The Work of the Church is to Bring in the Kingdom of God and deal with God’s Enemy

The work of the church is to bring in the kingdom of God and to deal with God’s enemy; the church bears the responsibility of bringing the kingdom of God to the earth.

The church was brought in by the gospel of the kingdom and with the power of the kingdom of God, and now the church needs to perpetuate Christ’s victory over the enemy and bring in the kingdom of God.

When the Lord Jesus was asked by His disciples to teach them to pray, He said, Our Father, who is in heaven, Your name be sanctified, Your kingdom come, Your will be done… – in our prayer to the Father we need to ask Him to bring in His kingdom.

But for the bringing in of the kingdom of God to the earth there has to be a spiritual warfare, for the earth is still under the usurpation of Satan, and he is the strong man in his house, having all human beings as the vessels which he uses for his evil purpose.

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 through prayer; as the church, we have been given the authority to bind the strong man, plunder his house, and release the vessels from his house to be vessels for the Lord to use and fill.

For us to bind the strong man, we need to pray; we need to deal with all things of the enemy in our being, we need to be in oneness with the saints, and we need to pray in oneness with the Lord and in one accord with His Body on earth, and the Lord will release His will on earth.

Whenever we preach the gospel, a spiritual warfare is going on; we need to not only speak the word of God and preach the gospel of the kingdom, but we also need to bind the strong man, release his captives, and remove veil after veil from the minds of the listeners.

When we shepherd the saints, many times we think we can’t get through in certain respects, and sometimes we may even think that the saints have a problem or are a problem; the problem is not the saints but the enemy who tries to usurp them.

The source of the problem is the enemy; when we live in the Body and are in oneness with the Body we can bind the strong man and release the vessels which he usurps so that they may be filled with Christ and express Christ.

May we realise what the work of the church is in this age, and may we rise up as the church to fulfill our responsibility.

The Work of the Church is to Bring in the Kingdom of God and deal with God’s Enemy

The work of the church as the Body of Christ on the earth is to bring in the kingdom of God and to perpetuate Christ’s victory. The church was brought into being by the power of the kingdom, and all the work of the church is governed by the principle of the kingdom of God.

When we preach the gospel we not only want to gain souls for the Lord but to bring in the kingdom of God. When we shepherd the saints, prophesy in the meeting, visit one another, are being perfected to function in our measure, and even when we serve practically, the principle is to bring in the kingdom of God.

Whenever we work or do anything in the church life we must stand on the position of the kingdom of God, and we need to apply the kingdom of God to deal with the power of Satan.

The Lord Jesus taught us to pray that the kingdom of God would come, His will would be done, as in heaven, so also on earth (Matt. 6:9-10).

Some believers think that the kingdom of God automatically comes, we don’t need to do anything, but the Lord taught us to pray for the kingdom to come. The work of the church is, above all else, to bring in God’s kingdom on the earth and to deal with the enemy.

We should not think that, whether we pray or not, the kingdom of God will come in automatically; rather, we should realise that the principle of God’s work is to wait for us to move, and then He will move, so we need to pray for the coming in of the kingdom.

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 kingdom life produces the church, the church is the kingdom of God in this age, and the church is here to bring in the kingdom. The church, which is the kingdom in reality and practicality, brings in the kingdom in its manifestation.

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

We need to have a vision of Christ’s victory and we need to continue it from generation to generation until the Lord comes back.

We perpetuate Christ’s victory by praising Him – praise our victorious Jesus! And we stand in this victory – we don’t believe the outward appearance or the environment, but we believe in the victorious Christ who has destroyed the devil and is now on the throne in the universe, having all authority in heaven and on earth!

The work of the church is to bring in the kingdom of God, and all the work that the church does is governed by the principle of the kingdom of God.

May we realise this and may we not only agree with this but pray ourselves into this, asking the Lord to come as the Spirit of reality and guide us into the reality of this.

The church is responsible for bringing the will of the heavens down to the earth and for carrying it out on the earth (see Matt. 6:10; 7:21; 12:50). When we pray, we don’t take sides with a political party or people, but we pray for the decision of the throne to be released on the earth.

