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Revelation 3:12 says, “He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” The point in this verse is crucial — in the coming temple of God, the pillar is a person. He who overcomes will be made a pillar in the temple of God. We have seen already in 21:22 that John told us that he saw no temple in the New Jerusalem because its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. The temple is also a person; it is not a physical matter. If a pillar in the temple is a person and the temple itself is a person, do you believe that the New Jerusalem is a physical city composed of physical stones, physical pearls, and physical gold? Could it be that the pillar is a person, the temple is a person, but not the city? To interpret the city as something physical is not logical.
The New Jerusalem, as we have seen, is the consummation of all the building in the Bible. In the Old Testament the tabernacle and the temple are typified by physical matters. In the Old Testament there was physical gold in the tabernacle, and there were real precious stones on the breastplate and shoulder pieces of the priest. But when we come to the fulfillment of God’s building in the New Testament, there is nothing merely physical. The stones in God’s building are living persons. When Peter came to the Lord the first time, He called him Cephas, which means “a stone” (John 1:42). Peter later wrote in his first Epistle that the Lord Himself is a living stone and that we believers are also living stones (2:4-5). Paul also tells us that as a wise master builder, he had laid the foundation of God’s building, upon which we, the believers, should build with gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:10-12). Surely the stones are not physical things. These are persons, which are confirmed by Peter’s writing that all the believers are living stones. The holy city, therefore, as the consummation of God’s building in the Bible, is not something physical but personal. The entire city is personal, not physical. This interpretation is fully logical.
We must also ask ourselves whether or not, in the entire universe, God has a physical building and whether He is also now building a personal building. According to the traditional teaching on John 14, the Lord has gone back to the heavens to build a physical, heavenly mansion. This means that today the Lord in His heavenly ministry is building a physical building in the heavens and a spiritual building on earth. He is now building a physical building with real stones, pearls, and much gold, and at the same time on this earth He is building a personal temple.
If there is a physical city at the end of the Bible, though, we must ask where the spiritual building built by the Lord is. If there is a material temple in the heavens and a spiritual one on earth, where is the spiritual building when the physical one comes down out of heaven? The only way to interpret this is that the spiritual one merges into the physical one. As we can see, this interpretation is entirely illogical. Can we really believe that the Lord today is building two houses? A strange point about this kind of interpretation is that the physical building is in the heavens, and the spiritual building is on the earth. On the earth He is building a spiritual house, and in the heavens He is building a physical one. Consider what the Lord would have to do to build such a physical building. He would have to collect many pearls, and the pearls would have to be very big, at least eight feet in diameter, in order to be gates through which people could pass. If the pearls were that big, consider how big the oyster would have to be to produce such pearls. Pearls are not created but produced by a living oyster. Also, could we believe that there would be a literal mountain of gold more than thirteen hundred miles high? Some may say that God is universally great and that He can build such a mountain. However, if God could build such a mountain, why would He need two thousand years in which to build it?
The word given in John 14, which some people interpret as the Lord going to prepare “a heavenly mansion,” was spoken two thousand years ago. This interpretation tells us that the Lord went to the heavens to prepare such a mansion and that when He comes back, He will receive us to Himself there. According to this interpretation, He has not finished the building there in the heavens. He is still there building the heavenly mansion. This, however, is against the principle of God’s creation. In God’s creation God speaks things into being. He says there is light, and light is there. When God says there is gold, gold is there. In God’s creation He speaks things not being as being (Rom. 4:17). Since such is the principle in God’s creation, why has it taken nearly two thousand years to build such a big physical house in the heavens? Also, why would such a big physical building need to come down to earth? Why would the Lord not just call such a physical building into being on the earth? Again, we have to say that this interpretation is not logical. To say that the Lord is now building a physical building in the heavens and that when He comes, that physical building will come down from the heavens is an improper understanding of the Bible.
We have seen that according to the book of Revelation itself, this building is undoubtedly personal, not physical, because the temple is God and the Lamb Himself, and the pillar is an overcomer. These are strong proofs that the city is not physical but a composition of living persons. This is also fully confirmed by the New Testament revelation. In the New Testament a believer in Christ is considered a piece of stone like Peter. Then in the Epistles the apostles considered the believers as pieces of living and precious stones. I do not believe that the Lord would spend two thousand years to build up something and then eventually put this building aside or merge this building with a physical building.
