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diff --git a/57330-0.txt b/57330-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b41953 --- /dev/null +++ b/57330-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1446 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57330 *** + + + + + + + + + + The Opening Heavens + + + + + The Opening Heavens, + + Or A Connected View Of The + + Testimony of the Prophets and Apostles, + + Concerning The + + Opening Heavens, + + Compared With + + Astronomical Observations, + + And Of The + + Present And Future Location Of The + New Jerusalem, The Paradise Of God. + + By Joseph Bates + + New Bedford: + Press Of Benjamin Lindsey. + 1846. + + + + + PREFACE + + +In presenting the following subject to the consideration of whom it may +concern, I would here state that the two leading motives which have +actuated and guided me through this absorbing subject has been--first, +the truth of God to encourage and strengthen the true-believer. Second, +to correct, or "rebuke" the spiritual views, (may I not say of almost +all Christendom,) in respect to the appearing and kingdom of our Lord +and Saviour Jesus Christ. Twenty-one years observation and experience, +but more especially the last seven, in pursuit of this object, has +taught me that truth is the only thing that can save the soul. But the +great mass of the professed Christian world seem to pay no more regard +to it than their great _Predecessor_, who said unto the Saviour "what is +truth?" when he had just said to him that he "came into the world to +bear witness unto the truth, and every one that is of the truth, heareth +my voice." Jesus in his last prayer for his disciples asks the Father to +sanctify them through the truth. "Thy word is truth." _St. John._ Again, +he saith. "The Spirit is truth." The forerunner of Christ said, "The law +was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." Jesus +says, "I am not come to destroy the law or the prophets; but to fulfil, +for verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one +tittle shall in no wise pass from the law until all be fulfilled." +_Matthew._ Then of course man is required to believe "and live by every +word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Third, thousands who have +been looking for the personal appearing of the Lord Jesus from heaven in +these last days, have in their disappointment about his coming, given up +the only Scriptural view, and are now teaching that he has come in +spirit and this is all we shall ever see of him here. One single passage +from the Saviour's last words, when about to leave the world in the +flesh, ought to have rectified any such mistake: "And lo, I am with you +always, even unto the end of the world," meaning of course, his spirit. +But I submit the subject. + +Fairhaven, May 8, 1846. + +Joseph Bates. + +[The copy right is secured with Him that sits upon the Throne in the +coming Heavenly Sanctuary. The grant to use it is unlimited. Those only +are punished that abuse the right.] + + + + + THE OPENING HEAVENS. + + +"_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 + + + + + ASTRONOMICAL VIEW. + + +From what part of Heaven will this glorious _City_ appear? We answer, +from where the flaming sword is "guarding the way of the tree of life," +and the Cherubims are stationed. John i: 51. Furgerson, the celebrated +astronomer of the last century, in describing some of the many wonders +in the Heavens, says "that the two bright clouds in the heavens at the +south pole, called by mariners the clouds of Magelen, are by astronomers +called cloudy stars, but the most remarkable of all the cloudy stars is +that in the middle of Orion's Sword, where seven stars (of which three +are very close together) seem to shine through a cloud, very lucid in +the middle, but faint and ill defined about the edges. It looks like a +GAP in the sky, through which one may see (as it were) part of a much +brighter region. Although most of the spaces are but a few minutes of a +degree in breadth, yet, since they are among the fixed stars, they must +be spaces larger than what is occupied by our Solar System--(the Solar +System includes the Planet Uranus, which is one thousand and eight +hundred millions of miles from the Sun, the circumference of her orbit +in which she revolves around the Sun is calculated to be three hundred +and fourteen millions of miles)--and in which there seems to be a +perpetual uninterrupted day among numberless worlds, which no human art +can ever discover."--_Furgerson's Treatise on Astronomy, edition A. D. +1770._ + +Out of ninety-three, Orion is the most striking and splendid +constellation in the Heavens; her centre is mid way between the poles of +heaven and directly over the equator of the Earth, and is visible from +all the habitable parts of the Globe. On her south-eastern quarter is +the beautiful star Sirius, (one of the most magnificent in the Heavens.) +and on the north-west is stationed the Pleiades or seven Stars. "She +rises at noon about the 9th of March" "and sets at noon about the 21st +of June," and comes to the meridian January 23d, at 9 P. M. She is now +to be seen for a little while, in the evening twilight, about one hour +high, with the Planets Jupiter and Mars on her north and north-west. +When the Lord answered Job out of the whirl wind, and demanded of him to +answer to the wonderful questions which he was now about to put to him, +he says "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades _or loose +the bands of_ ORION." When Amos, the Prophet exhorted his Israel to +repentance, he endeavored to impress their minds with the power of God +by adverting to the wonderful phenomena in the Heavens, by saying, "Seek +him that maketh the Seven Stars and Orion," &c. &c. + +HUGGENS, its first discoverer, gives the following description of it: +"Astronomers place three stars close together in the Sword of Orion; and +when I viewed the middle-most with a Telescope, in the year 1656, there +appeared in the place of that one, twelve other stars; among these three +that almost touch each other, and four more besides appeared twinkling +as through a cloud, so that the space about them seemed much brighter +than the rest of the heaven, which appearing wholly blackish, by reason +of the fair weather, was seen as through a curtain opening, through +which one had a free view into another region which was more +enlightened. I have frequently observed the same appearance in the same +place without any alteration; so that it is likely that this wonder, +whatever it may be in itself, has been there from all times; but I never +took notice of any thing like it among the rest of the fixed stars." + +Sir WILLIAM HERSCHEL says, "If stars of the eighth magnitude are to be +considered at an average of eight times further distant than those of +the first, then this nebula cannot be supposed to be less than +320,000,000,000,000, three hundred and twenty thousand billions of miles +from the earth. If its diameter at this distance subtend an angle of ten +minutes, which it nearly does, its magnitude must be utterly +inconceivable. It has been calculated that it must exceed +2,000,000,000,000,000,000, or two trillions of times the dimensions of +the Sun, vast and incomprehensible as these dimensions are."--_See +Dick's Siderial Heavens, Vol. VIII. pp. 181, 184._ + +Says this author--"Suffice it to say that such an enormous mass of +luminous matter was not created in vain, but serves a purpose in the +divine arrangements corresponding to its magnitude and the nature of its +luminosity, and to the wisdom and intelligence of him whose power +brought it into existence. It doubtless subserves some important +purpose, even at the present moment, to worlds and beings within the +range of its influence. But the ultimate in all its bearings and +relations, may perhaps remain to be evolved during the future ages of an +interminable existence." Page 184. + +Again, says the ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS of April 19th, 1845: "Marvellous +rumors are afloat respecting the Astronomical discoveries made by Lord +Rosse's monster Telescope. (This is said to be sixty feet long and its +great speculum or reflecting large glass measures six feet in diameter +and weighs three and three-fourths tons, and is calculated to discover +glorious objects in the Heavens, to man heretofore unknown.) It is +stated that Regulus, instead of being a sphere, is ascertained to be a +Disc; and stranger still, that the nebula in the belt of Orion (meaning +the bright place before stated) is a universal system, a sun with +planets moving round it, as the earth and her fellows move around our +glorious luminary." + +Thus we see from all the testimony adduced, (and we could give much more +were it necessary) that here is a most wonderful and inexplainable +phenomena in the heavens: a gap in the sky, more than 11,314,000,000 +miles in circumference. Says the celebrated HUGGENS, "I never saw +anything like it among the rest of the fixed stars--a free view into +another region more enlightened." I have had the pleasure (with others) +during the past month, to see this wonder in the Heavens a number of +evenings, through J. Delano, Jr's. excellent Telescope. + +It has been supposed by some, that this wonderful phenomena seen through +the sword of Orion, has passed through some material change since it was +first discovered by Huggens, one hundred and ninety years ago. On this +point Sir John Herschel says: "When it is considered how difficult it is +to represent such an object duly, and how entirely its appearance will +differ even in the same Telescope, according to the clearness of the +air, or other temporary causes, we shall readily admit that we have no +_evidence of change_ that can be relied on." + +As I had before partially examined the Bible view of the _opening +Heavens_, I think I never shall forget the thrill that pervaded my whole +being, the first time that I saw this celestial wonder coursing its way +down the western Heavens! Since then, when I have viewed it through the +Telescope, my mind would instinctively revert to Moses's description of +the _liberated_ children of Abraham, passing through the Red Sea, with +that wonderful miracle "the pillar of fire, between them and the +Egyptian Host." My thoughts still running onward, from type to antitype, +"God looking through the cloud of fire in the morning watch;" at once +vanquished the enemies of his chosen people. Exo. xiv: 24, 27. + +So in _this_ morning watch God will not only look through this mighty +space, (black on one side with the stormy cloud,) but, as the Prophet +Joel says, he will "_Roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from +Jerusalem; and the Heavens and the Earth shall shake: but the Lord will +be the hope of his people.--So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God +dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy._" +("CLEANSED.") iii: 16, 17. + +A western view, with an inverting eye piece, gives it the appearance of +a stormy dark cloud, with a full moon just shut in behind it, and three +bright stars looking through the cloud. This dark looking cloud is +called the gap in the sky. This constellation measures about one +thousand miles from North to South, and five hundred from East to West, +and is visible to all the inhabitants of the earth. + +Here then is a mighty Image (as represented on the map of the Heavens,) +stretched across mid heaven, with his gold and silver epaulettes (four +hundred and eighty miles apart) and two burning stars denoting his +Northern and Southern extremities: the golden one on his upraised left +foot, the other of silver on his right knee, answering to the one on his +left shoulder; girded with his brilliant studded belt and flaming sword; +"doubtless, to subserve some important purpose even at the present +moment." Let it be distinctly understood, with what has already been +stated by the Astronomers, that this "constellation is one of the most +brilliant and noted in the Heavens," that its nebula, (according to the +celebrated Sir WILLIAM HERSCHEL) far exceeds any other object, and its +magnitude utterly inconceivable, two trillions times larger than the +Sun; while the Sun is allowed to be thirteen hundred thousand times +larger than our globe. That it "never yet has been resolved into stars +by the highest power of the telescope," and there is no evidence of any +change, even if it were discovered to be resolvable, (as is stated by a +writer somewhat acquainted with Lord Rosse's monster telescope.) If so, +it goes to strengthen the argument of its first discoverer, who says +"through which one had a free view into another region which was more +enlightened." + +If, then, there is nothing to be seen on Earth or in the Heavens except +what Joshua and David saw, v: 13, 14; 1 Chro. xxi: 15, 16, that looks +like this constellation, would it be thought strange for a Christian to +believe that the Prophet Moses had recorded for our instruction the very +answer to be given, viz. "to keep the way of the tree of life." + +I have now given a general description of this celestial wonder, but +some may still doubt whether any thing can be ascertained with respect +to objects so far removed. If the most accurate calculations had not +already been made in respect to many of the heavenly bodies, how could +the tempest tossed mariner, after being driven for days, and sometimes +weeks, sailing on all points of the compass, and perhaps, not have known +his position from the time he had taken his departure from his port, +only by dead reckoning, nothing in sight but sea and sky, ascertain his +true position? Just look,--there stands the captain, on some convenient +part of the deck of his ship, holding in his hand a three cornered +instrument, called a Sextant, measuring the distance between the sun and +moon, or if it be in the night, between the moon and some lunar star, +(which is millions on millions of miles removed from the Solar System,) +noting the moment by his watch when he brings the outer or inner edges +of these two celestial objects to touch; then measuring their distance +from the horizon. With the help of a Nautical Almanac, (which had been +published years before,) in the course of twenty minutes he so +confidently ascertains his position, (however strange it may appear to +landsmen,) that he would, after running ten or one hundred miles more or +less, as the case may be, direct one of his crew to go to the mast head, +and tell him at the same time in what direction to look for land. +Presently the cry would come down, thrilling through every soul in the +ship, "Land ho!" "Where away?" "Off the starboard bow, sir, where you +told me to look." Such instances are not rare, but of daily occurrence. +"How could that be?" says one, "it looks like a miracle!" So it would +be, if the great God had not directed these celestial objects to move in +perfect harmony. A place for every one, and every one in its place. + +One at a certain time said, "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst +thou find out the Almighty to perfection?" The wise man answers, "No man +can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." +Ecl. iii: 2; Job xi: 7. These texts alone teach us that we yet know but +little of the power and wisdom of the Sovereign of the universe, whose +spirit fills unlimited space; which space is undoubtedly coeval and +coextensive with eternity; studded with millions on millions of worlds, +each moving in its appropriate Sphere, like our own Planet. But a still +greater wonder is the thousands and millions of blazing Comets, even in +the Solar System, (Dick, vol. viii: p. 339,) seemingly sailing with a +roving commission, sweeping their burning trails all over the +perceptible universe of God, each moving in its proper Orbit! some of +them shooting, at times, almost with the velocity of lightning! And yet, +with what precision does the Astronomer calculate their appearing again +after hundreds and thousands of years, without interfering with any of +the celestial scenery. Just turn over to the second page of your Almanac +and learn with what admirable accuracy the Astronomer has calculated, +even to a moment of time, when the moon of yesterday will be passing +under the sun, and cause the darkness to be seen and felt. + +Some minds may be troubled about the flaming sword being placed at the +East of the Garden, or that we could see the Eastern side. This will be +better understood by looking at the motion of our Planet. It is said by +Astronomers that this Earth in its annual motion, is booming round the +sun at the rate of nineteen miles per second; at the same time her +diurnal motion from East to West is at the rate of ten miles per minute: +consequently all the objects we see in the heavens, comes from the East, +and among the rest this glorious constellation of _Orion_, all just as +natural as it is for us to see the Sun rise in the East; and in the same +direction the world will soon see what the Second Advent believer has +long and anxiously been waiting for: viz. the "glorious appearing of the +great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus ii: 13. Now let us take +another view; not through Lord Rosse's, but God's great Telescope, which +"declares the end from the beginning." Isa. 46: 10. + + + + + BIBLE VIEW. + + +The patriarch Jacob said to his sons that "God Almighty appeared unto +him at Luz, which is Bethel." Gen. 48: 3; 25: 26. Here, while a Pilgrim +traveller and stranger, he had laid himself down for the night, he +"dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it +reached to Heaven; and behold, the angels of God ascending and +descending on it." Gen. xxviii: 12. Seventeen hundred and ninety years +after this, the Lord says to Nathaniel, "hereafter ye shall see HEAVEN +OPEN, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of +man." This, then, is in the future. Next in order, Ezekiel has a vision, +in the thirtieth "year of the Babylonish captivity by the river Chebar." +He says, "the Heavens were OPENED, and I saw visions of God." He +proceeds to describe his vision; please read Chap. i: 5, 10; 24, 28. He +sees as the appearance of a man--describes also the stormy cloud with +the brightness round about it; he also hears a _voice_ from the +firmament, and says that the Lord God spake to him. Now see Chap. x: 4, +5; 19, 20. Here he says "the Cherubims stood at the door of the _East_ +gate (where Moses says they were placed) of the Lord's House, and the +glory of the God of Israel was over them above." "This is the living +creature that I saw _under_ the God of Israel by the river Chebar, and +_I knew that they were Cherubims_." Is it not plain that Ezekiel has +shown the same place and station of the Cherubims which Moses has, on +the East side, keeping the way of the tree of life. Jacob calls them +angels, and cries out in terror, "How dreadful is this place, this is +none other but the House of God and this is the _gate_ (or opening) of +Heaven." 