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In the previous chapter we have seen the matter of knowing the ascension; now we will go on immediately to see the experience of reigning. Both lessons are closely related in experience.
Simply speaking, to reign is to exercise authority for God — to rule all things and in particular to deal with His enemy. We have repeatedly mentioned in the past that in the creation of man God had a twofold intent and desire. On one hand, God wanted man to possess His image so that he may express God Himself. On the other hand, God wanted man to represent Him with His authority in order to deal with His enemy. Therefore, when God created man, on one hand, He created him in His image and likeness so that man might be like Him. On the other hand, God caused man to “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth” (Gen. 1:26). This means that God gave man authority so that he might reign for Him.
The Old Testament records many instances of men reigning for God after Adam. Exodus 14 tells how God wanted Moses to lift up his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea to divide the Red Sea. Joshua 10 tells how Joshua prayed to God that the sun might stand still in the sky. First Kings 17 through 18 relates how Elijah prayed to control the rainfall. Daniel 6 tells how Daniel shut the lions’ mouths in the den. All these instances show us that through the ages, as long as there are men willing to live for God, God desires to grant them authority in order that all things might come under their dominion.
This matter is even more evident in the New Testament. The first one in the New Testament who ruled for God was the Lord Jesus. He commanded illness to recede (Matt. 8:8-9), cast out unclean spirits (Mark 1:27), and rebuked and calmed the storm and the raging sea (Matt. 8:26-27). All these incidents speak of His reigning. Later, when the apostles continued the Lord’s works, they also had many experiences of reigning for God by healing and casting out evil spirits (Acts 3:6-7; 14:8-10; 19:12; 16:18). To the present day, this kind of experience is often repeated in the church. Then in the future and in the kingdom, the overcomers will reign with Christ and rule the nations (Rev. 2:26-27). Finally, in eternity all those who are saved will reign as kings forever and ever (22:5). At that time we will truly and fully enjoy the blessing of reigning for God.
All these instances reveal that from the beginning until eternity, God’s one intention is that He may gain man to reign for Him in the universe. This was one aspect of God’s purpose in creating man. Even more, this was one aspect of God’s intention in redeeming man.
Therefore, from the point of view of authority, reigning is the final goal of God’s salvation. It is the summit of our spiritual experience. As for God, had He not saved us to the extent that we could reign for Him in the heavenly realm, the goal of His salvation would not have been considered fully accomplished. Furthermore, although this matter of reigning will not be completely realized until the coming of the kingdom and in eternity, today God wants us to have a beginning on earth. As for us, if any Christian has not yet reached the degree of reigning for God, he is not yet up to the standard. A Christian who is up to the standard has not only been delivered from sin, overcome the world, had his flesh dealt with and his natural constitution broken, been filled with the Holy Spirit, and is sitting in the heavenly realm, but even more he is reigning with Christ in all things. Whether in God’s work, in the church, at home, or in any encounter in his environment, he can reign and rule over that which God wants him to rule. There must be such people gained by God so that through them the authority of God can be executed, and the kingdom of God can come upon the earth.
We must seek the experience of reigning. For this, two things must not be lacking.
First, we must know our position. We have mentioned in the previous chapter, “Knowing the Ascension,” that the basis of spiritual authority is the position of ascension. To have power depends on one’s condition, but to have authority depends on one’s position. A car with sufficient gasoline and horsepower will have power. This is a matter of condition. But a traffic policeman standing at his assigned post has authority to direct the cars, that they may proceed in order. This is a matter of position. Therefore, authority depends entirely on position. If we are in the position of ascension, we have authority and can reign. If we are not in the position of ascension, we do not have authority and cannot rule.
Even in the case of the Lord Jesus, the basis of reigning depended on His position of ascension. Not until after His resurrection and ascension did He obtain all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18) and have dominion over all things (Eph. 1:20-22). Therefore, if we would reign, we must be in the position of ascension.
But if we want to be in the position of ascension and reign for God, we need to accept all the dealings of the cross, that we may pass through death into resurrection and thereby experience ascension. In other words, the experience of reigning is the result of all the foregoing experiences. Only after we have experienced death, resurrection, and ascension, can we obtain the experience of reigning.
God’s children today show forth very little of the reality of reigning. The main reason is that we are not in the position of ascension. Many still live in an earthly condition. They are still involved with sins and the world. They have not put off the flesh and their temper. They have not denied the self and their natural constitution. There are some who have put these off and have a little experience of ascension, yet because they cannot maintain this experience, they become defiled again with those things pertaining to the old creation; thus, they lose the position of ascension. Both conditions can cause us to lose the basis of reigning, and as a consequence we cannot rule for God. Once, there was a brother who was constantly hindered by his wife from drawing near to God and serving Him. One day he could bear it no longer; so in his anger he rebuked his wife and beat her, saying, “Today the Lord wants me to really discipline you.” Obviously, this is not reigning. Because he lost his temper, he lost the position of ascension and fell into the hand of the enemy. How then could he deal anymore with the enemy? Therefore, in order to reign, we must know and keep the position of ascension.
