THE Lamb's bride is distinctly the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly companion of her Lord, quite distinct from Messiah's kingdom.
Jerusalem is the earthly counterpart of the Lamb's bride. In our thoughts about these things, I feel that we do not keep the earthly Zion distinctly in her right place. In tracing her history as the center of Messiah's kingdom on the earth, we see that she is to be lifted up in a very especial way, to catch the glory of the heavenly bride. The earthly Zion will be lifted up, as a royal diadem in the hand of her God; glory will be her covering, and the nations will be coming up to worship at Jerusalem. Thus a heavenly link will be established between them. It will not be then, " the gospel of the grace of God; " but, the gospel of the glory of God. We can trace the bride from Genesis to Revelation, till we get her as the heavenly thing in glory, and that closes the book of God. In the description of the heavenly city, we find everything is perfect, everything that can delight the hearts of the saints. To take a right view of you, beloved, I should come forth from the counsels of God, and this would be a Pisgah view. It is blessed to get a Pisgah view, or glimpse of the glory. It was such a view as this that Paul had, when he exclaimed, " 0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" &c. I judge, beloved, that the history of the family would not be a suitable conclusion to the whole book of God. I feel there are parts of God's Word that are passed over, and I do feel a sort of secret pride to vindicate the neglected parts of the Word of God, and to rescue them from the dishonor done to them. Often have I found that out of these parts have come especial sweetness; and that by being pressed upon, and bruised a little, have become the most precious grains in the granary of God. What we get in Rev. 22, is not the family taken home, but the manifestation in full of God's Work,—the law manifested man. The Lord Jesus Christ was the manifestation of the Father and the Son. But at the last, we shall have the manifestation of the Church's glory in connection with the earth. I see three pathways to glory. The -first path of the Church, will be upward to meet her Lord in the air; her second, will be into the Father's house, there to be presented to the Father, and there she will be married; her third path, will be to come forth with Jesus as her Lord and her husband, to enter with Him into the possession of His glory. The golden city, I judge to be the place of the kings and priests. It is the place out of which the light goeth forth; it is the dispensation of blessing. All that goes out of it will be blessing; all that comes into it will be blessing. The people walking in it, will walk there with all the consciousness of their royal dignity, Now we never find God, when He brings out any new thing, sacrificing that which He had brought out before. We see Him taking with Him, as He travels on through each succeeding dispensation, carrying the light of that which is past into that which is to succeed it. And thus, beloved, will it be with us, as we travel with our Lord into the different paths of glory, we shall not leave anything behind. When we enter with Him into the golden city, we shall not lose any of the home joys of the Father's house. I was much struck with what our brother said, of the beautiful picture that is given to us in the little story of the prodigal of the mind of our Lord. As when the father brought his son, and presented him in his house, he adorned him with his best things; s,), when the Lamb presents His bride before the world, there is no ornament that He has that He will not adorn her with; there is not a bit of glory and beauty of His own that He has not put on her. And yet it is not her beauty that He loves, so much as herself. He cared not for her rags and her defilement when He loved her. He sanctified and cleansed her, with the washing of water by the Word, because He loved her. I do believe this to be the deepest thought, beloved, that you can have. He loves you, not because of the grace you may have, but it is yourself. He calls us mother, sister, brother. His love for us engrosses every form of affection, also the nearest ties of relationship.' He loved the Church, because He had ever put a bit of beauty on it. The whole scene closes with the Lamb getting up on the throne. When the people are got ready, and the scene is made ready, then you have the kingdom. As to the Jewish remnant, I believe they will pass through a great deal of preparatory discipline, and a great mass of Scripture is taken up with describing this preparation, so careful is God in His discipline of the Jews. In Psa. 44 we read, " For thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." In the first book of Samuel, we get Saul made the occasion of displacing David; in the second book, Absalom is used by God for the same purpose. In the first instance, we see David as a martyr, suffering for righteousness; in the second, as a penitent. And so it is in this way, under the type of David, that the remnant will be so sweetly exercised. When David was suffering under Saul, there was no comfort that his soul did not lay hold of, everything that could link his soul with God, knowing that he had a right to it all. But when suffering under Absalom for his sins, he knew he had no title to consolation, and put it all beyond him for the present, till the Lord had restored him to favor. Let us then be prepared for all this variety in the Psalms,-in some pleading righteousness, in some confessing sins, in some expressing confidence in God. If then we have the character of the remnant, let us have the testimony of a good conscience, and there is no height or depth that we shall not fathom, because we have confidence in God. It was in the time of David's sin and sorrow, that we see more of his confidence in God. If, like David, we have sinned, we must, like David, return to our first works, and travel up the mount in sackcloth. I believe the establishment of the kingdom is in preparing the remnant. We find the people getting ready by a process of most blessed discipline, and then we find the scene closed by the destruction of the enemies. The eye of the gazing disciples followed their Lord up in the air, but could not pierce the cloud; but in Psa. 110 David did pierce the cloud, and saw the Lord on the throne. When the disciples asked our Lord about the time in which He would restore again the kingdom to Israel, He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." He instructed them in the character of His coming, though not about the time. "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Now in this Psalm we find it written, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." The structure of this little Psalm is quite perfect. The first verse carries Adam (man) up to the throne of God. Then we find God pledging Himself to Adonai, and telling him from 1-5 what is provided for him. In verse 5 it is written, "The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath," &c. " He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall lie lift up the head." He engages to remove every hindrance, and to bring Him into the inheritance. It is beautiful, the prophet looking up and seeing the Lord on the throne. Beloved, all we want in traveling up to these is unshod feet, and sure I am that there is no limit to the height we may get at. Get yourselves but unshod, and I say it is a base fear that would keep you from taking these journeys. We see that it is the Father who gives the title, and the Son takes the power. It is not that the Lord Jesus has now begun His judgment of His enemies. He has not yet put them under His feet; but He is waiting in grace, and the word now is, " The longsuffering of God is salvation."
As to the duration of Messiah's kingdom, those words in Psa. 72, " His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun,"-I think the Spirit defines here how long His kingdom will continue, " as long as the sun;" that is, till the heaven and earth shall pass away, and God will be all in all. We are here, beloved, to help one another's joy in the discovery of truth; and though there may exist little differences in our views, they need not cause a ruffle.
Will the standing of the saints differ? The earthly saints will, I judge, walk in all the power of the recovered affections of human life; but this is not the character of joy that will be known by the Church. It is not that we undervalue natural affections now,-for it is a sin to be without them,—but we are not henceforth to know any man after the flesh; but with the earthly people in the kingdom, there will be an enjoyment of all these affections. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. When the apostacy among the Jews came in, it was no. longer, " Blessed art thou," &c., but rather, " Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." As to the fitting posture of the saints, I should say if we are children in the Father's house, let us encourage the 'affections and temper of children; if we are the bride, let us be waiting for the day of our espousals. The day of the wedded pair is not yet come; let us therefore be waiting for it; and, beloved, it is no pain to us in parting, to know that we may go forth and acquaint ourselves more with Jesus, and to show forth more of the attractive beauty of our Lord.