Chapter 361—Rejoice with Jerusalem
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:2
.
There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, “a
crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of
thy God.” “Her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper
stone, clear as crystal.” “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.” Saith the Lord: “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people.” “The
tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall
be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (
Isaiah
62:3
;
Revelation 21:11, 24
;
Isaiah 65:19
;
Revelation 21:3
.).
In the City of God “there shall be no night.” None will need or desire
repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and offering
praise to His name. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning and shall
ever be far from its close. “And they need no candle, neither light of the sun;
for the Lord God giveth them light” (
Revelation 22:5
). The light of the sun
will be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet which
immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. The glory of God
and the Lamb floods the Holy City with unfading light. The redeemed walk
in the sunless glory of perpetual day.
In the visions of the prophet, those who have triumphed over sin and
the grave are now seen happy in the presence of their Maker, talking freely
with Him as man talked with God in the beginning. “Be ye glad,” the Lord
bids them, “and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create
Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in
her, nor the voice of crying” (
Isaiah 65:18, 19
)....
As the prophet beholds the redeemed dwelling in the City of God, free
from sin and from all marks of the curse, in rapture he exclaims, “Rejoice
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