"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."

THE HEAVENS DECLARE

Part 36

ARIES — THE LAMB

(continued)

In this Study we come to the first Decan, or minor constellation, in the house of Aries — CASSIOPEIA — THE ENTHRONED WOMAN. Cassiopeia is the figure of a queenly woman, matchless in beauty, seated in exalted dignity. She is seated on a throne, high and lifted up. With one hand she is arranging her robe; in the other she holds the branch of victory and triumph, at the same time arranging her hair. She seems to be making herself ready for some presentation or great public manifestation. Near her sits King Cepheus on his throne. In Arabic this constellation is called EL SEDU, which means the freed. Albumazer, an ancient authority, says this woman was anciently called the daughter of splendor, hence, the glorified woman. Her common name is CASSI- OPEIA, meaning the beautiful, the enthroned. This woman is obviously the Bride of Christ, the Lamb's Wife, the New Jerusalem of whom John the apostle said, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7). This scene is in stark contrast to what is seen in the constellation of Andromeda. In Andromeda the woman is bound, in chains, cast down. For two thousand years the bride of the Lamb has been in bonds and disabilities, in weakness and limitation, despised by the world, chained within the harlot system of religious Babylon, under affliction and attack, and even in danger of being destroyed. But here we see the same woman at last freed, delivered, exalted and enthroned! The whole picture in Cassiopeia is that of deliverance, preparation, and heavenly triumph — the church triumphant, the queen who has made herself ready to reign in splendor with her husband, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

One will never be able to understand the deep mystery of Christ and His bride until first he understands the great mystery of God Himself. I have previously pointed out in this series that man in the beginning was created male and female in the image of God. The moment we understand that male and female IS the image of God, then our hearts will throb with heavenly rapture at the awesome glory, power and exaltation of Christ and His bride. When he that readeth can grasp the wonderful truth that God bears within Himself both the characteristics of male and female, of Father and Mother, then he can better understand the divine word spoken "in the beginning" when God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: so...in the image of God created He him; MALE AND FEMALE created He them" (Gen. 1:26-27). Most people speak of God and His Son without even giving thought as to how it is that God has a Son. All nature with unified voice reveals that one male, or two males, or a thousand males, or a billion males can never produce an offspring. The invisible things of God are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead (Rom. 1:20), and creation immutably proclaims the mystery that it takes both a male and a female to produce life. This simple law of life is a divine revelation of the GODHEAD! God is within Himself both a Father and a Mother and it was within this unique reality of His Being that God brought forth His Son and His sons. I would not for one minute nor in any way seek to dishonor or diminish the glory, the honor, or the majesty of our Father — the Lord God Almighty. But He is completely pleased to have me declare to you the reality of Himself which is male and female. Motherhood is a most profound revelation that is rooted in the deepest essence of God Himself.

"This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created" (Gen. 5:1-2). Male and female. Both Adam. Both man. Both in the image of God! God made His image exactly alike, yet opposite. From the very beginning we can journey into the depth of God's Being in the revelation of His image and nature as male and female. Adam is a figure we are pressing through to know God. With what divine clarity does the inspired apostle teach us that Adam himself was but a type of the Christ. "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come" (Rom. 5:14). This presence on the earth of man — male and female — is the glory of God emanating out of the sphere of His invisible substance and the figure, the symbol, the picture, the prophecy of the last Adam and His wife — Christ and His bride! It is not important how man was created, nor even when he was created — but to see the mind of God radiate and descend and express itself into human form, He made His invisible nature of male and female into a model creation could see and comprehend, though the female at creation was still hidden within the man, just as the female nature of God was hidden within Himself from eternity. As God separated Eve from Adam, giving her form and raising her up into an identity, and exalting her and setting her together with Adam over all the works of His hands, so God is separating out of Himself through Christ the wife He has in His own side, giving her form and raising her up into an identity, and setting her with Christ an the universal throne of authority, glory and dominion over all things in all realms. This glorious God-Woman is Cassiopeia — The Enthroned Woman — the Lamb's Wife, the Bride of Jesus Christ! God's agenda is to get this woman into her own identity, to give her form and substance, to raise up the consciousness of this woman, that she may find herself and fulfill herself in God's great Kingdom.

TWO WOMEN — TWO CITIES

Why does God want to bring forth in the earth a spiritual woman — the bride of Christ? The answer is found in the typology of the first woman, Eve. "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living" (Gen. 3:20). The mother of all living! The mother of all living is the image of God — the mother of all mankind in the image of God is the revelation of the feminine reality in God. Let us find this woman, this mother of all living in the revelation of God. "For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond maid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar. Far this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise" (Gal. 4:22-28). Here Paul is telling us about two distinct and different women, two distinct and different Jerusalems, which are two different and distinct covenants. Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael are used as illustrations. In the allegory, Abraham represents God, the Father. Sarah, as his wife, represents the original promise and covenant God made with Abraham to bring forth in the earth a people, a race, a nation. This promise and covenant preceded the giving of the Law and the raising up of Israel as a nation under the Law.

Just as Sarah was old and barren and had no son, so there were no children by this covenant, there was no nation birthed out of the first, the Abrahamic Covenant. When the Egyptian bondservant, Hagar, was given to Abraham as a wife, she pictured the second covenant — the covenant of the Law given by Moses. Thus, Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, typified the natural Israel, the nation of people developed under the Law Covenant after the time of Moses. Finally, Isaac, the seed of promise was born, picturing a spiritual people developed out of the spiritual promise and covenant — without Law, thus the covenant of Grace. Then Paul made a comparison of Hagar to mount Sinai (the Law) and the capital city of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, declaring, "For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children." Sarah, on the other hand, typifies the freewoman, the spiritual covenant which brings forth the promised seed — Christ. And this Sarah is also Jerusalem — not the earthly Jerusalem, for that is Hagar — for the apostle explains, "But Jerusalem WHICH IS ABOVE is the mother of us all." "Jerusalem which is above" pertains to the heavenly promise and the spiritual seed — the enChristed. Ah — the Jerusalem "which now is" is the one with which the saints in Galatia were well acquainted in that day, the natural city there in Palestine built on seven mountains and surrounded by a great wall, and containing a magnificent temple that was first built by Solomon and later rebuilt by Zerubbabel. It was the center of Jewish worship, as well as their governmental capital city. It was the central place where the Law given to Moses on mount Sinai was administered to the people. In other words, it represented the "law" system which is in "bondage" and all the natural seed which serves God "under law." But he contrasts that Jerusalem which represents the natural seed and the law system that regulates the flesh of the outer man, with another Jerusalem, "Jerusalem which is above." This second Jerusalem is a free system, not a bondage, and she represents a spiritual seed and she is our spiritual mother! The prophet said she would dangle her babes (converts) on her knees and let them nurse at the breasts of her consolation — mother care.

Two women. Two cities. Two covenants. Two seeds. The covenant of Hagar, the natural Jerusalem, is the Law of mount Sinai with its darkness, tempest, and lightnings. It makes people servants, fearing the wrath of God. How sad that the churches today still major in that covenant! Nevertheless, what saith the scripture? "Cast out the bondwoman" and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman." The bondwoman is Jerusalem the natural, the law, bondage, ritualistic religion, the flesh, sin and death system. But the Jerusalem which is above is also a covenant — the New Covenant. It is free and is our mother. She gives birth to our being, our sense of reality, bringing us out of the natural sense and into the spiritual, out of the earthly consciousness and into the heavenly. This woman is a covenant and a people birthed of that covenant, and to her covenant she contains a promise in her womb, in which the seed has come to bear again the Christ, for the Christ is birthed in us; that is the way He comes to us. We are the children of the freewoman, and her consciousness is being raised up in us — the feminine side of God. This is the realm of freedom in Christ into which we have been birthed. Thank God, we do not dwell in a place of law, nor of commandments and outward ordinances anymore! We are children of the heavenly Jerusalem. We are not waiting to enter through the pearly gates in the sweet bye and bye on some distant shore, for "We ARE COME unto mount Zion, and unto the CITY OF THE LIVING GOD, THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM...to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven...and to the spirits of just men made perfect" (Heb. 12:22-23). Yes, beloved, we are come. This entrance into the realm of the heavenly city is not future, not off in space: this is where we NOW have come. We are now seated in the heavenly places, we have now entered in through the gates of the city, we are now walking the streets of gold — walking out the divine nature of God. We have a right to the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. While multitudes look for a literal city from outer-space, we are come to the New Covenant City of inner-space, where Christ in us is our hope of glory! How few realize this precious truth! And this city to which we are come, this heavenly Jerusalem, IS THE M-O-T-H-E-R OF US ALL!

Let us UNDERSTAND! The reason there is this mysterious attraction between the masculine and the feminine is because the feminine was taken out of the masculine. The woman was taken right out of the man, and something you (women) are is uniquely what we (men) are, and therein lies the phenomenon of why male and female seek union. Jerusalem above is the mother of us all. What does that mean? There is a divine quality of God that is feminine that has birthed ALL SPIRITUAL LIFE and it is the same divine quality of God that is birthing us in this realm of sonship to God. All Jerusalem's children are born of the spirit, and led by the spirit of God. And now in this heavenly light, power and spirit, they come to be heavenly Jerusalem's children, that is from above. So they are heavenly Jerusalem's children, born from above, of the spirit and the light.

This heavenly Jerusalem is the mother of all them that are born of the spirit and walk in the spirit, who gives them power to become the sons of God, and they that believe in the light that the spirit brings are the children of the light, and walk in the light of their mother, New Jerusalem. And you may read how this New Jerusalem is garnished with pearls, symbolically, and there is written on the gates the names of the twelve tribes, and on the foundations the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. So here you may see that there is no night here, but always day, in the holy city, new and heavenly Jerusalem, that is from above, that is from the higher realm of the spirit. All the children of the light, of spiritual understanding, that are born of the spirit from above, see it as their mother; and the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of this city, New Jerusalem, that is from above. And all Jerusalem's children, that have overcome, have right to the tree of life, and drink of the water of life, which flows out from Christ and out of our innermost being in this new and heavenly Jerusalem. And in this heavenly Jerusalem there shall be no more curse and no more death; all who wait for another city shall die and not live, but all who dwell in this city may eat of the tree and drink of its quickening water. And he that overcomes, saith Christ, "I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name" (Rev. 3:12). We understand by now, do we not, that the Jerusalem which is above and is free and is the mother of us all is God's high realm of the spirit, wherein we may walk in perfection, intimacy of fellowship, and vital union with God. The New Jerusalem is the Kingdom of God, which is another way of saying the rule of God within us, by which Jesus Christ has become sovereign King of both our thought-life and our actions. The New Jerusalem is that condition described by Paul when he spoke of "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II Cor. 10:5). She is a city that is not located away out there somewhere in the blue, but in the heavens or exalted places of the human spirit. To walk in her light is to walk in the state or kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

The church has been called the mother. Why? Because the church is the dispenser of the life-giving seed of the Spirit and the Word, and the church is the formation of God's divine nature within a people on the earth. The first concept that calls us out of the world unto Himself is a woman. Long millenniums ago the mighty Moses brought this word to the Lord's people: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee" (Ex. 20:12). What blessings accrue to those who honor their father and their mother! Again and again we are told to honor our father and our mother, and this is the first commandment with the promise of life. We have this as a natural law — and I am not seeking to diminish that natural law — for verily I say to you that he who truly values the heavenly Father and the heavenly Mother will ultimately value his earthly father and his earthly mother as well. We have learned to honor God the Father, but it should be obvious to all who read these lines that few have learned to honor God the Mother — that unique aspect of His own Being that births all spiritual life and reality.

FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW JERUSALEM

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city" (Heb. 11:8-16). The scriptural, spiritual, heavenly symbolism of truth is illustrated in simple terms for our understanding. In this magnificent passage we are told that Abraham looked for a city. He did not want Babel, for he departed from the land of Babel. He wanted a city that has eternal foundations. He did not want a man-built city; he looked for one whose builder and maker is God. When he looked for it he left kindred and country, and wandered about homeless in the very land which he was to inherit. Did he ever find it? No. But by faith he saw it afar off, and he will find it, he will see it really.

All who follow in the steps of faithful Abraham are strangers and pilgrims on this earth — in this present world-system. This outer fleshly realm is not their home, their realm of dwelling, their state of being. They are looking for that city that is being built by God, for they are citizens of the New Jerusalem which is of heavenly, spiritual quality. Those who are looking for a heavenly, spiritual city know full well that they are only strangers and pilgrims in this present carnal, mortal world. They endure their life, living as in a temporary state. They have no desire for the things of this realm of dust, for they seek a better country than this. No nation, civilization or system built by man can make claims of permanency. Nations we know once existed, not a cobblestone of their existence can be found. World empires, during my brief time on this planet, have folded up their tents, pulled down their banners, and they are lost. Men whom we thought could never leave us died, and we wept when they did. Others whose names we feared and who held life and death in their hands for millions, like the withered grass are but dirt, a haunting memory in the minds of their victims. The plastic film replays their pomp and threats with the cavalcade of military might, which is but a story, like Grimms' fairy tales. Nothing permanent, nothing lasting exists in this material realm. Egypt with her mammoth stone structures of a glory long lost, testifies to the centuries that man can make nothing permanent. I have watched men build large churches and mighty religious organizations expecting them to be permanent, now they can't be found. Their death was the end of the large following and the movement disintegrated.

Abraham leaked for this permanent order. I look for this permanent order. This was the city of God that the man of faith looked for, not a vast earthly empire. All sons of God look in the same direction. "Those who are born of the spirit," Jesus said, "SEE the kingdom." Not of this world, but something far in excess, the real of the real, the permanent of the permanent, the eternal abiding place, the city of refuge, the Holy of holies, the promise of all promises, from corruption into incorruption, from mortality to immortality, from death unto life uncreated, from time into eternity where measurement has totally lost all its sense. As God's elect walk with the Lord in this strange land, God is preparing for them a city, a sphere of dwelling, a state of being of eternal substance, raised up within by the glorious mind of Christ. do not mean by this that the city of God is located in some far-off heaven somewhere. It cannot be too strongly emphasized here that the New Jerusalem is not heaven (as that term is commonly understood) in any sense of the word, nor is it a literal city made with brick, mortar, stone, wood, or gold someplace out in the vastnesses of infinity. This glorious city of God is a spiritual city made up of living stones forming a spiritual house, a heavenly people, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh — the bride of Christ. It is heavenly in character, but is found here in the world, though not of the world.

"And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isa. 2:3). Jerusalem, Jerusalem! There is probably more confused and erroneous teaching on Jerusalem than on any other name in scripture. One of the major sources of confusion in the preaching in the popular churches comes from preachers and teachers who are unable to separate the natural from the spiritual. Because the old city still exists and still carries its ancient name, they assume prophetic Jerusalem must have something to do with the old city of Jerusalem. Perhaps you are acquainted with the history of the ancient city of Jerusalem. It had its origin many centuries, yea, millenniums ago. Rich in history, drenched in tradition, sanctified by religion, and stained with blood, Jerusalem remains forever young, forever old. Here David and Solomon reigned gloriously, Jesus of Nazareth walked, the apostles preached; here Muhammad is believed by the Moslems to have ascended to heaven; here the Saracens, Turks, and Crusaders fought; here the Israelis have exuberantly returned. In ancient times Jerusalem came not only to be the capital of the kingdom of Judah, but also came to be almost universally looked upon as the symbol of Divine Kingship. As a real city of marble and stone, it became already in antiquity one of the major world centers. In Second Temple times, Jerusalem's fame spread westwards through Europe and reached as far as Indochina in the east. Its population then is estimated at 300,000 - 400,000, a very large city in those days. Jerusalem has endured throughout history, surviving wars, the deaths of empires and countless attempts to destroy it. Even its appearance speaks of its age and timelessness. Throughout the centuries, stonemasons have worked the quarries of the Judean hills for the distinctive rose-colored stone with which the city is built. Even in this modern generation, by law every building in Jerusalem must be built of this same "Jerusalem stone." How beautiful it is! Yet, in spite of its enduring and romantic quality, far too many people place too much stress, where prophetic events are concerned, with the physical city of Jerusalem. The church world has somehow missed the fateful edict of Jesus Christ against that historic city. The Lord Jesus saw and predicted His rejection by the Jews and the long night of wandering in unbelief that would follow. In Mat. 23:37-38 we have depicted the Lord Jesus Christ standing on the mount of Olives. He was weeping over the great city of Jerusalem that lay just below Him, and the great love of His heart for the Jews was poured out in most tender and sympathetic words. He exclaimed, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

