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We have seen that the kingdom of the heavens is the ruling of the heavens, that it is a specific section within the kingdom of God, that it drew near at John the Baptist’s preaching and at the preachings of Christ and His disciples, that it began at the church’s beginning, and that it is wrapped up with the church. In this message we shall go on to see the three aspects of the kingdom of the heavens.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, there are three aspects of the kingdom of the heavens: the reality, the appearance, and the manifestation. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the inward content of the kingdom of the heavens in its heavenly and spiritual nature, as revealed in chapters five through seven. The appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is the outward condition of the kingdom of the heavens in name, as revealed in chapter thirteen. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is the practical coming of the kingdom of the heavens in power, as revealed in chapters twenty-four and twenty-five. Both the reality and the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens are with the church today. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the proper church life (Rom. 14:17), which is within the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, known as Christendom. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be the heavenly part of the coming millennial kingdom. If we have a full understanding of these three aspects of the kingdom of the heavens, we shall know the truth of the kingdom of the heavens in a very thorough way.
Matthew 5—7 reveals the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. The word spoken by the Lord Jesus in these chapters is the revelation of the spiritual living and heavenly principles of the kingdom of the heavens.
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the reality of the overcoming church life. The record of Matthew 5—7 gives us a view of a certain kind of reality, the reality of the high standard of the divine life. This is the overcoming church life.
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens exists today within the church in the church age. However, there is not much of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens in today’s Christianity. We hope that among us in the church life the reality of the kingdom of the heavens will increase continually.
A number of verses in Matthew indicate that the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is an exercise to the seeking believers. Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” The spirit here refers not to the Spirit of God but to our human spirit, the deepest part of our being, the organ for us to contact God and realize spiritual things. To be poor in spirit is not only to be humble but also to be emptied in our spirit, in the depth of our being, not holding on to the old things but being unloaded to receive the new things, the things of the kingdom of the heavens. We need to be poor, emptied, unloaded, in this part of our being so that we may realize and possess the kingdom of the heavens. According to the Lord’s word, if we are poor in spirit, the kingdom of the heavens is ours. This means that if we are poor in spirit, we are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens now in the church age.
Anyone who is not poor in spirit but instead is proud and full in his spirit is not under the exercise of the kingdom of the heavens. If we are poor in spirit, we shall say, “Lord, I know nothing. Have mercy on me. Lord, I am poor in my spirit and I am hungry after You.” If we pray in this way, being poor in spirit, we shall be under the exercise of the kingdom of the heavens.
Matthew 5:10 says, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” The whole world lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19) and is filled with unrighteousness. Every aspect of the world is unrighteous. If we hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6), we shall be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. This indicates that we need to pay a price for the righteousness we seek for the kingdom of the heavens. If we are righteous, we shall be condemned, opposed, and persecuted. This is another aspect of the exercise of the kingdom of the heavens in its reality.
In 5:10 the Lord tells us that those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness are blessed, “for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” If we seek righteousness at a cost, the kingdom of the heavens becomes ours. If we suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness, ours is the kingdom of the heavens. This indicates that suffering for the sake of righteousness is a condition for participation in the kingdom of the heavens. If we do not remain in righteousness, we are outside the kingdom. But if we stay in righteousness, we are in the kingdom because the kingdom is absolutely a matter of righteousness. As we seek righteousness, we should be prepared to confront persecution. We shall be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. If we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, we are truly under the exercise of the kingdom of the heavens.
In Matthew 5:20 the Lord Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” The surpassing righteousness is the condition of entering into the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the millennium. By keeping the highest law to the highest standard, we fulfill the condition for entering into the coming manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
In 5:20 righteousness does not refer to the objective righteousness, which is the Christ we receive when we believe in Him that we may be justified before God (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 3:26). The Lord’s word in Matthew 5:20 refers to the subjective righteousness, which is the indwelling Christ lived out of us as our righteousness that we may live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today and enter into its manifestation in the future. This subjective righteousness is not obtained merely by fulfilling the old law, but by completing the old law through the fulfillment of the new law for the kingdom of the heavens, the law given by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:17-48. This righteousness of the believers according to the new law of the kingdom surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees according to the old law. It is impossible for our natural life to gain this surpassing righteousness; it can be produced only by the divine life, the resurrection life of Christ.
To enter into the kingdom of God requires regeneration as a new beginning of our life (John 3:3, 5), but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens demands surpassing righteousness in our living after regeneration. To enter into the kingdom of the heavens means to live in its reality today and to participate in its manifestation in the future.
In Matthew 7:21 the Lord says, “Not every one who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens.” To enter into the kingdom of the heavens we need to call on the Lord and do the will of the heavenly Father. To call on the Lord suffices for us to be saved (Rom. 10:13), but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens we also need to do the will of the heavenly Father. Because entering into the kingdom of the heavens requires doing the will of the heavenly Father, it is clearly different from entering into the kingdom of God by being regenerated (John 3:3, 5). This latter is by the birth of the divine life; the former is by the living of that life.
