The Gospel of the Kingdom must be Preached for All Men to Repent for the Kingdom!

God commands everyone to repent for the kingdom, and we in the church life need to bring the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth for a testimony, and then the end will come!

The gospel of grace, the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, has been preached throughout the earth; the gospel of the kingdom, however, has not been preached, and even many believers do not know that the goal and issue of the gospel is for God to gain a kingdom on earth.

The gospel of the kingdom brings those who believe not only into God’s salvation but also into His kingdom; when someone believes into the Lord Jesus, he is brought into the kingdom of God, under the heavenly ruling of God.

The fact that the kingdom of God is emphasized in the gospel of the kingdom shows that there’s a battle, a warfare, and that the kingdom of Satan fights against the kingdom of God, for Satan is in rebellion against God and man has joined him in this rebellion.

When we believe into the Lord, we receive God’s salvation and even more, we are brought into the kingdom of God. On one hand we enjoy the glorious and complete salvation of God with its judicial and organic aspect, and on the other hand, we are brought under the authority of God.

The more we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the more we are brought under Him as our Head and King. Hallelujah, we as believers in Christ have been brought into the realm of the divine ruling so that we may participate in the blessings of the divine life in the divine kingdom!

Being in the kingdom of God and living in the kingdom of God is the issue of the gospel of the kingdom; God wants to recover man, gain man, and bring man back under His authority, so that man would enjoy all that God is, has, and has done.

He has called us into His own kingdom and glory, and here, in the kingdom of God, we enjoy all the riches of His glory, all the blessings of the divine life. Hallelujah!

The consummation of this can be seen in the New Jerusalem, where the throne of God and of the Lamb is the center and the highest point, and from it flow and issue all that God is.

In the New Jerusalem we will enjoy all that God is as life, supply, and light simply by being under His throne, by submitting to His headship. And for us to enter into this wonderful reality and enjoy this glorious destiny, we need to repent for the kingdom!

God Commands Everyone to Repent for the Kingdom, to have a Change of Mind and Turn in Purpose

John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus, together with His disciples, proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom, and they said, Repent for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near (see Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Acts 17:30).

God commands everyone everywhere to repent for the kingdom. In the book of Acts the disciples (the Lord’s followers) preached the gospel by telling men everywhere to repent for the kingdom.

This doesn’t mean that we should stand in the corner of the street with a long beard and a big plaque saying, Repent for the kingdom! but rather, realise that God desires that man needs to have a change, a turn – man needs to repent for the kingdom!

Sometimes our gospel preaching doesn’t have enough of this charge, this command from God; we need to tell others, Sinners, you need to repent for the kingdom of God! You need to repent not just for your sins but also for your rebellion and un-submission to God – you need to repent for the kingdom! You need to repent not only for your transgressions but also for your disobedience!

What does it mean to repent? It means that originally we were rebellious and against God, but now we turn back to the Lord in submission (Matt. 3:2; 4:17).

A genuine repentance and a believing of the gospel is also always in the posture of submission; when we repent, we submit to the word of God, to the preaching of the gospel.

We need not only to believe the gospel but obey the gospel; this is the gospel of the kingdom.

The King speaks through His people to men everywhere that everyone needs to repent for the kingdom!

We need to help sinners, the unbelieving ones, to submit to the Lord, obey His word, and do what the gospel says – repent for the kingdom, repent to come under God’s heavenly authority!

To repent is to have a change of mind issuing in regret, to have a turn in purpose (see Luke 3:3, 8; 5:32; 17:3; Acts 17:30-31).

To repent is not merely to feel bad or sorry for making a mistake; it is for sure not just turning a new leaf and doing good. To repent is to turn, to have a full turn, a change of mind.

Previously we think one way, and after we repent we have a complete change – we think in God’s way, a different way.

Previously we were going in one direction, and when we repent we don’t just regret for our way but have a 180 degrees turn from what we are doing and what we are thinking, having a change in purpose and goal and meaning.

We need to preach the gospel in a new way, realising that repentance is for people to enter into the kingdom of God. Unless people repent, that is, have a change of concept, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15; Matt. 3:2; 4:17).

The kingdom of God has been near for so many years now – we need to tell the people that, since the Lord came, the kingdom of God is near, so they need to repent and believe in the gospel!

