God hath sworn by His Holiness, that the seed of David (the Messiah), should "endure forever, and his throne as the Sun before him."

The Psalmist, referring to the Messiah says, "His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as long as the Sun, and all nations shall call him blessed." Here we have the assurance of the eternal duration of the Sun; even as the Throne of God which is to "endure forever and ever." The promise is, that

"His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. Thy throne O God is forever and ever."

Thus, we see that the Sun and the heaven are to endure as long as the throne of God, and his throne is to endure "forever and ever."

Now to us, to all, while dwelling in mortality, the Sun dispenses its blessings alike. "He maketh the Sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendeth the rain on the just, and on the unjust."

Thus, we see that the Sun is the active agency for the dispensing of His blessings to man and all animation on this Earth. Its rays of light and heat penetrate the bosoms of oceans and seas, and draw up from "the fountains of the deep" the "liquid element" in ascending vapor, and condensing it into clouds, scatter and return it in rains, and gentle showers, to water and replenish the Earth and make it bring forth for sustenance of man and beast, and renew the verdure of nature.

Now do we not see in all this, as in all things else, that the Sun—its heat and light—are God's agencies in sustaining all things? We have told you that we could comprehend that it was an agency pervading and controlling all things. But you have doubtless noticed the fact that as we have followed up and grasped the revelations made by Philosophers and Astronomers, that the ablest of them have failed to comprehend the nature of the eternal source of fire. All agree in the one fact, however, that it is derived from the Sun. No finite mind ever has comprehended, nor, it may be, ever will be able to fully comprehend it. We know that it exists. We apply to it properties and principles, or components which form the element. Beyond this we cannot go, only we know that God himself is its author; that it is an element intimately connected with Himself—nay more, that He has even revealed to us that His Spirit is fire! And when we contemplate the fact that it is the only completely destructive, or annihilating element, and yet one that can never be destroyed; one that is to purify the righteous, and yet punish the wicked, we are led to the inevitable conclusion that it is an attribute of the Great Jehovah. We believe it an element of creative agency, one that has existed—possibly—from all eternity, and will continue through all eternity to come. We are told that God, by His Spirit, is manifest in all His works. Now, what else than light, and heat, is thus manifest to us? It is positively the source of all light, and St. Paul tells us that "All things are made manifest by light;" while the Psalmist declares "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and His circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof."

Now we see that this declaration establishes our hypothesis of the location of heaven. His going forth from the end of the heaven—from the sun—and nothing is hid from the heat thereof—the Sun being the source of heat—is conclusive evidence that the Sun is near—even at the ends of the heaven.

In the further contemplation of the hypothesis, that the Spirit of God is as fire, you will remember that we have stated that some of the constituent elements of fire pervades all things, and also that God—by His Spirit—is everywhere, and in all His works. Hear the Psalmist, on this subject:

"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

"If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee."