Scripture Reading: Rev. 21:2, 9-10; 22:17a
Ⅰ
The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the divine romance; the holy city is a corporate person, and this corporate person is a couple—the processed and consummated Triune God married to the processed and consummated tripartite man; this is the Spirit and the bride becoming one—Rev. 22:17a:
A
The subject of the Bible is a divine romance of a universal couple; the male is God Himself, and the female is God's chosen and redeemed people—Gen. 2:21-24; Isa. 54:5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 14; 31:32; Ezek. 16:8; 23:5; Hosea 2:7, 19; Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7.
B
Song of Songs reveals that ultimately, we are conformed to be the wonderful Shulammite, who, as the duplication of Solomon, is the greatest and ultimate figure of the New Jerusalem as the counterpart of Christ—6:13; Rev. 21:2, 9-10; 22:17a:
１
Shulammite is the feminine form of Solomon, indicating that now the overcomers have become the same as Christ in life, in nature, in expression, and in function but not in the Godhead for the carrying out of God's economy:
ａ
Just as King Solomon became a country man to court a country girl in order to make her his queen, his duplication, God in Christ became a man to court man in order to make man God in life, nature, expression, and function but not in the Godhead to be Christ's bride—Matt. 9:15; Rev. 19:7; cf. Psa. 45:1-3, 9, 13-14.
ｂ
The Bible reveals that God became a man to court us and that now He wants us to court Him by our becoming divine for His expression through our personal, affectionate, private, and spiritual relationship with Him—Eccl. 1:2; S. S. 1:1-8; cf. 2 Cor. 2:10; Exo. 33:11, 14; Rom. 8:4, 6; 1 Cor. 2:15.
２
The Shulammite is like two camps, or armies, in the sight of God—S. S. 6:13:
ａ
The phrase two camps in Hebrew is mahanaim.
ｂ
When Jacob was on the way to confront Esau, the angels of God met him, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim—Gen. 32:1-2.
ｃ
After he saw the two armies of God, Jacob divided his wives, children, and possessions into two camps, or "two armies," indicating that we are more than conquerors and that we bear a strong testimony—v. 7.
ｄ
It also indicates that God does not want "giants" but only the feeble ones, the weaker ones, the women and children—2 Cor. 11:29; Rom. 9:16.
ｅ
All who are strong in themselves will be disqualified; those who are counted as the overcomers will be the weaker ones, those who utterly depend on the Lord in the principle of the Body—Rev. 3:8; 1 Pet. 5:5; Deut. 32:30; Eccl. 4:9-12; Rom. 16:20.
C
Christ's espousal and marriage life cover the church age, the kingdom age, and the eternal age:
１
In the church age we are betrothed to Christ—2 Cor. 11:2-3.
２
The wedding day will be the age of the millennial kingdom—Rev. 19:7.
３
The marriage life will be in the New Jerusalem for eternity—21:2, 9-10.
D
According to its humanity, the New Jerusalem is the human wife (with the divine life and nature) of the Lamb, and according to its divinity, the New Jerusalem is the divine Husband (the redeeming God in His consummated embodiment, Christ, with His human life and nature) of God's redeemed elect.
Ⅱ
In order to experience, enjoy, and express Christ as our eternal Husband so that we may become the holy city, our hearts need to be established blameless in holiness—1 Thes. 3:13:
A
The heart is the conglomerate of man's inward parts, man's chief representative, his acting agent; our heart is a composition of all the parts of our soul—the mind, the emotion, and the will (Matt. 9:4; Heb. 4:12; Acts 11:23; John 14:1; 16:22)—plus one part of our spirit—the conscience (Heb. 10:22; 1 John 3:20).
B
Our heart with its condition before God is organically, intrinsically, and inseparably related to the condition of our spirit, soul, and body before God:
１
The exercise of the spirit works only when our heart is active; if man's heart is indifferent, the spirit is imprisoned within and is unable to show forth its capability— Matt. 5:3, 8; Psa. 78:8; Eph. 3:16-17.
２
The soul is the person himself, but the heart is the person in action; the heart is the acting agent, the acting commissioner, of our entire being.
３
The activities and movements of our physical body depend on our physical heart; in like manner, our daily living, the way we act and behave, depends on what kind of psychological heart we have.
