Edward Francis Wilson - "Missionary Work Among The Ojebway Indians"

Charlotte M. Yonge - "Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe"

Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa - "The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, Part 2"

Karin Stephen - "The Misuse of Mind"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The Works of John Bunyan Volume 3

J >> John Bunyan >> The Works of John Bunyan Volume 3




Second. Again, as the church is in her light before men as the moon
is in her light in the night to the world, so, as I said before,
this city which is called also heaven, she, even she, shall have
no need of these things, for she shall be taken up in open vision,
and shall be completely delivered from all imperfection; she shall
not need now the light of her children to provoke her and to stir
her up to this or the other act of holiness; all shall be done, all
shall be complete, the Lord himself is come. Indeed, while Christ
is absent as touching his person, and while the work of God is not
yet completely done in the church, there will be need both of the
light of sun and moon, but when the work is done, and he come,
then these things will be out of use. Thus 'the path of the just
is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect
day' (Pro 4:18).

'For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof.' This is rendered as the reason why at this day both the
light of the sun and moon are needless; it is because 'the glory
of God did lighten it,' and because 'the Lamb is the light thereof.'
Now the glory of God must be understood in this place, not of that
glory that doth attend the church in this world, for that glory
doth attend the church upon the account of her purity of worship,
of temple-worship, and doth either abide on her, or withdraw itself,
according to her exact observing the rule, or declining from it,
as I have showed you in the beginning of this discourse (see the
exposition of the 11th verse). But the glory that here you read of,
it is a glory that supplieth this city without those ordinances;
yea, therefore, those ordinances, as the temple and the light
of the sun and moon, do cease because of the glory of this glory
that now is come into this city. 'The city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon to shine in it,' mark, 'for the glory of God
did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.'

Wherefore, I say, this glory that now he speaks of, it is the
glory that shall possess this city at the end of her glory in this
world; wherefore, as saith the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the prophet,
from this day forward, 'The sun shall be no more thy light by
day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee;
but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God
thy glory' (Isa 60:19).

'For the glory of God did lighten it,' &c. Thus it was at the
finishing of the tabernacle in the wilderness, and of the temple
at Jerusalem; both which were figures, in their finishing, of the
finishing of the state of the church in this world; and it is said
of them, that in the day when they in all things were accomplished,
according to the fashion that was revealed before concerning their
order and accomplishment, that then the glory of God so appeared
upon them, that neither Moses nor Aaron was able to enter in, or
to stand therein, because of the cloud, and of the glory of the
Lord that at that time filled the house (Exo 40:33,34; 1 Kings
8:10,11). Thus you see this city descends in one measure of glory,
and is consummate in another measure of glory. The glory of the
Lord was upon the mount Sinai while the pattern of the tabernacle
was giving, but it rested on the tabernacle when the work thereof
was finished; to signify, I say, that the glory of God will rest
in his ordinances, and in his church by them, so long as ordinances
are in use; but when they are needless, then it will rest in the
church without them, and that more gloriously than ever it therein
did rest by them.

'For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof.' Mark, though now there shall be no need of temple,
sun, or moon, yet Christ the Lamb, or the Man who was offered in
sacrifice for our redemption, shall be of use and benefit; 'for the
glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.'
Wherefore, all that we who are the saved shall enjoy of glory and
sweetness in another world, though we shall not enjoy it from God
through Christ, by and in the ordinances, yet we shall enjoy it
through Christ the Lamb without them; 'for the Lamb is the light
of it.' by this word Lamb, he would have us understand that when
we are in glory, the blood, death, and bloody conquest that the
man Christ did get over our infernal enemies, will be of eternal
use to us; because that benefit of Christ shall not only for ever
be the foundation of our eternal felicity, but the burden of our
song of glory in all our raptures among the angels (Rev 5:9). It
will be the blood, the blood, the redeeming blood of the Lamb.
'Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto him that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the LAMB for ever and ever' (Rev
5:13). It is he in whom will be found the seven eyes, the seven
spirits of God, in whose light we shall see the heights and depths
of those springs and everlasting foundations and depths of glory
for ever; and, indeed, the conceit of the contrary is foolish
(Zech 3:9; Rev 5:6). Is not Christ the head, and we the members?
and do not the members receive their whole light, guidance, and
wisdom from it? Is not he also the price, the ground, and bottom
of our happiness, both in this world and that which is to come?
And is it possible it should be forgotten, or that, by it, our joy,
light, and heaven should not be made the sweeter to all eternity?
Our soul is now bound up in him, as in a bundle of life (1 Sam
25:29). And when we come thither, he is still the Christ, our
life; and it is by our being where he is that we shall behold his
glory and our glory, because he is glorified (Col 3:3,4; John
17:24). 'For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the
light thereof.' As he said, 'Ye now therefore have sorrow; but I
will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no
man taketh from you' (John 16:22).

Thus much of this city, her descending, her fashion, her glory,
and of her wading through glory, from glory to glory.


[FOURTH. THE INHABITANTS OF THE CITY, THEIR QUALITY, AND NUMEROUSNESS.]

Ver. 24. 'And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in
the light of it; and the kings of the earth do bring their glory
and honour into it.' After this long and pleasant description of
this holy and new Jerusalem, the Holy Ghost now falleth upon a
relation of the people that shall be the inhabitants of this city,
and of their numerousness and quality.

'And the nations,' &c. The nations of the world, both of the Jews
and Gentiles.

Every one knoweth what the nations are, wherefore I need not stay
upon the explication of that, for it doth in general include the
multitude of the sinners of the world (Eph 2:1-3; 1 Cor 6:9-11;
Titus 3:3). Therefore, when he saith, the nations shall walk in
the light of this city, it is as if he had said, that at this day,
when she is here in her tranquility, the sinners and disobedient
among the sons of men shall by multitudes and whole kingdoms come
in and close with the church and house of God. These spiders shall
take hold with their hands, and be in kings' palaces (Pro 30:28).

'And the nations,' &c. For this word, 'the nations,' is a great
word, and it comprehendeth much; mark, it doth not say a nation,
or some nations, neither doth it say few or small nations,
but indefinitely, the nations, many nations, strong nations, all
nations, the nations in general; only he ties them up with this
limit, the nations of them that are saved (Isa 52:15; 60:22; 2:2).
Which yet is not so much spoken to clip off the multitude that we
suppose may then be converted, as to show us their qualifications
and happiness; as he saith by the prophet in another place, Thy
children shall be all holy, or righteous, 'and great shall be the
peace of thy children' (Isa 54:13; 60:21). 'And the nations of
them which are saved shall walk in the light of it.' Surely the
Holy Ghost would never have spoken at such a rate as this, if he
had not intended to show us that at the day of the setting up of
this Jerusalem, a great harvest of sinners shall be gathered by
the grace of the gospel. But the truth is, the Scriptures go with
open arms towards the latter end of the world, even as if they
would grasp and compass about almost all people then upon the face
of the whole earth with the grace and mercy of God. 'The earth,'
saith God, 'shall be full of the knowledge' of the glory 'of
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea' (Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14). As
he saith, also, for the comfort of the church in another place,
'Behold, I have grave thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls
are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy
destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather
themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord,
thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament,
and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy
desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be
too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed
thee up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have,
after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The
place is too strait for me; give place to me, that I may dwell.
Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these,
seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive and
removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was
left alone, these, where had they been?' (Isa 49:16-21). Thus the
multitudes of the nations shall at this day be converted to the
Lord, and be made the inhabitants of this Jerusalem; as he saith
again, 'The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord and of his Christ' (Rev 11:15). And again, 'The kingdom and
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve
and obey him' (Dan 7:27).