We also need to see one more confirmation, that is, that today the church is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:23; 1 Cor. 12:12). It is not a physical body. Today the church is also the house of God. This house is not a physical house; God dwells in this house today. First Timothy 3:15 tells us that the church is the house of the living God. This house is composed of living persons, and we consider the church as our home. The church is our home, and this home is not built with cement, redwood, or Arizona stone. We have a home built spiritually with the living believers. Thus, today the church is a home — not a physical home but a home composed with living persons. The New Testament principle is the eternal principle. The Old Testament principle is the principle in typology and is temporary. However, the New Testament principle, being eternal, will exist forever, going through the millennium and on into eternity. This principle is that God’s dwelling in His economy is not a physical building but a building built up with living persons. Such a principle, along with our logical consideration, would not allow us to interpret the New Jerusalem as a physical city. If you interpret the New Jerusalem in this way, you are going against the basic principles of the New Testament, and you are against the principles that are eternal.
Based upon this kind of understanding, let us read some more verses in the book of Hebrews concerning the New Jerusalem. In Hebrews 12:18-21 we see some things in the background: “You have not come forward to a mountain which could be touched and which was set on fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the sound of a trumpet and to the voice of words, because of which those who heard entreated that no further word should be spoken to them; for they could not bear that which was being commanded: ‘If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned.’ And so fearful was the sight, Moses said, ‘I am full of fear and trembling.’” We, the New Testament believers, have not come to these physical things — a physical Mount Sinai, the sound of a trumpet, and a physical voice. Then verse 22 tells us that we have come to Mount Zion. Mount Zion is in the heavens. This verse does not say that we shall come to Mount Zion, but it says that we have come. We have come (perfect tense) to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God. The mount’s name is Zion, and the city’s name is heavenly Jerusalem. We have also come to myriads of angels, to the universal gathering. The myriads of angels are the universal gathering. We have come to the church of the firstborn, who have been enrolled in the heavens (v. 23). They are not in the heavens yet, but their names have been enrolled there. Hebrews 12:23 also tells us that we have come “to God, the Judge of all; and to the spirits of righteous men who have been made perfect.” The spirits of righteous men, who are the Old Testament saints, are in Paradise where Abraham is (Luke 16:22-23, 25-26) and where the Lord Jesus and the saved thief went after they died on the cross (23:43). Hebrews 12:24 continues to say that we have also come “to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaks something better than that of Abel.” There are eight items mentioned in Hebrews 12:22-24. The things mentioned in these verses are heavenly or spiritual, in contrast with the earthly and physical things listed in verses 18 and 19. Among these eight items is the New Jerusalem. All the items referred to in verses 22 through 24 should not be taken in a physical sense. We have never come to the physical blood of Jesus, nor have we been sprinkled physically. No one among us has ever come to the physical blood of Jesus. This is another illustration to show us that we cannot understand the New Jerusalem in such a physical sense. Just as the blood in these verses cannot be understood in a physical sense, neither can the New Jerusalem in these verses be understood in this way. None of us has ever come to the blood of Jesus in a physical sense. It is also hard for us to locate the eight items in verses 22 through 24. The spirits of righteous men are in Paradise. Mount Zion is in the heavens; it cannot be interpreted in a physical sense. This discussion of these verses may help us to understand the Bible concerning the New Jerusalem.
Hebrews 11:14-16 says that Abraham and other Old Testament saints were expecting, were waiting, for a better country with a marvelous city. After considering these verses, we must ask where Abraham is today. When the Lord Jesus was on this earth, Abraham had not entered into this better country with the marvelous city, because in Luke 16 the Lord told us definitely that Abraham at that time was in Hades. Where, though, is Abraham after the Lord’s resurrection? Some Christian teachers taught us that when the Lord resurrected from Hades, He brought the entire Paradise (a section of Hades) to the third heavens. According to this kind of teaching, Abraham should have entered into heaven, entered into the better country and to the city that he expected. At this point, we must read Hebrews 11:39: “These all, having obtained a good testimony through their faith, did not obtain the promise.” Paul wrote the book of Hebrews many years after the resurrection and the ascension of Christ. By this time Abraham had still not obtained the promise. According to the traditional teaching, Abraham entered into the heavenly country and into the good city, but Hebrews 11:39 tells us that at least thirty years after the ascension, Abraham had still not obtained the promise. Some might say that this means that Abraham entered into the country in the heavens but that the good city has not been completed. If this is the case, then where would Abraham stay? Could it be that the Lord intended to finish millions of rooms in the heavenly mansion, but probably He only finished enough rooms to contain the Old Testament saints? On the one hand, according to the traditional teachings, the Lord in resurrection ascended to the heavens to build the mansion, and on the other hand, He moved Paradise to the third heavens. We must ask then where He has located all the Old Testament saints. I am illustrating this to show you how illogical and unscriptural the traditional teachings are. This is leaven! Many people take in the leaven without any consideration. I followed Brother Nee because he was the only person I saw who would not follow the traditional interpretations of the Bible that are illogical and unscriptural.
