Search
Week 13 — Day 1
Psa. 145:13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and Your dominion is throughout all generations.
John 3:3 ...Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Thus far in [the past five weeks]...we have covered five [major items]: God, Christ, the Spirit, the believers, and the church. Now we come to the kingdom.
The first aspect of the kingdom is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is God’s reign in a general way over the entire universe. This general way of God’s reign is the way of authority and power. God rules the heavens, the earth, all created things, and man in a general and objective way.
The kingdom of God as God’s reign in a general way is from eternity past to eternity future (Heb. 1:8; Psa. 145:13; Dan. 4:3b). Because the kingdom of God is the reigning of God, it follows God’s existence. God’s existence is from eternity to eternity, without beginning or ending. Therefore, God’s reigning, God’s kingdom, is also from eternity to eternity, without beginning or ending.
The Bible reveals that the kingdom of God embraces a wide scope [comprising seven items]. It embraces eternity without beginning before the foundation of the world, the paradise of Adam, the chosen patriarchs, the nation of Israel in the Old Testament (Matt. 21:43), the church in the New Testament (Rom. 14:17), the coming millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6), and the new heaven and new earth without end for eternity.227 Since the kingdom is one of the most complicated subjects in the Bible, the chart on pages [220 and 221] will be a great help to our understanding.228
Genesis 1 says that God created man in His own image and that He gave man the authority to rule all the created things (v. 26)....If we are to have the full image of God to express God and to realize the full authority to represent God, to subdue His enemy, to subdue this earth, God Himself must be our life.229 [Hence,] the kingdom of God is also God’s reign in a particular way in the sense of life....The Lord’s word to Nicodemus in John 3 reveals God’s reign in the sense of life. In verse 3 the Lord says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” To be born anew, to be regenerated, is to have a new birth that brings in a new life....Every kingdom has a particular kind of life. The plants in the plant kingdom have the plant life, and the animals in the animal kingdom have the animal life....From the Lord’s word to Nicodemus we can see that, if we [human beings] would know the things of the divine kingdom, we need another life, the divine life, God’s life. [Therefore,] the kingdom of God as the reign of God is a divine realm to be entered into, a realm which requires the divine life. Only the divine life can realize the divine things. This was the reason the Lord said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (v. 5). Hence, to see, or to enter into, the kingdom of God requires regeneration with the divine life.230
The kingdom of God in the sense of life is actually Christ Himself (Luke 17:21) as the seed of life sown into His believers, God’s chosen people (Mark 4:3, 26), and developing into a realm in which God may rule as His kingdom in His divine life. Its entrance is regeneration (John 3:5), and its development is the believers’ growth in the divine life (2 Pet. 1:3-11). It is the church life today in which the faithful believers live (Rom. 14:17), and it will develop into the coming kingdom as an inheritance reward (Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5) to the overcoming saints in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6). Eventually, it will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God’s eternal life for all God’s redeemed to enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5, 14).231
Week 13 — Day 2
Dan. 4:26 ...The heavens do rule.
Matt. 5:20 ...Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
Now we come to the second aspect of the kingdom — the kingdom of the heavens.
Daniel 4:26 says, “The heavens do rule.” This actually refers to the kingdom of the heavens. The kingdom of the heavens is the heavenly rule, heaven ruling over all things.