17 v. Isaiah in a vision sees "the throne high and lifted up, +and hears the _voice_ of God," as did the others. Let us examine here a +few moments to see what Cherubims are, and their use. One writer says, +"they appear to be servants of God sent to do his will." Hear God +concerning them, "and there will I meet with thee and I will commune +with thee from between the two Cherubims which are upon the Ark of the +testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the +children of Israel." Exo. xxv: 16, 22. PROOF--"And Hezekiah (in his +distress) prayed before the Lord, and said O Lord God of Israel which +dwelleth between the Cherubims," 2 Kings, xix: 15. "And God sent the +prophets to tell him that his prayer was heard." v. 20. + +"The Lord reigneth let the people tremble; he setteth between the +Cherubims, let the earth be moved." Psl. xcix: 1. Then here is where we +are to look for the Paradise of God, the Holy City, and where we shall +soon hear the voice of God, for he "sitteth above between the +Cherubims," as is represented in the old Tabernacle and Temple. "For +see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed +to thee in the mount." Heb. viii: 5; ix: 5. St. John also describes +them, and tells what their occupations were in heaven. Rev. v: 11, 12. + +Now we will proceed with the testimony concerning the opening heavens. +John the Baptist bears record, that when he was coming up out of the +water from baptising the Saviour, he "saw the heavens OPENED (or cloven +or rent) and the spirit like a dove descending upon him, and there came +a _voice_ from heaven," &c. Mark i: 10, 11; Luke iii: 20, 22; Matt. iii: +16, 17; John i: 32. + +Here is the opening heavens, and the voice of God as before. When Jesus +was transfigured on the Mount the Disciples saw the cloud and heard the +_voice_ of God. + +When the Savior ascended from Mount Olivet, his disciples saw him: the +two shining ones said, "Ye men of Galilee why stand ye gazing up _into +heaven_? (it must have been _open_ to their view, or they could not have +looked _into_ heaven) this same Jesus which is taken up from you _into +heaven_ shall come again in like manner as ye have seen him go _into +heaven_." Acts i: 11. Then of course, it will be from the same place. + +Let us not be deceived about this, he has not come yet. + +Again, St. Luke says of Stephen, the martyr, (while he was surrounded by +a blood-thirsty mob, gnashing on him with their teeth, because of the +burning truths which he uttered,) "Being full of the Holy Ghost, looked +up steadfastly _into heaven_, (at a certain point) and saw the glory of +God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God: and said, _behold, I +see the heavens opened_, and the son of man standing on the right hand +of God." Was Stephen mistaken? I think not--it was his dying testimony. + +But here is a more singular case still, two miracles on two individuals +of different nations to establish and fulfil Daniel's prophecy of the +seventieth week upon his people (the Jews). The time had now come and +something out of the ordinary way was to mark this epoch of time. Now +look yonder in Cesarea, there is a Gentile in a vision, he sees an angel +which directs him to send into Judea for a certain Jew named Peter. +Where is he? At a place called Joppa. (the sea port of Jerusalem,) lying +in a trance, on the top of a house, and made to feel "very hungry," +(that he might more readily and willingly follow the teachings of the +voice and spirit of God to proclaim salvation to the Gentiles, for he +was one of the _stubborn ones_, that held to the _present truth_; and +perhaps could not be prevailed upon to yield in any other way.) Just so +with his _stubborn_ brethren, who called him to an account for going in +to the Gentiles, but after he had rehearsed the whole matter to them, +"then they believed and glorified God, for granting repentance to the +Gentiles." But what was the miracle? Peter says he "saw _heaven opened_ +and a certain vessel descending unto him as it had been a great sheet +knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth. This was done +thrice (or three times) and the vessel was received up again _into +Heaven_," and the voice of the Lord came to him twice, "saying what God +has cleansed call not thou common." Acts x. and xi. ch. Here ends the +confirming of the Covenant with many for one week. Danl. ix: 27, Heb. +ii: 3. + +The Apostle Paul in relating his vision says that he was "caught up to +the third Heavens _into Paradise_." 2 Cor. xii: 2, 4. St. John, the +"beloved disciple," in his solitary confinement on the Isle of Patmos, +not only has the same view of the _opening Heavens_, and hears the same +voice, but was called up there in the spirit, and immediately he was +there, describing the glories of Heaven. Please read his description of +the glorious picture before and around the throne, (from whence the +Prophets and Apostles already quoted, have looked through God's _all_ +magnifying Telescope, and was burdened with the cry, "This is none other +but the House of God and this is the _gate_ of Heaven!" "And lo, the +Heavens were _opened_"!! "I see Heaven _open_"!!! At the same time and +place God speaks with them). V: 6--here he sees the Lamb. Also vii: 15; +viii: 3, 5, and xii: 5. Jesus the Son was caught up there, xx: 11, and +xxi: 5. Same thing in the iv: 8 v. he has Isaiah's view of the Seraphims +and uses nearly the same language in describing them, and says with +Isaiah they rest neither day nor night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord +God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come, 8 v., and in the fifth +chapter he says "And I beheld and heard the voices of many angels round +about the throne, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was +slain to receive power," &c. &c. Ezekiel's Cherubims and John's Angels +are undoubtedly the same. John's _four_ beasts, Isaiah's Seraphims, and +Ezekiel's _four_ wheels are typical of the _four_ grand divisions of the +Camp of Israel, around the Tabernacle in the wilderness, all marshalled +and arrayed by God's direction with their _four_ different standards, +(answering to the _four_ faces or sides to Ezekiel's wheel, and the +faces of John's four beasts). Juda with the Lion in the front on the +East, (Num. ch. ii.) all ready to move at a moment's warning. Even where +the "cloudy pillar by day or of fire by night;" which rested on the +Tabernacle, should direct. The Levites, the ministers of God, all moving +in perfect harmony, with the Ark containing the Commandments of God; +close after which, in the midst of the camp, in solid columns follows +the taken down tabernacle. All moving after and watching the direction +of this "fiery pillar by night," and the moment it ceased to move the +camp halted. The Tabernacle was raised, and the Commandments of God, +(the keeping of which will secure an entrance into the Anti-type, the +real Heavenly Tabernacle, that is to be "with men," Rev. xxi: 3; xxii: +14.) restored to their proper place _beneath_, and under the guardian +care of the Cherubims between which his people were directed to pray +unto him. Exo. xxv: 22. + +John also has described in the above mentioned texts, much of the +furniture particularized in the old Tabernacle, which Paul says are +"patterns of the true." Heb. ix: 23, 24. Conclusive evidence that he was +in the "_true_ (or real) Tabernacle which God pitched, and not man." +Heb. viii: 2. The same _City_, which Abraham "looked for, whose builder +and maker is God." The Psalmist also agrees with Paul; and says, "The +Lord has _prepared his throne_ in the Heavens." Paul says, that Jesus is +there. See Heb. viii: 1, 2; and ix: 24. Jesus says, "he that overcometh +will I grant to sit with me in my _throne_, even as I also overcame and +am set down with my Father in _his throne_." Rev. iii: 21. Now, is it +not evident that God has but one sanctuary, and that his throne is +there; and one place for that sanctuary, and that place in the third +heavens? Why then, should there be more than one way to approach it, or +for it to come from, namely, by "the Cherubims and flaming sword, +stationed there, to guard the way?" + +The editor of the Day Star asks, "why we stand gazing up into heaven; +can you (meaning, I suppose, any one) tell where this same Jesus is +coming from?" 2d. "Can you prove God the Father to be in one place, in +any greater degree and power, than he is in any and every, and every +other place?" + +If we have not already offered sufficient evidence, in answer to these +two most important questions to the true believer in Christ, we will try +a little further; for if we cannot understand, nor in any way +comprehend, the teachings of the divine word, in respect to the second +coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ, the location of the heavenly +_Sanctuary_, the new Jerusalem, God's dwelling place, other than is +figuratively discerned, then, I say, we that truly believe in God, "are +of all men the most miserable;" and the sooner we hoist the _Shaker's_ +flag, and bring too under the lee of their _camp_, the better; for I +should despair of ever getting my anchor _down_ "within the vale." In +the first place then, we say, Jesus has not yet come the second time, in +the manner he promised us. For when speaking of his coming, he says +emphatically, "Then shall THEY SEE _the Son of man coming in the clouds +of Heaven_," &c. Now, according to this description, I'll venture the +assertion, that there is not a particle of proof in the universe, that +one solitary individual has seen him. Hence, I for one, am gazing up +into heaven looking, and unwaveringly believing, that this, his precious +promise, will soon be realized. But you say, he has come in his saints. +Well, I say there is no more proof of this, than there was that he was +in his apostle's, eighteen hundred years ago--for they certainly wrought +many wonderful miracles, and preached with as much power; and the mighty +weapons they used, was the death, resurrection and second coming of +Christ. Now did the Apostle's ever teach such a doctrine, that Jesus had +come _in them_ the second time? and further, I cannot believe that he +will be seen any sooner in Ohio, than in New-England or New-York. Again, +we answer to the first and second questions, combined--Rev. iv: 2. Here +is a throne, with one seated upon it. Is there any proof to be found +that this throne was on the Isle of Patmos, Rome, or any other city, or +place in this globe? Will it not be conceded by all Bible students, that +the Lord God Almighty, the Father, is seated upon it? Does not the +Seraphims which are continually crying, Holy, Holy, Holy, in the eighth +verse, say so? Who was found worthy to come and take the book out of the +right hand of him that sat upon this throne? Did he take it out of his +own hand? No, it does not read so. Who, then? John says, it "was the +Lamb." Others said, it "was the Lion of the tribe of Juda." We say, "the +Son of the Father." Here, then, where the door was _opened_ into heaven, +John saw the Father and the Son together, _at one time and in one +place_, transacting business; at the sight of which, ten thousand times +ten thousand, and thousands and thousands of angels cried aloud, "worthy +is the Lamb," &c.; and every creature under heaven acknowledged it! +Verse 11, 13. I am aware that it will be said this is symbolical +language. Allow me to quote an extract from a celebrated writer. "Even +the symbolic parts of a vision have a mixed character. When real +persons, the highest in their kind are mentioned by their proper titles, +there is no room for symbols; the objects represent themselves, God and +Christ and the good angels; Satan and evil spirits, and redeemed saints +on earth or in heaven, are never emblems. Forsake this maxim, and +symbolic prophecy becomes a chaos, in which nothing is fixed, and where +fancy runs riot in its own excesses." + +But you say, God is a spirit. (There is no doubt but what his spirit +pervades all space, and every thing in it that has life.) But to the +testimony. "Ye have neither heard his voice nor seen his shape." John v: +37. Did Jesus contradict the Patriarchs and Prophets? No, no! He here +told his persecutors what they had not seen nor heard; he did not say he +had no voice or shape. Who did? 1st. Moses. "And I will cover thee with +my _hand_ while I pass by; and I will take away mine _hand_ and thou +shalt see my _back parts_, but my _face_ shall not be seen." Exod. +xxxiii: 22, 23. 2d. The "_eyes_ of the Lord are upon the righteous, and +his _ears_ are open unto their cry. The _face_ of the Lord are against +them that do evil: the Lord _heareth_." Psalms xxxiv: 15, 17. Again, the +"Ancient of days did _sit_, whose _garment_ was white as snow, and the +_hair of his head_ like the pure wool." Does not this prove a shape, +features, and voice, ascribed to God, the same as to man. "And God said +let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; so God created man +in his own image, in the _image of God_ created he him: male and female +created he them." Gen. i: 26, 27. Paul says of Jesus, "Who is the _image +of God_, (this can't be spiritually so) the first born of every +creature; who being in the _form of God_, thought it not robbery to be +equal with God." Eph. ii: 5, 6. Now to the Hebrews--"Hath in these last +days spoken unto us by his son, who being the brightness of his glory, +and the EXPRESS IMAGE of his person." Now turn to the history of Rome +for a moment--read how LENTULUS describes the Savior to the Roman +Senate. Here he describes his stature, countenance, his eyes, beautiful +flowing hair, his wisdom, &c., and finally closes with the following: "A +_man_ for his singular beauty far exceeding all the sons of men." Paul +says, he is the "_express image_" _of God_. (I understand him to say +that he looks just like him.) Oh, says one, this man is a Unitarian! So +then was Paul, or I have not quoted him right. + +And Daniel, the prophet, teaches the same doctrine. "I saw in the night +visions: and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of +heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, (described in the ninth verse) +and they brought him near before him; and there was given him dominion +and glory, and a kingdom, never to be destroyed." Dan. vii: 13, 14. Now +we all admit this personage was Jesus Christ; for no being on earth or +in heaven, has ever had the promise of an everlasting kingdom but him. +And does not the Ancient of days give it to him? Would it not be absurd +to say that he gave it to himself? How then can it be said (or proved) +as it is by some, that the Son is the Ancient of days;--this passage, +and the one in fifth Revelations, distinctly prove God and his Son to be +two persons in heaven. Jesus says, "I proceeded forth and came from God; +neither came I of myself, but he sent me." John viii: 42. "I come forth +from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world +and go to the Father." (Does he remain in the same place?) "We are +confident I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and +present with the Lord." Paul. + +"The Scripture testimony accounts for no other spirits but those seen in +the shape of men." One of the three which came to Abraham was the Lord. +Gen. xviii. The Angel Gabriel was called the "man Gabriel." Danl. ix. +The angel which appeared to Gideon was called the Lord. I think here is +sufficient proof from the Scriptures to justify the true believer to be +still looking for a personal Saviour, and that God the Father is a +person, and looks like Jesus and we like him; and God has a habitation +where he dwells, as the Scriptures testify: + +"And I John saw the _Holy City new Jerusalem_ coming down from God out +of Heaven." + +Another writer in the same paper undertakes to prove that this same City +has began to appear; has been developing itself since the fall of 1844. +Who has seen this City? O, he says, it is evident, that it is the +saints. Is it possible that the Saints have been _coming down from +Heaven_ this eighteen months! Why, there is not the least particle of +proof that the righteous dead have yet been caught up? Thes. iv: 16, 17. +I can readily believe that both of these brethren have been fearless +advocates for the truth, and I do not doubt their sincerity. They have +clearly proved that they are not seeking the applause of the world. I +sincerely hope that they will not get so far into the fire on one side +of the "highway" as some are in the "slough of despond" on the other. +The main business of the Devil is now to make God's people change their +course, and it is matter of no moment to him on which side of the +"highway" they fall. In either case he will make sure of his prey. God +help us to be on our watch. The great error here has arisen in +consequence of taking the symbolical meaning and rejecting the true. The +author of the Apocalyptic Dictionary, R. C. SHEMEALL, says, "_Holy City, +Jerusalem._ Used symbolically of the present visible Church; Literally, +that CITY which comes down from God." Let us examine a few texts: "Go +and cry in the ears of Jerusalem." Jer. ii: 2. "And he carried away all +Jerusalem." Kings xxiv: 14. "The cry of Jerusalem is gone up." Jer. xiv: +2. "Jerusalem has sinned they have seen her nakedness, yea she sigheth." +Lam. i: 8. "Jerusalem is a menstrous woman." 17 v. "Awake, awake, stand +up O Jerusalem." Isa. li: 17. "Arise and set down O Jerusalem." lii: 2. +"O Jerusalem wash thine heart from wickedness." Jer. iv: 14. "Cut off +thine hair O Jerusalem and cast it away." Jer. vi: 8. Here we see that +old Jerusalem is personified. The prophets exhort her to "stand up" and +"set down," and "awake from sleep," and "wash her heart," and "be +instructed," to "cut off her hair and cast it away." She is also called +a "menstrous woman," and said to "cry and sigh," and be "carried away." +A "tumultuous city;" a "joyous city;" a "glad city." "Thou art comely, O +my love, as Jerusalem." Songs vi: 4. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that +killest," &c. Now this language never could be understood, unless there +was 1st: a Jerusalem, people and government; neither could we understand +what is said of the new Jerusalem in many places, without associating +organization, as the "Zion of God," "the Zion of the Holy One of +Israel." Isa. lx: 14. "Like the kingdom of God among the Pharisees." +Luke xvii: 21. This old Jerusalem at his second coming would be the +place for the capital of his kingdom; his disciples the subjects; he +their king. As also in Daniel viii: 13--connecting the "Host (God's +people) and sanctuary." Paul to the Galatians says, "Agar 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." Can this testimony be credited? Did not "Abraham +look for a city which had foundations?" Paul also says of the pilgrims +and strangers on the earth, that they "were seeking an heavenly country +for God _hath_ prepared for them a _City_"! Heb. xi. in the past tense; +then it cannot be developing now in his Saints, but they are preparing +to enter the CITY. + +When John was describing the _City_ in xxi. Rev. he said he saw no +temple there "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of +it." Now Peter and Paul distinctly describe the Saints (not the city) +coming to this Mount Zion, and Temple, which makes it perfect and +complete. Peter says of his "spiritual house," "Ye also as lively +stones, [be ye built--_margin_.] up a spiritual house." 1 Pet. ii: 5. To +whom coming as unto a living stone. 4 v. For, says sixth verse, behold I +lay in Zion a chief corner stone. (Jesus.) Peter says of this Temple, +_be ye built_. Paul says it is _growing_. Read how admirably he +describes it to the Ephesians. "Fellow citizens with the Saints, and of +the household of God. And are built upon the _foundation_ of the +Apostles and _Prophets_," (see John's twelve gates representing the +twelve tribes in Rev. xxi: 12; and the twelve Apostles of the Lamb +representing the twelve foundations of the wall, 14th verse, which +encloses the whole,) Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, +_In whom all the building fitly framed_ GROWETH INTO _an holy Temple in +the Lord_; In whom ye also are builded _together_ for an habitation of +God. Eph. ii: 19, 22. His Epistle to the Hebrews shows how they are +brought together and where. "But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto +the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an +innumerable company of angels; To the general assembly and church of the +first born, which are (enrolled--_margin_) in heaven; And to God the +Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus +the Mediator of the new Covenant." Now has not Paul distinctly described +_what_ the Saints _shall come to_. O but, say you, we have already come. +No, no, friend, you are too fast. Paul will explain: "_Mount Zion_ the +_City the Heavenly Jerusalem_ to the innumerable company of Angels (or +Cherubims) to the Church of the first born and to God, and to Jesus." +xii: 22, 24. Now where? See 25, 28, when he speaketh from heaven. His +voice once shook the earth, but now he is about to speak and shake +heaven also, wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, +(this is after every thing else is moved,) therefore wait until God +shall speak in the language of Joel, and "Roar out of Zion and utter his +voice from Jerusalem." Paul shows the Corinthians how it is finished. +Hear him: "What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? 