“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like jasper stone clear as crystal.... And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."—Rev. 21:10-2210And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. 18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. (Revelation 21:10‑22).
WE finished off last evening with those solemn words: "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Are you on the quest? Have you turned your back on the great clay city Babylon, refusing its principles, its glory, and its religion? Do you want to find the city for which Abraham looked? He did not want Babel. He wanted a city that had foundations. He did not want a man-built city; he looked for one whose builder and maker is God. When he looked for it he left country and kindred, and wandered about homeless in the very land which he was to inherit.
Did he ever find it? No. But by faith he saw it, and he will find it, he will see it really. If you want to find it, you will have to seek it as he did. If you want a glimpse of it by faith now, if you want something of the joy of it now in your soul, you must go outside the gate—outside the camp of all that Babylon typifies, escaping, as I have told you, by the death and grave of Christ, coming in spirit to Him where He now is. There outside the city you have found the Temple of Stone— Worship; there you have entered the Kingdom of Stone Rule; and there you will find the City of Stone— dwelling. For the name of the city you will find is "The New Jerusalem"—"Behold, the Tabernacle of God with men.”
Will you be in it now? No, but its name will be written on you now. To the overcomer in the dark closing days of the ruined Church's history the Lord says, "I will make him a pillar in the Temple of my God"— that is now— "and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the City of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down from heaven from my God; and my new name" (Rev. 3:1212Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Revelation 3:12)). All that is now in the Spirit. The Temple of Stone will be finished, as we have seen, when Christ descends into the air, as the Head Stone— and viewed as the Bride it will rise to meet Him. The Church must go up into heaven before it can come out as the City of Stone, the Holy Jerusalem.
The Apostle Paul says in his Epistle to the Galatians, "Jerusalem that now is, is in bondage with her children." Yes; captive in Babylon, unable to escape, bearing the doom of the broken law, trying to live by ordinances, trying to be justified by the works of the law, trying to improve the great clay city, and coming under the shadow of its doom. Her walls broken down, her gates destroyed, her temple left unto her desolate, a ruin; and the goodly stones, the goodly stones, scattered amidst much rubbish. That is all that is left on man's side. Christ is not there.
Do you say, "But I am young, and the earth is fair, and the world is full of prospects and countless pleasures for me; and to reckon that the death of Christ lies betwixt me and all the glories and joys of the great clay city is such a gloomy idea! Must I turn away from it all for a vision of the far future?" Have you ever been in the Lord's company? Have you ever known the joy of communion with Him? Is there anything— anything— on earth like the joy of that? Is not your heart weary and sick and joyless if you have lost His company? Young Christian, the New Jerusalem is your birthright. Do not despise it. You cannot have both. You must leave the clay city through the death and grave of Christ if you would dwell with Him in resurrection in the City of Stone. "Jerusalem which is above is free." All is of the Spirit there; all is living.
And you whose joy it is to serve Christ now in this day of His rejection— do you ever think what it will be to serve Him in the day of His reign? No weak, failing bodies of clay then; no hindering sin within, no lethargy, no self-conceit, no lack of wisdom. The New Jerusalem comes to reign over the world to come, comes to reign with Christ. You and I may not be counted worthy to rule ten cities or five, but, depend upon it, there will be someone for whom to care, someone to watch over for the King.
And is that all? No; service could never satisfy the heart. The secret new name will be yours— close, deep, perpetual communion with the One Who once loved you unto blood.
Do you think God is content to let this lovely earth of His be forever groaning under the thrall of evil? Do you think that He is going to leave this world alone till it destroys itself in the delirium of evil? No; the King of kings is coming to reign in righteousness, and Babylon's doom is fixed.
Will it be no joy to you to see the Lord Jesus, once scorned and crucified, owned as Lord and King by the whole world? Will it be no joy to you to be with Him in His kingdom, to execute His righteous decrees, to see all the confusion and ruin and lawlessness ended, and "the knowledge of the Lord covering the earth, as the waters cover the sea"? Will it be no joy to you to minister to a bright, happy, rejoicing world, where there are no armies, no navies, no prisons, no hospitals, no cemeteries? Think of it; and you and I are really going to be with Christ, and enter into His joy over all this. That is what it means to be part of the City of the great King— the City of Stone— God's metropolis over the earth.
This is much; but there is more. The reign of righteousness will come to a close; the tempter will escape from his prison-house; and a dim cloud of storm and tempest closes the happy period. Then rises before us the great White Throne, and the earth and heaven flee from the Face of Him Who sits thereon. And then there looms upon the sight a new heaven and a new earth. And what is there for you and me then? Why, then, in that new scene, where righteousness reigns no more, but dwells, there shall the name written on the overcomer on earth in the darkest days of great Babylon's power come into view; for the holy city, the new Jerusalem, comes down from heaven, while a great voice out of heaven cries: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, their God" (Rev. 21:33And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)).
If our eyes are on Christ, our hearts set upon Him, His interests will be dear to our souls; and while He leads our priestly service of adoration to the Father in the unseen Temple of living stones, we shall gladly come forth as Levites to hold forth "the word of life," to "be blameless and harmless, the children of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation" (Phil. 2:15, 1615That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. (Philippians 2:15‑16)) or as porters to "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:22Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)); worshipping in spirit and in truth in the unseen Temple; serving in faithfulness and love in the unseen kingdom; and looking for and seeking the unseen city which God hath prepared for them that love Him.
Farewell, young Christian reader. These object-lessons from God's Word are over. May you and I be preserved unto the Lord's "heavenly kingdom" like the apostle of old, and find our places for eternity in the holy city, the New Jerusalem.
O bright and blessed scenes,
Where sin can never come,
Whose sight our longing spirit weans
From earth where yet we roam.
And can we call our home
Our Father's house on high,
The rest of God our rest to come,
Our place of liberty?
Yes! in that light unstained
Our stainless souls shall live,
Our heart's deep longings more than gained,
When God His rest shall give.
His presence there, my soul
Its rest, its joy untold
Shall find, while endless ages roll
And time shall ne'er grow old.
Our God the center is;
His presence fills that land;
And countless myriads owned as His
Round Him adoring stand.
Our God Whom we have known,
Well known in Jesu's love,
Rests in the blessing of His own,
Before Himself above.
Glory supreme is there,
Glory that shines through all;
More precious still that love to share
As those that love did call.
Like Jesus in that place
Of light and love supreme,
Once Man of Sorrows full of grace,
Heaven's blest and endless theme.
Like Him! O grace supreme!
Like Him before Thy face,
Like Him to know that glory beam
Unhindered face to face.
O love supreme and bright,
Good to the feeblest heart,
That gives us now as heavenly light
What soon shall be our part.