In the church life, there is a divine government, and this government comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb, flowing out to supply us with grace; the throne of God is the throne of grace to us in our experience today.
According to the divine revelation in the New Testament, the authority of God is expressed and represented in the church by the apostles and elders; these are not “the leaders” or “pastors” in the church but rather, they express and represent God’s authority.
When Jesus was on earth, the Roman centurion who asked Him to come and heal his son realized that the Lord had authority because He was under God’s authority.
Similarly, the Head of the Body has all authority in heaven and on earth, and He is Head over all things to the church.
If we as members of the Body of Christ remain under His headship, His authority will flow through us; in particular, the Lord’s authority flows through the elders and apostles, two offices ordained by God in the universal church (apostles) and the local churches (elders).
And what is most amazing is that God didn’t ordain that there would be just one elder in a locality, for He knows that there’s the danger of “creating your own empire” when this happens.
Rather, eldership is in plurality, and there needs to be more than one elder in a locality for coordination and administration of the local situation.
There’s no such thing as a “lead elder”; rather, each elder has a particular function and, according to their function, capacity, and condition, they take the lead in doing this or that. In the universal church, there is the office of apostleship, and the apostles have the position and the right to appoint elders for the administration of the local churches.
In the local churches, the elders’ main function is not to rule over the saints (which is an ugly thing!) but rather, to shepherd the saints according to God.
The Lord put the elders as overseers in the local church; they are among the saints and they oversee their situation and condition, and they cooperate with the Lord to shepherd the souls of the saints according to God.
And as we will see in the article today, the expression of God’s authority with His government in the church life comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and it is a flow of life and of grace.
The Divine Government in the Church Life comes from the Throne of God by means of His Dispensing Himself into us as Life and Grace
The unique source of supply for the city of New Jerusalem is the throne of God and of the Lamb, which is in the center of the city; by His administration, God dispenses Himself into us as life and life supply, and in this way, we are brought under His authority.
In the church life today there is a divine government; this government comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:1-2), and God rules in us by means of His divine dispensing.
In our Christian life and church life today, in both our personal life with the Lord and in our corporate life of enjoying the Lord with the saints, the throne of God needs to have preeminence.
When we enthrone the Lord in the center of our being with our life and work, we will enjoy the river of water of life flowing from the throne of God, and we are nourished with the tree of life.
In our personal time with the Lord, it is good to practice giving Him the first place, the preeminence, in all things; we need to prayerfully consider before the Lord whether He is on the throne in the centre of our being.
The Lord may be on the throne in us, but only in some things; therefore, we don’t have a free flow of life and we are not headed up in Christ.
The divine authority in the church is for God to dispense Himself into us as life, as the life supply, and as the all-sufficient grace; it is only by submitting to the throne that we can share in His all-sufficient source of the flowing grace (2 Cor. 13:14; Rev. 22:1-2, 16).
How does God rule and reign in us and over us? How is the divine government expressed in the church life?
It is not by having certain ones who are more mature exercising authority over the saints but it is by the dispensing of God into us as life and grace.
The throne of God in Rev. 4 is the throne of authority, but to us when we come to the Lord today, this throne is of grace (Heb. 4:16) dispensing to us life and life supply as a river flowing out, as described in Rev. 22:1-2. Hallelujah!
The throne of God’s authority in the church life is for God to dispense Himself into us as life, as the life supply, and as the all-sufficient grace; when we submit to God and enthrone Christ in our being, we are inwardly supplied with life and grace.
The throne of grace in Heb. 4:16 is the throne of authority in Rev. 4, which becomes in Rev. 22:1-2 the throne of God and of the Lamb, out from which flows a river of water od life, bright as crystal.
Although this is the throne of authority, the throne of headship, out of this throne flows the river of water of life. Hallelujah!
Whenever and wherever there is a genuine expression of the divine authority in the church life or in our Christian life, there will be a river flowing.
If there’s no river of water of life flowing, yet a leading brother or an elder takes a decision or speaks a word of righteousness, the saints can sense it, for there is no proper representation of God’s authority.
The saints respect the position of an elder, but when the divine authority is not properly exercised in the church life, there’s a clear inner sense of the lack of supply.
Hymns 984 tells us that, whenever there’s the genuine, real expression and representation of the unique authority of God, there is a river flowing.
If a leading co-worker or an elder feels that he can represent God’s authority, and he gives direction to others and makes decisions, the experienced saints can sense that there’s no river of water of life flowing.
If there’s no river of water of life flowing, no matter how gifted you are, how active you are, and how much experience you have, there’s no throne, there is no expression of the divine authority.
So much trouble has been caused in the local churches by the improper representation of the divine authority and the abuse of position.
And there’s not much that we as saints can do except pray, open to the Lord, and open to fellowship in the Body for the covering of the situation and the shepherding of the saints.
It may have been that we ourselves have misrepresented God with His authority in the past by expressing “the throne of authority” without the flow of the river of water of life.
When such a thing happens, the saints are deeply troubled, and there’s the need for shepherding and the ministry of life so that we all may be brought in the river of water of life to drink and be headed up in Christ.