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." Then God and Christ and immortal Saints, constitute the Temple +in this glorious City of Zion. + +I have been thus particular in quoting the Scriptures, in answer to the +questions proposed, to endeavor if possible to dispel some of the thick +darkness and mist of Shakerism, Quakerism, Swedenborgianism, and all the +Spiritualisms that now seem to be settling down all over the moral +world, and shutting out even the very light from the horizon. To my mind +this spiritualizing system, when God's word admits of a literal +interpretation, and--according to rule--the literal first; is, to use a +sailor phrase, like a ship groping her way into Boston Bay in the night, +in a thick snow with the moon at full. Nothing could be more deceptive +to the mariner; the flying clouds at one moment light up the firmament +by the thinness of its vapor, (encouraging the mariner to believe that +he shall now see the light house) the next moment it grows darker, and +so it continues to deceive them, until of a sudden the breakers are +roaring all around them--the ship is dashed upon the rocks--one general +cry goes aloft for mercy! and all hope is forever gone--ship and +mariners strewed all over the beach! Good God! help us to steer clear of +these spiritual interpretations of Thy word, where it is made so clear +that the second coming and kingdom of Christ will be as literal and +real, as the events that transpired at the first Advent, now recorded in +history. + +When the Saviour comes the second time, it will be with the City, (the +Capital of his kingdom) seated upon his throne. Hear him: "When the son +of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then +shall he be _seated_ upon the throne of his _glory_." Matt. xxv. 31. +"And the city had no need of the sun--for the glory of God did lighten +it, and the lamb is the light thereof." "But the _throne_ of God and the +Lamb shall _be in it_." Rev. xxi: 23, and xxii: 3. This _glory_ is none +other than the golden City. When "one like the son of man came before +the Ancient of days," in Daniel, he received "_Dominion_, and _Glory_, +and a _Kingdom_." Glory, signifies worldly splendor, and magnificence. +What, I ask, will be more splendid and glorious than this City of Gold +poised fifteen hundred miles into the Heavens. The Psalmist cries out in +view of it, in this sublime language, "Let thy Glory be above all the +earth!" and so it will be; and as his dominion is from sea to sea, and +from the rivers unto the ends of the earth, so I believe his _glory_ +will be seen from the uttermost border. Other views of the glory of God +and Christ do not destroy this. Saint John has connected in one, the +"_Holy City_, _New Jerusalem_, _Tabernacle of God_, _Bride the Lambs +Wife_, coming down from God, _out of Heaven_ to dwell with his +_people_." PROOF--"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." "And he that sit upon the throne said, +behold I make all things new, and he said unto me write, for these words +are true and faithful." Rev. xxi: 4, 5. Is it not clear that the _City_, +and the _King_, and _Saints_, are here distinctly described. Why, then, +all this shouting about a figurative fulfillment, while yourselves and +the world are groping through the "_snow storm_." + + + + + THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM. + + +The old Prophets looking down through the vista of time to the coming of +this heavenly city, break forth in language like the following: "And it +shall come to pass that he that is left in _Zion_ and he that remaineth +in _Jerusalem_ shall be called holy, even every one that is written +among the living in _Jerusalem_." "Then the Moon shall be confounded and +the Sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount _Zion_ and +in _Jerusalem_--(why? because John says they will 'have no need of the +sun nor the moon,') and before his ancients gloriously." Who are they? +Noah, Abraham and the Prophets. Again: "Look upon _Zion_ the _City_ of +our solemnities; thine eye shall see _Jerusalem_ a quiet habitation, a +_Tabernacle_ that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof +shall ever be removed." "Break forth into joy, sing together ye waste +places of _Jerusalem_ for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath +redeemed _Jerusalem_." "Give no rest till he establish and till he make +_Jerusalem_ a praise in the earth." Do they mean old Jerusalem? The +Saviour's prediction is against it, "left desolate," its inhabitants +"carried away captive and trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times +of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke xxi. Further: "But be ye glad and +rejoice forever in that which I create, 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." Isa. iv: 3; xxiv: 23; xxxiii: 20; lii: 9; +lxii: 7; lxv: 18, 19. Also read xl: 1; lii: 1; lx: 14, and xxxv: 10. "At +that time they shall call _Jerusalem_ the _throne_ of the Lord, and all +the nations shall be gathered into it--neither shall they walk any more +after the imagination of their evil heart." "In those days shall Juda be +saved and _Jerusalem_ shall dwell _safely_ and this is the name +wherewith she shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. For thus +saith the Lord, David shall never want a man to set upon the throne of +the house of Israel." Jer. iii: 17; xxxiii: 16, 17. "The Lord also shall +roar out of _Zion_ and utter his voice from _Jerusalem_, then shall +_Jerusalem be holy_, and there shall be no stranger pass through her any +more." Joel iii: 16, 17. + +Here then, in every instance save one or two, the people of God are +connected with the "_Zion_ of God," "_City_ of God," "_Jerusalem_ which +is to be in the last days." The Psalmist says, "Glorious things are +spoken of thee, O _City_ of God." lxxxvii: 3. John's record is, "Him +that overcometh will I 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, (what union, and yet, how distinct!) +which is new _Jerusalem_ which cometh down _out_ of heaven from my God, +and I will write upon him my new name." How could the Saviour have been +more explicit and plain. "Him that overcometh." Who? Why, the Saint; not +the City, the _new Jerusalem_. Again: "Blessed are they that do his +commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter +in through the gates into the city." If the city is the Saints, what is +this that enters into and have right to the tree of life? Can the _City_ +go into the _City_? If so, then we acknowledge the _City_ is the Saints. +But it reads, the Saints go in there. + +In Rev. xxi: 16, the City is said to be four square, twelve thousand +furlongs; the length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal. +Then, according to arithmetical computation, it is fifteen hundred miles +square. Now, if the City spiritually means the Saints of God, then, to +carry out the figure, the Saints must stand over, or upon each other +(according to the common stature) one million and four hundred thousand +deep; or will it be asserted that they are fifteen hundred miles tall! + + + + + SANCTUARY. + + +Well, says one, are you going to call this _City_ the Sanctuary too? If +you will allow the Bible testimony you will have to believe it is, or +search more diligently for it in this planet than any one else ever has +that I have heard of. But it has been proved by most able men, and +learned men, that it is the Earth, or the Land of Canaan. Well, let us +look at it again. But allow me first to recommend to your particular +notice, O. R. L. Grosier's article in the Day Star Extra, for the 7th of +February, 1846, from the 37th to the 44th page. Read it again. In my +humble opinion it is superior to any thing of the kind extant. + +"_Sanctuary_ was the first name the Lord gave the Tabernacle, which name +covers not only the Tabernacle with the two apartments, but also the +court with all its hangings, and all the vessels of the ministry." Exo. +xxv: 8, 9, and 38, 21; Num. i: 53. This, then, was a dwelling place, and +a true pattern of the heavenly, embracing within its "jaspar" walls "the +Paradise of God," with the "pure river of the water of life," and the +"tree of life," and the "Golden City in the midst," all to come down +from heaven and be located in old Jerusalem. Za. 14th chapter. That's +too absurd to believe, says one. Is it any more so, than to believe the +Apostle John's testimony? Does he not show us that the tree of life is +inside of the gates, in xxii: 14. Read also the two first verses. Do not +the waters issue out from the throne? and is not the tree of life on +either side of it? and is not the promise--to him that overcometh I will +give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of +God? Well, continues the objector, I don't know but that I could have +believed your Scripture testimony concerning the city, but I can't +believe that God has such a place in the third heavens, and that it will +descend to this earth with a river of water in, or on it. How can you +believe then, what you are experiencing every day of your life, on the +planet in which we live? While she is flying in her orbit around the Sun +at the rate of fifty-eight thousand miles per hour, she is at the same +time whirling over like a ball from East to West, at the rate of six +hundred miles per hour, in her diurnal or daily motion, bottom upwards, +as it would appear, every twenty-four hours, and yet, by an unseen +power, (readily accounted for by Astronomers,) not only the rivers and +the lakes, but the mighty ocean, remains unmoved. + +As we have before quoted, Moses says that a river went out of Eden to +water the Garden, and became into four heads. Gen. ii: 10, 14. Now let +us turn to Ezekiel's prophecy for a corresponding view, as "in the mouth +of two or three witnesses, shall every word be established." In chapter +43, 1st and 7th verses, he testifies that this accords with the vision +he had by the river Chebar twenty years before, (previously quoted.) +Here he sees the Glory of God on the east side of the _Sanctuary_, +(where Moses said the flaming sword and Cherubims were,) and his "voice +like the noise of many waters saying to him that the house of Israel +shall no more defile God's name." Afterwards, in 47th chapter, 1st and +5th verse: "He brought me again unto the door of the house, and behold +waters issued out from under the threshold of the house +eastward--(observe how particular to mention the "east side")--for the +fore front of the house stood towards the east, and the waters came down +from _under_, from the right side of the house." His