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Scripture Reading: Rev. 22:1-3, 5c; 2:7; 22:14, 17; John 7:38-39
The last item that is recorded in the section concerning the New Jerusalem is the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:1). The throne, of course, is for God’s administration. God is the One who had a purpose and who made a plan in eternity past and who created all things for the fulfillment of His plan. The Lamb is the One who redeemed us, the One who has accomplished a full redemption to fulfill God’s plan. Thus, the throne of God and of the Lamb denotes that this throne is to carry out God’s plan through Christ’s redemption. Both God’s plan and Christ’s redemption are being carried out through this throne. The throne is the very source from which the river of water of life flows, and it flows with the tree of life growing in it (v. 2). The throne for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose is to flow out God Himself so that by this flow of life His purpose could be accomplished.
When we get into the full record concerning the New Jerusalem, we will spontaneously understand that this is fully related to our personal experiences of the Triune God. Do not think that the New Jerusalem is merely something objective in the future for a certain group of people. We have to realize that what is recorded in Revelation 21 and 22 should be experienced by us today in a very personal way. Experientially speaking, every proper and normal Christian is “a little New Jerusalem.” Whatever is ascribed to the New Jerusalem corporately should be experienced by us individually and personally. With and in each one of us are the three gates of the Divine Trinity. Furthermore, in each one of us there must be the throne of God and of the Lamb. We must enthrone Him in our heart and in our spirit. In other words, in the very center of our being there should be the throne of God and of the Lamb. At the end of the record of the New Jerusalem the unique item is the throne.
In our Christian experience the unique item should be the throne of the One who purposed and of the One who redeemed. Such a throne must be set up in our entire being, and this should be the center of our Christian life. This means that we would accept the God who purposed and the Christ who redeemed us as our Head, Lord, and authority. We should be willing to subject ourselves to such a headship. We adore Him as the Lord, and we take Him as our authority. We enthrone Him in our being and in our Christian life.
In our Christian life the center is the throne of God and of the Lamb. We are not here living for ourselves. We are living and existing for the accomplishment of God’s purpose, to carry out what Christ has accomplished. Therefore, we experience the One on the throne in His headship and lordship, and we submit ourselves to such an authority. In our daily life, in our family life, in our marriage life, in our business life, and in our church life the center must be God’s throne. Everything should be subjected to His headship.
All of us have experienced that whenever we would subject ourselves to this headship, we immediately sense something full of God’s riches flowing within us. This is the flow of the Triune God as life, the life supply, and everything to our being. Within us we sense such a flow, and this flow is from the throne of God and of the Lamb as the water of life.
In Revelation 22:1 we see the flow of the Divine Trinity — God, the Lamb, and the water of life (the Spirit). According to John 7:38-39, the water of life refers to the Spirit. God was the One who purposed, He became the Lamb who redeemed (1:14, 29), and finally He became the life-giving, flowing Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). God flows in the water of life, the Lamb flows in the water of life, and the Spirit flows as the water of life. Thus, this is the triune flow, the flow of the Divine Trinity as the very life supply.
This should not be taken as a theological teaching. According to our daily experiences, we Christians should experience the flow of the Divine Trinity every day. Every morning after rising up we need to say, “Lord, thank You for a new day for me to take You as my Lord. I subject myself under Your headship for the whole day. Lord, set up Your throne in my life. Set up Your throne in the center of my being. Lord, bring my whole day with my daily life under Your throne.” If you would offer such a prayer to the Triune God every morning, from that moment you would have the living water flowing within you. This living water flowing is the flow of the Triune God. It is not a small thing that the Triune God flows in you today. He flows in you as the One who purposed, as the One who redeemed, and as the One who is the life-giving Spirit. This One is the very consummation of the Triune God reaching us as the living water.
Such a subjective revelation has been missed by many of today’s Christians. I hope we all would realize in our experience that whenever we subject ourselves to the Triune God, taking Him as our Head, we enjoy a flow within us. Thank the Lord that in the Lord’s recovery, day after day, month after month, year after year, and time after time, what is stressed is the unique flow. We have given many messages that tell us that the Triune God is flowing. There are also many hymns in our hymnal concerning this subject. The first two stanzas of Hymns, #12 say,
Many times in the Lord’s table meeting, we all sense the flow of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Our Father is the very God who had a purpose and who purposed to accomplish His eternal plan. The Son as the very Lamb is also flowing to dispense what He has accomplished on the cross. Whatever was accomplished on the cross was objective, and this has to become subjective to us by the flow of the Lamb. Even the Lamb is flowing in this divine flow because this flow proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. This means that the water of life flows out of God and out of the Lamb. We not only have such a vision and revelation, but we have this experience day by day and even moment by moment. I can testify that without such a divine flow I cannot live, I cannot minister, and I have nothing to minister. But praise the Lord, this divine flow is always availing in our life and in our being.