What a beautiful figure Christ is using here to express His tender love for His own people according to the flesh! "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah" (Heb. 7:14). When the mother hen sees a storm brewing, immediately her first concern is for the fluffy little chicks that compose her brood. She gathers them under her wings, and protects them from the storm or from the hawk that may be flying overhead. Close to her breast they are sheltered and can feel the very heartbeat of the mother bird's love for them. This is the picture of the MOTHERHOOD OF GOD revealed in Jesus Christ. So He expressed Himself concerning the Jews. He would have gathered them to His bosom, and they would have felt His heartbeat of love for them, if they had only given Him a chance to do so; but they had rejected Him and were just getting ready to cry, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him"! He knew all about it. Jesus could foresee the whole scene of trial and crucifixion, and as He stood there upon the mountaintop weeping over them He was forced to exclaim, "Your house is left unto you desolate." The great and beautiful temple would soon be a desolation and a mass of debris. The service that had been the center of the worship of Yahveh for centuries was about to come to a close. Great Zion, the glory of the whole earth, would soon be a heap of ruins, lying in the dust.

They have been rejected and despised as they have gone from nation to nation, until the Jewish name became a byword in almost the entire world. Just a few Jews continued to dwell in the city of Jerusalem during the centuries, and from week to week they came and continue to come out to a spot called the "Wailing Wall," and there they have wept, longing for the return of those wonderful days of the long ago when Judah and Jerusalem were basking in the sunlight of the favor of God and they were considered the joy of the whole earth. But although twenty centuries have passed by, their tears and prayers have been of no avail, for their house is still left unto them desolate. The city, in spite of its dazzling beauty, and in spite of its sentimental memory; the land, in spite of its lush natural productiveness; the religion, in spite of its outward ceremony and pageantry; all is completely empty and void of spiritual life, there is no living reality, no quickening spirit, no righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and no way for them to pass over again to the old days of glory. The halo of glory has faded off those ancient stones, and has passed to rest on the true city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, which rises beyond the mists and clouds of time, in the light that shines not from the sun or moon, but from the face of God. In other words, in this universe there is a holy society of men and women, pure and lovely, the elite of the family of man, gathered in a realm which the hand of man has never touched, and the sin of man has never soiled. Into this holy realm nothing can enter that defiles or works abomination, or deals in lies. The patriarchs caught sight of this city in their pilgrimage, it gleamed before their vision, beckoning them ever forward, and forbidding their return to the country from which they had come out. And the Seer of Patmos beheld it descending from God out of heaven, bathed in the divine glory.

There is a most instructive proclamation in Rev. 11:19 wherein the beloved John describes a scene in the heavenlies thus: "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an Earthquake, and great hail." These words point us to the passing of the old and the inauguration of the new. At the very moment of the doom of old Jerusalem, when city and temple perish together — when all the ceremonial and ritual of the earthly and transitory are swept away, the temple of God in heaven is opened, and the ark of His covenant is seen in the temple. That is as much as to say, the local and temporary passes, but is succeeded by the heavenly and eternal; the earthly and symbolical is superseded by the spiritual and the true. We have in this representation a fine comment on the words of the epistle to the Hebrews, "The way into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing. But no sooner is the "first tabernacle" swept away than the temple in heaven is opened, and even the sacred ark of the covenant, the shrine of the divine Presence and Glory, is revealed to the wondering eyes of men through the new and spiritual and heavenly temple of living stones. Access into the Holiest of all is no longer forbidden, and "we have boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus."

In the book of Revelation John is carried away to an exceeding high mountain and there he is shown that which is called both a bride and a city. From the top of that high mountain John looks out and sees a most wonderful city, coming down out of heaven from God, filled and flooded with the glory of God. The description that follows sets forth to the uttermost bounds of human understanding the grandeur and beauty of the glorified bride, represented by this great city. Its dimensions are perfect in proportion and in their outer relations. Its foundations are adorned with the costliest, most precious stones, the walls are built of jasper, and each gate is one immense pearl; but the city itself is builded of a gold as transparent as pure glass. The name of the city is New Jerusalem. Now why is this city called New Jerusalem, instead of New York, New Providence, New Brunswick, or some other name? Well, Jerusalem of old was known as "the city of the Great King." The expression "new" stands for another order, a new dispensation and economy in which only the transformed body of Christ takes part. The glowing description of this city indicates the excellency and perfection of the new heavens and the new earth ruled by the new capital city. Its lofty gates of pearl upon which are emblazoned the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, its twelve foundations of precious stones, upon which are inscribed the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and its jasper walls and golden streets are merely representations faintly shadowing the transcendent majesty of that new and perfect government. In the midst of the city is a river of water of life clear as sparkling crystal, signifying every life-giving blessings and benefits of the Kingdom of God flowing out to mankind from this grand city.

That city for which Abraham looked is a city formed of Christ people which has no need of the sun, nor of the moon, nor the light of any candle, for the Lord God is the light thereof. These Christ people have no need for the outward light of creeds, doctrines, laws, ceremonies, rituals, ordinances, baptisms, organizations, programs, etc., for the very presence and life of God Himself within is their illumination. The nations walk in the wondrous light of this city's reality, and the kings of the earth bring glad tribute of their glory into it. Through the open gates no evil thing will ever enter. Within its precincts stands no temple made with hands, for the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple of it, those who abide in Him are its priests and its sacrifices are those spiritual sacrifices offered up from within by Christ Jesus. On each side of the river is the tree of life yielding continual fruitage. And the leaves of the tree are the word which brings healing to the nations. The heart never fails to respond with a quickened beat to the lines: "His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads" — that is, His nature and character shall radiate out of their lives. Description is far beyond the utterance of my poor tongue! Its majesty and fame and power and blessing escape me! Methinks that we can but tarnish its exalted glory by our frail attempt to describe it. It will abide forever and through those wide gates that never close will flow forth to all nations the illumination and quickening and dominion until God has gathered together in one all things in heaven, in earth, and under the earth.