In the New Testament a form of the word “heaven” is used many times. For instance, Hebrews 3:1 tells us that we are “partakers of a heavenly calling.”...[Furthermore,] according to Ephesians 2:6, the believers have been seated “together...in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.”232 In the book of Ephesians, Christ as our life has saved us into a position in which we are above all God’s enemies. Here in the heavenly atmosphere, with a heavenly nature and a heavenly characteristic, we are a heavenly people.233
Before we were saved, our situation was like that of the prodigal son in Luke 15 — rebellion against the heavens. When the prodigal son returned to his father, he repented and said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you” (v. 21). “Against heaven” equals “before you” (God the Father). Sinning against heaven is sinning before God, because God the Father is in heaven (11:2). After we received the call from the heavens, we became another kind of people, people no longer of this earth but of the heavens.... This means that today we are under a rule that is with the heavenly nature. As we shall see, this rule is in our spirit, for this rule is nothing other than the living One, Christ consummated as the life-giving Spirit. This One, the life-giving Spirit, indwelling us is the heavenly rule within us, and this heavenly rule is actually the kingdom of the heavens.234
The kingdom of the heavens is the heavenly ruling from the beginning of the church [on the day of Pentecost] to the end of the millennium, the crucial part of the kingdom of God....The kingdom of the heavens is a part of the kingdom of God just as Texas and Louisiana are part of the United States. Texas and Louisiana are the United States, but it is not correct to say that the United States is Texas and Louisiana. In like manner, we can say that the kingdom of the heavens is the kingdom of God, but we cannot say that the kingdom of God is the kingdom of the heavens. The kingdom of the heavens is the kingdom of God because it is part of the kingdom of God. [Remember,] the kingdom of God refers to God’s reign in a general way, from eternity past to eternity future, but the kingdom of the heavens235 [in] scope is narrower than that of the kingdom of God, since it includes only the church in this age [the dispensation of grace] and [the heavenly part of] the millennial kingdom in the coming age. It is a section within the kingdom of God; hence, it is also called the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15, cf. Matt. 4:17; Mark 4:11, cf. Matt. 13:11).236
If you have been born again, you have entered into the kingdom of God....But to enter into the kingdom of the heavens is another matter. Matthew 5:20 says, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” To enter into the kingdom of God requires regeneration as a new beginning of our life, but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens demands surpassing righteousness in our living after regeneration. How strict this is! [7:21; 18:3].237 To enter into the kingdom of the heavens is to live in its reality today and to participate in its manifestation in the future.238
Week 13 — Day 3
Rev. 2:4 But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love.
Matt. 13:24-25 ...The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field. But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares in the midst of the wheat and went away.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, the kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God has three aspects: the reality, the appearance, and the manifestation.239 [First,] the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the inward content of the kingdom of the heavens in its heavenly and spiritual nature.240 This reality is the living of the divine life.241 In chapters five through seven of Matthew, the Lord Jesus...unveiled to [His disciples] that the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the victorious living of the overcoming believers. When we rise early in the morning to have a morning revival in the holy Word with the Lord, while we are there enjoying and praising the Lord, we are a part of the heavenly kingdom. This is an aspect of our victorious living. If, on the other hand, we sleep late and do not rise up early to be with the Lord, that should be considered a defeated living, a living that is not part of the kingdom of the heavens....[Furthermore,] the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is a living by the divine life expressed in the human life (Matt. 5:45)....Only the divine life can live a life that matches the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. The marvelous thing is that the living of the divine life is expressed through the human life. It is the living of a mingled life. This is proven by Matthew 5:45, which says, “...that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens.” We can live the divine life because we are children of the divine Father. We could never live such a life as children of our human father. There is a much greater capacity in the divine life than in the human life. To live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens by the capacity of the divine life, we need to exercise our spirit to praise Him, to fellowship with Him, and even to remain in Him and to abide in Him all day.242 If we are poor in spirit [v. 3], the kingdom of the heavens is ours: we are in its reality now in the church age, and we will share in its manifestation in the kingdom age.243
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens...is comprised of the overcomers, the victorious Christians.244 An overcomer is someone who overcomes in every area of his daily life. The Lord Jesus is moving within us to live through us even in the way that we comb and cut our hair. If we do not follow Him in this matter, we will be defeated in having a worldly hair style. When the Lord says, “Don’t comb your hair that way,” we should respond, “Amen. Whatever You want, Lord Jesus.” This is what it means to overcome. This means that we love Him more than our self, more than our soul-life. An overcomer knows and loves only Christ....We need to consider our situation. Is Christ the first in everything with us?...To recover the first love [Rev. 2:4] is to give Him the preeminence in great things as well as in small things.245
[Second,] the kingdom of the heavens within the kingdom of God in this age has its appearance, in addition to its reality. Its appearance is its outward state in name, as revealed by the Lord on the seashore in Matthew 13.246 We must realize that as the reality of the kingdom comes into being, the enemy, Satan, will also come in to do some distracting, frustrating, and damaging work. This working of the enemy produces the outward appearance of the kingdom.247 In Matthew 13, there are three parables which indicate the outward appearance of the kingdom.248 The first of these is the tares, signifying the nominal Christians [false believers], growing together with the wheat, the real believers (Matt. 13:24, 30)....The tares were...sown...by the Lord’s enemy, Satan (Matt. 13:25, 28). Tares bear the appearance of wheat but do not have the life of wheat. Similarly, the nominal Christians do not have the life of God.249
Week 13 — Day 4
Matt. 13:31-33 ...The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, and which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches. Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.
[Following the parable of the tares,] the second item in the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is [revealed in the parable of the] mustard [seed] growing abnormally into a tree (Matt. 13:31-32). Mustard is an herb, not a tree.250 The church, which is the embodiment of the kingdom, should be like an herb that produces food. However, its nature and function were changed, so that it became a “tree,” a lodging place for birds. (This is against the law of God’s creation, that is, that every plant must be after its kind — Gen. 1:11-12.) This change happened in the first part of the fourth century, when Constantine the Great mixed the church with the world. He brought thousands of false believers into Christianity, making it Christendom, no longer the church....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, sojourning on the earth. But with its nature changed, the church became deeply rooted and settled as a tree in the earth, flourishing with its enterprises as the branches in which many evil persons and things are lodged. This resulted in the formation of the outward organization of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens.
Since the birds in the first parable signify the evil one, Satan (Matt. 13:4, 19), the birds of heaven [in verse 32] must refer to Satan’s evil spirits with the evil persons and things motivated by them. They lodge in the branches of the great tree, that is, in the enterprises of Christendom.251
The third item in the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is [revealed in the parable of] leaven taken by a woman and hidden in three measures of meal (Matt. 13:33).252 In the Scriptures leaven signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6-8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12).253 What is leaven? Leaven is something which is added to flour to make the bread enjoyable and easy to take.254 Once the flour is leavened there is no way to purge it, no way to purify it. We all must realize that we are still under a certain kind or a certain extent of leavening. All the truths we have heard and received in the past have been leavened by the enemy.255
The church as the practical kingdom of the heavens, with Christ, the unleavened fine flour, as its content, must be a loaf of 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 by the woman [in Matthew 13:33], took in many pagan practices, heretical doctrines, and evil matters and mixed them with the teachings concerning Christ, leavening the whole content of Christianity. This mixture became the corrupted content of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens.
Meal, for making the meal offering (Lev. 2:1), signifies Christ as food to both God and man. Three measures is the quantity needed to make a full meal (Gen. 18:6). Hence, the hiding of the leaven in three measures of meal signifies that the Catholic Church has fully leavened in a hidden way all the teachings concerning Christ. This is the actual situation in the Roman Catholic Church. Such leavening is absolutely against the Scriptures, which strongly forbid putting any leaven into the meal offering (Lev. 2:4-5, 11).256
Whereas everything in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 is real, pure, spiritual, and heavenly, everything shown in Matthew 13 is false, corrupt, mixed, and abnormal.257
Week 13 — Day 5
Matt. 25:8-9 And the foolish said to the prudent, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered,...go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.
