to their turgid declamations, while they have no other tendency than to lead their hearers into a maze of error and extravagancy, to prevent them from thinking soberly and rationally on the scenes predicted in Scripture, and to excite the sneer of philosophical infidels,

The only passage of Scripture which, at first view, seems to militate against the position I have endeavoured to establish, is that contained in Psalm cii. 25, 26. "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands: they shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same," &c. Some commentators, as Mr. Pierce and others, suppose, that by "the earth and heavens," in this passage, are to be understood, governments, or civil and ecclesiastical states, as these words, in their figurative sense, sometimes denote. But this does not appear to be the sense in which they are here used. Taken in their literal sense, they may refer to the same objects and events alluded to by the Apostle Peter, in his Second Epistle, chap. iii. 7, 10. formerly explained; namely, to the dissolution of the earth and the aerial heavens, at the close of time. But, supposing that the words were taken in their most extensive sense, as denoting the whole fabric of the material universe, it would not in the least invalidate the proposition I am now supporting. The main design of the passage is to assert the eternity and immutability of God, in opposition to the mutable nature of created beings. All material things are liable to change; but change does not imply destruction or annihilation. When it is said, "the righteous perish and no man layeth it to heart;" and "they that are far from God shall perish,” it is not to be understood, that either the one or the other shall be blotted out of existence. So, when it is said that the heavens and the earth shall perish, a change or revolution is implied, but not an entire destruction. It is farther said, "As a vesture they shall be folded up," &c. This appears to be spoken in allusion to the custom which obtains in the Eastern nations, among the grandees, of frequently changing their garments as a mark of respect; and seems to import, the ease and celerity with which the Divine Being can accomplish important changes in the universe. He can accomplish the revolutions of worlds and of systems with an ease similar to that of a prince changing his apparel, or laying aside his vestments. But his changing any particular system from its original state, implies only his

opening a new scene, and varying the course of his dispensations in relation to a certain order of his creatures. Nor does the passage under consideration lead us to conclude, that the changes alluded to shall all take place throughout the whole universe at the same period but they may be considered as happening at different periods throughout the lapse of infinite duration, according to the designs which his wisdom has determined to accomplish.

That all material objects are subject to decomposition and changes, we have abundance of evidence in every department of nature. With respect to the earth on which we tread, we perceive the soil in the higher grounds gradually washed down by the action of winds and rains, and carried by the rivers to the bed of the ocean. Banks are accumulating at the mouths of rivers, and reefs in the midst of the seas, which are the terror of mariners and obstructions to navigation. In every pit and quarry, and on the face of every crag and broken precipice, we perceive the marks of disorder, and the effects of former changes and convulsions of nature; while around the bases of volcanic mountains, we behold cities buried under a mass of solid lava, orchards and vineyards laid waste, and fertile fields transformed into a scene of barrenness and desolation. Observation likewise demonstrates, that even the luminaries of heaven are not exempted from revolutions and changes. The law of gravitation, which extends its influence through all the celestial orbs, has a tendency, in the course of ages, to draw together all the spacious globes in the universe, and to condense them into one solid mass; and, were it not for the counteracting and sustaining hand of God, this effect, at some distant period in duration, would inevitably take place, and creation be reduced to one vast and frightful ruin. Many of the stars are ascertained to be subjected to periodical changes, varying their lustre, and appearing and disappearing at certain intervals; while others, which formerly shone with superior brilliancy, have gradually disappeared, and their place inthe heavens is no longer to be found. Other stars, unknown to the ancients and to preceding observers, have made their appearance in modern times; and various nebulous spots, in the distant regions of space, appear to be

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