ERM - Tape 095 - The Marriage Of The Lamb - Joseph Seiss

 

TAPE NO. 95............THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB

From the Books by Joseph Seiss

 

Book Review by Ella Rose Mast

 

We go once more to the Old Books for our review of his subject. The Library of Dr. Swift has brought us much material in our search for the Gospel of the Kingdom.

As we come to this subject then The Harlot is now swept away. (This is Jewish control of religion, economy, and society. Their hold on these three is now swept away.) And the Faithful Woman (Israel) comes to her rightful honors. The betrothed, so long waiting, amid privation, persecution, and contempt now becomes the BRIDE. The time of her Marriage has arrived.

The Bridegroom is of course The LAMB..Our Saviour. The Old Testament people are everywhere represented as betrothed to their God, the HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, as a candidate for a Glorious union, all in due time. Isaiah 14:1-8 and Hosea 2:19. In the New Testament it is the same, the Saints (believing offspring) are to be the Bride, and become the Wife. This NEW Jerusalem coming down out of the heavens is where we find the Bride, this race which prepares themselves to be the Bride, the Wife, THE LAMB'S WIFE. This New Jerusalem is something which has been there since Adam, just waiting in the wings, and now takes their place in the prophesied Blessings. The Saints have a righteousness by imputation thru FAITH, without works, and a righteousness which is the fruit of FAITH, consisting of works springing forth, and wrought in FAITH.

There is much history in the career of the Saints, after they leave this world as well as in it, a far greater history than pertains to them here in earth. Who knows into what grand activities these people of God are ushered into when their mortality is swallowed up in LIFE? Christ now in the character of the 'Mighty Goel' formally acknowledges and takes as Co-partners all those 'chosen ones' of the 'lost Inheritance'. This New Jerusalem is now explained to John, as the BRIDE..THE LAMB'S WIFE. After all, the Old Testament tells us concerning Israel:..'THY MAKER IS THY HUSBAND'.

Here...the whole congregation (Israel) from the first born, from Adam and Seth on down to the last Martyr will be at the Marriage Supper. There is a quaint old Hymn which says:........

'There be prudent prophets all,

The Apostles 6 and 6,

The Glorious martyrs in a row,

And confessors betwixt.

There doth the crew of Righteous men

And nations all consist;

Young men and maids that here on earth

Their pleasures did resist.

 

The sheep and lambs that hardly scaped

The snare of death and hell,

Triumph in joy Eternally,

Whereof no tongue can tell;

And though the glory of each one

Doth differ in degree,

Yet in the joy of all alike,

And common certainty.

 

There David stands, with harp in hand,

As master of the choir;

A thousand times that men were blessed

That might his music hear.

There Mary sings:..'Magnificent'

With tunes surpassing sweet,

And all the virgins bear their part,

Singing about her feet.

 

'Te Deum' doth St. Ambrose sing,

St. Austin doth the same;

Old Simeon and Zacharie

Anew their songs aflame.

There Magdalene hath left her moon,

And cheerfully doth sing,

With all blest saints whose harmony

Thru every street doth ring.

 

Through worth of HIM who died for me,

And thru his Glorious Grace;

With Cherubim and Seraphim,

And hosts of (Adam) men;

To sing our praises to the Lamb,

And add our glad amen!

 

There is no room for doubt that these words of God are for you..to you, a certain people who have come at the call..to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Therefore what response do you make? To you is offered Wedding Garments, so that you may appear in honor and Glory...thus have you accepted YOUR INHERITANCE?

The Marriage of the Lamb is speedily followed with the closing scenes of the present world (order). The hero of this scene is none other than Jesus The Christ Our Saviour. This opening of the heavens was for the joining of the Christ with His people who are referred to all thru the Scriptures. He rides upon a White Horse, the symbol of Royalty, Judgment, and War. White is the color attached to The Christ in all the Judgment scenes. He is the true Warrior and Judge for the punishment of His enemies. He is not only Judge and General, but now HE is KING OF KINGS. When he comes with the Little Book of Inheritance, He had a rainbow around His Head...but at that time HE came in Mercy and Promise to HIS own. He comes now as KING of KINGS against all usurpers.

