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Scripture Reading: Rev. 21:2, 9b-14, 16-19, 21
In the previous chapter we saw the four conditions of the New Jerusalem. The city has God Himself and the Lamb as its temple, the throne of God and of the Lamb, and the river of water of life proceeding out of the throne with the tree of life yielding the fruits of life abundantly. Moreover, the glory of God is fully expressed in the city as its illumination.
These four points reveal the four conditions of a builded church. If the church has been built up by God, first of all it will have God’s presence — God will be in our midst as the temple. Second, there will be the throne of God and of the Lamb — God’s ruling will be among us. Third, God’s life will flow among us to be our supply so that the thirsty ones may be satisfied and the hungry ones may be filled. Fourth, there will be the expression of God’s glory as the illumination among us.
If we have these conditions among us, this proves that we have been built up, that we have God’s building among us. It also proves that we are in harmony and in oneness because anything that is built up will be harmonious and one. For example, this meeting hall was built with numerous materials, but since all these materials have been joined together, they are in harmony and in oneness. This harmony, this oneness, shows that they have been built together. Likewise, regardless of where we may be, as those who are serving God we must have this harmony. This harmony comes from our being built together. Whenever we come together, if we have not experienced the building work of the Holy Spirit and are still only a pile of material, we will not have the genuine harmony and oneness. In this condition it will be difficult to detect the presence of God and the throne of God among us, and it will also be difficult for people to receive the supply of life and to see God’s light. However, wherever there is a group of saints who have passed through the building work of the Holy Spirit so that they have become one, you will sense the presence of God and the throne of God among them. Moreover, you will be able to touch the moving of the Holy Spirit as the living water, as well as receive the supply of the bread of life among them. Not only so, you will be able to touch God’s light and sense that everyone is full of light. All these conditions are proof that they have been built up. We can see that these are the conditions of a builded church based on the contents of the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem has gates (Rev. 21:12-13), and anyone who wants to enter the city and participate in the building of God has to pass through these gates.
First of all, we need to see that this city has a total of twelve gates. There are gates on all four sides: three on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. This implies that it is very convenient for people to enter into the city; there is no difficulty at all. In addition, the number twelve has a spiritual meaning. The numbers used in the Scriptures all have spiritual meanings. Notice that in the New Jerusalem the number twelve appears frequently. Furthermore, in this case the number twelve is derived from multiplying four (four sides — east, north, south, and west) by three (three gates on each side). The number three denotes the Triune God, the God who came in resurrection to be man’s life. The Triune God came to have a relationship with man and to be man’s life through incarnation, death, and resurrection. In other words, it is through the Father’s entering into the Son, the Son’s entering into the Spirit, and the Spirit’s entering into man. By passing through these three steps, the Triune God came to be man’s life. All these things are implied in the number three. In the Scriptures the number four denotes the creatures; for example, Revelation 4:6 refers to the four living creatures. Therefore, three times four implies the mingling of God with man. The complete mingling of God and man becomes twelve. Twelve is the number of eternal completion, the number of the completion of God’s building. Anything built up by God should be the issue of the mingling of God with man. The number that we use to signify this is twelve.
Therefore, now it is easy to understand what it means for the city to have twelve gates. For the city to have twelve gates signifies that the entrance to this building is produced out of the mingling of God and man. If there is only man or if there is only God, there cannot be the gates. Only when God is mingled with man can there be the gates.
In addition, each one of the twelve gates is a pearl (21:21a). Pearls also have an important spiritual significance. We must recognize that the city has three kinds of materials: gold, pearls, and precious stones. The gates are pearls, the wall is built with precious stones, and the city proper with its street is pure gold. We recall that Genesis 2 says that a river went forth from Eden and that there were gold, bdellium (pearl), and onyx stone (a precious stone). These are the same three kinds of materials found in the New Jerusalem. Hence, the three materials in Genesis 2 appear again in the New Jerusalem. This shows that these three materials are of great significance to the building of God.
The record in this portion of the Word is symbolic or allegorical. Like a picture, it looks very simple on the surface, but its intrinsic significance is profound. If you read the Scriptures, you will find that each one of these three kinds of materials — pure gold, precious stones, and pearls — has its definite significance. If we would like to know the building up of the church, the building work of God throughout the ages, we need to understand the meanings of these materials in the Scriptures.
Let us first look at the pearls, which are a very special kind of material. Pearls are produced by oysters, which grow in the sea. When an oyster is wounded by a grain of sand, it is stimulated to secrete a substance onto the grain of sand that gradually makes it into a pearl. Therefore, in the spiritual sense, the pearl denotes how we were regenerated to become a new creation in the wound of Christ. While in the world as the sea, the Lord Jesus as the oyster was wounded by us. As earthly people, every one of us may be likened to a grain of sand. As grains of sands, we wounded Christ, and in His wound we experienced a transformation in life. By receiving the Lord’s death, we become a new creation through regeneration with the life that came out of Him. In this life both death and resurrection are included. In the wound of the Lord we died with Him, resurrected together with Him, and also live together with Him in the new creation. This is the significance of pearls, which are formed by the mingling of the sand and the oyster. This corresponds with the principle of three times four, the principle of the mingling of God with man.
Therefore, that the gates of the city are pearls indicates that whoever does not correspond with the nature of the pearl cannot enter into the city to participate in it. Anyone who enters into the city through the gate has to be the product of three times four — the issue of the mingling of God with man, and a new creation in Christ through death and resurrection. You cannot bring anything natural, anything of the earth, into this building. Every grain of sand must be changed by entering into the oyster’s wound. Every earthy person must pass through death and resurrection through the cross of Christ. All natural beings and all natural elements must become a new creation — pearl — through the dealing of the cross. Only then can they enter through the gates.
After reading this, you may understand it in theory, but you still may not be clear about the application. Therefore, let me give you an illustration. For example, let us consider a person who is well educated. His mind is clear, and he is eloquent in speaking and competent in debating. Suppose that this person gets saved into the church in Taipei and loves the Lord fervently. As a result, within two months all his good qualities will be manifested. When the responsible brothers see his condition, they will likely say, “Oh, this brother is a mouthpiece; let us ask him to stand on the platform and give messages.” I want to tell you, brothers and sisters, that if this happens, those responsible brothers will be making a big mistake. Since this brother has been saved for only a short amount of time, his eloquence, his mind, his education, and his way of thinking are all natural, sandy, and earthy. They are not of resurrection or pearly. None of his qualities can enter through the gates into the building of God. Therefore, if the responsible brothers invite him to give a message, he may speak with great eloquence and present all the points in good order, and everyone may shower praises on him. However, after he has been speaking for two or three months, I am afraid that the church will collapse because all his speaking will have been natural and earthy instead of pearl. His natural abilities have not yet touched the wound of Christ, have not yet been dealt with by the cross, and have not yet passed through death and resurrection. Therefore, instead of building the church, they tear it down.
In this situation there is the need for a pearl gate. This gate shuts out all the naturalness of man. If a person wants to enter through the gate, all that he has must be changed in nature. If this brother really desires to serve in the church for its building up, then his education, his mind, his way of thinking, his eloquence, and his debating skills all need to pass through the breaking of the cross. For an extended period of time he must practice to condemn all these things that are good in man’s eyes, bringing them to the cross to be dealt with and then resurrected. After this he can bring them through the gate into the building of the church. Then when he rises to speak for the Lord, his speaking will bear spiritual weight and will be useful for the building up of the church.
