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Scripture Reading: Matt. 12:22-28; Luke 22:3a; Acts 5:3; John 12:31; 1 John 5:19; Eph. 2:2-3, 5; Phil. 2:13; Eph. 6:11-12; Acts 26:18a; Col. 1:13
In the last chapter we saw clearly that there are two sources in the universe, that in these two sources are two lives, and out of these two lives come two kingdoms. God has His life, and out of His life the kingdom of God comes into existence. Satan has his evil life, out of which the kingdom of Satan comes into existence. Therefore, in the universe there are two kingdoms — the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.
We need to see that both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan are something of life. The kingdom of God is a matter of the divine life, and the kingdom of Satan is a matter of the satanic life. If you consider the world situation, you will see that the entire human race is a kingdom, not merely of the human life but even more of the satanic life. Today’s human society is a kingdom of the satanic life. Humanity has become the totality of the satanic life with all its activities. Thus, the human kingdom has become the satanic kingdom, the kingdom of Satan.
Matthew 12:22-28 mentions the kingdom of Satan. A blind and dumb person, who was demon-possessed, was brought to the Lord Jesus. As we mentioned in chapter 2, in the Bible a demon signifies rebellion against God. The Lord Jesus cast out the demons. According to our understanding, this is simply the casting out of demons and the recovery of a human being. According to the Lord’s interpretation, however, something far greater was involved. This was not simply the casting out of a demon and the healing of a sick person; it was the coming of the kingdom of God. Wherever the demon is cast out, there the kingdom of God comes. The Pharisees hated the Lord Jesus, and they criticized His action, saying that He cast out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons. The title Beelzebul refers to the ruler of the demons. The Pharisees knew that Satan was the ruler of the demons, and they scorned the Lord Jesus, accusing Him of casting out demons by Satan. He rebuked them, saying, “If I, by Beelzebul, cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out?” (12:27). What the Pharisees said to the Lord Jesus was a falsehood, but what He said to them was the truth. Remember that the Pharisees were extremely religious. In their own eyes and in their own understanding, they were people who worshipped God. However, the Lord Jesus told them that their sons cast out demons by Satan. According to their concept, they were worshipping God; in actuality, they were joined with Satan. Surely the Pharisees felt that they were serving God, worshipping God, and doing everything to please Him. They were not pagans. They were not idol worshippers, and they did not practice witchcraft. They were people who tried to worship God and to serve God. But the Lord Jesus exposed them, saying that their sons cast out demons by the power of Satan. This means that they were one with Satan.
In His word to the Pharisees, the Lord revealed that Satan has his kingdom (v. 26). There is another kingdom besides the kingdom of God. Today the situation is exactly the same in principle. Although some may worship God in name and in form, actually, they are joined with Satan and are serving Satan. They think they are in the kingdom of God; actually, they are in the kingdom of Satan. Even while they are worshipping God, it is possible for them to be in the kingdom of Satan. They may think that they are working for the kingdom of God yet unknowingly be working for the kingdom of Satan.
We need to see these two kingdoms — the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Eventually, the kingdom of God will swallow up the kingdom of Satan. When he was created by God, Adam was innocent. God placed Adam before two trees, which denoted two sources: God and Satan. God’s intention in creating man was to establish the kingdom. According to the Bible, the ultimate consummation of God’s work is a kingdom. In the Bible, a house represents a family, and a city represents a kingdom. In eternity there will not be a house but a city — New Jerusalem. The apostle John said that he saw no temple in the city (Rev. 21:22). The temple will be enlarged to become the city, and the city represents the kingdom. Eventually, God will establish His kingdom.
How will God establish His kingdom? When we hear the word establish, we may think it means to assemble various pieces or elements together, placing one next to the other. However, this is not God’s way. God’s way is to put Himself into man as life. This life will grow in us until it produces the kingdom.
Before God could get into man, Satan entered into man in a very subtle way. Satan, like all deceivers, was a good talker. By his subtle speaking, he indoctrinated man with his thoughts. He injected his evil thoughts into the human mind. The principle is the same today. Whenever you accept a certain thought, then you may act upon it. The thought comes first, then the action. The thoughts people take in eventually influence their behavior. After Satan had injected his evil thoughts into the human mind, man exercised his body to take the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil into him.
It is of tremendous importance to realize that at the very beginning, there were two trees — the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). The tree of life signifies God, and the tree of knowledge signifies Satan. Man took the tree of knowledge into him, meaning that Satan entered into man. Satan, as sin personified, is now inside of man (Rom. 7:8, 11, 17, 20). After coming into man, Satan began to saturate him, poison him, and take full possession of him. Thus, man became corrupted and darkened. To be darkened and corrupted by Satan means to be placed under the authority of Satan. Man became a citizen in Satan’s kingdom, subject to the rule of Satan. Everyone born of man is likewise a citizen in Satan’s kingdom. Every human being is subject to Satan by birth. Therefore, men steal, fight, and kill. This is the kingdom of Satan. This is the totality of the satanic life with all its activities.
One day Jehovah-plus came. God was incarnated as a man. God’s desire is to come into man. When we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, He comes into us as life. From that point on, God grows within us. God’s growth in us means that He is spreading within us. The more God grows, the more He spreads, and the more ground He occupies within us. The more ground He occupies, the more He reigns. The kingdom is God’s divine reign in us through the inward growth of life. The kingdom of God is God being life to us, spreading in us, occupying the ground in us, and reigning over our whole being.
There are two kingdoms, and there are two spirits. John 4:24 shows that God is Spirit, and Ephesians 2:2 reveals that Satan, the ruler of the authority of the air, is also a spirit. This evil spirit is operating in every human being. The word operating is a strong word in Greek. Satan is operating, working, with a definite purpose in a definite way. In every human being there is a satanic operator, the spirit who works in the sons of disobedience. People may talk about freedom, liberty, and independence. Everyone likes to be independent. However, not one fallen person is independent, because he is under the operation of Satan.
Matthew 12:26 indicates that Satan has a kingdom, and John 12:31 describes Satan as the ruler of this world. Satan is not only the operator; he is the ruler. He rules the whole earth, and he has many subordinates, many ranks, under him, which Ephesians 6:12 describes as rulers and authorities. These are some of the various ranks in Satan’s kingdom. He is the ruler of this world, and he is also the ruler of the authority of the air. On the earth there is the human race, and in the air there are the rebellious angelic powers. Satan’s kingdom is composed of the fallen human race and the rebellious angels. On the earth, the members of the fallen human race are the citizens of the kingdom of Satan; in the air, the rebellious angelic powers and principalities rule this earth for Satan. He is the ruler of the authority of the air. Satan, as the evil spirit, has come into every human being. He operates in every human being without exception. By being such an operator, he has produced a kingdom. Satan now dwells in man’s body.
If you have ever had the experience of casting out demons, you know that the demons like to take the human body as their dwelling place. From his base of operation in the body, Satan will attempt to control the person’s whole being — his mind, emotion, and will. A demon-possessed person is always very much in his mentality. If you can turn him from the prison of his mind to the spirit, the demon, for the most part, will be gone. However, it is difficult to do this. Therefore, you must cast out the demon by the name of the Lord Jesus. After the demon has been driven out, you must help this person turn to his spirit and not to exercise his mentality too much. Otherwise, the demons may return to possess him once more.
Satan takes the human body as his dwelling place, but the Lord Jesus takes the human spirit as His dwelling place. God in His sovereignty has preserved the human spirit for Himself. Although the human spirit has been influenced by the evil body and the corrupt mentality to the point that it has been deadened, we can find no hint in the Bible that Satan has ever entered into the human spirit. When we repent and believe in the Lord Jesus, He immediately comes into our spirit. The enemy tries his best to hide this matter of the human spirit from Christians. The Bible tells us clearly that the Lord Jesus Christ is with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). From our spirit He is growing and spreading within us, taking possession of more ground in our being. By occupying more ground within us, He actually reigns within us. This is the inward reigning of the Lord Jesus.
Consider the case of a young man who has recently been saved. Before he was saved, he was altogether in the principle of a demon. In every part of his being, he was in rebellion against God. But one day the Lord Jesus came into him. The more he says, “Hallelujah,” and the more he pray-reads the Word, the more the Lord Jesus spreads within him. The more he calls, “O Lord Jesus!” the more ground the Lord occupies within him. When he calls on the Lord and praises the Lord, the Lord spreads within him. However, many times the Lord Jesus cannot get through. The Lord cannot penetrate his mentality, his thoughts. His concepts are a stronghold, and the Lord Jesus cannot get through. Part of his being is under the reigning of the Lord Jesus, but in other parts of his being, there are strongholds resisting His rule. That is rebellion and is in the principle of a demon. If the Lord Jesus cannot penetrate this stronghold after a few attempts, this young man will lose his appetite for praying, for reading the Word, and for calling on the name of the Lord. If He tries and cannot get through, He will wait. Perhaps after two weeks or two months or even two years, He will try once again. Perhaps this young brother will eventually receive some help from another brother and become freshly stirred up for the Lord. Because the Lord Jesus will not pass over any problem, once again He will touch the old stronghold, but this time the brother has learned the lesson and immediately gives in to the Lord, saying, “Amen Lord.” The Lord Jesus gets through, and He spreads more. This means that He grows more in this young brother and occupies more ground within him. This growth is the gradual coming of the kingdom of God within him. Eventually, all his inward parts — his mind, emotion, and will — will be fully saturated by the Lord Jesus. In other words, the Lord has fully grown up in this brother. In a sense, He has reached the harvest stage within him. He is ripe, ready, and mature. He is like one of the five prudent virgins (Matt. 25). If many Christians who are seeking the Lord would be like this, the full manifestation of the kingdom would come.
Now we can understand how the kingdom comes. The Lord Jesus sows Himself as a seed into us, making us His growing field. Step by step and little by little, He grows within us. He is very patient, and gradually He will possess our whole being. Eventually, the Lord Jesus will take us over in a full way. He will occupy our mind, our emotions, our will, and every inward part of our being. In this way He will reign within us, and the kingdom will come fully and completely. The kingdom does not come as a sudden change; it is a matter of Christ as life growing within us. However, this is not strictly an individual matter. We must grow with other Christians.
Many Christians have been ensnared by various religious things. You need to set all these things aside and return to your spirit, realizing that Christ is within your spirit. Your real need is the expansion of Christ within you. Although formalism may help people, eventually it becomes a frustration. The fundamental teachings also help people, but eventually they hold people back from fulfilling God’s eternal purpose. The same thing is true about the charismatic experiences. Although many Christians were helped by them, eventually they were frustrated by the very things that helped them. Our basic need today is to realize that our dear Lord Jesus is in our spirit, growing and spreading within us. We need to pray, “Lord, have mercy on me. Grant me the grace always to say Amen to You. O Lord, grow in me, expand in me, and take me over. Lord, occupy every part of my being.” This is our need today. We all have been transferred out of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of Christ. We need Christ to spread Himself within us and to gain all the ground. This will bring the full manifestation of the kingdom.
