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This message is the continuation of the previous one.
As we have already pointed out, jasper is the appearance of God. The fact that the building material of the entire wall is jasper indicates that New Jerusalem, as the corporate expression of God in eternity, bears the appearance of God. This city is unified in appearance on all four sides. This indicates that all differences have vanished and that the city is the unique expression of the Triune God. This is vastly different from the concept of many Christians, who think that we all should be different and express Christ in different ways. According to this concept, you express Christ in your way, and I express Christ in my way. In the past I was taught that both the individual believers and the churches should be different from one another and that no church should be the same as others. I was not only taught this way, but I also preached it myself. I said that we should not imitate or copy others. Using our faces as an illustration, I said that every face is unique. But by studying the book of Revelation again, I saw that the seven lampstands are exactly the same. If all seven were placed on the table in front of you, you would not be able to tell them apart. Each lampstand would lose its identity. When I saw that, my point of view was radically revolutionized, and I said to myself, “What a mistaken concept I received from those who foolishly said that the seven churches are different! Yes, they are different in the negative aspects. Certainly the church in Philadelphia did not have the idols found in Thyatira. But on the positive side, they are all the same. They have one God and one Christ.” I had truly been enlightened.
From that day onward, the Lord has pointed out this matter to me again and again, eventually showing me the four sides of the wall of New Jerusalem. Each side is the same in appearance. Although perhaps millions of jasper stones have been fit together to form the wall, every side of the wall has the same expression. Each side is the same in material, in substance, in color, and in appearance. Hence, we all must be alike. I must be like you, and you must be like me. Ultimately, we shall be so much like one another that we shall lose our identity. Seeing this enables us to understand Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 1:10: “But I beseech you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion.” We must say the same thing and be attuned to the same opinion. This does not mean that we are controlled by anyone. None of the jasper stones built into the wall of New Jerusalem is controlled. They are the same in substance, in color, in appearance, in brightness, and in glory because they have been transformed by the same life. Thus, we all must imitate one another and copy one another. The sisters must imitate the brothers, and the brothers must copy the sisters. This does not mean to copy the natural characteristics of others. It means to copy the jasper, to copy the substance, the color, and the appearance.
Jasper is not a substance that was merely created by God. First it was created, and then it was transformed. All precious transparent stones, especially diamonds, are transformed substances. Diamond is carbon that has been transformed through heat and pressure into a pure crystal. None of us was created jasper. Rather, we were created clay (Gen. 2:7). Praise the Lord that we have been regenerated and that we are being transformed! Many of us are daily undergoing the process of transformation. Eventually, we shall be precious stones. We shall be jasper, possessing the life of God and bearing the appearance of God. We shall have the very element of God and the same appearance as He. God looks like jasper, and we also shall look like jasper. When we look at one another, we shall see in one another the appearance of God. Even the least one among us will look like God.
Do you think that, after we all have the substance, color, and appearance of jasper, we shall still debate or hold differing opinions? Certainly not! The New Jerusalem may be called a jasper city; it is not a city of wood. One day this city will appear bearing a bright green color to express God. In New Jerusalem we shall not express a German character, a British character, a Chinese character, an American character, or any other human character. Instead, we shall express the unique character, the divine character, which is God Himself in His appearance. The church today must also be like this. In such a church we all express God.
We have seen that the city of New Jerusalem is solidly and substantially golden. This indicates that the whole church should be solidly and substantially of the divine nature. This is the content of the church. The church must not have anything other than God Himself in His nature as its substance and content. Now we also see that the wall of the city bears God’s appearance. To all people and to the whole universe the church must express God Himself.
The building of the church depends upon the substantial content of the church life. If the content is not God Himself, it will be impossible to have the genuine and proper building. But if our content is the divine nature, this content will transform us and even conform us to His image. Through this transformation, all our different concepts, views, and opinions will be swallowed up. This is what it means to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, as mentioned in Romans 12:2. The mind is renewed by the content of the church, the divine nature. When the divine nature occupies the inner part of the church and becomes its content, it will renew our mind and swallow up our different understandings, concepts, views, and opinions. The more the divine nature fills us from within, the more our concepts and opinions are spontaneously laid aside. As a result we no longer have a natural understanding of things. Rather, our concept is according to the divine nature. Hence, spontaneously we become of the same mind and opinion, we speak the same thing, and we have the unique expression, the appearance of God, and we are built up in this expression.
