(5) Deliverance from Evil. The entire ex emption from suffering and all that causes suf fering here, is expressed in the Scripture by words which denote rest, repose, refreshment, after per forming labor and enduring affliction. But all the terms which are employed to express this condi tion, define (in the original) the promised 'rest,' as rest after labor, and exemption from toil and grief; and not the absence of employment, not in -activity or indolence (2 Thess. i :7; Heb. iv :9, it; Rev. xiv :13; comp. vii :17).
This deliverance from the evils of our present life includes: 1. Deliverance from this earthly body, the seat of the lower principles of our nature and of our sinful corruption, and the source of so many evils and sufferings (2 Cor. vi:i, 2; 1 Cor. xviii:15)• 2. Entire separation from the society of wicked and evil-disposed persons, who, in various ways, injure the righteous man and embitter his life on earth (2 Tint. iv:18). It is hence accounted a part of the felicity even of Christ himself in heaven to be 'separate from sinners' (Heb. vii: 26).
3. Upon this earth everything is inconstant, and subject to perpetual change; and nothing is capa ble of completely satisfying our expectations and desires. But in the world to come it will be dif ferent. The bliss of the saints will continue with out interruption or change, without fear of ter mination, and without satiety (Luke XX:36; 2 Cor. iv:16, 18; I Pet. i:4; v:10; John iii:2, sq.) Flguratitie. Among the figurative representa tions, we may place the word 'heaven' itself. The abode of departed spirits, to us who live upon the earth, and while we remain here, is invisible and inaccessible beyond the bounds of the visible world, and entirely separated from it. There they live in the highest well-being, and in a nearer connection with God and Christ than here below. This place and state cannot be designated by any more fit and brief expression than that which is found in almost every language, namely, 'heaven,' —a word in its primary and material signification denoting the region of the skies, or the visible heavens. It is there that the highest sanctuary or
temple of God is situated, c. it is there that the omnipresent God most gloriously reveals himself. This, too, is the abode of God's highest spiritual creafion. Thither Christ was transported: he calls it the house of his Father, and says that he has therein prepared an abode for his followers (John xiv :2).
This place, this 'heaven,' was never conceived of in ancient times, as it has been by some modern writers, as a particular planet or world, but as the wide expanse of heaven; high above the atmos phere or starry heavens; hence it is sometimes called the third heaven, as being neither the at mosphere nor the starry heavens.
Another figurative name is 'Paradise,' taken from the abode of our first parents in thcir state of innocence, and transferred to the abode of the blessed (Luke xxiii :43; 2 COr. Xii :4 ; Rev. ii:7; xxii :2).
Again, this place is called 'the heavenly Jeru salem' (Gal. iv :26; Heb. Xii :22 ; Rev. Hi:12), be cause the earthly Jerusalem was the capital city of the Jews, the royal residence, and the seat of divine worship; the 'kingdom of heaven' (Matt. xxv:1; Jam. ii :5) ;the 'heavenly kingdom' (2 Tim. iv:18; the 'eternal kingdom' (2 Pet. i I). It is also called an 'eternal inheritance' (I Pet. i :4; Heb. ix:15), meaning the possession and full enjoyment of happiness, typified by the residence of the an cient Hebrews in Palestine. The blessed are said 'to sit down at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Ja cob,' that is, to be a sharer with the saints of old in the joys of salvation; 'to be in Abraham's bosom' (Luke xvi :22; Matt. viii :10, that is, to sit near or next to Abraham (sec Antinunm's Bosom) ; 'to reign with Christ' (2 Tim. ii c., to be distinguished, honored, and happy as lie is—to en joy regal felicities; to enjoy 'a Sabbath,' or 'rest' (Heb. iv:to, IT), indicating the happiness of pious Christians, both in this life and in the life to come.