is more properly or personally an inhabitant of the Father's house, which is in higher regions. The place of government is not so high as the place of the family. The marriage of the Lamb takes place in the Father's house. A marriage is a family action, and suits the family dwelling. But when the marriage is celebrated there, the Bride is introduced to her place of dominion, which she reaches by descending, though it too is full of glory. Now it is this lower place, this place of government, this region occupied by the Lamb's wife in the day of her manifested glory, which is now the heaven, or the heavenly places of the principalities and powers of darkness. From that heaven they will be cast down, and in due season that place will be occupied by that redeemed and glorified church which is to have government in "the world to come." The vision of the holy hill was not the vision of a scene laid in the Father's house, so properly as of a scene laid in the place of government in the world to come. For two reasons we may say: 1. The excellent glory, or the place of the Father, was separated from that hill, as the narrative of the vision shews us. 2. The place of this glory was within the ken of the earthly people, as the holy Jerusalem, or the church in her place of government will be, but as the Father's house, as I judge, will not be. All this, beloved, is neither poetry nor speculation. Your souls will not judge it so, but it has its value for us, by again witnessing to our hearts, that the family scene is above the courtly scene, the place of affections higher than the place of power. CLEANSING THE HOUSE OF the Lord, WHILE it becomes us to lift up our hearts to God in earnest prayer to revive His work, is it not also our duty to endeavour to gather up, from the word of the Lord, instruction on the subject; and also to consider whether the Master is not calling upon us to act as well as to pray? In tracing the accounts of the work of the Lord in the Holy Scriptures, it is worthy of notice, how often the blessing and enlargement of the border of the people of God was connected with the order and wellbeing of the House of the Lord; this is seen in the temple of the Old Testament Scriptures, and the church, the temple of God, in the New Testament. At the Pentecostal period, Acts ii., the disciples of the risen Lord "were all with one accord in one place," waiting on God; they were tarrying obediently in the N city of Jerusalem, until they were endued with power from on high; and not only were they "all filled with the Holy Ghost," and spake "as the Spirit gave them utterance," but thousands were converted on that day. Afterwards, also, when "great grace was upon them all," and no man counted any thing his own, but "they had all things common," it is recorded, that "with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus," &c. There was not the filthiness of pride, selfishness, and division in the house; but all men, as it were, knowing them to be disciples of Christ by their love one to another. John xiii. 35. It was like Solomon's day over again, when "it came to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, &c., &c.; that the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God." 2 Chron. v. 13, 14. But the glory of the beautiful temple of Solomon was soon tarnished; the rude hand of carnal policy and expediency, and the self-exalting deceitfulness of idolatrous purposes, soon introduced uncleanness and defilement into the house of the Lord; so that when Hezekiah ascended the throne, the doors of the house were shut up; and idolatry without, and uncleanness within, marked the quality of the religion of those who called themselves the people of the Lord. 2 Chron. xxviii. 24. And how is it with the Lord's house now? -that redeemed and purchased "temple of the Lord," which is "the habitation of God through the Spirit"that house of living stones, honoured by the presence and blessing of the Master, even wheresoever two or three are gathered together in His name. Is there no uncleanness tolerated in the house now? No rules of selfishness practised, no pride pampered, no disunion of the spiritual stones-the members of Christ? Is it one heart and one soul, because one body and one spirit? May the Lord help us (both individually and collectively) to discover, and enable us to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Cor. vii. 1. But to return to Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxix. The first thing his attention was directed to in reference to reviving the work of the Lord, was the door of the house-it was "shut up,” and needed repairing. And this he did—"he opened the doors" which had been closed by idolatrous hands, and precluded the admission of the true servants of Jehovah, to remove the uncleanness from the house. A solemn picture indeed! and yet it was the same house that had been filled with the glory of the Lord, and which was again, when cleansed, to be acknowledged by Jehovah as the especial place of His presence. This instruction is most weighty. It is searching, as well as full of encouragement. We know Christ's are the How is it with well that Jesus is the true door of the present house of the Lord; and, therefore, all that are alone welcomed and honoured guests. us, beloved? Is Christ the door of admission into the fellowship of saints? Do we receive one another as Christ has received us? Hath an idolatrous hand partially or completely closed the door, in order to gather the Israel of God elsewhere? Is there nothing to hinder the Lord's faithful servants coming in to carry filthiness out? any It is well to notice further, that those who were employed so successfully in cleansing the house, first sanctified themselves. It were pride and phariseeism indeed to attempt to judge evil in others, whilst our own hands were defiled. The beam in our own eye must first be cast out, to enable us to see clearly to pull the mote out of our brother's eye. How imperative this is! but how slow of heart are we for such work! How ready to judge and censure others, while we ourselves have spots on our own garments! This should not be. Those who bear the vessels of the Lord should be clean. Servants of Christ! do we sufficiently heed this? Do we go before the Lord to search us, and to make manifest unto us the filthiness of the flesh and spirit we ourselves are the subject of? Do we crave the scrutinizing process to be carried on in reference to our secret, family, or business employments—our intercourse with the world, as well as our behaviour in |