The Spirit never fails to flow after He burns in us; His flowing always follows His burning. Whether there is more burning after the flowing depends on whether there is anything more in us that needs burning. The burning will go on until everything is burned away. If one day we do not become angry, regardless of how others treat us, then we need no further burning. At this stage, there is only the flowing. When we reach this stage, we are the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem the burning does not follow the watering. In the New Jerusalem there is only a river of water of life flowing for eternity. There will be no more burning, because the burning Spirit has become the flowing Spirit. There will be a river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing to eternity.
None among us has reached such a stage, but thank the Lord, we are on the way. We are assured that we are on the way, but many who are in the denominations do not have the same assurance. Many of them do not have the enlightening, the burning, or the flowing. It is only when we enter into these subjective experiences that we have first the seven shining lamps, then the seven lamps of fire, and then the lamps of fire becoming a river. There is a river of water of life flowing in us for us to be watered, saturated, and supplied and for us to supply others. This is the reality in the church. Today, the church in a proper condition is the New Jerusalem. Some of us are not yet in Revelation 21 and 22. Instead, some are still in Revelation 4 with lightnings, voices, thunders, and seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. However, we must not forget that Revelation 4 is heading toward Revelation 21 and 22. Chapter four is not the end but the process; the end is in chapters twenty-one and twenty-two. In Revelation 21 and 22, the throne in chapter four reappears. It is still the same throne, but what proceeds from it is not fire but a flow.
Today in the church we should have this kind of testimony and this kind of living. Among us we should have not only the lamps shining and the fire burning but also the living water flowing. When fire is needed, there is fire, and when water is needed, there is water, but fire is not the goal; it is the procedure. Water is the goal. The ultimate goal of the church is that people are brought into the flow of the living water. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). This is salvation, this is the gospel, and this is the church life.
At the beginning of Revelation, the Lamb has seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits, and the seven Spirits are the burning lamps, but at the end of Revelation, the lamp is the Lamb. When we reach this stage, we are in eternity. In the New Jerusalem, there is only the need for the lamp; there is no further need for fire. In the New Jerusalem, there is light but not fire, and the New Jerusalem is full of water. At present, the church has the shining and the burning, but the burning becomes the flowing of water. God is the light, Christ is the lamp, and the Spirit is the flowing water. This is the Triune God. When the church is mature and enters into a proper condition, there will be only light and water. There will be no fire, because there will be no more defeated ones, degraded ones, or backsliding ones. We will only need the light to shine for our move and the water to supply us; we will not need fire to judge or burn us. This is the condition of the New Jerusalem. Thank the Lord, today in the church we can have a foretaste of the New Jerusalem. In such a church, there is light and water but no fire, because all the fire is in the lake of fire. Everything has been judged; all that is left is God’s presence. In the presence of God, He is the light and Christ is the lamp, and out from Him flows the Spirit as our living water. This is our experience in the church.