mh_parser/vol_split/66 - Revelation/Chapter 21.xml

<div2 id="Rev.xxii" n="xxii" next="Rev.xxiii" prev="Rev.xxi" progress="99.44%" title="Chapter XXI">
<h2 id="Rev.xxii-p0.1">R E V E L A T I O N.</h2>
<h3 id="Rev.xxii-p0.2">CHAP. XXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Rev.xxii-p1">Hitherto the prophecy of this book has presented
to us a very remarkable mixture of light and shade, prosperity and
adversity, mercy and judgment, in the conduct of divine Providence
towards the church in the world: now, at the close of all, the day
breaks, and the shadows flee away; a new world now appears, the
former having passed away. Some are willing to understand all that
is said in these last two chapters of the state of the church even
here on earth, in the glory of the latter days; but others, more
probably, take it as a representation of the perfect and triumphant
state of the church in heaven. Let but the faithful saints and
servants of God wait awhile, and they shall not only see, but
enjoy, the perfect holiness and happiness of that world. In this
chapter you have, I. An introduction to the vision of the new
Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.1-Rev.21.9" parsed="|Rev|21|1|21|9" passage="Re 21:1-9">ver. 1-9</scripRef>. II.
The vision itself, <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.10-Rev.21.27" parsed="|Rev|21|10|21|27" passage="Re 21:10-27">ver.
10</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Rev.xxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21" parsed="|Rev|21|0|0|0" passage="Re 21" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Rev.xxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.1-Rev.21.8" parsed="|Rev|21|1|21|8" passage="Re 21:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.21.1-Rev.21.8">
<h4 id="Rev.xxii-p1.5">The New Jerusalem. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.xxii-p1.6">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.xxii-p2">1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for
the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there
was no more sea.   2 And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband.   3 And I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God <i>is</i> with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, <i>and be</i> their God.   4 And
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be
any more pain: for the former things are passed away.   5 And
he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
  6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the
fountain of the water of life freely.   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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p3">We have here a more general account of the
happiness of the church of God in the future state, by which it
seems most safe to understand the heavenly state.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p4">I. A new world now opens to our view
(<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.1" parsed="|Rev|21|1|0|0" passage="Re 21:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): <i>I saw a
new heaven and a new earth;</i> that is, a new universe; for we
suppose the world to be made up of heaven and earth. By the new
earth we may understand a new state for the bodies of men, as well
as a heaven for their souls. This world is not now newly created,
but newly opened, and filled with all those who were the heirs of
it. The new heaven and the new earth will not then be distinct; the
very earth of the saints, their glorified bodies, will now be
spiritual and heavenly, and suited to those pure and bright
mansions. To make way for the commencement of this new world, the
old world, with all its troubles and commotions, <i>passed
away.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p5">II. In this new world the apostle <i>saw
the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven,</i> not
locally, but as to its original: this new Jerusalem is the church
of God in its new and perfect state, <i>prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband,</i> beautified with all perfection of wisdom and
holiness, meet for the full fruition of the Lord Jesus Christ in
glory.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p6">III. The blessed presence of God with his
people is here proclaimed and admired: <i>I heard a great voice out
of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,</i>
&amp;c., <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.3" parsed="|Rev|21|3|0|0" passage="Re 21:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
Observe, 1. The presence of God with his church is the glory of the
church. 2. It is matter of wonder that a holy God should ever dwell
with any of the children of men. 3. The presence of God with his
people in heaven will not be interrupted as it is on earth, but he
will dwell with them continually. 4. The covenant, interest, and
relation, that there are now between God and his people, will be
filled up and perfected in heaven. <i>They shall be his people;</i>
their souls shall be assimilated to him, filled with all the love,
honour, and delight in God which their relation to him requires,
and this will constitute their perfect holiness; and he will be
their God: <i>God himself will be their God;</i> his immediate
presence with them, his love fully manifested to them, and his
glory put upon them, will be their perfect happiness; then he will
