upon his throne, surrounded by angels and archangels, and by all his flaming ministers. 6. We cannot think that this heaven will undergo any change, any more than its great inhabitant. Surely this palace of the Most High was the same from eternity, and will be, world without end. Only the inferior heavens are liable to change; the highest of which we usually call the starry heavens. This, St. Peter informs us, "is reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment, and destruction of men. In that day," being on fire," it shall, first, "shrivel as a parchment scroll :" then it shall "be dissolved, and shall pass away with a great noise:" lastly, it shall "flee from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and there shall be found no place for it." 7. At the same time," the stars shall fall from heaven,” the secret chain being broken which had retained them in their several orbits, from the foundation of the world. In the mean while the lower, or sublunary heaven, with the elements, (or principles that compose it,) "shall melt with fervent heat," while "the earth, with the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.' This is the introduction to a far nobler state of things, such as it has not yet entered into the heart of man to conceive: the universal restoration which is to succeed the universal destruction. "For we look for," says the Apostle, "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness," 2 Pet. iii. 7, &c. 8. One considerable difference there will undoubtedly be in the starry heaven, when it is created anew; there will be no blazing stars, no comets there. Whether those horrid, eccentric orbs are half-formed planets, in a chaotic state, (I speak on the supposition of a plurality of worlds,) or such as have undergone their general conflagration, they will certainly have no place in the new heaven, where all will be exact order and harmony. There may be many other differences between the heaven that now is, and that which will be after the renovation. But they are above our apprehension: we must leave eternity to explain them. 9. We may more easily conceive the changes which will be wrought in the lower heaven, in the region of the air. It will be no more torn by hurricanes, or agitated by furious storms or destructive tempests. Pernicious or terrifying meteors will have no place therein. We shall have no more occasion to say, "There like a trumpet, loud and strong, Thy thunder shakes our coast: While the red lightnings wave along, No: all will then be light, fair, serene: a lively picture of the eternal day. 10. All the elements, (taking that word in the common sense, for the principles of which all natural beings are compounded,) will be new indeed; entirely changed as to their qualities, although not as to their nature. Fire is, at present, the general destroyer of all things under the sun; dissolving all things that come within the sphere of its action, and reducing them to their primitive atoms. But no sooner will it have performed its last great office of destroying the heavens and the earth, (whether you mean thereby one system only, or the whole fabric of the universe: the difference between one and millions of worlds being nothing before the great Creator.) When, I say, it has done this, the destructions wrought by fire, will come to a perpetual end. It will destroy no more; it will consume no more; it will forget its power to burn, which it possesses only during the present state of things, and be as harmless in the new heavens and earth, as it is now in the bodies of men and other animals, and the substance of trees and flowers: in all which, (as late experiments shew,) large quantities of ethereal fire are lodged: if it be not rather an essential component part of every material being under the sun. But it will, probably, retain its vivifying power, though divested of its power to destroy. 11. It has been already observed, that the calm, placid air, will be no more disturbed by storms and tempests. There will be no more meteors, with their horrid glare, af + frighting the poor children of men. May we not add, (though, at first, it may sound like a paradox,) that there will be no more rain. It is observable, that there was none in Paradise: a circumstance which Moses particularly mentions, Gen. ii. 5, 6, "The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth.—But there went up a mist from the earth," which then covered the abyss of waters, 66 and watered the whole face of the ground," with moisture sufficient for all the purposes of vegetation. We have all reason to believe, that the case will be the same when Paradise is restored. Consequently, there will be no clouds or fogs; but one bright, refulgent day. Much less will there be any poisonous damps or pestilential blasts. There will be no Sirocco in Italy, no parching or suffocating winds in Arabia: no keen North-East winds in our own country, fair trees;" "Shattering the graceful locks of yon but only pleasing, healthful breezes, "Fanning the earth with odoriferous wings." 12. But what a change will the element of water undergo, when all things are made new! It will be, in every part of the world, clear and limpid, pure from all unpleasing or unhealthful mixtures, rising here and there in crystal fountains, to refresh and adorn the earth, "With liquid lapse of murmuring stream." For, undoubtedly, as there were in Paradise, there will be various rivers gently gliding along, for the use and pleasure of both man and beast. But the inspired writer has expressly declared, "there will be no more sea," Rev. xxi. 1. We have reason to believe, that at the beginning of the world, when God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear," Gen. i. 9: the dry land spread over the face of the water, and covered it on every side. And so it seems to have done, till, in order to the general deluge, which God had determined to bring upon the earth at once, "the windows of heaven were opened, and the fountains of the great deep broken up." But the sea will then retire within its primitive bounds, and appear on the surface of the earth no more. Neither, indeed, will there be any more need of the sea. For either, as the ancient Poet supposes, Omnis feret omnia tellus ! Every part of the earth will naturally produce whatever its inhabitants want: or all mankind will procure what the whole earth affords, by a much easier and readier conveyance. For all the inhabitants of the earth, our Lord in-. forms us, will then be aÿyɛλ, equal to angels: on a level with them in swiftness as well as strength; so that they can quick as thought, transport themselves, or whatever they want, from one side of the globe to the other. 13. But it seems, a greater change will be wrought in the earth, than even in the air and water. Not that I can believe that wonderful discovery of Jacob Behme, which many so eagerly contend for, that the earth itself with all its furniture and inhabitants, will then be transparent as glass. There does not seem to be the least foundation for this, either in Scripture or Reason. Surely not in Scripture: I know not one text in the Old or New Testament, which affirms any such thing. Certainly it cannot be inferred from that text in the Revelation, chap. iv. ver. 6, "And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal." And yet, if I mistake not, this is the chief, if not the only scripture which has been urged in favour of this opinion! Neither can I conceive that it has any foundation in reason. It has been warmly alleged, that all things would be far more beautiful, if they were quite transparent. But I cannot apprehend this: yea, I apprehend quite the contrary. Suppose every part of a human body were made transparent as crystal, would it appear more beautiful than it does now? Nay, rather, it would shock us above measure. The surface of the body, in particular, "The human face divine," is undoubtedly, one of the most beautiful objects that can be found under heaven. But could you look through the rosy cheek, the smooth, fair forehead, or the rising bosom, and distinctly see all that lies within, you would turn away from it with loathing and horror. 14. Let us next take a view of those changes which we may reasonably suppose will then take place in the earth. It will no more be bound up with intense cold, nor parched up with extreme heat; but will have such a temperature as will be most conducive to its fruitfulness. If in order to punish its inhabitants, God did of old "Bid his angels turn askance This oblique globe," thereby occasioning violent cold on one part, and violent heat on the other; he will, undoubtedly, then order them to restore it to its original position: so that there will be a final end, on the one hand, of the burning heat, which makes some parts of it scarce habitable; and on the other, of "The rage of Arctos and eternal frost." 15. And it will then contain no jarring or destructive principles within its own bosom. It will no more have any of those violent convulsions in its own bowels. It will no more be shaken or torn asunder, by the impetuous force of earthquakes; and will, therefore, need neither Vesuvius, nor Ætna, nor any burning mountains to prevent them. There will be no more horrid rocks, or frightful precipices; no wild desarts or barren sands; no impassable morasses, or unfruitful bogs, to swallow up the unwary traveller. There will, doubtless, be inequalities on the surface of the earth, which are not blemishes, but beauties. And though I will not affirm, That "Earth hath this variety from heaven, Of pleasure situate in hill and dale;" yet I cannot think gently-rising hills will be any defect; but an ornament of the new made earth. And, doubtless, we shall then likewise have occasion to say, "Lo there his wond'rous skill arrays The fields in cheerful green! |