guide then measured +the waters one thousand cubits (more than one-fourth of a mile) "the +waters were to the ankles," but when he had measured four thousand +cubits, they had become waters to swim in, that could not be passed +over. In 12th verse he describes the tree of life yielding its monthly +fruit, for meat, and its unfading leaves for medicine. Why all this? +"Because the waters issued out of the Sanctuary." Now read again in Rev. +xxii: 1, 2; does not John tell the same story: the waters issuing from +out the throne, the tree of life, the monthly fruit, the leaves for +healing, the nations. Is not this after the city comes down? In 48th +chapter, 8th verse: "And the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it." +Once more the measuring rod is run over it, showing the four sides just +like the old pattern in the wilderness, and then says the Sanctuary +shall be in the midst thereof. From 30th to 35th verse, he describes the +wall and the gates as John does in Rev. xxi: 13, and closes up his +prophecy in these words, "And the name of the city from that day shall +be, the Lord is there." Now let the old prophet Isaiah testify to what +he saw: "Look upon _Zion_ the _City_ of our solemnities, thine eyes +shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a Tabernacle that shall not be +taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither +shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord +will be unto us a place of _broad rivers and streams_, wherein shall go +no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ships pass thereby." xxxiii: +20, 21. + +The Psalmist says, "there _is_ a river; the streams whereof make glad +the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God +is in the midst of her"--46: 4, 5. Jeremiah says, "A glorious high +throne from the beginning is the place of our _sanctuary_." xvii: 12. +The Psalmist replies, "For he hath looked down from the height of his +_sanctuary_; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth." cii: 19. (If he +had said _sanctuary_ instead of earth, we should not have been easily +moved from our former exposition.) "The Lord is in his holy temple, the +Lord's throne is in heaven." xi: 4. Paul says to the Hebrews, "We have +such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the +majesty, in the heavens; a minister of the _sanctuary_ and of the _true_ +Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Heb. viii: 1, 2. "For +the _invisible things_ of Him from the creation of the world are +_clearly_ seen, being understood by the _things that are made_." Rom. i: +20. Paul tells the Hebrews how they may understand these _invisible_ +things, which he says are _clearly seen_. See viii. c., 5 v. "Shadow of +heavenly things." For see, (saith he) "that thou make all things +according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount." Now then, +whenever we want to understand about the heavenly _sanctuary_, we must +turn to Moses's description of the sanctuary in the wilderness, which he +made after the pattern God gave him; which Paul says were shadows of +heavenly things. How will a man dare (in the face of all this inspired +testimony) to stand here on God's earth, and assert that the heavenly +sanctuary with all that pertains to it is a FIGURE, and spiritualize it +away. It would be ten thousand times easier for him to spiritualize the +old Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple, seeing the one that is to come as +far exceeds the temple of Solomon or Nehemiah, (although, it is allowed, +that nothing on earth ever exceeded them) as the most splendid palace of +the king does the sentry box of his guard. Much safer would it be for +him to teach that the rocks had never been rent, or as he passed the +streets in the afternoon and saw the shadow of the buildings, should +insist upon it that the shadows were real, but the buildings, which cast +the shadows, were spiritual. Such doctrine should be ranked with +Mahometanism and Jesuitism, save their demoniac spirit; it comes from +the "bottomless pit and will go into perdition: and they that dwell on +the earth will wonder." Rev. xvii: 8. But I wish to present further +evidence of the real (not spiritual) coming of this heavenly +_sanctuary_. Ezekiel says in his 37th chapter, where God has promised +his spirit and life to the whole house of Israel, "Moreover, I will make +a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an _everlasting_ covenant +with them, and I will place them and multiply them, and will set my +sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore; my _tabernacle_ also shall +be with them: aye, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And +the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my +_sanctuary_ shall be in the midst of them forevermore." 26-28 v. Now +here is God's sacred promise that his sanctuary shall be in the midst of +his _people_; and I have already quoted his 48th chap. 10 v. where he +says when the angel had "measured the land twenty-five thousand reeds in +length and ten thousand in breadth," said, "and the _sanctuary_ of the +Lord shall be in the midst thereof." Now will it be insisted upon that +the land, or his people, is the sanctuary; rather let us submit to the +Scripture testimony. On the last night of our Saviour's ministry here on +earth, in company with his disciples, when everything else had failed to +arouse them, he to quicken their drooping spirits says, "Let not your +hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my +father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told +you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and +receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." John +xiv: 1, 3. I think I have now proved by unquestionable authority, that +this heavenly _sanctuary_ is the very place with _mansions_ which he has +been preparing, and according to his promise is now coming to receive +his saints. But may there not after all be a failure here. "Heaven and +earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." Having such +testimony as this, we rejoice in "hope of the glory that is to be +revealed." + +"Unto two thousand three hundred days then shall the sanctuary be +cleansed." Dan. viii: 14. + +This, then, I understand, is the selfsame "_heavenly Sanctuary_, the +_New Jerusalem_, the _Paradise of God_." Well, says the reader, this +cannot be; how can Paradise, which Paul said was in the "third heavens," +and where you say Jesus our High Priest is, be defiled? Where was the +first sin that ever cursed this world committed? O, say you, that was +six thousand years ago. Admit that it was, has God ever pardoned that +sin? Turn to Gen. iii: 17, 19. The ground is still cursed, and man gets +his living by the sweat of his brow. Why? Because the extent of this +great sin could never be known, until God had put the last seal upon his +saints, "and the dead be judged." But say you, the curse was upon the +earth and its inhabitants. Yes; but was not Paradise polluted by this +sin? But how can it be that anything in heaven is polluted, or unclean? +Have I not proved by the astronomer's conclusive arguments, that this +earthly ball which we inhabit is continually flying through the regions +of unlimited space, in the same direction with all other planets, seen +or known in the solar system? Think you that this little speck of earth +is the only thing that is defiled, among the millions and myriads of +worlds which stud the diadem of space? We are told that the "stars are +not pure in his sight." "Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight." +Job xv: 15; xxv: 5. Was not the sanctuary on earth which the high priest +cleansed the tenth day of the seventh month every year, a pattern of the +true? Does not Paul tell us that Jesus our high priest has entered into +the true _sanctuary_, into heaven itself. See Heb. ix: 12, 24; and viii: +1, 2. Then is not our high priest in the proper place to "cleanse the +sanctuary?" I cannot for the life of me see, how the pattern or type can +be made to appear in any other way. How then can the earth (as one in +the voice of truth, and many other writers say) be the _sanctuary_; +while spiritualizers are saying it is the saints. O Lord give us the +truth! + +The strongest proof ever been adduced to prove that the earth or Canaan +was the _sanctuary_, is found in Exodus xv: 17. Now what place is this +which the Lord has made to dwell in? The answer is, "in the sanctuary O +Lord, which thy hands have established." Paul says this sanctuary is in +the heavens which the Lord pitched and not man. Heb. viii: 1, 2. The +only other passage for proof of the land is Psalms lxxviii: 54, both of +which go to strengthen the testimony before adduced. "And he brought +them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain which his +right hand had purchased." Does he in either text say that the mountain +is the sanctuary? If I can understand him, he says that the mountain is +the _border_ of his sanctuary; just as Ezekiel has shown where his guide +measured the land, and then said that the sanctuary of the Lord should +be in the midst of it. Now the word _sanctuary_ is mentioned more than +seventy times in the bible, and the whole of them,--with but a few +exceptions, represent it a dwelling place, a building. The Psalmist +says, that the "Lord looked down from his sanctuary from heaven to the +earth." Not to his sanctuary. But let us see what Daniel and the angel +Gabriel called a sanctuary. Dan. viii: 10-12. Is it not plain here that +Popery took away the daily (i. e. destroyed Paganism) by arms or armies +that stood on his (Popery's part, or side)--xi: 31. The taking away his +sanctuary or polluting it is the same; for it would be absurd to say +that the _land_ was taken away, (11 v.) or that by this transaction the +land was _now_ polluted--xi: 31. Now read ix: 17, 19. Is not Daniel +praying for the restoration of old Jerusalem, the city and _sanctuary_ +(the temple where God's people worshipped) which had been desolated, +_burnt up_, by the king of Babylon's army, about seventy years before? +(see Jer. lii: 12, 14) and remained a burnt district until the +commandment by Cyrus to Ezra, and afterwards to Nehemiah, to build