enjoying Christ

The kingdom of God is preached to produce the church, and the church brings in the kingdom of God; the church was brought into being to bring in the kingdom and also to deal with God’s enemy so that God may obtain a kingdom on earth and His enemy would be dealt with. Amen!

The kingdom of God is both the realm of the divine life where the kingdom seed grows and develops into a harvest, and the realm for God to rule and reign to manifest His authority.

We believers in Christ are under the dispensing of the Divine Trinity today, and we need to live a kingdom life in the church.

We do this by growing and developing in the divine life until we reach maturity (2 Cor. 13:14; Rom. 14:17; 2 Pet. 1:5-11).

We believers in Christ are human beings like the rest of those around us, with the difference that Christ as the seed of the kingdom has been sown into us. As the Lord portrayed in Mark 4:26-29, He as the Sower came to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom into the soil of our heart.

The seed of the divine life (1 John 3:9; 1 Pet. 1:23) has been sown into us and it grows in us.

This shows that the kingdom of God is a matter of life, that is, the life of God sown into us to sprout, grow, bear fruit, mature, and produce a harvest in us.

If we deal with the soil of our heart so that our heart may be the good ground for the seed to grow, Christ will grow in us and the kingdom of God will spread in us, develop in us, and reach maturity to bear fruit in us.

A good heart works together with the seed of the divine life sown into it to grow and bear fruit spontaneously for the expression of God.

May we have such a heart today so that the Lord as the seed of life may grow in us, develop in us, bear fruit in us, mature in us, and produce a harvest in us, which harvest is the kingdom of God.

As the Lord grows in us, there is a development of the divine life happening in our being, as seen in 2 Pet. 1:5-11.

We add to our faith, virtue, and to our virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly love, and ultimately love.

These are the matters we should be pursuing.

As we allow the Lord to grow in us, we will be under the kingdom’s rule, and we will pursue the Lord and exercise our spirit to allow the divine life to be developed in us from faith to love through all the stages of virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, and brotherly love.

If we practice these things, if we’re diligent to practice these things and grow in life, we will not be blind but rather, we will have a rich entrance into the kingdom of God.

May we in the church life as the kingdom of God be those remaining under the divine dispensing and allowing the kingdom of God to exert its rule over us so that the kingdom of God may grow in us unto maturity and bear forth a harvest for the coming manifestation of the kingdom of God. Amen!

The Church Brings in the Kingdom of God: We Stand in Christ’s Victory and Bring the Heaven’s Will on the Earth to Carry it out

The kingdom of God is preached as the gospel with the result that the church is produced. The church is the kingdom of God today, and we need to live in the church life by living in the reality of the kingdom of God. Amen!

Also, as seen in many verses in the New Testament, the church brings in the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:10; 12:22-29; Rev. 11:15; 12:10).

On the one hand, the kingdom is the realm of the divine life to bring forth the church, and the church is constituted with the reality of the kingdom.

On the other hand, the church has the responsibility to bring in the kingdom of God on the earth.

The church brings in the kingdom of God on the earth.

This is what the Lord told us to pray in Matt. 6:10, that His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The coming of the kingdom of God is not something automatic; it has to do with the church today, for the church needs to cooperate for the kingdom to come.

We need to live in the reality of the kingdom and cooperate with the Lord to bring in His kingdom.

The churches exist on the earth not only to save sinners or merely to do some work in teaching people the Bible but even more, the church brings in the kingdom of God.

We are here to bring in the kingdom of God on the earth.

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).

The responsibility of the church today is to stand in the victory of Christ to perpetuate His victory and to bring in God’s kingdom (12:10-11; 11:15).

Since the time that Satan rebelled against God, in the period between Gen. 1:1 and Gen. 1:2, God’s eyes have been put on the kingdom; He must have a kingdom for Him to be expressed and represented so that His enemy would be dealt with.

God created man with this in view; this is why He gave man dominion to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:26).

Although man fell, God Himself came in the person of Jesus Christ to be the fulfilment of the kingdom of God.

Here this Man was, Jesus Christ, as the Sower and the seed of the kingdom; He came preaching the gospel, cast out demons, heal the sick, and teach the truth so that He may bring in the kingdom of God.

Through faith in Christ, we became citizens with the saints of the kingdom of God, and together we are the church; the church is constituted with all the regenerated believers in Christ who have the divine life to be the kingdom of God.