The reason people need to repent is because the kingdom is coming, the kingdom is near. It is not only because people are sinful and make mistakes that they need to repent; it is for the kingdom, for the rule of the Lord.

We need to repent and believe in the gospel so that we can enter and live in the kingdom of God, under the divine rule of God! Amen!

Lord Jesus, we are one with You in declaring and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, telling men everywhere to repent for the kingdom has drawn near! Amen, Lord, uplift our appreciation of the gospel and our preaching of the gospel, so that we may not only speak concerning God’s salvation and forgiveness of sins but even more, tell people to repent for the kingdom of God! Amen, Lord, may we first have a turn, a change in concept, turning from our sinful and old ways to You, and may we proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to others!

The Gospel of the Kingdom must be Brought to the Whole Inhabited Earth for a Testimony, and then the end will come!

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 (Matt. 24:14).

But who knows the gospel of the kingdom, who realises the importance of preaching this gospel, and who rises up to preach the gospel of the kingdom for many to enter into the kingdom of God and be under the heavenly rule of God?

It is not likely that all men will believe in this gospel – it may be even less than those who believe in the gospel of grace, but the gospel of the kingdom must be brought to the whole inhabited earth for a testimony, and then the end will come.

The gospel of the kingdom – which includes the gospel of grace – brings people not only into God’s salvation but also into the kingdom of the heavens (Rev. 1:9); this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age!

For the end to come, before the end of this age, this gospel has to be preached. No matter who and how many repent and believe, this gospel must be preached to all the nations, including men of all peoples, ethnicity, race, color, gender, tribe, and nation; this gospel must be preached for a testimony!

This preaching – signified by the white horse of the first seal in Rev. 6:1-2 – will be a sign of the consummation of this age.

When the Lamb opened the seven seals in His ascension – and John was summoned to come – the first thing was the white horse, which refers to the gospel of the kingdom.

The white horse of the gospel began running after the Lord’s ascension on the day of Pentecost, and it is still running today; even today we preach the gospel of the kingdom for people to repent for the kingdom of God!

The white horse is running together with the other horses – war, famine, and death; they have been galloping on the earth for two thousand years, and the gospel takes the lead. We all should be on this horse, one with the One on the white horse, to preach the gospel of the kingdom.

The gospel is running toward the kingdom of God! 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).

People everywhere need the gospel of the kingdom. We need to pray, fast, be before the Lord both personally and corporately, and seek the Lord concerning this, and then we will go in His going to preach the gospel of the kingdom for a testimony to all the nations!

We need to declare to all the nations and the peoples of the five continents to repent for the kingdom! We need to proclaim the kingdom as the gospel and ask people to believe in the gospel and come under the heavenly ruling of this kingdom to enjoy the blessings of the divine life in the kingdom!

Lord, we are one with You to declare to all men who live on earth to repent for the kingdom of the heavens! Amen, all people from the Americas, repent! People who live in Australasia, repent for the kingdom! People who live in Africa, repent for the kingdom! People who live in Europe, repent! People who live in Asia, you need to repent! Repent and believe in the gospel to come under the heavenly ruling of the kingdom of God and enjoy the blessings of the divine life in this kingdom! Amen, God commands all men everywhere to repent, and we are one with God in proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom for all men to repent and enter into the kingdom of God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1957, vol. 2, “What the Kingdom Is to the Believers,” ch. 5, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Church Life and the Christian Life (2019 spring ITERO), week 8, Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and Discipling All the Nations for the Spread and Development of the Kingdom of God.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # We must repent for the kingdom’s at hand; / All that we do, think, or feel, or have planned / Must be abandoned and changed in our mind; / Leave all the world and self-seeking behind. (Hymns #1301)
  # ”Repent, the Kingdom has come near,” / This is the Kingdom’s first demand; / A change of mind we all must have / And on God’s side must firmly stand. (Hymns #943)
  # Jesus came proclaiming: / God’s kingdom has drawn near! / For this your way of thinking / Must be fresh and clear. / Repent and change your view! / Consider Him anew. / Jesus came proclaiming / And He says this to you: / Repent and believe! (Song on, Jesus Came Proclaiming)