Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/351

 other effects which are to mark the era of the Lord's second coming is the establishment of a new Church on earth. This, as the final prediction of prophecy, is plainly spoken of towards the closing chapters of the Revelation. It is called the "New Jerusalem," and described as "coming down from God out of heaven," and declared to be "the tabernacle of God with men, in which He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Some have supposed that this narrative refers to a condition of the redeemed in heaven, but in doing so they must have overlooked the clear significance of its terms. The city is to come down from heaven and to be the tabernacle of God with men; and there can be no well-founded doubt that the whole prophecy is designed to show that the Christian Church will, at some time, be distinguished by a state of eminent purity and holiness, of which the Lord and heaven will be acknowledged as the source and power. Jerusalem, it is well known, is a type of the Church, and, therefore, the New Jerusalem must be taken as the symbol of a new Church. It is called "the holy city," not to express the idea of numerous streets and squares for the residence of a trading or a religious community, but to signify a sacred collection of spiritual truths which are the light and life of those by whom they are accepted. It is said that "the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal," to teach us that its love, wisdom, and life will be proportionate to each other. Hence it may appear that this new Church is to be an enlightened, united, and practical institution. That it is to be a result of the last judgment and the coming of the Lord, may be evident to those who will consult the preceding chapter of the Apocalypse, in which those