The church today is the kingdom of God on the earth and the church brings in the kingdom of God.

There is the need for the bringing in of the manifestation of the kingdom, and only the church can do this.

The church has the kingdom as its reality and the church stands in the victory of Christ, declares His victory, and brings in the kingdom.

The church’s responsibility is to perpetuate Christ’s victory and bring in the kingdom.

Christ brought in the kingdom of God, living in the kingdom and being the kingdom while He was on the earth.

He defeated Satan in the wilderness, on the cross, and in everything; He fully defeated Satan and triumphed over him.

On the cross, Christ brought forth the new man and in His resurrection, the Body of Christ was produced.

Now He is the victorious Head and we are His members, one with Him.

Our responsibility as the church is to maintain Christ’s victory, perpetuate it, and carry out the defeat of Satan to destroy him.

The work of the church on the 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.

If we have this in view as we carry out the Lord’s work, as we serve in the church, and as we live our Christian life, we will be one with the Lord for the bringing in of His kingdom on the earth.

We are not here just to do the work of saving souls or shepherding one another to enjoy the Lord in the realm of the church; we are here to bring in the kingdom of God.

The church brings in the kingdom. The Lord is longing and waiting for the full coming of the kingdom; He has been waiting for the kingdom to come for the last six thousand years.

Thank the Lord that He has a recovery on the earth today in which we are brought back to God’s original intention and care for the desire of His heart.

We are not here merely to save souls and build them up into an entity called the church; we are here to bring in the kingdom of God.

We are here to bring God’s will to be done on the earth.

The church is responsible for bringing the heavens’ will down to earth and for carrying it out on earth (Matt. 6:10; 7:21; 12:50).

Our prayer should be that the Lord’s will be done on earth and His kingdom would come on the earth. The aim of our Christian life and church life should be to bring in the kingdom of God.

Lord Jesus, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Amen, Lord, we stand on earth one with You for the bringing in of the kingdom of God! May we see that the church was brought into being for the purpose of bringing in the kingdom! Amen, Your kingdom come! Your will be done! We stand in Your victory, Lord Jesus, and we proclaim Your victory! Hallelujah, Jesus Christ came as the King of the heavenly kingdom and He fully defeated and even destroyed the devil on the cross! Praise the Lord, He has overcome the devil, put him to shame, and defeated him fully at Calvary! Amen, Lord, we perpetuate Your victory and we bring in Your kingdom! May we see that all our Christian life and service to the Lord is for the purpose of bringing in the kingdom of God! Amen, the church brings in the kingdom on the earth! May Your will be done on the earth today. May Your will be carried out on the earth among men. Amen, Lord, we stand with You on earth for the kingdom of God to be brought in full in its manifestation!

The Church is under the Rule of Heaven and Continues the Victorious Work Christ Carried out against Satan

How we thank and praise the Lord for bringing us into the church life, the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, where we can enjoy the Lord, partake of His riches with the saints, and be built up with others in love!

How good it is to be here, learning to serve in oneness, praying together, and standing one with the Lord and with the saints for His testimony on the earth!

We are full of thanksgiving to the Lord for this.

At the same time, however, we realize that, as the church, we are here to bring in the kingdom of God on the earth.

The church, which comes into being under the rule of heaven, is here to deal with God’s enemy (Matt. 16:18-19; Eph. 6:10-18).

The church, by reason of her submission to the heavenly rule, deals with God’s enemy.

We believers in Christ are facing the enemy every day, probably more fiercely today than ever.

If we look at the time of Ezra, he helped to rebuild the temple, and there was not much opposition to this.

But when Nehemiah went back to rebuild the city, there was much opposition and a big fight.

The enemy may let us rebuild the temple, the house of God, but he does not want to see the city built up.

If there is no city around the temple, it is easy for the enemy to come in; in Nehemiah’s time, some of the enemies of the children of Israel had a room in the temple itself.

But when the city is built, when the walls around the temple are built up, the enemy has no way to come in and he is kept at bay.

Today the church needs to become the city of God, the kingdom of God, and bring in the kingdom of God to the earth.

When we are under the rule of heaven, submitting to God and His rule, we as the church can deal with God’s enemy.

Spiritual warfare is necessary. The enemy knows that his end is close, so he is fighting against the church as the kingdom of God.

He does not want to see a group of people who are built up as the kingdom of God on the earth to bring in God’s kingdom for he knows that, when the kingdom comes, he is cast out.