By the time Paul had written Hebrews 11, Abraham had still not obtained the promise, “because God has provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect” (v. 40). God had something better in view concerning the New Testament believers, that apart from us the Old Testament saints, including Abraham, would not be made perfect. Abraham is waiting to be perfected, and he can never be perfected apart from us. This means that Abraham can never enter into that better country, into that marvelous city, apart from us. When we will enter, he will enter, and all the Old Testament saints will enter. Footnote 403 on Hebrews 11 in the Recovery Version says,
Both the participation in the kingdom for one thousand years (Rev. 20:4, 6) and the sharing in the New Jerusalem for eternity (Rev. 21:2-3; 22:1-5) are corporate matters. The kingdom feast will be for the overcomers of both the Old and New Testaments (Matt. 8:11). The blessed New Jerusalem will be composed of both the Old Testament saints and the New Testament believers (Rev. 21:12-14). Hence, apart from the New Testament believers, the Old Testament believers cannot obtain what God promised. To obtain and enjoy the good things of God’s promise, they need the New Testament believers to perfect them. Now they are waiting for us to go on that they may be made perfect.
The Old Testament saints are waiting for us to be perfected so that they may enjoy the New Jerusalem with us.
What we will enjoy together are not physical things, but we will enjoy the Triune God wrought into His chosen people in at least five ways. First, the Triune God is wrought into His chosen people as their Creator, their Redeemer, and their Regenerator to give them a threefold triune existence — created, redeemed, and regenerated. Second, the Triune God has been wrought into His redeemed for their being constituted with the divine nature for the building up of the New Jerusalem with gold, pearls, and precious stones. Third, the Triune God is His redeemed people’s entry into the divine composition as the three gates on the four sides of the city. Fourth, He is for their living in the divine nature, in the divine tree, and in the divine river. Lastly, He is for their enjoyment of the divine life as the light, the tree, and the river. The Triune God has been wrought into His redeemed people in these five ways: for their existence, for their constitution, for their entry into the divine composition, for their living in this composition, and for their enjoyment in this composition. The New Jerusalem is not a physical building. It is a composition of God’s redeemed ones who have the Triune God wrought into them in these five ways. This is the very significance of the ultimate consummation of the entire Bible, of the entire revelation, of the entire Triune God, and of His entire economy. Abraham was waiting for such a blessing even though by that time he probably did not understand the fullness of such a blessing.
In the same way, today we have received eternal life, but we do not understand what is involved in the blessing of the eternal life. In the New Jerusalem there is one main item of the ultimate consummation — the ultimate consummation of life. Based upon this, I would ask you young brothers to go back to study the Bible concerning the divine life. The Gospels tell us clearly that when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we receive eternal life. The Gospels also tell us that we need to inherit the eternal life (Matt. 19:29; cf. Luke 18:29-30). We must also know what the difference is between receiving the eternal life and inheriting the eternal life.
The eternal life as a blessing from God to us is in three stages. In the first stage we receive the eternal life, and we enjoy the eternal life in this age. The second stage is in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the millennium, in the kingdom age, where we will inherit the eternal life. In the third stage it is not to receive or to inherit the eternal life but to enjoy the eternal life in its consummation. In this age of grace the eternal life is for us to receive and then to live by. Then in the coming age of the kingdom the eternal life is for us to inherit. This life becomes our inheritance in the kingdom. We have seen that the divine life is the kingdom. When you inherit this eternal life, you inherit the kingdom. Finally, this eternal life will consummate in eternity in the new heaven and the new earth. There is the need of much study to find out what the blessings are in the receiving stage of the eternal life, in the inheriting stage of the eternal life, and in the consummating stage of the eternal life. I do not believe that such a study could be finished within half a year.
Probably Abraham did not know or realize the blessings that he would inherit during his time. We must admit, though, that most of us do not know either what the eternal life will be to us in the millennium or what it will be to us in eternity. We just infer what it will be like by our natural mentality. The fact that we do not understand fully what is written in the Bible is shown by our ascribing the blessings to the peoples on the new earth in Revelation 21:3-4 to ourselves. To have the Lord wipe away our tears and the taking away of sorrows, crying, and pain are according to our natural understanding. Verse 7, though, indicates that God’s sons will participate in the New Jerusalem with all its enjoyment. The Recovery Version of Revelation has clearly pointed out the differences between the blessings assigned to the unsaved nations and the blessings inherited by or consummating in the sons of God. This shows that in our understanding of the Bible and in our reading of the Bible, we remain in our natural mentality. We do not desire to be transferred out of the natural kingdom into the spiritual kingdom. We mostly understand the verses in the Bible in the natural kingdom. We do not understand the divine word in the divine kingdom. This is the problem. Many teachers of the Bible have written many books according to the Bible concerning ethics, morality, human behavior, and the improvement of character. How many books, however, have we seen written concerning the blessings of the eternal life in the new heaven and the new earth as portrayed by the New Jerusalem? The New Jerusalem is a full portrait of the blessings of the eternal life to the fullest. It is the consummation of the eternal life in its fullest blessing. The eternal life is full of divine blessings. We received the eternal life at the time of our regeneration, and we are now living by it. We will inherit it as a kind of kingdom blessing, a blessing in full, in the millennium. Also, this life will consummate in its fullest blessing, and this consummation ultimately is the New Jerusalem. We must see that the New Jerusalem is not a physical city, but it is the ultimate consummation of the eternal life in its fullest blessing.
