"_Verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter ye shall see_ HEAVEN OPEN,
_and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of
man_."--John i: 51.
Notwithstanding my incompetency to do justice to this momentous subject,
I feel constrained to throw out my views in this public manner, for the
benefit of all who feel an interest in the second coming of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, to set up, and establish his "everlasting kingdom,"
upon this renovated earth.
I believe, according to the testimony of the "two men seen in white
apparel," that "this same Jesus which was taken up _into_ Heaven will in
like manner come again," (Acts i: 11) from the same place, and stand in
the same place he left. (See Zach. xiv: 4.) I believe he is in the third
Heaven, in Paradise, with God, the Father; (see 2 Cor. xii: 2, 4; Rev.
iii: 21; Heb. i: 3, 9 and 24) that he is now about to come with the Holy
CITY, THE CAPITAL of his everlasting kingdom, and locate it in the
"midst" of the promised land where he was crucified. According to this
view then there is but one place in the heavens for this CITY to come
from. A spiritual exposition of these glorious things, now about to be
realized, beclouds the whole, and leaves no tangible ground for God's
people to stand on. Whoever attempts this wilfully will run the risk of
losing his soul, for Jesus says "if any man shall add or take away from
the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
(from the tree of life--margin) and out of the Holy CITY." Rev. xxii:
19. Proof positive, that the Saints have a part in the City, and not in
themselves.
Let us now listen to his description of this glorious view he sees
before him, while he sits, pen in hand, all ready to write down what
transpires at the command of his guide.
"I, John, saw the holy CITY NEW JERUSALEM coming down from God, _out of
Heaven_, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." In the 5th v.
John saw him that "was dead and is alive forevermore," seated upon "his
throne;" and he said unto me "write, for these words are true and
faithful." "And there came unto me one of the seven angels, saying come
up hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife; and he carried
me away in the spirit 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 I heard a
great voice _out_ of Heaven saying, behold, the TABERNACLE of God is
with men." What a beautiful description is here--please read the whole
chapter. In the two first verses of the xxii. chapter, we learn that the
walls of this CITY enclose "the tree of life," "which is in the midst of
the _Paradise of God_." Moses testifies that "the Lord God planted a
_garden_ eastward in _Eden_, and there he put the man whom he had
formed. And the tree of life also in the midst of the _garden_, and a
_river_ went out of _Eden_ to water the garden, and became into four
heads." Gen. xi: 8, 10; iii: 3, 17, 22, 24. Compare this with Ezekiel's
prophecy, xlvii: 3, 5, 12; also xlviii: 30, 35. There he speaks of
waters first shallow and then deep; waters to swim in that could not be
passed over, on the "banks of which shall be fruit every month, and the
leaves for medicine." He also shows the four sides or "heads" to the
river. The prophet Isaiah says "Look upon _Zion, the City_. _Jerusalem._
_Tabernacle_, a place of broad rivers and streams; where shall pass no
galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby,"--xxxiii: 20,
21. Surely this is the same which Moses and Ezekiel has described; and
John says, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of
life, which is in the midst of the _Paradise_ of God. And whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. xxii: 17, 2, 7. Then
this "_Holy City_, _new Jerusalem_, _the Zion of God_, _the Tabernacle
of God_, _the Bride the Lamb's Wife_, _the Mother of us all_," is a
_City_, enclosed with a wall one hundred and forty-four cubits high,
which embraces the "_garden of Eden, the Paradise of God_." And God
calls it his "SANCTUARY." I suppose that it will be conceded by all,
that the _Garden of Eden_ at the time of the fall, was a literal place,
and was planted eastward. Yes, says one, and it is located in "Ethiopia
or Assyria." How then is it, that the traveller and historian are
entirely silent about it? Surely, it is a most remarkable place. Hear
Moses's description of it:--"Therefore the Lord God sent him (Adam)
forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was
taken. So he drove out the man: and placed at the _East_ of the garden
of Eden, Cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard
the tree of life." Gen. iii: 23, 24. Now we have no account that these
Cherubims and flaming sword has ever been seen within the orbit of this
planet (which is allowed to be 162 millions of miles in diameter) since
the fall of man, but has been far removed out of their sight. The
prophet says, "Behold the time shall come that these tokens which I have
told thee, shall come to pass, and the _Bride_ shall appear, and the
coming forth shall be seen that _now is withdrawn from the earth_,"--xi.
Esdras: 7, 26. This shows that Paradise is not located in this planet.
But perhaps you do not believe that Esdras is a true prophet; well then,
will you believe St. Paul? He says, "I knew a man in Christ above
fourteen years ago (whether in the body I cannot tell, God knoweth) such
an one caught up to the third Heaven--God knoweth how that he was caught
up into Paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not (possible:
margin) for a man to utter." 2 Cor. xii: 4. St. John's testimony agrees
with Paul, for he says he "saw the _Bride the Lamb's wife_, coming down
from God, _out of Heaven_," without doubt, the same place where he had
been. But says the objector, if John saw it coming down 1750 years ago,
it ought to have been here by this time. Very true; but John "saw things
which must shortly come to pass." Rev. 1. Let us just look at a few of
the things he saw, and remember at the same time how he was directed to
write them down, that every important point might be recorded. He saw
the "abomination (Popery) that maketh desolate set up," four hundred and
forty-five years in the future. Again, he saw the seven angels going
forth with their trumpets to sound--he particularly describes the three
last. See Rev. viii: 13; ix: 17, 19. Here he shows us what was to be the
component parts of gunpowder, and in a very peculiar and clear manner
describes the musket with the ball, (head) how they killed men 1350
years before muskets were used on horse-back--17th v. Further, how could
he have described the second advent history so minutely as he has done
in the xiv. chapter, if he had not have seen what was to be, and has
been fulfilled; and how is it possible he could have given such a
lamentable picture of "Mistery Babylon," if he had not have seen in
_these last days_ of "perilous times," the professed children of God
drinking from the old mother's cup of poison, while "she was drunk with
the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Rev. xvii. and xviii. Once more, how
did David see that blood thirsty mob shoot out the lip, and laugh to
scorn their Savior; and the four Roman soldiers under his cross dividing
his garments and casting lots for his vesture, twelve hundred years
before it took place. John xix: 23, 24. Why! just as St. John saw the
_Holy City_ coming down at the second advent of Jesus--just as I
believe, it will be seen, "Having the glory of God: and her light was
like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as
crystal." Rev. xxi: 11. The most precious is the green, spotted with red
and purple. We will now look at the