I hope that we all will have a strong feeling about this matter. We have to see that it is truly a terrible thing for our natural being to touch the service of the church without first being dealt with. Sometimes in a certain local church I have watched the responsible brothers discussing the affairs of the church. While they were expressing their opinions one by one, I said to myself, “My goodness! All their opinions are just their natural insights, their human perceptions, and their worldly views. Their opinions have not been dealt with by the cross and have not passed through death and resurrection; they are all sand and not pearls. If the responsible brothers oversee the church with these opinions and ideas, the saints in this locality will not be built up, and the church will collapse.”
One time I went to a certain place to make preparations for holding a conference there. The responsible brothers were discussing putting a big advertisement in the newspapers for the occasion. During their discussion I was also present. At that time I thought in my heart, “I wish there were a big ax here. Then I could use it to smash all their opinions one by one.” I also thought to myself, “What kind of mentality is this? This is an unregenerated mentality. This is a sandy mentality, not a pearly mentality. This kind of sandy mentality has not entered into the oyster’s wound, has not passed through the cross, and has not been resurrected; it is altogether natural.” After they had finished their discussion, they turned to me and asked, “Brother Lee, what do you think about this?” I frowned and answered, “I think this is the ugliest thing. Brothers, we need to see what the Lord wants us to do today. If we were engaged in the things of the world, we could print big advertisements. However, since we intend to build up the church here today, we absolutely cannot use such methods.” For the building up of the church, we must use the things that have passed through death and resurrection. Do not think that the church will be built up if we have big advertisements to draw a multitude of people. I tell you, the bigger the advertisement you print and the more people come, the faster the church will collapse. Hence, I earnestly begged them not to do it.
Another time, while I was in another place, it so happened that the responsible brothers were having a meeting among themselves. At that time, due to a big financial need, they were discussing how to raise funds to meet the need. Someone there also had a sandy mentality with fantastic notions. This particular responsible brother proposed, “We can prepare some donation slips with each brother or sister’s name preprinted on each slip and then distribute the slips to the brothers and sisters, asking them to return their donation with the slips. In this way we will know which ones have donated and which ones have not yet donated, and which ones have given more and which ones have given less. If we distribute the slips to them, they will have no way to avoid donating their money.” While they were discussing this matter with great delight, the more I listened, the more I was troubled. I was so grieved in my heart. Then they turned to me and asked, “Brother Lee, what do you think about this?” I said, “You must never do this kind of thing. I beg you not to do it at all.” They asked, “Then what about the funds we need?” I said, “You have to kneel down and pray. When you have no way out, then God has a way out. You cannot solve the problem, but God can. What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
There is no need to give more of these kinds of stories. Please remember that whenever you bring in something natural, something of human effort, something “ingenious,” something resulting from human schemes and methods, or something that has not passed through the cross, then you have not come to your end, and therefore God cannot provide you with a way out. All these things are sand and not pearls since they have not passed through death. Hence, you should never bring them into the building of God. If you do, you will damage God’s building and hinder the church from being built up. In the church, in God’s building, there cannot be sand or dust; there can only be pearls. In the building up of the church, everything must pass through the cross, must be in Christ, and must be the mingling of God and man. This is the entrance into the New Jerusalem, the entrance into the church. Only that which corresponds with the nature of this entrance can be brought into the building of God.
Therefore, I repeat, we must not bring our views, abilities, and all manner of natural things into the church. With many workers of God and many who take care of the church, their ways, schemes, perception, and wisdom are still altogether sandy and earthy. They have never been transformed or dealt with by God. We should know that these things cannot build up the church; they can only destroy God’s building. If we continually use our natural abilities in dealing with everything, we may be very good in dealing with people and in handling situations, but we will never be people who build up the church. On the contrary, we will be damaging ones in the church and a frustration to the brothers and sisters.
We should not take these words as doctrines, thinking that they cannot help us at all. Only a vision can rescue us. You and I have to learn to bring all our natural thoughts, discernment, schemes, abilities, and strength to the cross to be dealt with. After all these items have been broken, have passed through death and resurrection, and have become pearls, then they can be brought into the building of God.