Rare indeed is the man or woman in the religious systems of earth who has a true and spiritual understanding of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem Bride of the Lamb, but alas, all view it as some kind of new constellation which will come from the skies into close proximity to earth and be near or upon it. As one has written, "No doubt the sudden coming into sight, from heavenly space, of a glittering object, unknown to astronomers, self-luminous, above the brightness of the sun, steadily approaching, till it enters our atmosphere, and comes in close proximity to, if not in actual contact with this globe, transcends all human experience, and defies all natural phenomena." Men seem intent upon calculating the city in cubic miles as though it were nothing more than a huge metropolis slightly more wonderful than those at present on earth. According to Rev. 21:16-17 the city lies foursquare, 1,500 miles each way with a wall around it that is one hundred and forty four cubits high. That makes the wall 264 feet high. I can just imagine a city 1,500 miles square that lands and covers the earth from the Mississippi river to the Atlantic ocean! It smashes all the farms, villages, cities, people, cattle and industries over 2,250,000 square miles! Now just what might be the population of such a city? If each individual was given

one cubic mile of this city, the population of it would be 3,375,000,000 people — more than half the present population of the earth. But again, if each individual were given one cubic acre, the population of the city would be something like this: 51,840,000,000,000! What a city! Another waxed eloquent about the size of the mansion each inhabitant would possess, replete with space for gardens and fountains and other such childish nonsense.

Until our spiritual minds are able to grasp the truth that the body of Christ is the temple of God and that every room and mansion in that temple is a living son of God, a literal habitation for God through the Spirit; and until we understand that the city of God is the bride of Christ, and that the stones of that city are all living stones, as Christ Jesus Himself is a living stone and the only foundation that can be laid, we have understood nothing at all. The book of Revelation shows the development of this Bride-City from glory to glory. Each view is a fresh and further comprehension of the grandeur of the purposes of God for all who are called to the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus. The total victory for all the elect is detailed in all its glorious and eternal reality. This is the beauty of the Church Triumphant! This is that glorious church that is without spot or wrinkle. It is so great and mighty! It stands in the age and the ages to come clothed in the awesome majesty of the glory of the Almighty! It is seen in all of its splendor and heavenly beauty. It was birthed into the earth at Pentecost and has been processed and matured during the 2,000 year church age. It comes into its final divine perfection and is viewed in the ultimate eternal triumph and purpose of God. Thus we see that the New Jerusalem, contrary to the driveling childishness that is taught, is not a fanciful monstrosity some fifteen hundred miles high, which will one day come floating or crashing down out of the clouds to settle and rest on the earth like a bump on a little boy's head, throwing it out of balance and off its course. God made this earth complete and as it should be long, long ago. He created it a perfectly functioning reality, and "nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it" (Eccl. 3:14). Truly, unspiritual men, who walk after the flesh and its imaginings, can invent many fairy tales. Thus saith the Lord: "And they shall call THEM, the HOLY PEOPLE, the redeemed of the Lord; and THOU shalt be called, Sought Out, a CITY not forsaken" (Isa. 62:12). It is evident that a PEOPLE are the CITY. There can be no doubt that the city in Revelation is not a literal city, but rather those who have adorned themselves with the very nature, the very qualities, that their Husband requires. Those qualities are the very characteristics, the very nature of God. "But ye are come unto mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem...to the general assembly and church of the firstborn" (Heb. 12:22-23). The message is clear — the bride doesn't live IN the city: the bride IS the city! To that city we have come. It has come down into our hearts; day by day we walk its streets; we live in its light, we breathe its atmosphere, we enjoy its rights.

Jerusalem of old was the capital city of the national Israel; and as that old order was but a type and shadow of the new (Heb. 10:1; Col. 2:16-17), therefore the New Jerusalem must be the capital city, or the ruling element, in Israel today, which is Christ's Kingdom and of which our Lord said, it "is not of this world" (Jn. 18:36). In other words, the New Jerusalem is the ruling class, the kings and priests unto God: those who have attained unto the highest position of honor and might and true greatness in grace. It comprises those who rule with Christ upon His throne. We, therefore, who have been accounted worthy to suffer with Christ (II Tim. 2:12), are the New Jerusalem which shall rule over God's infinite realm far evermore. We are the city four-square, which is the bride of the Lamb. This is the Jerusalem from which, in the age and the ages to come, the Word of the Lord shall go forth to all the earth (Isa. 2:3; Mc. 4:2). In fact, it is even now going forth. This is the Jerusalem from which even now the Lord has uttered His voice (Joel 3:16). This is the Jerusalem from which, during the age and the ages to come, living waters shall go forth to the whole world (Zech. 14:8). "And everything shall live whither the river cometh" (Eze. 47:9).

In the Bible a city pictures a government. Abraham was seeking for a government — the heavenly arrangement, a divine rule by the Spirit upon earth. Cities of old were nations in themselves. They had walls and were self-sufficient. Some of the great cities of ancient times were Babylon, Athens, Rome. The city was representative of the nation. Some cities were nations within themselves, others ruled over territories beyond their walls. The power and might of the land flowed from the city. They were not intended merely as dwelling places, because most people were involved in agriculture and were self-sufficient. As man multiplied, some of the people began to live in cities; and then cities became centers of power and ruled the surrounding area of the land in which they were located. It did not avail an enemy much if he conquered the land surrounding the city. The city itself had to be conquered for the victory to be significant, and only then could it be said that the land had been taken. The real seal of government, power, and authority resided in the city. The walls of the city were formidable protection. Armed with this understanding, we can see the use of an illustration by Solomon in Prov. 25:28, "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." A city without walls was an easy prey for the enemy. Likewise, anyone unable to control his emotions and passions is an easy prey for his enemies (the flesh, the world, and the devil) and can be overrun by them.

