Part 12 (1/2)
Remember, the Saviour said:
”I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there ye may also be. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of G.o.d. The same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his G.o.d, and he shall be my son.” ”WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM COME.” ”I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the _water of life_ freely.” ”THEY SHALL LIVE FOR EVER AND EVER.”
There the redeemed of the Lord shall, with their blessed Saviour, ”inherit the kingdom,” where the glory of G.o.d illumines the ”city,”
and throws its radiance over all the vast realm. O what a delightful place for a permanent ”_Home!_” How singularly different it contrasts with our residence on earth. Here we have to endure toil, pain, and death; there, rest, happiness, and eternal life. See here the care-worn, weary husband, toiling and striving against contending billows and waves of misfortune, to earn a support for a helpless, dependent family; perhaps his strivings are the more difficult because of pain of body or anguish of mind. Disease in some form may be preying upon his vitality, even through long years of existence, and he knows that it will eventually conquer, and consign him to his grave. Or, if bodily health prevails, the mind may be tortured and distracted at witnessing the sufferings of a beloved wife, or children, as one by one they are smitten down or s.n.a.t.c.hed away by death; or still more poignant the grief and anguish he endures because of the alienation of affections, or family tumults, of strifes and contentions. See that wife and mother lingering by the bedside of a devoted, yet now dying husband, or clasping to her tortured and heaving bosom the lifeless form of a beloved child, and yet powerless to save the one or call back the other. These are the heart-struggling in the tempest of life. Soon they will be over. A few years more, at most, and then all will be still; this mortality will be silent in the grave.
But of that ”home in heaven.” ”Glorious things are spoken of thee, O City of G.o.d.” There love, peace, and joy forever reigns. There is the ”full fruition” and realization of ”the hope of the glory of G.o.d.”
There ”their lines have fallen to them in pleasant places.” There they realize ”fulness of joy,” and their heritage ”pleasures for evermore.”
There they find ”that inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.” There they have a home in an enduring city, whose foundations are eternal. There the palms of victory; and crowns of glory. There they walk the gold-paved streets of the city, or wander at pleasure in the 'Garden of the Lord,' or amidst forests green, or pleasant groves. There the crystal fountains play their sparkling waters in the light of eternal day, and the ”river of life”
flows ”from beneath the throne of G.o.d,” onward and onward, meandering through, and encircling the vast realm of that heavenly empire. There perennial spring, and never-fading flowers. There old age and decrepitude are never known, but all clothed upon with ”garments of righteousness,” will live and dwell in perpetual immortal youth, through the ever-recurring cycles of endless eternity. Angels of G.o.d are there. The Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs are there; ministers of G.o.d are there; some of our kindred friends are there; others of them will _soon_ be there. The redeemed of earth, who were accepted of the Lord are there, and the remainder of the ”ransomed hosts,” are now pressing on, or coming after, and _will all be there_, and form an innumerable company which no one can number, each can form pleasant a.s.sociations there, never to be broken up, ”For nothing shall disturb in all the holy mountains.” Reader, are you striving for that HAPPY HOME?
_CONCLUSIVE AND CONCLUDING ARGUMENT._
The Sun is held by all Philosophers and Astronomers to be the central pivot of the solar system, and the _loadstone power of attraction_, which governs, steadies, and controls all its surrounding planet-worlds in their orbits. So great is its power of attraction, that a counter-balancing force was necessary to keep the machinery of Nature in order. This force is produced by the attracting power of the various planet-worlds, placed in proper positions in surrounding s.p.a.ce, and thus furnis.h.i.+ng the _centrifugal_, to counterbalance the _centripetal_ force _ascribed_ to the Sun, by which means our earth, and the other planets, are kept whirling in their elliptical orbits, and thus each prevented from being drawn by the superior centripetal or attracting power of that globe into certain destruction by the fires of the _Sun_.
This is the hypothesis, we believe, of every Philosopher and Astronomer of the present day.
Now let us examine this hypothesis, and see if it does not foreshadow and sustain our own.
In the first place, it is _true_ that the _”loadstone power of attraction” is there_: but it is _within_ what all denominate the SUN, and by _this_ the surrounding planets are controlled. But this power _is not the Sun_. For what all denominate the Sun, is that which gives out light and heat. The Sun is _fire_, _heat_, and _brightness_ or light. Fire, or heat, is _ethereal_; has no such power of attraction: but on the contrary, is repelling and dissipating. There is no solid substance in fire; it is an invisible agency--save when it is concentrated. It would be an unreasonable hypothesis to conclude that the fires of the Sun were fed on combustible material. The Sun may have been just the same as it is now, for untold _billions of years_--possibly from all eternity--and G.o.d, by His Word has revealed the fact that it will continue forever--even as long as His throne.
