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Scripture Reading: Luke 19:11-13, 15; Psa. 2:6-7; Dan. 7:13-14; Acts 2:33, 36; John 16:13-15; Rev. 22:1-2
The kingdom is a crucial truth in the Bible. If we truly know the Bible, we will realize that the entire story of God in the universe is a story of ruling, that is, a story of obtaining a kingdom. It is easy to see that for a great person to fulfill his desire and manifest his glory, he must possess authority and acquire a kingdom. If he cannot acquire a kingdom and exercise his authority in it, he will have no way to carry out his plans and show forth his glory.
Whenever the kingdom is mentioned in the Bible, it is usually associated with authority and glory. Consider, for example, the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6. At the end of this prayer three items are mentioned together. The Lord prayed, “Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory” (v. 13). Daniel 7:14 also puts these three items together, saying that the Son of Man was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom from God. Without a kingdom, God has no way to exercise His authority; without the exercise of His authority, God has no way to fulfill His desire; and without the fulfillment of His desire, God has no way to express His honor and glory.
In verses 9 and 10 of His prayer in Matthew 6, the Lord mentioned three things. First, the Lord prayed, “Your name be sanctified” (v. 9). This is a matter of glory. For God’s name to be sanctified on earth is a matter of God’s being glorified. The Lord continued, “Your kingdom come” (v. 10a), and then went on to pray, “Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth” (v. 10b). This shows that the carrying out of God’s will is a matter of the exercise of His authority. If the sovereignty of a nation cannot be exercised in a certain place, the laws of that nation cannot be executed there. In order to execute a law and accomplish a purpose, a nation must be able to exercise its sovereignty. Laws are related to the will. In order to carry out His will on earth, God must extend His authority to the earth, and in order to extend His authority to the earth, He must obtain a kingdom on the earth. Once He acquires a kingdom, He will be able to exercise His authority, carry out His will, cause His name to be sanctified, and receive glory.
Thus, we see that these great matters—the will of God, the glory of God, and the sanctification of God’s name—depend on God’s kingdom. Once God has His kingdom, His will will be done, His name will be sanctified, and He will be glorified. The key to these matters is whether or not God can obtain His kingdom. The foundation of God’s kingdom is the throne of God’s rule.
The Bible clearly shows that the only thing Satan wants to do in the universe is to overthrow God’s throne. Isaiah 14 reveals that Satan wanted to exalt his throne to be equal with God (v. 13). This means that Satan intends to violate God’s sovereignty, usurp God’s authority, and overthrow God’s throne; he intends to establish his own kingdom in the universe. In Matthew 12 the Lord Jesus spoke of two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. He said, “If I, by the Spirit of God, cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (v. 28). He also said, “If Satan casts out Satan...How then will his kingdom stand?” (v. 26). This shows that there are two kingdoms in the universe. One is God’s kingdom, and the other is Satan’s kingdom. One is God’s exercise of His authority, and the other is Satan’s usurpation of God’s authority. One is God’s establishing of His throne for the exercise of His authority, and the other is Satan’s overthrowing of God’s throne for the setting up of his own authority.
The matter of authority is mentioned in the very beginning of the Bible. Genesis 1 shows that God gave man the authority to have dominion over all the living things in the sea, in the air, and on the earth (v. 26). The way Satan stole man away from God was to seduce man to rebel against God, to usurp God’s authority. When man sinned, he did not merely violate a rule; even more, he revolted against God, rebelled against God, and put God’s authority aside, denying God’s authority and rejecting God’s rule. Just as Satan rebelled against God, man also rebelled against God. The first creatures God created were the angels, among whom the archangel led many to rebel. Later, God created man, who also rebelled. One can say that man and Satan acted as a team to rebel against God.
After man and Satan rebelled together against God, God determined to become a man; He became a man in the Son. This is a great matter. God became a man in the Son and entrusted all His authority to the Son. Therefore, all of God’s glory is in the Son. We can say that the Son is the embodiment of God’s authority. When the Lord Jesus stood as a man among the Jews and was questioned by some of them as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered, “The kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:20-21).
