of the materials.

But whatever skill is exerted on

any of these three kinds of materials, they always exceed the value of the work. By thefe, as the materials of which the city is conftructed, it is symbolically faid, that all the materials of which the Christian church fhall then be compofed fhall be intrinfically and fuperlatively valuable as the works of God, independent of the refinements of

men.

Verse 22d. And I faw no temple therein : for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

As it was in the temple that the Jewish worship was performed, no temple being in the new Jerufalem fignifies, that though the Jews fhall then be admitted into the Chriftian church, the worship fhall be Chriftian and not Jewish. As the temple is the fymbol for external ordinances and ceremónies of worship, the want of it fignifies, that the external ordinances of religious worship in the millennian state shall be very few and fimple. They shall strictly accord to the gospel of Chrift in its fcriptural purity and fimplicity. "For the "Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." Then the one God fhall be

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worshipped

worshipped in fpirit 'and in truth, through Chrift Jefus the one Mediator between God and man.

Verje 23.And the city had no need of the fun, neither of the moon to fhine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

By the fun and moon are fignified created and fecondary causes of light. And as light is the fymbol for knowledge, they fignify the created, fecondary, and ordinary fources of knowledge. The citizens of the new Jerufalem shall not much stand in need of the ordinary and flow methods of inftruction in religious knowledge, which are so neceffary and often fo ineffectual in the prefent period; for they fhall entertain fuch juft views of the nature of God, his law fhall be written fo deep upon their hearts by his Spirit, and they shall trace the nature of truth, virtue, and real religion, fo clearly in the character of Jefus, that they fhall feldom mistake their duty, or want an inclination to do it. This happy condition of Chriftians in the millennian ftate Isaiah predicts, in almoft the fame words with those of this verfe, chap. lx. 19.

The fun fhall be no more thy light by day, nei"ther for brightnefs fhall the moon give light "unto thee: but the Lord fhall be unto thee an VOL. II

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everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." Jeremiah in chap. xxxi. 33, 34. predicts the man、 ner of acquiring religious knowledge, and the degree in which it fhall be attained in that period.

Verses 24th,-27th.-And the nations of them which are faved fhall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there fhall be no night there. And they fhall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there fhall in no wife enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatfoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Not only fhall individuals regulate their conduct by the light of gospel truth and by the will of God, but collective bodies also, even in their civil capacity, fhall conform to the will of God, and to the great laws of the gofpel. "The nations of "them who are faved fhall walk in the light of it. "And the kings of the earth fhall bring their glo"ry and honour into it." Then there fhall be civil governments, as well as in the present time, of different kinds, nations or republican; kings or monarchical.

3

monarchical. But of whatever kinds they are, their conftitution fhall be good, and public affairs fhall be well administered according to these conftitutions. Both the governors and the governed fhall conform to the will of God and to the laws of the gofpel. No Cæfar fhall then encroach upon the prerogatives of God, and no citizen fhall withhold from God the things which are God's, nor from Cæfar the things which are Cæfar's. Pure and undefiled religion will make the people good and loyal citizens, and it will make kings fupporters instead of perfecutors of the church of Christ. Then, as Ifaiah predicted of this period of the church, chap. xlix. 23. "Kings shall be thy nurfing fathers, and their queens thy nurfing mo"thers."

During all that period there fhall be no time to be compared to night on account of ignorance, mifery, or danger. That whole period fhall be like the day, in which men are favoured with light, enjoy themselves, and are not afraid of the attacks of thieves, robbers, and enemies.

The gates of the city fhall be always open, to fignify, that no enemy fhail enter into nor attack the church of Christ, but that friends and votaries 'fhall continually flock unto it. The civil powers fhall greatly exert themselves to promote the fecurity and fuccefs of the Chriftian church. They fhall not indeed compel men by legal penalties 3 G 2

to

to profefs themselves her votaries. Such compulfion, and fuch forced votaries fhe fhall despise, as totally inconfiftent with the nature of true religion. But they shall support her by entering her gates as friends, by becoming true Chriftians, and by conducting themselves, even in the adminiftration of civil affairs, by the laws of truth, righteoulnefs, and peace. Though the gates of the new Jerufalem shall be always open, though the entrance into Chrift's church fhall not be narrowed by human statutes, though even civil governments shall enter into it, and though its entrance fhall be as wide as Chrift hath made it ; no perfon who is polluted with error or fin, or who fhall pollute others, none who worshippeth God in idolatry or hypocrify, and none who maketh a lie, fhall enter into the millennian state of the church. But those perfons only shall enter it who are true Chriftians, having been made fpiritually alive in Christ Je fus.

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