Do not say that the source of the divine life flowing within us is in the heavens. We have to say that the source is within us. Some may argue that John saw the throne in the heavens, but we must realize that according to Ephesians 2:6 we are now seated together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. The source is in us because the source is in the heavens, and we are in the heavens. God is in the heavens, and we are in the heavens, so God is in us. Some may feel, however, that although God and we are in the heavens, we are in the heavens separately. We should not forget, however, that when we believed, we believed into the Triune God. We were also baptized into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and the name denotes the person (Matt. 28:19). We were baptized into the person of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, so after being baptized, we are in the Triune God. God and we are in the heavens, but also we are in Him, and He is in us. We and God are coinhering. We should enjoy this wonderful coinherence with the Triune God.
The Jews only believe God, but we believe “in” God. The difference between the Jews believing and our believing depends on the small preposition in. We believe in God, and actually in Greek the preposition for in is into. We believe into God. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we believed into the Triune God, and at the same time the Triune God came into us. There is no way to demonstrate the fact that we are in God and God is in us. We are not on this earth, but we are in the heavens, on the one hand, and in God, on the other hand.
This very God who is in us is the source of life. The throne of God and of the Lamb should be the center of our being. In the meeting we may say that the throne is in us, but many times when the sisters go shopping, the throne is thrown away to the heavens. The brothers also need to ask themselves if they have the throne of God in them in doing business. Who is our Lord, Head, and authority in our daily life? Many times even in small things such as buying a tie or a pair of shoes, we would not let the throne be in our heart.
We must realize that whenever the throne is gone, there is no source of the flow. This is why many times we have the feeling that we are dry and even dried up. There is not the flow of the living water because we do not accept or recognize the lordship, the headship, and the authority of the Triune God in the very center of our being. This is why the throne is the last item revealed concerning the New Jerusalem. Without the throne the New Jerusalem does not have a center, and without the throne there is no flow of life. As a result, the entire New Jerusalem would be dried up and even starved to death. The water of life flows out of the throne, and the tree of life grows in the water of life and on the two sides of the river of water of life as a vine producing timely fruits for the food of God’s redeemed for eternity. Both the water of life and the tree of life are the issue of the throne. If there were no throne in you, what would be the issue? Many Christians are dried up, starved to death, and there is no growth in life because the throne is put away to the heavens and is not in their experience.
The tree of life also has leaves for the healing of the nations, symbolizing the deeds of Christ guiding and regulating the nations outwardly so that they may live the human life forever. This indicates that when we enjoy Christ as the tree of life, the unbelievers are regulated by our conduct, which we live out of Christ.
Every single saint is a “little New Jerusalem.” Within you, in the center of your being, there should be the throne of God and of the Lamb. Whenever you would take the Triune God as your Head, that will be the time when something begins to flow in your being. We have to apply this to our daily life in every instance and in every small thing. Even in our talk to our children and in our talk to our spouse, we have to practice submitting ourselves to the inner throne. Do not look into the heavens, but look to the center of your entire being where there should be a throne. The throne should be prevailing in the center of your being. Then the water of life will be proceeding out of the throne to supply you and to bring to you the tree of life, which nourishes you all day long.
Our daily life must be a life of the New Jerusalem. In that day when we arrive at the ultimate consummation of the divine revelation, we should not be surprised, because today we are experiencing the same thing. What will be in the New Jerusalem will be an intensification and a consummation of our present experience. We are now experiencing the same thing day by day in our family life, in our marriage life, in our school life, in our business life, and in our church life. We are experiencing the throne of God and of the Lamb, out of which flows the Triune God for our enjoyment. The water of life, the flow of the Spirit of life, is the divine life in resurrection for the drink of God’s redeemed (Rev. 22:17b; John 7:38-40). This river of water of life proceeding out of the throne is bright as crystal with no dimness or opaqueness, purifying God’s redeemed and making them transparent.
In the last forty years of my ministry, I have not had a heart to speak concerning anything else. What burdens me in my ministry is to tell people that the Triune God is flowing Himself into their being. I have spoken this one thing from many directions and with many messages. The last pages of the New Testament are on the throne, out of which flows the Triune God. The river flows with the God who purposed, with the Lamb who redeemed, and with the Spirit who is now the all-inclusive, processed, triune, life-giving Spirit. I do not want to merely teach you concerning the throne in Revelation 22, but I believe that while you are reading this chapter, the throne of God and of the Lamb, out of which the Triune God flows, is being spoken into you. The Triune God is now flowing into you as the water of life with the tree of life growing in it.