Oh glorious city of God! In the 48th Psalm we read the description of the city of our God, and we begin to see deep meanings in these comparisons. "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness." It is in this city, that praises to God ascend day and night. The bride rejoicing in the Lord in light and in darkness, in easy things and in hard things, offers unto Him the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving continually; and thus she is like Jerusalem. We are told that she is "beautiful in elevation (situation)." Jerusalem was not builded in low swamp lands, but upon a beautiful elevation. Neither are we built up so that we are "comely as Jerusalem," when we remain upon the low lands, amid the fogs, and vapors, amid the miasmas of earthly swamp lands, bogged down in carnal understanding, fleshly wisdom, or in negativism, fear or despair. Upon the high lands, the air is clear, and as we climb higher and higher upon the mountains of God, we become "beautiful in elevation" — full of grace, faith, wisdom and might.

This is "The city of the great King," and "God hath made Himself known in her palaces for a refuge. How high is our calling when God has chosen us to be a part of "The city of the great King," "Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom each several building fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2:19-22). Truly in this city of the great King God hath made Himself known in her palaces for a refuge — a high tower. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and are safe" (Prov. 18:10). Has He not made Himself known in every palace of this heavenly city, as the Strong Tower and Rock of Defense to every tempest-tossed and tested soul? Only in Him is there safety; only in Him is there protection; only when we are consciously in Him, and continually reckon upon our union with Him can we turn and withstand the enemy victoriously. Praise God! He is more and more making Himself known in the palaces as the days go by, and victory and life become our portion, swallowing up all darkness and death. "Out of Zion the perfection of beauty, God hath shined forth" (Ps. 50:2). But before He can shine forth from the palaces of the New Jerusalem, He must command light to shine out of darkness, and He must shine into our hearts, "To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

We read that "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compacted together, whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of Yahweh, for an ordinance for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of Yahweh" (Ps. 122:3-4). The word translated "compacted" has most precious meanings, which more perfectly apply to the heavenly Jerusalem, than to the earthly city. We need not think that this is strange, when we bear in mind that the earthly Jerusalem was the figure of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all. And we are melted before God when we apprehend the full import of these meanings when applied to the bride of the Lamb. "Compacted" means "to join together by means of fascination; to be charmed and thus bound together; to have fellowship." This sets forth the harmony and the beauty in architecture of the earthly Jerusalem, with its lofty walls, its beautiful palaces, its glorious temple. But it sets forth the harmony, the fellowship, the perfect unity of the living stones of the New Jerusalem. These stones, which are built upon the only foundation, Jesus Christ, are compacted together in Him, through the drawing and welding of the Holy Spirit. It is not the unity promoted by commitment to a preacher, a ministry, a church or a movement, but the love of Christ, the power of His Word, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit which draws them together, and they are made steadfast through the deep dealings and processings of the Lord. It is God Himself who joins member to member and builds all together as an habitation of God through the Spirit. Ray Prinzing has shared a thought which is most fitting here. "Thus Abraham sought — looked for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. This was in great contrast to Cain — we read Cain went out from the presence of the Lord...and he builded a city" (Gen. 4:16-17). If we walk after the way of the flesh, of the world, we seek to build our own city, we seek to establish our own righteousness — and all we have wrought is a magnification of VANITY. But when we cease from our own works, and SEEK HIM who is the Builder and Maker — then HE builds the city. Indeed, 'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it' (Ps. 127:1). How many yet 'LABOUR IN VAIN!’ Here the Hebrew word is SHAV meaning: vanity, falsehood. They think they are building something true, but it is useless, fitted for destruction, a counterfeit to the real. Only Christ can live the CHRIST-LIFE through us. Only GOD can do the works OF GOD! So it is imperative that we come into UNION WITH HIM, to be led by His Spirit, so that whatever we do is "not by might, nor by power, but BY MY SPIRIT, saith the Lord" (Zech. 4:6)" — end quote.

Yes, Jerusalem is a city compacted together. Any number of houses without inhabitants would not be a city, and on the other hand millions of people turned loose on the prairie would not be a city, for don't you see a city is a compound structure of houses filled with people and of streets? The houses form the material framework and the people form the living soul, like the soul in the body. In this glorious city the outer man, the outer ministry is the house — the inner man, the life-flow out of the spirit is the inhabitant. Both Paul and Peter referred to their body as a "tabernacle." The two united together as the expression of HIS GLORY make the city of God. Body and soul united with spirit form a palace in the city of God. "And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house (temple). And Solomon's builders, and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers, so they PREPARED TIMBER AND STONES TO BUILD THE HOUSE" (I Kings 5:17-18). "And the house (Solomon's temple), when it was in building, was built of stone MADE READY BEFORE IT WAS BROUGHT THITHER: so that there was neither hammer nor ax, nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building" (I Kings 6:7). "For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (II Cor. 6:16).

