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Scripture Reading: Rev. 21:2-3, 18, 21-22; 22:1-2
According to the divine thought in all the Scriptures, God always sees His redeemed ones as His wife and He Himself as the Husband. Hosea 2:16 says, “In that day, declares Jehovah, / You will call Me My Husband / And will no longer call Me Baali [meaning, “my Master”].” God wanted His people, the children of Israel, to call Him Husband and to no longer call Him Master. In verse 19 He goes on to say, “I will betroth you to Myself forever; / Indeed I will betroth you to Myself / In righteousness and justice / And in lovingkindness and compassions.” Hence, it is clear that in the thought of God, the people of Israel were a wife to Him. The same divine thought is also revealed in Isaiah. God told the children of Israel that He as their Maker was their Husband and they were a wife to Him and that for a small moment He had forsaken them, yet He would gather them and receive them back (Isa. 54:5-7). Not only so, in the book of Jeremiah God likens His people to a wife (3:1). We also very much appreciate the Old Testament book of Song of Songs. This book likens the Lord’s seeking one to a bride who is beautiful in His eyes, and it likens the Lord Himself to the Bridegroom.
Then in the New Testament John the Baptist testified that the Lord is the Lamb of God (John 1:29), and he also testified that the Lord is the Bridegroom who has the bride (3:29). We need to ask who this bride is. The answer is found in the last book written by the same author, the apostle John. In the book of Revelation, John tells us clearly who and what the bride of Christ is; the bride is the New Jerusalem (21:9). In this record we are told clearly that the One who marries this bride is called the Lamb. He is the Lamb as well as the Bridegroom. All the students of the Scriptures admit that the bride mentioned in John chapter 3 is a corporate bride composed of living persons, not a physical entity. Therefore, how can the bride in the last book written by the same author be a physical place? We have to admit that this city, the New Jerusalem, is the very bride whom the apostle John mentions in his Gospel, in John 3:29. Not only so, the apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:2 that he betrothed us, the believers, as pure virgins to one Husband, Christ.
On the one hand, as to the relationship between us and the Father, we are all males. Even the sisters are brothers. Second Corinthians 6:18 is the only instance in which the New Testament indicates that God has daughters. For the most part it tells us that the believers are sons of God. Christ does not have sisters but brothers; He is the Firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29), not among many brothers and sisters. On the other hand, as to the relationship between us and Christ, we all are females. Even the brothers are females. We all are virgins betrothed to Christ. We are the bride of Christ and the wife of the Lamb. This thought is seen throughout the Scriptures. Eventually, when we come to the end of the Scriptures, we have a full picture of this divine thought. All the redeemed people of God throughout all the ages are composed together as a living city to be indwelt by God, that is, to be filled with God. All the redeemed people are the bride of the Lamb and the habitation of God. This is the proper meaning of the New Jerusalem.
Throughout the Scriptures there is the divine thought that the redeemed people of God are composed together to be a bride for Christ and a habitation for God. This is the ultimate conclusion of all the Scriptures and the ultimate expression of the thought of the Scriptures. The divine thought is that God desires to have a group of living persons composed together as a corporate Body to contain Him and to express Him in Christ through the Holy Spirit. This is the central thought of God, and this is the very pattern of the church. In these days we speak a great deal concerning the building up of the church and concerning the practice of the church life. We have to realize that the New Jerusalem is the unique pattern in the holy Scriptures concerning the church, the building up of the church, and the church life. If we want to know what the church life is and what the right way is for the building up of the church, we have to know the New Jerusalem. This is the very vision by which we are able to know what is the right way for the building up of the church and what is the real condition, the real situation, of the real church life.