Hence, if produced by combustion, its material would be constantly wasting away, and, as Prof. Olmsted says, ”the products of combustion would obscure its light.” Therefore, as there is no tangible source, and all agree that G.o.d Himself was, and still is its source, we hold that our hypothesis, that it is a fixed volume of _Photospheric-ethereal_, or _spirit-fire_, is correct. That it is one of Jehovah's attributes; ever existing and performing its offices in creative and enduring Nature; never increasing nor diminis.h.i.+ng.
Now, this being the only reasonable, and--as we believe--correct hypothesis, of the origin, nature, and element of the _Sun_--the Sun being the brightness we see in looking at it--_where_ and _what is the loadstone power of attraction_, which reaches out millions of miles into s.p.a.ce, and controls vast worlds, steadying each in its own orbital path, while they are flying round at the rate of from fifty thousand, to one hundred thousand miles an hour? We think the answer plain, and that all can comprehend it. This Earth is a solid body, and _all such_ possess, within themselves, the power of attraction.
Therefore, the laws of Nature reveal the fact to us, that _the great central and controlling power of attraction_ attributed to the _Sun_, is the vast INNER GLOBE we have been contemplating; a globe, or world, more than a million times the size of this Earth. Leading Astronomers have agreed on the existence of such a body within; and far separated--by a non-luminous atmosphere or void--from the outer _photosphere of ethereal fire_. That globe we hold is--_beyond a doubt_--the ”HEAVENLY WORLD” spoken of throughout the Holy Scriptures, and is the final and eternal home of the righteous.
We see wisdom displayed, and find law and order in every thing we comprehend which pertains to G.o.d and Nature. Phenomena, which for long ages were mysteries, are now, through the lights of science, being fully comprehended and made plain to all. And, by reasoning from a.n.a.logy, new arts and sciences are comprehended, while each additional light gained flashes upon some other hidden mystery, and reveals in it nothing but _law_ and _order_, in all its arrangements.
The progress made of late in the arts and sciences is wonderful indeed; yet this is only the progress of the mind of man, and the enlightenment of his intellect. And we believe that the next decade of years will develop _facts_ which might startle the minds of the wisest of to-day to contemplate.
That vast world--surrounded by the Sun--controls this Earth and its other surrounding planets. From that world, and Sun--in its offices--we derive every blessing while on Earth, and we cannot doubt but that when we find our future, IT WILL BE THERE. The righteous to dwell _within_ where, we have shown you, the Sun does not or cannot s.h.i.+ne; but where the _glory of G.o.d_ is the light of the holy place, and yet we have the evidence that one of the offices of the _Sun_ will be the punishment of the wicked who cannot enter that HEAVENLY WORLD.
”_Whoso is wise will observe these things._” Psalms, cvii.
_WILL ALL TAKE HEED?_
Gentle reader, we are about to take our leave of you. We have penned the lines which compose this volume at short intervals obtained recently from a laborious professional life. Our mind has been duly impressed with the correctness of the views we have advanced. Indeed, to disbelieve them, would seem to disbelieve Divine revelations, and let the mind become again shrouded with impenetrable mystery in regard to the place of our future habitation, and of the manner and mode of the spirit's transit thither after the death of the body. All should remember that they will be held accountable for the light and knowledge they receive.
We feel fully a.s.sured that our hypothesis as to the location of Heaven--as also that of h.e.l.l--is well founded and fully sustained by G.o.d's own revelations, both as recorded in the Bible, and as seen in visible nature. As to the ”Spirit of G.o.d as fire,” we have presented such evidence as Divine revelations have furnished us, and only added to these such as _reason_, as the perceptive faculties of all, do or may comprehend, and we do not see wherein the _Christian World_ can found any objections to our conclusions.
That there might be culled from the Bible a few pa.s.sages which may seem not to reflect our views is natural, when we consider how it is interspersed with the views and versions of various historical writers in the chronicling of events. But we believe Divine revelations furnish sufficient _positive evidence_ to sustain us; such evidence as the _reason_ of every enlightened and reflecting mind will comprehend and approve. We believe this knowledge should--nay, doubtless, _will_--have a salutary and beneficial effect upon the minds and hearts of all. We now leave all as a _personal matter with you_. That you _will have a future_ you cannot doubt. We therefore beseech you to remember ”that G.o.d will not be mocked” with impunity; neither can he be deceived.