In this message we come to a very sober matter — the unshakable kingdom (Heb. 12:25-29). The kingdom which we are receiving is unshakable (v. 28). Since this kingdom is unshakable, it is neither of the earth nor of the heavens. This is a strong word. Because we have such a doctrinal mind, we may argue with this statement, saying, “What about the kingdom of heaven? Doesn’t the Bible speak of this?” Yes, the New Testament does speak of the kingdom of the heavens, but it also says that heaven will be shaken (v. 26; Hag. 2:6). That heaven will be shaken proves that the kingdom which we are receiving is not of heaven. Although there seems to be a contradiction between the terms unshakable kingdom and the kingdom of the heavens, later on we shall see that there is actually no contradiction here.
For the old covenant, the earth was shaken as a warning upon earth (vv. 25-26; Exo. 19:18). When the old covenant was given at Mount Sinai, the earth was shaken. That shaking was a warning to the people on earth.
One day, for the new covenant, not only the earth but also the heaven will be shaken as a warning from heaven. This is according to the word in Haggai 2:6.
The earth and the heavens are shakable. Only the Lord and the things that come out of Him will remain forever (v. 27; 1:11; 13:8). This means that the kingdom which we are receiving has come out of the Lord Himself. Hebrews 1:11, speaking of the heavens and the earth says, “They shall perish, but You remain; and they all shall become old as a garment.”
The kingdom is actually the Lord Himself as the kingship within us. We have seen that faith is the Lord Himself as the believing element within us. Now, in the same principle, the kingdom is the Lord Himself as the kingship. As a help in realizing this matter, let us read Daniel 2:34 and 35. “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” The stone cut without hands is the heavenly Christ who was cut on the cross without human hands. Verse 44, referring to the toes of the image, says, “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Verse 45 also speaks of the stone, saying, “The stone was cut out of the mountain without hands” and “it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold.” These verses indicate that the stone, which is Christ, will eventually become a great mountain filling the whole earth. This great mountain is the coming kingdom. Hence, the unshakable kingdom which we are receiving is Christ with His enlargement.
The gospel which the New Testament has preached to us is the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 3:1-2; 4:17, 23; 10:7; 24:14). We repented for the kingdom (Matt. 3:2). Perhaps when we were saved, we did not hear such a clear gospel. At that time, we were afraid of going to hell and desired to go to heaven. Thus, we repented for heaven. This is the preaching of the wrong gospel, for repentance is not for heaven but for the kingdom.
We have been reborn, regenerated, into the kingdom. In John 3:5 the Lord Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (Recovery Version). Many of us were wrongly told that regeneration is for going to heaven. Here we see clearly that regeneration is for entering into the kingdom of God.
Colossians 1:13 says, “Who hath delivered us from the authority of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love” (Gk.). This verse reveals that we have been translated out of one kingdom, Satan’s kingdom of darkness, into another kingdom, the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
In the church, we are living in the kingdom of God today. Romans 14:17 is a strong proof that today’s church life is the kingdom: “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Recovery Version). Revelation 1:9 also proves that we are in the kingdom of God today: “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.” When John wrote the book of Revelation, he was already in the kingdom of God. These two verses are a strong proof that the church today is the kingdom. However, as we shall see, what we are in now in the church today is the kingdom in its reality, whereas the kingdom in its manifestation will come with Christ’s return in the future.
If we would understand the New Testament truths regarding the kingdom, we must realize the two main aspects of the kingdom — the aspect of its reality and the aspect of its manifestation. In the church today, we do not have the kingdom in manifestation; we have the kingdom in reality. According to the outward appearance, men cannot see the kingdom in the church. Nevertheless, the kingdom is a reality among us.
The reality of the kingdom, the kingdom in its reality, is an exercise and discipline for us in the church today (Matt. 5:3, 10, 20; 7:21). Suppose you purchase a hamburger at a stand and the cashier gives you too much change. If you are exercised and are ruled by the kingdom, you will return this extra change immediately. This is an experience of the rule of the reality of the kingdom, which is both an exercise and a discipline.
The situation of today’s Christianity is very poor, for many Christians have been drugged, thinking that everything is of grace and that there is no need for training, exercise, or discipline. But we realize that we must uplift the standard of the church life through the discipline and exercise of the reality of the kingdom. Through the years, I have seen the Lord’s grace working in so many of us. I thank the Lord that there has been a great improvement in His recovery. Nevertheless, we must uplift the standard even higher. If we do this, our cheering angels will be very happy, for they will see a group of believers who are quite serious regarding God’s eternal purpose. How we need the discipline for the kingdom today!