And observe it, these promises are to be fulfilled in the last
days, at the time of the pouring forth of the last vial, which is
the time of the sounding of the last of the seven trumpets; for
then this city shall be built, and Lucifer fallen from heaven; then
the prisoners shall be set at liberty, and the people be gathered
together, 'and the kingdoms to serve the Lord' (Isa 2:1,2; 14:4-6;
Psa 102:20-22; Rev 11:15-17). 'Rejoice, O ye nations, with his
people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will
render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto
his land, and to his people' (Deu 32:43). Alas! it is now towards
the end of the world, and therefore now all is going, if the Lord
steps not in with the riches of his grace. Wherefore now at last,
before all be turned into fire and ashes, behold the Lord casts
the net among the multitude of fish, and the abundance of the sea
shall, without fail, be converted to Jerusalem (Isa 60:5). Though
Satan and Antichrist have had their day in the world, and by their
outrage have made fearful havoc of the souls of sinners from time
to time, yet now at length God will strike in for a share with them,
and his Son 'shall divide the spoil with the strong' (Isa 53:12).
Wherefore he now sets up this city, puts the glory of heaven upon
her, provides a new heaven and a new earth for her situation (Isa
66:22); drives profaneness into the holes and dens of the earth;
giveth righteousness authority to reign in the world (2 Peter 3:13);
and takes off the veil from all faces, that none may hereafter be
for ever beguiled by blindness and ignorance (Isa 25:7). Now shall
they make merry with the things of God; now shall all eat the fat
and drink the sweet (1 Kings 4:20; Neh 8:10,12). For 'in this
mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of
fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of
marrow, of wines on the lees well refined' (Isa 25:6).

'And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of
it.' They 'shall walk in the light of it.' That is, in the light
that is in it while it is in its purity in this world, and in
the glory of it when it is in its perfection and immortality in
another. Whence note by the way, that in the midst of all this
glory, or while the glorious light of the gospel shall thus shine
in the world, yet even then there will be some also that will not
see and rejoice in the glory hereof. But as for those, whoever
they are, they are excluded from a share in the blessed and goodly
privileges of this city. 'The nations of them which are SAVED
shall walk in the light of it.'

'And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into
it.' By these words are great things held forth. He told us before
that the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light
of it; and here he tells us that even their kings also, the kings
of the earth, do bring their honour and glory to it. The people
of the nations they are but like to single pence and halfpence,
but their kings like gold angels and twenty-shilling pieces.[20]
Wherefore, when he saith that the kings of the earth do bring
their glory and honour unto it, it argueth that the gospel and the
grace of God, when it is displayed in its own nature, and seen in
its own complexion, even then they that have most of the honour
and glory of the world will yet stoop their top-gallant[21] unto
it. 'Because of thy temple which is at Jerusalem, shall kings
bring presents unto thee' (Psa 68:29; Isa 49:22,23). 'The kings
of Tarshish, and of the isles, shall bring presents' to thee: 'the
kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall
fall down before him; all nations shall serve him' (Psa 72:10,11).
The kings shall see and arise, and 'princes also shall worship
because of the Lord,' &c. (Isa 49:7). The kings shall come to thy
light, and princes to the brightness of thy rising (Isa 60:1-5).
'The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy
glory' (Isa 62:2). Yea, 'that which had not been told them shall
they see, and that which they have not heard shall they consider'
(Isa 52:15). 'All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord,
when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the
ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord' (Psa 138:4,5).
Thus, we see, that though in the first day of the gospel, the poor,
the halt, the lame, and the blind are chief in the embracing of
the tenders of grace, yet in the latter day thereof God will take
hold of kings.

