That we may know You. Wonderful.
Will you please turn to Revelation chapter 21? Revelation chapter 21. We will read verses 1 through 7.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God:
and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.
And He that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.
And He said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.—Revelation 21:1–7
May we read just another portion: Revelation chapter 22, verses 1 through 5.
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 midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and His servants shall serve Him;
and they shall see His face; and His name shall be on their foreheads.
And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.—Revelation 22:1–5
We have been considering together this book of Revelation. We believe that God wants us to see His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in relation to our time—that is, to see the Lord Jesus in the light of the ending.
For this, we find a series of seven visions of our Lord Jesus being given. Now, this morning we come to the last of the seven visions. It is the consummation of all the visions that have gone before, because in this vision we shall see the fulfillment of the eternal purpose of God and the manifestation of eternal reality.
Here John said, “I saw.” He again saw something. And what did he see? He saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Now, what is the meaning of the holy city, New Jerusalem? It is explained in the next verse: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them.” This holy city, New Jerusalem, is the tabernacle of God with men.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, we know that from the very beginning it is the will of God that He should tabernacle with man. It is for this reason that He created man in the first place. And after He created man, He put man in the Garden of Eden before the tree of life.
God desired not only external communication with man. It is true that God came to the garden and talked with man, but God’s desire is more than that. God desired not only to have external communication with man, whom He created. God’s desire was that man might eat of the tree of life; that is to say, that man might receive His life and come into union with Him, so that there would be an inward relationship of life and also an inner communion with God.
In other words, God desired to dwell among men. And the word dwell can probably be better expressed by another word: abide. It is the will of God that He will abide with and in man, so that man may abide with and in God. And we know the word abide simply means to make home.
God’s desire is to make His home in man and with man, and thus man may find in God his eternal home. So it is the original thought of God: to tabernacle, to dwell, to abide—He in man, and man in Him.
But unfortunately, man failed because man rebelled against God’s command. The will of God was frustrated. The work of God, the plan of God, was delayed. But the purpose of God never changed, and because of that we find in the Scriptures how God began to work.
As our Lord Jesus said, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work.” First, He delivered a nation, Israel, out of Egypt. He brought them to Himself. Then, at Mount Sinai, He gave them not only the law, but the tabernacle.
God expressed His desire to His redeemed people Israel, saying, “I want to dwell among you. And for this reason, build Me a tabernacle.” God dwelt among His people Israel through the tabernacle.
Of course, we know primarily that the tabernacle represents our Lord Jesus. How can God dwell among men except through our Lord Jesus? Secondarily, the tabernacle also represents the church. It is because of the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus that a new tabernacle, a new body, is being raised.
When our Lord Jesus came to this earth, it is said in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth.” When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the tabernacle of God on earth. Through Him, God tabernacled among men.
But after His death and resurrection, He received a new body, a corporate body—the body of Christ, the church. From that day until now, the church of God is the tabernacle of God among men. God is able to present Himself to mankind through the church, and God is to be seen and heard through the church. This is what the church is: the tabernacle of God with men.
But thank God, in the final stage, we find the tabernacle of God is the holy city, the New Jerusalem. The holy city, the New Jerusalem, is the consummation, the gathering up, of all the works of God throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament.
There in the holy city, you find the composite of the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints. This will become the holy city, the New Jerusalem. This will become the tabernacle of God with man. And this will be the permanent, eternal tabernacle of God with man.
God will dwell with man on the new earth through that tabernacle, and it will continue on for eternity.
John said, “I saw the holy city.” Now, this holy city is the wife of the Lamb. How can a city be a wife? Certainly, you cannot take this in a literal sense. You have to take it in the spiritual sense.
What is a city? What does a city represent? A city speaks of unity: many, yet one. Because in a city you find many people, and yet these many people become one city, one unity.
A city is where the government is. Therefore, when you speak of a city, it reminds you of government. There is a government, and only one government, over that city. A city speaks of order. There is an order there. It is not just something disorganized, something disintegrated, but a city speaks of a divine order.
Therefore, it speaks of the fact that, in the final consummation, God will have a city which is a unity, a oneness, under the government of His Son, because government shall be upon His shoulder. There will be a divine order.
A city speaks not only of separation, but also of protection. It is separated, and yet it is protected.
It is called a holy city. You know the word holy simply means set apart. It is in opposition to being common. It is not something common. It is not something for every purpose, but it is set apart for one purpose only, and that is to be for the Lord, the wife of the Lamb. That city is for the Lord and nothing else.
It is called the New Jerusalem. The Jerusalem of old was to the nation of Israel; so this New Jerusalem is to us. Jerusalem means peace. It is the city of peace.
