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Every nation has a center. The center of a nation is its capital, the place where the central government is located. The New Jerusalem also has a center, which is the throne of our redeeming God, the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:1).
We have pointed out that in the first section of this book (1:1—11:19) the throne of God is the center and that in the second section (12:1—22:21) the temple of God is the center. We have also considered the phrase “out of the temple from the throne” (Rev. 16:17, see messages forty-nine and fifty). At the end of the book of Revelation, the throne of God is in the temple. Thus, the throne and temple have become one.
Our God is not only the God on the throne for His administration, nor only the God in the temple for His expression. He is the very God on the throne in the temple for His expression through His administration. God’s throne is for His administration, and God’s temple is for His expression. The fact that the throne is in the temple means that God’s administration is for His expression. All that God administrates is that He might be expressed. In eternity future God’s throne will be in the center of New Jerusalem, and His expression will extend to the circumference. Therefore, our God is both the God of administration and the God of expression.
Revelation 22:1 says, “And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.” The throne of God and of the Lamb, one throne for both God and the Lamb, signifies that God and the Lamb are one — the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, God the Redeemer. In eternity, the very God who will sit on the throne is our redeeming God, from whose throne proceeds the river of water of life for our supply and satisfaction. This depicts how the Triune God — God, the Lamb, and the Spirit, symbolized by the water of life — dispenses Himself into His redeemed under His headship (implied in the authority of the throne) for eternity.
Notice that there are not two thrones, one for God and another for the Lamb. According to the traditional terms used in Christianity, the reference to God and the Lamb means that two distinct Persons, God and the Lamb, are on one throne. How could God and the Lamb sit on one throne? Do they sit side by side? In 21:23 we find a clue to the correct answer to these questions. In this verse God is likened to light and the Lamb is likened to a lamp. The light and the lamp cannot be separated; neither can they stand side by side. Rather, the light shines out from within the lamp. Therefore, God as the light is in the Lamb as the lamp. God and the Lamb are not sitting side by side; rather, the very God is within the Lamb as the lamp and shines out through Him.
I would like to see how those who use the traditional teachings of the Trinity to oppose us would explain how God and the Lamb are on the same throne. It is better not to use the term person; for by using it we become entangled and are not able to understand the Bible thoroughly according to the pure Word. The Bible reveals that God is the light and that the Lamb is the lamp. Eventually, because the light is in the lamp, these are not two entities; they are one entity in two aspects. It is very difficult to explain the Trinity in human language because we simply do not have the vocabulary or the terminology to express it adequately. Although we do not have the proper words, we do have a picture of God as light and of Christ, the Lamb, as the lamp. The fact that both are sitting on one throne indicates that They are not two, but one.
The One on the throne is both the God who created and the Lamb who redeemed. Hence, we may call Him the Lamb-God. This means that He is the redeeming God. This redeeming God is on the throne of His administration that He may dispense Himself into all His redeemed.
The throne in New Jerusalem is on top of the golden mountain. The one street in this city eventually leads to the throne. The Lord Jesus came down to earth from His throne that He might bring God into man. This is the Triune God coming out of Himself to reach mankind. When we received Him into us, we were baptized into Him. Baptism is the real entrance into the Triune God (Matt. 28:19, Gk.), and the entrance into the Triune God is the initial entrance into New Jerusalem. Immediately after we pass through the pearl gates, we find ourselves on the golden street that leads us upward to the throne of God.
The throne of God in the center of New Jerusalem is the unique source of the life supply. It is by His administration that God dispenses Himself into us as life, as the life supply, and as the eternal, absolute, all-inclusive grace. His dispensing of Himself into us depends upon His administration. For this reason, in the church life today there is divine authority and church government. There is a divine government in the church life today, and this government comes from the throne of God. The divine authority in the church is for God to dispense Himself into us as life, as the life supply, and as the all-sufficient grace. Only by submitting ourselves to God’s authority, God’s government, can we share in His all-sufficient grace.
The throne of God and of the Lamb in the center of New Jerusalem symbolizes the divine authority of God’s headship in Christ. The life supply flows out of this authority, and the enjoyment of the life supply brings us under this authority. The flow of the water of life not only affords us the life supply, but also brings to us the divine authority. In the flow of the water of life there are the life supply and the divine authority with the fellowship in life. When we participate in the life supply, we are brought under God’s authority in the fellowship of life.
