 |  |
the Book of the Revelation, where we discover two things. First, that those whose
blessings are found in the New Jerusalem are spoken of as the "Bride"--a company that
differs from the divorced wife, who will be restored at the end; and secondly, that this
company are "overcomers" who have a "crown" (Rev. 3: 11, 12)--a further parallel with
the overcomers of Phil. 3:, who attain the "prize".
We discover, therefore, that the second sphere of blessing is in the nature of reward. It
is the "heavenly" phase of the kingdom. Abraham could not have forfeited the land of
promise, for it was his as an unconditional gift; but in addition to this, he received the
"heavenly country", which was associated with his "perfecting". This "perfecting" of his
faith is the theme of the Epistle of James, which regards the offering of Isaac as the
"fulfilling" of the initial act of faith whereby Abraham was justified (James 2: 23).
James also has much to say, in the first chapter, about patient endurance and its
perfecting work in view of the crown (James 1: 3, 4, 12). The heavenly country and city
are not for "righteous ones" simply, but for "perfected righteous ones", just as the "prize
of the high calling in Christ Jesus" and "the out-resurrection" of Phil. 3: are for those
who go on unto perfection.
If the heavenly country, for which Abraham gave up so much, differs from the land of
promise in which he lived as a pilgrim, then we must obviously recognize this heavenly
calling as a separate sphere. Moreover, it is clear that one of the chief characteristics of
this sphere is that it represents a reward for faithful obedience, as distinct from the land of
promise which was quite unconditional. We have not attempted, in this series, to
differentiate between the covenant made with Abraham regarding the land, and the
covenant made at Sinai. As both operate on the earth, they are both included in the one
sphere.
It now remains to examine the claim that the sphere of the Mystery is neither in the
land, nor in the heavenly city, and to this and its associated studies we must turn in our
next article.