When the Lord Jesus spoke this word, He meant that He Himself was the kingdom of God—His being in the midst of the Jews was God’s kingdom being in their midst. He did not want the Jews to think that the kingdom of God was “here” or “there”; actually, the kingdom of God was in their midst (v. 21). He Himself was the kingdom of God. All of God’s authority was with Him, and God’s throne also was with Him. Apart from Christ man cannot find the kingdom of God, apart from Him man cannot touch the authority of God, and apart from Him there is no throne of God. All of God’s authority is with Him; He is God’s authority. Hence, He is the effulgence of God’s glory. The expression of God’s glory is in God’s authority, and all of God’s authority is with Christ. Therefore, He is God’s authority and God’s kingdom, and God’s glory rests with Him.
I hope that all of God’s children can see that the kingdom of God is not something only in the future. We should not study it as an objective and prophetic matter. Actually, God’s kingdom is Christ, the Son of God. All of God’s authority is with the Lord Jesus. When we believed in the Lord, we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior and prayed, “Lord, I receive You into my being.” However, we did not know that the Lord whom we received is not only the Savior and the One who is life but also the King. He is the kingdom, and He is the authority. Once we receive Him into us, we have not only the Savior and the One who is life but also the Lord and the King. There is an authority, a kingdom, in us. This kingdom is Christ Himself. Today God’s kingdom is not only outside of us but also within us. This kingdom is Christ, our Savior, who is the authority in us, having set up His throne in us and been enthroned in us.
When the Lord Jesus was about to depart from the world, He revealed that He would receive for Himself a kingdom and return (19:12). In fact, God’s kingdom and authority had long been with Him, but God had a particular procedure and way of doing things. In eternity past God gave His authority and kingdom to His Son; these items had long been with the Son. Yet the Lord Jesus said that He was going to receive a kingdom. In what way did He go? He went by death. The way by which the Lord received His kingdom was death and resurrection. When the Lord was raised from the dead, He ascended to heaven, and God exalted Him to His right hand, making Him both Lord and Christ. This officially demonstrated to the entire universe that God had given His kingdom to the Son.
In Psalm 2 God declared, “I have installed My King / Upon Zion, My holy mountain” (v. 6). When did God say this? He said this when He raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. At that time the Lord Jesus heard God say to Him, “You are My Son; / Today I have begotten You” (v. 7). This is the word God spoke to His Son in His resurrection. After the Lord Jesus was resurrected, God told Him that He had begotten Him and that He had also made Him King. Thus, in Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and said, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified” (v. 36). The authority, the kingdom, and the throne have been given to the Lord; He has been enthroned, and everything pertaining to the kingdom rests with Him.
Perhaps someone would ask Peter, “How do you know that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ? Have you been to heaven? How do you know that Christ has ascended to heaven and has been enthroned?” Peter could answer, “Have you not seen that the Holy Spirit has descended? On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended. The fact that the Holy Spirit descended proves that Jesus was made by God both Lord and Christ. Because He was exalted, enthroned, and made both Lord and Christ, God gave Him the Holy Spirit, who was then poured out. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit confirms and declares to us the authority that God has given to the Lord Jesus.”
When the Lord Jesus was about to depart from the world, He told His disciples that the Holy Spirit, whom the Father was about to send, would declare to them all that the Father had given Him; the Holy Spirit would come from the Lord Jesus and would declare to the disciples all that the Lord had received (John 14:26; 16:13-15). What did the Lord receive? The Lord received God’s throne and God’s authority, and He was made by God both Lord and Christ. After the Holy Spirit had entered into the disciples and had been poured out upon them, He testified in them and led them to know that the Lord was on the throne, that God’s kingdom was with Him, and that God’s authority was in His hands.
On the one hand, the Lord was on the throne, having obtained the authority, the throne, and the kingdom. On the other hand, those in the world did not know Him; they did not know that the Lord Jesus was on the throne, that He had the authority, and that He had received the kingdom. Although the world was ignorant, rejecting Christ as the King with His ruling, His kingdom, and His throne, God did something special: He poured out the Holy Spirit. On whom did He pour out the Holy Spirit? He poured out the Holy Spirit on those who believed in Jesus. God caused the Holy Spirit to enter into those who believed in Jesus, and He also poured out the Holy Spirit upon them. Although the world rejects Christ as King, God nevertheless desires that the gospel would be preached everywhere. This gospel is the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 24:14).
No matter where this gospel is preached, as soon as someone prays to Jesus, saying, “Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I repent and receive You as my Savior,” the Holy Spirit will enter into him and come upon him. This is an earthshaking experience. Perhaps some do not realize how great this matter is because they do not know what the Holy Spirit will do after He comes into them and upon them. We need to remember that the Holy Spirit entering into us and being poured out upon us is not only to give us peace through the forgiveness of sins and not only for God’s life to come into us, but also it is the Lord Himself entering into us.
Who is this Lord who comes into us when the Spirit comes into us? We may know that He is the Lord who died for us on the cross. However, when we receive Him as our Savior and when He enters into us as the Spirit, He is not the Lord on the cross but the Lord on the throne. The One whom we receive is the Lord who was nailed to the cross; however, today He is no longer on the cross but on the throne.
The Lord whom we receive is the Lord on the throne. He was crucified, but then He passed through the tomb, resurrected, and ascended to the heights. God exalted Him to His right hand, enthroned Him, and gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth (28:18). God made Him Lord and King; He is the King on the throne. Before we were saved, the Holy Spirit came to us, moving us and telling us that we were sinners and that we needed to repent, receive the Lord, and believe in Jesus. As a result, we were touched and prayed, “O Lord, I am a sinner. You died for me, and I receive You as my Savior.” We should never consider this to be a small matter. As we prayed, our sins were forgiven. As we prayed, we obtained peace. As we prayed, the Lord entered into us. This is a great matter, something marvelous, because through this the enthroned Jesus entered into us.
This Jesus is a marvelous One. We must see that He is not only the crucified Jesus but also the One who is on the throne. When we receive Him, He comes into us not from the cross but from the throne. Moreover, He comes into us not only from the throne but also with the throne.
Hence, when we are saved, we receive the Savior and also the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Many gospel hymns depict a scene similar to what is portrayed in the following lines: “I prostrated myself before the cross, before the pierced feet of the Lord Jesus. I saw the nail marks on His hands. I saw His pierced side. I saw the stripes on His back. I saw the thorny crown on His head. I saw the thorns piercing into His head; His blood flowed out drop by drop. I then knelt down before the crucified Jesus, receiving this man on the cross as my Savior.” Many hymns are similar to this in utterance and expression. We must know, however, that this is a prayer uttered by those whose eyes have not been opened and who have not seen the vision on the mountain. What they see is the Jerusalem on earth and the hill called Golgotha, which was outside the city of Jerusalem and on which was a cross where the crucified Jesus was hung. The light they have received enables them to see merely the things on earth and not the scene in heaven.
We need to see that the Lord is no longer on the cross or in the tomb. On the morning of His resurrection, when those who loved Him came to look for Him in the tomb, it was empty. The angel said to them, “He is not here, for He has been raised, even as He said” (v. 6). Furthermore, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended from heaven upon Peter. At that time Peter became “crazy,” or he must have at least been trembling as he was speaking, for people thought that he was drunk. Peter told the people that it was not the time to be drunk, for it was nine o’clock in the morning, and no one drinks at that time (Acts 2:15). However, people supposed that Peter was a drunkard; this shows that the Holy Spirit had truly descended upon him. When the Holy Spirit came upon Peter, he became beside himself.
Peter was formerly a fisherman of Galilee; he did not have much learning. However, on the day of Pentecost he was bold, powerful, and eloquent, fearing neither heaven nor earth. He did not fear the Roman Empire, the Jewish religion, the high priest, the Pharisees, or the elders; he preached Jesus the Nazarene as Lord. People there thought that he was insane, but he told them, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you have crucified” (v. 36). When the Israelites heard this, they were pricked in their heart. Then Peter charged them to repent and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (vv. 37-38).
When we are willing to receive and gain this Holy Spirit, He will enter into us, give us peace through the forgiveness of sins, and give us eternal life. Moreover, when the Holy Spirit enters into us, the Lord Jesus enters into us. The Jesus who enters into us is the Jesus on the throne, the exalted One, the One who was made both Lord and Christ. What He brings into us is not merely the cross but the throne. The Lord on the throne comes into us with His throne; He comes not only to be our life but also to be our authority. He is not only our Savior but also the kingdom. He is God’s kingdom, God’s authority, and He desires to set up His throne in us. He is on the throne as the King in us. We need to remember that this is what it means to be a Christian.
The experience of a Christian is not merely an experience of life and peace but also an experience of the kingdom, of the throne, of the authority, and of the King of kings. The One in us is not only the lowly Jesus but also the glorified Christ. He is not only the Jesus rejected by man but also the Christ exalted by God, and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.
There is no way for us to receive the Lord and yet set aside His authority. We should not say to the Lord, “I am too small to contain You, Lord, much less to contain Your throne.” Neither should we tell Him, “Lord, I want only life and peace; I do not want the kingdom and authority.” If we speak to the Lord in this way, the Lord will answer, “If you want life and peace, you must also receive the kingdom and authority. If you want the Savior, you must also receive the King. I am the Savior as well as the King. I was not only crucified but also enthroned. I passed through the cross, and now I am sitting on the throne. I come into you not from the cross but from the throne. As the Lord of lords and King of kings, I am coming into you with My throne.” What is this? This is an experience of the kingdom.
Although our outward being is small, our inward being is truly great, for within us there is a kingdom. We have a kingdom, a throne, and the King of kings—Christ, the Ruler of the kings of the earth—within us. This is our inward experience. I hope that all of God’s children can see this.
We should never consider salvation to be a small matter. Some who have seen that salvation is not a small matter often pray, “I have been regenerated; I have God’s life and have become God’s child. This is a great matter!” We need to see, however, that the fact is actually greater than this. We must see that God’s kingdom, God’s throne, God’s King, and the King of kings are all in us.
The people on earth forsook the Lord Jesus, but the heavens welcomed Him. Furthermore, after the people on earth rejected Him, He as the Spirit descended from heaven. The Spirit came with the gospel, and this gospel is the gospel of the kingdom. When we hear the gospel and repent, we receive this Savior; this Spirit comes into us. What kind of Spirit is He? He is the Spirit flowing from the throne, the seven Spirits before the throne (Rev. 4:5). Once He comes into us, He gives us peace through the forgiveness of sins, and He gives us life as well. He also brings the throne into us; that is, He brings the Lord on the throne into our being. In this way our being becomes the heavenly kingdom; we have the authority, the throne, the King, the reigning, and the ruling within. Using a secular term, we may say that we have a government in us.
There is a kingdom in every saved one. What a gospel this is! Perhaps some do not accept this word. We may accept the fact that when we believe in Jesus, we have eternal life, but it is difficult to accept the fact that when we believe in Jesus, we have the kingdom in us. We may feel that it is wonderful to know that we have obtained eternal life, but we may not like to hear that the kingdom, the laws of the kingdom, and the King of the kingdom also are in us. Although some may not believe this word, it is based on the Bible. It may be that some initially agree with this word, but after seeing themselves still watching movies and quarreling with their family members, they simply cannot believe that the kingdom, the throne, and the King of kings are in them. This is truly difficult for man to believe.
I would ask you only one thing: “Are you saved?” As long as you are a saved one, there is life in you. Moreover, Christ is in you, the authority is in you, the King of kings is in you, and the kingdom is in you also. The One whom we have received is exceedingly great.
We should know that the greater a person is, the more forgiving and meek he will be. The experienced ones know that little children are easily offended. Whenever I visit a family, I am afraid of the children. I am not afraid that they will hit me, but I am afraid that I will offend them. Sometimes I tease them playfully, and they begin to cry. It is very easy for children to be offended; they are very young and are therefore narrow-minded. The parents, being adults, are different. They are not easily offended. For example, if I ask for another bowl of soup or break a glass, they will not have much of a reaction, nor will they make me feel embarrassed. Children, however, are different. If I take a piece of candy from a child, he will surely cry. Even if I return the candy to him, I may still not be able to calm him down and stop him from crying, because he is a child and is small-minded. We need to realize that our Lord is the King of kings; as such, He is a great person. It does not matter if we offend Him, but I say this not to encourage you to do so. If you say to Him, “I strongly desire to go to the movies,” He may say, “Go ahead.” He does not want you to go, but if you greatly desire to go, He will allow you to go. He is a very great person.
You may sometimes lose your temper, and although He does not like it, He allows it. However, it is certain that after you are saved and become a Christian, when you do things that are displeasing to Him, although He may allow you to do those things, you will not have peace within. If you are genuinely saved and are thus a genuine Christian, every time you do certain things, you will sense no peace within; rather, you will sense that you are rebellious and are doing things contrary to the Lord. You will sense that you are a disobedient and rebellious one. Perhaps you may console yourself by saying, “I did not steal or rob from others; I merely lost my temper a little. Besides, everyone has a temper.” Strangely, no matter how you try to convince yourself, you still will not have peace; He is still not responding in you. He is not like an earthly government, which would ask the police to stop you when you violate the law, but you know within that you are disobeying Him. You may give many reasons, and all the reasons may be logical, but your inward feeling will be contrary and disagree with you.