The New Jerusalem also has a street (Rev. 21:21b). This street is joined to the city proper, and the two cannot be separated. Therefore, the Bible says that the city is pure gold (v. 18) and that the street is pure gold (v. 21). The street is just the city proper.
After entering in through a gate, we need to walk, but to do so we need streets. In the New Jerusalem, although there are twelve gates, there is only one street. When I was young, I pondered over this portion of the Word again and again, but I just could not understand it. My mind simply could not comprehend it. I thought, “How can people enter in through twelve gates yet walk on one street? Furthermore, since all twelve gates lead to the throne in the center of the city, shouldn’t there be twelve streets leading from the twelve gates to the throne?” Moreover, when I studied the Greek text, I found out that the word street is singular in number, further indicating that there is only one street. Therefore, I was really perplexed. Later, I became clear after someone showed me a simple drawing. Then I realized that the street is not straight but spiraling. In the first circle the street goes around the twelve gates, then as it turns inward, the circles become smaller and smaller until finally it reaches the throne. Thus, the street is not complicated at all. No matter which gate you enter in, you are on the one street. You can never get lost here. Ultimately, this street will take you to the center, to the throne.
Later, you will see that this city is a cube. It has not only length and breadth but also height; furthermore, its length, its breadth, and its height are equal (v. 16). It is a cubical city built upon a mountain. This corresponds with what is revealed throughout the Scriptures, that is, that the cities built by God are all built on mountains. In former days the city of Jerusalem was built on Mount Zion. Now this New Jerusalem is also built upon a mountain. Because the city is a cube, its street is a spiral. Moreover, the street does not spiral on a flat plane; it spirals upward, going up higher and higher towards the center. I cannot speak too much concerning these things.
Another thing we need to keep in mind is that the street is pure gold. You cannot find a grain of sand in it. It is all pure gold. In the Scriptures gold denotes the nature of God. This indicates that the city is filled with God and the nature of God. There is absolutely no earthy element. The street is altogether simple and pure. The street is also one — without any complication, and it is pure gold — without any mixture.
The principle revealed here is also very practical for the building up of the church. A few days ago I met several brothers who were discussing a certain matter. Some of them said to do it one way, whereas the others said to do it another way. Eventually, they came to an impasse. Thus, you can see that there were two streets among them. We all know that when we walk, it is better to have just one street. When we come to a fork in the road, we are often in a dilemma, not knowing which way is the right way. Likewise, if there are two ways existing at the same time in the church service, it will not be possible for the saints to be built together. Thank God, however, that in the New Jerusalem there will always be only one street of pure gold; there will never be two streets. Thus, it is not hard to walk in the New Jerusalem. This shows that when we come together with the brothers, whether it is for the Lord’s work, for overseeing the church, or for taking the lead in the meeting, we must have only one street, which is the nature of God. If we turn away from the nature of God and pay attention to other things, then it is very likely that you will have a suggestion, I will have another suggestion, and a third brother will have still another suggestion. Everyone’s suggestion is a street, so eventually we will not know whose suggestion to follow.
Perhaps you would ask me, “This being the case, how do we know which way matches God’s nature? How can we tell whose suggestion is right?” Please be reminded of what we said earlier. A person who wants to enter in through the gate must first have all the sand in him transformed into pearl. With such transformation it will be easy to touch the nature of God. A brother once said it best when he said, “If there is no cross, there is no church. There is a cross erected at the entrance of the church, and everyone who wants to come in must first be hanged upon it.”