the +temple and city. Now in answer to this prayer, God immediately +despatched the angel Gabriel from the court of heaven, to give Daniel +"skill and understanding"--22d v. In the 26th verse he informs him that +Messiah shall be cut off, (crucify the Saviour) and the people of the +prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and the _sanctuary_. How +was this accomplished? Josephus who was an eye witness and historian, +informs us that Titus the son of Vespasian, the Emperor of Rome, about +A. D. 70, (five hundred and sixty years after the temple and city had +been rebuilt by Nehemiah) came with his mighty Roman army and took +Jerusalem, and burned up the city and temple (the sanctuary) and it was +soon after "ploughed as a field," (Micah iii: 12) "and not one stone +left upon another." This, then, was the very circumstance, Prince, and +people, alluded to by the angel Gabriel. I believe no one undertakes to +dispute this point. + +Now we learn from this, that the angel Gabriel's instructions from +heaven in answer to Daniel's prayer was, that it was the _Temple in the +city of old Jerusalem_, which is the pattern or figure, or as Paul says +"answereth to the new, which is above, which is the mother of us all." +Can anything be more plain and explicit than that this is the sanctuary +to be cleansed, "unto two thousand three hundred days." + +In the 11th verse he says, "the daily was taken away, (that is, +Paganism) and the place of his _sanctuary_ cast down." How plain it is +that this wicked sanctuary (where idols and devils were worshipped) was +a building, cast down. How could they cast down the earth to the earth? +(12th v.) and it (this same Popery) cast down the truth to the ground, +so the ground was not destroyed; clear proof it was not the sanctuary. +Well, but we don't believe that God will ever cleanse the wicked +sanctuary of Paganism. + +The sanctuary must be cleansed, (made holy) so must the saints; for St. +John says, "nothing unclean or unholy shall enter there." Then before +the saints can enter the sanctuary it will be cleansed, not by fire, but +by blood, (please follow the pattern.) Now will it still be said that +the earth is the sanctuary? Can any proof be adduced that the earth is +to be burned even, until after immortality is given to the saints? Just +look at Zach. xiv. chapter; here he shows us that the wicked shall be +punished after "_Jerusalem_ (the sanctuary) shall be safely inhabited," +(11th and 12th verses and onward;) and before this, in the 8th to 11th +verse, he has shown us that the land shall be turned into a plain; the +8th and 9th verses shows who does it, and how it is accomplished; and +then of the sanctuary, Jerusalem, as though it was understood that this +was done for the express purpose of making a foundation for the +building. Here I think any one may see, that the border of this heavenly +_sanctuary_ will extend to the "mountain of his inheritance," (Exo. xv: +17; Psl. lxxviii: 54) and this plain for the location and walls of the +sanctuary will be made clean and pure. This is all the cleansing the +earth will receive, until after "the great battle of God Almighty." So +then, if the earth is the _sanctuary_, God's people need have no trouble +here about its being cleansed, for they will have that work to do in +immortality; but we believe that work is now being accomplished. Again, +"how long shall the sanctuary and the host be trodden under foot." Jesus +said that old "Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles until +the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled." But how ridiculous to +believe that the heavenly sanctuary is "trodden under foot." Is it any +more so than to believe what St. Paul tells us, concerning the High +Priest of these "heavenly places" in the heavens. See Heb. x: 29. "Of +how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who +hath _trodden under foot the Son of God_, and counted the blood of the +covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing." So we can see +according to Paul's exposition, if they have trodden the master under +foot, how much more the building and the household, ("the sanctuary and +host.") In the preceding verses it is explained; just read 10th, 11th +and 12th verses; the papal power of Rome, the abomination which maketh +desolate, casting down some of the host and stars to the ground and +stamping upon them; also casting down the sanctuary and the truth to the +ground, by satanic influence--this is treading down, connected with +which is all other ungodly antichristian influences operating against +it, which is to be purged out: even as the high priest here on earth +cleansed the pattern once a year, which was never _literally_ trodden +down by any one but himself while in the act of cleansing it. + +The angel did not answer the question concerning the host in the 13th +verse, but Gabriel at his second visit showed Daniel that seventy weeks +were determined upon his people, leaving 1810 years more to be explained +at his third and last visit to him. See x: 14; "Now I am come (for +what?) to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the +latter days." Please read on to the end of the twelfth chapter and see +how faithfully he has described the host (the holy people) and one +clothed in linen, (the Lord Jesus; see x: 21,) from above the waters of +the river with his hands upraised to heaven, swearing by him that liveth +forever that all these wonders, (including the resurrection in 2d verse) +shall be finished when he, (meaning the antichristian powers which are +led on and urged forward by the "prince of the power of the air,") shall +have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, by the +process of purifying, being made white, and tried, and if they pass +through and withstand all this fiery ordeal and come to the 1335 days, +they shall be blessed, and then be delivered out of such a time of +trouble as never was since there was a nation. Thus, I think, the angel +has described the treading down the host, and it appears to me that all +this severe discipline is to prepare them to enter the holy city, for an +angel crying with a mighty voice has shown them that they have been in +company with devils, foul spirits, and every unclean and hateful bird; +and another voice says, come out of her my people, for _all nations_ +have drank of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Rev. xviii: 2, +4. And the poison has operated to such an alarming extent that it has +baffled the skill of all the Doctors of Divinity in the universe, and in +spite of all their preaching, fasting and praying, with the assistance +of the principals of the flock, the famine prophecied of by Amos the +Prophet, has come upon them. How awfully be describes it: "Wandering +from sea to sea, and from the north to the east, running to and fro to +seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it." God never called his +people out from any other place than the churches; if the whole truth, +the meat in due season had been given and received there, and Babylon's +poisonous cup rejected, then there would have been no severity in the +discipline of its members. The handling of God's word deceitfully, (for +it would not be admitted to say of learned men, ignorantly,) has led the +professed world into this labyrinth; and men are now being ridiculed and +laughed at, not only because they believe and are looking for the Lord +himself to descend from heaven because they are now sending forth their +epistles to (as they think) enlighten their brethren and friends +concerning the coming of Christ in the "clouds of heaven," by +subscribing themselves "yours, no longer gazing up into heaven;" "yours, +in the clouds of heaven--meeting the Lord in the air;" while another one +in the Shaker's camp in N. H., is shouting and rejoicing that he has +found the Mount _Zion_, (meaning, of course, the holy city) and that the +Germans from Europe are gathering to it; while another, from another +quarter, (as I understand standing on the "broad platform") has +attempted to prove that the powers of the heavens have been shaken, and +the sign of the Son of man in heaven has been seen; and another one +saying that "God is as much in one place as another!" while another is +shouting Hallelujah, because he believes it to be so clear that the +"saints are the _holy city_;" and yet another subscribes himself "yours, +in the kingdom." O, says one, how alarming these things are! they look +just like the "_perilous times_" St. Paul described to Timothy for the +"last days." 2 Tim. iii: 4, 5. Jesus also, in Matt, xxiv: 24. I wish the +good ministers would teach them sound doctrine; the great trouble would +be to ascertain in what denomination to find them, for I have lying +before me the creed of a professed Orthodox church o£ 1844, (_right +opinion, true belief_) of this enlightened place, signed by its two +ministers and one hundred and forty-seven members, (one of them a +minister in New-Bedford with a similar flock) who say in their fifth +article, "I believe that Christ came to establish the kingdom of heaven +on earth, _which_ is the visible church." Now all the proof they offer +from, the Scriptures is what follows: "And I say unto thee that thou art +Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell +shall not prevail against it." "And he shall reign over the house of +Jacob forever; and, of his, kingdom there shall be no end." Matt. xvi: +18; Luke i: 33. Now if there is one particle of proof from these two +passages, that Christ has established his kingdom here, and that kingdom +is the church, then I confess I do not understand English. In the second +article the only proof adduced for "and Almighty Saviour" is Hebrews +xvii: 25. Their doors are wide open for members, but they must assent to +this creed. Why continue to pray "THY KINGDOM COME?" I wish to be +distinctly understood, that I do not mean anything invidious. I am only +stating the truth in behalf of "God's word;" for I believe that all the +nominal churches in this place, (and they all profess to be right) are +holding the same or similar unscriptural errors that has led the world +around them astray, not because they are more ignorant than in other +places, for I believe for general intelligence they will compare with +any place of its numbers on the habitable globe. The ministers too, with +one exception, I believe, are all college bred. And this creed, be it +remembered, is the most modern and modest of any in the place, for I +believe it is the fashion now when the church is remoddled to remoddle +the creed also, no matter how _orthodox_ it was before, there are +various ways to understand the scriptures, but when once the creed is +published, all the members, old and young, must assent to the truth of +it as their standard, until some one, more skilled in this business, +proposes an alteration. What a burlesque on the never changing truth of +the great eternal! Why follow in the footsteps of Popery to trammel the +mind? Why not as well require a rule to get money? Then if _we_ are +destitute of the true light from the word of God in this enlightened +place, where in the name of the Lord, in any other village or city, can +it be found? God has said that "light is sown for the righteous," and +"unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." Psalms. But I +must pass on--I have dwelt much longer on this lamentable picture than I +intended, and yet I have hardly begun. + +I wish here to ask a few questions on one of the greatest errors that +the world ever embraced, first established by Pope Gregory, A. D. 603. I +mean the changing of God's seventh day, Sabbath, (for it is sheer +sophistry to call it the Jews Sabbath, as Jesus our divine Lord says "it +was made for man,") to the first day of the week. + +Paul says, "there therefore remaineth a keeping of the Sabbath to the +people of God." Isaiah shows us that in the New Heavens and Earth all +flesh shall keep the "Sabbath." Does any bible reader believe that this +will be on any other day than what God has ordained. Let us look at the +patterns and shadows of the true. Heb. viii: 5; ix. and x: 1. Is not the +true in the eternal state? Think you that God will ever change the true +to answer the pattern of Popery, that has been foremost in desolating +the world? Every candid mind says no! What should we do then? God will +tell us. "Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the SEVENTH +IS THE SABBATH of the Lord thy God; (perhaps the minister will tell you +he meant the Jewish Sabbath--don't you believe him nor any one else; +they can't prove it by the Bible) in it thou shalt not do any work;" +"wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Exod. xx. +Why all this costly array in "building the Tabernacle and afterwards the +Temple?" _Answer_, it was to put the Ark in. 2 Sam. 2-7. Hear David 1 +Chron. xvii: 2, 12. What was the Ark? A small chest in which was a +precious relic; the commandments of God; his testimony to man; (see +Exod. xxv: 10, 12) how it is guarded night and day by Cherubims. What +are these commandments to us? They that keep them shall "enter in +through the gates into the city." Rev. xxii: 14. Will you say then that +the fourth commandment is abolished? If so, please cite us to the +chapter and verse. I say it cannot be found within the lids of the +bible. Will you reply by saying that the first day is the Sabbath, or +that it was ever kept by Jesus or his apostles as a day set apart for +religious worship; if so, where is the text? I challenge the world to +produce it! If it cannot be found, why violate still this sacred command +of God and reject all the light that is thrown in your pathway? God will +have some to keep his commandments, if it be but "one of a city and two +of a family." Jer. Some endeavor to clear their conscience by saying +there is no Sabbath to be kept. This, to me, looks like infidelity. + +I have stated that one writer had asserted that the powers of Heaven had +been shaken and the sign of the Son of man been seen. His argument on +the twenty-fourth of Matthew, I like much, until he begins to prove what +none of us have yet seen or heard. If so, why continue to say that +"men's hearts fail them for fear and for looking after the things that +are coming on the earth." Jesus does not say that they will be looking +for _him_, but then they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds +of heaven, when they have seen the preceding signs. What arguments are +there yet to be presented that will so alarm the Laodicean church, and +scoffer, to fulfil. Isa. lx: 14, and Rev. iii: 9. It appears to me that +nothing short of the voice of God will do this. Then, I think, the wise +will understand, and get their blessing, as in Dan. xii: 12; then will +they return and discern between the righteous and the wicked; then will +they be found with the world, in the time of Daniel's trouble; they will +then have passed through the "fiery trial" and the Sealing Angel have +done his last work. This, as it looks to me will be the time when God +will roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem--and the +heavens and the earth will shake; then shall Jerusalem be holy. Joel +iii: 16, 17. It will then be cleansed from every impurity. This, I +think, will be the shaking of the powers of heaven, for then will God's +people _know_ that he dwells in Zion, (17th verse) not in the Shaker's +camp, but in his Heavenly Sanctuary, and _then_ shall appear the "Sign +of the Son of Man in Heaven," 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 jaspar stone clear as chrystal." I have +not the least particle of doubt but that it will be seen just as he has +described it. The glory and effulgence of that sight will so light up +the heavens in its majestic course down from the parted skies, that we +shall have no further need of the telescope; but in the language of our +adorable coming Lord, exclaim "I see heaven _open_ and the Angels of God +ascending and descending upon the Son of Man"! This, I think, will be +the Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven. A telescopic view of the burning +bright star Sirius, on the southeast of the belt of Orion, in the +southwestern heavens, early in the evening, will give a faint view of +the above description. + +St. John saw this City suspended in the air, he therefore had a clear +view of its twelve foundations and the names of the twelve Apostles of +the Lamb, and the twelve gates, and the names written thereon, which are +the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. "And he +measured the wall a hundred and forty and four cubits," two hundred and +sixty-two and a half feet, and they were studded with all kinds of +precious stones, and diamonds from the bowels of the earth, while the +gates are adorned with the treasures of the ocean. Now this beautiful +description of the City is given in the twenty-first chapter, from 16 to +18 and 21st verses. We must keep it distinct from the walls. He says, it +lieth four square, and measures twelve thousand furlongs. This sum, +divided by eight furlongs, which make a mile, would stand thus: +8/12000--fifteen hundred miles square or seven millions nine hundred and +twenty thousand feet on six sides (it being a cubical form.) When we +look at the size of this _City_ of Gold, we are at once almost +overwhelmed with the view of its dimensions. Fifteen hundred miles high, +long and wide! In the seventeenth verse, he gives but one way to measure +the wall, and that is its height. If he had undertaken to have given the +contents of the City by the same rule, he would have measured the wall. + +Then we have nothing more to do in making an arithmetical calculation, +but follow the Apostle's description. Jesus said, in my Father's house +are many mansions. Now, allowing twelve feet between joints for a story, +this seven millions nine hundred and twenty thousand feet square would +give six hundred and sixty thousand stories, twelve feet high, (Ezekiel +xl: 7,) and fifteen hundred miles square, four hundred and forty stories +to a mile: which would amount to 990,000,000, nine hundred and ninety +millions of square miles on a level surface, twelve feet high--equal to +the square miles contained in five worlds like this, (which is only one +hundred and ninety-nine millions five hundred and twelve thousand square +miles,) and seventy times more extensive than the Continent of America. +Now six hundred and sixty thousand twelve foot rooms in each story, +would make in all 435,600,000,000--four hundred and thirty-five thousand +and six hundred millions of twelve feet square "rooms,"--_Ezekiel_; +"places,"--_John_; or "mansions,"--_Jesus_. It is computed that there +are 900,000,000--nine hundred millions of inhabitants now on the Earth. +The Bible informs us that there was but one, six thousand years ago. +Admit that there was nine hundred millions at the commencement of +creation, and this number had passed away every thirty years for two +hundred generations, their whole number would only amount to +180,000,000,000--one hundred and eighty thousand millions, a little more +than one-third of the mansions in this building; four hundred and +eighty-four to every human being now on the earth. Surely, this looks +like an "abundant entrance" into the everlasting kingdom. O yes, say +many, I see there is abundance of room for every body! The apostle tells +us who they are. He says, "There shall in no wise enter into it anything +that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie; +but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." This then is the +capacious and glorious "golden _City_;" the "New Jerusalem;" the +"heavenly Sanctuary;" the "Bride the Lamb's Wife;" the "Mother of us +all;" the "Paradise of God;" the capital of our coming Lord's +EVERLASTING kingdom, which is now about to descend from the "third +heaven" by the way of the open door, down by the "flaming sword" of +Orion. O let us see to it, that we are all ready to enter into this +celestial City. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Missing or obscured punctuation was corrected. + +Typographical errors were silently corrected. + +Spelling and hyphenation were made consistent when a predominant form +was found in this book; otherwise it was not changed. + +Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Opening Heavens, by Joseph Bates + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57330 *** |