In the last chapter we saw the four conditions of the New Jerusalem. The city has God Himself and the Lamb as its temple, the throne of God and of the Lamb, and the river of water of life proceeding out of the throne with the tree of life yielding the fruits of life abundantly. Moreover, the glory of God is fully expressed in the city as its illumination.
These four points reveal the four conditions of a builded church. If the church has been built up by God, first of all it will have God’s presence-God will be in our midst as the temple. Second, there will be the throne of God and of the Lamb-God’s ruling will be among us. Third, God’s life will flow among us to be our supply so that the thirsty ones may be satisfied and the hungry ones may be filled. Fourth, there will be the expression of God’s glory as the illumination among us.
If we have these conditions among us, this proves that we have been built up, that we have God’s building among us. It also proves that we are in harmony and in oneness because anything that is built up will be harmonious and one. For example, this meeting hall was built with numerous materials, but since all these materials have been joined together, they are in harmony and in oneness. This harmony, this oneness, shows that they have been built together. Likewise, regardless of where we may be, as those who are serving God we must have this harmony. This harmony comes from our being built together. Whenever we come together, if we have not experienced the building work of the Holy Spirit and are still only a pile of material, we will not have the genuine harmony and oneness. In this condition it will be difficult to detect the presence of God and the throne of God among us, and it will also be difficult for people to receive the supply of life and to see God’s light. However, wherever there is a group of saints who have passed through the building work of the Holy Spirit so that they have become one, you will sense the presence of God and the throne of God among them. Moreover, you will be able to touch the moving of the Holy Spirit as the living water, as well as receive the supply of the bread of life among them. Not only so, you will be able to touch God’s light and sense that everyone is full of light. All these conditions are proof that they have been built up. We can see that these are the conditions of a builded church based on the contents of the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem has gates (Rev. 21:12-13), and anyone who wants to enter the city and participate in the building of God has to pass through these gates.
First of all, we need to see that this city has a total of twelve gates. There are gates on all four sides: three on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. This implies that it is very convenient for people to enter into the city; there is no difficulty at all. In addition, the number twelve has a spiritual meaning. The numbers used in the Scriptures all have spiritual meanings. Notice that in the New Jerusalem the number twelve appears frequently. Furthermore, in this case the number twelve is derived from multiplying four (four sides-east, north, south, and west) by three (three gates on each side). The number three denotes the Triune God, the God who came in resurrection to be man’s life. The Triune God came to have a relationship with man and to be man’s life through incarnation, death, and resurrection. In other words, it is through the Father’s entering into the Son, the Son’s entering into the Spirit, and the Spirit’s entering into man. By passing through these three steps the Triune God came to be man’s life. All these things are implied in the number three. In the Scriptures the number four denotes the creatures; for example, Revelation 4:6 refers to the four living creatures. Therefore, three times four implies the mingling of God with man. The complete mingling of God and man becomes twelve. Twelve is the number of eternal completion, the number of the completion of God’s building. Anything built up by God should be the issue of the mingling of God with man. The number that we use to signify this is twelve.
Therefore, now it is easy to understand what it means for the city to have twelve gates. For the city to have twelve gates signifies that the entrance to this building is produced out of the mingling of God and man. If there is only man or if there is only God, there cannot be the gates. Only when God is mingled with man can there be the gates.
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