LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Read and pray: “And they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, which was like the very heaven in its clearness. And He did not stretch out His hand against the chosen of the sons of Israel; but they saw God, and they ate and drank.” (Exo 24:10,11 )
AUTHORITY IN THE CHURCH IS NOT HUMAN NOR NATURAL, BUT THE THRONE ABOVE THE BRIGHT FIRMAMENT
We should not speak about authority in a human, natural way. In the church there is no human authority. Authority in the church is the throne above the bright firmament.
Suppose that the leading brothers or the elders in a local church are not under a clear sky; yet they exercise authority based on their position. This kind of exercise of authority does not work because it has neither weight nor government; there is no throne in a clear sky.
However, suppose that the leaders and the elders are continually under a clean sky, having a pure and offense-free conscience. If this is their situation, they will be under the heavenly throne, and with them there will be something of weight and of authority. Thus, there will be no need to claim authority over the saints.
To claim authority over the saints indicates that the person does not have any authority. As long as we are under a clear sky with a throne above it, there is no need to say that we have authority ─ the authority is simply there. We should never try to bring other people under our authority. Such a thing is hierarchy; it is something organizational. We should not try to rule over the saints. Instead, we should humble ourselves and remain under the throne in the clear sky.
It is shameful for someone to claim to be an authority in a local church. There is no such thing! In the church there is no human authority. The Lord Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wants to be first among you shall be your slave” (Matt 20:25-27).
In Matthew 23:11 He said, “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.” This is the way to have authority. Authority is not mine nor yours, nor anyone else’s. The only authority is the throne above a bright firmament.
I can assure you that if we are under a clear sky with the throne above it, genuine authority will be with us. No opposition or persecution will be able to defeat or shake us because the sky and the throne are with us. If the firmament above us is bright and the throne is with us, we will have authority and weight.
The weight of a person before God is equal to the degree of his submission to God’s authority. A certain brother may be very good in his speaking and behavior, yet he is light as a feather, completely lacking in spiritual weight. This indicates that he is not subject to the throne.
However, the situation with another brother may be very different. When you contact him, you sense that he has weight and you respect him. This brother is important because he has learned to submit to God’s authority. The more we submit to the throne, the more weight we will have.
Let me tell you about the experience of a missionary in China. As someone who strongly preached about regeneration, she was under God’s authority and thus was a person with authority and weight in the Lord. One day a boat in which she was traveling was captured by pirates, who kept it under control for several days. As they searched her room for money and jewelry, she sat calmly, without any fear.
She told the leader of the pirates that it was too hot to confine the passengers in their rooms. She also said that he should be responsible for cleaning the boat. The leader of the pirates obeyed and told his men to clean the boat. A fierce pirate leader surrendered under the authority of this missionary because she herself was under the throne. She submitted to God’s authority; therefore, God’s authority was with her.
We need to realize that the amount of weight we have depends on our submission to the throne. The words that come out of a brother’s mouth may have weight and power; however, the same words that come out of another brother’s mouth may not have the same effect. The reason is that one brother is under a bright firmament with the throne, and the other is under a dark, cloudy sky without a throne.
It is easy to learn to repeat the words or quotations of others. But whether the words that come out of our mouth will have weight or any value depends on whether or not we are under a clear sky with the throne. The proper Christian life and the proper church life are a life under the throne that is above a clear sky. I would like to remind all the beloved ones who have responsibility in the local churches never to exercise their authority. We need to realize that none of us has any authority. Authority is the throne.
Consider the situation with Moses in the book of Numbers. When the people of Israel rebelled against him, he did not exercise his authority. Instead, Moses and Aaron knelt down and invoked the highest authority. Then the Lord came to vindicate (Num 14:5; 16:1-4, 22; 20:2-6). It is a serious mistake to exercise authority over others in the church. Nothing is more shameful than this.
To exercise authority over the saints is not glorious; it is shameful. None of us is an authority. Authority is the man on the throne. We must have the man on the throne in our bright firmament. In the church life, we need a bright firmament with a heavenly throne. The Lord needs such a church today. He needs a group of coordinated living beings. While they are standing or walking on the earth, the heavens are opened to the earth. Through them the heavenly throne is transmitted to the earth. This is the church life.