[Third,] the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is the last aspect of the kingdom of the heavens258 [and] will occur at the Lord’s coming back (Matt. 24:33, 39, 42-44; 25:6, 19).259 We need to see that the manifestation of the kingdom is simply the transfer of the reality of the kingdom. In the next age [the millennial age], the reality of the kingdom will become the manifestation of the kingdom.260 The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is the practical coming of the kingdom of the heavens in power [24:30], as unveiled by the King on the Mount of Olives in chapters 24—25. 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 exists in the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, known as Christendom. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is the heavenly part of the coming millennial kingdom, which is referred to as the kingdom of the Father in [Matthew] 13:43; the earthly part of the millennial kingdom is the Messianic kingdom, which is referred to as the kingdom of the Son of Man in 13:41, and which is the restored tabernacle of David, the kingdom of David (Acts 15:16). In the heavenly part of the millennial kingdom, which is the kingdom of the heavens manifested in power, the overcoming believers will reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4, 6); in the earthly part of the millennial kingdom, which is the Messianic kingdom on earth, the saved remnant of Israel will be the priests and will teach the nations to worship God (Zech. 8:20-23).261
The kingdom in its reality...is an exercise and a discipline to us (Matt. 5:3, 10, 20; 7:21 [18:3]) in the church today whereas the kingdom in its manifestation...will be a reward and an enjoyment to us (Matt. 16:27; 25:21, 23) in the millennial kingdom in the coming age.262 If we exercise ourselves in a proper way after we are saved, we will enjoy the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens as a reward.263 How we live, walk, function, and work for the Lord after we are saved is the ground for the Lord to reward us.264 The big question is whether or not we will be qualified to inherit the kingdom of the heavens [1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:4-5].265
The last section of Matthew [chapters 24—25] concerns the manifestation of the kingdom when the Lord Jesus will come back to the earth....The two parables [on watchfulness and faithfulness] in Matthew 25 are very significant. They show us that, at the manifestation of the kingdom, some of the saints will enter into the joy of the Lord, and others will not. In the parable of the ten virgins [watchfulness; vv. 1-13], the five wise virgins will enter into the marriage feast, but the five foolish virgins will be shut out and sent to buy oil.266 Oil signifies the Holy Spirit (Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9).267 Buy indicates that a price must be paid. Having the filling of the Holy Spirit is at a cost, such as giving up the world, dealing with self, loving the Lord above all, and counting all things loss for Christ. If we do not pay this price today, we will have to pay it after we are resurrected.268 Then in the parable of the talents [faithfulness; 25:14-30], the five-talented servant and two-talented servant were able to enter into the joy of the Lord, but the one-talented servant was not. The servant with one talent missed the joy and also was put into darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. Please do not ask me where this darkness will be and what kind of darkness this will be. I cannot tell you. But I do know that we have such a word out of the Lord’s mouth and such a word written in the holy Scriptures.269 We all need to repent and consecrate ourselves to deal with this matter of the kingdom.270
Week 13 — Day 6
Phil. 3:14 I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.
2 Tim. 4:7-8 ...I have finished the course....Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will recompense me in that day, and not only me but also all those who have loved His appearing.
Surely we have been saved eternally. But whether or not we will be able to share in the manifestation of the kingdom is the problem. As a concluding word we need to consider the history of the apostle Paul....Surely Paul had the assurance that he was saved. Yet he emphatically told us that he was running the race [1 Cor. 9:24-27]. During the time Paul was living, there were the Greek Olympic games where people ran the race in order to receive a prize. Paul used this as his example, saying that he too was running a race to receive a prize.271 The Christian life is a race. All the saved Christians must run the race to win the prize (1 Cor. 9:24), not salvation in the common sense (Eph. 2:8; 1 Cor. 3:15) but a reward in a special sense (Heb. 10:35; 1 Cor. 3:14).272
At the time Paul wrote Philippians he had been a believer for many years, but he was still pursuing toward the goal for the prize [3:13-15]. The prize is the uttermost enjoyment of Christ in the millennial kingdom as a reward to the victorious runners of the New Testament race. In 1 Corinthians 9 the apostle was running the course (v. 26). In Philippians, one of his last Epistles, he was still running (3:14). It was not until the last moment of his running, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, that he had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the Lord at His appearing. When Paul knew that his martyrdom was imminent, he had the assurance to tell us that he would be awarded with the crown of righteousness. The crown is a symbol of glory given as a prize, in addition to the Lord’s salvation, to the triumphant runner of the race (1 Cor. 9:25). This prize is not of grace nor by faith as salvation is (Eph. 2:5, 8-9) but of righteousness through works (Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10). Such a reward will be awarded to the believers, not according to the grace of the Lord, but according to His righteousness. Hence, it is the crown of righteousness. The Awarder of it is the Lord as the righteous Judge. Paul was assured that such a prize was reserved for him and would be awarded to him at the day of the Lord’s second appearing. This is to be rewarded with the kingdom of the heavens. We must all be clear that to be saved eternally is one thing, and to be exercised to bear responsibility in the kingdom is another thing. Based upon our exercise in the kingdom, we will either be rewarded with the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens or suffer loss in the next age. We must realize that as Christians today we are in the kingdom of the heavens — today to be exercised and tomorrow to be rewarded.273
In conclusion, we must remember the crucial point concerning the kingdom. The kingdom is the requirement of the gospel and this requirement can only be met by the life of Christ within us. After we have been regenerated, we must grow, mature in life, run the race, and pay the price to attain the goal of the uttermost enjoyment of Christ in the millennial kingdom as a reward to the overcomers.
