The street of pure gold is always connected to the gates of pearl. Without the gates of pearl, it would be difficult to find the street of pure gold. Let me give some simple illustrations. When the brothers serve together, the most difficult thing is that they have different dispositions and feelings. We know that no one is without a disposition and without some feeling. Moreover, each one’s disposition and feeling are usually different from the others’ disposition and feeling. Some have a quick disposition, while others have a slow disposition. Some have a disposition that prefers things to be big while others have a disposition that prefers things to be small. Some like to make a show while others like to be hidden. Some are extroverts while others are introverts. Since we have many differences in our dispositions, we have different feelings accordingly. Those with a quick disposition feel that everything must be done quickly while those with a slow disposition feel that everything has to be carried out slowly. Because of different feelings, there are different opinions. Our view, our way, and our opinion cannot be separated from our feeling, and our feeling cannot be separated from our disposition. All these different human dispositions, human feelings, and human opinions become problems in the building of the church. Each one has his own disposition, each one has his own feeling, and each one has his own idea. It is difficult for the saints to be built together if they all have different ideas.

Therefore, the Word of God shows us that if we want to be part of the building of the church, we have to enter in through the pearl gates; that is, we need to pass through the cross and be dealt with by God. This means that in the church we need to deny our feeling and our disposition. If you are a quick person, you must deny your quickness. If you are a slow person, you must deny your slowness. If you are one who likes everything to be big, you have to deny this desire for bigness. If you are one who likes everything to be small, you must deny this desire for smallness. If you deny your disposition and reject your feeling, God’s nature will spontaneously be manifested. If all the responsible brothers in the church would practice this whenever they discuss matters in their administration of the church, God’s nature will spontaneously be manifested among them, and whatever they decide and do will all be transparent and full of God’s nature.

I say again, never employ human methods and human schemes in the church. All natural abilities, wisdom, and power, and all human ingenuity have to be broken. We all have to learn this critical lesson of absolutely denying ourselves. We must learn to deny our disposition, our feeling, our inclination, our preference, our discernment, and our emotions, including joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. The more intense our denying is, the more the pure gold will be manifested. The more thorough the breaking is, the more God will gain His ground. Then the church that we are in will be full of God’s nature and become a city of the pure gold of God. Not only so, we will walk on the street of God’s nature. The Scriptures say that the city is pure gold and that the street is also pure gold. This signifies that God Himself is the building itself and that He is also the street. Thus, the city and the street are not only joined together; they are one entity. If you have the city, you have the street. If you have the street, you also have the city.

I believe that we all understand what this means. The building is the street. The work you and I are doing is this street. The church you and I are building is this street. Whenever we completely deny ourselves and live in the nature of God, our service will not only issue in the building of the church but also lead people to the way of God when they come into our midst.

Regrettably, however, many of those who work for God and those who oversee the church have not been broken in their disposition, preferences, desires, and inclinations. As a result, their service has very little element of the building. For the church to be built up, the natural element must decrease while the element of God must increase. Not only so, we should arrive at a state where the natural element is reduced to zero, while God’s element becomes everything. Then, whatever remains will be pure gold, the nature of God, God Himself. This is the building itself and the street as well. It is here that God’s children have a way to walk. When someone comes into our midst, no matter who he is, including even the most foolish person, he will be able to touch the way. He will not sense natural wisdom, intelligence, feeling, or disposition. He will sense that only God is among us and that only Christ is here. From beginning to end everything is God Himself. In such a situation you have to worship God, because here there is the building of God and God has gained all the ground. This is the proper way for the church to take.

Moreover, the Scriptures also say that the street of pure gold is as clear as transparent glass. It is a marvelous thing that every section of the street in the New Jerusalem is transparent. The same is true in a church which has been built up. Sometimes when you attend a service meeting of a certain church, you see that the brothers and sisters are submissive to each other and are in great harmony. During the discussion of certain matters, each one of them spontaneously expresses the feeling that they have before God. While you are in the meeting, you feel crystal clear within. You sense that there is not only a street, but there is also transparency. However, when you attend a service meeting in another locality, you may see the opposite situation. When the brothers and sisters begin to discuss a certain matter, one of them will suggest one thing while another one will propose another thing. The amazing thing is that the more suggestions and proposals they have, the more you sense darkness and confusion. It seems that you are confined in a room with walls of brass and iron in which there is total darkness. I believe that we all have had this kind of experience. What kind of situation is this? This situation indicates the absence of a transparent street. We can use this to test whether or not there is building among us.

Now I would like to add another point. In the middle of the street of pure gold is a river of water of life, and on the two sides of the river grows the tree of life (Rev. 22:1-2). In my youth whenever I read this portion, I was perplexed. I thought that since the tree of life grows on both sides of the river, there must be many trees. But when I read the Greek text, it said that there was one tree. I simply could not understand how one tree could be growing on two sides of the river. Later on I realized that the one tree follows the one river, and it also follows the one street. The street is a spiral, and the river also spirals along with the street. The river does not flow upward from the twelve gates; rather, it flows down from the throne. Moreover, in the river grows a tree. This tree also does not grow upward; rather, it is like a vine spreading from the top downward. It spreads and spirals to the two sides, covering both sides of the river. Therefore, this city has one street, one river, and one tree.

The contents of Revelation 21 and 22 are exceedingly rich; we cannot finish speaking about them. However, the few points which we have just mentioned can be summarized as follows. First, this city has twelve gates, and the twelve gates are twelve pearls. The gates are a powerful filter, filtering out all that is of the natural being and leaving it outside the gates. This means that everything natural must be brought to the cross of Christ to be dealt with by passing through death and resurrection. Only then can anything be brought through the gates to participate in this building.

Following the pearl gates is the street of pure gold. After we have rejected all of our natural disposition and natural feeling, all that is left in this building is God’s nature. In this city everything is the nature of God; everything is of God. The nature of God is the one street.

Then in the middle of this street is the river of water of life. This river of water of life, after proceeding out of the throne of God, keeps on flowing along the street of pure gold. Therefore, in this street there is the flow of life. Furthermore, strictly speaking, the life and the way are one. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the way...and the life” (John 14:6). Hence, where there is the way of God, there also is the life of God. At the same time, on the two sides of this river of water of life grows the tree of life. This indicates that there is not only the flow of the water of life but also the supply of the food of life. Here the thirsty ones are watered, and the hungry ones are filled. All the needy ones can receive the supply of life. I hope that we would bring all of these things before the Lord to have adequate prayer and meditation. May the Lord give us a clear feeling so that we may know the building of the church more and more.

Finally, I repeat that in this building all that is natural and all that is human needs to be broken, dealt with, and left outside. Once we touch the matter of taking care of the affairs of the church and the things pertaining to the building of the church, immediately we have to see that all the things of man must be transformed through death and resurrection. Then all that remains will be that which is out from God and of God and that which is of the Spirit and of resurrection. Then there will be the gates and the street. The nature of the street is the nature of the city. Here everything is the nature of God, and everything is transparent. At the same time, there is the full supply of life for people to be watered and satisfied. May the Lord have mercy on us so that we may know the proper conditions of the church today. If the churches everywhere are to be built up, they must have all these conditions.
Home | First | Prev | Next