It is recorder that He has an unknowable Name...People don't seem to know just who He is..but this time He appears in all those unrevealed and unknowable wonders that connect Him with the TOTAL GOD. He comes with vesture dipped or stained with the blood of His enemies. Who but HE fought for Israel in the days of Joshua! Who but HE was the vanquisher of great Blasphemous World powers already dead and gone. Whose garments stained with blood are at once a memorial of the past. The prophecies of what is now to be consummated upon these last enemies against His Kingdom and against His Name are now to be fulfilled.

HIS Name is...THE WORD OF GOD...In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God. The WORD..the LOGOS is the true and only expression of the Eternal Godhead, as the subject and substance of the written WORD..as the accomplishment and fulfiller of the Written WORD....and the very expression and revelation of the Father (Spirit)..the same as words expressed in the thoughts of the heart.

MY friends:..this is the ALMIGHTY GOD who is the fulfiller of prophecy. He as ALMIGHTY SAVIOUR is the ONE who smites the nations with His sharp sword out of His mouth. The Sword of Spirit is the WORD of God..an instrument of mercy and salvation. This sharp Sword is an instrument of death... destruction, Almighty Justice. It proceeds out of His mouth, showing the ease with which He accomplishes His purposes. He speaks and it is done. Remember in the Garden, Jesus spoke to those who came to take HIM and as HE said:..'I Am He'..they fell backward to the ground?

In these scenes HE comes now as KING OF KINGS..and His bride-wife is with HIM...thus Israel is with HIM. In the Old Testament times He came with 10,000 of His Saints. Here HE comes as The Christ, The Saviour, He is the leader and the Saints are following. The promise from the beginning was that 'the seed of the woman would bruise the serpents head', and we have seen that. The Saviour is also HE who treadeth the winepress alone. HE is the Great YAHWEH of Hosts, with many under His command, for the armies of the skies are now with HIM..and they are now called..'chosen and faithful'. HE is the captain of the troops mounted on a White Horse, as are the Saints (believing offspring) who follow HIM. They are all on White Horses, and the riders follow their leader. Here is pictured Holy Power bearing the King and His Hosts to battle, and victory over literal armies. The white lines indicated the righteousness of the Saints, and that they are to reign with the Mighty Conqueror after the battle, therefore they share in this battle and the triumph of the Kingdom of God in earth. 'Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world'. I Corinthians 6:2.

Now; these troops as well as their leader wear no armor. They are now Immortal, and cannot be hurt, yet this is however the Saviour's own personal victory, for it was for this purpose that as..'The Son of Man' He was manifested that He might destroy the work of the Devil. I John 3:8. He bears the only sword, and He uses it for it is out of His mouth. And the Saints need only follow, singing their songs along this path of victory.

John thus saw in this scene the Beast (world order system) with all the kings of the earth and the Devils armies gathered to make war with the rider on the White Horse followed by His army. In otherwords Devil agents working Devil miracles went forth to gather the whole world (order) for the Great, and terrible Day of God Almighty. It was thru the Devils oracles that they learned of Christ's coming to unseat and destroy them. It was thru the Devils tales that they were led to believe that they might win. 'Strong delusion' was upon them to believe a lie, and they went forth to make war with the Lamb...this sitter on the white horse and His army. Anyone who puts aside truth and submits to the Devil's leadership can be carried into delusion. Everyone who denies The Christ will take up arms of the usurper thinking to Conquer...The Christ as HE comes. When men cut loose from the bonds of obligation to their maker, there is no limit to the delusions to which they expose themselves.

Yet He comes, and the Beast system (world order) was taken, the leader of this world order is also taken and cast into the Lake of Fire which is Shekinah Light. The false Prophet, this false religion (Judaism) imposed on the world is also taken and hurried away to the same fate. Remember as people are slain that this Sword is but out of the Mouth of the Saviour...thus error is removed from their thinking. Then HE CAN SHEPHERDIZE THEM WITH THE ROD OF DIVINE JUSTICE. The Great lesson to be learned here is that those 'who will not have the Christ to rule over hem must perish'.