How do you know that you have a contrary feeling within? You know it by the fact that you cannot pray. A brother once told me that no matter where he went to hire a cab, he found that good cab drivers were nowhere to be found; almost every cab driver was unreasonable and tried to take advantage of others. Sometimes the brother would refuse to give in and would reason with the cab driver, questioning him, “Why are you trying to take advantage of me? You should have given me fifty cents in change.” The two would then begin to argue. This is a small matter; it seems that everyone should fight for himself and that it is reasonable to do so. The cab driver should have given him fifty cents in change, but he said that he did not have change. Hence, they began to argue again. No matter what, this brother demanded justice. This is reasonable in the eyes of the world, but he was not able to pray when he went home.
That he could not pray was truly a problem to him. All he did was quarrel a little, and his quarreling was reasonable. However, he could not pray when he went home. This was strange to him. When he sat at the dining table and was asked by his wife to pray and give thanks for the meal, he could not utter a word. The reason was that he had overthrown the throne within him. He had not conducted himself like a king or like one who had a throne and the King of kings within. Hence, he could not pray. Have you had this kind of experience? Sometimes a cab driver refuses to give us our change of fifty cents, but if we consider, “I am a son of the King of kings. I have the throne in me, and I have Christ in me. He is worth more than fifty cents. I do not care for the fifty cents anymore.” Strangely, when we arrive home, we will be able to kneel down and pray to the Lord immediately, saying, “O Lord, I thank and praise You that You are the King of kings, that the throne is in me, and that I am a son of the King.” We will be able to praise Him. How wonderful this is! This proves that there is a kingdom in us. This kingdom is the Holy Spirit, and it is Christ Himself with His throne and His authority.
Christians are difficult to understand, for there is a mystery in them. They have a mysterious life and a mysterious Savior, and they also have a mysterious kingdom. Within them are a mysterious government, a mysterious throne, a mysterious authority, and a mysterious ruling. There is a mystery in them. Today if you are a saved person and you take care of this mystery within, you will constantly experience the ruling of the kingdom in you. When you are about to argue with your wife, because of this authority in you, you will give up arguing. I believe that many brothers have this kind of experience.
Sometimes you argue with your wife, saying, “Am I not reasonable? We should lay this matter out and see who is right.” Many times a couple does not present their case to a judge in a law court; instead, they bring their case to their children. They call for their children and ask them to judge who is right and who is wrong. Some children are truly good at judging; they say to their parents, “The two of you are about the same.” This is not a positive situation for the children, and this will cause the family to be unable to pray together.
Hence, arguments should be avoided at home. If you argue with your wife, one thing is certain: you do not need to argue much; you only need to say a few words, and you will not be able to pray when you go back to your room. You may lie on your bed, looking at the ceiling and groaning a little, but you will not be able to pray a genuine prayer. Even if you pray, you will not be able to pray in a good way. Moreover, you may not be able to read the Bible the next morning. Why is this? It is because your inner being is altogether in chaos; the throne in you has been overthrown. Because you have not submitted to the authority in you and have not kept the order, there is chaos in you. This chaotic situation may take three to four days to gradually be set right. After such a failure, you should tell the Lord, “O Lord, forgive me. I am truly weak; I have failed again.”
The Lord will then ask you to apologize to your wife and tell her that you should not have argued with her. At this point, however, you may feel that you cannot lose your face. You may feel that since she is the wife and you are the husband, you cannot apologize to her. Because most brothers feel that this is shameful, they are not able to obey the Lord. We have all had this experience. Because of your disobedience you are again not able to pray in the evening. Even if you pray, there is not the supply of life. What is the reason for this? This is because the throne within you has been overturned, and your inner being is in chaos. However, you may be willing to obey the Lord and apologize to your wife right away, saying, “I am truly a failure. Please forgive me.” In this case, when you go back to your room, you will immediately be able to praise the Lord, your spirit within will be enlivened, and you will feel uplifted. This may seem to be a small matter, but it involves a great principle.