So the enemy threatens us, ridicules us, attacks us, opposes us, and belittles us so that the work of building the church as the kingdom of God would cease.

But we need to stand in the Lord and with the saints in the Body to build up the church as the kingdom of God.

In order for the kingdom of the heavens to be established, there is the need for spiritual fighting (Matt. 12:22-29).

As the church, our responsibility is to continue the warfare that Christ fought on the earth (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8b; Col. 2:15; Psa. 149:5-9).

We do not fight to obtain victory; we stand in the victory of Christ and we continue the victorious work that Christ has carried out against Satan.

The victory has been won. We stand in the victory of Christ, one with the victorious Christ, and we fight the battle in the Body, one with our Victorious ascended Head!

He is our Head and we are His Body. We are His continuation, His duplication, and His spread.

Everything that Christ has accomplished and attained is for us to enjoy and partake of.

Eph. 1:20-23 shows us that the power which operated in Christ to raise Him from the dead, ascend Him to the heavens, and enthrone Him with God, this same power is toward us who believe. Wow!

The resurrection power, the power of ascension, the power to enthrone Him above all things, and the power to subdue all things under His feet, this fourfold power is to the church today, which is His Body.

May we see the spiritual reality of the church being joined to the victorious Christ and stand in this victory to continue the victorious work of Christ against Satan on earth today!

Just as Christ the Head has overcome, so we as the church realize His victory and stand in His victory.

We do not look at our failures, mistakes, and weaknesses; we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6) and we stand in His victory so that we may bring in the kingdom of God.

We can tell the Lord in faith,

Lord Jesus, we stand one with You on earth today to bring in the kingdom of God to the earth. We submit to You and place ourselves under the rule of the heaven so that we may deal with God’s enemy in full. Hallelujah, we as the church are one with the ascended Head, the victorious Christ, and we stand in the victory of Christ! Praise the Lord, Christ has defeated the devil and destroyed him on the cross! Amen, Lord, we stand in Your victory and continue the warfare You fought on earth! We continue the victorious work that Christ has carried out against Satan! Praise the Lord, the power of resurrection, the power of ascension, the power to enthrone Christ above all things, and the power to subdue all things under His feet is now TO the church! Amen, the Head of the Body has overcome and we as the Body of the Head stand in His victory! Amen, Lord, Your kingdom come! Your will be done! We stand as the church one with You to bring in Your kingdom on the earth today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 44, pp. 777-778, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Kingdom of God (2024 October ITERO), week 3, The Kingdom and the Church.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – 7 Wonderful Aspects of the Church in Ephesians, article via, Bibles for America blog.
  – The church being the kingdom of God, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 3, by Witness Lee.
  – Br Watchman Nee’s Prayer at Keswick convention in 1938, via, Lamb Follower.
  – God desires that the church be the kingdom of God, a portion from, Authority and Submission, Chapter 6, by Watchman Nee.
  – The Kind of Person the Lord Can Use to Turn the Age, via, Shepherding Words.
  – The church being for the kingdom, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 50, by Witness Lee.
  – Joy, Praise, Victory, Kingdom, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The end of the age and the kingdom, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Present World Situation – 6 Ways for a Christian to Respond, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The beginning and the end, a portion from, The Practical Expression of the Church, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
  – A Testimony: Enjoying Crystallization Studies I and II of the Book of Numbers to Work out the Kingdom of God on Earth Today, via, Living to Him.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – We’re in the local church, / God’s chosen ground; / Here we have Christ as life / And blessings all abound. / “In spirit, on the ground” / Our battle cry; / And we will overcome the enemy / To bring the kingdom nigh. (Hymns #1260)
  – In fulness of the seasons / God’s Christ will head up all. / Then all will own His reigning / And worship, great and small. / Such reign in life and glory / he Church e’en now foretastes / And to His rule submitting / Unto His kingdom hastes. (Hymns #941 stanza 6)
  – Lo, the kingdom of the world is now the kingdom of the Lord! / O what joy to all the saints does His eternal reign afford! / Let us swell the mighty chorus of His praise in one accord— / The victory is won! / Now the devil’s in the lake of fire, for John has seen him there; / Hallelujah, never more need we his provocations bear! / What a triumph for the saints his judgment boldly to declare— / The victory is won! (Hymns #1101 stanza 1 and 10)