Rev. 21 Rev. 21:1 new heaven and a new earth. Rev. 21:2 The new Jerusalem. Rev. 21:3–7 The blessedness of God’s people. Rev. 21:8 The judgment of the wicked. Rev. 21:9–27 description of the heavenly Jerusalem.

A new heaven and a new earth; a new and glorious state of things relating to the church. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea; for now there was an end to the world, and all the troubles that the people of God had met with in it, as well as the…

The holy city, new Jerusalem; that is, the whole chorus or number of the elect of God, answering God’s chosen people in Jerusalem. Coming down from God out of heaven; not locally coming down, but who had their original from heaven, and were all persons of heavenly minds.

What is said here, is applicable to the church of God in this life, yea, to every true believer, whose body is said to be the temple of the Lord, and in whom the Lord dwells, according to the phrase of the Holy Ghost in many places of the New Testament; of whom it is also true, that God is with…

Scarce any of the passages in this verse, taken in the plain, literal sense, are applicable to any state of the church in this life: for though in the thousand years, mentioned Rev.

And he that sat upon the throne, that is, Christ, said, Behold, I make all things new; behold, I will put a new face upon all things; the state of my people shall not for ever be a troubled and afflicted state.

And he said unto me, It is done; the world is at an end, and all my threatenings against my enemies, and promises to my people, are now fulfilled, in the eternal damnation of the one, and deliverance and salvation of the other.

He that overcometh, shall inherit all things: God revealed this to John almost sixteen hundred years since; and how long it shall be before this glorious time shall come, God alone knows: the most of this time hath been, and will be, a time of fighting with the world, the flesh, and the devil; but…

All those who are without the church invisible, whether protime persons, (such are murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, liars), or idolaters, or unbelievers and hypocrites, shall all be cast to hell.

One of the seven angels; one of those mentioned Rev. 15:6. I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife; I will show thee the whole church, (invisible heretofore), the glorious state of the church triumphant, under the representation of a great city.

And he carried me away in the spirit; in a trance or ecstasy, as before. To a great and high mountain; from whence men use to have the best prospect of cities, or other places.

Having the glory of God; a most excellent glory, received from God. And her light, that is, (as some interpret it), that which gave her light, (as the sun is called the light of the earth), or her enlightener, was like unto a stone most precious, was Christ himself, who is a stone most precious:…

And had a wall, that is, this city, by which is meant the church of God, had a wall great and high. Walls are for the protection and defence of a place; the higher and greater they are, the greater defence and protection they give.

To signify it was made up of persons from all parts of the world. This agreeth with Ezekiel’s vision, Ezek. 48:31–34. The triumphant church will be a collection of believers, who from all nations have come into it.

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations; the ancient church of God was founded in twelve patriarchs, and twelve tribes; the gospel church in twelve apostles; Christ is the only foundation of both, 1 Cor. 3:11, but he is the foundation upon which the church: is built.

This seemeth to signify the transcendency of the state of the church now, to what it was before; it was then measured by a man, Rev. 11, now by an angel; then by an ordinary reed, now by a golden reed.

The church militant, measured by the reed of the word, is unequal in its parts; some parts of it are purer than others; but in the new Jerusalem all parts shall be equal in perfection and purity, as all the sides of a thing four square are equal.

This could not be the measure of the compass, (it was for that much too little), nor of the height or breadth, (for either of them it was much too great), from whence Dr.

And the building of the wall of it was of jasper; strong and impregnable, not subject to impressions from enemies, as it is said of the jasper, that no hammer will break it. And the city was pure gold; all that make up this city are perfect and noble. Like unto clear glass; pure, without spots.

And the foundations of the wall of the city, by which, we noted before, are to be understood the apostles, who, building upon the one foundation, Christ Jesus, by their holy doctrine laid the beginnings of the gospel churches, the first stones, (upon the Rock Christ), which were afterwards…

I cannot tell what to make of these precious stones, with which they are said to be garnished, unless it be their spiritual gifts and habits of grace; the various manifestations of the Holy Spirit given to the apostles to profit the church withal, with which they adorned the doctrine of the gospel,…

I am not willing to descant further in particulars, conjecturing (for it is no more) what each metaphorical term signifies in this unusual description of a city.

And I saw no temple therein: I cannot take temple so strictly here, as those who understand all this but as a description of the blessed state of the militant church, during the thousand years; but understand it of all such worship and ordinances as we serve God in, and by, in this life.

The sun and the moon are the two great luminaries of the world, which God hath made, the one to rule the day, the other to rule the night; in heaven there will be no need of any of these.

And the nations of them, which are saved shall walk in the light of it; all that go to heaven shall be thus happy. And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it; and such kings of the earth as shall come into heaven, shall see all their honour and glory swallowed up in the…

And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: the reason of shutting a city’s gates, is either to shut out enemies, or to keep in such as are within: there will be no need of shutting these gates on either of these accounts; there will be no enemies to fear, and those that are within this…

Whatsoever is excellent or desirable in the world, shall be supplied to the souls of those that are in heaven, by good of another make, but which shall be equally (nay, infinitely more) satisfactory to the soul.

And there shall in no wise enter into it: in the Greek there are two negative particles, which though in the Latin they make an affirmative, yet in the Greek make a stronger negative, which we translate in no wise, or by no means.