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Scripture Reading: Mark 4:1-34
In this message we come to chapter four of the Gospel of Mark, a crucial chapter concerning the kingdom of God.
Once again I would call your attention to the sequence of the narration of the Gospel of Mark. In Mark 1:14-45 we have the contents of the gospel service: preaching the gospel, teaching the truth, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the leper. Then in Mark 2:1-28; 3:1-6 we see the ways of carrying out the gospel service: forgiving the sins of the sick, feasting with sinners, causing His followers to be merry without fasting, caring for His followers’ hunger rather than for religion’s regulation, and caring for the relief of the suffering one rather than for the ritual of religion. Following this, in 3:7-35 we have five auxiliary acts for the gospel service: averting the crowd’s pressing, appointing the apostles to preach, not eating because of the urgent need, binding Satan and plundering his house by the Holy Spirit, and not remaining in the relationship of the natural life but in that of the spiritual life.
Although we see in these three sections a complete view concerning the gospel, we do not see the intrinsic essence of the gospel. Neither do we see in these sections of Mark the purpose of the gospel and its issue. We do not yet see what the gospel is for. This is the reason that in chapter four the record of this Gospel comes to the matter of the kingdom of God.
In 1:15 we have the first utterance of the Lord Jesus in His gospel preaching: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the gospel!” This verse indicates clearly that the gospel is for the kingdom, and this kingdom is neither the kingdom of man nor the kingdom of Israel, but the kingdom of God.
What is the kingdom of God? It is not easy to define the kingdom. In order to understand what the kingdom of God is, we need to consider the entire Old Testament, for in the Old Testament we have a clear view of the kingdom.
We may say that a kingdom is a sphere, or a realm, where a person accomplishes something. Sometimes we say that a certain person has his own kingdom. This means that he has a realm, a sphere, where he can work to reach his goal or fulfill his plan. Hence, a kingdom is a realm where a person does what he wants to do. According to the Old Testament, there is a realm called the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a sphere, a realm, for God to work out His eternal purpose and accomplish His goal.
After creating the heavens, the earth, and billions of items, God created man. According to the book of Genesis, God created man for a twofold purpose. On the positive side, God created man in His image so that man may express Him. On the negative side, God gave man His dominion over all created things. Dominion means authority in a particular realm or sphere. Dominion, therefore, is related to God’s kingdom. In Genesis 1 we see that with man we have God’s image and God’s dominion. God’s image is for His expression, and God’s dominion is for His kingdom.
God in His creation wanted man to express Him. In order to have such an expression, God needs a sphere, and this sphere is a kingdom, a realm where God can exercise His authority. God gave His authority to man and established man as the head of all created things. By this we see that immediately after the creation of man, God set up a kingdom on earth. The kingdom of God, therefore, can be seen in the first chapter of Genesis.
Eventually, after the fall of man, God called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The book of Genesis records the experiences of these patriarchs and of the children of Israel and their sojourn in Egypt. According to the record in Exodus, God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Exodus 19:6 reveals God’s purpose in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt: “Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” The Lord brought the children of Israel out of Egypt in order to make them a kingdom of priests, a kingdom in which everyone would be a priest, one who serves God. Hence, God’s goal was to have a priestly kingdom.
From Exodus 19 until the end of the Old Testament we have the record of the history of a kingdom. We should not regard this kingdom merely as the kingdom of Israel. Rather, this was the kingdom of God expressed in the kingdom of Israel.
As we study the Old Testament, we see that God was not able to accomplish His purpose with Adam, Noah, or the nation of Israel. Although the kingdom of God was expressed in the kingdom of Israel, God was not able to reach His goal through the children of Israel. Therefore, eventually God Himself came through the way of incarnation.
Not being able to fulfill His purpose through the first Adam and his descendants, God came through incarnation as the last Adam. 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. This was the reason the Lord taught His disciples to pray for the coming of the kingdom (Matt. 6:10). This was also the reason the Lord Jesus in His preaching of the gospel told people to repent for the kingdom of God. The Lord declared that the kingdom of God had drawn near and that people must repent in order to enter into the kingdom. Those who repent because the kingdom of God has drawn near will be able to participate in the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose.
In the preaching of the gospel, the kingdom of God is often neglected. Much of today’s gospel preaching gives people the impression that the gospel is only for soul winning, for transferring people out of hell into heaven, for helping people have peace, joy, and eternal blessing. In the New Testament, however, we have a different impression concerning the gospel. When the Lord Jesus preached the gospel, He spoke concerning the kingdom of God, and He told them to repent for the kingdom.
One day, in His training of His disciples, the Lord brought them to Caesarea Philippi, which is in the northern part of the Holy Land, close to the border, at the foot of Mount Hermon. Then the Lord began to ask His disciples concerning Himself: “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?…But you, who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:13, 15). Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). Peter recognized the Lord as the Christ, the Son of the living God. This means that the Son of the living God was appointed to be God’s anointed One, the Christ. After Peter received this revelation concerning the Lord, the Lord went on to say, “On this rock I will build My church.…I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens…” (vv. 18-19). In these verses the words “church” and “kingdom” are used interchangeably. First the Lord said, “I will build My church,” and then, “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.” This indicates that in order for the church to be built, the kingdom needs to be opened. In other words, opening the kingdom is the way to begin the building of the church.
We need to see the crucial matter that the intrinsic essence of the gospel is the kingdom. The gospel is preached for the kingdom, and the kingdom is a divine sphere for God to work out His plan, a realm where God can exercise His authority to accomplish what He intends. The only way for God to reach His goal is through the kingdom. Therefore, there is a section in the gospel of Mark revealing the purpose of the gospel. The purpose of the gospel is to have the kingdom. The kingdom of God is the goal of the gospel.
