I.　"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 on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life"—Rev. 22:1-2a:

A.　The One sitting on the throne is the Lamb-God, our redeeming God, from whose throne proceeds the river of water of life for our supply and satisfaction:

1.　This depicts how the Triune God—God, the Lamb, and the Spirit, who is symbolized by the water of life—dispenses Himself into us under His throne, His headship—v. 1; cf. John 4:14b.

2.　The street of the holy city is pure gold, symbolizing the divine nature; that the river of water of life proceeds "in the middle of its street" signifies that the divine life f lows in the divine nature as the unique way for the daily life of God's redeemed people—Rev. 21:21; 22:1.

3.　Furthermore, Christ as the tree of life is the life supply available along the f low of the Spirit as the water of life; where the Spirit f lows, there the life supply of Christ is found—v. 2a.

B.　The throne of the Lamb-God is for God's household administration, His eternal economy; God was the One who purposed, He became the Lamb who redeemed, and finally He became the life-giving, f lowing Spirit—John 1:14, 29; 1 Cor. 15:45b:

1.　Whenever we subject ourselves to Christ's headship and are under His throne, we immediately sense something full of God's riches f lowing within us.

2.　Every morning after rising up, we need to say, "Lord, thank You for a new day for me to take You as my Lord. I subject myself under 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 whole day with my daily life under Your throne."

3.　If we offer such a prayer to the Triune God every morning, from that moment we will have the living water f lowing in us for us to drink; furthermore, we will enjoy the divine nature as our holy street, our unique way, and we will eat the tree of life for our life supply—Rev. 22:14, 17.

4.　When we feel that we do not have the inner f low of living water, this is because we do not accept or recognize the lordship, the headship, and the authority of the Triune God in the center of our being.

5.　In the place where the Triune God flows, we serve Him, we see His face, and we reign with Him—vv. 3-5.

C.　The throne of God and of the Lamb is the throne of grace in our spirit (which is the real Bethel, God's habitation); whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter the gate of heaven and touch the throne of grace in heaven through Christ as the heavenly ladder—Heb. 4:16; Rom. 5:17, 21; Rev. 4:1-2; 22:1; Rom. 8:34, 10; Eph. 2:22; Gen. 28:12-17; John 1:51.

D.　The One on the throne is the Lamb-God, with the Lamb being the lamp and with God being the light within the lamp; when we enthrone Christ in every part of our being and in all our living and work, we experience Him as the redeeming One, the shining One, and the reigning One to enjoy Him as the supply of life and the way of life in the fellowship of life—Rev. 21:23; 22:1-2; 21:21b.

E.　The One on the throne has the appearance of sardius (its red color signifying redemption) and jasper (its dark green color signifying life in its richness); thus, when we submit ourselves to Christ's headship and are under His throne, we are the beneficiaries of all that He is in His judicial redemption and organic salvation so that we may bear the same appearance of the God of glory in His rich life—4:3; 21:11.

II.　Ezekiel 1 presents a picture of God's throne above the clear sky—vv. 22, 26:

A.　We should have a clear spiritual sky (a clear conscience) like the sight of awesome crystal, which means that there is nothing between us and the Lord and nothing between us and one another—Acts 24:16; 1 Tim. 1:5; 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3.

B.　The sapphire 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 of grace and have the heavenly situation, atmosphere, and condition of the Lord's ruling presence—Ezek. 1:26; Heb. 4:16; Rom. 5:17, 21.

C.　The highest point in our spiritual experience is having a clear sky with a 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.

D.　If we have the throne in our spiritual life, God will not only rule over us but will also fulf ill His purpose in us, with us, and through us—Col. 1:18b; Ezek. 1:5, cf. v. 26.

E.　The One sitting on the throne is Jesus Christ, the Man-God, the mingling of God and man—v. 26; John 6:62; Acts 7:56; cf. Phil. 2:9-11; Rom. 10:12-13:

1.　The man on the throne has the appearance of electrum and f ire—electrum from His loins upward and f ire from His loins downward—Ezek. 1:27-28.

2.　The upper part of a man, from his loins to his head, is the part of feeling, of sensation, signifying his nature and disposition; according to His nature and disposition the Lord Jesus on the throne has the appearance of electrum, the radiant expression of the redeeming God.

3.　The lower part of a man's body is for moving; the appearance of f ire from His loins downward signifies the Lord's appearance in His move with His burning and sanctifying power—cf. v. 4.

F.　God's intention is to work on man in order that man will be on the throne—"he who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne"—Rev. 3:21.

G.　As the Pioneer, the Lord Jesus cut the way to enter into glory and to sit on the throne, and we, His many brothers, are now following Him—Heb. 2:6-11; Rev. 22:5.

H.　God desires to bring us to the throne because of the rebellion of Satan against God's throne—Isa. 14:12-14:

1.　Satan's throne is the world, which is constituted of ambition, self-exaltation, and opinions with concepts; when these three things result in division, the world becomes "the evil"—Rev. 2:12-13a; John 17:15.

2.　The way to be saved from the world and the authority of Satan is for us to move out of ourselves into the Triune God so that we can live under Christ's headship.

3.　If we continually touch the Word and allow the Spirit to touch us day by day, we shall be sanctified; that is, we shall move out of ourselves, our old lodging place, and into the Triune God, our new lodging place—vv. 17, 21; cf. Rev. 2:17.

4.　Thus, the Lord will make His home in our heart, being enthroned in our heart and ruling over us in everything to make us transparent, bright, fresh, and living under His headship for the full and corporate expression of Christ in glory—Eph. 3:16-19; Rev. 22:1; 21:11.