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Scripture Reading: Matt. 19:8; Luke 17:20-21; Matt. 13:55-56; 12:28; Col. 1:13; Matt. 16:28; Mark 9:1; Matt. 17:1-2; Mark 4:26-29; Luke 18:29; Mark 10:29; John 3:3-5; 2 Pet. 1:3-4, 11; Mark 10:17, 23
When the Lord Jesus came, there was a religion called Judaism. It was not a pagan, heathen religion; it was a religion worshipping and serving God, a religion formed according to God’s divine Word. If you had lived at the time of the Lord Jesus, would you have taken sides with the Lord Jesus or with Judaism? I believe that every one of us would have taken sides with Judaism. Judaism was not a pagan religion. Its temple and its altar were according to God’s Word. The sacrifices and offerings were according to God’s Word. The priesthood, the worship, and the service were all according to God’s Word. Have you considered, however, that when the Lord Jesus came He did not care about Judaism at all? He crossed out whatever Judaism was doing. Judaism kept the Sabbath, but He worked on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, the Judaizers, sent out the “Sabbath Patrol,” and they caught Him breaking the Sabbath.
Christianity is now five hundred years older than Judaism was during the time of the Lord Jesus and the apostles. When the Lord Jesus and His apostles were on the earth, Judaism was only fifteen hundred years old, but Christianity is nearly two thousand years old. We are facing a religion that is five hundred years older than Judaism was to the Lord Jesus.
I believe that most of you have received some teaching about the kingdom from Christianity, but I would ask you to come back to the pure Word. When the Pharisees came to argue with the Lord Jesus concerning divorce, they said various things, but the Lord Jesus replied, “From the beginning it has not been so” (Matt. 19:8). Let us come back to the beginning. Forget about the traditional teachings and come back to the beginning to see the kingdom from the pure Word.
In Luke 17:20-21 the Pharisees came to the Lord Jesus asking about the kingdom of God. Like many Christians today, they had their own concepts. However, the Lord Jesus immediately told them that the kingdom of God does not come with observation — that if they were looking for the kingdom, they would be unable to observe it. What does it mean that the kingdom does not come with observation? It means that the kingdom is invisible. The kingdom is something that you cannot observe by your natural ability. Therefore, do not exercise your thinking, your understanding, your knowledge, or your comprehension. They are completely useless in apprehending the kingdom of God.
When the Lord Jesus said that the kingdom does not come with observation, He did not mean that the kingdom could not be realized. For example, if you had no ears, you could never realize my speaking. You simply could not observe my speaking because you lack the substantiating and realizing ability. That realizing ability is the listening organ, the ear. You need to have the listening organ and also need to exercise it. Then you can observe my speaking. The Lord told the Pharisees that the kingdom did not come with their observation. Their kind of observation was wrong. They depended upon their mentality and exercised their knowledge too much. By their natural ability, they were utterly unable to observe the kingdom of God. To them, the kingdom of God came without observation.
In Luke 17:21 the Greek word rendered “within” by the King James Version means both “within” and “in the midst,” and it is hard to determine the exact meaning in this verse. I believe that the Lord’s word implies both aspects. Since the Lord Jesus was present with them, the kingdom of God was in their midst. Do not say, “Here is the kingdom” or “There is the kingdom.” “Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” What is this? This is the Lord Jesus. Where He is, there is the kingdom of God. Let me ask you: Do you not believe that the Lord Jesus was observed at that time by all the Pharisees? Some said, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matt. 13:55-56). They knew all this and still were unable to observe the kingdom. The Lord Jesus was in their midst as the kingdom, but they were unable to observe Him because they were using the wrong organ. They needed to use the proper organ — their spirit. When the Lord Jesus was among them, He was not only a man but also the embodiment of God. They needed to realize this in their spirit. Because they failed to realize this, He was in their midst, but He was unable to be in them. If they had observed God in their spirit, He would have immediately come inside of them as the kingdom.
