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We still need to see more of the vision concerning the New Jerusalem. We must see that this vision is concerning the ultimate consummation of the entire revelation of God, of the entire Bible, and of the entire Triune God with all His plan, His economy, and all His achievements. In this chapter I want to point out how we can apply this ultimate consummation to the facts in the Bible.
First, this New Jerusalem is a composition of the Old Testament saints, represented by the twelve tribes (Rev. 21:12), and the New Testament saints, represented by the twelve apostles (v. 14). The Old Testament is a history of the twelve tribes, and the New Testament is a history of the twelve apostles. Therefore, when these twenty-four names are put on this composition, this indicates that this composition is an ultimate consummation of the history of the twelve tribes and of the history of the twelve apostles. In other words, if we are going to understand the items of the twelve names of the twelve tribes, we need to understand the entire Old Testament. Also, if we are going to understand the names of the twelve apostles, we need to understand the entire New Testament. These twenty-four names on this composition are a part of the ultimate consummation of the things in the Bible.
The names of the twelve tribes on the twelve gates (Rev. 21:12-13, 21a) indicate that the history of the twelve tribes is a kind of entering. The law, which comprises a major part of the Old Testament, is considered by Paul as a child-conductor that conducted us to Christ (Gal. 3:24). We may say that the entire Old Testament history of the twelve tribes is a kind of conducting business. The Old Testament conducted us to Christ. Now Christ is “the oyster” that produces the pearls to be the gates of this New Jerusalem. Actually, the twelve tribes conducted us to Christ, the One who produces the pearls through His death and through His resurrection. His death fulfilled all the obligations of the Old Testament. By fulfilling the obligations of the Old Testament, His death terminated the Old Testament and stopped it. Paul’s thought in Galatians 3 is that after the law conducted God’s chosen people to Christ, Christ’s death stopped the law by fulfilling it. The death of Christ stopped the Old Testament, and the resurrection of Christ began the New Testament by His life secreting to produce the pearls, which are the very entry into this ultimate consummation. Christ’s dying to fulfill the obligations of the Old Testament stopped the Old Testament and terminated it. He secreted His life-juice in His resurrection to produce the precious pearls, which are the threefold entries on the four sides of the holy city. Thus, the twelve gates of twelve pearls bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel signify the ultimate consummation of the Old Testament.
Then we see the twelve names of the twelve apostles on the twelve foundations of the city (Rev. 21:14, 19-20). Whatever was there in the Old Testament was a kind of conducting, a kind of entry, but whatever is in the New Testament is a foundation. Whoever has been conducted to Christ will be led to the New Testament foundation. This one must be built upon the foundation of the New Testament, signified by the twelve names of the apostles. This foundation is the ultimate consummation of the entire New Testament. Ephesians 2:20 tells us that the church is being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This means that their teaching and their speaking forth of Christ laid a foundation. The Old Testament was a conducting to the gates, and the New Testament is a foundation for this ultimate consummation.
Now we must see that the ultimate consummation of the Triune God in this consummation is at least fivefold.
First, the Triune God is the entrance into the holy city. The “three gates” on each side (Rev. 21:13) signify that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit work together to bring people into the holy city. This is indicated in the three parables in Luke 15 and implied in the Lord’s word in Matthew 28:19. To be baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is the real entrance into the holy city.
Second, the substances of the Triune God are the building materials of this New Jerusalem. Gold signifies God the Father’s nature (Rev. 21:18b, 21b), pearl signifies the produce of Christ through His death and resurrection (v. 21a), and precious stones signify the transforming work of the Spirit (vv. 18a, 19-20). These are the threefold materials for the building up of the New Jerusalem. This ultimate consummation is constituted with the Father’s nature as the gold, with the Son’s produce as the pearl, and with the Spirit’s work as the precious stones. These are the essences of the constitution of this ultimate consummation. Therefore, this New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God in His essence to be the constituting elements of this ultimate consummation.
Third, as we have seen already, in this ultimate consummation the divine life in its threefoldness is the very enjoyment of God’s redeemed in eternity forever. The divine life is the river for God’s redeemed to drink of (22:1, 17), the divine life is the tree for God’s redeemed to feed on for their living and for their enjoyment (vv. 2a, 14, 19), and the divine life is the light for God’s redeemed to live in (21:23, 11). This is another aspect of the ultimate consummation of the Triune God as the divine life for the enjoyment and living of His redeemed ones. The Gospel of John also shows us that the Triune God in this age is our enjoyment in a threefold way. He is our living water (7:37-39; 4:10, 13-14), He is our bread (6:48), and He is our light (8:12). These three items are in John for our present enjoyment and living, and this will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the divine river satisfying us, the divine tree feeding us, and the divine light enlightening us. This is the ultimate consummation of the divine life of the Triune God for His redeemed people’s enjoyment and living forever.