The river of life always comes with the throne of God; this is how the Lord wants to bring His authority in our life, not by an iron rod for discipline and rule but by the flow of the water of life to supply us.
On one hand, He is righteously judging sin and anything that is incompatible with His righteous and holy nature, and He disciplines those whom He loves.
On the other hand, He is flowing out as the river of water of life for us to drink of Him, be satisfied, be supplied, and be brought under the throne of God. How wonderful this is!
Lord, we enthrone You in the center of our being and in the center of the church life. Set up Your throne in the center of our being and in the center of the church life. Amen, Lord, may there be the divine government being expressed in the church life as we are all under the throne of God and of the Lamb. May there be a river of water of life flowing with the rich supply of life. Amen, Lord, may there be a proper expression of the divine authority in the church life for the dispensing of God into us as life, as life supply, and as the all-sufficient grace! We submit ourselves to Your throne and to the deputy authority You set among us; we want to enjoy the all-sufficient grace in our daily life to be supplied and grow in life. Amen, Lord, heads us up by Your divine dispensing, the flowing of Your life into us and among us!
The Throne of God is the Throne of Grace, for God in the Lamb is Flowing out as Grace for our Enjoyment
Today we live in the age of grace; in this age, God in Christ as the Spirit flows out into man for man’s enjoyment, satisfaction, life supply, and everything.
When we as believers of Christ come to the throne of God, we sense that this throne is of grace, for when we touch the throne, we receive mercy and find grace for timely help (Heb. 4:16).
For eternity, the throne of God will be the throne of authority; for us today, however, this throne is of grace, and it flows out with living water to supply us.
We should never separate authority from grace, for where there’s the authority of God, there is the flow of grace.
When we are under God’s authority, we receive grace; when we enjoy God as grace, we are brought under the authority of God.
The fact that the throne is not only the throne of God but also the throne of God and the Lamb means that God in the Lamb is flowing out as grace for our enjoyment. Hallelujah!
We are in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, a realm with no fear but full of life, love, and light.
Here there is a river flowing, and the river is not filled with fire but with water of life and grace; we can come forward to the throne of grace in our spirit to receive mercy and find grace for timely help.
We shouldn’t separate authority from grace or grace from authority, for grace and authority are one (Heb. 4:16; Rev. 22:21).
In our natural mentality, grace is for our enjoyment but authority is for chastizing and applying the law and regulations; in the divine view, however, grace and authority go together.
We shouldn’t take the lie from the enemy to separate authority from grace, the throne of God from the river of water of life.
Some leading ones or some elders think that there’s the need to say a word that chastizes or expresses the Lord’s authority, but unless there’s the river of water of life flowing, the divine authority is not properly represented in the church life.
When we are in fellowship with the Lord and with the saints, we sense the flow of the river of the water of life, the flow of grace; grace is flowing!
Being under the throne of God is a realm of indescribable enjoyment; here we have joy unspeakable and full of glory, for we are in the kingdom of the Son of God’s love!
Whenever we come under the throne of God, which is the throne of grace, we have the sense that the grace of God is like a river flowing into us; grace as a river flows when we touch the throne of grace.
Today the Lord is reigning in the church life not merely with authority – He is reigning in the church, among the churches, and over all the churches through the flowing of His life as grace (Rev. 4:2-3; 5:6; 7:9; 22:1-2).
The more we partake of His life, the more we drink of the river of water of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, the more we are brought under His authority, and the more His authority flows through us.
The more we partake of the life of God flowing from the throne of God, the more authority we have.
Those who enjoy the divine life and are headed up in Christ have authority not because they assume it (which is an ugly thing) but because the divine authority flows through them as they enjoy grace.
The Christ we enjoy and live ou becomes our authority over others; we will enjoy this kind of authority for eternity in and as the New Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord, the throne of God is to us the throne of grace out of which flow life and grace for our enjoyment and supply! Amen, Lord, we come forward with boldness to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace for timely help. Save us from being afraid of Your authority; may we realize that authority and grace go together, for they are one. Amen, Lord, we love to come to the throne of grace to receive God in Christ as the Spirit as our enjoyment, life, and life supply! We come to You to drink of You as the water of life; we enthrone You in our being, and we want to remain under the flow of the water of life all the days of our life! Oh, what an unspeakable joy and full of glory we have when we come to touch the throne of God and drink the river of water of life and of grace!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament (msgs. 18, 175, 201, and 432), by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 4, The Factor of Authority in the Body of Christ and in the Local Churches.
- Hymns on this topic:
– River of living water, / Fellowship freely bestows; / Bringing authority with it, / Through every place where it flows. / Water of life is the Spirit, / God as the life in it flows; / Carrying with it His Lordship, / Through every place where it goes. (Hymns #984)
– In the holiest place, touch the throne of grace, / Grace as a river shall flow; / In the holiest place, touch the throne of grace, / Grace as a river shall flow. (Hymns #770)
– By reigning in His kingdom / God worketh all His will, / And under His dominion / His purpose doth fulfill. / ’Tis only in God’s kingdom / His blessing we may know; / ’Tis from His throne almighty / The stream of life doth flow. (Hymns #941)
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