The Holy City, Commentary · Chapter 21 · Verse 22
Vers. 22.
And I saw no Temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the Temple of it.
These words do, in my present Light,The time when this City shal have no Temple. point at the end of the days of this Jerusalem here in this World; and in so doing, they signifie to us, that when she is builded, she shall stand and continue in …his her glorious state afore-mentioned, …ven until that Glory be swallowed up of …hat which doth excel.
That they do point at the end of her …ay in this world, I do gather from these particulars:
First, Because they are the last words …f the description of her Glory, (that is, …ese and the words ensuing, which is …t one and the same continued speech) …d it is easie to conclude that John in …is description of this City, doth from …st to last, even from the first appearing of her as she cometh out of Babylon, till she be perfect in Glory, give us the relation of it: first, I say, shewing us her descending, then her building, and afterward the Glory of that building; at the end of which also he sheweth to us with what Glory he will crown this Glory, even by swallowing of her up with a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory.
Secondly, Because in these words he doth absolutely cut off all and every whi… of her outward and external Glory; tha… is, as to outward Ordinances, and Temple-Worship, which yet was to be most famous for a long time in this new and goodly City; which he verifies in the eleventh Chapter of this Prophecie… (which Chapter is a summary collectin… of the Church in her Fall and Rise under Antichrist, which Church there in he… Rise, is this City here in her Glory in th… World) he tells us there, I say, that whe… the Kingdoms of this World were become th… Kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Chris… that THEN THE TEMPLE OF GOD WAS OPENED IN HEAVEN; tha… is, Temple-Worship under the Gosp… recovered into its former and Primitiv… state and Purity, in which it was before the coming in of the Man of Sin, Rev. 11. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. compared with Rev. 15. 8. which Temple he here utterly shutteth out, saying, I saw no Temple therein; in the room of which he setteth the presence of the Lord Jesus, and God his Father, making them to stand and be in the room of Temple and Gospel-Worship, in that manner as it is used while we here live in the Flesh: For the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the Temple of it. 'Tis true, the Lord God Almighty,Zech. 11. 16. and the Lamb, are the Temple of this Church in her lowest condition, therefore much more when she is brought into the condition that she is in at her rebuilding; but yet, neither in her low estate, nor yet in her highest, is it proper to say, that so long as she is in this World, God will be a Temple to her, in opposition to her Temple and Gospel-Worship, in outward and New-Testament-Administrations: Wherefore when he saith, He saw no Temple therein, and that from this reason, Because the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the Temple of it; he must needs aim at a state to which the Church cannot attain until her Lord comes: For 1 Cor. 13. 10.then will that which is perfect be come, and that which is in part be done away.
Now that the [Temple] in this placeWhat this excluded Temple signifies. excluded, can signifie nothing else but the outward orderly way of Gods Worship, which the Saints ought with Conscience, in Faith, to be found in till their Lord comes: Consider,
First, That our New Testament doth use the word Temple, three general ways:
1. For the outward Order and WorshipRev. 11. 1 2, 3. or Discipline of the Gospel.
2. For the Body of Christ, which is his Church, &c.
3. And lastly, For the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, which here are said to be the Temple of this City.
Now then, when he saith, He saw NO Temple therein, he cannot exclude the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, for they are here said to be the Temple of it: Neither can he shut out the Church, which is the Body of Christ, for that is the City it self; yea, and the Church shall be Gods Temple, and God and Christ the Temple of the Church for ever and ever: He must therefore by this word [no Temple] exclude onelyonly the outward Way of Gospel-Worship, in which the Saints in the times of the New Testament, both meet and edifie each other; and also meet their God, and are blessed and refreshed by him.
Again, That this outward Gospel-Worship should be laid aside while the Church is in this World, before her Lord doth come to be enjoyed by her, as touching his Personal Presence; it looks too like Ranting Opinions, and contradiction to Scripture, for me to believe: 1 Cor. 11. 26. for when He comes, but not till then, shall these things be laid aside.
Besides, That which yet confirms me more fully in this Opinion, is, Because herein this New Jerusalem doth most exactly answer the City and Temple, which was builded after the Captivity; which City and Temple being once built, it stood till Christ our Lord did visit them in his own Personal coming the first time; as the Prophets also said it should: The Lord whom ye seek, saith one, shall suddenly come to his Temple; even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts: And again, I will shake all Nations, and the Desire of all Nations shall come; and I will fill this House with glory, saith the Lord of Host: Wherefore the glory of this latter House shall be greater than that of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts: And I will give Peace in this place, saith the Lord of Hosts, Mal. 3. 1. Hag. 2. 6, 7, 8, 9.
Now observe, That from the time of the building of the second Temple, to the coming of Christ, the Worship of the Temple-Order was to be by all most devoutly and continually observed: but when the Lord Jesus was come, and had established his own more honourable and New-Testament-Dispensation, then all the former Temple-Worship fell to the ground, and became (with all the Instruments of Worship that thereunto belonged) null and void; yea, and it was a derogation to his Gospel to offer to uphold that former way of Worship, after he had by his own Personal Presence and Spirit, brought in that other Dispensation. All which, I say, will be answered by our second and New-Testament New Jerusalem: For as the old Jerusalem was builded after the Jews were come out of literal Babylon, so is our New Jerusalem builded after our coming out of the Antichristian Oppression of spiritual Babylon: again, As that City did after she was builded, continue, and retain her Temple-Worship, until the Personal appearing of Christ the first time; so New Jerusalem shall retain and hold her outward New-Testament-Worship till He comes in Person the second time: After all which, as the second Temple was swallowed up of a more heavenly and spiritual Dispensation, by the Personal Presence of Christ; so shall also the New Jerusalem Temple-Worship be swallowed up by the glory of the appearing of the Person of Christ the second time; as Paul saith, for he speaks in the Person of Christ, Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to Doctrine, &c. 1 Tim. 4. 13.
Thus then, when this holy City doth once again appear upon the stage, and in her own situation, and when she hath bin shewed in the Attire of a Queen before the face of all Nations, and their Kings; and when she hath by the Glory of the Light of her New-Testament-Temple, gathered, as with a Net, the number of Gods Elect; then she is taken into her Husbands Privy-Chamber, where she and he alone shall be in that blessed Fellowship and Communion that shall not again be once eclipsed, or in the least interrupted to Eternity.
Thus have I shewed you my present Light into this portion of the holy Scripture; if any can give me further, I hope I shall not refuse it: but as yet, methinks this should be the genuine sence of this place, and is the very track of John himself: For after he had seen the Wall for present Safety, the Foundations for Continuation, the Gates for Entrance, and the like; then he comes to tell us of the Glory of all, and of the Street it self at last; which indeed is the last and end of all the Order of God, and to continue till an end be put to it by Mortality's being swallowed up of Life: As is yet more fully shewed you in the next Verse of this description.