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Since today our spirit is the place of God's habitation, it is now the gate of heaven, where Christ is the ladder that joins us, the people on earth, to heaven, and brings heaven to us.
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—vv. 22, 26:
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—v. 22.
B
In such a situation, there is nothing between us and God and nothing between us and one another; we have a thorough and clear fellowship with the Lord and with one another.
C
This requires the maintaining of a pure conscience without any offense toward God and men; the story of our sky is the story of our conscience— Acts 24:16.
D
The throne is Christ's ruling presence:
１
The Lord's presence is always with His throne; the Lord's throne is both in the third heaven and in our spirit—Rev. 4:2-3; Heb. 4:16; cf. 2 Tim. 4:22:
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The very Christ who is sitting on the throne in heaven (Rom. 8:34) is also now in us (v. 10), that is, in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), where the habitation of God is.
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At Bethel, the house of God, the habitation of God, which is the gate of heaven, Christ is the ladder that joins earth to heaven and brings heaven to earth—Gen. 28:12-17; John 1:51.
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Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter through the gate of heaven and touch the throne of grace in heaven through Christ as the heavenly ladder.
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The throne above the crystal clear expanse indicates 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.
Morning Nourishment
Ezek. 1:22 And over the heads of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the sight of awesome crystal…26 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.
Ezekiel 1:22…reveals that after we have experienced all the things in the first twenty-one verses, the sky over our heads will be crystal clear. It will be like a great expanse of awesome crystal. We will have a wide, clear expanse above us. This means that above us is an open, clear heaven. The sky is not only clear; it is also expanding. It is not just a matter of having a clear sky vertically, from heaven to earth, but also a matter of having a clear sky horizontally. (Life-study of Ezekiel, 2nd ed., p. 104)
Today’s Reading
Before we were saved, our sky was dark and cloudy, even foggy. It was also narrow, without any expanse…But one day we repented, confessed our sins, and received the Lord Jesus as our Savior…After we made a thorough confession, we had the sense, for the first time, that the sky above us was clear. We sensed that the day was dawning, that the clouds were leaving, and that the fog was lifting. When we were saved, we received not only a clear sky but also an expanding sky.The kind of sky a Christian has depends upon his conscience…If there is no blemish on your conscience, your sky will be clear. If your sky is not clear, this means that there is some offense on your conscience. In order to have a clear sky, we need to deal with any offense and condemnation in our conscience. The story of our sky is the story of our conscience.
When we as living creatures reach the point of having a clear, open, and expanding heaven, there will be nothing between us and God and nothing between us and one another…All the clouds, coverings, separations, and fog will be gone, and we will have a sky that is thoroughly clear and continually expanding. Our expanse will be as clear as crystal. Whenever we have such a clear sky in our Christian life and in our church life, we will also have the throne, which is above the clear sky (Ezek. 1:26). The throne is the center of the universe, and it is where the Lord is…Where the Lord is, there His throne is. His presence can never be separated from His throne. The Lord’s throne is in the third heaven, but His throne is also in our spirit. Hence, the Lord’s throne is with us all the time.
As Christians and as local churches, we all should be under a crystal clear and expansive sky. Above this clear, expansive sky is the throne of the Lord. By having such a clear sky, we are spontaneously under the government of the Lord’s throne…Because we are under the throne, we do not need policemen and law courts to rule over us. If we need to be ruled by the police and by the courts, this means that we are not under the throne. We should be under the throne of the Lord all the time. Perhaps we want to say a certain thing, but the ruling of the throne does not allow us to speak a word…At other times we may become angry and may be close to losing our temper, but we realize that we are under the ruling of the throne, and we are subdued… We are ruled not merely by the teachings of the Bible but by the throne.
The highest step in the spiritual experience of a Christian is to have the throne in our expanse, in our clear sky. To have the throne, or to arrive at the throne, is to allow God to have the highest and most prominent position in our Christian life. For God to have the throne in us means that He has the position to reign in us. Therefore, to reach the throne in our spiritual experience means that in everything we are completely submissive to God’s authority and administration. Then we are no longer a person without the throne, without authority, without government. (Life-study of Ezekiel, 2nd ed., pp. 105-106, 114-116)
Further Reading: Life-study of Ezekiel, msg. 10