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For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2 Peter 3:5
An Invitation to the New Church #32
32. That the Lord will not come to judgment in order to destroy heaven and earth, is plain from many passages in the Word where His coming is treated of; where it is said,
When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8); besides many more passages which are quoted in THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION n. 765.
Further, that He will not come to destroy the visible heaven and the habitable earth (n. 768, et seq.), but to separate the evil from the good (n. 772, et seq.); and many more besides. The same also is declared in the Credal Faith which is inserted in every Psalm book in the whole Christian world, where the Apostles' Creed only is set forth. The same is introduced thence into psalms. By the "quick," in the above places, are meant those who are in charity and faith, and are called "sheep" by the Lord; but by the "dead" are meant those who are not in charity and faith, and are called by the Lord "he-goats. " (Add to the above, Revelation 11:18, 20:12.)