Our reigning is based not only on the position of ascension but also on the position of order arranged by God. Therefore, if we want to reign for God, not only do we need to be in the position of ascension, but we must also keep the position of order given to us by God — that is, to submit to the authority to which we should submit. All the authority of the traffic policeman previously mentioned depends not only on his standing at the assigned post but also on his submitting to his superior. If he leaves his assigned post, he will not be able to direct the cars. If he rebels against his superior, he will lose even his official rights. Therefore, a policeman’s executing of his authority depends on keeping the position of his duty on one hand, and on keeping the position of his rank on the other hand. The position of his duty is equivalent to our position of ascension, and the position of his rank is equivalent to our position of order.
Matthew 8:5-13 tells us of a centurion who came to ask the Lord to heal his servant’s sickness. His faith was based on his knowledge of the position of order. He said, “Lord, I am not fit for You to enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.” Since he himself was under authority, he could command those under him. Therefore, he believed that the Lord needed only to exercise His authority and give a word of command, and the matter would be done. He really knew the relationship between the position of order and authority. He knew that in order to reign, he first had to submit to the reigning. In order to be the authority, he first had to submit to authority.
When God created man in the beginning, God gave man authority to have dominion over all the creatures in the sea, in the air, and upon earth. At that time, man was submitting to God’s authority; hence, God’s authority was with him, and all creatures were made to submit to man. But once man fell and rebelled against God, unwilling as he was to submit to God’s authority, he then lost the authority of God. As a result, all the creatures under man were no longer in subjection to man’s authority. Therefore, not only can the poisonous snakes and wild beasts harm us today; even the tiny mosquitoes and fleas can bite us. This indicates that the entire fallen universe is full of the creatures’ rebelliousness and insubordination.
But in this rebellious and confused universe, whenever there is one who is still willing to accept God’s authority, God’s authority will be manifested upon him so that he may be able to reign. Moses was an example. He was a man who submitted to authority and thereby reigned for God. Nearly every time he was confronted with the rebellion and quarreling of the Israelites, he submitted himself to God’s authority. Especially at the time that Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and those with them rebelled and assembled themselves together against him, he behaved even more in this way. They attacked Moses and Aaron, saying, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the assembly are holy, every one of them, and Jehovah is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of Jehovah?” (Num. 16:3). Their word touched the matter of Moses’ authority; their intention was to overthrow his authority. At that time, Moses did not consider himself as the authority and seek to solve the problem himself. On the contrary, he fell on his face before God and let God vindicate him. His falling on his face before God was his keeping the position of order. He knew that authority rested not in him but in God. His submission to God’s authority caused others also to submit to him. Therefore, the result of his behaving each time in this way manifested even more clearly that God’s authority was upon him.
Let us consider David. In his entire life David submitted not only to God’s authority but also, in an absolute way, to the authority of order. He recognized that Saul was God’s anointed one, that Saul was in the position of king, and that Saul was arranged by God to be his authority. He realized that he was only a subject of Saul. Therefore, no matter how Saul persecuted and hated him as an enemy, he never dared to rebel against him. In this way he always kept the position of order and was a man who submitted to authority. Consequently, the day came when God also anointed him king, that he might reign for God in the nation of Israel.
Nevertheless, these men who submitted to God’s authority had their own blemishes and weaknesses. It was not until the Lord Jesus came as the Word become flesh that there was in this rebellious universe a man who submitted absolutely to God’s authority. In the life of the Lord Jesus, every word and action, every move and cessation, were in accordance with God’s will and in subjection to God’s authority. Philippians 2:8 says, “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross.” Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, that every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth should bow to Him, and every tongue should call Him Lord — all in submission to His authority (vv. 8-11). Because the Lord Jesus submitted to the authority of God the Father and kept the position of order, He obtained authority and was able to reign for God.
The Lord has also given this authority now to His church, that is, to us. Therefore, we also need to submit to God’s authority as the Lord did. Furthermore, each one of us must submit to the order of authority established by God, that is, to the representative authority of God. Then we, the church, can exercise this authority of the Lord to rule over all things and reign for God. Today in this rebellious and confused universe, we are to succeed the Lord to be a testimony of submission to authority, with the younger ones submitting to the elderly ones, those who are being taught to those who teach, and all of us submitting one to another; thus, we are submitting to God’s authority. When we stand in our respective position of order, God’s authority will be made manifest in our midst; thus, we will be able to reign for God. Therefore, the authority in the church is neither self-obtained nor self-assumed, but it comes through submission. For example, the elders must not continually think of themselves as being more mature and older than others; if so, they will frequently make use of their position and title in dealing with the brothers and sisters or in their administration. They should be like Moses. Whenever anything occurs among the brothers and sisters, they must immediately fall on their faces before God, submitting to the position of order. By their submission to God’s authority, God’s authority will be with them, and they will be able to reign and rule for God over all things. If they themselves do not submit to God’s authority, but assume the position of eldership, demanding that others submit to them, this is the breaking out of the flesh, not reigning. It will be difficult for others to submit to them.