C
The heart is the entrance and exit of life, the "switch" of life; if the heart is not right, life in the spirit is hindered, and the law of life cannot work freely and without obstruction to reach every part of our being; though life has great power, this great power is controlled by our small heart—Prov. 4:23; Matt. 12:33-37; cf. Ezek. 36:26-27:
１
God is the unchanging One, but according to our natural birth our heart is changeable, both in our relationship with others and with the Lord—cf. 2 Tim. 4:10; Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23.
２
There is no one who, according to his natural, human life, is steadfast in his heart; because our heart changes so easily, it is not at all trustworthy—Jer. 17:9-10; 13:23.
３
Our heart is blamable because it is changeable; an unchanging heart is a blameless heart—Psa. 57:7; 108:1; 112:7.
４
In God's salvation the renewing of the heart is once for all; however, in our experience our heart is renewed continually, because it is changeable—Ezek. 36:26; 2 Cor. 4:16.
５
Because our heart is changeable, it needs to be renewed continually by the sanctifying Spirit so that our heart can be established, built up, in the state of being holy, the state of being separated unto God, occupied by God, possessed by God, and saturated with God—Titus 3:5; Rom. 6:19, 22.
D
In order to be "those who are being sanctified" in living a holy life for the church life, we must cooperate with the inner operating of the One "who sanctifies," by dealing with our heart—Heb. 2:11; Psa. 139:23-24:
１
God wants our heart to be soft:
ａ
When God deals with our heart, He takes away the heart of stone out of our flesh and gives us a heart of flesh, a soft heart—Ezek. 36:26.
ｂ
To be soft means that our heart is submissive and yielding toward the Lord, not stiff-necked and rebellious—cf. Exo. 32:9.
ｃ
A soft heart is a heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic—Matt. 13:4.
ｄ
God softens our heart by using His love to move us; if love cannot move us, He uses His hand through the environment to discipline us until our heart is softened— 2 Cor. 5:14; 4:16-18; Heb. 12:6-7; cf. Jer. 48:11.
２
God wants our heart to be pure:
ａ
A pure heart is a heart that loves God and wants God; besides God, it has no other love, inclination, or desire—Psa. 73:25; Jer. 32:39.
ｂ
Our heart should be single for God so that we are fearful of nothing except offending Him and losing His presence—Psa. 86:11b.
ｃ
Our goal and our aim should be God Himself, and we should not have any other motive—Matt. 5:8.
ｄ
We must pursue Christ "with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart"— 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Tim. 1:5; Psa. 73:1.
３
God wants our heart to be loving:
ａ
A loving heart is a heart in which the emotion loves God, wants God, thirsts after God, and yearns for God, having a personal, affectionate, private, and spiritual relationship with Him—42:1-2; S. S. 1:1-4.
ｂ
We must turn our heart back to the Lord again and again and have it be continually renewed so that we may have a new and fresh love toward the Lord— 2 Cor. 3:16; Hymns, #546 and #547.
ｃ
All spiritual experiences start with love in the heart; if we do not love the Lord, it is impossible to receive any kind of spiritual experience—cf. Eph. 6:24.
ｄ
Our love for the Lord qualifies, perfects, and equips us to speak for the Lord with His authority; if we love the Lord to the uttermost, we will be filled and overflowing with Him—John 21:15-17; Matt. 26:6-13; 28:18-20.
４
God wants our heart to be at peace:
ａ
A heart at peace is a heart in which the conscience is without offense, condemnation, or reproach—Acts 24:16; 1 John 3:19-21; Heb. 10:22.
ｂ
If we confess our sins in the light of God's presence, we receive His forgiveness and His cleansing so that we may enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with God with a good conscience—1 John 1:7, 9; 1 Tim. 1:5.
ｃ
The result of practicing fellowship with God in prayer is that we enjoy the peace of God, which is actually God as peace mounting guard over our hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus, keeping us calm and tranquil and giving us peace continually in every way—Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Thes. 5:23; 2 Thes. 3:16.
ｄ
We need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts by forgiving one another to put on the one new man—Col. 3:13-15.
E
As our hearts are being established blameless in holiness by the continual renewing of the sanctifying Spirit, we are becoming the New Jerusalem with the newness of the divine life and we are becoming the holy city with the holiness of the divine nature— Rev. 21:2; 1 John 5:11-12; 2 Pet. 1:4.