of the church is presented. The words, "Henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean," mean that since salvation is the mode of induction into Zion, the church of God, only such are members of Zion as have been born of God (Psa. 87:5). So Zion, or Jerusalem, is composed of none other than those who are truly saved.

"Thy watchman shall lift up their voices; with the voices together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion." Isa. 52:8. This was true of the watchmen, or ministers, in the early morning of the Christian dispensation; but there came an apostasy, as was predicted, and that very faithful city, which was once full of judgment and righteousness, became a harlot (Isa. 1:21). "The princes became thieves, loved gifts, followed after rewards; they judged not the fatherless; they mixed the wine with water.' Isa. 1:22, 23. This refers to the condition of things during the great apostasy. The mixing of wine with water signifies adulteration of the Word of God. But the prophet also foretold the fact that the time would come when the Lord would restore the judges as at the first and the coun

selors as at the beginning, and that Zion should be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness. And after this she was to be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city (verses 25 to 27). Thank God, we have reached that time. We are living in the fulfilment of this prophecy. God is bringing again Zion, restoring judgment to the ministry, and bringing the people of God to the pristine unity and oneness, organization and holiness, authority and power, of the early church. And as the church comes back to the same plane upon which she stood in the beginning, thank God, the language of the prophecy is being fulfilled in that the watchmen, or ministry, see eye to eye.

In Isa. 4: 3, 4 we have a further prediction of this. “It shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy; even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem in the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning." Here we see that when judgment goes forth in the church in the last days, the

result will be a clean, pure, separate church, and that all left therein shall be holy.

In Joel 3:17 the same thought is presented: "So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more." Thank God, we are inhabitants of that city in these last days. The people of God who long have been scattered in the filthy city of Babylon, "that great city which reigneth over all the earth," are casting off the yokes of men and returning to Zion. Yea, "the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads" (Isa. 35:10). And as we return to the beautiful city of God, and dwell in the heights of Zion, God manifests his power as in the days of yore, and waters of salvation begin to flow. Yea, living waters, crystal streams of deliverance, peace, and joy, flow out to darkened hearts around us. "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Joel 2:32.

In this city Zion-the church-true holiness can be found. "But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." Obadiah 17. Thank God, this city is filled with holiness, and true holiness is that which adorns her. "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." This river is the river of salvation. Its streams are love, joy, peace, light, glory, and eternal life. And as men and women scattered throughout the realms of sin and dark sectism in these last days come back to the city of Zion, the holy Jerusalem, the church of the first-born, they have the privilege of drinking these crystal waters until their souls are fully satisfied. Oh the sweetness, the glory, the grandeur of this city of God, and the blessedness of dwelling therein! Not alone in a future age beyond the resurrection are we to enjoy these rich blessings, but we "are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. . . to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven" (Heb. 12:22). Here it is seen that this city and the church are identical, and in this dispensation we have come unto

it. Under this figure of a city, then, we see the security, government, and beauty of the church of God.

A MOUNTAIN.

One of the most beautiful and striking figures of the new-testament church is that of a mountain. Under this figure is presented its stability, grandeur, and eudurance.

Turning to Isa. 2:2, 3, we find the following prediction: "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." This is a clear prediction of the new-testament church. "The last days" refers to the Christian dispensation. The church here is presented under the figure of a mountain upon which the Lord's house is located. And this mountain "shall be established in the