and glory, and riches. "I saw," says St. John, "no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb. And the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of God hath enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof." 1

The Lord Almighty and the Lamb are said to be its temple; because the elect shall no longer need any sensible image to raise their mind to God; but, enjoying the beatific vision, they will be immediately and directly united to God, with all the faculties and powers of their heart and soul. "We now see through a glass," says St. Paul, "in a dark manner, but then face to face."2 "We know," writes St. John, "that when He shall appear, we shall be like to Him; because we shall see Him as He is." 3 It is also said, that "the glory of God hath enlightened it." Because God will wholly unveil Himself to His elect, and show Himself to them in all the splendour of His glory.

Lastly, it is said that "the Lamb' is the light thereof;" because Jesus Christ will shine brighter than the sun in the society of His elect. It is recorded in St. Matthew, that at Christ's transfiguration, "His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became white as snow.' "4 And yet, on Mount Thabor, Christ only made a partial manifestation of His glory. What then will His splendour and brightness be in the heavenly Jerusalem, where He shall display all the treasures and riches of His glory? And if Christ is to be the light of the celestial Jerusalem by His humanity, which shall reflect the brightest splendour to

1 Apoc. xxi. 22, 23.
3 1 Epis. iii. 2.

2 1 Cor. xiii. 12.

Matt. xvii. 2.

enlighten the society of the elect, He will be still more so by His divinity. For, as the Word of God and the figure of His substance, as the light of light, and true God of true God, He will communicate the supernatural light of glory to the spirits of the elect, who will thus be enabled to see God face to face, and to contemplate the Divine essence, such as it is in itself, in all the splendour of its glory.

The holy prophet David thus speaks of this great mystery of Divine wisdom and love: "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy pleasure. For with Thee is the fountain of life; and in Thy light we shall see light."1

"O how lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God." 2

Although the earth will then be entirely renewed and rendered fit for men living in a glorified humanity, yet as the elect after the resurrection will enjoy the property of agility, by which their bodies, in perfect obedience to the soul's desire, will be able to move, as it were, with the swiftness of thought, the whole creation will serve to their glory. This seems clearly pointed out in Holy Scripture, where, speaking of Christ and of His elect, it expressly declares that the universal creation is made for their glory. Thus the apostle St. Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, says "that the Eternal Father has appointed His incarnate Son heir of all things; by whom also He made the world." 3

1 Psalm xxxv. 9, 10.

2 Ib. lxxxiii. 2, 3.

3 Heb. i. 2.

What the apostle here says of Christ, is also applicable with due proportion to the elect, who, as the same apostle testifies, in their quality of adopted sons of God, have all a share in Christ's inheritance. "The Spirit Himself," says he, "gives testimony that we are the sons of God; and if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ; yet so if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him."1

Ah, truly, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him."

Let us then rejoice at the things that are said to us, "We shall go into the house of the Lord— our feet shall be standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem." "You are not come," writes St. Paul to the Hebrews, "to a mountain that might be touched and a burning fire, and a whirlwind, and darkness and storm, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which they that heard excused themselves, that the word might not be spoken to them. For they did not endure that which was said; And if so much as a beast shall touch the mount, it shall be stoned. And so terrible was that which was seen, that Moses said, I am frighted and tremble. But you are come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the church of the first-born, who are written in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect. And to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testament, and to the sprinkling of blood which speaketh better than that of Abel." 3

1 Rom. viii, 16, 17.

2 1 Cor. ii. 9.

3 Heb. xii.

CONCLUSION.

DEVOUT ASPIRATIONS OF THE LOVER OF JESUS.

O LORD JESUS, "who sittest upon the cherubim, Thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth." 1

"Who shall not fear Thee, O King of nations? for Thine is the glory: among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms there is none like unto Thee. Thou, O Lord, art the true God: Thou art the living God, and the everlasting King: at Thy wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide Thy threatening." 2

"O most mighty and powerful Lord, great in counsel, and incomprehensible in thought, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of Adam, to render unto every one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his devices," be Thou for ever praised and glorified. "To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever." "The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction." 5 "To Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honour, and glory, and power for ever and ever." "What have I in heaven? and besides Thee what

"4

Isa. xxxvii. 16.

3 Jerem. xxxii. 19.
5 Apoc. v. 12.

2 Jerem. x. 7 and 10.

4 1 Tim. i. 17.

6 Apoc. v. 13.

1

do I desire upon earth? For Thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever." "As the hart panteth after the fountains of water: so my soul panteth after Thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the living God: when shall I come and appear before the face of God?" 2 "It is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God." 3 "Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword? . . . . For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 4 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember Thee, O Lord; if I do not make Thee the beginning and the end of my joy. "I count all things as dung, that I may gain Christ." 5 Thou alone, O Jesus, art my treasure and my joy: Thou alone art my God and my all, now and for ever.

1 Psalm lxxii. 25, 26.

3 Ib. lxxii. 28.

2 Ib. xli. 2, 3.

4 Rom. viii. 35, 38, 39.

5

Philip. iii. 8.

COX (BROS.) AND WYMAN, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET.