We have seen twenty-eight points concerning the New Jerusalem. There are still many additional points to cover.
The twenty-ninth point is that the city is a large square. Revelation 21:16 says, “And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal.” The measurement of the city is equal in three dimensions, each dimension being twelve times one thousand furlongs. From the perfect squareness of the city we must learn the principle that nothing in the church life should be oblique; everything must be straight and square.
Regarding the serpent, the real symbol of Satan, nothing is straight or square; every part of him is cunning and crooked. Many times brothers in the Lord have come to us and to other Christian workers to try to teach us to be a serpent. They feel we should not be so straight, so open, so frank, but rather a little “wise.” We have replied, “You are not teaching us to be wise, but to be cunning like the politicians.” In the church life we should never act like a lawyer in the law court or a diplomat in the United Nations. We are dear Christian brothers; we must be as straight as possible.
During His last week on earth, the Lord Jesus was confronted by the elders and Pharisees, the chiefs of the Jewish people. They asked the Lord who had given Him the authority to act as He did. The Lord did not answer these men immediately, but said, “I also will ask you one question, which if ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?” (Matt. 21:24-25). These men reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, From men; we fear the multitude; for all hold John as a prophet.” They held a political conference, and they decided to tell the Lord Jesus, “We know not.” However, the Lord knew that they knew, but that they would not tell the truth; so He replied, “Neither tell I you.” In this passage (Matt. 21:23-27) the King James Version does not give the proper rendering. It quotes these men as saying, “We cannot tell”; but the Greek text means, “We do not know.” These men lied, but the Lord Jesus would not lie. They were crooked, but the Lord Jesus was straight.
The thirtieth point is that the New Jerusalem is completely transparent (Rev. 21:18, 21). This means that there is nothing opaque or hidden there. In the church life today everything must not only be pure and clean, but also transparent as crystal. There must be nothing covered or hidden. There are some real lessons to learn in this area. We must be checked and straightened, purified and made transparent, by the work of the cross. Anything in us which is cunning or hidden is of the enemy, of the serpent, of darkness. We may hide some “small” matter for one, two, or even twenty days; we may even conceal something for twenty months or possibly ten years; but on the first day of the eleventh year it will come to the surface. We can never hide anything for eternity. In the church everything must be clear and transparent.
Because the city is so straight and transparent, it is full of the glory of God (Rev. 21:11, 23). Strictly speaking, the glory of God is the very content of the city, for the city is completely filled with His glory. This means that the city is a vessel to contain and express God. To illustrate this point, let us consider a common table lamp: a typical lamp has an outer covering called a lampshade, while within the lamp there is the fullness of light. The lamp expresses the light, and the light is the very content of the lamp and the shade. The glory of God is just God Himself being manifested. The New Jerusalem is full of God’s glory; therefore God is manifested in this city. The normal church life today is the same: it is full of God’s glory, manifesting and expressing God.
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