In the preceding chapter we saw the first three aspects of the New Jerusalem. First, God is light in this corporate vessel. Second, God as the light is in the lamp, that is, in the redeeming Christ as the Lamb. Third, this God as the light in the redeeming Christ is on the throne. So, we have the light, the redemption, and the authority. These are the first three items of the church life for the building up of the church. Now we come to the fourth item. In this city God Himself in Christ is the temple. A temple is a building for people to worship and serve God. We have to realize that in the church, not only the One whom we worship is God Himself, but even the place, the environment, the building, in which we worship God must also be God Himself. Simply speaking, we have to worship God in God Himself. We do not worship God in a physical building. The physical place in which we are is not our temple. God Himself is our temple, and we worship God in God Himself. We enjoy the full presence of God. The presence of God is so practical, so full, and so rich that He even becomes the very atmosphere, the very environment, through which and in which we worship Him. This experience is in the church. We do not have a physical temple in which we worship God. The temple is God Himself, since in the New Testament time, everything positive is God Himself in Christ through the Holy Spirit. We do not worship as the angels do. The angels worship a God who is objective to them, who has nothing to do with them subjectively. However, we Christians worship a very subjective God. While we are worshipping Him, He is in us and we are in Him. He is the One whom we worship, and He is the temple in which we worship Him. Everything is God Himself in Christ through the Spirit.
When you are going to offer a prayer to the Lord, that prayer must be something out of the Lord, something in the Lord, something with the Lord, and something as a part of the Lord Himself. Your prayer must not be something merely to the Lord or for the Lord. Likewise, when you are going to advise a brother about a certain matter, you should not advise him for the Lord, but you must advise him with something out of the Lord, within the Lord, and even as part of the Lord. This is what it means to have the Lord Himself as the temple in which we worship Him, and this is the meaning of the New Testament service. The New Testament service is subjective to such an extent that in it we and the Lord, the two, are mingled as one. The worshipper is one with the One who is worshipped. We pray to the Lord in the Lord. We minister to others in the Lord. We praise the Lord in the Lord. This is the correct meaning of having God as the temple. The temple is simply the presence of God.
Today Christians speak much about light, life, power, strength, and other matters. However, all these things are nothing but the Lord Himself. If we are in the presence of the Lord, we have life. If we are in the presence of the Lord, we have light. If we are in the presence of the Lord, we have power, strength, and authority. If we are in the presence of the Lord, we have everything. God Himself in Christ through the Spirit is everything to us. More than twenty years ago we often preached the gospel on the street in the evenings. While one brother stood up to speak a word concerning the Lord Jesus, all the rest kneeled down to pray. At that time, none of us felt that we were on the street. Rather, we all felt that we were not only in heaven but also in the Lord. The Lord is the temple for our service of gospel preaching.
The fifth aspect of the New Jerusalem is that the whole city itself is gold. In all the Scriptures, gold signifies the divine nature, the nature of God the Father. The city itself is pure gold without any mixture (Rev. 21:18b). This indicates that the church must be one hundred percent of God; it must be absolutely of the divine nature. Today among Christians, however, the church is a mixture with some part of the divine nature and some part of the fallen human nature. If we want to have the real church life, the church herself must be pure gold, that is, altogether of the divine nature. Here we need the work of the cross to purify us and to purge us.
About thirty years ago, I heard a short word saying that being pure is different from being clean. When I first heard that word, I could not understand it, and I was very surprised. I thought that to be cleansed was good enough. However, the speaker said that we still need to be purified, just as pure gold is purified to contain no mixture and to be transparent. Since that time the Lord has gradually shown me the difference between being clean and being pure. A dear brother may be nice, gentle, and clean but still have a mixture. He is not transparent but opaque. He is nice and clean, but you cannot see through him. When I am surrounded by brothers who have a mixture, I say, “Lord, deliver me. I am in a ‘prison cell,’ and every side is opaque.” The more such brothers talk, the more they are in darkness, even if they are clean persons. To be clean is one thing, but to be pure and transparent is another. Sometimes you may meet a saint in the Lord, whom you sense is not only clean but also transparent, like clear glass. I had a history with Brother Watchman Nee for over thirty years. Within all those years, every time I met him, I had the sense that he was a transparent man. When I sat before him, I could see through him. Every time he stood on the platform to give a message, the audience could sense that he was transparent. When he opened his mouth to speak only a few words, you could sense that everything became transparent. Brothers and sisters, we should be clear that simply to be clean is not enough. We need to be purified by the death of the Lord on the cross.
