117# 制伏众地狱、规整众天堂，而后重建教会，这几件事可借数类相近譬喻阐明。
其一可喻为一伙盗匪叛军：这群匪众侵入邦国城池，纵火焚毁屋舍，劫掠百姓财物，瓜分赃物之后，反倒自鸣得意、互相夸耀。救赎之事，则可比作一位公义君王，亲率军队讨伐这群盗匪，一部分匪众就地伏诛，余下尽数收押监牢；君王夺回被劫掠的财物，归还臣民，继而整顿全境，使国度再不受同类侵扰，得以长久安稳。
其二可喻为成群野兽自山林奔袭而出：野兽袭击牛羊畜群，亦伤人命；百姓不敢踏出城墙，田地无人耕种，原野尽数荒芜，城中之人终将因饥荒殒命。救赎便如同剿灭、驱散这群野兽，守护田间原野，杜绝野兽再度进犯。
其三可喻为蝗虫吞尽地上一切青绿草木，救赎便是阻拦蝗虫继续蔓延；亦可比作初夏小虫，啃尽树叶、剥夺果实，使树木光秃，一如隆冬凋残。救赎就如同抖落这类小虫，使园囿重归花叶繁茂、结实累累的模样。
倘若不是主借着救赎，将善人、恶人彼此分开，把恶人投进地狱，将善人提升至天堂，教会便会落得与以上譬喻相同的破败光景。试想，倘若一个邦国没有公义与审判，无法从善人之中剔除恶人，不能庇护善人免遭侵害，不能令众人各安其家，如同圣言所言，安稳坐在自己的无花果树与葡萄树下，这邦国又会是何等光景？
117# 征服地狱，恢复天堂的秩序，然后建立一个教会可通过各种对比来说明。地狱可以比作一伙强盗或叛军，他们入侵一个王国或一座城市，放火烧毁房屋，掠夺居民的财物，瓜分战利品，并因此欢喜快乐；而救赎本身可以比作一位正义的国王，他率领军队向他们进军，将其中一些人斩于剑下，将另一些人投入监狱，追回战利品，还给臣民，然后在他的王国建立秩序，使其免受类似攻击。地狱也可以比作成群的野兽，它们从森林里窜出来，攻击羊群和牛群，甚至攻击人类，以至于没有人敢越过城墙耕种土地，由此导致田地荒芜，沦为沙漠，居民面临饥饿的威胁；而救赎可以比作毁灭和驱散这些野兽，保护田地和平原以后免受进一步的类似毁坏。地狱也可以比作吞噬地上一切青绿之物的蝗虫，而救赎可以比作阻止它们进一步发展的手段。最后，地狱可以比作夏初毛毛虫，它们啃光树叶，进而啃光果实，使得树木如在隆冬那样光秃秃地站着；而救赎可以比作消灭这些昆虫，从而使园子恢复到开花和丰产的状态。因此，除非主通过救赎将善人和恶人分离，将恶人扔进地狱，将善人提入天堂，否则教会也会如此。如果不施行公义和公义，将恶人和善人分离，保护善人免受骚扰或侵害，使每个人都可以安全地住在家中，如圣言所说的，安然坐在自己的葡萄树或无花果树下（列王纪上4:25; 弥迦书4:4），那么，一个帝国或王国会变成什么样子呢？
117. Gaining control of the hells, restructuring the heavens, and then establishing a church can be illustrated by various comparisons.
They can be illustrated by a comparison with an army of looters or rebels who invade a country or a city, set fire to the houses, plunder the citizens' goods, and divide the spoils among themselves, enjoying and glorifying themselves because of it. Redemption itself can be illustrated by a comparison with an upright monarch who attacks these invaders with an army, puts some of them to the sword, imprisons the rest in labor camps, takes the stolen goods away from them to give back to the citizens, and then restructures the country and gives it protection against attack by similar assailants in the future.
It could also be illustrated by a comparison with wild animals that have formed packs and are charging out of the forest attacking flocks and herds and even people. The people do not dare to go outside the walls of the city and cultivate the land, so the fields are becoming deserts and the people in the city are about to die of hunger. Redemption could be illustrated by analogy with killing some of the wild animals, driving away the others, and protecting the fields and plains from any further attack of the kind.
It could also be illustrated by locusts that are consuming every green thing in the ground and then by the means of stopping them from going any farther. Also by caterpillars at the beginning of summer that strip the leaves off the trees (thus preventing the fruit from coming) so that the trees stand as naked as in midwinter; and then by the act of shaking the caterpillars off and restoring the garden to flowering and fruit-bearing.
The church would have been in a comparable situation unless the Lord through redemption had separated the good from the evil, had cast the evil into hell, and had lifted the good to heaven.
What would it be like in an empire or a country that knew no justice or judgment? Justice and judgment take evil people away from the company of the good; they protect good people from being violated so that they may live safely in their own homes and, as it says in the Word, sit in serenity under their own fig tree and their own vine [1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4].
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117. A variety of similes can be used to illustrate the conquest of the hells, the ordering of the heavens and then the establishment of the church. These can be compared with a band of robbers or rebels who invade a kingdom or a city, set fire to the houses in it, loot the inhabitants' goods, divide their booty between them and enjoy themselves boasting of their prowess. The act of redemption then can be compared to a just king who attacks them with his army, puts some of them to the sword, shuts up others in labour camps, and takes away their booty and returns it to his subjects, and afterwards imposes order on his kingdom, making it safe from any similar attack. Another comparison might be with troops of wild beasts breaking out from the forests and attacking flocks and herds, and people too, so that no one dares to leave the walls of their town to till the ground; so the fields are bare and the townsmen likely to die of famine. Then redemption can be compared with the killing and putting to flight of those wild beasts, and the protection of fields and countryside from any further such attack. Another comparison might be with a swarm of locusts eating all the greenstuff on the earth, and with measures taken to block their further progress. Likewise with caterpillars in early summer which strip trees of their leaves, and thus of their fruit too, so that they stand all bare as at midwinter; and the shaking of them off, so that gardens are restored to their flowering and fruitful condition. It would be the same with the church, if the Lord had not by the act of redemption separated the good from the evil, and cast one lot into hell, and raised the others into heaven. What would happen to an empire or a kingdom devoid of justice and law-courts, designed to remove the wicked from the society of the good, and to protect the good from violence, so that everyone could live at home in safety, and, as it says in the Word, sit quietly under his own fig tree and vine?
