THE STREET OF THE CITY
The eighth aspect of the New Jerusalem is the street. With the flow of the river and with the growth of the tree of life, there is a street (Rev. 22:1-2). The street, the way, is Christ Himself, just as the tree of life is the Lord Himself. The Lord told us, “I am the way and the reality and the life” (John 14:6). With and in the flow of the living water grows the tree of life, and the flow of the living water is in the middle of the street. This means that if you have the street, you have the flow, and if you have the flow, you have the way.
Moreover, this way is pure gold, like transparent glass (Rev. 21:21). This is a picture which we have to understand figuratively. God as the light and Christ as the lamp are on the throne, and the flow of living water is the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit is Christ as the tree of life, the life supply, and the flowing of the living water is on the street, the way, which is Christ Himself. In order to experience Christ as the street, you need to have the pure gold of the divine nature, you need to have the flow of the Holy Spirit, and you need to enjoy Christ as the life supply. If you do not have the pure gold with the flow of the living water and the tree of life growing in this water, there is no street, no way, to walk on. Many times brothers have come to me, saying, “Brother Lee, I don’t know what I should do in this matter. I don’t know what is the right way for me to take.” My answer has always been, “Do you have Christ within you? Do you have the living stream within you? Do you enjoy Christ as the living One and the life supply? Then do not speak about the way; speak about Christ. If you have Christ as the pure gold, the living water, and the living supply, you have the way, and you will know what you should do.” Once, a brother who was having trouble with his wife came to me, saying, “Brother Lee, according to the Scriptures, we should be a certain way, and according to the law of the Chinese government, we should be a certain way. Is this right or not?” I said, “Yes,” but then I asked him, “Brother, since you have the Bible and you have the Chinese law, both of which are very clear, why do you come to me?” He said, “Even though I have the Bible and the Chinese law, I still don’t know how to deal with my wife.” Then I asked him, “You have the Bible, but do you have Christ within you? You have the Chinese law, but do you have the stream flowing within you? Have you enjoyed Christ today? Have you enjoyed Christ in this very trouble which you are having with your wife?” Brothers and sisters, test yourself with these three matters: Do you have Christ? Do you have the flowing stream? Have you experienced Christ in the particular matter which you are facing? By testing yourself in this way, you will know what you should do. The street, the way, is not in teachings or doctrines but in the living Christ, the living stream. If you have the stream, you have the life supply and you have the pure gold, the divine nature; that is, you have the street. Furthermore, the one street proceeds from the throne of God to meet the needs at each of the twelve gates. We believe that this street is a spiral, circling around all the time and reaching all the twelve gates. Therefore, once you get on the street, you can never be lost.
Remember well that if we are going to have the real church life, we must have God as light, and we must realize the lordship, the headship, in the divine authority through the redemption in God as light. Then we have the divine nature, the flow of the living water, and the life supply, that is, Christ Himself. Eventually, we have the living way. We know how to do things, we know how to go on, and we know how to walk to follow the Lord. Everything with us is clear, pure, and transparent. Nothing is opaque, and no one is lost. This is the way to have the church life.
(The Central Thought of God, Chapter 13, by Witness Lee)