At the pearl gates all natural things that have not already passed through the cross are shut out. Everything brought through the gates is pearl. Furthermore, the pearl gates and the golden street are linked to one another. Therefore, if you have truly entered in through the pearl gates, you can easily find the golden street. As we are coordinating and serving with the brothers and sisters in the church, if in every matter we would seriously learn the lesson of putting our self, our view, our opinions, and our natural being outside the pearl gates by hanging them on the cross, then we will easily find the street of God’s nature and know God’s way of doing things. We all must learn this serious lesson. We do not do things according to his opinion, your opinion, or my opinion. All our opinions, including his, yours, and mine, must be shut outside the pearl gates. Inside the gates there are no earthy feelings, ideas, or elements. Outside the pearl gates there is sand and earth, but inside the gates everything is pure gold. On one side of the cross, there is man’s opinion, viewpoint, ability, and idea. On the other side of the cross, none of these things exist. There is only God’s nature, and everything is pure gold.
The street of pure gold is always connected to the gates of pearl. Without the gates of pearl it would be difficult to find the street of pure gold. Let me give some simple illustrations. When the brothers serve together, the most difficult thing is that they have different dispositions and feelings. We know that no one is without a disposition and without some feeling. Moreover, each one’s disposition and feeling are usually different from the others’ disposition and feeling. Some have a quick disposition, whereas others have a slow disposition. Some have a disposition that prefers things to be big, whereas others have a disposition that prefers things to be small. Some like to make a show, whereas others like to be hidden. Some are extroverts, whereas others are introverts. Since we have many differences in our dispositions, we have different feelings accordingly. Those with a quick disposition feel that everything must be done quickly, whereas those with a slow disposition feel that everything has to be carried out slowly. Because of different feelings, there are different opinions. Our view, our way, and our opinion cannot be separated from our feeling, and our feeling cannot be separated from our disposition. All these different human dispositions, human feelings, and human opinions become problems in the building of the church. Each one has his own disposition, each one has his own feeling, and each one has his own idea. It is difficult for the saints to be built together if they all have different ideas.
Therefore, the Word of God shows that if we want to be part of the building of the church, we have to enter in through the pearl gates; that is, we need to pass through the cross and be dealt with by God. This means that in the church we need to deny our feeling and our disposition. If you are a quick person, you must deny your quickness. If you are a slow person, you must deny your slowness. If you are one who likes everything to be big, you have to deny this desire for bigness. If you are one who likes everything to be small, you must deny this desire for smallness. If you deny your disposition and reject your feeling, God’s nature will spontaneously be manifested. If all the responsible brothers in the church would practice this whenever they discuss matters in their administration of the church, God’s nature will spontaneously be manifested among them, and whatever they decide and do will all be transparent and full of God’s nature.
I say again, never employ human methods and human schemes in the church. All natural abilities, wisdom, and power and all human ingenuity have to be broken. We all have to learn this crucial lesson of absolutely denying ourselves. We must learn to deny our disposition, our feeling, our inclination, our preference, our discernment, and our emotions, including joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. The more intense our denying is, the more the pure gold will be manifested. The more thorough the breaking is, the more God will gain His ground. Then the church that we are in will be full of God’s nature and become a city of the pure gold of God. Not only so, we will walk on the street of God’s nature. The Scriptures say that the city is pure gold and that the street is also pure gold. This signifies that God Himself is the building itself and that He is also the street. Thus, the city and the street are not only joined together; they are one entity. If you have the city, you have the street. If you have the street, you also have the city.
I believe that we all understand what this means. The building is the street. The work you and I are doing is this street. The church you and I are building is this street. Whenever we completely deny ourselves and live in the nature of God, our service will not only issue in the building of the church but also lead people to the way of God when they come into our midst.
Regrettably, however, many of those who work for God and those who oversee the church have not been broken in their disposition, preferences, desires, and inclinations. As a result, their service has very little element of the building. For the church to be built up, the natural element must decrease, and the element of God must increase. Not only so, we should arrive at a state where the natural element is reduced to zero, while God’s element becomes everything. Then, whatever remains will be pure gold, the nature of God, God Himself. This is the building itself and the street as well. It is here that God’s children have a way to walk. When someone comes into our midst, no matter who he is, including even the most foolish person, he will be able to touch the way. He will not sense natural wisdom, intelligence, feeling, or disposition. He will sense that only God is among us and that only Christ is here. From beginning to end everything is God Himself. In such a situation you have to worship God, because here there is the building of God, and God has gained all the ground. This is the proper way for the church to take.
