The church is the reigning of the kingdom. But this reigning is not in our flesh or in our natural life. It must be a reigning in resurrection. This kind of reigning is not only for the future; it must be in our spirit today. Suppose the elders among us assume their position, exercising authority to rule over others in the church life. This will never work. If the elders try to do this, deep in our spirit we will realize that the elders are not reigning in resurrection; they are reigning in their position. We all must learn that in the church, where the reality of the kingdom is, we must behave ourselves in our spirit. We must live and walk in resurrection. As long as we walk in resurrection, we will have authority. It is true to say that the brothers are the head and that the sisters should be under their headship. However, if the brothers do not live and act in the spirit, but the sisters do, we will have the deep sensation that the brothers have no headship, but that the sisters do have a kind of authority. In such a case the sisters have authority because their life is in resurrection. When we speak from our natural man, we lose ground immediately. But when we speak and act in the spirit, we maintain the position of authority. The ruling in the church is not human or natural; it is in resurrection.
Let me say a word to the husbands and wives. If a husband exercises authority in a natural way, he immediately ceases to be the head and becomes the tail. However, if he lives in the spirit, the Spirit of God will tell everyone that this is the head and that they must submit to him. Even the little children in the homes can realize this. Many times, when the mother and father are quarreling, the children will say, "Mother, you are wrong. Daddy is right. You must listen to him." At other times the children will say, "Daddy, you are in the flesh. Since you are in the flesh, how can you be the head?" Such things have happened many times in Christian homes. Not only the Holy Spirit within us but even the little ones in our homes know whether we are in the flesh or in the spirit. Even your little daughter who is two or three years of age knows where you are. Husbands, do not exercise your headship only in a positional way. You have to live and walk in the spirit and be a person absolutely in resurrection. If you do this, you will be the head.
Reigning in the kingdom of God is a matter in resurrection. To be in resurrection is to be in the spirit. Oh, how we need to be in the spirit! Although the wives at times may not be fair, the Holy Spirit within them is fair. They also have a fair spirit within telling them, "Your husband is right." However, if we are not in the spirit, we lose the ground. We lose the heavenly ruling. In order to be in resurrection we must be in the spirit. When we are in the spirit, we are under the heavenly ruling, and spontaneously this ruling is exercised over the entire situation.
One day the overcomers will rise up and reign with Christ (Rev. 20:4, 6). As long as we are dead, we can never reign with Christ. The resurrected ones will reign with Christ in a new age during the thousand years.
The resurrected ones will reign with Christ over the nations (Rev. 2:26-27; 12:5). When as a young man, I read about this, I could not believe it. I said to myself, "Certainly you are not qualified to rule over the nations." Do you really believe that in resurrection you will be Christ's co-kings reigning with Him over all the nations? If you believe this, I would ask you to look at yourself. Do you look like a king? In the church life, in the reality of the kingdom, we are being disciplined for kingship. We need to live in the spirit, walk in the spirit, be dealt with in our natural life, and always stay in resurrection. If you are in resurrection, you will be the most dignified person. You will be a king.
Suppose I am an elderly man in my family and an elderly man among the brothers. If I behave myself with natural dignity, I will say to my family, "Don't you children know that I am the head of the family? Don't you realize that I am the grandfather and that all you grandchildren are under me?" If I behave in this way, I will become like a turtle. Although I may try to act dignified, I will actually lose all my dignity. If I say to the brothers, "Don't you realize that I am the oldest one, that I am the most qualified one? I need to enjoy the dignity among the brothers." If I adopt this attitude, I will become like a scorpion and have no dignity whatsoever. However, the more I live in spirit, walk in spirit, and have my being in resurrection, the more I will have true dignity. This is kingship. Our kingship is in the proper walk in the spirit, in the life in resurrection. There is no need to strive for power or authority. The best way to gain authority is to keep yourself in resurrection. It was the budding, which signifies resurrection, of Aaron's rod that gave him authority in his ministry (Num. 17:3-10).