In Matthew 13:24-43 the appearance of Christendom as the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is revealed through the parables of the tares, the mustard seed, and the leaven. The parable of the tares (13:24-30, 36-43) reveals the establishment of the kingdom and its false constituents. Verses 24 and 25 say, “The kingdom of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field. But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares amidst the wheat and went away.” The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man (v. 37), the field is the world, the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one (v. 38). Both the tares and the wheat grow in the field; that is, the false believers and the true ones live in the world. The kingdom of the heavens was established with the sons of the kingdom, the wheat, but the sons of the evil one, the tares, grew up to alter the situation. Hence, a difference has arisen between the kingdom of the heavens and its outward appearance. Whereas the sons of the kingdom constitute the kingdom, the sons of the evil one have formed the outward appearance of the kingdom, which today is called Christendom.
In 13:31 and 32 we have a parable telling of the abnormal development of the outward appearance of the kingdom. “Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; which is indeed smaller than all the seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.” The church, which is the embodiment of the kingdom, should be like an herb to produce food, but it became a tree, a lodge for birds, having its nature and function changed. (This is against the law of God’s creation that every plant must be after its kind — Gen. 1:11-12.) This happened when Constantine the Great mixed the church with the world in the first part of the fourth century. He brought thousands of false believers into Christianity, making it Christendom, no longer the church. Hence, this parable corresponds to the third of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the church in Pergamos (2:12-17), which signifies the church in union with the world through Constantine’s influence. Multitudes of unbelievers were baptized and the “church” became monstrously great. The mustard is an annual herb, whereas the tree is a perennial plant. The church, according to its heavenly and spiritual nature, should be like the mustard herb, sojourning on the earth. But with its nature changed, the church became deeply rooted and settled in the earth as a tree, flourishing with its enterprises as the branches to lodge many evil persons and things. This has formed the outward organization of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens.
In Matthew 13:33 we have a parable concerning the inward corruption of the outward appearance of the kingdom. “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.” Leaven in Scripture signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6, 8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12). The meal here, for making the meal offering (Lev. 2:1), signifies Christ as food for God and man. Three measures is the quantity needed to make a full meal (Gen. 18:6). The church, as the practical kingdom of the heavens, with Christ — the unleavened fine flour — as its contents, should be unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:7-8). However, the Catholic Church, which was fully and officially formed in the sixth century and which is signified here by the woman, took many pagan practices, heretical doctrines, and evil matters and mixed them with the teachings concerning Christ to leaven the whole content of Christianity. Hence, the hiding of leaven in three measures of meal signifies that the Catholic Church has fully leavened in a hidden way all the teachings concerning Christ. This became the inward, corrupted content of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens.
The outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens exists along with the church in the church age, but it does not exist within the church. As a principle, we do not allow tares in the church life, and we do not allow the big tree with its abnormal growth or the leaven with its corruption to be in the church.
When the Lord Jesus comes back, the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be realized. This is revealed in Matthew 24:44—25:30. Only the overcomers who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today will have a share in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the future. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be a reward, a prize, given to the overcomers.
The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be the manifestation of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. This means that in the next age the reality of the kingdom will become the manifestation of the kingdom.
During the present age, the reality of the kingdom and the appearance of the kingdom progress simultaneously. However, when the Lord Jesus comes back, the reality of the kingdom will be transferred into the manifestation of the kingdom, and the appearance of the kingdom will be burned away. The Lord’s angels will bind the tares into bundles and cast them into the fire (Matt. 13:40-42) because the tares have done much damage to the Lord’s kingdom. Therefore, at His coming back, the Lord will deal first with the appearance of the kingdom, and then He will transfer the reality of the kingdom into the next age to become the manifestation of the kingdom.
At this point I would ask you to refer to the chart in message two hundred forty, paying attention to the fourth and fifth circles. In the innermost section of the fourth circle is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. This circle is enclosed by another, larger circle, which represents the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. When the Lord Jesus comes back, He will bind the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens and cast it into the fire, thus terminating the appearance of the kingdom. Whereas the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens will be terminated, the reality of the kingdom of the heavens will be transferred into the next circle, the millennium. After being transferred there, the reality of the kingdom will become the manifestation of the kingdom.
The manifestation of the kingdom will be the kingdom of the Father, the heavenly part of the millennium. The millennium will have an earthly part and a heavenly part. The earthly part will be the kingdom of the Messiah (2 Sam. 7:13), the tabernacle of David (Acts 15:16), the kingdom of the Son of Man (Matt. 13:41; Rev. 11:15). The heavenly part of the millennium will be the kingdom of the Father (Matt. 13:43). This will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens as a reward to the overcomers. In the millennium the overcomers in the heavenly part of the kingdom will reign with Christ over the earthly part, which will be the restored kingdom of David, where Christ as the Son of Man, David’s royal descendant, will be the King over the children of Israel.
The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be a reward to the overcoming saints. Paul says, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:18). The heavenly kingdom is the kingdom of our Father (Matt. 13:43), the kingdom of the Father (Matt. 26:29), the kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph. 5:5), and the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:11), which will be a reward to the overcoming saints. The heavenly kingdom in 2 Timothy 4:18 equals the crown of righteousness in 4:8, and it is an incentive to the believers to run the heavenly course.
The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will exist in the millennium during the age of the millennium. Whereas the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is with the church in this age, the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be in the coming age.