Up until the end of the present world (order) it is contemplated in the Scripture that Satan is also the power of the Dragon. Then as these kings and their armies fall the Dragon Power ceases. However this same evil power will emerge again toward the end of the one thousand years, but not as the Dragon, for never again will he get possession of the earth.

Now; the Devil is also called The Old Serpent..he has been in existence since the beginning of his rebellion. He deceived souls, started false doctrines, unbelief, corrupted the faith, and deludes men with false and perverted wisdom. But never again will he deceive the people of Adam's race for they are now beyond the power of temptation. When finally he brings Gog and Magog against the Citadel of the Saints..it will be as the devil, but it is a chain of Divine Links which binds Satan, and he will be put in this same Lake of Fire where the beast and the false prophet and after that experience he will rebel no more.

Our Author tells us that the word Hell in the Saxon vocabulary is used very differently than is intended. This word Hell, meaning simply a covered or unseen place, is made to stand for places of final punishment. The word Sheol (grave) is used 65 times in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament and is under the English translators rendered 31 times as Hell and 31 times as grave and in three instances the pit. Another word is Hades which they think is the same as Hell, but in the Hebrew it is the same as Sheol, It occurs 11 times thus in the New Testament..always in the same sense...but neither should be used to denote finale punishment. Up until the time of the Christ the Spirits, both good and bad, went into this place of departed spirits. The department of the 'Living Spirits' (Adamites) was called Paradise. It was from there 'That Christ led Captivity captive'. (I do not quite agree with the author on this.)

There was another place called the pit, or the abyss...in Hebrew the word is Abaddon..in Greek Apollyon, this is where the Locust came from, and this is the abode of demons. Peter says:..'God spared not the Angels that sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus into chains of Darkness to be reserved unto Judgment'. II Peter 2:4. The place of burning also called Hell was Tophet in the Old Testament and Gehenna in the New..a place of burning of the refuge of a city.

Do you realize that in this study that our Author back there in 1856 was telling our people that The Christ, The Lamb, The Son of Man was YAHWEH in the Flesh? A little over 100 years later Dr. Swift was also telling our people that this ONE..Jesus of Nazareth was YAHWEH in the flesh as YAHSHUA-Saviour. And yet the modern, visible church does not seem to realize this wonderful truth. Here in late 1989 I listened as a Protestant minister said that Jesus became the Son of God because of Obedience. The next week I listened as a Catholic Priest said Jesus became the Son of God because of Baptism. Does not this tell us that we are still under the thumb of Great Babylon...which is confusion..even as to our Faith? But think of the Great awakening as He calls and the believing offspring answer!

THE ENTHRONED SAINTS....Revelation 20:4-5

'And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment (the power of judgment) was given to them'. A rich and magnificent Revelation here comes before us. Beautiful and blessed contemplations would it also afford were it not for the dust of controversy which surrounds it. A war of the Theologians has hung upon this bit of Scripture for centuries, and turns many from looking at the subject. Many would hide God's Israel under words of Salvation and such. The word 'Saints' is rendered believers in many cases but never as..BELIEVING OFFSPRING..in the theology of the world order. Some would even doubt the Divinity of The Christ, but John SAW thrones..implying seats of authority for the Saints. He saw these Saints sitting upon those thrones. Surely attention to Bible truths cannot miss the fact that God's chosen..the anointed kings and priests are none other than His people? (believing offspring)

Paul wrote of a 'Crown' for which he strove. The Saviour Himself talks of His 'little flock' which were to be given the Kingdom. Here the Sitter on the White Horse conquers, and with Him are His Saints on white horses. They were with HIM in this fight, they were there in this victory, and they share in the Sovereignty which that victory secures. They are to reign, therefore who are they but those from the generations of Adam..the souls under the altar, the martyrs, yes the Saints who only figure in the first Resurrection. If ye then be of this kingdom of God here in earth, do you want to give away such a glorious Inheritance? As in Adam all die, even so, in The Christ all shall be made alive. I Corinthians 15:22. 'Yet every man in his own order'. The Apostle Paul also assured the Thessalonians (4:16) that 'the dead in Christ shall rise first'. And the Eagles are also a part of this great company.