Truly the glory of the latter house shall exceed the glory of the former, as the New Jerusalem exceeds in glory the old Jerusalem — a whole new dimension of His glory and an entirely new arrangement is at hand. The primary work of this hour, I believe, is an INDIVIDUAL work. It is like Solomon's temple. Long before there was the "putting together" of all the members of that magnificent edifice and the filling of the house with Glory, there was an extensive and extended preliminary INDIVIDUAL WORK wrought meticulously upon each member. The giant cedars of Lebanon were cut down, each board was hewed and shaped. The gold was mined, refined, and beaten into form. The exquisite tapestries were cut and sewn. The stones were individually quarried and chiseled to perfection. Only when all the INDIVIDUAL WORK was completed was the building raised up and compacted together WITHOUT THE SOUND OF A HAMMER! Seems to me many brethren have tried to put the body of Christ together as a visible organism and expression before the deep work of preparation has been accomplished upon each "living stone." That is why we continually have divisions, church splits, groups that fall apart, and ministries that self-destruct.If you try to build this city by carnal strength and soulish manipulation you will hear the sound of many hammers — but it still won't stand! If your "group" has fallen apart, if your "church" has split, if your "congregation" has changed then nothing you have done represents the "building up" of God's house — it is still merely the INDIVIDUAL WORK that precedes the raising up of the temple of God. In the fullness of time God's temple of sons and God's bride-city WILL come together — by a sudden, powerful, sovereign move of God!

Jesus walked among the people, calling twelve, and seventy, then multitudes of disciples, teaching, preaching, healing, doing signs and wonders, demonstrating the Kingdom of God. There were vast multitudes of people who followed Him, but there was no cohesion, shape, or form. It was an unstructured Kingdom. It was a great company of stones not yet assembled. But when the day of Pentecost was FULLY COME, SUDDENLY... God put something together, stood it up in the earth, and revealed His glory. We stand today in an hour not unlike the days preceding the day of Pentecost. The next great Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles is about to "fully come." The Christ is among us in a fresh manifestation, there is a new message going forth, a declaration concerning the next step and phase of the Kingdom of God, there is a unique dealing of God, and a manifestation of ministry. The greater glory to come, the bride adorned for the marriage of the Lamb, the manifested sons of God upon the heavenly mount Zion, the city foursquare coming down from God out of heaven, the tabernacle of God among men, the new order for the new age will be birthed suddenly and sovereignly BY GOD HIMSELF when the fullness of time has arrived. This greater temple will speedily arise in glory and majesty and power in the earth without the sound of a hammer — with no carnal efforts of soulish works to produce it. In the meantime we must individually submit ourselves to Father's dealings, and the word and ministry He sends our way, continuing to press experientially into Him, in preparation for the manifestation of His life without measure.

Sometime ago Sister Alma McClure sent out this timely word of wisdom in her paper THE WINNOWER: "In one sense, we are each an individual temple, for Christ dwells in us by His Spirit. But as a corporate body, each one is a separate stone. Separate, but not to STAY separate! When we are PREPARED IN THE QUARRY, fully ready far joining, we 'as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ' (I Pet. 2:5). Yes, we are to be JOINED TOGETHER! So why have we so often found ourselves alone, on the backside of the desert, not fitting in with any group, even when we tried to do so? George Warnock has said, ‘You will recognize that you can't make it alone, that you need the body. God WILL join you with the body. But don't get under condemnation in the meantime, as God works PREPARATION within you! Because He is joining PREPARED member to PREPARED member! Often it takes the isolation, the separation, the ostracism, to prepare you to be a temple stone truly fitted and shaped by the Lord, to be effectually joined to that stone that God has in mind to set you next to!’ Each stone was 'made ready at the quarry,’ that there need be no hammer or any iron tool needed when the stones are put together! Does that help you to understand the 'strange path' that you have been required to travel? Yes, the hammer, ax and iron tools of the Lord's choosing have struck us in our place of preparation, and we have cried out in pain, not understanding why the trials have been so great, and seemingly without end! But, be of good cheer! It has been a necessary PREPARATION to FIT IN OUR PLACE, in His glorious temple, not made with hands! Ray Prinzing has written, "They who have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to His called out ones, are coming out of Babylon, and leaving the woman (harlot religious systems) behind. They will no longer give their strength unto these women, nor pour their resources into her coffers. They refuse to be defiled by her whoredoms, and will not play her games. It has taken some tremendous purgings to become free from the taints of the spirit of religious institutions. We find that many, upon first being called out, literally go through a time of withdrawal pains spiritually speaking. They feel great pains for fellowship, yearning to be with people, to get another high from a service, etc. And it takes much time ALONE WITH GOD to be cleansed until their spirit is pure, and wholly joined to His.' It seems that many who have been much alone are now finding other lone stones who have been in their own desert preparation, and a joining is beginning to take place, more and more! Hallelujah! Rejoice! God's timing, and His purposes are perfect! PREPARED STONES are coming together, and the Temple shall be complete ON TIME" — end quote.

COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN

One of the beautiful symbolisms given us in the book of Revelation is the Holy City "coming down from God out of heaven" (Rev. 21:2). When John said this city comes down from God out of heaven, he wasn't talking about coming forth past Mercury, Saturn and Mars. He meant not that it would settle down over the mount of Olives or any other geographical location. As previously pointed out, in the Bible a city represents a government, and the "holy" city is a righteous government. It is not a man-made government. It doesn't have a "Democratic' or a "Republican" or a "Labor" or a "Socialist" party. It emanates from God, out of heaven, and is established on earth through a heavenly people. May the blessed spirit of revelation grant us the clarity to see that this city shall never rule until it has in all truth become the "holy" city, prepared, adorned, and "made ready." She comes down from heaven. Her origin is divine, her nature, her character, is heavenly — "out of heaven from God." One is reminded of the scripture, "As IS the heavenly, such are they also THAT ARE heavenly...we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (I Cor. 15:48-49).