The sixth item we need to consider concerning the New Jerusalem is the river of water of life proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (22:1). When we have God as light in the redemption of the redeeming One, Christ, and when we are under the authority and recognize the headship and lordship of Christ, and when we experience the divine nature among us, there is always a flow of life, a living stream, flowing among us. This flowing of the living water is the fellowship of the entire city, and it is the source, the fountain, the well, of the supply for the entire city. Where the flow of the river reaches, there the supply is ministered. This flow of the living stream comes out of the lordship and the headship realized by us in the redemption of Christ with the light of God. If we give up the headship of the Lord in the church and do not recognize the divine authority, there is no possibility for us to have the living stream flowing among us all the time. Suppose that we as a group of believers come together to realize the oneness of the Body of Christ and try to have the church life, yet whenever we come together, everyone quarrels with one another. If so, do you believe that there is the possibility of having the living stream flowing among us? There is no possibility. As long as the throne of God is gone, the source of the living water is also gone, because the living water comes out of the throne of God. As long as you do not have the headship, the lordship, of Christ realized in the divine order, you have lost the source of the living water. If we realize the lordship, the headship, of Christ in the divine authority in the redemption of the redeeming One and in the light of God, the river of living water constantly flows to bring the life supply to us.
What is this river of living water? No doubt, it is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. John 7:37-39 confirms this. In verse 38 the Lord told us that he who believes into Him, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Then verse 39 says, “This He said concerning the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit whom the Lord ministers to us is a flowing river of water of life within us. Hence, in the picture of the New Jerusalem there is God the Father as the light, God the Son as the redeeming One, and God the Spirit as the flowing One. Light is with God the Father, redemption is with God the Son, and life is with God the Spirit. Therefore, He is called the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). God as life to us is always flowing. First, He flows out in the Son, and then He flows out as the Spirit. He is the light, He accomplished redemption in the Son, and He flows out as the Spirit to be the life supply. Here is the light, the lamp, and the river, and here is the Triune God. The light is the Father, the lamp is the Son, and the river is the Spirit. In the church life, if we realize the headship of Christ in the light by His redemption, we have the Spirit flowing all the time within us and among us as the life supply. This is a requirement for the church life. If we do not have this, we will be thirsty and dried up.
The seventh aspect of the New Jerusalem is that the tree of life grows in the flow of the living water (Rev. 22:2). This means that where the flowing of the living water is, there is the life supply. The tree of life is Christ as life and the life supply to us. That the tree of life grows in the river means that Christ as our life supply is available to us in the flow of the Spirit. If you have the Spirit, you have Christ as the tree of life, the life supply.
As the church, we must have the flow of the Spirit. In this flow of the Spirit we have the supply of Christ; that is, we have Christ as the supply. Merely to preach doctrines and teachings does not work. We must have Christ ministered to us as the life supply through the flow of the Spirit. Whenever we come together, there must be the flow of the stream, and in this flow of the stream there is the supply of Christ, Christ ministered to us as the life supply. Brothers and sisters, it is useless to argue about the way to meet. We need to check ourselves by asking, “Is our meeting full of Christ as the supply ministered to us?” This is a real test. In any kind of meeting of the church life, there must be Christ ministered as the life supply in the flowing stream of the Holy Spirit. Every kind of meeting must be checked concerning the ministering of Christ as the living supply.