Imagine, if you will, what the irresistible enforcement of a true and righteous administration, in all directions, necessarily implies, and you understand why the Bible describes it as a 'Shepherdizing with a rod of Iron'; and it calls it a breaking like the dashing to pieces of an article of pottery. Think of the sudden collapse of all nurseries of iniquity, the clearing away of the marshes and bogs of crime. Think of all the political rings, the whiskey rings, a thousand or more different kinds of such rings, all the children of wickedness hindering just law, suppressing moral rights and crippling honest industry, corrupting the press, robbing the public treasury, all the selfish greed, to be swept away, and you are almost overwhelmed.

Think of the instantaneous going forth into all the world of a Divine and unerring force which cannot be turned, which takes down every fruitless tree, removes all the unrighteous laws. Think of the revolution in all that the eye can see, the ear hear, the hand touch, and the heart feel, or earthly beings realize that must need be put into living practical force of such an Administration. The high must be made low, the famous must be made infamous, the rich must be made poor, and the mighty must be made powerless. Think of the change which must come over every house we enter, every street we walk over, the people we meet, the words we pronounce, the food we eat, even the air we breathe. Every activity and experience we call Life is to be changed. Think of all these changes going into effect, and you begin to have some idea of the alteration which the First Resurrection will introduce into the History of our earth. This and nothing less than the meaning of sitting upon thrones, receiving power and judgment, shepherdizing the nations, and reigning on earth..all is a part of these blessed children of God. Remember there is nothing better than God's laws, thus this will be a good thing for all the nations of the world.

In this first Resurrection called the 'Blessed Resurrection' not all will actually suffer death. Some will be alive at this time and 'caught up'.... meaning carried into the Resurrection Life without dying. Still the same change must come from this mortal life to immortality. Finally..released forever from the death working law in their fleshly members, their whole being has come under the power of a complete sanctification which sets them apart and all dwellers in the flesh only must stand in greater awe than ever was called for in connection with the Israelite High Priests or earthly kings. Why? Because in them, and thru them, God will set His Glory among the nations, and all the earth will be filled with His Glory. Ezekiel 29:21 and Isaiah 6:3.

There is however little to mark the children of God today, other than a firm confession of Faith in Jesus. But their names are in the Books of Heaven, they are joint-heirs with YAHSHUA, and the Holy Spirit dwells in their bodies. John however sees them changed, and seated on thrones, and sharing in the Administration of government, and their business is to Shepherdize the nations. The children of the Blessed Resurrection are tangible, and they shall reign just as truly as did Saul, or David, or Solomon. They have now been redeemed and glorified for office, and work pertaining to this office...of the Kingdom of God in earth. They, like Jesus, will not be sitting out there somewhere on a cloud. There is a kingdom here on earth to be perfected following that Great and Terrible Day of God Almighty. As they come into full harmony with the Mind and Will of God, into this Living association with their Redeemer they know no greater joy than to fill the Administrative duties until the race from which they sprung returns to Paradise, for they have been in exile all these years.....'Strangers and Pilgrims in earth'.

We find that people try to attempt to spiritualize away the great things of God's Revelation until the whole matter evaporates in their hand, and the Christian hope vanishes into nothingness. They make much ado about getting to heaven, but have lost all understanding of what it means. All the singing, and longing, and fond anticipation on the subject really amounts to very little more than a going to see Jesus, or meet a departed friend, or other distinguished people who once lived.

No, the Joy and honors of the Children of the First Resurrection are made Kings and Priests 'unto their God'. They are endowed as immortal benefactors of the nations upon the earth, invincible Shepherds of a renewing world, the Potentates of a Redeemed Race, all the prophecies of the Book show this to be true.

This reign then is to last one thousand years. A definite length of time is the meaning, and Satan is bound and cannot enter the world or work personally with his agents at this time. The work for the Saints is not preaching to very creature, no it is the Shepherdizing of the nations with a rod of Iron (which is total justice). This is an invincible administration of right and justice, a discipline of men and nations far beyond anything which the mere preaching of the Gospel ever has wrought, or ever was intended to do for earthly society.