The kingdom of God is not only the goal of the gospel, but also the issue of the gospel. When the gospel is preached, what will be the outcome? What will be the issue of the gospel? This outcome, this issue, is the kingdom. The preaching of the gospel is to bring forth the kingdom.
It is only in the Gospel of Matthew that the Lord speaks of the church. There is no mention of the church in Mark, Luke, or John. We need to realize, however, that in the Lord’s mind the church and the kingdom are one matter. The church is the kingdom and the kingdom is the church.
Certain Bible teachers do not have an accurate understanding of the kingdom of God. They say that Christ came with the kingdom and presented the kingdom to the Jews. But the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus. According to these teachers, when the Lord was rejected, the kingdom He brought with Him was also rejected. These teachers go on to say that after the Lord and the kingdom were rejected, the Lord suspended the kingdom and began to build the church. Furthermore, they claim that this present dispensation, the dispensation of grace, is the dispensation of the church. In this dispensation of grace, they say, the Lord is building His church. Then, after the church age, at the time of His coming back, the Lord will bring in the kingdom, which they say has been suspended, and establish the kingdom on earth during the millennium, the kingdom age. According to this view, the present age is the church age, and the coming age is the kingdom age.
There is a sense in which this understanding of the kingdom has an element of truth. But this understanding is not altogether accurate. Actually, the Lord Jesus has not suspended the kingdom. In the Life-study of Matthew we pointed out that at the end of Matthew 13 the rejection of the Lord Jesus by the Jews was complete. Nevertheless, the Lord did not suspend the kingdom, for in Matthew 16 He went on to speak of the building up of the church and also of the keys of the kingdom. This indicates clearly and definitely that the kingdom has not been suspended.
In the book of Acts we have further indications that the Lord has not suspended the kingdom. Acts 1:3 says that to His apostles the Lord “showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” Here we see that during the forty days between His resurrection and ascension, the Lord spoke to His disciples concerning the kingdom. In Acts 8:12 we are told that Philip was “bringing the good news concerning the kingdom of God.” In Acts 14:22 Paul spoke to the believers about entering into the kingdom of God, saying that “through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” Acts 19:8 tells us that Paul “entering into the synagogue, he spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them concerning the kingdom of God.” From Acts 20:25 we see that among those in Ephesus Paul preached the kingdom of God. Furthermore, Acts 28:23 and 31 say that Paul “expounded and solemnly testified the kingdom of God” and was “proclaiming the kingdom of God.” By these verses we see that Paul was teaching and preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God.
Romans 14:17 speaks of the relationship of the kingdom of God and the church life: “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This verse is a strong proof that the church in the church age is the kingdom of God, because the context here is dealing with the church life in the present age.
In this chapter Paul writes concerning the receiving of the weaker ones. We should not reject the weaker ones regarding the matter of eating, because the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink. Rather, the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. According to this verse, the church life today is the kingdom. To practice the church life is to practice the kingdom. Therefore, the church life in the Lord’s recovery is the practice of the kingdom of God.
In 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians Paul also speaks concerning the kingdom of God. In 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 10 Paul names certain categories of people who will not inherit the kingdom of God. In Galatians 5:21 Paul says that those who practice the works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. In Ephesians 5:5 Paul again speaks of those who have “no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” The context of all these verses concerning the kingdom of God is the church life.
In Revelation 1:9 John testified that he and the other saints were in the kingdom of God: “I John, your brother and joint partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus.” How could John have been in the kingdom if the kingdom had been suspended? The fact that John was in the kingdom again proves that the kingdom has not been suspended.
In the third chapter of the Gospel of John we see that we cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless we are regenerated: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Here we see that regeneration is not for going to heaven; regeneration is for us to enter into the kingdom of God. “Going to heaven” would be a matter in the future, whereas entering into the kingdom of God is a matter for the present. When we believed in the Lord Jesus, we were regenerated. Our regeneration was our entrance into the kingdom of God.
The only way to enter into any kind of kingdom is to be born into that kingdom. For example, an animal enters into the animal kingdom by being born into this kingdom. If an animal could enter into the human kingdom, it would need to be born with a human life. By these examples we see that birth is the entrance into a particular kingdom. We were born into the human kingdom. In the same principle, we are reborn, born of God, to be in the kingdom of God.
How did we enter into the kingdom of man, the human kingdom? We entered into this kingdom by human birth. Through this birth we received human life, and now by this life we know the things of the human kingdom. In a similar way, in order to enter into the kingdom of God, we must be born of God. To be in the divine kingdom we must have the divine life. We need the life of God to understand the things in the kingdom of God. Apart from the divine life, we are not able to understand the divine kingdom.
Because we have been born of God and have received the life of God, we are in the kingdom of God. Praise the Lord that we have been regenerated and are now in the divine kingdom! Because we have been regenerated, we are in the kingdom of God. According to Romans 14, by practicing the church life we are now practicing the kingdom life.
In the Lord’s recovery we are accustomed to using the words “the church life.” We often tell others that we are in the church life. I would recommend that from now on we say not only that we are in the church life, but also that we are in the kingdom life. Sometimes it may even be better to speak of the kingdom life rather than of the church life. If we use the phrase “kingdom life” along with “church life,” this may remind us that today we are in the kingdom life. To be in the church life is to be in the kingdom, for the church today is the kingdom, and the kingdom is the reality of the church life.