Fourth, in the entire city there is only one street (Rev. 22:1). The street of gold (21:21) signifies that the Father’s nature is our way, our street, our route for our traffic, for our fellowship, and for our move. The Father’s nature is the golden street for His people to travel, to fellowship. The river of water of life proceeds in the middle of this street, and the tree of life grows on the two sides of the river (22:1-2). The Son is the tree of life, so the tree of life signifies the Son’s being, which is the food of God’s redeemed people. The river of water of life is the Spirit’s flowing, and this flowing is the reaching application. Thus, in the holy city we see the Father’s nature, the Son’s being, and the Spirit’s application. We walk in the Father’s nature, we feed on the Son’s being, and we drink of the Spirit’s availability. This is another aspect of the ultimate consummation of the Triune God.
Let us go on to consider the fifth aspect of the ultimate consummation of the Triune God. In Revelation 22 we see the throne on which God and the Lamb is sitting (vv. 1, 3). I do not use the predicate are, but I use the verb is purposely because God and the Lamb are not two but one. The Lamb is the lamp, and God is the light within Him (21:23; 22:5). Proceeding out of the throne is the river of water of life. God signifies the Creator, and the Lamb signifies the Redeemer sitting on the throne. Out of the very God and the very Lamb who sit on the throne flows the river of water of life, which signifies the Spirit as the Regenerator. God created, the Lamb redeemed, and the flowing Spirit regenerates.
We have seen that the Triune God has consummated Himself to the uttermost in this consummation — the New Jerusalem. This picture shows us much more than what is recorded elsewhere in the New Testament. The New Testament gives us a longer record, but what is recorded there is not as bountiful as it is seen here in the ultimate consummation. What is here is not just a sketch or an extract but a development. Without this ultimate consummation it would be hard for us to realize that in the New Testament the Triune God is fivefold for our entrance, our constitution, our living, our enjoyment — which is fellowship, feeding, and satisfaction — and our existence for us to participate in the Creator, in the Redeemer, and in the Regenerator. Without such a view I do not think we would be able to realize that in the New Testament the Triune God is so much to us. Such a fivefold Triune God is the temple to us (Rev. 21:22). He is our eternal abode in which we will dwell forever. Our eternal abode, our “heavenly mansion,” will not be common or ordinary but very particular, very special. It will be an extraordinary dwelling place, not an ordinary dwelling place that people can live in. Only the particular, extraordinary people with a high rank have the right to live in the temple. Who are these particular, high-ranked people? They are the sons of God. Revelation 21:7 indicates that the sons of God will inherit this. Now we can see how much the Triune God has been consummated in this ultimate consummation. You young brothers need to be diligent to get into these things. You should not follow the tradition and remain under its influence. You have read Revelation 21 and 22 again and again in a superficial way, which is the general practice of many Christians. You need to spend more time to dig into it. These points that I have shared with you did not come to me by accident. I have studied these two chapters for many, many years.
If we would present all these rich points in our messages to the saints, I do believe we could use all these points for preaching the gospel. We can preach the gospel with all these items to the sinners to show them what the ultimate consummation of God’s salvation is. We can show them that the ultimate consummation of God’s salvation is to enjoy God in His Trinity in such a wonderful, excellent, bountiful, and marvelous way. Do not think that the sinners cannot understand. With the proper presentation I believe they can understand. We must point out all the blessings. The temple as our particular, peculiar, high-ranked dwelling place is God Himself. Every item is a person, not a matter or a thing but the person of the Triune God. You must tell them what kind of Triune God we have. Such a Triune God eventually will be our high-ranked dwelling place in eternity forever. A person is our dwelling place. He Himself is the city, the house. He is also the light, the tree, and the river. All these items are the triune person, the Triune God. Even the street we walk on is the divine person. The threefold person is our street, our bread, and our drink. This is marvelous. He is our way, He is our living, He is our food, and He is our drink. Then you can tell the listening sinners that they can enjoy this right now. This person is their Creator, God; He is their Redeemer, the Lamb; and He is their Regenerator, the living water. You must tell them that right away they can enjoy God as their Creator, the Lamb as their Redeemer, and the living water, the Spirit, as their Regenerator. They will be regenerated, and their regeneration will be the entrance into this wonderful, bountiful, marvelous enjoyment. I believe the sinners will be able to understand. It all depends in what way we present these matters. There is the need of our “cooking.” If we cook these matters, we can preach the very best gospel from the New Jerusalem. Do not think that I have finished the consummation. Actually, more messages are needed to finish this consummation. I have just given you a small taste.
