The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-07-15

in His wisdom and goodness lie decided
to make such Il world as this to b" tie
scene Of human abode and probation, ana
to make it in such a method as lie did,
it did not appall Him that it would take
SO long to effect il. our thoughts strain
themselves to Conceive the time that
must have been required for the produc-
ton through the ordinary method OF
growth of a single bed of coal. and much
more Of the whole series. But even that
we have every reason to believe was but
an intinit Csimal portion Of the whole lapse
Of duration So in His moral Kingdom,
lie is going to make goodness triumphant
over evil. Do we say that G,0Oo years are
past and It is not yet done? Do we say
that Christ died eighteen centuries
ago, and the majority OF man
kind to this day have never heard
OF Him? DO YOU say that you
have lived in sin your three score
years and lie has not punished YOU yet?
But what of that? Is the end any the
less certain because it is delayed? What
is delay to Him whose hand breadth
spans eternity
no RETREAT.
Gods work, again, never goes back
ward. If there are apparent pauscS or
failures in it, we may be sure they are
such only in appearance. If when the
first great stratum of coal vegetation was
flushed, we could have seen the cOntt-
uyut sinking with it beneath the waves
We might have felt a pang II di-Hppoint-
men, at the failure Of His undertaking.
And so with each recurrence of the
event, so specially at the end, when the
coal measures We're completed, and tie
great succeeding formations came ON 90
bury them as we might think forever out
of reach. BUT we now know that was
40 failure. Whatever the aspects to our
view, every change was in the divine
plan SIep Of progress. II was by a
vast graduation of such steps that crca-
ton vas completed, and man placed at
its head So now there is no backward
step in His rule over human affairs. Evil
may sometimes triumph, wickcdncss
some times boast itself Of what it has
done and what it will do. But such
boasting Is vain The trees do not stop
growing because their leaves fall Off in
the autumn. The rcnuent waves of the
shore return III increased momentum with
the swelling tide. Be not discouraged,
ye who labor and pray for the good time
coming, because IL seems t. come so
slowly. Do not oNLlt, yc who hate God
and goodness at apparent disasters TO His
cause, the Ealting Of the righteous. the
| victories Of tho wrong. Mans defeats
are Gods successes, and we may be sure
shat what He said win come true. "Ny
counsel shall stand and Twill do all my
! pleasure"
PROPHECIES.
Fifth. God has written upon these tab
| lets of testimony glorious prophecies OF
| the future. In the Scriptures lie hd 3
told us Of q new heaven and new earth
which He will one day make wherein
shah dwell righteousness. l will not un-
dertakc to say precisely what Is meant
| by these--whcther they represent simply
| n spiritual state of happiness for man
| beyond the grave and the judgment, or
| the perfected blesscdncss of the earth it.
| self In its latter day GiCry. This at least
| is certain, that they refer 10 the inal
abode of Gods people called appropriate
| Is new earth because no longer marrcd
| by the guilt and the woe, the sorrows
and the tears, of the old one This great
! promise of His word is confirmed by the
prophecy written in this older book of
Nature. From the beginning of time,
| old conditions of tho earth have been
| passing away and all things becoming
new There was a primitive earth of
| cnveloping ocean with only bare gram
| itc peaks rising above the waves and
| strange forms Of Corals and shells swarm
| ing in the depths, but II passed away
! Another earth succeeded, hllCd with lux
| uriant vegetation making the CarbOuilrr-
Gus period, which also, as we have seen,
| passed away, Others again followed
| some new ocean periods, the eras of huge
| tribes of fishes and reptiles, some par
| tial land periods with their characters
| tic plant and animal tribes, all now eX-
| tiuct; others still later when nuurished
| the mighty quadrupcds, the giant horses
and elephants, and mastOdons whose
| bones M us with such wonder Then
! there was that strange glacial period