the city.' None but those who wash their garments, and make them white
in the blood of the Lamb, can, living, come unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem; or, dying, can pass through the iron gate
that opens to them of its own accord, and find themselves as day breaks
in the street of the Jerusalem which is above.




THE INHABITANT OF THE ROCK

'Thou wilt keep him In perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee:
because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the
Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.'--ISAIAH xxvi. 3-4.


There is an obvious parallel between these verses and the two preceding
ones. The safety which was there set forth as the result of dwelling in
the strong city is here presented as the consequence of trust. The
emblem of the fortified place passes into that of the Rock of Ages.
There is the further resemblance in form, that, just as in the two
preceding verses we had the triumphant declaration of security followed
by a summons to some unknown persons to 'open the gates,' so here we
have the triumphant declaration of perfect peace, followed by a summons
to all to 'trust in the Lord for ever.' If we may suppose the invocation
of the preceding verses to be addressed to the watchers at the gate of
the strong city, it is perhaps not too fanciful to suppose that the
invitation in my text is the watcher's answer, pointing the way by which
men may pass into the city.