Whatever the throne in the heavens has decided, we pray that it would be released on the earth.

We need the kind of prayers that release God’s will and carry it out where we are; for the sake of the Lord’s move on earth and for the shaming of the enemy, we need to release God’s will on the earth, perpetuate Christ’s victory, and bring in God’s kingdom as the church!

Lord, for the sake of Your move on earth and for the sake of shaming Your enemy, release the full power and authority of the throne in the city and the country where we are! Amen, Lord Jesus, we do not tolerate rebellion; we stand one spirit with You in the Body, and we agree with the decision and the will of God. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done on the earth. We stand as the church, one with the Head in the heavens, to perpetuate the victory of Christ and put the enemy to shame! Amen, Jesus Christ is Lord!

The Church Submits to the Heavenly Rule, Deals with God’s Enemy, and Brings in God’s Kingdom

The church, which comes into being under the rule of heaven, can deal with the enemy of God by reason of her submission to the heavenly rule (Matt. 16:19; Eph. 6:10-18).

The Lord today is gaining an army that is absolutely in submission to His heavenly rule; these have no issues with the decisions of the throne, and they are fully at peace, for our God is a God of peace who will crush Satan under our feet. Such a church deals with the enemy.

God needs man to cooperate with Him in His work; when God’s people move, God will also move, but when God’s people do not pray, God’s move and His will are being delayed and frustrated.

Even when the Lord Jesus was born, His birth was the result of the cooperation of some of God’s people with God. Some were praying for and continually looking for the consolation of Israel, and Mary and Joseph both cooperated with the Lord’s word.

God wants to bring in the kingdom, and He wants the church to deal with His enemy and bring in His rule on earth, but His part alone is not sufficient; He wants the church to cooperate with Him.

When we as the church submit to the heavenly rule and pray, we release the power of the kingdom of God upon the earth, and the kingdom can advance. When the Lord Jesus will return, the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15).

Oh, what a great responsibility the church bears, and what an awesome task is on our shoulders as the church!

What manner of living should we have today to accomplish such a task? We need to deal with all our sins and unrighteousness, we need to consecrate thoroughly to the Lord, our soul-life needs to be put to death, and our natural man has to be abandoned.

We cannot fight the spiritual warfare in our flesh, with the ability of the self, or in the natural man; our “I” cannot resist Satan, so we need to deny the self, lose the soul life, take up our cross, and stand one with the Lord, the victorious One.

Whenever the Lord Jesus comes in, Satan recognises Him, and he is defeated; Satan cannot resist Christ, but his fiery darts can penetrate our flesh.

Hallelujah, the Lord Jesus as the Head of the Body has already overcome the enemy, and now we as His Body must also overcome by standing in His victory and perpetuating Christ’s victory on earth.

The church was produced through Christ’s resurrection life, and the church is here to submit under the heavenly rule, deal with God’s enemy, and bring in the kingdom of God on the earth.

Hallelujah, the church must continue the victorious work that Christ has carried out against Satan, and bring heaven’s will down to the earth to carry it on the earth (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8b; Col. 2:15; Psa. 149:5-9)!

Lord Jesus, we take the lead as the church to submit the heavenly rule, for You are our Lord and our God. Amen, Lord, may the church be in full submission to the heavenly rule, one with the throne, and may the church deal with God’s enemy and bring in the kingdom of God on the earth. We stand on earth one with You, our ascended Head, and we continue the warfare that Christ has fought on earth. Lord, we stand in Your victory and we carry out the victorious work that You have carried out against Satan. May the kingdom of God come on earth, and may the will of God be done on earth even as in heaven!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 34, “The Glorious Church,” ch. 3, 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 6, The Conflict of the Two Kingdoms and the Work and Responsibility of the Church.
  Hymns on this topic:
  # ’Tis harder at the end / The word to testify, / For Satan fights with all his pow’r / Our witness to defy. / Much greater strength we need / The foe to overcome; / How happy when the Lord we see / And all our sighing’s done! (Hymns #893)
  # 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! (Hymns #1101)
  # 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)