The throne of God in the center of the New Jerusalem is the unique source of the life supply. It is by His administration that God dispenses Himself into us as life, as the life supply, and as the eternal, absolute, all-inclusive grace. His dispensing of Himself into us depends upon His administration. For this reason, in the church life today there is divine authority and church government. There is a divine government in the church life today, and this government comes from the throne of God. The divine authority in the church is for God to dispense Himself into us as life, as the life supply, and as the all-sufficient grace. Only by submitting ourselves to God’s authority, God’s government, can we share in His all-sufficient grace.
The throne of grace in Hebrews 4:16 is the throne of authority in Revelation 4, which becomes in Revelation 22:1 and 2 the throne of God and of the Lamb, out of which proceeds the crystal clear river of water of life. This river flows through the whole city of New Jerusalem. Within this river grows the tree of life, revealing that the rich Christ with the living Spirit flows out of the throne of grace. Grace is the flowing river in which the tree of life grows. To the unbelievers and to the demons, the throne of God and of the Lamb is a throne merely of authority; to us, it is the throne of grace. Whenever we come to this throne, we have the sense that something is flowing to water and supply us. This is grace. We can surely drink and eat of this supply.
On the throne of grace is not only God but also the Lamb, the Redeemer. On the wonderful throne of grace, God is sitting, and at His right hand is the Redeemer, our High Priest. That the throne is not only the throne of God but the throne of God and of the Lamb means that God in the Lamb is flowing Himself out as grace for our enjoyment. We need not do anything. We simply need to come forward, open up, and receive mercy and find grace for timely help. Every day the help that comes from this grace is very timely. It is always new and exactly fits our situation and need.
God’s mercy and grace are always available to us. However, we need to receive and find them by exercising our spirit to come forward to the throne of grace. The throne of God is the throne of grace. Whenever we come to the throne of grace, the grace of God is like a river flowing to us.
Today in our spirit there is heaven, the throne of authority, and the throne of grace with God and the Lamb. When we call on the Lord, we are in our spirit, and our spirit is in the heavens with the throne of authority, the throne of grace, and the coinhering God sitting on the throne.
God’s throne is thus the source of the flowing grace. To dethrone Him, to take the throne away from Him, is to disregard the source of grace. This causes the flow of grace to cease. This is not a mere doctrine but something very experiential. Many of us can testify that whenever we fail to enthrone the Lord, we do not receive grace in our times of prayer.
In eternity we will also enjoy the throne of God and of the Lamb (v. 3). In Hebrews 4 the throne is the throne of grace, but in Revelation 4 the throne is mainly the throne of authority. At the end of the Bible, the throne is both the throne of authority and the throne of grace. The throne of God and of the Lamb is certainly for God’s divine administration. Thus, it is the throne of authority. However, proceeding out of the throne is not authority but the river of water of life with the tree of life as the life supply. This is not only authority but also grace.
We should never separate authority from grace or grace from authority. Grace and authority are one. If we have grace, we are under authority, and if we are under authority, we partake of grace. Although it is true that, as Christians, we need to reign, we should not reign by authority. Rather, we should reign through the flow of life. The eldership, the representation of the headship, must be exercised through the flow of life. Although the throne is the throne of authority, the throne of headship, out of the throne flows the river of water of life. When we look at the throne, we see authority and headship. But when we look at the river, we see the water of life and the tree of life. This indicates that proper eldership is not the exercise of authority over others; it is the flowing of life into them. We are reigning, but we do not reign by authority; we reign through the flowing of the inner life.
Today the Lord Jesus does not reign merely with authority. He is reigning in the church, among the churches, and over all the churches through the flowing of His life as grace. The more we partake of His life, the more authority we have. The ones whom you respect in the church life are those who are mature in life. However, no one who assumes authority will be respected. Deep in the spirits of the saints there is no respect for that kind of eldership. Life is the expression of authority. Instead of assuming authority, we need to live out Christ. The Christ whom we live out will be our authority over others. We will enjoy this kind of authority for eternity. The throne, the source of the life supply with the divine authority, will be our eternal enjoyment.
We have experienced that when we 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, 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, became the redeeming Lamb (1:14, 29), and 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 life supply.
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 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 the 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 us, what would be the issue? Many Christians are dried up, starved to death, and without growth in life because the throne is neglected in their experience.
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 we offer such a prayer to the Triune God every morning, we will have the living water flowing within us. This living water flowing in us is the flow of the Triune God. It is not a small thing that the Triune God flows in us today. He flows in us as the One who purposed, as the One who redeemed, and as the One who is the life-giving Spirit. This One is the consummation of the Triune God reaching us as the living water.
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. Today we are experiencing the throne of God and of the Lamb out of which flows the Triune God for our enjoyment.
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 in order 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 married life, in our business life, and in our church life, the center must be God’s throne. Everything should be subjected to His headship.
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.
Within us, in the center of our being, there should be the throne of God and of the Lamb. Whenever we would take the Triune God as our Head, the divine life begins to flow in our being. We need to apply this to our daily life in every instance and in every thing. Even in our talk to the members of our family, we need to practice submitting ourselves to the inner throne. We should not look into the heavens but to the center of our entire being where there should be a throne. The throne should be prevailing in the center of our being. Then the water of life will be proceeding out of the throne to supply us and to bring to us the tree of life which nourishes us all day long.
We need to realize that what is recorded in Revelation 21 and 22 should be experienced by us today in a very personal way. Experientially, 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. Furthermore, in each one of us there should 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 center of our being there should be the throne of God and of the Lamb.