PERPETUITY OF THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE. 



\ 



His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as 

 the sun before me;&quot; which expressions evidently 

 imply that the sun will not be blotted out of cre 

 ation, but continue to hold a station in the uni 

 verse as long as the Redeemer and his subjects 

 exist. It is aiso stated, in reference to the same 

 elustrious personage, &quot; His seed will I make to 

 endure for ever, and his throne as the days of 

 heaven,&quot; 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 

 &quot; Jehovah hath preparedhis THRONE in the hea 

 vens.&quot; And when the Psalmist calls upon all 

 the beings in the universe to celebrate the praises 

 of the Creator, he says, in reference to the orbs 

 of heaven, &quot; 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 im 

 ply, that, whatever changes may happen in par 

 ticular 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, ttye following de 

 claration of Jehovah by the prophet Jeremiah 

 is quite decisive on this point. &quot; 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 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,&quot;f which words plainly imply, that 

 if these luminaries continue in existence, the 

 accomplishment of the divine promise is se 

 cured to all the spiritual seed of Israel ; but should 

 they be blotted out of creation, or depart from 

 before Jehovah, the happiness of the &quot; ran 

 somed of the Lord,&quot; and their relation to him 

 as the source of their felicity, would be ter 

 minated for ever. And have not these lumina 

 ries continued in their stations, since the pre 

 diction 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 &quot; saints 

 of the Most High,&quot; They that be teachers of 

 wisdom shall shine as the brightness of the firma 

 ment, and they that turn many to righteousness, 

 as the stars for ever and ever.&quot; 



In short, when we consider the boundless ex 

 tent of the starry firmament, the scenes of gran 

 deur it displays, the new luminaries, which, in 



See Psalm Ixxii. 17. Ixxxix. 36, &c. ciii. 19. 

 cxlviii. 37. 



* Jeremiah xxxi. 35, 36. 



the course of ages, appear to be gradually aug 

 menting its splendour, and the countless myriads 

 of exalted intelligences which doubtless/ people its 

 expansive regions when we consider that it con 

 stitutes the principal portion of the empire of the 

 Eternal, the most astonishing scene of his opera 

 tions, and the rhost striking display of his om 

 nipotence and wisdom, it would be one of the 

 most extravagant notions that can possibly be en 

 tertained,, and inconsistent with every rational 

 and Scriptural idea we can form of the good- 

 ness and intelligence of the Deity, to suppose, 

 that these vast dominions of his, in which his per 

 fections shine with a splendour so ineffable, will 

 ever bo suffered to fall to pieces, or to sink into 

 non-existence. With almost equal reason might 

 we suppose, that the Creator himself would cease 

 to exist, and infinite space be left as a bound 

 less blank without matter and intelligence. 



If the considerations now adduced be admitted 

 to have any force, and if the position I have en 

 deavoured to establish, 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 &quot; Last day,&quot; 

 must be considered as containing a species of 

 bombast which has a tendency to bewilder the 

 mind, and to produce distorted views of the per 

 fections of the Creator, and of the wise arrange 

 ments he has established in the system of the 

 universe. A celebrated poet, when expatiating 

 on this subject, in order to give effect to his de 

 scriptions, breaks out into the following extrava 

 gant exclamations, when alluding to the starry 

 firmament : 



&quot; 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 etherial sp&amp;lt;;ce. 

 How great, how firm, how sacred all appears ! 

 How worthy an iir.mortal round of years ! 

 Yet aU must drop, as autumn s sickliest grain^ 

 And earth and firmament be sought in vain. 

 Time shall be slain, all nature be destroyed, 

 Nor leave an atom in the mighty void. 

 One universal ruin spreads abroad, 

 Nothing is safe beneath the throne of God.&quot; 



Again, 



&quot;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.&quot; &C. 



If such descriptions were to be literally rea^ 

 ized, a resurrection from the dead woula be an o6 

 solute impossibility the universe would be re 

 duced to an immense blank and the visible 

 glories of the Creator, by which alone his per 

 fections 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 declama 

 tions, while they have no other tendency thai-. 



