Perhaps after receiving the Lord, we did not hear a message on the kingdom, but inside us there was always a feeling that Someone was asking, “Do you love Me? Are you submissive to Me? Do you follow My leading? Do you listen to My word?” What kind of feeling is this? This is the Lord asking us to submit to Him from our heart and to submit to His authority. Thus, we should not expect Him to be only our Savior; we must allow Him to be our King also. When we encounter a difficulty, we may pray, “Lord, have mercy on me and save me.” If so, He will ask us in return, “Do you listen to My word? Do you follow My leading? Do you obey My command?” What does this mean? It means that we want Him to save us, but we must be willing to allow Him to be our King. We want Him to grant us love, joy, and peace, but we must be willing to allow Him to set up His throne in us. After we are saved, we often have this experience—the Lord desires to establish His kingdom in us, yet we are not willing.
The Lord leads us again and again to see this truth, this vision. The gospel saves us that we may become the Lord’s kingdom. The Lord enters into us that He may establish His kingdom in us. The Lord in us is not only our Savior but also the King of the kingdom. The Lord’s life in us is not for us to meet merely a small demand but for us to meet the great demand of the kingdom. If we hope only that the Lord’s life will prevent us from losing our temper and make us a meek person, the Lord’s life will not comply. The Lord will not pay attention to this kind of hope, because His life is given to us to supply us to meet the kingdom requirements. We need to say, “Lord, I acknowledge You as the King of kings. I allow You to set up Your throne in me and rule over me in everything. I am the sphere in which You can reign; I am Your kingdom.” Then spontaneously we will not lose our temper and will be a meek person.
What is the purpose of our becoming Christians? We become Christians in order to allow the Lord to establish His kingdom in us. For what purpose do we believe in the Lord Jesus? We believe in the Lord not so that we may go to heaven or obtain blessing, joy, and peace, but so that we may submit ourselves to the King of kings. He is the King appointed by God, the Lord of all, who has received all authority in heaven and on earth; God has given all things to Him. He is a glorious King, the King of kings. Hence, we should desire to submit ourselves to Him, receive Him, and allow Him to establish His authority, His throne, and His kingdom in us. We must be fully under His ruling. We should not be those who by our will determine to be meek, who by our effort try to be patient, or who by ourselves try to be perfect. Rather, we should be those who are under His authority and who allow Him to have the full ground to establish His kingdom, to set up His throne, and to be enthroned in us as He is enthroned in heaven. Our believing in the Lord Jesus is for this.
The Lord Jesus has purchased us back with His blood that we may be His obedient people, those who submit to His authority, who are His kingdom, and who allow Him to set up His throne to rule and reign in us. Everything related to us must be in submission to His authority. If we all have this view and live in this kind of situation, all the enemies will spontaneously be defeated. Our temper? It will not prevail. The world? It will lose its attraction. Every sin and temptation, whether it is from the devil, the evil spirits, the flesh, or fleshly lusts, will be defeated. When the King of all is enthroned in us, all the enemies will fall prostrate.
There is a clear picture of this in the Old Testament. God’s people, the children of Israel, were God’s kingdom under God’s ruling. Whenever they allowed God to rule and reign, all the enemies around them surrendered, and they had peace in all their borders. They were a victorious people, an excelling people. Because they allowed God to rule, and God’s kingdom was established among them, all the enemies surrendered. However, whenever they did not allow God to rule or reign over them, they fell, and their enemies rose up one after another. At certain times the Philistines came, and at other times the Midianites, the Moabites, the Amalekites, or the Ammonites rose up to fight against Israel. Eventually, the seven nations in the land of Canaan rose up one by one. At one point even the Ark was carried away. The enemies prevailed because God had lost His throne and His reign among His people. As a result, the holy city was destroyed, the holy temple was trampled, and all the vessels in it were carried away. The children of Israel lost God’s presence and His testimony. This was because they had lost God’s authority and did not allow Him to be enthroned among them.
This is a picture, a type, of the situation today. When we have Christ’s throne and authority in us, all the enemies will surrender, and God Himself, Christ, His testimony, His authority, and His power will be with us richly. Conversely, when we do not allow Christ to reign in us, but we make decisions, govern, and have the preeminence ourselves, we will find that all the tests and temptations, including our temper, will come. When we allow Christ to reign in us, we are able to praise and give thanks in every situation that we encounter. At such times we do not know temper, tests, or temptations. Yet when Christ is not able to reign in us, and we do not give Him the ground within, we will immediately begin losing our temper and murmuring. It will seem that nothing is going smoothly.
This is often our experience. For example, this morning we might have blamed our parents for not waking us up earlier. Later we still could pray, “Lord, help me and save me from losing my temper. Lord, You are the Lord of resurrection, the Lord of power. You have the resurrection life, and this resurrection life is powerful. Please change me.” Yet in the end this did not work. The Lord did not answer our prayer, help us, or save us; neither was His resurrection power manifested in us. Why is this? It is because He never offers this kind of help, and His life is not for meeting this kind of demand. Rather, His life is for Him to reign and establish His kingdom in us. We must be under His authority and be His kingdom; we must have His throne and be ruled by Him within. Then His life can be manifested in power.
Christ’s life is only for His kingdom. If a brother is not a kingdom person within and is not living a life ruled by Christ, often Christ’s life will not bear responsibility for him. Although he may read the Bible, he will still fail. He may pray, but he will still be weak. Although he may go to meetings and listen to messages, he will still not be victorious. The reason for this is that he has not allowed Christ to be enthroned within him. If we do not have Christ’s kingdom and reign within us, if we are not His domain, and if we still make the decisions in everything and keep everything as our domain, kingdom, and rule, then the Lord will be forced to stand aside. He will not and cannot do anything for us.