The present era is the period of God's mercy and long suffering, the next era will be one of prompt, and rigid administration when sentence against an evil work will be executed speedily. The condition of the earth, and the people upon it will then be vastly improved. The whole creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the Glorious liberty of the children of God. Romans 8:21-22. This shall be a time when 'the earth shall yield her increase' and 'when nations shall be glad and sing for joy'. Psalm 77. This is the time when 'The LORD bindeth up the breach of His children'. The days of a man are to be as a Tree in the antediluvian world. Isaiah 65:20-23. The only deaths we will read of will be for transgression or disobedience. The Race shall be fruitful, even as in the whole system of nature, thus by the ends of the millennium the most remote corners of earth will contain people. It will not be an Eternal state in which is no more death, nor curse, nor tears, but it will be a mighty stride toward it and the stage is set for the next step forward. The mental, moral, social, and political condition of the people who then live will be like heaven itself compared with the order of things which now prevail.

The deaf will hear the words of the Book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and darkness. The poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 29:18-19. And the wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of the times, and the strength of Salvation. Isaiah 33:6. But..this rule does not end when this dimension of time is over. Men do not cease to live here in the flesh. The earth is not disturbed in its march toward total re-generation..that which marks the ending of this Shepherdizing of the nations is the letting loose of Satan for the little while. This will test the loyalty and devotion of the nations which have received such big favors. What takes place in the rebellion of God and Magog is followed by the casting of Satan into the Lake of Fire so that we get on with the 'RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS'.

The lesson here to be learned is that almost a thousand years of uninterrupted Peace and Prosperity does not change the spirit of some, for when the Devil again calls, his descendants, the children of his kingdom will answer, and he will persuade them to try once more to wreck this Great Kingdom Administration of Almighty God and His people. This time Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire, where the Beast and False Prophet were cast. In this Shekinah Fire all error will be burned out, and Lucifer will no more be Satan. This will also end the last rebellion seen upon this planet...the last sin, the last death, that ever occurs in this present dwelling place of Adam-man.

Here we have found a throne, and people are still occupying earth. No trumpet is sounded at this time for these people now to be judged are not of the armies of the kings..and they are not HIS people (Israel), however into this restitution of all things there is a going forth of Eternal Power, into the sea, into the graves, into all depositories of souls, and these people now stand before the Great Judge. The Books are opened, not a single human being who ever breathed earths atmosphere, whose career is not traced at full length in the Book of Eternity. There will be many whose lives were lived in Faith of a better world. But if any found not written in the Book of Life...these are cast into this Lake of Fire (Shekinah Light).

In otherwords those not in the Book of Life..not of the children of God, now will be cast into the Shekinah Light which will wipe out all error from their lives. This is called..'the second death', this is when death and the grave now leave the picture, and the Restitution of All Things is now on the way.

NEW JERUSALEM..............

Here we come to the Eternal City which John saw coming down out of Heaven. (Even if you were to think that every race came from Adam which is a biological impossibility, still there is a race picked out as Chosen. Adam was put on earth to form a race, to which the earth was given as a theater, as a possession, and happy home. Meanwhile came the fall, yet the promise was still there of redemption by the seed of the Woman (Israel). If the nature of the fall had been to destroy the existence of Adam-man as a race, and dispossess him of his habitation and mastery of the earth, the nature and effect of the Redemption is nil if it does not go as far as total Redemption. If this Race was stopped, and disinherited...with only a few splinters left, then Satan's mischief goes further than Christ's Restoration.

There is a notion which has tainted our religious oratory, influenced by the translators of our English Bible which has led some to think that the physical Universe will disappear. But...How can this be with the promises and revealed purposes of God?

John saw..a City coming down from heaven, thus a city connected with Divinity. A City made up of people or it would have been a deserted city. This City is called the Tabernacle (dwelling place) of God established among men and nations which are to be healed by the Leaves of this TREE OF LIFE. Great changes in the whole physical condition of the earth is indicated, but the idea of the extinction of a natural Universe is only a misunderstanding of translation. If this earth is to have an indestructible Kingdom, it must also be an indestructible earth itself. The Apostle in this scene thus beholds the redemption of our earth, of the Race, the Restitution of all things accomplished, the damages, disorders and all sin repaired, thus a picture of a Redeemed world.