The manifestation of the kingdom, the kingdom in its manifestation, will be a reward and an enjoyment to us in the millennial kingdom in the coming age (Matt. 16:27; 25:21, 23). Today, in the reality of the kingdom, we have the exercise and the discipline. In the coming age, in the manifestation of the kingdom, we shall have a reward and an enjoyment. If we read Matthew 16:27 in its context, we shall see that the Lord’s coming to reward every man according to his work is related to the manifestation of the kingdom. In Matthew 25:21 and 23, the Lord says to His faithful servants, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” To enter into the joy of the Lord is to be in the manifestation of the kingdom during the thousand years.
If we take the Spirit’s exercise and God’s discipline in the reality of the kingdom today, we shall receive the Lord’s reward and enter into the enjoyment of the coming Sabbath rest (4:9) in the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age. If we do not accept the Spirit’s exercise and God’s discipline today, we shall miss the coming kingdom in its manifestation as a reward. We shall not be rewarded with the manifestation of the kingdom at the Lord’s coming back; we shall have no right to enter into the glory of the kingdom to participate in Christ’s reign in the millennial kingdom; and we shall lose our birthright to inherit the earth in the coming age, to be the royal priests serving God and Christ in His manifested glory, and to be the co-kings with Christ ruling over all the nations with His divine authority (Rev. 20:4, 6).
To miss the coming kingdom and to lose our birthright in the coming age does not mean that we shall perish, but that we shall lose the reward. Although we may lose the reward, we shall never lose our salvation (1 Cor. 3:14-15). Our salvation is secured forever. But whether or not we receive the reward and the birthright in the manifestation of the kingdom depends upon our exercise today.
As we have seen, the loss of the reward in the coming kingdom, the forfeiture of our birthright, does not mean that we shall perish. It means that we shall lose the reward and suffer loss, but still “be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:14-15, Gk.). This is the basic concept upon which all the five warnings of this book are given and with which they all are pervaded (Heb. 2:3; 4:1-11; 6:8; 10:27, 29-31; 12:25). All the negative points of these warnings are related to suffering the loss of the reward in the coming kingdom and to being punished by God, whereas all the positive points are related to the reward and enjoyment of the kingdom. All the seven epistles in Rev. 2 and Rev. 3 are concluded with the same concept — the reward of the kingdom or the loss of it. Only with this concept can the word in Matthew 5:20; 7:21-23; 16:24-27; 19:23-30; 24:46-51; 25:11-13, 21, 23, 26-30; Luke 12:42-48; 19:17, 19, 22-27; Rom. 14:10, 12; 1 Cor. 3:8, 13-15; 4:5; 9:24-27; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 4:7-8; Heb. 2:3; 4:1, 9, 11; 6:4-8; 10:26-31, 35-39; 12:16-17, 28-29; Rev. 2:7, 10-11, 17, 26-27; 3:4-5, 11-12, 20; 22:12 be rightly understood and properly applied. Apart from this concept, the interpretation of these verses will fall either into the extreme objectiveness of the Calvinist school, or the extreme subjectiveness of the Arminian school. Neither of these schools has seen the reward of the kingdom, and even the more they have not seen the suffering of the loss of the kingdom reward. Hence, both consider all the negative points in these verses as perdition. The Calvinist school, believing in eternal salvation (that is, once a person is saved, he shall never perish), refers all these negative points to the perdition of false believers; while the Arminian school, believing that a saved person shall perish if he falls, applies them to the perdition of fallen saved persons. But the complete revelation of the Bible refers these negative points to the suffering of the loss of the kingdom reward. Salvation is eternal: once we get it, we shall never lose it (John 10:28-29). But we may suffer the loss of the kingdom reward, even though we still shall be saved (1 Cor. 3:8, 14-15). All the warnings in Hebrews do not refer to the loss of eternal salvation, but to the loss of the kingdom reward. The Hebrew believers had received the kingdom, but they would have lost the reward in the manifestation of the kingdom if they shrank back from the grace of God, from God’s new covenant way. This was the main concern of the writer’s warning regarding the staggering Hebrew believers.
Some Christian teachers say that the slothful servant in Matthew 25 is a false servant. But this is altogether illogical. Although one of your children may be slothful, this does not mean that he is false. Since some Christian teachers do not see the matter of the kingdom reward, they must say that the slothful servant is a false servant. On the contrary, some say that the slothful servant is a real servant who has fallen away and lost his salvation.
