The Great Salvation/Part 2
Part Two
To obtain the great salvation it is necessary that we understand and believe the things concerning the kingdom of God. Now, dear reader, do not persuade yourself that it is not necessary to have a correct view of this matter; for the things we are now to treat of are part of the gospel our Lord sent His apostles to preach, of which He said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be condemned." Remember that to hold a false view of the gospel is to believe another gospel, or doing which some in the church at Galatia were said by the Apostle Paul to be bewitched (Gal. 3:1). If the gospel promises us an everlasting inheritance on the earth, and we persist in refusing to believe it and hold to the theory that our eternal abode is in heaven, we shall believe in "another gospel" and shall therefore lose the great salvation. Read Gal. 1:6-9 and see how important a matter this is.
It is the general belief that this earth is to be burnt up, and that all good men and women will finally be taken to heaven to enjoy eternity. This theory represents God's work, so far as the earth is concerned, as a failure; for if there is not a future for it better than the past--if the evils of the earth's past and present are not to be made to yield ultimate good--what else is it but a failure?