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, 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. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new (Rev. 21:25). My beloved, John saw the city descending down from God to earth. He did not see us going out into space somewhere. God is going to perfect the church right here upon the earth and it is going to reign upon the earth. We are not going off to some celestial city somewhere in space. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men! God is coming to dwell in and with mankind. Yet millions of Christians vainly imagine that they are going to a city up in the sky to live there with Jesus forever and ever. Multitudes believe that somehow they will escape "The Great Tribulation" by being raptured and snatched up to heaven. The testimony of scripture is just the opposite of man's childish superstitions. God has always come to man. In the sacred mists of long ago Eden the Lord God came dawn and walked and talked with Adam. In another place we find that the Lord appeared on the plains of Mamre and walked and talked with our father Abraham. God instructed Moses to build the tabernacle in the wilderness so that He could have a dwelling place in the midst of our Israelite forefathers. Long centuries later "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (Jn. 1:14). John saw the city descending down from God, and it is descending down from God. With every message from God that is preached, the Holy City is coming down to earth. With every person that is born from above and becomes a part of that city, it is coming down to earth. With every person who receives the anointing of the Holy Spirit and grows up another step toward perfection, the Holy City is coming down to earth. With every new revelation that comes to us from the Spirit of God and that takes us on into the fulfillment of God's perfect plan for our lives, the Holy City is descending down to earth. As the principles of the Kingdom of God — righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost — are established in our lives, the Holy City is coming down from God out of heaven. Every time an individual steps up another step in God, the Holy City is descending to earth. When the nature and character of our heavenly Father are formed in us and His precious mind rules in our hearts, the Holy City is descending down to earth. With every victory over sin and sickness, over limitation, darkness and death, the Holy City is descending down to earth. Beloved, it will continue descending with the development of the body of Christ into its full stature. It will descend and descend until the prayer that Jesus taught for sons is fulfilled: "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

While writing this message an article arrived in the mail from Terry and Tykie Crisp. How timely the thoughts they share! "Why is it that this Great City is coming DOWN OUT of heaven? It's because of the burdened appeal of creation! Beloved, there is coming a GLORIOUS CHURCH in these last days, a church which has been caught up to the highest heaven, to the very throne of God...but who, because of the spirit of sonship in their hearts, will not be able to ignore the groaning of the prisoners! They will come down from the heavenlies in High Priestly attire, bearing their gem- studded breastplate, which is the burden of mankind upon their hearts... with deliverance, with power, and with authority, to set the captives free! Imagine, if you will, a church so virtuous and bright that the nations of the world will walk in the light thereof, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory and honor to it, submitting themselves to her authority, and seeking wisdom from her mouth!" — end quote.

This Great City, the Heavenly Jerusalem that started coming down on the day of Pentecost, shall continue to come down from God out of heaven. That is, it shall continue to descend from out of the divine consciousness and life of the Lord into the receptivity and consciousness and experience of His people on earth. It shall persist until all that dwell upon the earth shall walk in its light and enter in through its gates. Then shall the whole earth be filled with the glory and the knowledge of the Lord. Even now the new heavens — THE NEW MIND — is descending into our hearts, our nature, creating within us a new earth for the tabernacling of God. Everything that God sends down out of heaven is infinitely good and glorious. Nineteen hundred years ago He sent Jesus as His best gift, and all the world has been blessed by that gift. When He brings heaven down to us we know that He is bringing His best. A king once gave a diamond to one of his friends, and the friend said, "Sir, this is too great a gift for me to receive." But the king answered, "it is not too great a gift for a king to give." In like manner, if the full manifestation of the life and glory of God in you, His elect, seems beyond what you deserve or are capable of, remember! it is NOT TOO MUCH FOR GOD TO GIVE AND DO!

According to the beloved John everything on earth IS going to be transformed. He speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. At present heaven and earth are quite separate states of existence, but in the new city of God which John beheld in spirit they are no longer to be two but one. It is my conviction that the veil between seen and unseen is a very flimsy one, and that this seemingly solid matter which forms our prison- house is not so very solid after all. Probably it is nothing more than our own thought exercised upon a very limited plane, a darkened perception. It is quite conceivable that we might wake up, as it were, from a sleep, and realize that there never has been a material and a spiritual, but that we have all the time been living at the very center of reality, only we did not know it. If men were only endowed sufficiently with the spirit of wisdom and revelation, and ready for the change, the veil between heaven and earth would be taken away, the heavens would be opened, and the two would be seen as one. This is what John means by the city coming down; it is heaven taking possession of earth and absorbing it into itself.

The world is to be won for God; there is to be a transformed society of men on earth; in the end earth will become heaven. Death will be abolished, and sin and sorrow will flee away. When John used the language of Isaiah about the city needing no light of the sun he meant it in even a grander way. Henceforth God in Christ is to be the light of every man's life, all the nations are to walk in that light, and love and brotherhood be all in all. But he makes a bold stroke at this point by departing from the Old Testament dream of the Jerusalem Temple. He says that God Himself will be the Temple, and men shall worship Him in spirit and in truth. Looking back, as it were, upon the desecration and destruction which had fallen upon the temple that was formerly the pride and glory of Israel, he says in effect: Well, let it go! At the best it was only a beautiful symbol for a still more beautiful reality. Nothing is lost by the ruin of that which was built with hands. God Himself is our Temple — God in Christ! We need no other. The whole earth is full of His glory, and in Him we live and move and have our being. By destroying the outward it throws us back upon the inward; it removes the local and temporary to fix our gaze upon the universal and eternal.

We are builders of that City,

All our joys and all our groans,

Help to rear its shining ramparts,

All our lives are building stones;

But the work that God has builded,

Through our bleeding hands and tears,

And in error and in anguish,

Will not perish with our years.

It will be at last made perfect

In the universal plan;

It will help to crown the labors

Of the toiling hosts of man;

It will last and shine transfigured

In the final reign of right;

It will merge into the splendors

Of the Kingdom of the Light.