THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND THE CHURCH LIFE
Message Six
The Conflict of the Two Kingdoms and the Work and Responsibility of the Church
Scripture Reading: Matt. 6:10; 12:26, 28-29; Eph. 6:10-12; Rev. 12:10; 11:15
I. In the universe there are two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and the king-dom of Satan—Matt. 6:10, 33; 12:26, 28:
A. A kingdom is a totality of a certain life:
1. God has His life, out of which the kingdom of God comes into existence—Eph. 4:18; Matt. 12:28.
2. Satan has his evil life, out of which the kingdom of Satan comes into exis-tence—John 8:44; Matt. 12:26.
B. The two trees in Genesis 2:9, as signs of God and Satan, are two sources; the outcome of the two sources becomes the two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan—Matt. 12:26, 28.
C. The entire human race is a kingdom not merely of the human life but even more of the satanic life—13:38; John 8:44; Acts 13:10; 1 John 3:10:
1. Humanity has become the totality of the satanic life with all its activities— 5:19.
2. The human kingdom has become the satanic kingdom, the kingdom of Satan.
D. Satan, the god of this age, is the ruler of the world and the ruler of the author ity of the air—John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2:
1. He has his authority and his angels, who are his subordinates as rulers, authorities, and world-rulers of the darkness of this world—Acts 26:18; Matt. 25:41; Eph. 6:12.
2. Satan has his kingdom, the authority of darkness—Col. 1:13.
E. There are two kingdoms on earth—the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God in the light; these two kingdoms are now confronting each other on earth—Acts 26:18.
II. Because the Lord Jesus, the heavenly King, has come to establish the king-dom of God among men on earth, the two kingdoms are in conflict; a battle is raging, and there is the need for us to fight the battle—Eph. 6:12:
A. Spiritual warfare is the warfare between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan—Matt. 12:26, 28:
1. The purpose of spiritual warfare is to bring in the kingdom of God—Rev. 12:10.
2. The kingdom of God is the exercise of the divine will and the overthrowing of the power of Satan by the power of God—Matt. 6:10; 12:28.
B. There are two great principles in the universe—God's authority and Satan's re-bellion; the unique controversy between God and Satan concerns authority and rebellion—Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13:
1. Rebellion is the denial of God's authority and the rejection of God's rule— Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:2-19.
2. Although Satan rebelled against God's authority and although man violates His authority by rebelling against Him, God will not let this rebellion con-tinue; He will establish His kingdom on the earth—Rev. 11:15.
3. The kingdom of God is the power to subdue rebellion—Mark 4:35-41.
4. The Lord Jesus, God incarnate, came to establish the kingdom of God—to establish a realm in which God can carry out His purpose through the exer-cise of His authority—John 1:1, 14; 3:3, 5; 18:36.
C. The Lord cast out demons by the Spirit of God so that the kingdom of God might come—Matt. 12:28:
1. As the Lord cast out demons, He was fighting, destroying Satan's kingdom, and bringing in the kingdom of God—v. 28; Mark 3:23-28; Luke 9:1.
2. The Spirit of God is the power of the kingdom of God; where the Spirit of God is in power, there the kingdom of God is, and the demons have no ground— Matt. 12:28.
3. Where the Spirit of God exercises authority over opposition and rebellion against God, that is the kingdom of God—v. 28.
D. Matthew 12 reveals that Satan is the strong man usurping the God-created peo-ple and that in order to bring people out of the usurping hand of the strong man, there is the need to bind him—v. 29:
1. Before the Lord Jesus cast out demons, He first bound the strong man; this is the secret of spiritual fighting.
2. The "house" in Matthew 12:29 refers to the kingdom of Satan, and "his goods" refers to the fallen people, who are under Satan, who are his vessels, his instruments, and who are kept in his house for his use.
3. This shows us that if we would establish the kingdom of God and take fallen human beings out of Satan's kingdom, we must first bind the strong man; the way to bind the strong man is to pray—Mark 9:25-29.
4. This is the fighting of the spiritual battle for establishing the kingdom of God—2 Cor. 10:3-5.
III. The work of the church is to bring in the kingdom of God; the church bears the responsibility of bringing the kingdom of God to the earth—Matt. 6:10; 12:22-29; Rev. 11:15; 12:10:
A. The church was brought into being for the purpose of bringing in the kingdom— Matt. 16:18-19; 18:17-18; Rev. 1:6, 9; 11:15:
1. The church's responsibility is to perpetuate Christ's victory and to bring in God's kingdom—12:10; 11:15.
2. The work of the church on earth is to bring in the kingdom of God; all the work of the church is governed by the principle of the kingdom of God.
3. 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.
B. The church, which comes into being under the rule of heaven, by reason of her submission to the heavenly rule, deals with God's enemy—16:19; Eph. 6:10-18:
1. In order for the kingdom of the heavens to be established, there is the need of spiritual fighting—Matt. 12:22-29.
2. The responsibility of the church is to continue the warfare that Christ fought on earth; the church must continue the victorious work that Christ has car-ried out against Satan—Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8b; Col. 2:15; Psa. 149:5-9.
C. The church should pray to bring in the kingdom of God—Matt. 6:10:
1. The coming of the kingdom is not automatic; if there is no prayer, the king-dom cannot come.
2. The prayer of the church is the most effective means of curbing Satan— 16:19; 18:18.
3. The church must be the outlet of heaven, allowing heaven's authority to be expressed on earth—16:18-19; 18:18.
4. Genuine prayer is a joint labor with God to bring His kingdom to the earth and to carry out His will on earth; hence, prayer is a spiritual battle—6:10; 2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:12.
D. The church needs to utter prayers of warfare in order to bring in God's king dom and to drive out God's enemy:
1. Such prayer indicates that we are standing on God's side and are opposed to God's enemy.
2. Fighting prayers drive away the power of darkness, bring in God's author ity, and enable God to have His will done on earth—Matt. 6:10.
3. Whether or not the kingdom of God can come to the earth and God can rule on earth depends on whether or not we pray fighting prayers, prayers of spir-itual warfare—Psa. 144:5; Isa. 64:1.