7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

10. 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,

11. Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12. And 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.

13. On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16. And the city lieth four-square, 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.

17. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper: the second, sappire; the third, a chalcedony: the fourth, an emerald;

20. The 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.

21. And 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.

22. And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof.

24. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for there shall be no night there.

26. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

A figurative description of heaven, as might have been expected, closes this book. No literal language can give to mortal man a view of that world. Paul, in his vision of it, heard things which on earth could not be uttered. "How shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" "Eye hath not seen,nor ear heard." Heaven, then, must be told to us in figures, or not at all. The essential Spirit of Heaven, holy love,-may be here known: "God hath revealed it unto us ;" but nothing more. "We know not what we shall be." Wise parents converse with children in the language of children. A new heaven and new earth

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closes the history of the church found in the Revelation. The earth and its visible heavens form the abode of man in this life. And the figurative view of the abode of the saints, in the world to come, is given under the same name, but with the word new prefixed. In that world the text assures there is no more sea. The sea is an emblem of troubles in this life. And "the wicked are like a troubled sea." But in heaven "there is no more sea." The voyage over the sea of life is finished, and the port, the haven of glory, made for ever.

A new Jerusalem is in our text also given,—a new figure of glory. Jerusalem was a type of the church, and of heaven. "Jerusalem which is above, is the mother of us all." This Jerusalem above, John saw descending out of heaven, adorned as a bride for her husband. John notes this city by anticipation, in verse 2, but gives a more formal view of it in verse 10. This first hint of it is accompanied with an assurance from heaven that the tabernacle of God is with man; not that heaven has come down to earth, as some imagine; but that the saints are raised to God in heaven. We are elsewhere more literally assured of the righteous being caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. "The righteous (go away) into life eternal." There are their mansions prepared. "I go to prepare a place for you: and if I go, I will come again, and receive you unto myself.”

Their dwelling then will be with God on high; their tears he will wipe away, and every wo. All pains and ills henceforth will cease for ever, and their remembrance will but heighten heaven. All who obtain the place are said to overcome. They have a race to run, a battle to fight; or the crown is lost. "The fearful" head the blackest catalogue. Not those who fear their sins, and wicked hearts but those who fear the cross,-who basely fear to take their lot with Christ, to plead his cause !—“ shall have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Hell is the second death, the king of

terrors.

A detailed account of the new Jerusalem follows, and its figurative descriptions need but little comment. Its descriptions are rich, and worthy of the pencil of Inspiration. Let the reader with solemn devotion find in them the city of our God. Truly it is worthy of the name, "the Lord is

there." John beheld its descent as he stood upon a high mountain, to see it to advantage. He hears it called, "the bride, the Lamb's wife!" It involves the church, and all her heavenly accommodations; and now arrives the true marriage supper of the Lamb, of which the commencement of the Millennium was but a faint type. God, who made the sun, and all the worlds of light, is himself the immediate light of this city. Its massy walls are of the richest gems. Heaven will be walled with all the divine perfections.

A measure (usually of reed, but in the present case of gold) gives the dimensions of this heavenly place. The city is fifteen hundred miles cube: its length, breadth, and height are the same. Its walls are of 216 feet thickness; 1500 miles high, as well as the same in length and breadth. Why are these dimensions given? Do they suggest to us, as has been noted, the greater number of the saved, than lost, when the last day shall settle the account? Babylon (of 15 miles square) was a symbol of the kingdom of darkness; and the new Jerusalem a symbol of the church in glory. The latter, squared, contains 10,000 of the former,-cubed, 15,000,000. Wonderful display of grace, if 15,000,000, or even 10,000, arrive at heaven, to one who sinks to hell. By far the greater part, no doubt, have hitherto been lost. But in the Millennium, all shall know the Lord; a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.

have the dew of his youth indeed!

Christ will then

The magnificence of this city demands attention. Its massy walls appear of solid diamond, except some various gems at their foundation.* We find there the following: the first laying (the same with the mass of the walls above

* Grotius pleads, and with full reason, that the gem called here, in Greek, iaspis, must have been the diamond. Iaspis might in latter ages come to be given to the mean kind of gem which now bears this name. But this gem in the Revelation, called iaspis, is expressly there called "a stone most precious," "clear as crystal," verse 11 of text. As the "most precious stone," here, it is taken to denote the glory of God, as the light of this city. The modern jasper, an opaque mass, debased with a mixture of earth," answers not at all to this description; but the diamond accords with it. In Rev. iv. 3, the iaspis is taken to represent God in heaven, in his appearance to John. Would not the purest gem be taken in such a case, and not one of the meanest? If the iaspis, known in this

the foundation), is iaspis, diamond. The second, a sapphire; a gem transparent, of pure blue, and some of deep azure, second in value to the diamond, and the second gem in the breast-plate of old. The third, a chalcedonia; a precious gem, of a misty gray, clouded with blue, yellow, and purple. The fourth, an emerald, of deep green, and very hard. The fifth, a sardonyx, partly transparent with belts and veins of different colours; the eleventh stone in the breast-plate. The sixth, a sardius, of reddish hue, the first in the breast-plate. The seventh, a chrysalite, of a golden colour; the tenth in the breastplate. The eighth, a beryl; a transparent jewel of bluish green; the tenth in the breast-plate. The ninth, a topaz; a transparent jewel, third in value to the diamond, of a yellow gold cast; the second in the breast-plate.* The tenth, a chrysoprasus, of green hue, mingled with yellow. The eleventh, a jacinth, of a violet and purple, very hard and precious. The twelfth, an amethyst, a jewel very precious, of violet bordering on purple; the ninth in the breast-plate. The combination of these gems in the foundation of these walls of glory, twelve rows of them one above the other, and of sufficient width to appear proportionate in those vast walls, must have given the most overwhelming view of magnificence. This is a building indeed, not made with hands eternal in the heavens !

The walls of this city have 12 gates; three on each of the four sides; and each gate of solid pearl, a hard white and most precious substance; so precious that it is said a Persian emperor has a pearl of the worth of 440,000 dollars. The true pearl is very rare; but it is much counterfeited, and false pearl is abundant. Most fit emblem is the true pearl of the gate of heaven, the real grace of God in the soul!—and how great the multitude who think to enter heaven, while their pearl is but counterfeit ! Such will be excluded. God and the Lamb are both the tem

book, mean not the diamond (which alone answers to the description given here of it); then the diamond is not in this book known, although use is made of 12 precious gems; which cannot be admitted. The gem, repeatedly taken to denote the glory of God, and said to be "a stone most precioos (the most precious stone, as the diamond is), and clear as crystal (which the jasper is not) may with moral certainty be said to be the diamond, which otherwise is not found among the 12 gems of this book.

A topaz of the great mogul is said to have cost more than 60,000 dollars.