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 the 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.