Every aspect of the ultimately consummated eternal life needs our study. We must study based upon the last one and a half chapters in the Bible — Revelation 21 and the first half of Revelation 22. We must study this portion with the entire Bible as our reference, as our library. Do not go to other libraries. Also, the books that we have written and published over the years will help you study this portion of the Word. I must say again that the New Jerusalem is not a physical building. It is the ultimate consummation of the eternal life that we have received and are still living by in its fullest blessing. The New Testament age is the age for us to receive this eternal life and to live by it. The second age, the age of the millennium, is the age for us to inherit the blessings of this eternal life in full as a kingdom. Then eternity will be the age for us to enjoy the ultimate consummation of all the blessings of this eternal life to the fullest. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of this eternal life in its fullest blessing. If we understand this, this solves all our problems and answers all our questions concerning the New Jerusalem as a city of God to be our eternal portion.
We must remember that our God in His Trinity, with all His economy and achievements, has been wrought into this city. This means that our God in His Trinity with everything He has done and achieved has been wrought into our intrinsic being. Therefore, He and we are blended, mingled together, as a mutual dwelling to Him and to us. He will dwell in us as His habitation, the eternal tabernacle, for eternity, and we will dwell in Him as our dwelling, the eternal temple, for eternity. There should be no consideration in our being that the New Jerusalem is a physical dwelling. Even today in the church age we care for the church as our home. To God the church is His house, and to us it is our home. We should not interpret the church in a physical sense but in the sense of persons. This home, the church, is in the same principle as the New Jerusalem. This home is the Triune God with all His achievements wrought into the believers’ humanity. This home, the church, is a mingling of divinity with humanity. This principle is eternal. It will exist and be applied to the New Jerusalem. The church today is a house of the Triune God wrought into His redeemed ones as their home. The New Jerusalem will continue this principle. The only difference is that today we are in the process, and in that day the New Jerusalem will be the consummation. The process to reach the consummation and the consummation itself are exactly the same in principle and in nature. Actually, the process is a precursor of the consummation, and the consummation is a fulfillment of the precursor. These two are one item. Actually, we should praise the Lord that today we are already in the New Jerusalem. The church life is a miniature of the New Jerusalem.
Galatians 4:24-26 is another portion from the Word that we must consider concerning the New Jerusalem: “These things are spoken allegorically, for these women are two covenants, one from Mount Sinai, bringing forth children unto slavery, which is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Sinai the mountain in Arabia and corresponds to the Jerusalem which now is, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.” The physical Jerusalem represents the law, which produces children unto slavery, but the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother. In Revelation 21 the New Jerusalem is a wife, but here it is the mother. Therefore, the New Jerusalem is a wife to be our mother. If the New Jerusalem is a physical thing, how could this city produce us as her children? How could our begetting mother be a physical city built with real precious stones, gold, and pearls? None of these items are organic. Neither gold, nor pearls, nor precious stones produce anything. Then how could they have children? These verses again show us that we should not understand the New Jerusalem in a physical sense. Only the natural, uneducated mentality, which possesses inadequate biblical knowledge, understands in this way. If our mind has ever been renewed, has ever been enlightened, and if we have been fully and adequately spiritually educated, we would never understand the New Jerusalem in such a wrong and superficial way.
The New Jerusalem, which is the Jerusalem above, the heavenly Jerusalem, is our mother. This motherly Jerusalem stands for grace. The physical Jerusalem stands for law, and this heavenly Jerusalem, which is our mother, stands for grace. In this grace are the Triune God, His plan, His economy, His redemption, His salvation, and all His achievements wrought into His chosen people. This is grace in its totality, and we all have been born of this grace, so this grace is our mother. This surely could never be a physical city. This must be the Triune God with His redemption and His salvation, including regeneration, transformation, and glorification, wrought into His chosen ones. This is our mother, and this is grace. We do not belong to anything physical. We belong to this divine yet human composition saturated, even constituted, with God’s grace, which produces us all. The New Jerusalem is our mother, and we are her children.
I hope this principle will help us in understanding this ultimate consummation. I also hope, trust, and expect much from the younger brothers for the future. You must study all the things I have given you. All these hints and principles need our entire life to study. These principles are very basic and very fundamental. This is the vision in the Lord’s recovery, which is not the teaching of theology but is fully based upon the New Testament ministry.