In the church life we must have Christ supplied and ministered to us as the life supply in the flow of the Holy Spirit. Revelation 22:1-2 indicates the riches of the supply of Christ. There are twelve different kinds of fruit, fresh and rich. Christ is not limited or poor. He is unlimited and unsearchably rich (Eph. 3:8). We must always have something new and fresh of Christ to minister to His people. Even in our singing of hymns, we must not be old or poor. Day by day, week by week, month after month, and year after year, we should not be satisfied with singing the same hymns over and over. Is Christ this poor? We need to try to write more new hymns to bring in the riches of Christ in the flow of the Holy Spirit. I have heard much singing of the Psalms, but I do not sense much supply of Christ in those Psalms. There are more riches of Christ in books such as Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians. All these books contain the riches of Christ. In some of the Psalms we are told to shout and to cry aloud. However, we may give a poor shout, a poor cry, with nearly nothing of Christ. In the meetings we must have something of the riches of Christ ministered to the Lord’s people as the life supply. We must bring Christ as the new fruits, as the fresh supply.
The eighth aspect of the New Jerusalem is the street. With the flow of the river and with the growth of the tree of life, there is a street (Rev. 22:1-2). The street, the way, is Christ Himself, just as the tree of life is the Lord Himself. The Lord told us, “I am the way and the reality and the life” (John 14:6). With and in the flow of the living water grows the tree of life, and the flow of the living water is in the middle of the street. This means that if you have the street, you have the flow, and if you have the flow, you have the way.
Moreover, this way is pure gold, like transparent glass (Rev. 21:21). This is a picture, which we have to understand figuratively. God as the light and Christ as the lamp are on the throne, and the flow of living water is the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit is Christ as the tree of life, the life supply, and the flowing of the living water is on the street, the way, which is Christ Himself. In order to experience Christ as the street, you need to have the pure gold of the divine nature, you need to have the flow of the Holy Spirit, and you need to enjoy Christ as the life supply. If you do not have the pure gold with the flow of the living water and the tree of life growing in this water, there is no street, no way, to walk on. Many times brothers have come to me, saying, “Brother Lee, I don’t know what I should do in this matter. I don’t know what is the right way for me to take.” My answer has always been, “Do you have Christ within you? Do you have the living stream within you? Do you enjoy Christ as the living One and the life supply? Then do not speak about the way; speak about Christ. If you have Christ as the pure gold, the living water, and the living supply, you have the way, and you will know what you should do.” Once, a brother who was having trouble with his wife came to me, saying, “Brother Lee, according to the Scriptures, we should be a certain way, and according to the law of the Chinese government, we should be a certain way. Is this right or not?” I said, “Yes,” but then I asked him, “Brother, since you have the Bible and you have the Chinese law, both of which are very clear, why do you come to me?” He said, “Even though I have the Bible and the Chinese law, I still don’t know how to deal with my wife.” Then I asked him, “You have the Bible, but do you have Christ within you? You have the Chinese law, but do you have the stream flowing within you? Have you enjoyed Christ today? Have you enjoyed Christ in this very trouble that you are having with your wife?” Brothers and sisters, test yourself with these three matters: Do you have Christ? Do you have the flowing stream? Have you experienced Christ in the particular matter that you are facing? By testing yourself in this way, you will know what you should do. The street, the way, is not in teachings or doctrines but in the living Christ, the living stream. If you have the stream, you have the life supply and you have the pure gold, the divine nature; that is, you have the street. Furthermore, the one street proceeds from the throne of God to meet the needs at each of the twelve gates. We believe that this street is a spiral, circling around all the time and reaching all the twelve gates. Therefore, once you get on the street, you can never be lost.
Remember well that if we are going to have the real church life, we must have God as light, and we must realize the lordship, the headship, in the divine authority through the redemption in God as light. Then we have the divine nature, the flow of the living water, and the life supply, that is, Christ Himself. Eventually, we have the living way. We know how to do things, we know how to go on, and we know how to walk to follow the Lord. Everything with us is clear, pure, and transparent. Nothing is opaque, and no one is lost. This is the way to have the church life.
