10 - The New Jerusalem or Heaven
The New Jerusalem.
HEAVEN.
221. Possibly, a difficulty may have occurred to some of our readers in their perusal of our last chapter. What, they may wish to ask, is to become of the people of God during the conflagration by which the earth is to be purified? It would certainly seem to he essential that they should be removed, and conveyed to a place of safety, before the earth and its atmosphere are set on fire; and, without doubt, their gracious Creator will be found to have provided a refuge for them. What it may be, we know not; but would reverently suggest, that they may, possibly, be rapt into the Heavenly City, which, as soon as the cleansing fires have done their work, and order and peace, brightness and beauty, are restored, will descend, and become the Capital of the renewed earth, into which nothing that defileth will ever be suffered to enter.
220. From this Heavenly City, transferred to earth, the Lord Jesus will reign, no longer as the glorified Man, but as the Son of God, and in conjunction with His Father, Who, since every trace of sin and death will have been removed, will then be able to dwell among the purified and sinless children of men. Let us now consider what this City is, who are its inhabitants, and what are their circumstances. (See 55 on Diagram C.)
221. We will begin our investigation by asking, What were the hopes and expectations of the Old Testament patriarch, and saints? If we turn to Hebrews 11:10, we shall find an answer to this question; for Abraham, we are told, "looked for the City which hath the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God." And, again, in verse 16, we read of all those who died in faith, that God "had prepared for them," not an ecstatic state, not a mere joyful existence, but "a City." Now, our Lord speaks of "many mansions" which He has prepared for them that love Him (John 14:2,
222. It is thus clear, that the New Jerusalem is not a myth, not a dream or an imagination, but a literal city; quite as real as London or New York, though far more glorious than these, and built of incorruptible and imperishable materials. Nay, we have even a detailed description of it, short indeed, but marvellously comprehensive.
223. Now, if we had before us a description of some earthly city, let us say of Paris, and were to read, that the river Seine runs through that city; that trees are planted on both sides of the Boulevards; that the streets are paved with asphalte, and lighted with the electric light; that there is no cathedral there; that the wall round the city is, we will say, forty feet in height, and built of stone with bronze gates; and that the city is a square, each side of which is about five miles in length - with such a description we should have before us something which we could understand, and which would convey to our minds a definite idea of the general characteristics of the city described. We should never dream of spiritualizing such an account as this ; for to do so would plainly indicate our belief, that the person who wrote it was drawing upon his imagination, and calling his "airy nothings" a city. And we should have no ground for such a conclusion, unless the writer had given some hint leading thereto.
224. If, then, we have no right to turn the literal description given by a mail into a mere imaginary vision or figure, how much less right have we to do this with what is inspired? Hence we have neither right nor reason for regarding the subject matter of Revelation 21:1-27. and Revelation 22:1-6, as being anything but the literal description of a literal and material city. Of course, its magnificence and splendour must to us necessarily appear transcendent, and far beyond any human conception. But, seeing that architects among ourselves can produce beautiful buildings which excite men’s admiration and enthusiasm, it is only reasonable to suppose, that, if God deigned to design a city, its glory would be something altogether surpassing our comprehension.
225. Let us, then, read very carefully Revelation 21:1-27 and Revelation 22:1-6, bearing in mind, that, whether we can realize it or not, the description is emphatically literal.
226. As a necessary inference from Revelation 21:1-2, we must regard the Holy City, New Jerusalem, as being quite distinct from the New Heavens and the New Earth. And this fact is confirmed by the twenty-fourth verse; for the nations do not live in the City, though they walk in the light of it; neither is it the habitation of the kings of the earth, although they bring their glory and honour into it.
227. What the nations here mentioned are, must be more or less a matter of conjecture. But, most probably, they are such remnants of the Millennial nations as remained faithful to the Lord Jesus during the great revolt at the close of that period. They would, doubtless, have been conveyed to some place of safety, while the purifying fires were raging, and afterwards have been retransferred to the New Earth. But, whoever they may be, they will be found on the New Earth, enlightened and blessed by the proximity of the New and Heavenly Jerusalem.
228. Now, the Glorious City contains streets and many mansions, and these mansions must have inhabitants. Who, then, are they that have obtained so blessed an inheritance? They are those who constitute the Bride of Christ; and, therefore, they must be such Israelites as will be thought worthy of that honour. And, among them, there will certainly be the father of their nation, who "looked for the City that bath the foundations," and will then realize his hope to the full. Now, we must remember the Lord’s promise, that Israel should be married to Him in the age of restoration (Jeremiah 3:14); and, therefore, that the faithful of that nation must be the Lamb’s wife that has made herself ready (Revelation 19:7), when He comes out of heaven to claim her, followed by the armies of heaven, which are His redeemed and glorified Church. For the Church is His Body, and Israel His Bride. And He will dwell with the latter in His beautiful Capital, from which He will rule over the saved and happy nations of the earth, and, apparently, over the whole Universe. Will, then, His Body, the glorified Church, be excluded from the Heavenly City? By no means. Jesus, their Lord and Head, will be there; and, if they are to follow Him whithersoever He goeth, they must be there with Him. And, probably, they will inhabit the highest part of the City, close to the place of His Father and Himself. For they will be reckoned as a part of Himself, and not of His Bride.
229. As to the inhabitants of the New Earth, whoever they may be, they will live in circumstances totally different from those existing on the present earth. The Millennial Earth will be greatly blessed, but the New Earth altogether so. In the case of the latter, the physical and atmospheric changes will be such as we cannot conceive. The curse will be entirely removed: thorns thistles and weeds, and hurtful beasts birds and insects, will be unknown: sin will be no more: and neither tears, nor sorrow, nor death, nor wars, nor accidents, nor sickness, will be anywhere found. For all these former things will have passed away for ever, from the moment when the Devil and Death and Hades, together with all the unsaved, shall have been cast into the Lake of Fire. Glorious, then, and transcendently happy will be the condition of the inhabitants of the New Earth - a condition which we can, indeed, appreciate to some extent, but only in a very feeble way.
230. It is, however, far more difficult to realize the glories of the New Jerusalem, the abode of the Great God and of the Lord Jesus with His Bride. Were a gifted jeweller to make a model of the City - say some six inches square - we might, perhaps, be helped to a faint conception of its beauty. But, when we remember that the Architect and Builder of the real City is God, and that in His sight six inches or twelve thousand furlongs are practically the same thing, we are carried beyond our powers of thought, and cannot imagine, but only believe in, and look forward to, His glorious Creation. For, to pass by its costly and resplendent materials, its size, also, is superhuman and Divine. Each side of its vast square measures twelve thousand Roman stadia, that is, about 1,500 English miles!
231. Moreover, its height is said to be equal to its breadth and length. What are we to understand by this? Some explain, that it will be a vast cube, each of the sides of which will be 1,500 miles square; while its streets will be like tunnels running through it. Such an arrangement would, however, leave no appropriate place for the Throne of God and the Lamb. It is, therefore, much more probable that the City will be a pyramid, in which the perpendicular, let fall from the apex to the base, will be equal to the side of the square upon which it stands; and the courses of masonry will support the ascending rows of streets. In that case, we should find no difficulty in the wall, 288 feet in height, by which the base of the City is to be enclosed, and which would give it a beautiful finish; whereas to a cube-shaped structure, 1,500 miles high, the wall would he neither useful nor ornamental. To the pyramidal shape, also, we seem to be guided by the following passages:- Psalms 118:22; Matthew 21:42-44; Acts 4:11; and 1 Peter 2:4-8 (R.V.). For, what is meant by "THE CHIEF CORNFR-STONE," or THE HEADSTONE OF THE CORNER? In an ordinary building, which is the headstone, or which is the corner? Surely there is no single stone which could be designated as the headstone, and each of the four corners is equally important. And, again, what are we to understand when we read, that the "rejected" Stone is become the head of the corner - not the foot or the foundation?
232. Now, if we regard the New Jerusalem, the acknowledged home of the Lord Jesus and His Bride, as a pyramid, on which each of the inhabitants has his mansion or dwelling-place, which would be the only possible spot for His abode? Surely it must be at the top of the pyramid. And, if that be conceded, we can readily understand which is the Headstone, and which is the corner; because on the top corner of a pyramid all the corners join in the point; so that the topstone would be what is called the headstone, the crowning stone, and the corner; while, at the same time, it would be a complete model of the whole pyramid.
233. Again, it is easy to see, that the topstone would, and must be, "rejected, or refused," by the builders, until the structure was all but completed. For there would be only one place into which it could be fitted, that is, at the very summit of the pyramid. It would thus be the last stone to be put into position, when it would form the apex of the building, connecting all the other corners, and crowning the work. How wonderfully does this illustrate the words:- "Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Corner-Stone, in Whom the building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:20-22).
234. In 1 Peter 2:5, we are told, that the saints are "living-stones," being "built up a Spiritual House," "acceptable to God," that is, built into a temple for God. And it is very important to remember, that the Temple at Jerusalem, the earthly type of the spiritual building, "was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither" (1 Kings 6:7). This, indicates, that every one who would become a stone in the glorious spiritual building must be "made ready," fully and completely ready, before [and in Hades after] death; otherwise, he will be rejected. Just as nothing unclean, or unholy, will ever be admitted into the New Jerusalem, so all those who would inhabit that glorious city must be both cleansed and sanctified previously to their death, that is, they must be so in this present life.
235. We may, therefore, conclude, that the Heavenly Jerusalem, which is the literal Heaven, is the materialization upon the New Earth of the Spiritual House mentioned in 1 Peter 2:4-8. In the latter, the saints are being built up as living stones; while, in the Heavenly Jerusalem, the Bride and the Lord with His Body, the Church, will dwell in material glory, in a material house of many mansions, that is, in a material city. The Architect of both of these Buildings is the same God; and the one of them is the spiritual counterpart of the other.
236. Thoughts of these things should be continually in our mind; so that we may ever be contemplating the glory that shall be revealed, and be setting our affections, not on things on the earth, but on the things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Such meditations will increase our spiritual growth and strength, and cause us so to advance in holiness that we shall be ready to meet with joy Him Who sent His angel to testify these things to us for that very purpose.