In conclusion, in order to gain the experience of reigning, we must first solve the problem of position. We must know and keep the position of ascension, and we must also know and keep the position of order. Knowing the position of ascension is the experience of knowing the ascension, which has previously been mentioned. Knowing the position of order is the experience of knowing the Body, which has also been mentioned. We must know and experience these two aspects before we can reign for God. We must know the position of ascension, which He has caused us to obtain in His salvation, and the position of order, which He has arranged for us in His Body, before we can exercise His authority and reign for God. Simply speaking, we must be in the position of ascension and in the position of order in the Body before we can have the experience of reigning.
Second, we must have the desire to reign. This means that we must positively and actively reign for God, ruling over all things. Once we have the position of ascension and order, we may reign. If our experience has reached this stage, we ought to reign. Some brothers and sisters, however, have neither the thought nor the desire to reign. Their spirits are loose and lazy. They neither care for the difficulties arising in the church nor inquire about the problems springing up in the Lord’s work. They simply allow Satan to work and destroy at will. Hence, according to their growth of life, they are able to reign, yet in reality, due to their laxity and unwillingness to reign, they still cannot obtain the experience of reigning. Therefore, if one desires to reign, his spirit must not be lax or timid but willing to exercise God’s authority and positively and actively deal with all the works of the enemy. Thus, God’s authority will immediately be manifested in the church, and many rebellious and unlawful matters in the church will be subdued.
In the church today we lack the kind of people who desire to reign. Therefore, many situations that should not exist often arise. For example, some of the fellowship and breaking of bread meetings are weak and confused. Some of the brothers and sisters should have prayed, but they did not; some should have spoken, but they withheld from speaking. On the contrary, many unnecessary prayers and meaningless testimonies were released. The meetings thus are disturbed, and the brothers and sisters are not edified and lose heart toward the meetings. This condition is mainly caused by those who should have reigned but did not reign. They have just behaved like bystanders, allowing others to act in the meetings in whatever manner they chose. They even regard such a way as being very spiritual, not by man’s doing but by the Spirit’s move. As a result, they cause the church to suffer great loss.
We often say that certain meetings are very dead and depressed. This kind of depression comes from Satan, because Satan is the devil, who has the authority of death. Therefore, whenever a meeting is dead and depressed, it means that Satan is reigning there as king. At that time someone should rise up to reign for God, either by a word, a hymn, or a prayer to control the meeting, change the atmosphere, and release the life of God, thereby swallowing up Satan’s death.
Satan works not only in meetings but also in many lives. Sometimes he sends unnecessary poverty or sickness. If we live in the realm of ascension, we can tell which poverty and sickness is permitted by God and which is inflicted by Satan. Once we have discerned the matter, we must learn to reign by denying and opposing the poverty and sickness inflicted by Satan.
Furthermore, if we have had some experience in spiritual warfare, we can see that all things tending either to disrupt God’s works or disturb the church are the deeds of demons. For example, sometimes in the meetings some are dozing, others have wandering thoughts, or children are running around. All these are the work of the demons. Even some prayers and messages are also the works of demons. Actually, anything in this world, except that which is moved by the Holy Spirit, can be said to come from evil spirits, that is, from demons. Hence, how we need men who are willing to rise and stand in the position of ascension and order, men who will positively and actively exercise authority for God to rule over all the confused and lawless situations and destroy the antagonistic works of the enemy! We must not be like old Eli. In 1 Samuel 3 we see how he was indifferent and in deep sleep. One who is indifferent and in deep sleep cannot reign for God. If we want to reign, our spirit must be strong and positive. A reigning spirit must be strong and living, active and not passive, positive and not negative, diligent and not loose. One who has such a spirit not only keeps the position of order and submits to God’s authority but also has strong faith and exercises God’s authority consistently in the position of ascension. Thus, he reigns and rules over his environment, over his work, and over all the meetings and affairs in the church.
In order to reign, we must express our attitude in three directions: first, toward God; second, toward Satan; and third, toward persons, events, and things. Take for example a brother in the church who does not behave properly. The reigning ones need to go before God and express their attitude, saying, “Lord, concerning this brother who misbehaves in such a way in the church, we neither agree nor approve.” Then they need also to declare to Satan that this comes from his disturbance, and they are opposing and judging it. Finally, if necessary, they still need to solemnly express their attitude toward the persons, events, and things concerned, saying, “We do not agree and will not allow this matter to take place.” When we express these attitudes, God will work and manifest His authority. Many times God’s working depends on our attitude expressed toward Him. When a person lives in sins and the world, God will not respect his opinion. But when one has reached the position of ascension, his opinion will be greatly respected by God. When one reaches the realm of ascension, his opinion is almost the same as the mind of God. Therefore, he can be active and express his attitude, and God will respect him and trust him and reign through him.
Therefore, with regard to the goal of God’s salvation, we need to reign for Him. With regard to our growth in life, we also need to reach the stage of reigning. With regard to Satan’s unlawfulness, we need even more to rise and reign. In view of this we ought to take heed to learn this lesson well. This experience is considerably high and deep, yet we already have some beginning in the second and third stages. If we continue to seek diligently, the Lord will bring us into the realm of reigning. May the Lord be gracious to us!
