rection; but their happiness is, that their life, redeemed through the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and the influence of his Holy Spirit, making them all righteous, they inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the multitude of peace. "They have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Their salvation, no less than that of the elect remnant glorified with him in his heavenly city, is all ascribed to the virtue of the great propitiatory sacrifice of the blessed Jesus, "offered as a Lamb without spot to God." In his blood alone "is redemption, even the remission of sins." They too are bought with this price; Christ is the purifying sacrifice of that covenant which, after it has anointed the most holy, is to restore the natural Israel to the everlasting possession of the holy land of promise. This is only a subordinate application of the same eternal covenant, which is to raise "the ungodly," believing in Jesus, to thrones of glory, and make them "meet to be partakers with saints in light." They are, in fact, under the same new covenant; the holiest of all is first replenished with its spiritual inhabitants, and then the holy place, and all the courts of the Lord's house, are filled with his redeemed in the flesh, who by one sacrifice has perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Through Christ " He has reconciled to himself all things which are in heaven and which are in earth." "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." And, as we have seen, the other nations of the saved are to be partakers of Israel's mercies. "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple." The Divine throne here spoken of is, doubtless, that of the Lord Messiah; "thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:" the glorified election, overcoming by faith, are represented as sitting with him upon his throne, as "the queen at his right hand"-joint heirs with him" of that regal dominion, which he exercises with them over all the earth, and over all the creation of God. But these, rescued from "the great tribulation," are seen as placed "before the throne," as those that are admitted only to the presence chamber of their King. "They serve him day and night in his holy temple," doubtless his holy temple at Jerusalem, where, as we have seen, "he puts his presence of ever," and which is to be called "the house of prayer for all nations." They are not inhabiters of that celestial city, which has no temple, but is the very throne and sanctuary of the King of Israel; but they "enter into his gates with thanksgiving," and offer never-ceasing praise in his courts. Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people," &c., as we have read before: "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah." "And he that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell 66 among among them." The manifested Deity in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we have seen, dwells men, by placing his tabernacle so as to be accessible to them. Jehovah is with them as in Sinai ;" and "at Salem is his tabernacle; and his dwelling-place at Jerusalem." "Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord." The happiness and peace of this "palm-bearing multitude is described much in the language used of restored Israel in the ancient prophets : "They shall hunger no more, neither shall they thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, or any heat. For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." This language, as I have observed on a similar text, is far more significant, when applied to the recently vouchsafed happy state of the redeemed, who are left in the flesh, to inhabit the new earth, than when understood respecting the glorified saints in "heavenly places, who have long entered into the joy of their Lord.” If the children of the resurrection need sustenance, in repeated supplies of food, "the first-born among many brethren" will not administer it to them, as a shepherd feedeth his sheep, but as a friend who entertains his guests. "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." * * Luke xxii. 29. The spiritual bodies of his saints, "incorruptible," raised "in power and glory," I should suppose not susceptible of injury from without, that they should need to be sheltered from the intemperance of the elements, as when in the days of their flesh, "in the sweat of their brow they eat their bread." But it is in the character of a shepherd to his flock, the helpless objects of his care, that the Lord Messiah is promised to his restored Israel: Ezek. xxxiv.-"For thus saith the Lord God, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." "And I will bring them into their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be there shall they lie down in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith Jehovah Elohim." "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd," &c. &c. "And I will raise up for them a plant, a plantation' or 'planting' of renown, and they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more," &c. So Isaiah describes the benefit that he who cometh shall bring to his restored people : "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs in his arms, and gently lead those that are with young." Again, the same prophet speaks of the character of the great restorer of his people : Chap. xxxii. " Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest: as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” The restored Israel will be the centre of this blessedness, but all the survivors of mankind will be partakers of the same: "Rejoice for Jerusalem, And exult with her, all ye that love her. Be exceeding glad for her, All ye that mourn over her; That ye may suck, and be satisfied, From the breasts of her consolation. That ye may draw near and delight yourselves, For thus hath Jehovah said: I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like a flowing stream: And ye shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, 66 Thus, in the resurrection of our blessed Lord, and, "at his coming," in the resurrection of those that are his,"" the children that God hath given him," and then, after that, (when he has judged the nations) in his preserving and bringing forth a rem * Isaiah lxvi. 10, &c. |