I am sorry that some Christians utilize Brother Nee’s book, Spiritual Authority, to make themselves an authority over others. This kind of authority is self-assumed. Genuine authority comes from the throne of God’s administration in the center of New Jerusalem, through the enjoyment of the life supply in the fellowship of life with God.
Now we must consider how the redeeming God sitting on the throne dispenses Himself into all His redeemed. God dispenses Himself into us by means of the river proceeding out of the throne. According to verse 1, this river is called “a river of water of life.” The river, as typified by the rivers in Gen. 2:10-14, Psa. 46:4, and Ezek. 47:5-9, signifies the abundance of life in its flow. It is one river, flowing through the four directions of the holy city like the four heads of the one river in Genesis 2:10-14. This one river with its riches becomes many rivers in our experience, as indicated in John 7:38.
The water of life is a symbol of God in Christ as the Spirit flowing Himself into His redeemed people to be their life and life supply. It is typified by the water that came out of the riven rock (Exo. 17:6; Num. 20:11) and is symbolized by the water that flowed out of the pierced side of the Lord Jesus (John 19:34). Here, this water of life becomes a river, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to supply and saturate the entire New Jerusalem. Thus, it is filled with the divine life to express God in His glory of life.
We need to see this river in more detail. Genesis 2:10 says, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.” According to this verse, the one river eventually became four heads reaching the four directions of the earth. There are many other references to this river in the Old Testament. Psalm 46:4 says, “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.” In Ezekiel 47 the water that issues out from under the threshold of the house becomes “waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over” (v. 5). Verse 9 of the same chapter says that “every thing shall live whither the river cometh.”
This river is also mentioned in the New Testament. Speaking of the children of Israel and their wandering in the wilderness, 1 Corinthians 10:4 says, “And all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ.” When the children of Israel murmured because of their thirst, God told Moses to smite the rock and that water would come out of it for the people to drink (Exo. 17:1-6). Moses did so and the Lord “brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers” (Psa. 78:16). The water that came out of the smitten rock was a type of the life-giving Spirit. The Lord Jesus spoke of this Spirit in the Gospel of John. In John 4:10 the Lord indicated to the Samaritan woman that He was the giver of living water, and in verse 14 He said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life.” Moreover, in John 7:37 and 38 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” Here we see that the one river becomes many rivers. The rivers of living water are the many flows of the different aspects of life of the unique river of water of life, which is God’s Spirit of life (see Rom. 15:30; 1 Thes. 1:6; 2 Thes. 2:13; Gal. 5:22-23; Rom. 8:2). Thus, if we would understand the meaning of the river of water of life mentioned in 22:1, we must trace the origin and development of this matter of the river throughout the Scriptures.
We have seen that the river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of the Lamb-God. This river is nothing less than the flowing Spirit of God as the life-giving Spirit. In 22:1 we see the Triune God — God, the Lamb, and the river. God, the Father, is the source; the Lamb, the Son, is the Redeemer; and the river is the Spirit. Hence, we have the Father as the source, the Son as the course, and the Spirit as the flow. Therefore, in 22:1 we see the flow of the Triune God. This is a picture of the Triune God dispensing Himself into us. He is flowing Himself out of Himself into His redeemed ones. This dispensing of the Triune God into us comes out of God’s administrating throne. This means that God’s dispensation depends on His administration. This is true in the church life today. The dispensing of the life supply and of God’s all-sufficient grace issues out of the throne of God’s administration. Eventually, in the New Jerusalem this dispensing will reach every part of the city, and the entire city will be filled, saturated, and permeated with the Triune God. In this way the city will express God.
When I was young, I could not understand Revelation 22:1. I read about a throne and a river, but I had no idea what these things meant. At that time I did not even realize that the river was a spiral. Because I did not see anything, I could not understand anything. Gradually, through the experiences of more than forty years, I have come to understand the meaning of the river of water of life proceeding out of the throne of the redeeming God. Through my experience I saw that whenever I submitted to my redeeming God, willing to take Him as my head, I immediately sensed something living flowing within me. This was not a teaching or an interpretation; it was altogether an experience. One day I could say, “Now I understand Revelation 22:1. I do have a throne within me. Because I submit myself to the authority and headship of this throne, I have something flowing within.” This picture of the river of water of life flowing out of the throne of the redeeming God shows us that we must take our redeeming God as our head and as our authority and submit to His headship. If we do this, His throne is established in our spirit and even throughout our entire being. Out of this established throne, the life-giving Spirit flows within us. This throne is the center of God’s administration with His headship for the dispensing of Himself into all His redeemed that we may be saturated and permeated with Himself to be His very expression.
This river of water of life flows in the middle of the street of New Jerusalem. The street of the holy city is gold (21:21), which symbolizes the divine nature. The river of water of life proceeding in the middle of the street signifies that the divine life flows in the divine nature as the unique way for the daily life of God’s redeemed people. Where the divine life flows, there is the divine nature as the holy way by which His people walk; and where the holy way of the divine nature is, there the divine life is flowing. The divine life and the divine nature as the holy way always go together. Thus, the river of water of life is available along this divine way, and we enjoy it by walking in the divine way.
Verse 1 also says that the river of water of life is bright as crystal. The fact that the water of life is bright as crystal means that it has no dimness or opaqueness. When this water of life flows in us, it purifies us and makes us transparent. Nothing is more clear than the flow of life within us. Suppose you are shopping in a department store. Whenever you say “Amen” to the inner regulation of the divine life, you will not only be strengthened, watered, and refreshed; you will also become crystal clear. You will be clear not only about one item, but about virtually everything.
The more the water of life flows within us, the more it carries away those things that veil our sight. It gives us clear insight, and it makes our being, our situation, and everything related to us crystal clear. Many Christians have been told that they can know God’s will by reading the Scriptures. In the past I tried to know God’s will in this way. But the more of the Scriptures I read, the more blind I became, because in my reading of the Bible I exercised my mentality to analyze what the Scriptures were saying or what they were telling me to do. A great many of us have had the same kind of experience. The more we analyzed the Bible, the more blind we were. Instead of trying to know God’s will by analyzing the Scriptures, we should say, “Lord Jesus, I love You and I submit myself to Your headship and authority. Lord, establish Your throne in my entire being.” If you do this, you will immediately enjoy the inner flow, and this flow will make you crystal clear in the divine life. Everything related to you, your situation, and your condition will become transparent. Our experience testifies that this is true.
Many young people are very concerned about the matter of marriage and want to know the Lord’s will regarding this matter. Firstly, they pray about it, asking the Lord to show them the one He has prepared for them. Then they come to the elders for fellowship. The elders may give them a number of principles regarding age, education, race, family background, disposition, and spirituality. More than forty years ago, I was an expert in giving out principles such as these. Whenever a young person consulted me about marriage, I always pointed out these matters for his consideration. If he were from the north, I would even advise him not to marry a person from the south because of the differences between them. Furthermore, I would encourage him to marry a person with a similar disposition. If he had a quick disposition, I would tell him not to marry a sister with a slow disposition. In the past, I was rather persuasive, and the young people agreed with me. However, when we were in the actual situation, we found that analyzing merely according to the principles did not work. The more we analyzed merely according to age, education, race, disposition, and spirituality, the more veiled we were. After a number of years, the Lord showed me that the way to know His will concerning marriage is not to analyze in this way. Rather, it is simply to submit yourself to His headship and let His flow move within you. The more His flow moves within you, the more crystal clear you will become. We all must submit ourselves to the Lord and walk the golden way of the divine nature. There is only one way — the golden way. We must submit to the headship of Christ and say, “Lord Jesus, You are my head and my sovereign Lord. I submit myself to You.” What an inner flow there is when we do this! And what an inner supply! Immediately, the flow makes us clear, and we are assured of the Lord’s will. When we do this, we shall be able to say, “There is no veil upon my eyes. Every veil has been taken away, and I am clear. The whole situation is crystal clear to my sight.” This is not a teaching; it is an experience. Only by experience can you understand this.
The water of the river of water of life is absolutely free (Rev. 22:17; 21:6). There is no need for us to pay anything in order to drink of it. Although the water of life is free, it is free only on the divine way. It is not available anywhere else. Thus, we must come to the divine way in order to partake of the living water. Although you do not need to pay anything for the water of life, you do need to get on the golden street. Therefore, whoever desires to receive this free gift of the water of life must repent. To repent means to change your mind, to have a change in concept regarding your life. Even Christians need to have a change in their concept regarding their Christian walk. We must turn from everything that is not the golden street and come to the golden street. This is the true meaning of repentance. After we have turned from everything else to the golden street, we can take the water of life freely. We all can testify from our experience that this is so.
Verse 2 says, “And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life.” The one tree of life growing on the two sides of the river signifies that the tree of life is a vine, spreading and proceeding along the flow of the water of life for God’s people to receive and enjoy. It fulfills, for eternity, what God intended from the beginning (Gen. 2:9). The tree of life was closed to man due to his fall (Gen. 3:22-24), but opened to believers by the redemption of Christ (Heb. 10:19-20). Today the enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life is the believers’ common portion (John 6:35, 57). In the millennial kingdom the overcoming believers will enjoy Christ as the tree of life as their reward (Rev. 2:7). Eventually, in the new heaven and new earth, for eternity, all God’s redeemed will enjoy Christ as the tree of life as their eternal portion (Rev. 22:14, 19).
The tree of life is Christ as our life supply. Firstly, Christ was the Lamb of God for our redemption (John 1:29) and then the tree of life for our life supply (John 6:35). Christ’s redemption is for imparting Himself into us as the life supply. He is not only the Lamb of God, but also the tree of life.
The tree of life grows on the two sides of the river of life. It does not go up, but spreads like a vine. Hence, it is available along the flow of the water of life. Christ, as the tree of life, is the life supply available along the flow of the Spirit as the water of life. Where the Spirit flows, there the life supply of Christ is found. This is all in and with the divine nature as our holy way, as signified by the street. This is both the supply of the holy city and the way the city is supplied.
It took me years to understand three things mentioned in verses 1 and 2: the street, the river, and the tree of life. In the midst of the street is the river; hence, the street spontaneously becomes the two banks of the river. The tree of life grows as a vine on the banks of the river. Only when I had the adequate experience was I able to understand these things. The street, the river, and the tree are all interrelated. After you enter through the pearl gate and get on the golden street, you immediately have the flowing river. Along the flow of the living water is the tree of life. This picture is very clear.
Let us now apply this picture to our daily living. Suppose a certain sister goes shopping in a department store. Even before she enters the store, the divine nature as the inner street begins to regulate her. There is no word, just an inward regulating. The sister enters the store and picks up a certain item. The inward regulating says, “Drop it,” but she excuses herself, telling herself that it is all right to buy that article this time and that she will not do it again. However, from that moment, the inner flow stops. After the sister comes home, she finds that she is not able to pray. Although she tries to open her mouth and say something to the Lord, no words come out of her inward being. This is a negative illustration of what happens when we do not follow the inward regulation of the divine nature.
Let us now consider a positive illustration. Suppose when the inward regulation tells this sister not to buy that particular article, she says, “Amen, Lord, amen.” Immediately, she will find herself walking on the golden street. At the same time, she will sense that the inner flow is intensified and strengthened. She will also sense that the inner flow brings her the rich supply of life. This is the enjoyment of the tree of life. After that, she probably will have no further desire to stay in the store. As she leaves the store, she may even feel like singing or shouting hallelujah. This is what it means to walk on the golden street, to partake of the flowing river, and to enjoy all the riches of the tree of life.
It is difficult to understand the golden street, the water of life, and the tree of life if we approach them in a doctrinal way. But if we consider our experience, it is quite easy to understand them. Whenever we submit our entire being to the headship of the redeeming God, His throne is set up within us. Out of this throne flows the river of life. This river of life flows in the midst of the golden street, and along this flowing river there is the tree of life, which is a vine growing along the river as our rich life supply. The throne is here, waiting for us to submit to the headship and authority of the redeeming God. As soon as we submit to this headship, the life-giving Spirit immediately flows within us, and we find ourselves on the golden street. As we walk along the golden street, we find that the inward flowing of the life-giving Spirit is marvelous, refreshing, satisfying, and supplying. It would take a great many words to adequately describe this flow within us. Along this flow of the living water there are the riches of the tree of life that grows by the flow of the river. This means that where the flow of the river is, there is the tree of life to supply us. In my experience I have a throne, the flowing of the water of life, and Christ as the tree of life growing within me in a very practical way. This is not a doctrinal understanding; it is absolutely a matter of experience in life.
Verse 2 also says that the tree of life produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month. The fruits of the tree of life will be the food of God’s redeemed for eternity. They will be continually fresh, produced every month, twelve fruits yearly.
The fact that there are twelve fruits means that the fruit of the tree of life is rich and sufficient for the completion in God’s eternal administration. Remember the significance of the number twelve: it is completion in God’s administration for His economy eternally. Thus, the twelve fruits are for the eternal completion in God’s administration for His economy.
The mention of “each month” indicates that in the new heaven and new earth the moon will still be there to divide the twelve months. The sun will also be there to separate day and night into periods of twelve hours each. Although the number which represents the church is seven, signifying that God is added to man, His creature, in His present dispensation, twelve is the number of the New Jerusalem, signifying that God is mingled with man in His eternal administration. In the New Jerusalem are the twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles, twelve gates which are the twelve pearls with the names of the twelve tribes, and twelve fruits of the tree of life. As far as space is concerned, the city proper is twelve thousand stadia, one thousand times twelve, in three dimensions, and its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, which is twelve times twelve. As for time, in the new heaven and new earth, there are twelve months yearly, twelve hours daily, and twelve hours nightly.
All God’s redeemed will enjoy the tree of life for eternity (22:14). Our enjoyment of the tree of life is for God’s administration. God redeemed us to enjoy the tree of life, and this enjoyment is for God’s administration of His eternal economy.
Verse 2 also says, “And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” In the Bible, leaves are a symbol of man’s deeds (Gen. 3:7). According to the record of the Bible, the first time man used leaves was to make a covering for himself. The leaves of the tree of life symbolize the deeds of Christ. The regenerated believers eat the fruit of the tree of life, receiving Christ as their life and life supply inwardly, that they may enjoy the divine life for eternity; whereas the restored nations are healed by the leaves of the tree of life, taking the deeds of Christ as their guide and regulation outwardly, that they may live the human life forever. When the nations look at the way the Lord Jesus does things and behaves Himself, His deeds will become a source of healing to them, and this healing will maintain their human life forever.
Those in New Jerusalem “shall reign forever and ever” (22:5). The New Jerusalem will reign over the nations under its shining. Revelation 21:24 says, “And the nations shall walk by its light.” At the end of this age a great part of the inhabitants of the earth will be killed during the time of the sixth and seventh trumpets. The rest will be judged by Christ at the throne of His glory when He comes back to earth. The condemned ones, the “goats,” will be cursed to perish in the lake of fire, while the justified ones, the “sheep,” will be blessed to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:31-46). They will not be saved and regenerated as the New Testament believers; they will only be restored to the original state of man as created by God. They will be the nations as citizens of the millennial kingdom, in which the overcoming believers will be kings (20:4, 6) and the saved remnant of Israel will be priests (Zech. 8:20-23). After the millennial kingdom, a part of these nations, deceived by the Devil, will rebel against the Lord and will be consumed by fire from heaven (20:7-9). The rest will be transferred to the new earth as the nations, living around the New Jerusalem and walking by its light. They will be the peoples mentioned in 21:3 and 4. They, as the created but unregenerated man, will be maintained to live forever in their created state by the healing of the leaves of the tree of life. Even to them there will be no more death (21:4). Under the shining of the New Jerusalem with the divine glory, neither will they be in darkness.
Revelation 21:24 also says of New Jerusalem that “the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.” The kings of the earth here are the kings of the nations in the new earth. The redeemed and regenerated saints will be kings over these kings (22:5), and Christ will be the King of kings for eternity. The glory of the nations will be their choice produce (Gen. 31:1, 16; Esth. 1:4), and their honor will be their preciousness in condition and their dignity in position.
