§ 17. Here, then, Reader, take thy heart once more, and carry it to the top of the highest mount; _shew it the kingdom of Christ, and the glory of it_, and say to it, "_All this will thy Lord give thee_ who hast _believed in him_, and been a _worshipper of him. It is the Father's good pleasure to give thee this kingdom._[379] Seest thou this astonishing glory which is above thee? All this is thy own inheritance. This crown is thine, these pleasures are thine; this company, this beautiful place, all are thine; because thou art Christ's, and Christ is thine; when thou wast united to him, thou hadst all these with him." Thus take thy heart into the _land of promise_; shew it the pleasant hills and fruitful vallies; shew it the clusters of grapes which thou hast gathered, to convince it that it is a blessed land, _flowing with_ better than _milk and honey_; Enter the gates of the _Holy City_, walk through the streets of the _new Jerusalem; walk about Sion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof; mark well her bulwarks; consider her palaces; that thou mayest tell it to_ thy soul.[380] _Hath_ it not _the glory of God, and_ is not _her light like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal_? See the _twelve foundations of her walls, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the building of the walls of it are of jasper; and the city is pure gold, like unto clear glass; and the foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones. And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, every several gate is of one pearl; and the street of the city is pure gold, as it were transparent glass. There is no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb are the temple of it. It hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon in it; for the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof; and the nations of them which are saved, shall walk in the light of it. These sayings are faithful and true: And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angels_ and his own Son, _to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done_.[381] Say now to all this, "This is thy rest, O my soul! And this must be the place of thy everlasting habitation. Let all the sons of _Sion rejoice, let the daughters of Jerusalem be glad_; for _great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion. God is known in her palaces for a refuge._"[382]
[Footnote 379] Luke xii, 32.
[Footnote 380] Psalm xlviii, 12, 13.
[Footnote 381] Revelation xxi, 11-24. xxii, 6.
[Footnote 382] Psalm xlviii, 11, 1-3.