After hearing this, some dissenters who have some biblical knowledge in a traditional way may refer you to Hebrews 11. They may read you verses 9 and 10, which say, “By faith he [Abraham] dwelt as a foreigner in the land of promise as in a foreign land, making his home in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise; for he eagerly waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God.” The dissenters would argue that Abraham was waiting for a city, considering himself to have no land and no place. He was waiting for a city built by God as the Architect and as the Builder. This city must be a real city. Then they may quote verse 14, which says, “Those who say such things make it manifest that they seek after a country of their own.” At this point you must ask them what the country is. Is it Palestine? They would surely say that the country is heaven. If they say this, they have lost their case already because you can tell them that the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven (Rev. 21:10). The New Jerusalem, which they think is a physical city, will leave the country that Abraham waited for. Abraham was seeking a country they treasure, but eventually the very “heavenly mansion” will come down from that country, leaving that country in the heavens.
They might also read Hebrews 11:15 and 16, which say, “If indeed they continued to remember that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return; but as it is, they long after a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” To them heaven is the better country. But we must keep in mind that this verse does not speak of a country in the heavens but of a heavenly country. A man in America has a different denotation than an American man. The rest of verse 16 says, “Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” They might then ask you, “Is not this city the New Jerusalem?” Their understanding in their natural mentality is that the New Jerusalem will be a physical, material city. But brothers, we must be very conversant with the spiritual understanding of such an item in the Bible.
The Triune God made a plan in eternity past. He has been carrying out an economy throughout all the centuries. The Son came through incarnation, lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years, died on the cross, and was resurrected and ascended. Then the Spirit came and worked out many wonderful things. Eventually, do you believe that as a conclusion God would merely build a physical city for His redeemed people to live in? This is too low. The New Jerusalem is a city, but what kind of city is it? Is it a physical, material city? Some might say that it is such a city of gold, pearls, and precious stones. When they say this, we must refer them to 1 Corinthians 3. Paul says that he had laid the unique foundation, and he charges us to be careful how we build upon it. To build the church we should build with gold, silver, and precious stones. Then we need to ask them if we build the church today with real gold, silver, and precious stones. Surely they would say that Paul is not referring to real gold, silver, and precious stones. We must then tell them that the New Jerusalem should be interpreted in the same way and that the New Jerusalem is the consummation of the building in 1 Corinthians 3. In 1 Corinthians 3 the building is in the process and has not yet been consummated. The New Jerusalem is the consummation of that building. Abraham was waiting for a city, not a material city but a marvelous city built with the Father’s nature, with the Son’s redemption, and with the Spirit’s transformation. This fellowship may help us to see this vision, and after seeing this vision, to know how to help others.
You could also tell them that our God expects not only to be our Creator, our Redeemer, our life, our life supply, our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption, but He also expects to be our dwelling place. Actually, this New Jerusalem is the processed God expanded into eternity for you and me to live in. Perhaps someone new would ask how God could be our dwelling place. We should answer by referring him to Deuteronomy 33:27, which says that the eternal God is our habitation. He is a strong habitation to preserve us from trouble. As our habitation, He is our refuge. Psalm 90, which is a psalm of Moses, the man of God, says, “O Lord, You have been our dwelling place / In all generations” (v. 1). Then you could read Psalm 27:4, which says, “One thing I have asked from Jehovah; / That do I seek: / To dwell in the house of Jehovah / All the days of my life, / To behold the beauty of Jehovah, / And to inquire in His temple.” David had a desire to dwell in the house of Jehovah all the time, not just for one hour, one morning, or one evening, but all the time to behold the beauty of Jehovah. Even the Old Testament saints considered God as their dwelling place, and they desired to dwell in this place to behold God all the time. Then what about the New Testament believers, all the redeemed ones in eternity? Shall they live in a physical, golden city with physical pearls and physical stones? We must say no to this. They will live in God Himself. The eternal God will be their eternal dwelling place. He will be the particular dwelling place, the temple, in which they will dwell.
If we would get ourselves into this matter, then we would be able to preach, teach, and present this matter to anyone. They would have no way to debate with us. We must not take care of this in a careless way but with our full spiritual energy. Dear saints, we must study this. The last two chapters of the entire Bible are really worthwhile of our study for years. This leaven of the heavenly mansion must be purged away.
We all can see now how much the traditional teachings, concepts, understanding, and influence have held us back from the deeper study of the pure Word. We have read Revelation 21 and 22 many times, but we have just taken it for granted. We never had any thought to dig into it or to study it further. We must leave the tradition behind and go further to study. We must be like Columbus, who left tradition to sail on and on. Eventually, he reached a new land. We have to sail on. Year after year there should be new material — every page of the book of Revelation can be used as material for gospel preaching.
