The City Which Hath Foundations

Our object is to see that because Jerusalem is so closely related to God, indeed has been brought into being by Him, her values must be pre-eminently spiritual and divine. Back of her history there lie those elements which are not of this world, nor are they merely of time, but are heavenly and eternal...

It is important for us to recognise that while the Jerusalem of the Old Testament, the earthly Jerusalem, is historical in a literal way, Jerusalem which is above has its history upon a purely spiritual basis. Its rise and fall, if we may speak of it in that way, is a matter of the rise and fall of spiritual life, and the Lord while now in heaven, having in His Own mind a perfect City, is seeking to bring His people, His Church, to that state of spiritual perfection which, when accomplished, will display His glory and bring with it the realisation of that vision which was seen of the Apostle: "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed the holy city of Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious..." (Rev. 21:10-11). That is a spiritual state that the Lord is seeking to realise in His Church. It will eventually be realised in those who truly constitute that Church, that City...