The kingdom is the reality of the church, and apart from the kingdom life, we cannot live the church life; the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the content of the church life.
We need to see what is the relationship between the kingdom and the church.
When the Lord Jesus came as the first God-man, God incarnated to be man, He preached the gospel for people to repent for the kingdom of God.
Then the apostles continued preaching the same thing, the kingdom of God, so that many would repent, be saved, and enter into the kingdom of God.
What then, is the kingdom of God, and what is the church? Just as the human life is the kingdom life, so the life of God is the kingdom of God.
On one hand, the kingdom of God is the rule of God, the reign of God, the realm in which God can rule and reign over everything.
On the other hand, the kingdom of God is the life of God, the realm of the divine life, where God can freely dispense His life into all the citizens of His kingdom, and He can accomplish His purpose by means of His life in them. Hallelujah!
What then, is the church, and how is the church related to the kingdom?
The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom produces the church. When people believe into the gospel, they receive the divine life and become part of the kingdom of God.
The church is the issue of the life of God entering into many believers to become their life and to make them members of the church as the Body of Christ.
The gospel of the kingdom brings in the divine life, and this divine life has its realm – the kingdom of God.
The divine life with its realm produces the church.
However, the church cannot exist without the kingdom, for the kingdom is the reality of the church.
We see, therefore, that the gospel brings in the divine life, which produces the church, and the reality of the church is the kingdom of God.
May the Lord release the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth for a testimony and for many to believe, receive God’s life, and be part of the kingdom of God to be the church, the Body of Christ!
May we be those who live in the kingdom of God in reality so that we may be the church in reality today.
May we live not only in the outward realm of the church life but even more, in the inward realm of the divine life, the kingdom of God, so that the divine life may grow in us, do things in us, and be expressed through us.
When we live in the kingdom of God in reality today, we live in the church life in reality to express God corporately.
The Kingdom is the Reality of the Church: Apart from the Kingdom Life we Cannot Live the Church Life
We need to realize that the kingdom is the reality of the church, and apart from the kingdom life, we cannot live the church life (see Matt. 5:3; 16:18-19; Rev. 1:4-6, 9).
In Matt. 16:18-19 we see that the Father revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
The Lord Jesus said to Peter that He will build His church upon this revelation of Christ, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Immediately after this, the Lord continued by saying, I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.
In order for the church to be produced and built up, we need the kingdom of God.
The kingdom is the reality of the church.
The gospel preached by John the Baptist as the forerunner and the Lord Jesus as the Savior was the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel that tells people that the kingdom of God has drawn near.
This is the gospel that says that God wants to dispense Himself as life into man so that man may become part of His kingdom, the realm of the divine life (Matt. 4:23).
When the gospel is preached, the kingdom of God comes in, for many believe into the gospel and receive the divine life.
The kingdom of God is the realm of life for the divine life to move, work, rule, and govern so that this divine life may accomplish its purpose.
This kingdom with the divine life as a realm produces the church.
Not only does the kingdom produce and build up the church but even more, the church and the kingdom are intimately related, and the kingdom is the reality of the church.
The genuine church is the kingdom of the heavens in this age, as seen in Rom. 14:17.
We cannot say that the church is the reality of the kingdom; this is wrong, for the kingdom is the reality of the church.
What is the church life? The church life today must bear the characteristic of the kingdom of God, which is a realm of life. In other words, today we need to live by the divine life, enjoy the divine life, and do all things in and by the divine life in the church life today.
In Christianity things are very confusing; they have no idea what the church is.
They set up an entity and call it the church, and some are very zealous to do a work for God, so they hire a building, get some people together and call it this church or that church, with a name on it.
But the Bible tells us something quite different concerning the church, and we need to be recovered to the divine revelation in God’s word related to the kingdom being the reality of the church.
We need to have God’s view concerning what the church is and what the kingdom is.
We do not just come together to enjoy the Lord, sing, pray, share the word, have the Lord’s table, remember the Lord, and pray together with the saints.
Rather, as we meet with the saints in the church life, we need to be in the reality of the kingdom of God.
We need to live in the kingdom of God as a realm of life so that we may be in the church in reality.
Some saints may move to a certain locality and there may be a good solid number of saints there, so they may think to start the church in that locality.
Merely having the right number and good order in the group doesn’t mean that you can just start the church in that locality.
What is the requirement for being a church in a certain locality according to the Bible? First, the authority of the Holy Spirit needs to be there, and second, the ground of locality needs to be seen.
First, we need to be under the authority of the Holy Spirit, taking the Lord as our unique Head and Lord.
Second, we need to realize that the ground of the church is the unique oneness of the Body of Christ, and we stand in oneness with all the local churches throughout the earth as the one Body of Christ.
This is to be in the kingdom of God.
The kingdom is the reality of the church today.
Apart from the kingdom life, we cannot live the church life. May we be those who live the kingdom life today.
May we not only come together regularly to enjoy the Lord and seek to be built up with the saints, remaining in the ministry of the age and coming back to the divine revelation in God’s word, but even more, be in the kingdom of God in our daily living so that we may be the church in reality.
Apart from the kingdom life, we cannot live the church life, for the kingdom is the reality of the church.
Lord Jesus, thank You for bringing us into the church as the corporate expression of God today. Hallelujah, we have been regenerated with God’s life and we are now in the kingdom of God as the realm of the divine life. May we realize that the kingdom produces and builds up the church, and may we live in the kingdom of God today. Amen, Lord, cause us to realize that the kingdom is the reality of the church! May we live not in the natural realm or by our natural zeal for God but in and by the divine life to be in reality in the kingdom of God! Amen, Lord, may we realize that apart from the kingdom life we cannot live the church life! We want to exercise our spirit today, Lord, and live in the divine life, by the divine life, and according to the divine life. May we allow the divine life to rule and reign in our being. May the Holy Spirit have the full authority in us and among us. We stand one with You and one with all the saints, even one with all the local churches throughout the earth, to live in the church life today, for the kingdom is the reality of the church!