You could preach the gospel using the three categories of people in Revelation 21:3-8. The best category of people is the sons of God. The worst category of people are those in the lake of fire, and the middle category of people are those who are neither in the New Jerusalem nor in the lake of fire but outside of the city. The sons are in the city, drinking the river of life, eating the tree of life, and walking in the light of life. Those in the lake of fire just suffer the burning. The middle class of people do not suffer the burning, nor do they enjoy the tree of life, the river of life, or the light of life. They only eat the leaves of the tree, and they do not walk in the light directly but outside the city. Many Christians are not clear about these three categories of people in Revelation 21 and 22. In their general concept there will be only two categories of people, the saved ones and the perished ones, in eternity.
Even the last hymn in our hymnal, Hymns, #1348, is a wrong hymn based upon our present realization. This hymn is comprised of Revelation 21:3-4, which says, “I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor will there be sorrow or crying or pain anymore; for the former things have passed away.” The only problem with this hymn is that this word is not spoken to the believers but to the peoples on the new earth outside the holy city. When we sang this hymn, were we singing it to the people outside the city? I do not believe this hymn was written with this understanding. It really troubles me that this hymn was written and placed in our hymnal. The Recovery Version of Revelation titles verses 3 and 4 of chapter 21 as “The Peoples on the New Earth.” Verses 5 through 7 are titled “The Sons of God in Eternity.” Verses 3 and 4 are spoken to the unbelievers who are the descendants of the sheep in Matthew 25:31-46. Revelation 21:5-7 refers to the sons of God, all the saints, the divinely saved ones throughout the generations. Hymns, #1348 says nothing about the inheritance. It says nothing about the tree of life, the river of water of life, or the light of life. This hymn says that “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (cf. Rev. 21:4). When we believers are there in the New Jerusalem, there will be no possibility of tears. In our vocabulary there will not be such a word. But the dictionary outside the city will still have this word. That means that they will still have tears. If they did not have tears, they would not need someone to wipe them away. I do not think that any one of us who sang this hymn in the past discerned that this was a wrong hymn. This is because we never got into the real blessing of the eternal life in the New Jerusalem. For God to wipe away tears with no sorrow or crying or pain is the blessing outside the city, without eternal life. This is the blessing rendered to the unbelieving, God-created and restored people. These are the nations, not the sons of God. We are the sons of God. Because we are still the old creation, we still have tears. But when we get into the New Jerusalem, we will no longer be the old creation, and there will be no tears. The restored nations, however, are still in the old creation. They will still have tears. The blessing to them will be that God will wipe away their tears. You may think that this is an intimate blessing and that if God would wipe away your tears, this would be marvelous. This indicates that you have never gotten into the blessing of the eternal life. The blessing of the eternal life is not to wipe away your tears but to fill you with another kind of water. If you are filled within with the living water, tears would never come out.
We have received the eternal life, yet many of us do not know what the real blessing of this life is and what the real blessing of this eternal life will be in eternity, in the New Jerusalem. If you want God to wipe away your tears, there will be no tears in the New Jerusalem. In the next edition of the hymnal we will replace this hymn with a positive one about the blessings of the eternal life in which the sons of God will participate.
The fact that this hymn made it into our hymnal shows that with just a little carelessness something is able to creep in. This is why I felt an urgent need to call this gathering with all of you, and this is why I opened up the door to embrace so many young ones who are not elders. I do have a burden to present to you what the Lord has shown us in all these years. This might be considered a constitution, just as the Constitution has controlled the United States for two hundred years. We do need a controlling constitution that will rule out many things such as Hymns, #1348. I do believe that the brother who wrote this hymn wrote it with a very good intention. The intention was very positive, yet the work was terrible. This shows us that in our preaching and in our teaching we may have already done things like this unconsciously. We do not realize that some damage has been caused already by our so-called ministry. However, we may still think that our ministry is wonderful, just as the writer of Hymns, #1348 thought his writing was wonderful. Some teachings have gone out in the same principle. They were not in the intrinsic essence of the Lord’s vision in His recovery. No damage has been done yet, but the principle of life has been changed, and eventually, “the mustard seed” will not grow into an herb but into a big tree. It will not be an herb for feeding people but a big tree for lodging evil things and evil persons.
This is why I was burdened to have such a gathering to make all the crucial items of the Lord’s recovery so clear to all of us. We must be on the alert. We should not merely take care of others, but we must take care of ourselves. We should not think that we are okay and that we are safeguarded. We all must take heed to our own preaching, our own teaching, our own so-called ministry. We must ask whether the principle of life has been changed or not. We must know the intrinsic essence of life in the Lord’s recovery.