Suppose you cling to your natural concept, and I hold to my natural view. Both your concept and my view may be very good, not at all sinful. But because our concepts are different, they cannot be of the same jasper. However, when we are both filled with the divine nature and swallowed up by it, our concepts will be changed, and we shall all be of the same jasper. Then we shall have one mind, one concept, and one opinion. This is the way to be built into the church. We must drop all our different expressions that we may be built into the same wall and may all have the unique expression of God.
The church cannot be built through our efforts to be kind and patient with one another. Building is not a matter of my giving a little ground to you and of your giving ground to me. That is ethical behavior, something like the teaching of Confucius; it is not the teaching of the Bible. Genuine building is to be swallowed up by the divine nature and occupied, filled, saturated, and permeated with the divine nature. For this to take place, we must love the Lord and consecrate ourselves to Him without reservation, telling Him, “Lord, I don’t want to keep anything of myself. I want to give my whole being to You and let You take full possession of me and occupy me to the uttermost. Lord, fill me with Yourself.” This is the right way. Being built up in the church is not a matter of trying to love different kinds of people, or of trying to enlarge our heart to include those of a different disposition. This is a natural concept. What is needed is to have our disposition, whether it be American, Chinese, British, or German, swallowed up and replaced by the divine gold. If you are filled with the divine gold, your heart will be larger than Solomon’s (1 Kings 4:29), because it will be as big as God’s heart. When we are filled and permeated with the divine nature, we all have the same expression and appearance, for we all have the same opinion and speak the same thing. When we all have the same expression, we have the appearance of God, symbolized in the book of Revelation by jasper. This is the expression of the church life.
Although the wall is mainly for expression, spontaneously it also becomes a separation and a protection. It separates us from everything common (Rev. 21:27), protects us, and keeps us in the realm of God’s appearance. Anything that is separated is also preserved and protected. In the church life we must have God’s expression. This divine expression is our separation, and this separation is our protection and preservation. If we all express God, we shall be separated from anything worldly. This is not a mere doctrine. If you live in this manner, you will have the full experience of what I am saying. If I express God in the appearance of jasper, I shall be completely separated from the world. Then I shall be protected, preserved, and kept in the expression of God. Some are captured by the distractions of the world because they do not express God in the appearance of jasper. Instead, they express something else. When we lose the divine expression and express something of ourselves in its place, our separation disappears, and we are no longer protected. As a result, we have no wall. Then there is no expression, no separation, and no protection. Praise the Lord that in the church life today our protection is the expression of God as our separation!
Now we come to the foundations of the city. This is very important. Hebrews 11:10, speaking of Abraham, says, “For he waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Maker is God.” The city of foundations, the New Jerusalem, was designed and made by God.
The Lord’s recovery has a solid foundation. From the time the Lord’s recovery was raised up among us more than fifty years ago, this testimony has been more and more solidly founded. During my life I have seen many Christian groups come and go. They were raised up and formed, and then they disappeared. Many of the free groups that began in this country some years ago are no longer in existence because they did not have a solid foundation. The church, a city of foundations, is not designed by man. It is both designed by God and built by Him. All the churches in the Lord’s recovery have been designed and built by God, not by man. Because we have such a solid foundation, the more we are opposed and attacked, the more solidly founded we become.
Verse 14 says, “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” These foundations are not the foundation, which is Christ, according to 1 Corinthians 3:10-11. They are the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Today the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). Since in eternity there will be no further need of the prophets, the foundations of the holy city will consist only of the apostles. When we enter into the new heaven and the new earth, all the four dispensations will have been completed, and there will be no need for prophecy. Everything will have been accomplished and fulfilled.
The twelve apostles here represent the grace of the New Testament, signifying that the New Jerusalem is built upon the grace of God. The entrance to the holy city is according to the law of God, and the city is built upon the grace of God.
Verse 19 says, “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone.” This verse and the next list the names of twelve precious stones, which are the twelve apostles of the Lamb, each of whom is signified by a precious stone. When Peter, the first of the twelve apostles, was brought to the Lord, the Lord changed his name to Cephas, which means “a stone” (John 1:42). Later, the Lord called him by this name when He spoke concerning the building of His church (Matt. 16:18). Precious stones are not created, but are transformed from something that has been created. All the apostles were created as clay, but they were regenerated and transformed into precious stones for God’s eternal building. This regeneration and transformation is required of every believer who will be a part of the New Jerusalem.