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117. The subjugation of the hells, the restoration of order in the heavens, and the institution afterwards of a church, is a work that may be illustrated by various similitudes. It may be illustrated by comparison with an army of robbers or rebels who invade a kingdom or a city, and set fire to its dwellings, plunder its inhabitants, divide the spoil among themselves, and then rejoice and exult; while redemption itself may be compared to the lawful king who advances against these rebels with his army, puts some to the sword, and some in prison, recovers the booty, and restores it to his subjects, thereafter establishing order in his kingdom, and rendering it secure against like assaults. It may also be illustrated by comparison with a troop of wild beasts issuing from a forest, attacking flocks and herds and even human beings, so that nobody dares to go outside of the walls of his city to till the ground, and therefore the fields become deserts, and the townsmen are threatened with starvation; while redemption may be compared to the slaughtering and scattering of these wild beasts, and the protection of the fields from any such irruption thereafter. It may be likened also to locusts consuming every green thing of the ground, and to the means to prevent their further progress; and again, to worms in early summer, which strip the trees of their foliage and thus of their fruit, so that they stand bare as in midwinter, and to the extermination of the worms, and the consequent restoration of the garden to its state of bloom and fruitfulness. Thus would it be with the church, if the Lord had not by redemption separated the good from the evil, casting the evil into hell and raising the good to heaven. What would become of an empire or kingdom if by the exercise of justice and judgment the evil were not separated from the good, and the good protected from violence, so that everyone might dwell safely in his own home, or, as is said in the Word, sit in peace under his own vine and fig tree?
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117. The subjugation of the hells, the orderly arrangement of the heavens, and afterwards the establishment of a Church, may be illustrated by various comparisons. The hells may be compared to an army of robbers or rebels, who invade a kingdom or a city, set fire to the houses, plunder the goods of the inhabitants, divide the spoil and then rejoice in triumph; while redemption itself may be compared to the operations of a righteous king, who marches against them with his army and puts some of them to the sword, imprisons others, deprives them of their booty, restores it to his subjects, and after establishing order in his kingdom, renders it secure against similar attacks. The hells may also be compared to hordes of wild beasts sallying forth from a forest, which attack flocks and herds and even men, so that no one dares to go beyond the walls of his city to cultivate the ground; consequently the fields are likely to become waste, and the townspeople to perish of hunger; but redemption may be compared to the destruction and dispersion of those wild beasts, and to the protection of the fields and plains from further similar attacks. The hells may be compared also to locusts, that consume every green thing on the earth; and redemption to the means by which their progress is brought to an end. Finally, the hells may be compared to caterpillars which, at the beginning of summer, strip the trees of their leaves and consequently of their fruit, so that they stand bare as in the middle of winter, while redemption may be compared to the destruction of such insects and the restoration of the garden to its state of bloom and fruitfulness. So it would be with the Church unless the Lord, by redemption, had separated the good from the evil, and had cast the latter into hell and taken the former into heaven. What would become of an empire or kingdom, if there were no justice and judgment to remove the evil from among the good, and to protect the good from molestation, so that every man might dwell in the security of his own home, and, as it is expressed in the Word, sit in peace under his own vine and under his own fig-tree?
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117. Subjugatio Infernorum, ordinatio Coelorum, et deinde instauratio Ecclesiae, illustrari possunt per varias similitudines; illustrari possunt per similitudinem cum Exercitu 1 praedonum aut rebellium, qui invadunt Regnum aut Urbem, et ibi incendunt domos, depopulantur incolarum bona, et dividunt praedas inter se, et se inde laetificant et glorificant; ipsa autem Redemptio illustrari potest per similitudinem cum Rege justo, qui cum suo Exercitu 2 aggreditur illos, et partem illorum sub gladium mittit, et partem ergastulis includit, ac aufert illis praedas, ac subditis restituit, ac postea Regnum ordinat, et tutum a similium insultu reddit. Illustrari etiam potest per similitudinem cum feris congregatis erumpentibus e silva, quae invadunt greges et armenta, et quoque homines, propter quae homo maenibus suae urbis non audet exire, et colere terram, unde campi erunt deserti, et urbani fame perituri sunt; ac Redemptio illustrari potest per internecionem et profligationem ferarum illarum, et per tutationem agrorum et camporum a talium ulteriore invasione. Illustrari etiam potest per locustas consumentes omne viride humi, et per media ne ulterius progrediantur: pariter per vermiculos tempore primo aestatis, qui deprivant arbores foliis, et sic etiam fructibus, ut stent nudae sicut in media hyeme, et per excussionem illorum, et sic restitutionem horti in statum suae efflorescentiae et fructificationis. Simile fieret cum Ecclesia, nisi Dominus per Redemptionem separavisset bonos a malis, et hos in Infernum conjecisset, et illos in Coelum elevavisset; quid foret cum Imperio et Regno, ubi non justitia et judicium, per quae mali e medio bonorum auferantur, et boni tutentur a violationibus, ut quisque in securitate in sua domo vivat, ac sicut in Verbo dicitur, sub sua ficu et vite in tranquillo sedeat.
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