THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE AND THE CHURCH LIFE
Message Eight
Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and Discipling All the Nations for the Spread and Development of the Kingdom of God
Scripture Reading: Matt. 24:14; 28:18-20; Mark 1:14-15; 1 Thes. 2:12
I. "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations"—Matt. 24:14:
A. The kingdom of God is a divine sphere for God to work out His plan; it is a realm where God can exercise His authority to accomplish what He intends—Mark 1:15; John 3:3, 5; Matt. 12:28; Rev. 11:15.
B. The fundamental problem in the universe is rebellion against the authority of God—Isa. 14:12-14:
1. Satan intends to violate God's sovereignty, usurp God's authority, over throw God's throne, and establish his own kingdom—Matt. 12:26; Eph. 2:2.
2. When man fell, he rebelled against God, put God's authority aside, denied God's authority, and rejected God's rule—Gen. 3:6, 11; Rom. 5:12; 1 John 3:4.
C. Through the gospel of the kingdom, God brings people under the ruling of the heavenly authority so that they may become His kingdom, those who are ruled by His authority—Matt. 24:14; Rev. 1:5-6:
1. The New Testament preaches the gospel in the way of the kingdom; because the kingdom of God is the real gospel, to know the gospel requires that we know the kingdom—Mark 1:14-15; Acts 8:12.
2. The gospel is for the kingdom, and the gospel is proclaimed so that rebellious sinners might be saved, qualified, and equipped to enter into the kingdom of God—Mark 1:14-15; Matt. 4:17; Acts 8:12:
a. The gospel of life, the gospel of grace, and the gospel of salvation are all for the kingdom; the kingdom is the center, the hub—John 3:16; Acts 20:24; 4:12.
b. The gospel of the kingdom brings people not only into God's salvation but also into the kingdom; the emphasis of the gospel of the kingdom is on the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord—Matt. 24:14.
c. The gospel of the kingdom brings the believers into the realm of the divine ruling so that they may participate in the blessings of the divine life in the divine kingdom—1 Thes. 2:12.
D. God commands everyone to repent for the kingdom—Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Acts 17:30:
1. To repent means that originally we were rebellious and against God, but now we turn back to the Lord in submission—Matt. 3:2; 4:17.
2. To repent is to have a change of mind issuing in regret, to have a turn in pur-pose—Luke 3:3, 8; 5:32; 17:3; Acts 17:30-31.
3. Repentance is mainly for us to enter into the kingdom of God; unless we repent—that is, have a change of concept—we cannot enter into the king-dom—Mark 1:15; Matt. 3:2; 4:17.
E. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age—24:14:
1. This preaching, signified by the white horse of the first seal in Revelation 6:1-2, will be a sign of the consummation of this age.
2. The gospel of the kingdom must be brought to the whole inhabited earth through the churches in the Lord's recovery—Matt. 24:14; 1 Thes. 1:8.
II. "Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"—Matt. 28:19:
A. In His divinity, as the only begotten Son of God, the Lord had authority over all; however, in His humanity, as the Son of Man and the King of the heavenly king-dom, authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him after His resur rection— vv. 1-10, 18.
B. Because all authority has been given to the resurrected Christ, He sent His dis-ciples to disciple all the nations; they go with His authority—vv. 18-19:
1. We have been sent by the Lord not only to bring people to salvation but also to disciple the nations; this is a matter of the kingdom.
2. To disciple the nations is to make the heathen the kingdom people for the es-tablishing of His kingdom, which is the church, even today, on the earth— 1 Thes. 1:9; 2:12; Rev. 1:5-6, 9; 5:9-10.
3. The intrinsic purpose of our preaching the gospel is to bring people of the nations into the Triune God in order to make them the citizens of the king-dom of the heavens—Matt. 24:14; 28:18-19.
C. After Christ as the last Adam had accomplished His ministry on earth, passed through the process of crucifixion, entered into the realm of resurrection, and had become the life-giving Spirit, He came back to His disciples in the atmos-phere and reality of His resurrection to charge them to make the heathen the kingdom people by baptizing them into the name, the person, the reality, of the Divine Trinity—v. 19:
1. Into in Matthew 28:19 indicates union; to baptize people into the name of the Triune God is to bring them into spiritual and mystical union with Him.
2. There is one name for the Divine Trinity—v. 19:
a. The name is the sum total of the Divine Being, equivalent to His person.
b. To baptize someone into the name of the Triune God is to immerse him into all that the Triune God is.
D. According to Matthew, being baptized into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is for the constituting of the kingdom of the heavens—v. 19:
1. Unlike an earthly society, the heavenly kingdom cannot be formed with human beings of flesh and blood—1 Cor. 15:50.
2. God's heavenly kingdom can be constituted only with people who have been immersed into the union with the Triune God and who have been estab lished and built up with the Triune God, who has been wrought into them—Rom. 6:3-4; 14:17; Gal. 3:26-27; 4:19; 5:21; Eph. 3:14-19; 5:5.
E. In Matthew 28:20 the Lord charged us to teach the newly baptized ones to ob-serve all that He has commanded us; this is for the discipling of all the nations— v. 19.
F. "Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age"—v. 20:
1. The heavenly King is Emmanuel, God with us—1:23.
2. He has promised us that in His resurrection He will be with us all the days, with all authority, until the end of this age—28:20.
3. Whenever we are gathered into His name, He is in our midst—18:20.
G. In His resurrection the Lord is present, and we have His authority, commission, and position to disciple the nations for the spread and development of the king-dom of God—6:10, 33; 13:18-23; 28:18-20.