'And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into
it.' INTO IT; that is, to Jerusalem. Wherefore this city must be
built before they all of them will fall in love with her. Indeed,
I do conceive that some of them will lay their hand to help forward
the work of this city, as did Hiram with Solomon, and Darius,
Cyrus, and Artaxerxes, with Ezra and Nehemiah, at the building and
repairing the city, in the letter, in the days of old (2 Chron
2:11-15; Ezra 1:1-4; 6:1-3; 7:21). But yet, I say, the great
conquest of the kings will be by the beauty and glory of this city,
when she is built. 'thou shalt arise,' O Lord, 'and have mercy upon
Zion; for the time to favour her, yea, the set time is come. For
thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust
thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all
kings thy glory' (Psa 102:13-15). And, indeed, before this city is
set up, and established in her own place, most of the kings and
great ones of the earth will be found employed and taken up in
another work, than to fall in love with Mount Zion, and with the
hill thereof. They will be found in love with mistress Babylon, the
mother of harlots, the mistress of witchcrafts, and abominations
of the earth (Rev 17:2,12-14; 18:3,9). They will, I say, be
committing fornication with her, and will be as the horns upon the
heads of the beast, to defend the riding lady from the gunshot that
the saints continually will be making at her by the force of the
Word and Spirit of God. They will be shaking the sharp end of their
weapons against the Son of God, continually labouring to keep him
out of his throne, and from having that rule in the church, and
in the world, as becomes him who is the head of the body, and over
all principality and power. 'These shall make war with the Lamb'
(Rev 17:14). But, I say, it shall so come about at the last, by
the illuminating grace of God, and by the faithful and patient
enduring of the saints, together with the glory that everywhere
shall now be abiding on the church and congregation of Jesus,
that they shall begin to receive a man's heart, and shall consider
things that have not been told them; wherefore at last they shall
withdraw themselves from the love of this mistress, and shall
leave her to scrape for herself in the world, and shall come with
repentance and rejoicing to Zion; nay, not only so, but to avenge
the quarrel of God, and the vengeance of his temple; and to
recompense her also for the delusions and enchantments wherewith
she hath entangled them. 'These shall hate her, and they shall make
her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with
fire' (Rev 17:16).

Now, madam, what sayest thou? The kings must come to Jerusalem,
Jezebel. Thy chamber companions will shortly, notwithstanding thy
painted face, cast thee down headlong out at the windows. Yea, they
shall tread thee in pieces by the feet of their prancing horses,
and with the wheels of their jumping chariots (2 Kings 9:30-33).
They shall shut up all bowels of compassion towards thee, and shall
roar upon thee like the sea, and upon thy fat ones like the waves
thereof (Jer 50:41,42). Yea, when they begin, they will also make
an end, and will leave thee so harbourless and comfortless, that
now there will be found for thee no gladness at all, no, not so
much as one piper to play thee one jig. The delicates that thy soul
lusted after, thou shalt find them no more at all (Rev 18:12-22).
'Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,
shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never
be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither
shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the
desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful
creatures. And owls shall dwell there, and satyrs [that is, the
hobgoblins, or devils] shall dance there. And the wild beasts
of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons
in their pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her
days shall not be prolonged' (Isa 13:19-23). Thus wilt thou come
down wonderfully. For 'in thee have they set light by father and
mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the
stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they
eat upon the mountains, in the midst of thee they commit lewdness'
(Eze 22:6-10). God hath smitten his hands at thy dishonest gain,
and all the blood which hath been in the midst of thee; God will
be avenged of thee, but will not meet thee as a man (Isa 47:1-3).
You 'have cast lots for my people,' saith God: you 'have given a
boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.'
You have made havoc of my young converts to satisfy your lusts;
therefore, 'What have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all
the coast of Palestine? Will ye render me a recompence? And if ye
recompence me swiftly and speedily, will I return you recompence
upon your own head' (Joel 3:1-4). I will throw it as dirt in your
face again. And never talk of what thou wast once, for though
thou wast full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty, though thou hast
been in Eden, the garden of God, yea, though every precious stone
for some time was thy covering, and thou the very anointed cherub
that covereth, walking upon the mountain of God, and in the midst
of the stones of fire, yet because-by reason of the multitude of
thy merchandize-thou hast sinned, and art filled with violence.
'Therefore God will cast thee, as profane, out of the mountain of
God, and will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of
the stones of fire'; yea, he will cast thee to the ground, and lay
thee before kings, that they may behold thee. And 'all they that
know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt
be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more' (Eze 28:12-19).
'And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest
thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of
gold; though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt
thou make thyself fair, thy lovers will despise thee, they will
seek thy life' (Jer 4:30).

