The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-03-25 00:00:00

le earth by instrument

instrum, now. (Hear,
u.) The saints he is gathering
call real Christians), are
, His royal priesthood ;
-..e ; ruling under Him over five
or one city, as the case may be. To
He is now exerting the
mrit. I influence, which constitutes true religion in the
'on. And when that is finished, and
inst. - is all ready, and the bride, the lamb's
is prepared, and the elect are called, then he hastens
kingdom, for all His lieutenants are ready to take
over the earth, under Him as king of Jerusalem,
11 reign under Him in all the ends of the earth.

eriaht

with Ilin-

H
theirpostall
and they sln

us that the heavens

at the sure word of prophecy informs
the heavenly elements which sur-
ill with fervent heat, and the
forks that are therein, shall be burnt

But equally true it is, that in immediate connexion
with this the same Divine Word adds; " Nevertheless"—
that is, notwithstanding this staggering truth,—" we,
according to his promise,"—we who have faith to
rely on His promise in the face of any difficulty—we
" look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
-less." As some help to our faith in this
anticipation, the inspired writer invites attention to
the nature of the preparatory distinction. This he
does by connecting it with a distinction which has already
t 1 taken place, and of

righteousr

ich he speaks in equally decisi
"bei

"The world that was

iefore the deluge,
'—apolelo.

perished"

av o stronge

word is used to describe the ruin of the world that now is.
The world that then was perished ; but there was no an-
nihilation. No ; for annihilation would be a speechless
judgment; annihilation would be a practical confession
that there had been a mistake in creation. But there
was no mistake. The end was seen in the beginning.
Nothing was made in vain; nothing can ever be annihi-
lated

(Hear, hear, and cheers.) There was no annihi-
lation then, but there was a renovation after destruction
by water ; and there will be no annihilation now, but
renovation, after destruction by fire. There was no an-
nihilation in the one case, neither shall there be in the
other. This material world remained, though somewhat
altered, after it perished by water ; and this same
material world will remain, though still more altered,
after it has perished by fire. And yet on the strength of
this scripture, and apparently on this alone, is based that
common imagination among Christians, so admirably de-
scribed, and rejected as unscriptural, by Dr. Chalmers.
I will read his words :

"The common imagination of Paradise on the other side of
death, is that of a lofty aerial region, where the inmates float
in ether, and are mysteriously suspended upon nothing: where
all the warm and sensible accompaniments which give such an
expression of strength, and life, and colouring to our present
habitation, are attenuated into a sort of spiritual element, that
is meagre and imperceptible, and utterly u ninviting to the eye
of mortals here below where every vestiee of materialism is

left but certain unearthly scenes that
ment, and certain unearthly ecstasies
_ possible to sympathise."
My chief object is t withdraw your attention from such
TY' 3tified, unearthly anticipation, which
lractical, in it. It is not the world as it shall

le, aeria►, mvs

lathing

be :it is not the good time that's coming. You may de-
pend upon it, we shall have the world firm—( Hear, hear,
and cheers)—firm to stand upon, and not aerial as the
sphitualisers talk. (Hear, hear.) Ton may depend upon
it we shall have bodies we can touch, as they touched his

- -----,
body who had said, " Handle me, and see, for
a spirit has not flesh and bones." (Hear, hear, hear.)
Purified by fire, " the world as it shall be," will be the
abode of righteousness : the " ransomed possession" and
restored dominion of the second Adam. He shall reign
and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in
the earth. He shall rescue the poor and the needy, and
shall break in pieces the oppressor. We read as follows
in Isaiah, chap. xi, and at the sth verse :
" Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith-
fulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with
the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the
calf and the young lion and the fatling together • and a little
child shall lead them._ They shall not hurt nor destroy in all

my holy mountain ; for the earth shall be full of the 'know
ledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

And again, in Revelations, 5 v., c. 21, we find,—
" And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all
:pings new. And He said uuto me, Write : for these words
Ire true and faithful."

And in the 22 chqpter, at the 3 verse,—

" And there shrill be no more curse : but the throne of God
and of the Lamb shall be in it ; and His servants shall serve
Him : and they shall see His face •, and His name shall be
in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there ' • and
they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord
God giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and
ever. And He said unto me, These sayings are faithful and
true; and the God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show
unto his servants the things which must shortly be done."

Such is the divine description of the world as it shall be •
such shall be the good time that's coming. This is 4
blessed prospect, my dear friends, of " the good time
that's coming;" is it not ? (Hear, hear.) I will tell you
the reason it is not so exciting as the false promises of
good things here. The reason is, these promises are made
to the faith of God's elect ; and God's elect are not found
in multitudes which fill Amphitheatres. Receive that
word solemnly, and examine yourselves. You might all
be found among those elect, and yet would be a very
small remnant out of this place. But take heed of your-
selves, my friends, for there is much self-deception in
these days. lam now on a serious and solemn subject,—
one to enter fully into, it requires indeed faith in God's
word, without corroboration from man's testimony, or
even from personal experience. Concerning what are com-
monly called doctrines, you can have corroboration from
external evidence, and you can have corroboration from
personal experience : and therefore you may feel a certain
amount of confidence in them without much of the sim-
plicity of the faith that rests upon God alone. But, when
you amoroach prophecy, history fails and experience fails
you. You have nothing for it but the word of God, and this
is one reason why so few have confidence in infallible pro-
phecy. It requires that sort of faith that can take God's
word without a voucher. Remember I told you that.
Now, in the third place, a specimen of the world as
it will be is given us in the ministry of Christ.
See with what a sovereign touch the Saviour mastered the
evil one in every department of his usurpation ; thus giv-
ing an earnest even in the days of his disguise, of what
he will do effectually and universally in the day of his
unveiled royalty. Adverse elements encountered him
on the sea ; and on shore the most aggravated trophies
of Satan's victory over man, were presented before him—
the destitute and the diseased, the demoniac and the dead.
And what followed ? What splendid specimens of his
coming sovereignty ! The lame man leaped as a hart, the
tongue of the dumb did sing. The dead were raised to
life, and the devils were cast out. The pelting storm was