Heaven is new..but not blotted out..just retouched, cleansed. Earth is new ...but all accomplished which was prophesied. And now John sees in this City...the Bride, The Lamb's (Saviour’s) Wife (Israel), thus this New Jerusalem is a Race, developed, bought and brought to its fulfilled Destiny. It is heaven built, jeweled in its foundation, walls and streets, and it is beautiful as a Bride adorned for her Husband. It is a Race which brings the Holy People of God from Abel to the last Martyr of the Race..under the Anti-Christ all are there. This is none other than Adam's Race, a called out people, a people marked as Pilgrims and Strangers in earth ever seeking for a continuing city (Race) whose maker and builder is God. Those like the souls under the altar are there, all this on going Race..now Redeemed, re- stored are to found there.

'Behold! the Tabernacle of God is with (Adam) men, and He shall Tabernacle with them, and they shall be His people and HE (God with them) shall be their God'.

Who are these people? Who can they be if not this Redeemed, Restored (Adamic) Race? If one of the earlier followers of The Christ were to take a look at modern Christianity, we think he would be puzzled to understand how...under the guise of spirituality, the modern church is loaded down with modern philosophies, hopes and sins. Remember how the early church was set like a golden circlet on the head of The King of Glory, in contact everywhere with Divinity. Today there is the feeling that this Kingdom of God is mythical, off somewhere in space, which makes the Words of God to no effect.

Abraham, remember, looked for a city which hath foundation, whose maker and builder was God. Hebrews 11:10. Jesus assured His disciples:..'I go to prepare a place for you...I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I AM there ye may be also'. John 14:2-3.

The Angels (Eagles) called the Heavenly City..The Bride, The Lamb's Wife, the reason being because of the sanctified and glorious ones who inhabit that City. Without the Saints (believing offspring) whose home and residence it is..this would not be the Lamb's Wife. Coming down out of heaven means it is of Celestial origin. It is the direct product of Almighty Power and Wisdom. The Saints are all..God's workmanship, they are all begotten of His Spirit, and shaped, and fashioned into 'living stones' from the dark quarries of a fallen world, transformed from Glory to Glory by the operations of HIS HAND. They reach their restored place thru HIS Direct influence.

The ship in which Noah was saved; the Great Pyramid built by Divine direction, the Tabernacle and the Temple of Israel were the very best and most splendid. But this New Jerusalem is said to stand on 12 foundations, the 12 tribes of Israel. Thru those walls are 4 gates with a smaller one on each side of the main gate. (Thus the marching orders of Israel in symbolism). Inside the gates, the streets are of pure gold, or perfect purity, showing Israel now in perfect harmony with her God. Thus here a Crystal Palace like unto the Palace of the Great King.

When HE started this (Adamic) race of the Bible it was on a career of multiplication to which we can set no limit. When HE began the work of Redemption, fashioning a people to be co-regents with their Redeemer, these pictures of a final outcome tell of great multitudes...with numbers like the sands of the seashore envisioned. This City then corresponds to the dimensions John saw, a City measuring just as wide as it is long and just as high as it is wide and long, thus a solid cube or 1500 miles each way. If a literal city here in the U.S., it would reach from furthermost Florida to the furthermost Main and from the shores of the Atlantic to Colorado. (we would think that part of Canada in this picture). If it were in Europe it would cover all of Britain, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Prussia, European Turkey, and half of European Russia taken altogether. (Remember our Author wrote this in 1856)

If this is a real city the population is already there, for the Saints are to take the Kingdom. This city needs no artificial lighting, for it is a prism of inherent Light from the God of Israel, who illuminates the eyes, the body and the soul, then shines not only on objects without, but on the understanding within, making everything Light. The Glory of God's brightness envelopes it like an unclouded halo, thus there is not a dark or obscure place in it. This signifies the perfection now of God's people. He is the Temple of this symbolic City. Here His people, as priests come into the very cloud of God's overshadowing Glory which is their Temple (dwelling place). What need of anything else to commune with Deity, or to have fellowship with the Father, the worship is immediate and direct.

