to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from GOD, having the glory of GoD: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 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: On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 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. 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. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz ; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 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. And I saw no temple therein for the LORD GOD Almighty and the LAMB are the temple of it. 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. 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. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 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. Revelation xxii. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of GOD and of the LAMB. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse but the throne of GOD and of the LAMB shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him and they shall see His face; and His Name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the LORD GOD giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the LORD GOD of the holy prophets sent His angel to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship GOD. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I JESUS have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the SPIRIT and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, GOD shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, GOD shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly; Amen. Even so, come, LORD JESUS. The grace of our LORD JESUS CHRIST be with you all. Amen. Prayers. Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty GoD, that like as we do believe Thy Only-begotten Son our LORD JESUS CHRIST to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with Him continually dwell, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the HOLY GHOST, one God, world without end. Amen. O GOD, Who hast prepared for them that love Thee such good things as pass man's understanding; pour into our hearts such love toward Thee, that we, loving Thee above all things, may obtain Thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen. I see the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem placed before my eyes, that I may not forget Thee nor my home. May my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember Thee. Thou, LORD, hast made me glad through Thy works, and I will rejoice in the operation of Thy hands. And whereas I read it written, "Delight thou in the LORD, and He shall give thee thy heart's desire:" wilt Thou not give me mine, even to joy in Thee, my LORD, and exult in Thy glory, and that to Thee every knee doth bow? O that I may so joy, as steadfastly to put back from me the joys of this life and enjoy Thee; and endure unweariedly all wearinesses, and whatsoever shall seem good to Thee. For I am Thine; and as the hart desireth the waterbrooks, so longeth my soul after Thee, O GOD. Amen. Glory be to the FATHER, &c. CHAPTER XV.-ETERNITY. S. JOHN the Divine thus writes: "The angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, Who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer." 1 Rev. x. 5, 6. R The angel would not have sworn by Him that liveth for ever and ever unless the end of time, and the setting in to us of eternity had been worthy of deep and solemn thought. What then is time? and what Eternity? Time is not a substance made up of hours, and days, and months, and years. A day is a portion of time, and measures out twenty-four hours of time; but it does not give to us a certain portion of the substance of time to hold, perceive and possess. It is only a measure of that which glides away and eludes our grasp. Time But We measure distance by miles and leagues, but then there is somewhat to measure, some tract of land or sea, which we can mark out into portions of feet, rods, furlongs, miles. But where is the tract of time which we can see, feel, touch, in order that we may measure, and know it? Has time any being which we can present to eye, or ear, or touch? Nay; can we feel it even with the mind, or embrace it with the thoughts? consists of past, present, future. So men speak. the past is gone. Time cannot consist of that. future has yet no being. What can consist of that which itself consists not ? And as for the present, where is it? That moment in which the last words, "Where is it," were read and thought is already gone. The present has glided into the past before we could perceive it. The past and the future which have now no being, even these seem easier to grasp than the present. The What is a day? It is, together with its night, one revolving of the earth in which we live. What is a month? One rolling of the moon around the earth. What a year? One course of this earth round the sun. A thousand years are a thousand such courses. Time then is measured by motion; and thus we try to measure it. The swing of the pendulum, the unrolling of a chain, the gliding of sand, are our means of measuring time for daily life. Motion is not time, |