fully answer the character of the relation on his part, as they
shall do on their part.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p7">IV. This new and blessed state will be free
from all trouble and sorrow; for, 1. All the effects of former
trouble shall be done away. They have been often before in tears,
by reason of sin, of affliction, of the calamities of the church;
but now <i>all tears shall be wiped away;</i> no signs, no
remembrance of former sorrows shall remain, any further than to
make their present felicity the greater. God himself, as their
tender Father, with his own kind hand, <i>shall wipe away the
tears</i> of his children; and they would not have been without
those tears when God shall come and wipe them away. 2. All the
causes of future sorrow shall be for ever removed: <i>There shall
be neither death nor pain;</i> and therefore <i>no sorrow nor
crying;</i> these are things incident to that state in which they
were before, but now all <i>former things have passed away.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p8">V. The truth and certainty of this blessed
state are ratified by the word and promise of God, and ordered to
be committed to writing, as matter of perpetual record, <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.5-Rev.21.6" parsed="|Rev|21|5|21|6" passage="Re 21:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>. The subject-matter
of this vision is so great, and of such great importance to the
church and people of God, that they have need of the fullest
assurances of it; and God therefore from heaven repeats and
ratifies the truth thereof. Besides, many ages must pass between
the time when this vision was given forth and the accomplishment of
it, and many great trials must intervene; and therefore God would
have it committed to writing, for perpetual memory, and continual
use to his people. Observe, 1. The certainty of the promise
averred: <i>These words are faithful and true;</i> and it follows,
<i>It is done,</i> is as sure as if it were done already. We may
and ought to take God's promise as present payment; if he has said
that he <i>makes all things new, it is done.</i> 2. He gives us his
titles of honour as a pledge or surety of the full performance,
even those titles of <i>Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end.</i> As it was his glory that he gave the rise and beginning to
the world and to his church, it will be his glory to finish the
work begin, and not to leave it imperfect. As his power and will
were the first cause of all things, his pleasure and glory are the
last end, and he will not lose his design; for then he would no
longer be the <i>Alpha and Omega.</i> Men may begin designs which
they can never bring to perfection; but <i>the counsel of God shall
stand,</i> and he will do all his pleasure. 3. The desires of his
people towards this blessed state furnish another evidence of the
truth and certainty of it. They thirst after a state of sinless
perfection and the uninterrupted enjoyment of God, and God has
wrought in them these longing desires, which cannot be satisfied
with any thing else, and therefore would be the torment of the soul
if they were disappointed but it would be inconsistent with the
goodness of God, and his love to his people, to create in them holy
and heavenly desires, and then deny them their proper satisfaction;
and therefore they may be assured that, when they have overcome
their present difficulties, <i>he will give them of the fountain of
the water of life freely.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p9">VI. The greatness of this future felicity
is declared and illustrated, 1. By the freeness of it—it is the
free gift of God: <i>He gives of the water of life freely;</i> this
will not make it less but more grateful to his people. 2. The
fulness of it. The people of God then lie at the fountain-head of
all blessedness: they <i>inherit all things</i> (<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.7" parsed="|Rev|21|7|0|0" passage="Re 21:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>); enjoying God, they enjoy all
things. He is all in all. 3. By the tenure and title by which they
enjoy this blessedness—by right of inheritance, as <i>the sons of
God,</i> a title of all others the most honourable, as resulting
from so near and endeared a relation to God himself, and the most
sure and indefeasible, that can no more cease than the relation
from which it results. 4. By the vastly different state of the
wicked. Their misery helps to illustrate the glory and blessedness
of the saints, and the distinguishing goodness of God towards them,
<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.8" parsed="|Rev|21|8|0|0" passage="Re 21:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Here observe,
(1.) The sins of those who perish, among which are first mentioned
their cowardliness and unbelief. <i>The fearful</i> lead the van in
this black list. They durst not encounter the difficulties of
religion, and their slavish fear proceeded from their unbelief; but
those who were so dastardly as not to dare to take up the cross of
Christ, and discharge their duty to him, were yet so desperate as
to run into all manner of abominable wickedness—<i>murder,
adultery, sorcery, idolatry,</i> and <i>lying.</i> (2.) Their
punishment: <i>They have their part in the lake that burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.</i> [1.] They could
not burn at a stake for Christ, but they must burn in hell for sin.