As the Israelites wandered thru distant lands always they remembered their kingdom, and their Temple in Jerusalem. Year after year these pilgrims went unto the mountain of their LORD..the Mighty ONE of Israel. They longed for HE who dwelt between the Cherubims. To Old Jerusalem they still came to give thanks unto the Name of the LORD. What was realized then on a small scale, in the case of this one Race of people..then in regards to the New Jerusalem..this will be a blessed center of illumination for the world. The Light of Truth, the Light of Life shall go forth from this City (Kingdom), and the nations shall walk in its LIGHT.

THE RIVER OF LIFE.................

'And he showed me a river of the water of life, bright as crystal coming forth out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb'. Revelations 22:1. Interpreters think water in prophetic language means people, but give up when they see this water coming out of the Throne of God. This river comes also from the city called New Jerusalem, from the city which is the home, the residence of the Lamb and His Bride. This is thus a stream of people....again this Race, for only the Saints come to the throne to share its life and administration.

The Jordan River is often spoken of as a sacred river, and many sacred memories connect with it. Palestine's penitent flock to it for baptism to wash away their sins. But the Jordan is the symbol of earthly..materialistic life, not redeemed, restored life which this river represents.

There is also this 'Tree of Life'..the first Eden had such a tree, it was the symbol and support of Eternal Life, both of body and soul. In the midst of this city, on either side of the street of his city, on either side of the river then John saw 'The Tree of Life' which was producing 12 kinds of fruit..according to each month, yielding its fruit, and the Leaves of this Tree are for the healing of the nations.

In the memorial city of Jerusalem to be built..then Ezekiel saw a river issue from the sanctuary and run down into the sea. Ezekiel 47:2. This comes into being during the 1000 years. As to the fruit of the Tree of Life in New Jerusalem, some will ask..do people eat after they are Glorified, such as the Saints? We can only tell you that the Saviour did eat, Angel messengers have done the same. Genesis 18:6-8. The Saviour Himself referred several times to eating and drinking in connection with the Kingdom. After all why worry about heaven in this particular situation when the Kingdom is here on earth, when the nations are here that are to be ruled with a rod of Iron? These Glorified Saints follow their Saviour but He is also as they saw Him go. There are however once more, still two classes of people in this picture. One class gets the fruit from the 'Tree of Life', and the others called the nations receive the Leaves. Just as the River of Life benefits the earth, so also do the Leaves of this Tree of Life.

If you will recall, the first Paradise was once a happy and glorious place, but sin entered..and Adam-man has been laboring and sighing ever since..it is back to that Paradise that Adam-man is striving for, and when reached every curse shall be no more. Glory and Blessedness will never again give place to Darkness, sin and death, for Adam-man is redeemed, and will move on toward what is good and true to never fall again. Being innocent and in transformation from spirit to mortal, Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and learned the bitter experience of evil. Thus the Redemption of The Christ brings then to the point where their hearts will no more turn to evil.

This Throne in New Jerusalem (I Corinthians 15:24-28 and Revelations 3:21) is where the Lamb and His Saints reign. It is also the throne of God SINCE THE CHRIST IS GOD. And 'they shall reign to the age of ages'...No more faulty politics, No more false religions, No more rabble rule or oppressive tyranny shall there be. For the rule of the Righteous has come, and it will not fail...never again will it fail. Once more the fruit of ‘The Tree of Life' is for 12 months..the same 12 we find all thru the Scriptures, back to the 12 tribes of Israel,..to the Saints the children of the Kingdom..the believing offspring.

Such is the final picture set before us of these wonderful prophecies and foreshadowing of the purposes of God. Such are the glimpses which our Saviour has given us of the dignities and blessedness to which we are called by His Gospel of the Kingdom. Shall we throw away our inheritance of this home? Cast titles, crowns, the privilege of being co-regent with the Lamb in this Golden city called New Jerusalem, all in the process of trying to please the world order?

