The holy city is also a constitution of precious stones. The Spirit works to transform the redeemed and regenerated saints into precious stones. The work of Christ is redemption; the work of the Holy Spirit is transformation. Precious stones are transformed items. Transformation involves burning and pressing. A piece of coal can be transformed into a precious stone by tremendous heat and pressure. We may not want to be burned or pressed. But if we are not burned and pressed, we will remain pieces of coal, and we cannot be built up together into the New Jerusalem. There is no coal in the New Jerusalem.

Some in the church life become dropouts because they do not like to be transformed. They do not like the elders because they feel that the elders are too strict. They do not like the old sisters or the young ones. Actually, they do not like anybody. They only like themselves. They do not want to be burned or pressed by anybody. They want to remain in themselves, and they want their freedom. They may say that the United States is a country of freedom and that the elders are controlling them. In recent years, some tried to bring democracy into the church life. Where are these ones today? They are pieces of coal outside of the church life.

In order to be transformed from pieces of coal into precious stones, we must be pressed and burned. I have been pressed and burned for over sixty years. I have been burned by the elders, by the young brothers and sisters, by my wife, by my children, and by my grandchildren. They are the coals to burn me. When I was young, I tried to press others. Today, though, I have learned that it is better to be pressed. The wives are big pieces of coal to burn the husbands, and every elder is a burning coal to transform us. I believe that I have received much transformation through this burning.

This is the sovereign arrangement of the Lord, and we cannot stay away from it. A husband cannot stay away from his wife because divorce is not allowed by the Lord. We have to stay under the Lord's sovereign arrangement to be burned every day. In this sense, we should feel happy to be with all the saints, with our spouse, and with our children. We cannot avoid the heat and pressure because this is the age of transformation. We need to be transformed by burning and by pressure to become the precious stones in the New Jerusalem.