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Scripture Reading: Mark 4:35-41; 9:1-13
I. The kingdom of God is the power to subdue rebellion — Mark 4:35-41:
А. There are two great principles in the universe — God’s authority and Satan’s rebellion; the unique controversy between God and Satan concerns authority and rebellion — Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13:
1. Rebellion is the denial of God’s authority and the rejection of God’s rule:
a. Satan was originally an archangel created by God, but due to his pride he uplifted himself, violated God’s sovereignty, rebelled against God, became God’s adversary, and established his own kingdom — Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:2-19; Matt. 12:26.
b. When man sinned, he rebelled against God, denied God’s authority, and rejected God’s rule; at Babel men rebelled collectively against God to abolish God’s authority from the earth — Gen. 3:1-6; 11:1-9.
2. Although Satan rebelled against God’s authority and although man violates His authority by rebelling against Him, God will not let this rebellion continue; He will establish His kingdom on the earth — Rev. 11:15.
B. The Lord Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose — Mark 1:14-15:
1. The kingdom of God is a divine realm where God can exercise His authority to work out His plan — Matt. 6:10, 33; Luke 12:32; Col. 1:13.
2. As God incarnate, the Lord Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God — to establish a realm in which God can carry out His purpose through the exercise of His authority — John 1:1, 14; 3:3, 5; 18:36:
a. To establish the kingdom of God, the Lord Jesus stood as a victorious man, defeating Satan and withstanding all hardship, opposition, and attack — Mark 1:13; Matt. 4:1-11.
b. The Lord Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom so that rebellious sinners might repent and be saved, qualified, and equipped to enter into the kingdom of God — Mark 1:14-15; Matt. 4:17.
c. The Lord bound Satan, the strong man, and entered into his house to plunder his goods so that sinners might be brought into the house of God through regeneration for the kingdom of God — Mark 3:27; Eph. 2:19.
d. As the Lord cast out demons by the Spirit of God, He was destroying Satan’s kingdom and bringing in the kingdom of God — Matt. 12:28.
C. The record in Mark 4:35-41 is a picture of rebellion and of the kingdom of God as the power to subdue rebellion:
1. Satan has a kingdom, the authority of darkness, which is against the kingdom of God — Matt. 12:26; Acts 26:18:
a. The demons belong to Satan’s kingdom and possess people for his kingdom — Mark 1:23-27; 5:2-20; 7:25-30; 9:17-27; 16:9.
b. Satan is the ruler of the world and of the authority of the air; he has his angels, who are his subordinates as rulers, authorities, and world-rulers of the darkness of this world — John 12:31; Eph. 2:2; 6:12.
2. Between the word concerning the kingdom of God in Mark 4:26-29 and the record of the demonstration of the kingdom of God in 5:1-20, there is the incident of the stormy sea in 4:35-41:
a. The fallen angels in the air and the demons in the water collaborated to frustrate the Lord Jesus from going to the other side of the sea because they knew that He would cast out the demons there — 5:1-20.
b. The Lord rebuked the wind and commanded the sea to be silent because of the rebellious angels and demons who were behind the scene.
c. After He rebuked the wind and spoke to the sea, the wind ceased, and there was a great calm, for the rebellion of the evil angels and the demons had been subdued by the power of the kingdom — 4:39.
II. The kingdom of God is the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus — 9:1-13:
А. What is described in Mark 9:1-13 is a picture of the kingdom of God coming in power; the center of this picture is the glorified Jesus, and with Him are Moses and Elijah, representing the Old Testament saints, and Peter, James, and John, representing the New Testament saints — vv. 2-4.
B. For the Lord Jesus to be transfigured meant that His humanity was saturated and permeated with His divinity; this transfiguration, which was His glorification, was equal to His coming in His kingdom — v. 2:
1. The Lord’s word in verse 1 about the coming of the kingdom of God in power was fulfilled by His transfiguration on the mountain — vv. 2-3.
2. The transfiguration, the shining, of the Lord Jesus was His coming in His kingdom; where His transfiguration is, there is the coming of the kingdom — Matt. 16:28—17:13; Luke 9:27-36.
3. The transfiguration of the Lord Jesus was the realization of what He is.
4. The kingdom is the shining of the reality of the Lord Jesus; to be under His shining is to be in the kingdom — Rev. 22:4-5.
C. Christ has been sown into our heart as a seed; this seed will grow and develop until it blossoms and is manifested in glory — Mark 4:26-29; Col. 3:3-4:
1. In Mark 9 we see the transfiguration of Christ as the seed sown in Mark 4.
2. The One whom we have received as the seed of the kingdom of God needs to grow in us until He blossoms from within us; this blossoming will be the transfiguration of the Lord in us in a practical, experiential way — Col. 1:27.
3. When Christ is transfigured within us, that transfiguration becomes the kingdom of God ruling over everything in our life — v. 13.
4. The church as the kingdom of God cannot exist in the natural life but can exist only in this realm of transfiguration — Rom. 14:17.
5. If we are willing to lose our soul-life for the Lord’s sake, we will experience a prevailing transfiguration in the church life; this transfiguration will be a genuine revival — Mark 8:35-38; Matt. 16:25-27.