Since the kingdom is the Lord Jesus, and He was present with the Pharisees, why did they ask Him “when the kingdom of God was coming”? It was because they paid too much attention to the mental knowledge of the Bible in letters. They simply did not know how to exercise their inward part, that is, their human spirit. By their outward man and by their natural ability, they were unable to observe that the Lord Jesus was the reality of the kingdom. Although the Lord Jesus, the kingdom of God, was present, they could not observe Him. If they had observed Him by the exercise of their spirit, this wonderful One would have come inside of them immediately. He would have been not only in their midst but also inside of them. Whether the Lord Jesus was only in their midst or also inside of them depended on whether or not they exercised their spirit to observe Him.
We may say that the kingdom is the Lord Jesus, but it must be the Lord Jesus as the Spirit, not in the flesh. The kingdom is the Lord Jesus as the Spirit. He said to the Pharisees, “If I, by the Spirit of God, cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28). This verse tells us that the kingdom is simply the reality of the Spirit of God. When the Spirit of God is made real, this realization is the kingdom. The Lord Jesus said that because He cast out demons by the power of the Spirit of God, this indicated that the kingdom of God was there. The kingdom is the spiritual realization of the Lord Jesus. When we realize Him spiritually, we have the kingdom.
The Spirit of God is the reality of the Lord Jesus. The Spirit is His person, and His person is His reality. Just as the reality of a man is his person, so the reality of the Lord Jesus is His person, and His person is the Spirit. He had the Spirit with Him, and the Spirit was His person. This person, the Spirit, was the reality of the Lord Jesus. At that time, His reality was fully exercised by casting out demons. Thus, that was the kingdom of God. Now we can see that the kingdom is not merely a dispensation or sphere. The kingdom is the realization of the reality of the Lord Jesus.
Colossians 1:13 contrasts two things — the authority of darkness and the kingdom of Christ. We were in the authority of darkness, but one day we were transferred into the kingdom of Christ. Sometimes a contrast enables us to understand things more clearly. By seeing the negative we can know the positive. The kingdom of Christ is in contrast with the authority of darkness. It is not merely a dispensation or a sphere. The kingdom is something so real. It is the realization of the reality of the Lord Jesus.
Many of you have been told that you were in Adam and that one day God transferred you out of Adam into Christ. Now you need to realize further that since you are in Christ, you are also in the kingdom because Christ is the kingdom. Suppose there is a naughty boy, born in Adam. One day he hears the gospel, calls upon the name of the Lord, and is transferred out of Adam into Christ. He was born in Adam, but now he is in Christ. Although this young brother has been transferred into Christ, he may lack the proper realization of Christ. Doctrinally, when he is in Christ, he is also in the kingdom. Experientially however, he may have been in Christ for five years but still may not be in the kingdom. He has been transferred into Christ, yet he is still disobedient. Once he was a naughty boy; now he is a naughty brother. I cannot say that he is not in Christ or that he is not a brother, but experientially he is not in the kingdom, because he does not realize the reality of the Lord Jesus. When he realizes the reality of the Lord Jesus, he will be not only in Christ but also in the kingdom.
To be in the kingdom means to have a full realization of the reality of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said that if He cast out demons by the Spirit, then the kingdom of God had come upon them. A demon is a dirty, unclean, evil spirit, but the principle of being a demon simply means rebellion. Originally, demons were a kind of created being. When Satan rebelled against God, they followed him and became demons. Therefore, demons indicate rebellion. If in your daily walk there are some things that are not under God’s ruling, some things still in rebellion against God, those things in principle are demons. They need to be cast out by the Lord Jesus. We must pray, “Lord Jesus, come and cast out my demons. Even today I am rebellious.” You may be rebellious in your shopping. Perhaps you went to the department store although the Lord Jesus within you told you not to go. Once in the store, you picked up an item, and even though the Lord Jesus told you to drop it, you bought it, and you still have it at home. This is rebellion, the principle of a demon.
