Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (4)
Message Eleven
The Lamb-God Being on the Throne within the City
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture reading:
Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.
I. The Lamb-God is on the throne within the city—Rev. 4:2-3; 22:1-5; 21:23: (Monday, Tuesday)
A. The throne of God and of the Lamb shows that there is one throne for both God and the Lamb, indicating that God and the Lamb are one—the Lamb-God, the redeeming God, God the Redeemer—Rev. 22:1; 4:2-3.
B. This depicts how the Triune God—God, the Lamb, and the Spirit, who is symbolized by the water of life—dispenses Himself into His redeemed under His headship (implied in the authority of the throne) for eternity—Rev. 22:1-3.
II. The throne is the center of our Christian life—Rev. 22:1.
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III. Ezekiel 1 reveals that the highest point in our spiritual experience is having a clear sky with God’s throne above it; to reach this point means that in everything we allow God to have the preeminence and are completely submissive to His authority and administration—Ezek. 1:22, 26: (Wednesday)
A. The spiritual sky over the heads of the living creatures is crystal clear, like a great expanse of awesome crystal; furthermore, this sky is expanding and is as stable, unchanging, as crystal—Ezek. 1:22.
B. The throne is above the crystal clear expanse, indicating that whenever we have a clear sky in our Christian life and in our church life, we will be under the ruling of the throne; the authority in the church is the throne above the clear sky—Ezek. 1:22, 26.
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IV. Ezekiel 1 reveals that the One on the throne looks like a man, yet with Him there is the appearance of the glory of Jehovah, indicating that the One sitting on the throne is both God and man; this is Jesus Christ, the God-man, the mingling of God and man—Ezek. 1:26, 28: (Thursday)
A. Jesus Christ was the complete God, and He was incarnated to be a man; having the nature of man, He lived, died, resurrected, and ascended as a man, and now as the One on the throne, He is still the Son of Man—John 1:1, 14; 6:62.
B. God’s mysterious intention in His relationship with man is to mingle Himself with man and thereby to become the same as man and make man the same as He is in life, in nature, and in expression but not in the Godhead—Gen. 1:26-28; cf. Isa. 14:12-14.
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V. The electrum is a glowing metal, a mixture of gold and silver; gold signifies the nature of God, and silver signifies redemption; thus, the electrum, composed of the elements of gold and silver, signifies the Lamb-God, the redeeming God—Ezek. 1:4. (Friday)
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VI. There is a rainbow as the brightness around the man who is sitting on the throne, signifying the splendor and glory around the Lord on the throne—Ezek. 1:28; Rev. 4:3. (Saturday)
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street…. And the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it—Rev. 22:1, 3.
And above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, like the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was One in appearance like a man, above it—Ezek. 1:26.
Word of Appetizer
What is the center of our Christian life? What is the highest point of our spiritual experience?
The throne is the center of our Christian life; in our daily life, family life, married life, professional life, and church life, the center must be the throne of God; everything should be subject to His headship.
The highest point of our spiritual experience is to have a clear sky with the throne of God above it; to reach this point means to give God the first place in all things and to be completely submissive to His authority and administration.
Spiritual Burden
The throne is the center of our Christian life; in our daily life, family life, married life, professional life, and church life, the center must be the throne of God; everything should be subject to His headship.
The highest point of our spiritual experience is to have a clear sky with the throne of God above it; to reach this point means to give God the first place in all things and to be completely submissive to His authority and administration.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
God the Lamb is on the throne within the city.
Ezekiel 1 reveals that the highest point of our spiritual experience is to have a clear sky with the throne of God above it; to reach this point means to give God the first place in all things and to be completely submissive to His authority and administration.
Ezekiel 1 reveals that the One on the throne looked like a man yet had the appearance of the glory of Jehovah, indicating that the One sitting on the throne is both God and man; this One is the God-man Jesus Christ, the mingling of God and man.
Ezekiel 1 says that the appearance of the Man on the throne has two aspects: from His loins upward, He has the appearance of electrum; from His loins downward, He has the appearance of fire.
Ezekiel 1 says that there was a rainbow as the appearance of the brightness all around the One sitting on the throne, signifying that the splendor and glory surround the Lord on the throne.
The Experience of Life
In our experience, whenever we are subject to the Triune God, taking Him as our Head, we enjoy a flow within us; this river flows with the purposing God, the redeeming Lamb, and The Spirit, who is now the all-inclusive, processed, life-giving Spirit.
When the Lord visits us, He comes as fire to enlighten, search, and burn; then through the fire, He becomes the shining electrum to us, and we are filled with the glorious expression of the redeeming God.
Practice and Application
Every morning after we get up, we need to say, “Lord, thank You for giving me a new day to take You as my Lord. I subject myself to Your headship for the whole day. Lord, set up Your throne in my life. Set up Your throne in the center of my being. Lord, bring my entire daily life under Your throne.” If we offer such a prayer to the Triune God every morning, from that moment on we will have the living water flowing within us.
The highest point of our spiritual experience is to have a clear sky with the throne of God above it; this requires maintaining a clean conscience, void of offense toward God and men.
Whenever we turn to our spirit, we can enter the gate of heaven and touch the throne of grace in the heavens through Christ as the heavenly ladder.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Living the life of Christ is calm, tranquil, peaceful, and quiet (Phil. 4:5-6).
(Please illustrate that the first aspect of the expression of living the life of Christ is forbearance.)
T2 Living Christ means forbearance but without anxiety (Phil. 4:5-6).
(Please illustrate that forbearance is the totality of a proper Christian life.)
Day 2
T1 The Greek word for forbearance means not only being content with less than what we are due but also having sweet reasonableness (Phil. 4:5-6).
(Please illustrate that forbearance is all-inclusive because it contains all Christian virtues.)
T2 Forbearance is the Christ we actually experience (Phil. 1:21, 4:5).
(Please illustrate that all our failures and frustrations in the Christian life are due to our lack of forbearance.)
Day 3
T1 A forbearing person is one who always fits in, whose behavior is always suitable (Phil. 1:19-20).
(Please illustrate that forbearance also includes peace, meekness, and tenderness.)
T2 The human life of the Lord Jesus was full of forbearance (Phil. 1:19-20).
(Please illustrate that using the example of how the Lord Jesus spoke to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus illustrates that the Lord’s life is the best explanation of forbearance.)
Day 4
T1 Prayer is general, having worship and fellowship as its essence; petition is special, being for particular needs. (Phil. 4:6-7).
(Please illustrate that when we pray and make petitions, both should be accompanied by thanks to the Lord.)
T2 Believing that our environment is appointed by God (Phil. 4:6-7).
(Please illustrate that if we want to live a life free of anxiety, we must realize that all our experiences, whether good or bad, are appointed by God.)
Day 5
T1 Six aspects that regulate the life of living Christ (Phil. 4:8-9).
(Please illustrate that out of many Christian virtues, what six did Paul select as the regulating aspects?)
T2 All human virtues are created by God (Phil. 4:8-9).
(Please illustrate that our human virtues are created vessels to contain divine virtues, just as a glove is made in the image of a hand to contain a hand.)
Day 6
T1 When we teach people how to do things, we mainly teach them the secret (Phil. 4:11-13).
(Please illustrate that Paul not only learned the secret; he had been initiated and learned certain basic principles.)
T2 The basic principles of church life are entirely different from the basic principles of the world (Phil. 4:11-13).
(Please illustrate that what are the basic principles of the church—the Body of Christ?)