But, strange to say, this peace does not come easily. It has to go through many conflicts, many battles, many controversies, many travails. But finally, when the Prince of Peace shall return, there will be peace in Jerusalem. And we are exhorted to pray for the peace of the city of peace.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is what the New Jerusalem will be. It will be a city of peace. But it is not a peace that comes by compromise, by negotiation, which is never lasting. It is a peace that comes by purity and by righteousness.
When the Prince of Peace shall rule over this earth, you will find He will rule through this city, the New Jerusalem. He shall reign in that city, and through that city He shall reign over the whole earth.
Jerusalem is the center of the national life of the people of Israel. We find it in Psalm 122: all the tribes flow together to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. Therefore, Jerusalem is the very center of the life together of the people of Israel.
Dear brothers and sisters, this is what New Jerusalem will be to us. It will be the center of our life together. We are no longer scattered, but we shall all be together, and it will be centered upon the Lord, who is the very center of that city.
Jerusalem is where the temple is and where the throne is. The temple of God was built on Mount Moriah, and the throne of David was set up on Mount Zion. Jerusalem is built upon these lands. So, in Jerusalem you have the temple; in Jerusalem you have the throne; in Jerusalem there is worship; and in Jerusalem there is dominion and authority.
So in this New Jerusalem we find the same thing. The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be set in the center of that city. There will be no temple in the city. Why? Because the whole city is a temple.
There His people shall worship Him. There His people shall serve Him. And there His people shall reign as kings forever and ever. So, dear brothers and sisters, here you find, at the very last, the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. Everything is ready, and this is the wife of the Lamb.
It is a very real thing. When you look at this city, you will find this city is nothing but a complete expression of Christ. In that city, you will find Christ is indeed all and in all. There is nothing but Christ, and yet Christ is being all in us all. We know this is the purpose of God: that Christ may be all and in all.
Now, just look at this city for a moment. When John saw the city coming down out of heaven, first he saw the outward appearance of that city. Then gradually he was led into the city, even to the center of the city. Whatever he saw outwardly was but the manifestation of what was inwardly, what was in the center of that city.
First of all, you find he saw the outward appearance of the city. When the city descended from heaven, he said he saw the city with the shining of God. It shines with the shining of God. Why is it so? Because God and the Lamb are the light of that city.
In that city there is no need for sun or moon. God Himself is the light, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof. In other words, God and the Lamb are the light of that city.
But there is another point we have to remember. Why is it that John saw the shining of God in that city? Because all the materials of the city are made in such a way that they are transparent.
Whether they are gold—transparent gold. Now, we have never seen any gold that is transparent, because there is always impurity there. But one day you will find the gold there is transparent like crystal. You can see through it.
The wall is made of jasper, a stone of blue color, and yet it is crystal-like jasper. Now, you have never seen crystal-like jasper today. Why? Because today there is so much impurity. But one day you will find a wall made of crystal-like jasper.
In other words, you will find that the material not only represents Christ, but there is no shadow and there is no shade. It is all crystal-like; it is all transparent. There is no spot, no wrinkle.
When the light of God shines through this gold, through these stones, through these things, you will find that the light shines through. There is no resistance. There is no deflection. The light is able to shine right through the whole city. The whole city is so transparent. The light of God just shines through it, and not only through it, but is magnified by it.
The reflection of light in the city is tremendous, and this is the reason why, when John saw the city, he saw the shining of God.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, is it not the will of God that He shall be magnified and manifested through us, His people? But today, no matter how much Christ is reflected by us, we deflect Him. Somehow, there is resistance somewhere.
In other words, there is always some impurity within us. There is always some shadow, some shade there. We are opaque. We are not as transparent—no resistance, no spot, no wrinkle.
Oh, brothers and sisters, how sometimes we cry, “O Lord, why is it that people do not see Thee as Thou art?” Why? Because they see more of us than of Christ. They may see some of Christ, but even that some of Christ is being distorted. Why? Because we are so full of self. There are so many spots and wrinkles in us.
But, dear brothers and sisters, thank God the Holy Spirit is working toward that end. When that end shall arrive, truly the church shall be a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, and it shall be without blemish.
One day you will find Christ is so incorporated in our lives, Christ is so wrought into our lives, that it is nothing but Christ. There will be no more resistance. On the one hand, it is we; yet on the other hand, it is Christ. It is Christ in us, and yet Christ all and in all.
Not only the life of God will be there, but the light of God will be magnified by that city. So John saw the shining of God.
It is by that light, the light of the city, that the nations walk before God. In other words, the light of God enlightens the city, and the light of the city enlightens the nations. In that light the nations shall walk, and the result is that they shall bring worship to God.
Dear brothers and sisters, in a very small way, if we walk in the light as God is in the light, it is true we shall have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all our sins. But, on the other hand, if we walk in the light, we shall be the light of the world. The world shall walk in our light.
But if we do not walk in the light, then how can we enlighten the world? How can the world walk in the light? And how can they come and worship God?
So here you find the consummation of God. When eternity shall begin, the work of God is completed. The work of transformation is fulfilled.
Brothers and sisters, what is the work of the Holy Spirit today? The work of the Holy Spirit today is predominantly and mainly the work of transformation. He is transforming us from glory to glory according to the image of God’s Son.
But one day the transformation shall be completed. The transformation shall be perfect. And this is the holy city, the New Jerusalem.
Dear brothers and sisters, thank God. If it were left to us to complete it, we would never make it. But thank God, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. God has entrusted His work to His own Spirit, and the Holy Spirit shall complete it.
The day shall come when the Old Testament and the New Testament saints, the redeemed, the entire work of God throughout all the ages, shall be consummated in that holy city. And God shall be magnified: the shining of God.
John took a closer look, and he saw the wall and the foundation. The wall was made of crystal-like jasper. Jasper is blue in color, and blue is a heavenly color.
In Revelation chapter 4, we find One who sits upon the throne who looks like a jasper stone. In other words, this jasper stone speaks of God’s own nature—how heavenly He is. Yet it is crystal-like.
We shall be heavenly. There will be nothing earthly. It shall be crystal-like jasper. The wall is of tremendous height: 144 cubits. One cubit is from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. We have never seen a city wall as high as this wall.
Why is it so high? Because it is so separated; it is so well protected. Dear brothers and sisters, we know in the very beginning that God planted a Garden of Eden, which means the garden of pleasure. Everything was so pleasant in the garden, and yet, because there was no wall, the enemy slipped in and tempted man.
But thank God, in the eternity to come, you will find our holy city is a garden. It is a garden. Why? Because you find the tree of life everywhere. Yet it is walled. There is a tremendously high wall all around the city, well protected. There will be no more danger of the enemy coming in.
Holy separation. And, of course, brothers and sisters, we know separation is not just an external thing. Separation is the impartation, the incorporation, of the life of God in us. The more the life of God is built up in us, the more we are separated, the more we are protected.
In the final stage, you find the separation is complete. The protection is perfect. It is 144 cubits. It is a multiple of twelve, and twelve is a number of eternal completeness.
How about the foundation? You will find the foundation is made of twelve precious stones. Every stone is different, and these twelve foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, on the one hand, whatever precious stone it may be—whether it be jasper, whether it be emerald, whether it be some other precious stone—you will find all these precious stones are nothing but the expression of Christ in different individuals.
It is Christ, and yet it is Christ in Peter. It is Christ in John. It is Christ in James. In other words, our identity will never be lost. Do not think that because it will be Christ all and in all, therefore we will lose our identity. Not at all.
You know, in the English world, if you try to make people the same, the one thing to do is to try to make them lose their identity. So they lose their identity, and become only one part of the whole.
But, dear brothers and sisters, God has something much better. On the one hand, it is Christ all and in all. It is neither you nor me, neither Jew nor Gentile. Yet, on the other hand, we never lose our identity.
Peter is always Peter to eternity. John is always John to eternity. James is always James to eternity, and you are always you to eternity. Now, do not copy anybody. Because if you copy anybody, you cannot be anything else; you will still be you. So do not waste your time. It is no use. Your identity will always be there.
Brothers and sisters, our individualism must be dealt with by the cross, but individuality always remains. Therefore, you find twelve stones bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and every stone is different.
It is Christ, but the way Christ is wrought into Peter is very different from the way Christ is wrought into John. John expresses Christ in a unique way, and Peter expresses Christ in a particular way. You ought to express Christ in your way.
Dear brothers and sisters, you are not expressing yourself, and I am not expressing myself, but we are all expressing Christ. It takes all of us to express Him as all and in all.
At the gates there are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Why? Because salvation comes from the Jews. God, in the beginning, called Abraham, and from Abraham came the nation of Israel, and a Savior was to come from that nation.
There are twelve gates. Twelve speaks again of the work of the Holy Spirit. Oh, how the Holy Spirit works! Even though He was not present on this earth as He is now during Old Testament times—He came to be on this earth when our Lord Jesus was glorified—yet we find, even in the Old Testament, it is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Here you find Israel and the church, all the redeemed of the Lord, through the work of the Holy Spirit throughout the ages, being gathered together into the holy city to be the wife of the Lamb.
Look a little closer. As you enter into the city, you find a street there. The street is made of pure gold, transparent as glass. Again, we have never seen such gold. You do not have it on earth. But gold speaks of the nature of God.
You know, what is a street? A street in Scripture always speaks of fellowship. Why? Because you walk on the street. If you want to go anywhere, you have to walk on the street. It leads you there.
But, dear brothers and sisters, on this earth there are too many streets. There are dead-end streets, and one-way streets, and you find yourselves all confused—completely confused. But here, brothers and sisters, one day there will be only one street.
That street will lead you to the throne—nowhere else. You will never get lost there. You will never come to a dead end. Here you find the fellowship of the saints; it is on the basis of the divine life of God. This is the street.
Oh, how sad it is that people today do not maintain that fellowship on the ground of Christ. Instead, they try to maintain their fellowship on certain doctrines, certain forms, certain systems, certain ways, and methods. Brothers and sisters, all these are highways and byways, but they lead to dead ends.
But there is only one street, and that street—that fellowship—is on gold: pure gold, transparent. In other words, our fellowship is based on the life of God in Christ, and nothing else. Our fellowship shall be so open, so transparent.
You know, today, even though we do fellowship, sometimes we feel we have to hide something. We think that if we are too open, we will be misunderstood. People will look down upon us.
But, dear brothers and sisters, if our fellowship is purely on the ground of Christ, it can be transparent as transparent gold. It is the fellowship of the life of Christ, one with another. This fellowship will lead us to the throne, will lead us to God. It will not lead us astray, away from God, but it will lead us to God and lead us to worship.
There is only one street and one river of life. This river of life comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and it goes through the whole city.
Wherever the river of life goes, the tree of life grows. It grows in the midst of the river; it grows on the two sides of the river; and the tree of life is everywhere.
Brothers and sisters, a river of life and a tree of life growing everywhere speaks of life abundant. In other words, in that city it is nothing but life. It is nothing but the life of God. The love of God flows and overflows. Thank God.
As our Lord Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” How this is fully realized! It is life.
How much of our fellowship today is life? One day it will be life. It will be life abundant. Everywhere you see life.
There is no more death, no more tears, no more pain, no more distress. All things have passed away. Even no sun or moon is needed in the city.
You know, brothers and sisters, we need the sun today. We need the moon today. If the sun should be completely blotted out, within seconds we would all be frozen. We need the moon. We need all these things. These things make us live. They are absolute necessities.
But one day we shall find in God, in Christ, all our need. We will be delivered from even the need of the sun or the moon. Think of that.
How much are we delivered today from these physical things? The Lord is delivering us, but still you find many physical things are absolute necessities. We need the sun; we need the moon. But one day, even the sun and moon, we will not need them.
Why? Because we find in Christ our all in all. He is our sun. He is our moon. He is our light. He is our everything. Oh, thank God for that day! What a deliverance it will be.
We will not lean upon anything physical anymore. God is everything to us.
Then you go to the very center of that city. The very center of the city is the explanation, the meaning, of the city. It is the sense and the explanation of the city. What do you find in the center? In the center you find the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Oh, brothers and sisters, one day the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be eternally set up in the city of God. Through that city, He shall reign over the new heaven and the new earth.
All who are in the city are kings. They shall reign with God and with Christ throughout eternity. They shall have the name of God upon their foreheads, and they shall serve Him as servants forever.
What do we see here? We see Christ all and in all. We see God all in all. We see Christ in the center, in the midst of the city. And we see the city as a corporate expression of God and of His Christ for eternity.
Oh, brothers and sisters, this is the realization of the eternal purpose of God. And God said, “Write it down, because all these words are true and faithful.” And He said, “It is done. I have done it. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, we have such a blessed hope before us. Oh, how we need to look forward to that day! Sometimes, you know, when we look around, we wonder. Sometimes, when we look at ourselves, we are disappointed.
So let us look up and see that God is going to get what He wants. Christ shall be all and in all. We shall be His eternal home, and for us, He is our tabernacle.
Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, our hearts do rejoice in Thy presence, knowing that Thou art God—Thou, the God who worketh even now until Thy purpose is fulfilled.
For how we praise and thank Thee that it is Thy will that Christ shall be all and in all, and it shall be.
Oh, we pray that even today we may learn something of that nature, that we do not need to postpone and delay Thy working, but in a way we may speed up Thy work by yielding and cooperating with Thee.
How we long that Christ may truly be all in all to us, individually and together. And we look forward to that day when the shining of God shall become the shining of the city, and the nations shall walk in the light thereof.
To Thee be all the praise and glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.