Are you always under the ruling of Christ? We may say that we love Him yet not accept His ruling. We may say that Christ is our life, but Christ as our life may not be very real to us. It may simply be a term, not a reality. There may be no realization of the reality of Christ being life to us. The life of the Lord Jesus is a ruling life. In every kind of life there is a ruling element, which is its life law and regulation. We may have the life of Christ within and yet not be under the ruling of His life. So, in a sense, we may be still possessed by many demons. We need the Lord Jesus to cast them out. Then we will truly be in the kingdom. The kingdom is the realization of the reality of Christ. We have been transferred out of darkness into the kingdom of Christ. Yet, in our daily living, we may lack the reality of the kingdom. The reality of the kingdom is simply the realization of the reality of the Lord Jesus. When we have the realization of the reality of the Lord Jesus, that realization is the kingdom.
One day the Lord Jesus told His disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom (Matt. 16:28). According to Mark, He said that some of those standing there would see the kingdom of God having come in power (9:1). Shortly after speaking these words, He went to the mountaintop and was transfigured there (Matt. 17:1-2). The transfiguration of the Lord Jesus was the realization of what He is. When He was confined in His flesh, people thought of Him as only a little man from Nazareth. The kingdom was in Him, but they could not see it. The kingdom was in Him just as electricity is in a building — unless the switch is turned on, no one can observe the electricity. Once the switch is turned on, the lamp will shine. This shining is simply the expression of electricity. The kingdom of God was in the Lord Jesus, but it was concealed, covered, and confined within His flesh. He stood among the Pharisees, yet they could not observe that something wonderful was in Him. Even His own disciples could not see it. After six days He went to the mountaintop, and there He was “switched on.” He was shining. His shining came from within, not from the heavens. Something within Him was shining. Although this reality was present within Him before His transfiguration, people could not observe it. However, at His transfiguration His disciples could observe something shining out from within Him.
We may say that this was the shining of the Lord Jesus or the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus, but He Himself said that it was the coming of the kingdom. The shining forth of the Lord Jesus on the mountaintop was the coming of the kingdom. This is not merely a dispensation or a sphere. Our vocabulary is inadequate to describe it. The transfiguration, the shining of the Lord Jesus on the mountain, was the coming of the kingdom in power! The kingdom is simply the Lord Jesus shining over you. I hope this sentence will make a deep impression on you: the kingdom is the shining of the Lord Jesus, and the kingdom is the spreading of the Lord Jesus by shining over you. He told Peter, James, and John that they would see Him coming in His kingdom — that they would see the kingdom of God having come in power. What did they see? They saw the shining of the Lord Jesus. When Peter, James, and John were all under His shining, they were in the kingdom. Also, the dead saints, represented by Moses, and the living saints, represented by Elijah, appeared and were under the shining of the spreading of the Lord Jesus.
Let me illustrate: suppose there are five brothers living together in a brothers’ house. If these brothers are really under the shining of the Lord Jesus, the kingdom will be there in that brothers’ house. Whenever you visit them, you will sense the shining, the reigning, the ruling, and the good order. Although you would find no list of regulations, everything is kept in order by the shining. Suppose, however, they do not live under the shining, but rather they criticize and despise one another while pretending to love one another. If you visit them, you will have the spiritual sensation that you are in a cemetery. Although everything is quiet, there is the dreadful presence of death. Although no one is fighting and everything is in order, death and the authority of darkness are still there. There is no shining.
The kingdom is the shining of the reality of the Lord Jesus. Whenever He is shining over you and you are under that shining, you are in the kingdom. Although it is not easy to describe or define the kingdom, I believe that now you have at least a little understanding. The kingdom is not merely a dispensation, a sphere, or a realm. It is the realization of the reality of the Lord Jesus. Whenever He is spreading by shining over you, you are in the kingdom, and the kingdom has come in power.