[2.] They must die another death after their natural death; the
agonies and terrors of the first death will consign them over to
the far greater terrors and agonies of eternal death, to die and to
be always dying. [3.] This misery will be their proper part and
portion, what they have justly deserved, what they have in effect
chosen, and what they have prepared themselves for by their sins.
Thus the misery of the damned will illustrate the blessedness of
those that are saved, and the blessedness of the saved will
aggravate the misery of those that are damned.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Rev.xxii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.9-Rev.21.27" parsed="|Rev|21|9|21|27" passage="Re 21:9-27" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.21.9-Rev.21.27">
<h4 id="Rev.xxii-p9.4">The New Jerusalem. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.xxii-p9.5">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.xxii-p10">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 <i>was</i> like unto a stone most
precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;   12 And
had a wall great and high, <i>and</i> had twelve gates, and at the
gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are <i>the
names</i> 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 foursquare, 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, a hundred <i>and</i> forty <i>and</i> four cubits,
<i>according to</i> the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
  18 And the building of the wall of it was <i>of</i> jasper:
and the city <i>was</i> pure gold, like unto clear glass.   19
And the foundations of the wall of the city <i>were</i> garnished
with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation <i>was</i>
jasper; the second, sapphire; 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 <i>were</i> twelve pearls;
every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city
<i>was</i> 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 <i>is</i> 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
<i>whatsoever</i> worketh abomination, or <i>maketh</i> a lie: but
they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p11">We have already considered the introduction
to the vision of the new Jerusalem in a more general idea of the
heavenly state; we now come to the vision itself, where
observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p12">I. The person that opened the vision to the
apostle—<i>one of the seven angels, that had the seven vials full
of the seven last plagues,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.9" parsed="|Rev|21|9|0|0" passage="Re 21:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. God has a variety of work and
employment for his holy angels. Sometimes they are to sound the
trumpet of divine Providence, and give fair warning to a careless
world; sometimes they are to pour out the vials of God's anger upon
impenitent sinners; and sometimes to discover things of a heavenly
nature to those that are <i>the heirs of salvation.</i> They
readily execute every commission they receive from God; and, when
this world shall be at an end, yet the angels shall be employed by
the great God in proper pleasant work to all eternity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p13">II. The place from which the apostle had
this glorious view and prospect. He was taken, in ecstasy, into
<i>a high mountain.</i> From such situations men usually have the
most distinct views of adjacent cities. Those who would have clear
views of heaven must get as near heaven as they can, into the mount
of vision, the mount of meditation and faith, whence, as from the
top of Pisgah, they may behold the goodly land of the heavenly
Canaan.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p14">III. The subject-matter of the
vision—<i>the bride, the Lamb's wife</i> (<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.10" parsed="|Rev|21|10|0|0" passage="Re 21:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>); that is, the church of God in
her glorious, perfect, triumphant state, under the resemblance of
Jerusalem, having the glory of God shining in its lustre, as
<i>uxor splendit radiis mariti—the bride comely through the
comeliness put on her by her husband;</i> glorious in her relation
to Christ, in his image now perfected in her, and in his favour
shining upon her. And now we have a large description of the church
triumphant under the emblem of a city, far exceeding in riches and
splendour all the cities of this world; and this new Jerusalem is
here represented to us both in the exterior and the interior part
of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p15">1. The exterior part of the city—<i>the
wall</i> and <i>the gates,</i> the wall for security and the gates
for entrance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p16">(1.) The wall for security. Heaven is a
safe state; those that are there are enclosed with a wall, that
separates them and secures them from all evils and enemies: now
here, in the account of the wall, we observe, [1.] The height of
it, which, we are told, is very high, <i>seventy yards</i>
(<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.17" parsed="|Rev|21|17|0|0" passage="Re 21:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), sufficient
both for ornament and security. [2.] The matter of it: <i>It was as
jasper;</i> a wall all built of the most precious stones, for
firmness and lustre, <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.11" parsed="|Rev|21|11|0|0" passage="Re 21:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. This city has a wall that is impregnable as well as
precious. [3.] The form of it was very regular and uniform: <i>It
was four-square, the length as large as the breadth.</i> In the new
Jerusalem all shall be equal in purity and perfection. There shall
be an absolute uniformity in the church triumphant, a thing wanted
and wished for on earth, but not to be expected till we come to
heaven. [4.] The measure of the wall (<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.15-Rev.21.16" parsed="|Rev|21|15|21|16" passage="Re 21:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15, 16</scripRef>): <i>Twelve thousand
furlongs</i> each way, each side, which is forty-eight thousand
furlongs in the whole compass, or fifteen hundred German miles.
