Self-government! Democracy! The voice of the people! What visions of peace, of

liberty, of prosperity, these words conjure up in the mind of man! Ever since the absolute

autocracy of Nebuchadnezzar Gentile rule has gravitated towards this goal.  Each

succeeding stage of development however has been a step downward. The limited

monarchy of the Medo-Persian succession is likened, not to gold, but to silver, and, at the

time of the end, Gentile rule will be an unholy mixture of "iron and clay". Babel early

usurped dominion in the earth, and its dread power persists right through until the Day of

the Lord. In the book of the Revelation, Babylon "reigns over the kings of the earth" and

corrupts them. By a dread ordeal Nebuchadnezzar himself learned that "the heavens do

rule", and the Saviour taught His disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be

done on earth, as it is in heaven".

For a period the earthly Jerusalem will be the Lord's centre of government on the

earth, but the Satanic rebellion that arises at the end of the Millennium shows that the

earthly Jerusalem had neither the wisdom nor the power to succeed. Hence, at the last,

we see God's solution in the form of the New Jerusalem that descends from God out of

heaven.  Those who are the destined rulers and who occupy this city are the

overcomers--those who have endured; those who have been "faithful over a few things".

These and allied features will be presented in the course of the following study, and

though our calling and sphere of blessing are far removed from this heavenly city that

comes down to earth, we can rejoice at the prospect it holds out for "peace on earth" in

the fullest and most enduring sense of the term.

That "God made the country, but man made the town" is one of those sayings that are

only partly true. If we limit its application to the days of industrialism, its force can be

felt, but if we project it into the prophetic future, it will be found to be false, for in each

of the three spheres of blessing our attention is focused upon a city and citizenship. Of

the earthly Jerusalem the sum of glory is expressed in the proud boast, "This man was

born here" (Psa. 87: 6). Of the second sphere, all that is revealed of it is concerned

with the "Heavenly City". That the third sphere of blessing--that pertaining to the

mystery and the church of the One Body--is no exception is also clear, for members of

the One Body are "fellow-citizens of the saints" (Eph. 2: 19), and Phil. 3: 20, using the

word politeuma, translated in the A.V. "conversation", reveals that "our citizenship is in