In Mark 4:26-29 the Lord Jesus said that the kingdom is like a man who sows seed into the earth. The seed grows, the blade appears, the ear appears, and finally it is harvested. The kingdom is a seed that is sown into the earth and that grows until it reaches maturity, at which time it is harvested. The seed is the Lord Jesus as the shining One. We all are the soil into which the Lord Jesus as the seed has been sown. The seed grows and eventually will produce the harvest, the full manifestation of the kingdom. Thus, the kingdom is the Lord Jesus as the seed of life who has been sown into us and who grows in us until He reaches maturity at the time of harvest. When the crop is ripe, there will be the harvest, the full manifestation of the kingdom. The growth of the seed within us is the process of the kingdom. On the one hand, we are in the kingdom, but on the other hand, we are in the process of the kingdom. For example, in a wheat field seeds are sown into the soil. The seed then grows until the tender young sprouts appear. The growth continues until the sprouts bring forth ears, fruit, and eventually are fully ripened. Then there is the harvest of the field. This is a picture of the process and manifestation of the kingdom. Now we are in the process of the kingdom. Today we have the seed of the kingdom growing within us. This growth of the kingdom will bring us to the harvest, and that harvest will be the full manifestation of the kingdom.
Let us compare Luke 18:29 and Mark 10:29. Luke 18:29 says that we leave certain things for the sake of the kingdom. Mark 10:29 says that we leave the same things for the sake of the gospel. This proves that the kingdom is the gospel. The kingdom and the gospel are synonymous terms and are used interchangeably. We must declare that the kingdom is the gospel. If we do not realize that the gospel is the kingdom, we are deficient in our understanding of the gospel. The gospel is not only a matter of the forgiveness of sins, redemption, justification, sanctification, or salvation. The gospel is also a matter of the kingdom. What is the kingdom? The kingdom is the Lord Jesus as the seed of life who has come into us. When this seed of life came into us, we were regenerated. By regeneration, we were born into the kingdom (John 3:3, 5). Regeneration was our transfer. By regeneration, we were transferred out of the authority of darkness into the kingdom of God. Hallelujah! This is the genuine gospel!
The entrance into the kingdom is not an outward entrance but is by an inward rebirth. “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (v. 5). In other words, when the Lord Jesus comes into us, He brings the kingdom into us. This is why He said that the kingdom is in the midst of you (Luke 17:21). This is the Lord Jesus, the seed of life, sown into us and growing in us all the time. We are in the process of the kingdom.
We come now to 2 Peter 1:3, 4, and 11, which tell us that God’s divine power has granted to us all things relating to life and godliness. By these we become partakers of the divine nature. Since we share the divine nature and all things which relate to life and godliness, we can have a rich entrance into the kingdom. When the Lord Jesus comes into us, He brings with Him all things relating to life and godliness, including the very nature of God. By this we can have a rich entrance into the kingdom. This is the process of the kingdom. Thus, the kingdom is not merely a dispensation.
How do we enter into the kingdom? It is not by learning or by studying or by keeping any outward regulations. It is by regeneration. We enter into the kingdom by the Lord Jesus coming into us and giving us all things relating to life and godliness. All things relating to life and godliness are now inside of us. Do not despise the little seed. That little seed is all-inclusive: the roots, the stalk, the branches, the leaves, the blossom, the fruit — all these things come out of that little seed. All things relating to life and godliness have been given to us, so we are partakers of the divine nature (v. 4). By this we can have a rich entrance into the kingdom — not just an entrance but a rich entrance.
In Mark 10:17-23 a rich young man came to the Lord Jesus, asking how he could inherit eternal life. He thought that he could inherit eternal life by keeping the law. After he left disappointed, the Lord Jesus said that it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God, thus indicating that to enter into the kingdom of God is simply to possess eternal life. They are synonymous terms; they both refer to the same thing.
Thus, the kingdom is the spiritual realization of the Lord Jesus. Whenever He is shining upon us and spreading within us, we are in the kingdom. As the seed of the kingdom, the Lord Jesus has been sown into us. Now we are in the growth process of the kingdom. When the Lord becomes full-grown in us, that will be the time of the manifestation of the kingdom.