When we as Christians are really under the rule, the exercise of the reality of the kingdom, we will be a group of people who will hasten the coming of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:12). This means that our living will hasten the coming of the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. The Lord taught the disciples to pray for the coming of the kingdom (Matt. 6:10). We must pray for the kingdom to come and must live in the reality of the kingdom until the earth is fully recovered for God’s will in the coming kingdom age.274
1. The Son of God has come to sow
Himself, the seed of life, in man,
That thru Himself God’s Kingdom grow
And thus fulfill th’ eternal plan.
2. He was the only grain of wheat
Whence many grains have been produced
To be the Kingdom’s children meet,
Thru whom God’s reign is introduced.
3. But Satan, enemy of God,
Sowed many tares among the wheat,
The Kingdom’s children to confuse,
And awful damage to create.
4. ’Tis by this subtle work of his,
The mixing of the tares with wheat,
The Kingdom in appearance is
Abnormal and grotesquely great.
5. The Kingdom should as mustard be,
A little herb, yet good for food,
But it has changed into a “tree,”
A system of great magnitude.
6. Instead of being good for food,
A lodge of “birds” it has become;
’Tis now a place where evil men
And evil spirits make their home.
7. A great religion of the world
Its outward form to us reveals,
Including pagan, evil things,
As leaven mingled with the meal.
8. A system of the world as such,
It thus has changed in outward form;
By evil things which it imbibes,
Corruption inwardly doth swarm.
9. But something hidden God doth seek,
As “pearl” and “treasure in the field”;
As such the Lord would us transform
That pearl and treasure be revealed.
10. ’Tis hidden from vast Christendom
And from the Kingdom’s great façade,
Yet in its full reality
’Tis transformed like to Christ and God.
11. Lord, separate us from the “tares,”
And save us from the monstrous “tree”;
From all the “leaven” purge us now
That we may purely be of Thee.
12. May Thou in life transform our souls
That we as precious stones may be,
Meet for Thy house to build and in
Thy Kingdom’s full reality.
1. God’s Kingdom today is a real exercise,
But when Christ comes to reign it will be
a great prize;
It is wisdom divine that we now may be trained
That His plan be fulfilled and His justice
maintained.
2. God’s children, we’re born to be kings with
His Son,
And we need to be trained that we may overcome
And to know how to rule in His Kingdom as kings,
That His kingship thru us be expressed o’er
all things.
3. Today we must learn to submit to His throne,
How to have a strict life and His government own;
His authority then we’ll be able to share,
O’er the nations to rule with God’s Son as the heir.
4. With a life strict to self we must righteousness hold,
Kind to others in peace, and with God joyful, bold;
In the Kingdom’s reality e’er to remain,
For its manifestation prepared thus to reign.
5. Then Christ when He comes with the kingdom
from God
Will to us grant His kingship to share as reward;
Thus the Lord will His righteousness thru us maintain
And His wisdom to heavenly powers make plain.
6. For this the Apostle pressed on at all cost,
For the Kingdom assured that he would not
be lost;
’Tis for this he charged others, Be true to the Lord,
That the Kingdom might be unto them a reward.
7. O Lord, give us grace for Thy Kingdom to live,
To be trained that Thou may the reward to us give;
Make the Kingdom’s reality our exercise,
That its manifestation may be our great prize.
