Many Christians confess that not long after they were saved, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus asked them to allow Him to have room in them. However, when they had this inward sense to allow the Lord Jesus to have room and reign in them, they began to consider the cost, fearing what would happen once they gave themselves to the Lord and He truly reigned in them. There was a little girl about ten years of age who was truly saved. One day we asked her, “Are you saved?” She replied, “I am saved.” Then we asked her, “Do you have the Lord’s life?” She said with assurance, “I have the Lord’s life.” We asked further, “Do you love the Lord?” She said, “I love the Lord.” We then asked her, “Why do you love the Lord?” She answered, “Because the Lord Jesus died for me.” As she said this, she shed tears. We continued, “What is the expression of your love for Him?” To our surprise, she answered, “I love Him, but I dare not express it.” Her answer was quite meaningful. We asked her, “Why not?” She said, “Our teacher in the children’s meeting told us that if we love the Lord Jesus, we must give ourselves to Him. If we love the Lord Jesus, we need to consecrate ourselves to Him; this is an indication of our love for Him. Furthermore, He is not pleased if we give Him just anything; He delights only in us. Our teacher told us that unlike us, the Lord Jesus does not love money; He loves only our person. If we would give ourselves to Him, He would be very happy.” This teacher was quite experienced in that he was able to speak very well and touch the children’s feeling.
I then asked the little girl, “Why are you afraid to give yourself to Jesus?” She said, “Because I like to wear pretty clothes.” I said, “It does not matter whether you like to wear pretty clothes. The Lord Jesus also likes you to wear pretty clothes.” She replied, “But I am afraid that if I give myself to the Lord Jesus, one day He may not want me to wear pretty clothes. Then what shall I do? This is the reason I cannot give myself to Him.” Although this is merely a child’s story, you and I have been such a child.
In 1932 and 1933 this child’s experience occurred in me. At that time I truly knew that the Lord Jesus wanted me to give myself to Him. If you had asked me, “Do you love the Lord Jesus?” I would have answered without any hesitation, “I love the Lord Jesus. He died for me to be my Savior. I love Him.” If you had asked me, “Since you love Him, how do you express it?” I would have told you, “No matter how I express it, He does not like it. I have tried reading the Bible, praying, and offering material riches, but He did not like any of these things.” I was clear inwardly at that time that the Lord was saying to me, “I do not want anything else but you. You must drop your job and everything you have and give yourself to Me. I want only your person.” Therefore, for a period of almost two years I dared not pray, “Lord, I consecrate myself to You.” I dared not say this because I was afraid that the Lord would answer, “Fine, then drop your job and serve full time!” This was a painful experience for me. I knew that I had to believe in the Lord Jesus and that I had to love Him, yet I loved Him but dared not express it.
Today many Christians are in this kind of situation. If you ask them, “Have you believed in the Lord?” they will say, “I have believed in the Lord.” If you ask them, “Do you love the Lord?” they will say, “I love the Lord.” If you go on and ask them, “How do you express your love for the Lord?” they will not dare to answer. This reveals a problem. Because he is deceived by Satan, man is not willing to allow the Lord Jesus to establish His kingdom in him. The gospel saves us that we may become the Lord’s kingdom. God regenerates us with His life that we may have the throne of His Son in us. Salvation is not for us to go to heaven; it is for us to be made into a kingdom. Satan seeks to overthrow God’s authority in the universe. He is unwilling to let God’s authority be brought to the earth. In the meantime, he also usurps the earth among the worldly people so that God’s kingdom cannot come to the earth and His authority cannot be exercised among men. Through His Son’s dying for man, being raised from the dead, cleansing away man’s sins with His blood, and regenerating man with His life, God brings His throne, His authority, and His kingdom into the saved ones so that they may have His authority in them and become His kingdom.
In a general way, all the saved ones constitute God’s kingdom. The church is the place where God exercises His authority, and the throne of God’s Son is set up among the churches. His authority and reign should have the ground in all the saints. However, many saved ones have been deceived. Although they all have God’s life, the Lord Himself, and the Lord’s throne, authority, and kingdom in them, many will not submit to the Lord’s authority, allow the Lord to be seated on the throne within them, or allow Him to establish His kingdom and obtain His domain in their being. They will listen to messages, attend meetings, study the Word, and pray, but they will not yield the authority within them to the Lord Jesus. We must realize that if this is our situation, we cannot be a living and strong Christian, the power of the Lord Jesus cannot be expressed through us, and the divine life cannot be a supply to us.
Revelation 22 shows that the river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (vv. 1-2). Hence, when God and the Lamb are enthroned in our being and are able to rule and reign in us, this life will be manifested as power that supplies us inwardly. Suppose we are weak and we tell the Lord, “Lord, strengthen me.” This kind of prayer never works. Every Christian can testify that this kind of prayer is ineffective. Those who always tell the Lord, “Lord, I am weak; please make me strong,” know that the Lord never makes people strong. Why is this? It is because the Lord desires only to set up His throne within us; He cares only for the authority, the ground, and the dominion within us. We must give Him the dominion. God has already made Him Lord and Christ and has given Him all authority in heaven and on earth. The entire universe is His domain; we are the only ones who do not give Him the authority. God has made Him King, but we alone do not honor Him as King. Rather, we are our own king, and we do everything by ourselves. Until today there is no room for Christ in us; our inner being is not Christ’s domain but our own domain. In everything we are the lord, we are in control, and we have the final word. The Lord Jesus is frustrated in us. He is the Lord who is enthroned in heaven, but He is not enthroned in our heart. Yet we still ask Him for help. Obviously, it is impossible for Him to fulfill our request.