In the place where the Triune God flows, we serve Him (v. 3). Not only do we serve Him, but also we see His face (v. 4). His face is in the water of life and in the fruit of the tree of life. When you drink the water of life, you see His face. When you eat the fruit of the tree of life, you receive His face. You serve Him by drinking and eating Him. Do not do anything for Him. He can do everything, but He cannot drink Himself, nor can He eat Himself. He depends on you to eat Him and to drink Him. I say again, do not think that you can work for Him. He can do everything for Himself, and He does not need you. He needs you only to eat Him. He needs you only to drink Him. He needs you only to enjoy Him. Do not say, “I will go to the mission field to be a missionary.” God can do everything, but He needs someone to eat Him and to drink Him. He needs many eaters and drinkers.
Revelation 22:14 is on eating God as the tree of life, and verse 17 of the same chapter is on drinking God as the water of life. Since God is flowing as the water of life, who will drink Him? Not only the sinners who do not believe in God but also many Christians do not know how to eat God. Our robes have been washed in His precious blood for the purpose of giving us the right to eat Him. But many of us do not enjoy this right. We thank Him for the washing of the precious blood, yet we do not come to eat Him. We all need to exercise our right to come and eat Him. Revelation 22:17 tells us that whosoever will may come to drink of the water of life freely. Verse 14 of Revelation 22 may be considered a promise for the enjoyment of the tree of life, which is Christ with all the riches of life; and the second half of verse 17 may be considered a call to take the water of life, which is the life-giving Spirit. Thus, this book ends in a promise and a call, both of which are for eating and drinking the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit.
Even in the Gospel of John the Lord said that He is the bread of life (6:35) and that “he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (v. 57). The thought of eating God is in John 6. God was incarnated not only to be the Redeemer but also to be the bread of life. He is the bread of life that came down out of heaven for us to feed on. This is the greatest blessing. Then John says that on the last day of the feast Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (7:37). When we drink of Him, we receive the water of life, and as a result, rivers of living water flow out of our innermost being (v. 38). In the Gospel of John there is the concept of eating and drinking God.
The last book of the Bible, John’s Revelation, presents us a picture of the New Jerusalem. The heart of the picture is the throne out of which flows the drinking water, in which grows the tree of life. Both the water of life and the tree of life are God Himself. When the Triune God flows, He becomes the water of life for us to drink, and He grows the tree of life for us to eat. In order to experience the New Jerusalem we all should say, “Lord, I receive You as my Head, and I take Your headship, lordship, and authority. Lord, I enthrone You in my heart. I put You on Your throne.” Once you put Him on His throne, immediately the water flows and the tree grows, and you have something to drink and to eat. This is our Christian life.
It is here in this flow from the throne that we serve Him and that we see His face. Also, in this flow we reign as kings (22:5). If you do go to the mission field, you must go by taking God’s throne in the center of your being. Then every day out of the throne the water flows and the tree grows. When you drink the water of life and eat the tree of life, you will serve Him, you will see His face, and you will be a king. On the mission field you will not be a poor missionary, but you will go and be there as a king. The Lord Jesus told us that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth and that now we need to go with His authority to disciple the nations (Matt. 28:18-19). We need to go with the authority of the heavenly King who is now enthroned in our being. We all have to realize that here is the power and the impact of the preaching of the gospel — we have One who is the Lord of all, the Head of the entire universe, enthroned in the center of our being. When He is enthroned in our being, the water flows and the tree grows, and our service will be an enjoyment. When you enjoy Him, you serve Him, you see Him, and you reign with Him to be kings with Him.
May the Lord grant us three things in our experience — the throne, the water of life, and the tree of life. This is why I say to the sisters not to go shopping apart from the throne, without the water of life and the tree of life. Go shopping with the throne in the center of your being and under the flow of the water of life, in which grows the tree of life for you to eat. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going shopping, but go shopping with the throne. When you get into the door of the department store, do not leave the throne outside the door. Enter the door with the throne. When you pick up an article, pick it up with the throne. Many times when the sisters go shopping, they leave the throne at home. At other times, the throne went with them to the entrance of the department store, and they left the throne outside the door when they entered the department store. However, none of us should put the throne aside. Go shopping with the throne, and enter the department store with the throne. The Christian life is a life centered with the throne. As long as you have the throne as the center of your daily life, you are okay because you will have the water of life to drink and the tree of life to eat. Then you are “a small New Jerusalem.” In the flow of the water of life you serve Him, you see Him, and you reign with Him. The flow of the Divine Trinity saturates and nourishes the entire New Jerusalem. This indicates that the carrying out of God’s administration for the fulfillment of His purpose, His desire, is by the flow of Himself as life and life supply, not by any work. May this be quite an enlightenment to all of us.