The Reality of the Kingdom of the Heavens is the Content of the Church Life
Not only is the kingdom the reality of the church but even more, the reality of the kingdom of the heavens as seen in Matt. 5-7 is the content of the church life!
Without the reality of the kingdom, the church is empty.
The Lord Jesus gave the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens in Matt. 5-7, laying out what are the requirements of the kingdom of God which become the content of the church.
These requirements are not to be met by us with our efforts or strength but by the divine life in us.
When we see that the kingdom is the reality of the church, we will no longer live by our natural man or in the flesh but rather, we will seek to live in and by the divine life in the church life so that we may be in reality in the kingdom of God.
The three chapters of Matt. 5-7 present to us a wonderful picture of all the characteristics of the kingdom of God in terms of our relationship, our influence upon the world, and even the aspect of the hidden life before God.
As kingdom people who live in the church life today we must bear the characteristics of this kingdom life as presented in Matt. 5-7.
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the content of the church life. If we don’t have the reality of the kingdom of the heavens in the church life today, the church is empty.
We want to have the proper church life today. We want to be those who bear the characteristics of the kingdom people as described by the Lord Jesus in Matt. 5-7.
We do not want to live in our natural man, by the flesh, or in the self anymore; rather, we allow the Lord to touch us, break us, and break through in us so that we live Christ and not live out what we are by nature.
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).
In the church life, we receive all kinds of people, for the Lord also receives them.
Some may prefer this kind of eating versus another kind of eating, others prefer to keep this day over that day, and together we come to practice the church life.
The kingdom of God as the reality of the church is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The church life is the kingdom today, and the church life is not eating and drinking but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
A believer who does not live in the reality of the kingdom cannot be built into the structure of the church (Eph. 2:22). Amen!
Do we live in the reality of the kingdom today? Do we allow the kingdom’s rule to exert its influence upon us?
When we make decisions, when we speak something, and when we do something, do we live in the reality of the kingdom? Is there a sign in us and on us that we are under the rule of the kingdom?
We must be those who live in the reality of the kingdom in order for us to be built into the structure of the church.
The reality of the kingdom is actually Christ Himself as our life.
We need to take Christ as our life, our essence, and our substance so that we may live a proper life in the church life and to be built up with other believers to bring in the real church life.
When we live in Christ, with Christ, and live Christ, we live in the kingdom of God, and together we become the church life, a glorious expression of Christ as the embodiment of God.
May the Lord gain the reality of the kingdom of the heavens among us in the church life today.
May we come to the Lord concerning this matter and allow the ruling of the kingdom to exert an influence upon us so that we may live in reality in the kingdom of God as we live the church life today.
May our church life not be an empty shell, without any content; may the church life be filled with the enjoyment of Christ and the experience of Christ by all the saints!
Lord Jesus, may the reality of the kingdom of the heavens be the content of the church life today! Amen, Lord, without the reality of the kingdom, the church is empty. We exercise our spirit to contact You and enjoy You. Oh Lord, may we live one spirit with You today. May the kingdom’s rule exert its influence upon us, in all the decisions that we take today. May we be under the rule of the kingdom of God in all things. Oh Lord, may we all live corporately in the kingdom life so that we spontaneously live the church life today! Gain our living today. May our living be not in the natural man or in the flesh but in the mingled spirit, one spirit with the Lord! Hallelujah, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit! May we be built into the structure of the church by living in the reality of the kingdom today together with all the saints!
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, The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1739-1742, by Witness Lee, 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:
– The reality of the kingdom of the heavens, a portion from, The Basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee.
– Living under God’s Rule and Doing the Father’s Will, outline via, MA Churches.
– The building of the church as the reality of the kingdom of the heavens through the heavenly ministry of Christ in the gospel of Matthew, article by John Pester in, Affirmation and Critique.
– New Jerusalem; the Kingdom of God in Romans 14, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Living the Kingdom Life by Living a Hidden Life (1) – Truth Series #13, via, Uni Students.
– 4 Characteristics of Blessed People You Might Not Expect, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– The word of righteousness: the kingdom of the heavens, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
– The difference between the heavens and the kingdom of the heavens, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 47, by Witness Lee.
– 02 – Living the Kingdom Life by Living a Hidden Life & The Kingdom and the Church, video sharing via, Heavenly Foods.
– God’s Faithfulness and Our Perseverance in Prayer, via, Living to Him. - Hymns on this topic:
– Within God’s sovereign kingdom / His Christ is magnified; / When Christ in life is reigning, / The Father’s glorified. / When God is in dominion, / All things are truly blessed; / When Christ for God is reigning. / God’s glory is expressed. / 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 / The Church e’en now foretastes / And to His rule submitting / Unto His kingdom hastes. (Hymns #941 stanzas 5-6)
– Only Christ, our Person, must remain; / From our aims, our goals we must refrain, / Till the church be only Christ Himself / Built up as the one new man, / Thus fulfilling God’s great plan of— / Mingling fully with the human race / To obtain a proper dwelling place, / ’Stablishing His kingdom’s rule and grace; / Over all the earth. (Hymns #1180 part of stanza 2)
– Cause us to grow in life divine each day / That we may be transformed and built by Thee / Into a body to express Thyself, / That Thou in us Thy Church and Kingdom see. (Hymns #829 stanza 9)