We have seen that God’s original intention was to have a corporate man to express Him with His image, to represent Him with His dominion, and to take possession of the earth. This is the proper human living. Because man fell from God’s original intention, God came in to redeem and save us. This is God’s salvation, in which there is the birthright having three aspects: being the priests to express God with His image, being the kings to represent God with His dominion, and taking full possession of the lost earth for God’s eternal purpose. If we live in this birthright, we shall spontaneously be in the reality of the kingdom of God, for the reality of the kingdom of God is the living out of the birthright, the realization of the full birthright. Since not all Christians are willing to cooperate with God in this matter, He, in His wisdom, has decided to make the birthright a reward. If we take grace, enter into the Holy of Holies, and cooperate with God, we shall certainly live out the birthright. Then whatever we live out will be the reality of the kingdom today. The reality which we are living out today will become our reward in the manifestation of the kingdom. This is the fulfillment of God’s original intention. It is also our perfection, glorification, and the gaining of our soul in the coming age. As a result, we shall have the proper human living with an uplifted and resurrected humanity. This is the crucial focus of the entire Bible, and the Bible is very consistent about it. How can all this be worked out? Only by our turning to the spirit, entering into the Holy of Holies, experiencing Christ in all His riches, and allowing the law of life to take us from one stage of glory to another as it permeates us, saturates us, and conforms us to His image.
Hebrews 12:29 says, “Our God is also a consuming fire.” God is holy. Holiness is His nature. Whatever does not correspond with His holy nature, He, as the consuming fire, will consume. If the Hebrew believers had turned aside to Judaism, which was common (unholy) in the sight of God, it would have made them unholy, and the holy God, as the consuming fire, would have consumed them. God is not only righteous but also holy. To satisfy God’s righteousness we need to be justified through the redemption of Christ. To meet the demands of His holiness we need to be sanctified, to be made holy, by the heavenly, present, and living Christ. Romans stresses the matter of justification (Rom. 3:24) for God’s righteousness (Rom. 3:25-26), whereas Hebrews emphasizes the matter of sanctification (2:11; 10:10, 14, 29; 13:12) for God’s holiness (12:14). For this, the Hebrew believers had to separate themselves from unholy Judaism unto the holy God who has fully expressed Himself in the Son under the new covenant; otherwise, they would have defiled themselves with their old, profane religion and suffered the holy God as the consuming fire. That would have been “fearful” (10:31)! No wonder Paul was very much concerned about “the terror [fear] of the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:11).
The focal point of the book of Hebrews is to bring us into the holy nature of God. If we do not cooperate with God in this, we shall break His administration. To break God’s administration is a governmental matter. Breaking God’s law is not as serious as breaking His government. God has revealed that if we do not cooperate with Him in His administrative economy but rather break His government, He will punish us. This means that we shall lose the kingdom reward on the positive side and suffer punishment on the negative side. In Hebrews 10 and 12 we see the way, the race, and the pathway that we must take, run on, and pass through. In these chapters we also see the punishment, the reward, and the kingdom. These three things are crucial aspects of the basic concept in the composition of this book.
No other book in the New Testament reveals the focal point of God’s economy as clearly as the book of Hebrews does, for no other book points us to the Holy of Holies and to the law of life in the ark. Although Romans 8:2 does mention the law of the Spirit of life, Hebrews covers the law of life much more thoroughly than Romans does. The writer of Hebrews warns us to take the revelation of God’s economy as found in this book. If we take it, we shall receive a reward in the manifestation of the kingdom. If we do not take it, we shall suffer some punishment due to our breaking of God’s administrative economy. Those who do not have the substantiating sense, or who fail to exercise it, cannot see this. While we are so serious and sober about this matter, many other Christians are not. Under the enlightening of the heavenly revelation we have been seeing in these messages, we must be serious and sober about running the race on the straight paths. The way we run today will determine our future destiny.
Although we are concerned about our future destiny, we must have the grace to say to the Lord, “Lord, by Your grace I do not care for my destiny — I care for Your economy. You take care of my destiny, and I’ll take care of Your economy. Lord, I want to cooperate with You, not for the sake of my future destiny, but for the sake of Your economy today. I want to see that Your economy, which has not been carried out through the centuries, will be fulfilled in these days.” We all need to have such a clear vision and be brought on so that God’s purpose might be fulfilled among us. God wants to bring a group of His sincere seekers into the Holy of Holies that they might experience the working of the law of life and thus become the corporate reproduction of the standard model, His Firstborn Son. The Lord’s coming back depends upon this corporate reproduction. It is impossible for the Lord to come back until this has been accomplished. His having the reproduction of the standard model depends upon the working of the law of life within us. As we have seen, the law of life is neither in the outer court nor in the Holy Place; it is in the ark of testimony in the Holy of Holies. Therefore, we must enter into the Holy of Holies, plunge into the ark of testimony, and experience the law of life. We know where the law of life is — it is in our spirit. Now we just need to say, “Lord, by Your mercy and grace, I am here to cooperate with You. I am ready for You to go on. Lord, do everything You can and whatever You like. I don’t care for my future destiny. I only care for Your recovery in today’s economy, for the proper recovery of the church life. Lord, may all Your seekers be brought into this way for the fulfillment of Your will!” This is the Lord’s recovery in His economy today.
