Message Three—The Kingdom of God
Matt. 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Mark 4:26 And He said, So is the kingdom of God: as if a man cast seed on the earth.
The Kingdom Being
the All-Inclusive Gospel
The New Testament speaks of the gospel of life, the gospel of grace, and the gospel of salvation. However, all these are different aspects of the kingdom. The kingdom is the center, the hub, and all the other items may be considered the spokes, which are centered on the hub. The gospel of life is for the kingdom, the gospel of salvation is for the kingdom, and the gospel of forgiveness is for the kingdom. All these different aspects of the gospel are for the kingdom. The kingdom is the real gospel. We may think that the gospel is the gospel and that the kingdom is something else. This concept is wrong. The kingdom is the gospel. If we do not know the kingdom, we do not know the gospel in a full way. If we want to know the gospel in a full way, we must realize that the kingdom is the all-inclusive gospel. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 107)
The Kingdom Being Absolutely
a Matter of Life
In Mark chapter four, in particular, the Lord speaks concerning the kingdom of God. In 4:26-29 we have the parable of the seed. “And He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth” (v. 26). This parable reveals that the kingdom is a matter of life, which sprouts, grows, bears fruit, matures, and produces a harvest. In verses 27 and 28 we see the spontaneous growth of the seed. Then in verse 29 we have the harvest. This parable is a brief illustration of the kingdom. (Life-study of Mark, msg. 16)
In Mark 4 we see that the Lord Jesus establishes the kingdom by sowing Himself as the seed of life into God’s chosen people, the believers, so that the kingdom may grow. This indicates that the establishment of the kingdom is absolutely a matter of growth in life. To establish the kingdom, therefore, is to grow the kingdom. The kingdom is not established by outward working but by inward growing. If we do not realize this, we may think that the kingdom is established by our work. The kingdom, however, can be established only by Christ’s being sown as the seed of life into humanity. Hence, the kingdom is not brought into being by teaching or working; on the contrary, the kingdom is brought into being by Christ’s being sown as the kingdom seed into the believers. The seed will grow, and the life within it will produce the kingdom in its reality. We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that the kingdom of God is wholly a matter of life—Christ Himself as the seed of life, the seed of the kingdom, sown into our being. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 250)
We have been not only delivered out of the authority of darkness, but also transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.…To be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love is to be transferred into the Son who is life to us (1 John 5:12). The Son in resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3; Rom. 6:4-5) is now the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). He rules us in His resurrection life with love. This is the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. When we live by the Son as our life in resurrection, we are living in His kingdom, enjoying Him in the Father’s love.
We have been transferred into a realm where we are ruled in love with life. Here, under the heavenly ruling and restriction, we have genuine freedom, the proper freedom in love, with life, and under light. This is what it means to be delivered out of the authority of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Here in this kingdom we enjoy Christ and have the church life. Here there is no opinion or division. Here we have one thing: the church life with Christ as everything to us. (Life-study of Colossians, msg. 4)
The Reality of the Kingdom Being
in the Church Today
If we would understand the New Testament truths regarding the kingdom, we must realize the two main aspects of the kingdom—the aspect of its reality and the aspect of its manifestation. In the church today, we do not have the kingdom in manifestation; we have the kingdom in reality. According to the outward appearance, men cannot see the kingdom in the church. Nevertheless, the kingdom is a reality among us.
In the church, we are living in the kingdom of God today. Romans 14:17 is a strong proof that today’s church life is the kingdom: “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Recovery Version). Revelation 1:9 also proves that we are in the kingdom of God today: “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.” When John wrote the book of Revelation, he was already in the kingdom of God. These two verses are a strong proof that the church today is the kingdom. However, as we shall see, what we are in now in the church today is the kingdom in its reality, whereas the kingdom in its manifestation will come with Christ’s return in the future.
The reality of the kingdom, the kingdom in its reality, is an exercise and discipline for us in the church today (Matt. 5:3, 10, 20; 7:21). Suppose you purchase a hamburger at a stand and the cashier gives you too much change. If you are exercised and are ruled by the kingdom, you will return this extra change immediately. This is an experience of the rule of the reality of the kingdom, which is both an exercise and a discipline.
The situation of today’s Christianity is very poor, for many Christians have been drugged, thinking that everything is of grace and that there is no need for training, exercise, or discipline. But we realize that we must uplift the standard of the church life through the discipline and exercise of the reality of the kingdom. Through the years, I have seen the Lord’s grace working in so many of us. I thank the Lord that there has been a great improvement in His recovery. Nevertheless, we must uplift the standard even higher. If we do this, our cheering angels will be very happy, for they will see a group of believers who are quite serious regarding God’s eternal purpose. How we need the discipline for the kingdom today! (Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 54)
The Manifestation of the Kingdom
Being a Reward and an Enjoyment
in the Millennial Kingdom in the Coming Age
If we take the Spirit’s exercise and God’s discipline in the reality of the kingdom today, we shall receive the Lord’s reward and enter into the enjoyment of the coming Sabbath rest (4:9) in the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age. If we do not accept the Spirit’s exercise and God’s discipline today, we shall miss the coming kingdom in its manifestation as a reward. We shall not be rewarded with the manifestation of the kingdom at the Lord’s coming back; we shall have no right to enter into the glory of the kingdom to participate in Christ’s reign in the millennial kingdom; and we shall lose our birthright to inherit the earth in the coming age, to be the royal priests serving God and Christ in His manifested glory, and to be the co-kings with Christ ruling over all the nations with His divine authority (Rev. 20:4, 6).
The manifestation of the kingdom, the kingdom in its manifestation, will be a reward and an enjoyment to us in the millennial kingdom in the coming age (Matt. 16:27; 25:21, 23). Today, in the reality of the kingdom, we have the exercise and the discipline. In the coming age, in the manifestation of the kingdom, we shall have a reward and an enjoyment. If we read Matthew 16:27 in its context, we shall see that the Lord’s coming to reward every man according to his work is related to the manifestation of the kingdom. In Matthew 25:21 and 23, the Lord says to His faithful servants, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” To enter into the joy of the Lord is to be in the manifestation of the kingdom during the thousand years. (Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 54)
