THE DIRECTION OF THE LORD'S MOVE TODAY
Message Five
To Bring In the Kingdom of God (1) The Kingdom of God as the Spreading of the Divine Life for God's Eternal Administration
Scripture Reading: Luke 17:21; Mark 4:3, 8, 26; John 3:5; Rom. 14:17; Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5, 14
I. The direction of the Lord's move today is to bring in the kingdom of God as the spreading of the divine life for God's eternal administration—Luke 17:21; Mark 4:3, 8, 26; John 3:3, 5; Col. 1:13:
A. The kingdom of God is actually Christ Himself sown into the believers in the church age—Luke 17:21; Mark 4:3, 8, 26.
B. The kingdom of God is spreading in Christ's increasing to be the enlarged, up-coming kingdom, which the Lord will bring in at His coming back—John 3:30; Luke 19:12, 15a; Rev. 11:15:
1. This is signified by the stone (Christ) that became a great mountain (the king-dom in the millennium), as revealed in Daniel 2:34-35.
2. This enlarged, upcoming kingdom of God will be God's universal government in the new heaven and new earth for God's eternal administration in the ful-fillment of God's eternal economy in Christ, as God's ultimately consummated household administration in eternity—Rev. 21:2-3, 9-23; 22:1-3.
II. The kingdom of God is Christ the Savior Himself—Luke 17:21:
A. Wherever the Savior is, there the kingdom of God is.
B. The kingdom of God is with the Savior, and He brings it to His disciples—v. 22.
C. The kingdom of God is the Savior as the seed of life sown into God's chosen peo-ple and developing into a realm over which God can rule as His kingdom in His divine life—Mark 4:3, 8, 26:
1. The entrance into the kingdom is regeneration, and the development of the kingdom is the believers' growth in the divine life—John 3:5; 2 Pet. 1:3-11.
2. Since His resurrection Christ has been within His believers; thus, the king-dom of God is within the church today—John 14:20; Rom. 8:10; 14:17.
3. The kingdom is the church life, in which the faithful believers live, and it will develop into the coming kingdom as a reward to be inherited by the over-coming saints in the millennium—Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; Rev. 20:4, 6.
4. Eventually, the kingdom of God will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God's eternal life, which all of God's redeemed will enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity—21:1-4; 22:1-5, 14.
5. Such a kingdom, the kingdom of God, is what the Lord Jesus announced as the gospel, the good news, to those who were alienated from the life of God— Luke 4:43; Eph. 4:18.
III. We need to see the relationship between the kingdom and the church— Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17:
A. The Bible first presents the kingdom and thereafter presents the church; the presence of the kingdom produces the church—Matt. 4:23; 16:18-19:
1. The life of God is the kingdom of God; the divine life is the kingdom, and this life produces the church—John 3:3, 5; Matt. 7:14, 21; 19:17, 29; 25:46:
a. The kingdom is the realm of life for life to move, work, rule, and govern so that life may accomplish its purpose, and this realm is the kingdom.
b. The gospel brings in the divine life, and this life has its realm, which is the kingdom; the divine life with its realm produces the church—2 Tim. 1:10.
2. The kingdom is the reality of the church; therefore, apart from the kingdom life, we cannot live the church life—Matt. 5:3; 16:18-19; Rev. 1:9:
a. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 5—7) is the content of the church life; without the reality of the kingdom, the church is empty.
b. Since the kingdom life issues in the church life, as we live corporately in the kingdom life, we spontaneously live the church life—Rom. 14:17.
3. Without the kingdom as the reality of the church, the church cannot be built up—Matt. 16:18-19:
a. The church is brought into being through the authority of the kingdom.
b. The keys of the kingdom are given to make the building of the church pos-sible—v. 19; 18:18; cf. John 20:23.
B. The genuine church is the kingdom of God in this age; today the believers live the kingdom life in the church—Matt. 16:18-19; 18:17-18; 13:44-46; Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 4:20; Eph. 2:19; Col. 4:11; Rev. 1:4-6:
1. Each time the Lord Jesus spoke of the church, He mentioned it in relation to the kingdom; this indicates how intimately the kingdom and the church are related—Matt. 16:18-19; 18:17-18; Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 4:20; Eph. 2:19; Col. 4:11.
2. In the church as the kingdom, we are under the kingdom's rule, government, discipline, and exercise—1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5.
3. As those who are under the dispensing of the Divine Trinity, we need to live a kingdom life in the church, growing and developing in the divine life until we reach maturity—2 Cor. 13:14; 2 Pet. 1:5-11.
C. The church brings in the kingdom; the work of the church is to bring in the kingdom of God—Matt. 6:10; 12:22-29; Rev. 11:15; 12:10:
1. The church was brought into being for the purpose of bringing in the king-dom—Matt. 16:18-19; 18:17-18; Rev. 1:6, 9; 11:15:
a. The work of the church on earth is to bring in the kingdom of God; the work of the church is governed by the principle of the kingdom of God.
b. The church is responsible for bringing heaven's will down to earth and for carrying it out on earth—Matt. 6:10; 7:21; 12:50.
2. The church should pray to bring in the kingdom of God; if there is no prayer, the kingdom cannot come—6:10:
a. The church must be the outlet of heaven, allowing heaven's authority to be expressed on earth—16:18-19; 18:18.
b. Genuine prayer is a joint labor with God to bring His kingdom to the earth and to carry out His will on earth—6:10; 2 Cor. 10:4.