Moreover, the Scriptures also say that the street of pure gold is as clear as transparent glass. It is a marvelous thing that every section of the street in the New Jerusalem is transparent. The same is true in a church that has been built up. Sometimes when you attend a service meeting of a certain church, you see that the brothers and sisters are submissive to each other and are in great harmony. During the discussion of certain matters each one of them spontaneously expresses the feeling that they have before God. While you are in the meeting, you feel crystal clear within. You sense that there is not only a street, but there is also transparency. However, when you attend a service meeting in another locality, you may see the opposite situation. When the brothers and sisters begin to discuss a certain matter, one of them will suggest one thing, and another one will propose another thing. The amazing thing is that the more suggestions and proposals they have, the more you sense darkness and confusion. It seems that you are confined in a room with walls of brass and iron in which there is total darkness. I believe that we all have had this kind of experience. What kind of situation is this? This situation indicates the absence of a transparent street. We can use this to test whether or not there is building among us.
Now I would like to add another point. In the middle of the street of pure gold is a river of water of life, and on the two sides of the river grows the tree of life (Rev. 22:1-2). In my youth whenever I read this portion, I was perplexed. I thought that since the tree of life grows on both sides of the river, there must be many trees. But when I read the Greek text, it said that there was one tree. I simply could not understand how one tree could be growing on two sides of the river. Later on, I realized that the one tree follows the one river, and it also follows the one street. The street is a spiral, and the river also spirals along with the street. The river does not flow upward from the twelve gates; rather, it flows down from the throne. Moreover, in the river grows a tree. This tree also does not grow upward; rather, it is like a vine spreading from the top downward. It spreads and spirals to the two sides, covering both sides of the river. Therefore, this city has one street, one river, and one tree.
The contents of Revelation 21 and 22 are exceedingly rich; we cannot finish speaking about them. However, the few points that we have just mentioned can be summarized as follows. First, this city has twelve gates, and the twelve gates are twelve pearls. The gates are a powerful filter, filtering out all that is of the natural being and leaving it outside the gates. This means that everything natural must be brought to the cross of Christ to be dealt with by passing through death and resurrection. Only then can anything be brought through the gates to participate in this building.
Following the pearl gates is the street of pure gold. After we have rejected all our natural disposition and natural feeling, all that is left in this building is God’s nature. In this city everything is the nature of God; everything is of God. The nature of God is the one street.
Then in the middle of this street is the river of water of life. This river of water of life, after proceeding out of the throne of God, keeps on flowing along the street of pure gold. Therefore, in this street there is the flow of life. Furthermore, strictly speaking, the life and the way are one. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way...and the life” (John 14:6). Hence, where there is the way of God, there also is the life of God. At the same time, on the two sides of this river of water of life grows the tree of life. This indicates that there is not only the flow of the water of life but also the supply of the food of life. Here the thirsty ones are watered, and the hungry ones are filled. All the needy ones can receive the supply of life. I hope that we would bring all these things before the Lord to have adequate prayer and meditation. May the Lord give us a clear feeling so that we may know the building of the church more and more.
Finally, I repeat that in this building all that is natural and all that is human needs to be broken, dealt with, and left outside. Once we touch the matter of taking care of the affairs of the church and the things pertaining to the building of the church, immediately we have to see that all the things of man must be transformed through death and resurrection. Then all that remains will be that which is out from God and of God and that which is of the Spirit and of resurrection. Then there will be the gates and the street. The nature of the street is the nature of the city. Here everything is the nature of God, and everything is transparent. At the same time, there is the full supply of life for people to be watered and satisfied. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we may know the proper conditions of the church today. If the churches everywhere are to be built up, they must have all these conditions.
