John sees the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. Her thousand years of millennial blessedness, during which she had flooded the earth with her glory beams, are past, but her freshness and beauty are still the same. She appears as a bride adorned, clad in her bridal robes—in the fair, unfading loveliness of resurrection—descending now as the tabernacle of God: His eternal dwelling place among glorified men, whose capacities for the enjoyment of God, and for abiding in His presence will be perfect. His will shall then be done on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven and earth will no longer be at variance as they now are, but in blessed unison, courts of the same glorious dwelling place of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—Triune God of Light and Love—"All in all."
A VIEW OF THE HOLY CITY
Surely it was of grace that God's lonely witness was allowed to see this glorious sight of the heavenly city and the calm, eternal Sabbath of rest that lay beyond the sorrows of his earthly lot. The sight of that eternal city would never be forgotten. It would ever be present to him in his lonely Patmos. If we by grace have the vision made plain to us, our hearts shall be so won by it, that the world with all its tinsel glory, will fade and die. It will have no charm, no attraction, by reason of the glory that excelleth. Holy Jerusalem! Perfection of beauty! how our groveling spirits need thee!
"Yes, I need thee, heavenly City,
My low spirit to upbear;
Yes, I need thee; earth's enchantments
So beguile me with their glare
Let me see thee; then these fetters
Break asunder—I am free;
World! thy pomp no longer charms me,
Faith has won the victory.
The Book of the Revelation abounds in symbols, and this description of the heavenly city is chiefly symbolic in its character. Without attempting to expound these symbols—for we only know in part—surely we may gather from them the character of that heaven and home to which God is leading us.
"The city was pure gold like unto clear glass"—divine righteousness, absolute purity. "The building of the wall of it was cf jasper," a perfectly transparent medium; nothing to sully the divine glory, as, alas there is in us now. "The street [or broad-way) of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." No spot or stain contracted there! No more need of the laver or brazen sea! All is purity, perfectness, holiness there. "The city lieth foursquare; the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal," a transparent cube, fifteen hundred miles each way: perfect alike above, around, below. "And had a wall great and high"— perfect security: no roaring lion, no subtle serpent there. Watchfulness no longer needed; the day of the sword and shield is past. "The gates of it shall not be shut at all"—perfect freedom; yet "there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth." Solemn words for the sinner and the unclean.
"The charms that woo the senses
Shall be as pure as fair,
And all, while breathing o'er us,
Shall tell of Jesus there."
"The city had no need of the sun"—"the glory of God did lighten it"—"the Lamb is the light thereof." "The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it." All divine: all of God and the Lamb. "The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land."
"God and the Lamb—'tis well,
I know that source divine,
Of joy and love no tongue can tell,
Yet know that all is mine.
God and the Lamb shall there
The light and temple be;
And radiant hosts forever share
The unveiled mystery."
"I saw no temple therein." In the earthly city there will be a temple (Ezek. 41), but in the heavenly city all are priests, and all abide equally near, in the holiest. "The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple." And, better than all the glory, "they shall see His face." 0 blessed sight! Not a brief glance, but a long, eternal gaze. "Thou settest us before Thy face forever," and there, forever like Thee and with Thee, and with all Thy redeemed, glorified in Thine image, we shall behold Thy glory and gaze upon Thy face throughout eternity. This shall be Thy people's heaven, and this their everlasting home.
What is that for which we're waiting,
Is this glittering earthly toy?
Heavenly, glory, holy splendor,
Sun of grandeur, sun of joy.
Not the gems that time can tarnish,
Not the lives that dim and die,
Not the glow that cheats the lover,
Shaded with mortality.
Heir of glory,
What is that to thee and me?
Not the light that leaves us darker,
Not the gleams that come and go,
Not the mirth whose end is madness,
Not the joy, whose fruit is woe;
Not the notes that die at sunset,
Not the fashion of a day;
But the everlasting beauty
And the endless melody.
Heir of glory.
That shall be for thee and me.
Soon where earthly beauty blinds not,
No excess of brilliance palls,
Salem! City of the Holy,
We shall be within thy walls.
There, beside you crystal river,
There, beneath life's wondrous tree,
There, with naught to cloud or sever,
Ever with the Lamb to be!
Heir of glory,
That shall be for thee and me.
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