The next glance that we get of this glorious company is within an open heaven, seated, clad in priestly robes, with royal crowns upon their head: (Rev. 4:4;5:8-104And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. (Revelation 4:4)
8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. 9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:8‑10)), far above and beyond the rising storm that sweeps the guilty earth, and calls forth the righteous ire of heaven. Here it is that Christ's Beema or judgment-seat will be set, and here He will bestow His rewards for faithful service during earthly days, and appoint to His servants their places of honor in His coming kingdom. Later still (Rev. 19:4-94And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 5And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (Revelation 19:4‑9)), the marriage of the Lamb is celebrated in the heavens, and then He is seen returning with His saints in glory to the earth (see Rev. 19:11-1411And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:11‑14); Zech. 14:4, 54And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zechariah 14:4‑5)).
It is not our present purpose to dwell on these events, blessed and glorious as they are, nor to trace along the line of Scripture the various stages that usher in the glorious reign of Christ over a restored and peaceful earth. Stretching far beyond the thousand years of millennial blessedness, there lies the eternal glory; the everlasting rest of God and His redeemed; the new heavens and the new earth in their eternal beauty, fresh from the hand of their Creator; the paradise of God, into which no lurking serpent shall ever steal; the peaceful abode of the last Adam and His Bride; that sinless, tearless, unending Sabbath, where "God shall be all in all." Thrice blessed as will be the thousand years of millennial rest and peace, they will not be the final rest of God with His people. Sin, although suppressed, will still lurk there. Death, the last enemy, will not have been destroyed: Satan will not have met his doom. The thousand years of Immanuel's reign, and of the beams of His glory on the earth, will not alter the heart of unregenerate men, and so we find the millennium will be followed by an outburst of man's wickedness and hatred to God, more terrible and daring than any that had preceded it—an open attack on the glorified Christ upon His throne. But, unlike that hour of His sorrow when He hung on Golgotha, in which His enemies gathered like ravening and roaring lions around Him and were allowed to vent their wrath upon Him unavenged, is this the day of His power. Swift judgment falls upon the assailants. So it is written—"fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Rev. 20:99And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (Revelation 20:9). This is followed by the final doom of Satan and his hosts, the judgment of the great white throne, and the passing away of the present heavens and earth. Then there shines out in bright and blessed splendor the new heavens and the new earth "wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:1313Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2 Peter 3:13)), the fair eternal home and rest of God and His redeemed, into which the new Jerusalem is seen descending "as a bride adorned for her husband." (Rev. 21:22And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)). And, beloved fellow-saints, surely we should accustom our souls to think and meditate often on this ever-blessed vision, this divine description of our eternal home. When we are absent from our earthly dwelling-place, where our friends and loved ones are, we often find our thoughts and affections turning thither. We cannot restrain them if we would. Unwittingly, shall I say, we find ourselves humming "there's no place like home." And if it be so with our earthly tent and those we love below, how much more ought it to be our habit to turn, with longing eye and heart, to that home and mansion which "eternally shall stand." As the late beloved Robert Chapman sang—
May not an exile, Lord, desire
His own sweet land to see?
May not a captive seek release,
A prisoner, to be free?
A child when far away may long
For home and kindred dear;
And she that waits her absent Lord
May sigh till He appear.
Yet alas! how seldom do we hear its "glories confessed" with an ardor worthy of the theme. Saints of earlier and less-enlightened days, who knew less of the world than we do, had more to say about it. It may be they were behind us in their general knowledge, but it often occurs to me, as I read their utterances and listen there, as it were, to the breathings of their hearts, that they were miles ahead of us in their aspirations after heavenly things, and in their enjoyment of them. They were less at home on earth, and better acquainted with the city to which they were going. It was of this city that the aged Bernard so sweetly sang—
"Jerusalem the glorious! the home of the elect!
O dear and future country! our eager hearts expect,
E'en now by faith I see thee, e'en here thy walls discern:
To thee my thoughts are kindled, and strive, and pant, and yearn."
To view this fair city, the exiled John was led by an angel "to a great and high mountain." Surely we may gather from this, that in order to have this glorious scene revealed to our hearts now, we need to be on the mount of God, in communion with Him in spirit, far from that world in which everything is so utterly opposed to Him. He sees the holy Jerusalem "descending out of heaven from God" toward the earth. The first eight verses of Rev. 21 give a view of the city in its relation to the eternal state, the new heaven and the new earth: the following verses give a retrospective view of the city in its relation to millennial times, as we judge. The contrast between the restored heavens and earth of millennial times, and the freshly created heavens and earth of the eternal state, is plainly marked. In the millennial earth sin remains in the flesh of those inhabiting it, although not as now in manifested form: in the eternal state every trace of the fall, all "the former things" will have passed away. The leaves of the tree of life will be used for the "healing of the nations" during the millennium, whereas, in the eternal state their shall be "neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain."