Will you please turn to the book of
Revelation?
Chapter 21.
Revelation Chapter 21.
We'll read from the first verse through verse
seven.
And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the
fourth earth had passed away, and the sea
exists no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down out of the heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice out of
the heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he shall tabernacle with
them, and they shall be his people, and
God himself shall be with them their God,
and he shall wipe away every tear from
their eyes, and death shall not exist any
more, nor grief, nor cry, nor distress shall
exist any more, for the former things have
passed away.
And he that sat on the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new.
And he says to me, Write, for these
words are true and faithful.
And he said to me, It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end.
I will give to him the thirst of
the fountain, of the water of life freely.
He that overcomes shall inherit those things, and
I will be to him God.
Chapter Twenty-Two, Verse Twenty.
He that testifies these things says, Yea, I
come quickly.
Amen.
Come, Lord.
Lord, as we come to the last session
of the ministry of Thy word, we do
acknowledge Thee as the end, as Thou art
the beginning.
We just commit this time into Thy hands
and ask Thee again that Thou wilt open
our eyes, that we may see what Thy
servant John saw.
We pray that our hearts will really be
touched by Thee and be drawn to Thee,
that we may cry out, Come, Lord Jesus,
in the name of our Lord Jesus.
This is the last session of the ministry
of God's word.
Through the week, by the grace of God,
we have shared with you on this matter
of trust on to fullness.
First of all, we must see the fullness
of Christ, and having seen His fullness, we
are called to enter into it.
We have gone through the whole New Testament,
the fullness of Christ in the Gospel, in
the book of Acts, in the epistles, and
in the book of Revelation.
And now we come to the end of
the last book of the Bible.
In other words, here we see the consummation
of all things.
We see the fullness of Christ manifested in
all things.
Even before the foundation of the world, in
eternity past, God has made a will according
to His good pleasure.
He wants His Son to have the first
place in all things.
And that is to say, He wants all
things to manifest the glory of His Beloved.
He wants the fullness of Himself that is
located in His Son to fill all things.
God made this will according to His good
pleasure.
And then He began to work in time.
Even though we find that during that period
called time, it seems as if His plan
was frustrated from time to time.
But we do thank God that He continued
to work until one day His will will
be fully realized.
In the fullness of time, God sent His
Beloved Son into the world.
And when His Son was crucified on the
cross, before He gave up His spirit to
the Father, He shouted with a loud shout,
it is finished.
That is to say, the work of redemption
is finished.
He has laid the foundation for the restoration
of all things.
He has reconciled all things by the blood
of the cross to His fullness.
And after that, it is just a development
of that which has been laid.
And now when you come to Revelation chapter
21, you find that God declared, behold, I
have made all things new.
It is done.
The word it is done actually means they
are fulfilled.
And there you find the Apostle John, he
saw the old heaven and the old earth
have passed away, burned.
There will be a new heaven and a
new earth.
And he saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
descending from above from God upon this earth.
And this city, New Jerusalem, is the manifestation
of the fullness of Christ in a topperate
way.
This morning, we want to see that vision.
The vision that the Apostle John saw almost
2,000 years ago.
You know, when John saw the New Jerusalem,
the tabernacle of God, coming to man.
When he saw this, you know what he
did?
It was so good, tremendous, that he fell
down and worshipped the messenger, because the news
was so good.
And of course the angel said, no, don't
do that.
We are fellow servants.
Worship God.
You know, in this book of Revelation, I
think it is very interesting if you notice
the reaction of John.
Sometimes you find John wept, and now you
find he did a most foolish thing, as
it were.
You know, John knew the law so well,
he knew God so well, and yet somehow
you'll find when he saw that vision of
New Jerusalem, it touched his heart so much
that he forgot he worshipped the angel.
And he was forbidden to do that.
Now, you must understand the feeling of John
at that moment.
And if you understand his feeling, probably you
will not blame him.
Brothers and sisters, do we have the same
reaction?
If we see New Jerusalem, if we see
what God has done, brothers and sisters, we
will really be beside ourselves.
We do not know what to do, and
we will really worship God.
What a God we have.
What He has done.
The holy city, the New Jerusalem, is the
corporate expression of the fullness of Christ.
Truly it is that body that is filled
with the fullness.
Now, in order to know this New Jerusalem,
probably it will be good for us to
know what Jerusalem is.
I think we are all familiar with the
name Jerusalem.
It is a city, a city of peace.
It is a city on earth that God
put His name there.
It is a city in which
there is the temple of Solomon.
In other words, in that city God dwells.
In that city He rules.
In that city He is served and worshiped.
And the people of God will grow to
that city, as the psalmist said, the twelve
tribes will go to that city as a
testimony, a testimony of the oneness of God's
people.
And out of that city the law goes
forth.
And all the nations will come and bring
their tribute.
This is Jerusalem on earth.
The first mentioning of Jerusalem is found in
Genesis chapter fourteen.
We find that when Abraham defeated the four
kings, rescued Lot, and as he came back
from victory, he was met by a king,
Melchizedek, king of Salem.
You know, it is really a very strange
thing, because there you find the land of
Canaan, where the seven tribes, the Canaanites, live.
And we know that the Canaanites represent the
evil forces in this world.
And they occupied that land.
But in the midst of these seven tribes
of the Canaanites, you find there was a
city, the city of Salem, of peace.
And there was a king in that city,
Melchizedek, the king of righteousness.
And he came to meet Abraham.
He gave Abraham wine and bread.
And he blessed Abraham.
Brothers and sisters, that is the first mentioning
of Salem, the city of Salem, Jerusalem.
And then later on you find this city
was occupied by the Jebusites.
And in second Samuel, when David became king,
the first thing he did, he went and
took Jerusalem out of the hand of the
Jebusites, and made it the capital there.
Why?
Because evidently, by revelation, he knew that this
was the place where God had chosen to
put his name there.
So he set his throne there.
And then Solomon, his son, built the temple
there.
After the nation of Israel was divided into
the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern
kingdom of Judah, Jerusalem remained as the capital
of the southern kingdom for about five hundred
years.
And then we know it was destroyed by
the Babylonian army.
And the people of God were taken into
Babylonian captivity.
Even though it is the city of peace.
But we find that this city knew more
turmoil, confusion, war, than any other city in
the world.
This city had been occupied by many nations.
But we find in the book of Isaiah,
chapter two, we find that at the end
of the days, the mountain of God's house
will be lifted up, and all nations will
flow into it.
Brothers and sisters, this is Jerusalem.
But even this Jerusalem will pass away.
Because when the old earth passed away, Jerusalem
on earth also will pass away.
But what God is really after is what
Jerusalem on earth represents.
What God really is after is that new
Jerusalem.
In other words, all that Jerusalem represents will
be realized fully in new Jerusalem.
That new Jerusalem is not earthly.
It is heavenly.
It descends from heaven upon the new earth.
This new Jerusalem is not physical.
It is spiritual.
Can you imagine a city as wife?
Surely this should tell us that what God
desires to show us is the principles, is
the spiritual reality, not a literal city.
New Jerusalem is a city.
But it is not a literal city.
How can a city become a wife?
But we find that all the characteristics, the
principles, the spiritual principles are all being manifested
in this new Jerusalem.
Just like when we say, our Lord Jesus
is the Lamb of God.
He is a Lamb.
But is He literally a Lamb?
Of course not.
He is the Lamb of God because He
has the spirit, the character of the Lamb.
And this is the same thing with that
holy city, the new Jerusalem.
It is the final, corporate expression of the
fullness of Christ.
The foundation that Christ has laid on Calvary's
cross and God has built is finalized in
that city.
As a matter of fact, even Abraham looked
forward to that city.
You remember in Hebrews chapter 11, Abraham was
a pilgrim, a stranger, sojourning in the promised
land.
And the Bible said, if he wants to
return to his own home, his own Caldea,
he could do that.
But he was looking forward to a city
with foundations, built by God Himself.
Brothers and sisters, all the saints in the
Old Testament time, and all the saints in
the New Testament time, we are all looking
forward to that city, the holy city, the
new Jerusalem, that God has built, and it
will be the fullness of Christ in a
corporate.
First of all, this new Jerusalem is a
city.
A city speaks to us of unity.
A city is a unit, is an aggregate
of people, many but one, many people, but
they live together as one unit.
Under one government, under one rule, one administration,
this is what a city is.
I have to intrude into my brother's territory,
because he did it last night.
Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13, you know there
is a goal before us, and that goal
is until we all arrive at the unity
of the faith and of the full knowledge
of the Son of God.
Here you are.
This new Jerusalem is a city.
It is the unity of the faith and
of the full knowledge of the Son of
God.
It is made of many people, but they
are one.
They are one under one government, and that
government is upon the shoulder of our Lord
Jesus.
There He is the head.
He is the Lord, unchallenged, fully submitted.
One day this will become a reality.
This is not only a city, this is
a bride, the Lamb's wife.
When you think of wife, bride, it tells
us of union.
It tells us of growth.
It tells us of love.
As our brother mentioned last night, you cannot
have a wife that is a baby.
He has to be full grown.
We are the body of Christ today, and
how our Lord Jesus loves His body.
No one hates His body, and here you
will find our Lord Jesus loves His body.
He sanctifies it, purifies it with the washing
of the water by the Word, in order
to present that body to Himself.
A glorious church without spot or wrinkle or
any of such sort, holy and blameless.
Brothers and sisters, this body is growing, is
growing into maturity, into a full grown man,
and when it has become a full grown
man, then our Lord will return and take
her to be His bride.
There will be that eternal union, and there
will be that everlasting love unto
a full grown man.
And again you'll find this city is not
only the Lamb's wife, it is also the
tabernacle of God among men.
Brothers and sisters, it is the eternal purpose
of God, eternal wish of God, to dwell
among His own.
He created man in His own image, gives
him the capacity to receive God into him,
that God may dwell in him and among
men.
After He redeemed the children of Israel out
of Egypt, He revealed to these redeemed people
His purpose of delivering them.
God did not deliver the children of Israel
out of Egypt just that they might be
free to do anything they want to do.
God delivered the children of Israel out of
Egypt with a very specific reason, and He
did not reveal that reason until He took
them to the Mount of Sinai, and there
He revealed to them He wanted to dwell
among them.
So He asked them to build a tabernacle
for Him, that He might live among His
people.
And later on you'll find David, who loved
God very much, who knew God's heart, he
desired to build a permanent house for God,
and God was pleased, and His son Solomon
built the temple.
And when the tabernacle was erected, the glory
of God came and filled the tabernacle.
When the temple was built, the glory of
God again came and filled that temple.
In other words, He loved the ages, but
the temple was destroyed.
The Son of God came into this world.
He was the real temple of God.
The glory of God rests upon Him.
We contemplate His glory, even as the glory
of the only begotten with the Father.
But that glory was veiled, because He came
in the flesh.
The glory was there within, but it was
veiled.
People did not see it.
Only those with spiritual eyes could see it.
Throughout His life on earth, only once that
glory broke out.
It was an amount of transfiguration.
But did the glory of God ever departed
from that temple?
It did.
When our Lord Jesus cried out, My God,
My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?
The glory.
There was darkness upon this earth, because
God's beloved Son is made a sin offering.
But thank God, now our Lord Jesus is
crowned with glory.
He has returned to His glory.
He poured out His Spirit on the day
of Pentecost, and glory filled the spiritual.
Brothers and sisters, on the day of Pentecost,
we see a hundred and twenty people.
They were baptized in one Spirit into one
body, and the glory of God in the
Spirit filled that body.
But unfortunately, we find how the church has
failed.
But thank God the day is coming, when
He shall have His tabernacle.
And you'll find the glory will fill that
tabernacle, and it will never depart.
And God will dwell among men.
God's purpose will be fulfilled.
An angel said to John, do you want
to have a closer look of that new
Jerusalem?
I will show you.
So that angel took him to a high
mountain in the Spirit, and he saw that
city full of glory.
It has the shining of the glory.
What is glory?
Many people have tried to explain.
Many people try to define.
But brothers and sisters, we find that whatever
definition we may try, it really, in a
sense, confine, limit what glory is.
Glory is undefinable.
What is glory?
Glory is what God is.
Glory is the sum total of the character
of God.
Glory is His presence and His satisfaction.
And here you'll find this city shines with
the glory of God.
In other words, it is a glorious church,
without spot or wrinkle or any of such.
This city is so transparent that the glory
of God can shine through it without distortion,
without discount.
To put it in another way, it is
full of glory, full of God, nothing else.
And then as John looked at this city,
he found her shining was like a most
precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone.
We know jasper stone.
We first read it in chapter four of
the book of Revelation.
When John was taken in spirit to heaven,
he saw a throne, and there one sitting
upon the throne.
And the appearance of the one on the
throne is like jasper and sardius.
So jasper here represents the character, the nature
of God.
So the shining is like a most precious
stone as a crystal-like jasper stone.
In other words, this city has taken up
the nature and character of God.
It is crystal-like.
In other words, it shines through without any
interruption.
It is all of God, nothing.
Then John saw this city.
Actually this city was a cube, because the
length and the width and the height are
equal.
He measured it, an angel measured it with
a golden reed, and you find the measurement
of the width and the length and the
height is 12,000 stadia, which is approximately
1,500 miles.
Can you think of a city 1,500
miles up, 1,500 miles wide, 1,500
miles long?
It will be from New York, I don't
know to where, to Miami.
And not only the width and the length,
but the height, 12,000 stadia.
It is the multiple of 12.
And 12 in the scripture speaks of perfection.
So here you'll find it is perfect measurement,
up to the full measure, unto the measure
of the statue of the fullness of Christ.
That is what it is.
And the wall is 144 cubits, roughly 200
feet, that is the wall.
Again a multiple of 12, perfect.
So you'll find this whole city is just
perfect.
We will be like Him, as He is,
by the grace of God.
Grace will do that.
And the wall is made of jasper.
We mentioned already jasper represents the nature, character
of God.
What is a wall for?
You see, wall in the scripture is very
important.
The problem in the beginning of human history
is a problem of wall.
Because there is a garden, but there is
no wall.
Actually God wants Adam to be that wall,
but Adam failed.
So you'll find the enemy crept in, tempted
man, and man failed.
No wall.
Wall is separation.
Wall is protection.
Wall, walls in all that is within it.
And it excludes all that is without it.
Wall is very important in the scripture.
You'll find in the recovery of Jerusalem, you
have to have the wall built up.
Even though the temple was rebuilt, but without
a wall, it wasn't finished.
But here you'll find a finished product, the
wall.
And the wall is 144 cubits.
We have never seen a wall that high.
It is a perfect separation.
And that wall is made of jasper.
In other words, it is the very life
of God that makes the separation.
The full life of God.
The full separation.
And we know separation is but another word
of holiness.
This is a holy city.
This is a city that is separated from
all that is not of God.
And it includes all that is of God.
Well, brothers and sisters, what is holiness?
We are supposed to be a holy nation,
a holy people.
We are supposed to be separated from the
world.
Separated from anything that is not of God.
But how are we separate?
Are we separated by keeping some rules and
regulations?
No.
We are separated by the life.
The reason why you find God's people are
not holy, are not separated as we should
be.
It is not because we do not have
enough rules and regulations.
It is because we are lacking in life.
As we grow in life, in the life
of God, in Christ Jesus, brothers and sisters,
it naturally separates us from all that is
not of God.
It will separate us from the world, from
ourselves, from self, from sea, from the enemy,
from anything that is not of God.
And it will keep us in all that
is of God.
So here you'll find holiness is completed.
Brothers and sisters, it is not the will
of God in Ephesians chapter 1, it says,
that God wants us to be holy and
without blameless before Him in love.
And here you'll find holiness.
This is a holy city.
Twelve foundations with twelve precious stones, bearing the
name of the twelve apostles.
Now brothers and sisters, we all know that
this city with foundations that God built, in
one sense it has only one foundation.
The apostle Paul tells us there is no
other foundation, but the foundation that he has
laid, which is Christ Jesus.
The Lord Jesus Himself declared, I will build
my church upon this rock, and the gates
of Hades shall not prevail against it.
In other words, He is the rock.
He is the foundation.
He is the foundation of that holy city,
New Jerusalem.
And yet you'll find the scripture says there
are twelve foundations of twelve precious stones.
And even in Ephesians chapter 2, you'll find
it is said that the apostles and the
prophets, they are the foundations of that habitation
of God.
Now is there any contradiction?
No.
Why?
Because here you'll find these twelve precious stones,
even though they are all distinct, different.
One represents Peter, one represents John, one represents
James, and you'll find they are all different.
There is still that individuality there.
You can recognize these different stones.
They are not just one stone, one kind
of precious stone, but they are all different
precious stones.
They all have different color and different brilliancy.
And yet, brothers and sisters, even though you
do have all the differences, but they are
just the varieties of Christ in each.
In other words, the apostles do not have
their teachings.
The teaching of the apostles is none other
but the teaching of Christ.
The apostles have no other fellowship but the
fellowship of Christ.
It is through the prophets and the apostles
that Christ is made known to us.
And that is the reason why we find
the foundations of the prophets and the teachers.
But in actuality, it is Christ.
Outwardly, you see Peter.
Actually, it is Christ in Peter.
The gates are made of pearls.
Pearl speaks of the work of the Holy
Spirit.
How the Holy Spirit works very patiently in
us, in order to bring us to Christ.
It bears the name of the twelve tribes
of Israel, because salvation comes from the Jews.
You have the shining of the glory of
God.
You have the foundations of the work of
Christ Jesus.
You have the gates of the pearls of
the operation of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, here you will find the
Triune God has done the work and produced
this holy city, New Jerusalem.
Look a little bit closer.
And you find this city is made of
gold.
You remember in the temple, the house that
Solomon built, he overlaid the house with gold.
But here you find the whole city is
gold.
It is not just overlaid with gold.
It is pure gold.
It is transparent gold.
We have never seen such gold.
Gold represents again the nature of God.
So you find this whole city is built
with God's own nature.
There is nothing of wood.
Of straw.
It is all of God.
Again it is transparent.
And there is only one street there.
People try to figure out with that huge
city, twelve gates, how can it be that
there is only one street?
And some people come up with the idea
of a spiral that goes around and around
and around until it reaches the top where
the throne of God and the Lamb is.
But anyway you find there is only one
street.
And the street is of gold.
You know, we often sing the song that
we walk on the street of gold.
I don't know if you really like it.
Because that gold is transparent Street in the
scripture speaks of fellowship.
You walk on the street.
You go and come on the street.
It speaks of fellowship.
And here you find the fellowship of all
the things.
We have only one fellowship.
One street.
Today you have many bypass.
But in New Jerusalem there is no bypass.
Only one street.
Today you find this fellowship and that fellowship.
You find that we want to fellowship with
these people but we don't want fellowship with
that people.
But in that day you will find there
is only one fellowship.
It is the fellowship of God's Son.
It is the fellowship in the Spirit.
It is the fellowship of the saints.
One fellowship.
And all fellowship leads to the throne.
And it all comes from the throne.
You know, brothers and sisters, what is fellowship?
Oftentimes we think gossip is fellowship.
It does not lead us to the throne.
Neither does it come forth from the throne.
Fellowship.
Through fellowship we are being led to God.
Fellowship comes from God.
From Christ.
We fellowship Christ.
And the more we fellowship, the more we
draw nigh.
And that fellowship is really open fellowship.
There is no hiding.
Because the goal is transparent.
Everything in you is visible.
Every thought is visible.
Every word is heard.
There is no hiding.
It is open fellowship.
Brothers and sisters, how we long for that.
Today, you know, when we fellowship with one
another, somehow we try to cover up something.
We have to.
There is still not that open fellowship.
No hiding.
Transparent to one another.
Wonderful.
When that day, strangely there is not only
just one street.
There is only one river.
There is a river of life that comes,
flows out from the throne of God.
And this river goes through the whole city.
I don't know whether that river is in
the midst of the street.
And then you'll find tree of life.
Just one tree.
But that one tree covers the whole city.
On this side and that side of the
street.
And that tree produces twelve fruits.
One in each season.
Of course we know that river of life
signifies the Holy Spirit.
Here you'll find the Holy Spirit.
The fullness of the Spirit.
It flows through the whole city.
And it produces the fruit according to season,
according to needs.
There is no lacking.
The center of that city is the throne.
The throne of God and of the Lamb.
And all who are in that city, they
are kings.
They have the name of God upon their
forehead.
And they serve God.
Brothers and sisters, this is the picture of
eternity.
This is the picture when God's will is
fully realized.
This is the picture of the fullness of
Christ manifested in a culprit.
This is what God is doing.
This is what the Spirit of God is
working in each one of us until we
arrive.
Until God has what He wants.
Until the Son has His bride.
Brothers and sisters, is it a dream?
It is real.
With man it is impossible.
But with God all things are possible.
He is doing it.
He will do it.
He who calls us is faithful.
He will perform it.
For brothers and sisters, when we are given
such a vision of what eventually, finally, God
will possess, is our heart stirred
just like John did?
Are we really attracted by what we see?
Are we now willing to give up everything?
Are we willing to cooperate with the Holy
Spirit?
Are we willing to deny ourselves, take up
the cross and follow Him?
Because this is the goal.
This is what by the grace of God
we will arrive.
For God and for ourselves.
Brothers and sisters, what a God we have.
How good, precious are His thoughts.
What He has done for us in Christ
Jesus.
What He is laboring by His Spirit patiently
with us even now.
May we always have that vision before us.
And may we be a worshiper.
Dear Heavenly Father, our God, we worship Thee.
What Thou has willed is beyond our thinking,
our comprehension.
But we know that Thou has purposed.
In Thy beloved Son, such a tremendous, glorious,
O how we praise and thank Thee the
day is coming when the glory of God
shall fill the universe, when the fullness of
Christ shall fill all things.
Praise and thank God that Thou has called
us with such a high calling.
O our cry unto Thee is, may that
day come.
Come Lord Jesus.