The foundations of the wall of the city are of twelve layers. Once again, the number twelve shows the completion in God’s eternal administration. The first layer is jasper, indicating that the likeness of God is the predominant appearance. The first layer of the wall’s foundation, as well as the entire wall of New Jerusalem, is built with jasper. This indicates that the main material in the building of the holy city is jasper. Since jasper signifies God expressed in His communicable glory, the main function of the holy city is to express God in bearing His glory (v. 11).
Now we must consider a very important matter regarding the twelve foundations. Although the entire wall is jasper, the twelve foundations are different stones with various colors. Each layer is different from the others. The reason for this is that the apostles had different ministries. Paul’s ministry was different from Peter’s, and Peter’s was different from John’s. However, these twelve foundations are not laid side by side; rather, they are laid one on top of another. The top layer, the layer that met the bottom of the wall, was jasper, the same color as the wall. Thus, all the work of the apostles issued in the same appearance, jasper. All twelve layers lead to and support the unique testimony in the unique expression.
The work of many so-called Christian workers leads to an individualistic appearance. But the work of the apostles led to one appearance. Today’s Christian workers not only have different colors; instead of being one on top of another, they are side by side. Thus, they have an individualistic expression, sometimes even with competition and striving with one another. The work of the apostles, on the contrary, was layer upon layer and led to the unique appearance of jasper, the appearance of God in Christ.
If you examine the ministries of the apostles in the New Testament, you will see that each ministry was upon the top of another, not side by side. In his book, What Shall This Man Do? Brother Nee describes the various ministries of the apostles. Peter, a fisherman, brought in the fish, the material. Paul, a tent maker, built up the tent with the materials brought in by Peter. Eventually, after the tent had been torn, the apostle John came in to mend it. Thus, Peter’s ministry was a fishing ministry, Paul’s was a building ministry, and John’s was a mending ministry. These three apostles worked one on top of the other. Paul’s work was upon Peter’s, and John’s work was upon Paul’s. As a result, they produced one building, not three distinct houses. Unlike Peter, Paul, and John, today’s so-called Christian workers all build up their own houses, each with its own design, shape, color, and expression. Therefore, in Christianity there are thousands of different houses. But in the entire universe there will only be the unique New Jerusalem, built upon the foundation of many ministries laid one on top of the other. May this matter become crystal clear to us.
By the Lord’s mercy, I can testify that I worked with Brother Nee for many years, but I do not bear an appearance different from his. I have the assurance and the boldness to say that my ministry is the same in appearance as Brother Nee’s ministry. No matter how much the enemy uses the opposers to attempt to separate me from him, I am now standing upon his shoulders. For this reason, in our ministries there was no division or differing opinion. But this does not mean that my ministry is exactly the same as Brother Nee’s ministry. If the Lord delays His coming back, I hope that some of the young brothers among us will be the continuation of the Lord’s recovery. However, we must realize that it is absolutely wrong to have another, side-by-side work. Your work must be a layer laid upon the present layer, and it must produce the same appearance.
Sooner or later, many of the Lord’s seekers who have been in His work for years, including some who are quite popular, will turn to the way of the Lord’s recovery. But we do not believe that the Lord will raise up any side-by-side work. Although there will be different ministries, they will be layer upon layer, and they will lead to the one appearance of God in Christ. No matter how many ministries we may have in the recovery, we shall have the same mind, the same concept, and the same opinion, and we shall all speak the same thing. However, this does not mean that all the ministries must be the same. We need different ministries, yet they must be layer upon layer. All the ministries must lead to one appearance — the appearance of today’s church and of the coming New Jerusalem.
Only recently did I see this matter of the twelve layers of the foundations being placed one on top of the other and bringing in one building with one appearance. All these ministries support and bear the same unique testimony. However, the situation of Christianity today is that of many different testimonies. The testimony of one group, for example, may be the washing of feet and the testimony of another group, the speaking in tongues. But we are not here for these things. We are for the unique expression of the Triune God, not for any specific practices or particular doctrines. Although our ministries may differ, our expression, our testimony, is just one. We are not building side by side; we are building one on top of another to bring forth the unique testimony of God in the universe.
The colors of the twelve precious stones of the foundation, which signify the twelve apostles, are as follows: the first is green, the second and third are blue, the fourth is green, the fifth and sixth are red, the seventh is yellow, the eighth is bluish-green, the ninth is yellow, the tenth is apple-green, the eleventh and twelfth are purple. The twelve layers of the foundation in the above colors give the appearance of a rainbow, signifying that the city is built upon and secured by God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant (Gen. 9:8-17). Because the foundation is built upon the very faithfulness with which God keeps His covenant, it is trustworthy and reliable.