Do not take the natural, human way of exercising any kind of authority. Even if others come to you to try to recognize you as an authority, you should refuse. You need to tell these beloved ones that you are not the authority. Authority is not that. Proper authority is a matter of a throne above the bright firmament. It is absolutely not a matter of human organization and hierarchy. We need to have a clear firmament with a throne.
It is a shame to have power among the saints, to be an authority among the saints, or to have the intention that the saints should listen to us. We have always considered Paul a great apostle. But his name means “small,” and he considered himself less than the least of the saints (Eph 3:8). Paul could say, “You give me such a great title; I am not worthy of it.”
THE BRIGHT FIRMAMENT AND THE THRONE WILL VINDICATE
Whether the brothers and sisters will listen to you or not depends on where you are and what you are. Are you under such a bright firmament? If you are under such a firmament, there will be no need to argue, and there will be no need to claim anything or even to say anything. The clear firmament and the throne above the firmament will vindicate.
All the local churches need this revelation of the throne above the bright firmament. In the church life we do not have any organization or any kind of hierarchy. We do not have a mission board, or any other organization; we do not have a headquarters and no organization of any kind. We only have a bright firmament with a throne above the firmament.
I can testify that I fear only one thing: losing the presence of my Lord. Many times, when I was alone in my own room, I declared to the whole universe and to myself that the only thing I fear is to lose the Lord’s presence. As long as I have the Lord’s presence, I fear nothing. I care only for His presence and for nothing else. In other words, I care only for the bright firmament and the throne above it. I am fully assured that while I am speaking these words, the throne is with me. Praise the Lord, for this is sufficient! We all need to learn this.
We are so small, and we are unworthy, yet the Lord has visited us. I must confess that in the past, at times I told the Lord that I did not like to do this work and asked Him why He had taken hold of me. On those occasions, the Lord gave me a serious warning for speaking in that way. Then I would say, “Lord, forgive me. Do whatever You want. I am willing to lose everything, but I do not want to lose the bright firmament and the throne.” Under the Lord’s covering, I declare that I truly mean this.
In your local church you should not be concerned about anything except a bright firmament with the throne above it. As long as we have the bright firmament and the throne, oppositions and criticisms mean nothing. The only thing we need to care about is the bright firmament and the throne above it.
THE THRONE IS LIKE A SAPPHIRE STONE
Ezekiel 1:26 speaks of “something like a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone.” Here we see that the throne has the appearance of a sapphire stone. Exodus 24:10 is helpful for us to understand the meaning of the sapphire stone in Ezekiel 1. This verse says, “And they saw the God of Israel, and under His feet there was something like a pavement of sapphire stone, which was like the very heaven in its clearness.”
The sapphire stone typifies a kind of heavenly condition that exists when God is present in a particular situation. According to Exodus 24:10, when Moses, Aaron, and the leading men of Israel saw God, they saw under His feet the appearance of a sapphire stone. This gave the people a vision concerning the appearance of the Lord’s presence.
The sapphire stone is blue in color, and blue is a heavenly color indicating the situation and condition of God’s presence. This verse also says that at that time the heavens were extremely clear. God was present in that kind of situation and atmosphere. Therefore, the sapphire stone typifies the situation or the state of the heavens with the presence of God in them.
The throne being like a sapphire stone shows the presence of God in a heavenly situation. Whenever we have God’s throne in a clear sky, the situation will be heavenly. There will not be anything earthly or anything dark and impure. Instead, everything will be heavenly, clear, clean, and absolutely transparent. This portrays the kind of situation we should have in the presence of God. Whenever we have a bright firmament with God’s throne in it, we are in a heavenly situation having the appearance of a sapphire stone.
I ask you to look once more at the picture in Ezekiel 1. The Lord is on the throne above the firmament in the heavens, and the living beings are walking or standing on the earth. Through them, the Lord in the heavens becomes one with the earth, and in this way the heavens are joined to the earth.
This means that the heavens have been brought to the earth and that the heavens are now moving on the earth through, by, and with the living beings. This must be the situation among the local churches today, the situation among the overcomers, and the situation and condition of our daily Christian life.
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