Here is room sufficient for all the people of God—<i>many mansions
in their Father's house.</i> [5.] The foundation of the wall, for
heaven is a city that hath her foundations (<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.19" parsed="|Rev|21|19|0|0" passage="Re 21:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>); the promise and power of God,
and the purchase of Christ, are the strong foundations of the
church's safety and happiness. The foundations are described by
their number—<i>twelve,</i> alluding to the twelve apostles
(<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.14" parsed="|Rev|21|14|0|0" passage="Re 21:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), whose
gospel doctrines are the foundations upon which the church is
built, <i>Christ himself being the chief corner-stone;</i> and, as
to the matter of these foundations, it was various and precious,
set forth by twelve sorts of precious stones, denoting the variety
and excellency of the doctrines of the gospel, or of the graces of
the Holy Spirit, or the personal excellencies of the Lord Jesus
Christ.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p17">(2.) The gates for entrance. Heaven is not
inaccessible; there is a way opened into the holiest of all; there
is a free admission to all those that are sanctified; they shall
not find themselves shut out. Now, as to these gates, observe, [1.]
Their number—<i>twelve gates,</i> answering to the twelve tribes
of Israel. All the true Israel of God shall have entrance into the
new Jerusalem, as every tribe had into the earthly Jerusalem. [2.]
Their guards which were placed upon them—<i>twelve angels,</i> to
admit and receive the several tribes of the spiritual Israel and
keep out others. [3.] The inscription on the gates—<i>the names of
the twelve tribes,</i> to show that they have a right to the tree
of life, and to enter through the gates into the city. [4.] The
situation of the gates. As the city had four equal sides, answering
to the four quarters of the world, east, west, north, and south, so
on each side there were three gates, signifying that from all
quarters of the earth there shall be some who shall get safely to
heaven and be received there, and that there is as free entrance
from one part of the world as from the other; <i>for in Christ
there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor
free.</i> Men of all nations, and languages, who believe on Christ,
have by him access to God in grace here and in glory hereafter.
[5.] The materials of these gates—they were all of pearls, and yet
with great variety: <i>Every gate one pearl,</i> either one single
pearl of that vast bigness, or one single sort of pearl. Christ is
the pearl of great price, and he is our way to God. There is
nothing magnificent enough in this world fully to set forth the
glory of heaven. Could we, in the glass of a strong imagination,
contemplate such a city as is here described, even as to the
exterior part of it, such a wall, and such gates, how amazing, how
glorious, would the prospect be! And yet this is but a faint and
dim representation of what heaven is in itself.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p18">2. The interior part of the new Jerusalem,
<scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.22-Rev.21.27" parsed="|Rev|21|22|21|27" passage="Re 21:22-27"><i>v.</i> 22-27</scripRef>. We have
seen its strong wall, and stately gates, and glorious guards; now
we are to be led through the gates into the city itself; and the
first thing which we observe there is the street of the city,
<i>which is of pure gold, like transparent glass,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.21" parsed="|Rev|21|21|0|0" passage="Re 21:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. The saints in heaven
tread upon gold. The new Jerusalem has its several streets. There
is the most exact order in heaven: every saint has his proper
mansion. There is converse in heaven: the saints are then at rest,
but it is not a mere passive rest; it is not a state of sleep and
inactivity, but a state of delightful motion: <i>The nations that
are saved walk in the light of it.</i> They walk with Christ in
white. They have communion not only with God, but with one another;
and all their steps are firm and clean. They are pure and clear
<i>as gold and transparent glass.</i> Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p19">(1.) The temple of the new Jerusalem, which
was no material temple, made with men's hands, as that of Solomon
and Zerubbabel, but a temple altogether spiritual and divine;
<i>for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple
thereof.</i> There the saints are above the need of ordinances,
which were the means of their preparation for heaven. When the end
is attained the means are no longer useful. Perfect and immediate
communion with God will more than supply the place of gospel
institutions.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p20">(2.) The light of this city. Where there is
no light, there can be no lustre nor pleasure. Heaven is <i>the
inheritance of the saints in light.</i> But what is that light?