In closing this wonderful Book of Revelation we note that this is:...ABSOLUTE TRUTH..and CERTAINTY. He sent His Angel to His servant John for the purpose of making this revelation:..'These things must come to pass'. Either this Book is nothing but a base and blasphemous forgery, or it is one of the most directly inspired and authoritative writing ever given. A forgery it cannot be, all the early churches named in its first chapters accepted and honored it, nor is there another Book in the New Testament whose genuineness and inspiration were more clearly and strongly attested to on its first appearance, and for three centuries following. St. Augustine classed it with the most Apostolic records, and the church in general regarded it as a Book of Prophecy from Christ's own Divine Omniscient and Eternal Spirit. It is really Jesus who speaks to us in this Book. We therefore believe that it is God who tells us..'these words are faithful and true'..therefore we take them and build our faith upon them and testify them to all the world.

Dare we suppose that the Saviour would hang His benediction so high as to be beyond the reach of those to whom they are so graciously proposed? Would HE mock us by suspending His offered Blessings on terms beyond our power? Yet this is the charge men bring against their redeemer when they plead the incomprehensibility of this Book for their neglect and practical rejection of it. Would HE the God of Mercy mock His people? Would He who gave His life for us...give us a Book to tell us the outcome of all His Gracious aspirations, then command us to note the words, to believe the promises to us, and then tell us we could not possibly understand? Would HE the God of Truth lie to us? We have the unmistakable authority of heaven for it, that this Apocalypse is capable of being understood.

If our people would really know what Redemption means, and the height of Glory of their calling, then study this Book, get the treasure of its words in their hearts, and believe and know that it is understandable for all willing to be instructed...for 'blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book'.

Every reader will observe how much the conclusion of this Book is like its beginning. It comes from God, the signifying of it is by the Angel, the seeing, hearing, and writing of it by John, the blessing upon those who give due attention to it, the nearness of the time for the fulfillment of what is described, the solemn authentication from The Christ, the titles by which he describes himself, and even the personal expressions of John recur in the Epilogue almost the same as in the Prologue.

Jesus identifies Himself as the source of all inspiration...with the very LORD God Almighty. He is not only a Saviour, but a Great ONE, while HE was also Jesus of Nazareth, born of a virgin, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He is nevertheless the ver Living YAHWEH..the True God, as well a True Name whom all the principalities of heaven worship as 'The Lamb' to whom the blessing, and honor, glory and dominion for all ages is to be ascribed. Moreover this is the only title under which HE here presents Himself:...'Behold I come quietly, my reward with me to give to each as his work is to be' and then He adds:..'I am the Alpha, and the Omega the first and the last...the beginning and the end'. Three times does He take this designation to Himself. Chapters 1:8...21:6...22:13.

Therefore let not this Book be sealed up, nor its prophecies shut off from the most reserved proclamation. We tell you there is no true religion which does not center on THE CHRIST, and His predictions. Only those who are members of His body, flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bones are His Bride...His Wife. The 'Hearers' are those who are made acquainted with the great purposes of God, and are informed of what is in reserve for God's true people. But unless a person rightfully interprets..that Jesus the Christ was YAHWEH in the flesh as Saviour (YAHSHUA) his hearing will profit him nothing. To put forth for truth, what is not truth, to denounce as error, condemn..and repudiate what God Himself hath set His Seal to, as His mind and purpose is not only moving against God but against the souls of men.

In the last words of this Book the Saviour..Himself sums up the substance of the whole in one brief sentence:...'He who testifieth these things saith...yea I come quickly'.

The Faith of this Race has no outcome but in the glorious Apocalypse of JESUS THE CHRIST. Thus understanding, the Apostle could only write:... 'Even so come...Lord Jesus'.

If the whole creation groans and travails together in pain for the manifestation of the sons of God, how much more those sons and daughters of God themselves. How they long to hear again HIS last words:..'Yea, I come quickly'.

Thus ends these three books by the writer in 1856. We hope you have gained a bit more insight into this wonderful Book of Revelation and when realizing who you are and why you are here...then you can more quickly watch the world events today and realize what they mean.

 

MAY YAHWEH BLESS

ELLA ROSE MAST