'And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and their honour
into it.' Mark, they do not only forsake the crimson harlot, neither
do they content themselves with eating her flesh and burning her
with fire, but they come over, they come over to Jerusalem; they
are conquered by the grace of Christ and wisdom of the Son of God.
They shall make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome
them, for he is King of kings and Lord of lords, and those that are
with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. Now they shall all
give way to the government of the King of kings, the governor of
the Jews (Ezra 6:7), and shall with gladness delight to see him
rule his spouse with his own law, rules, and testament; they shall
play the pranks of Jeroboam no longer, in making calves to keep
the people from going up to Jerusalem to worship. Now they shall
count him also king of nations, as well as king of saints; and he
shall wear the crowns, and they shall seek to him (Rev 19:12,15;
Jer 10:7; Isa 52:15; 2 Chron 9:23).

[The city secure, the gates always open.]

Ver. 25. 'And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day for
there shall be no night there.'

This is the effect of what you read before, namely, of the coming
in of the kings and great ones of the earth to this Jerusalem. For
when the whore is made desolate and naked, and burned with fire,
and when the kings also that loved her, and that maintained her,
are come in, and have closed with the glory and beauty of this
city, then what need is there to shut the gates? Alas, all the
injuries that the kings and great ones of the earth have done to
the church and spouse of Christ in these days of the New Testament,
it hath been through the instigation and witchcraft of this mistress
of iniquity. 'The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and
the glittering spear' (Nahum 3:3,4), against the saints of God,
by reason of the multitudes of the whoredoms of the well-favoured
harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, who selleth nations through
her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. Wherefore
I say, this gentlewoman being laid in her grave, and all her fat
ones gone down to the sides of the pit, these kings will change
their mind, and fall in love with the true and chaste matron, and
with Christ her Lord. Now when this is thus, this city must needs
be safely inhabited as towns without walls, and as a place near
to which there is neither thief nor ravenous beast (Isa 2:4; Jer
33:16; Zech 2:4; 14:11).

Persecutors, while they remain in their spirit of outrage against
the church and people of God, they are frequently in the Scripture
compared to the venomous dragons, fierce lions, and ravenous wolves
(Jer 51:34,37). All which at this day shall be driven out of the
world, that is, so out, as never to molest the church again, or to
cause a gate of this city to be shut, through fear, against them;
as he saith by the prophet, 'In the habitation of dragons where
each lay, shall be grass, with reeds and rushes' (Isa 35:7). In the
habitation of dragons, that is, even in the places of persecutors,
where each lay, shall be food for the flock of Christ. The dragon
is a venomous beast, and poisoneth all where he lieth! He beats
the earth bare, and venoms it, that it will bear no grass, as do
the persecutors where they inhabit and lie. But behold, the days
do come in which these dragons shall be removed, and the ground
where they lay be made fruitful and flourish, so that even there
shall be places for the flocks to lie down in. 'In the habitation
of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass, with reeds and rushes.
No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon;
but the redeemed of the Lord shall walk there, and the ransomed of
the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting
joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and
sorrow and sighing shall flee away' (Isa 35:7-10). According to
that of Moses, the Lord 'will give peace in the land, and ye shall
lie down, and none shall make you afraid.' For 'he will rid evil
beasts out of the land,' and the sword shall not go through it more
(Lev 26:6). 'And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation,
and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting-places' (Isa 32:18).