There is no sun nor moon shining there, <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.23" parsed="|Rev|21|23|0|0" passage="Re 21:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. Light is sweet, and a pleasant
thing it is to behold the sun. What a dismal world would this be if
it were not for the light of the sun! What is there in heaven that
supplies the want of it? There is no want of the light of the sun,
<i>for the glory of God lightens that city, and the Lamb is the
light thereof.</i> God in Christ will be an everlasting fountain of
knowledge and joy to the saints in heaven; and, if so, there is no
need of the sun or moon, any more than we here need to set up
candles at noon day, when the sun shineth in its strength.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p21">(3.) The inhabitants of this city. They are
described here several ways. [1.] By their numbers—whole nations
of saved souls; some out of all nations, and many out of some
nations. All those multitudes who were sealed on earth are saved in
heaven. [2.] By their dignity—some of the kings and princes of the
earth: great kings. God will have some of all ranks and degrees of
men to fill the heavenly mansions, high and low; and when the
greatest kings come to heaven they will see all their former honour
and glory swallowed up of this heavenly glory that so much excels.
[3.] Their continual accession and entrance into this city: <i>The
gates shall never be shut.</i> There is no night, and therefore no
need of shutting up the gates. Some one or other is coming in every
hour and moment, and those that are sanctified always find the
gates open; they have <i>an abundant entrance into the
kingdom.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p22">(4.) The accommodations of this city: All
the <i>glory and honour of the nations shall be brought into
it.</i> Whatever is excellent and valuable in this world shall be
there enjoyed in a more refined kind, and to a far greater
degree—brighter crowns, a better and more enduring substance, more
sweet and satisfying feasts, a more glorious attendance, a truer
sense of honour and far higher posts of honour, a more glorious
temper of mind, and a form and a countenance more glorious than
ever were known in this world.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxii-p23">(5.) The unmixed purity of all who belong
to the new Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Rev.xxii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.27" parsed="|Rev|21|27|0|0" passage="Re 21:27"><i>v.</i>
27</scripRef>. [1.] There the saints shall have no impure thing
remaining in them. In the article of death they shall be cleansed
from every thing that is of a defiling nature. Now they feel a sad
mixture of corruption with their graces, which hinders them in the
service of God, interrupts their communion with him, and intercepts
the light of his countenance; but, at their entrance into the holy
of holies, they are washed in the laver of Christ's blood, and
presented to the Father without spot. [2.] There the saints shall
have no impure persons admitted among them. In the earthly
Jerusalem there will be a mixed communion, after all the care that
can be taken. Some roots of bitterness will spring up to trouble
and defile Christian societies; but in the new Jerusalem there is a
society perfectly pure. <i>First,</i> Free from such as are openly
profane. There are none admitted into heaven who work abominations.
In the churches on earth sometimes abominable things are done,
solemn ordinances profaned and prostituted to men openly vicious,
for worldly ends; but no such abominations can have place in
heaven. <i>Secondly,</i> Free from hypocrites, such as make lies,
say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie. These will creep into
the churches of Christ on earth, and may lie concealed there a long
time, perhaps all their days; but they cannot intrude into the new
Jerusalem, which is wholly reserved for those that are called, and
chosen, and faithful, who are all written, not only in the register
if the visible church, <i>but in the Lamb's book of life.</i></p>
</div></div2>