This is the case not only in the family but also in the church. When the responsible brothers come together, sometimes they have arguments. One of them may change his countenance, and another one may change his voice. Each one may insist on his own view and may not be willing to yield to others. They may argue in this way, but they certainly will not be able to praise the Lord or pray, because the authority within them has been overthrown. Such behavior is unbecoming for a Christian and for one who has Christ reigning within. If we behave in this way, it is as if the throne is not in us, and there is no kingdom, no king, no authority, and no ruling in us. We may lose our temper as we please, yell at others as we please, become loose as we please, disagree with others as we please, and quarrel as we please. We may be free, careless, and unrestrained. If we conduct ourselves in such a way, the throne is gone, and Christ is gone. Of course, according to the facts, the Lord is still in us; He remains in us. In our feeling, however, we are unable to rise up; instead, our spirit is low, and we are not able to praise, pray, or read the Bible. This shows that we have overthrown the throne within us, we have rebellion within us, and we have brought confusion to the kingdom in us.
We should never think that this is a small thing. The glorious Lord, the great King, today dwells humbly in us, desiring to set up His throne and establish His kingdom in us. This is a great thing. Throughout the past two thousand years the Lord’s kingdom has apparently been weak, but actually, it is strong and great. Today Jesus Christ is great and vast on the earth; His throne, His authority, and His kingdom have been established in thousands of people. It is no wonder that at the end of Napoleon’s life he exclaimed, “O Jesus the Nazarene, You have conquered me! I have fought battles in many places throughout my whole life, but now I am left in a miserable state. You, on the contrary, have never fought any battle, yet You have set up Your throne in many places on the earth.”
The Lord’s kingdom is established in all those who have believed in Him, including you and me. Sadly, we often unconsciously ignore this revelation and fact. The One who is in us is not only our Savior and our life but also our King, the King of kings. He is not only on the cross but also on the throne. Today He comes into us with His throne. Hence, the authority of the entire universe, the authority in heaven and on earth, and God’s entire kingdom are in us.
Before the manifestation of the kingdom comes openly, the reality of the kingdom must already exist in us; the Lord must have already established His kingdom in us. If we live in the kingdom today, we will eventually be brought into the manifestation of the kingdom. When we live in the kingdom, we are in the condition described in Matthew 5 through 7, a condition of being absolutely under the rule and restriction of the heavens. If we live under this light, we will be in a condition and live a life that the people of the world cannot live. The life we will live is heavenly and is incomprehensible to the world.
The King of kings in us is a kingdom that makes demands on us; He is also life in us as a supply to us. To the degree that He makes demands on us, He supplies us. He always supplies according to the demand. If we allow Him to rule in us, His life will supply us inwardly. Once the throne is established in us, the river of water of life will proceed out of the throne. These two are connected. Where the throne is, there is life; where the authority is, there is the supply; where the demand from God’s kingdom is, there is the supply from God’s kingdom.
Some may say, “I cannot overcome sin and my temper. Why does the Lord supply you and not me?” The supply depends on whether we allow the Lord to be enthroned and reign in us. If the Lord’s throne is in us and the Lord is reigning on the throne, then from the throne of God and of the Lamb the water of life will flow. The entire Bible covers the story of the throne and the story of life. At the end of the Bible these two items—the throne and life—are joined together. Out of the throne proceeds a river of water of life (Rev. 22:1). We need to see that once the throne is set up in us, life will flow, and this flow will become our inward supply, our inward strength. We will then be satisfied, strengthened, enlightened, and enriched. When Christ reigns in us, His will, will be done and His glory will be expressed. As a result, He will be exalted not only in heaven but also in us. He will obtain His kingdom not only on the throne in heaven but also in us. We will be His kingdom, and we will have His rule in us. We will be in His life and will live in His kingdom.
When this is our experience, we will be in His glory, and this will bring in His kingdom, His reigning, and will bring Him down from heaven. He will come back to the earth with His glory, authority, and kingdom to openly establish His kingdom. He will take us, those who allow Him to reign, as the base for Him to establish His kingdom. Before He establishes His kingdom on the earth, He must first establish His kingdom in us.
May the Lord grant us mercy to see that being a Christian is a matter not only of being spiritual but also of submitting to authority. We must see that the Lord in whom we believe is the King of kings, the Lord who has received the authority on the throne. Today the Lord as the Spirit has entered into us to establish His throne in us and become our King, and we must submit to His authority, acknowledge Him as our King, and receive His ruling. If we live in such a condition, from the throne within us will flow the living water, the water of life, which will supply the need of others. In this way our inner being will be living, satisfied, strengthened, enlightened, and enriched. Moreover, Christ will reign and be glorified on the throne.
