In the Lord’s table meeting we often hear the saints offer praises, praying, “Lord, we thank and praise You for putting Your life in us.” However, I have never heard a brother or a sister say, “Lord, we thank and praise You for bringing Your throne into our being.” If we have a proper feeling regarding our salvation and see the kingdom clearly, we will say to the Lord, “Lord, we thank and praise You because not only have You given Your life to us, but You have also brought Your throne into our being.” I believe that after offering such praise at the table meeting, our entire being will be changed because the throne will rule over us within. If we are about to tell a joke, the throne will rule over us. If we are about to criticize, judge, or expose the weaknesses of others, the throne will rule over us within. If we are about to lose our temper toward our parents or children, as we begin to lose our temper, the throne will rule over us.
It is terrible that Christians today seem to fear everyone except God. If Christians today would fear God in the way that they fear the police, they would all be proper Christians. I have seen many Christians who are genuinely saved and are even quite zealous but who do not fear God. They fear the police more than God.
When the Japanese invaded China and occupied my hometown of Chefoo, one day a Japanese military policeman informed us that we were required to attend a meeting the next day at 8:00 A.M. The next day no one dared to be late. In fact, everyone arrived at 7:30 A.M. and attended the meeting in an orderly manner. The way they attended that meeting was much better than the way we attend our meetings today. Why is this? It is because everyone was afraid of the Japanese military police. In our meetings, however, it seems that God can easily be ignored. This is the reason that our situation is different. Although the responsible brothers always announce that we should come to the meetings early, the saints often come late. The closer they live to the meeting hall, the later they arrive.
If one day some Japanese military police came to notify us that we all had to gather at 5:00 A.M. the next morning, do you think that anyone would dare to be late? But after we tell the saints, “You must rise up early to pray and read the Lord’s Word,” they may say, “I did not go to sleep until 11:00 P.M. I really cannot rise up in the morning.” Others may say, “I have not been feeling very well lately; I really cannot rise up early.” However, if some Japanese military police came to their home, as soon as they heard the footsteps, they would not dare give any excuses. If they were told to gather at 5:00 A.M., they probably would arrive at 4:30 A.M. I would like to ask, “Is this kind of Christian proper?”
When we do not submit or yield to God and are not restricted by God, do we have peace within? Are we joyful Christians? This is why we are afraid to pray with others. When it is time to pray, you want me to pray, and I want you to pray. Neither of us can open our mouths. This is also why we are afraid that the brothers and sisters will come to visit us. It is because when they come, we will have to pray with them. Why are we afraid of praying? It is because we feel that we do not want to face God. We know that we have hurt Him and opposed Him. He often commands us, demands things of us, and even works in us, but we do not respond to Him and are unwilling to submit to Him. We oppose Him and are not submissive to Him, whether in great things or in small things. Hence, our spirit within is a crushed spirit, a grieving spirit. There is no peace or joy in us, and we can neither praise God nor give thanks to Him.
In our daily living, if we are willing to submit to the heavenly authority in great things and small things and allow the throne in heaven to reign in us, whenever we pray, our spirit will be joyful and our mouth will be filled with praises. At the same time, we will give thanks to God at every opportunity. Our spirit will be full of joy because we have allowed God to reign in us. We will be persons who are in the kingdom and have a part in the kingdom, and the heavenly authority of the kingdom will be in us.
We must see that every saved one has not only God’s life but also God’s authority, God’s throne, within. In other words, the kingdom is in us. The kingdom is Christ as well as the Holy Spirit. He is the reigning authority. He is Christ, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Where He is, there the throne is also. Where He is, there the authority is also. Where He is, there the kingdom is also. Have you been saved and received God? Do you not have God’s life in you? Is the Holy Spirit not in you? Is Christ not in you? This is sufficient. This is the throne, this is the authority, this is the kingdom of the heavens, and this is the kingdom.
Now the question is, will we submit to the Lord? I believe that none of us will say, “I will not submit.” However, in our actual condition we are often loose and self-willed. If someone says that we have never submitted to God or been ruled by the throne within, we will feel that we have been wrongly spoken of. After all, we can testify that in certain matters we dare not be loose because there is an authority, a throne, a ruling, in us, and we submit to it. However, in many more matters we lay the throne aside.
For example, many brothers and sisters are careless in losing their temper, in becoming angry, in criticizing others, in envying others, in hating others, and in the way they do things. These situations show that we are not under the ruling and restriction of heaven; thus, we nullify the heavenly authority in us. After a period of time, however, the Holy Spirit comes again. He is the authority—the seven Spirits before the throne—and He desires to reestablish the throne in us. As long as we give Him a little opportunity, we will realize that the throne, the ruling, the authority, and the kingdom are still in us. From the day of our salvation, the kingdom and the authority are always in us. The question is whether or not we submit.
The Bible reveals that the first meaning of the kingdom is the ruling of the heavens, the heavenly authority, entering into us and ruling us that we may live a heavenly life, a restricted life, in practicality. In our speech, attitude, walk, action, and even expression and countenance, we must be restricted by the kingdom. In our daily living, even in our apparel and appearance, we must be under the restriction of the kingdom. In all things, such as our dealing with people, our handling of situations, our handling of material riches, and our managing of our household, we must be restricted by the throne.
This restriction is higher than the laws of a nation, higher than human ethics, and higher than the requirements of society. This restriction is the heavenly authority brought into us. The authority that has been brought into us is the seven Spirits who are before the throne. The sevenfold Spirit of God has entered into us with God’s throne and is ruling and reigning within us. If we submit to Him, we will be blessed, for the kingdom will be ours. We will be part of the kingdom.
When we submit to the throne today, we are in the kingdom. In the future the second meaning of the kingdom, the aspect of the sphere of the kingdom, will be manifested on the earth. At that time the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15). When this kingdom is manifested on the earth, we will enter into it.
The aspect of the sphere of the kingdom is a matter of prophecy; we will enter into it in the future. However, the aspect of the authority of the kingdom is not a matter of prophecy or something in the future. Rather, it is something practical, something we can experience today, because it is a living under the ruling of the kingdom in actuality. From the day we are saved, the Holy Spirit is in us, bringing God’s throne, the heavenly authority, and the authority of the kingdom into us. If we learn to be under the inward ruling and restriction and practically have this kind of living, we will be in the kingdom. Then one day when the sphere of the kingdom is fully manifested, we will be able to enter into it and rule and reign with the Lord.
Strictly speaking, those who will enter into the kingdom will not be citizens but will be kings. We have not attained to the stage of being kings today, but we are princes. Therefore, we need to be trained. We are in the kingdom today, not mainly as citizens but as princes who are receiving the training of the ruling, the throne, and the authority. One day we will be enthroned to reign with the Lord.
Only those who receive the training to be under this heavenly authority today will be able to exercise this heavenly authority in the future. Today on the earth, on one hand, we are living as the kingdom people under the authority of the kingdom, and on the other hand, we are living as princes, God’s children, the children of the great King, to be trained to reign in God’s kingdom. Therefore, we must seriously learn to be restricted, ruled, and trained under the authority of the kingdom. If today we learn to be under God’s authority, reigning, and ruling, one day He will cause us to rule and reign with His beloved Son. Although this is a matter in the future, it should encourage us to live under the authority of the heavens today.