From the very first Gospel in the New Testament we see that the Lord Jesus didn’t come to “change the social system” or “bring peace on earth” or even to “change the world to better”; He came preaching another kingdom, the kingdom of God, which He called “the kingdom of the heavens”.
He never promised that if we believe into Him we will be spared sufferings and we will go to heaven; rather, He calls those who are open and willing to come to Him, believe into Him, and receive Him so that they may become people of the kingdom of God.
The Lord Jesus came as a man, lived as a man, yet He lived, spoke, and did things in another realm – in the kingdom of God. And He charged His disciples, even while on earth with them, to go and preach the gospel of the kingdom so that people would repent for the kingdom of God.
Then, just before He ascended to the heavens, the Lord commissioned all His disciples to go and disciple all the nations that they may be people in the kingdom of God (see Matt. 28:19). In a sense, the Lord didn’t charge us to preach the gospel: He charged us to disciple the nations, that is, make heathen people into kingdom people who are under God’s rule.
In order for someone to enter into God’s kingdom he needs to repent and believe into the Lord; when one repents for the kingdom, he enters into the kingdom of God where he enjoys the blessings of the divine life under God’s rule in life and love.
The fundamental problem in this universe is rebellion against God’s authority; we are born in sin, we are rebellious in our nature, and even when we don’t do “evil things” we are simply rebellious against God. Therefore, we need to be inwardly subdued and in accord with God, and this happens through regeneration; when we are born of God we enter into the kingdom of God where we daily learn to submit to His throne as we enjoy all the riches of His divine life and nature. Amen!
Praise the Lord, we are in the kingdom of God, and now we are commissioned by the Lord to disciple the nations so that many would enter into God’s kingdom!
Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom for a Testimony to All before the End of the Age
The Lord Jesus prophesied in Matt. 24:14 that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end comes; when the gospel of the kingdom is preached as a testimony, then the end will come. This is confirmed by Rev. 5 where we see that Christ purchased men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and made them a kingdom, priests to our God.
The gospel of the kingdom includes the gospel of grace, the gospel of salvation, and the gospel of peace. The emphasis of the gospel of grace is on forgiveness of sins, God’s redemption, and eternal life, whereas the emphasis of the gospel of the kingdom is on the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord.
The gospel of grace, the gospel of peace, and the gospel of salvation have been preached on all the continents, but the gospel of the kingdom has not yet been preached to the whole inhabited earth.
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery we focus not merely on the gospel of grace, the gospel of peace, or the gospel of salvation, but on the gospel of the kingdom; we are commissioned by the Lord to preach the gospel of the kingdom to all the earth for a testimony so that the end would come.
The Lord has shown us the gospel of the kingdom, and we are entrusted to bring this higher gospel to all the nations, starting from where we are. 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); we have not only been given this gospel through revelation, but we are also entrusted with the high gospel so that we may preach it as a testimony!
And when we preach, we are not shy or weak: because all authority has been given to the resurrected Christ, our Head, we as His disciples are sent with His authority to disciple all the nations, and when we go we have the authority of Christ (Matt. 28:18-19).
The Lord wants to return, but who today preaches the gospel of the kingdom? The strongest sign of the consummation of the age, which will take place before the greatest tribulation, is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to all the inhabited earth.
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery we have been shown mercy by the Lord to have the revelation of the gospel of the kingdom, and we have been commissioned by Him to go with His authority and speak the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth for a testimony so that the end would come!
We need to preach the gospel of the kingdom to those who are near, those around us at work, at school, at home, and on the street, and to those who are far: even to the refugees from the Arab speaking countries, we preach the gospel of the kingdom!
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us the highest gospel, the gospel of the kingdom. Thank You for commissioning us with discipling the nations to not only help men to be saved but to be citizens in the kingdom of God living under the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord. Amen, Lord, we want to go in Your name with Your authority to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth for a testimony so that Your kingdom would increase, this age would end, and the age of the manifestation of the kingdom would begin!
Discipling the Nations to make the Heathen the Kingdom People living the Kingdom Life
Because all the authority in the heaven and on earth has been given to Christ, our ascended Head, we as His disciples can now go in His name and with His authority to preach the gospel of the kingdom to all the nations, discipling them to be kingdom people living the kingdom life today in the church life (see Matt. 28:18-19).
What does it mean to “disciple the nations”? To disciple the nations is not merely to save men by bringing them to salvation to experience forgiveness of sins but to cause the Gentiles to become the kingdom people. In a sense, in Matthew the Lord didn’t charge us to “preach the gospel”; He charged us to disciple the nations, that is, make the heathen the kingdom people for the establishing of His kingdom, which is the church today (see 1 Thes. 1:9; 2:12; Rev. 1:5-6, 9; 5:9-10).
The intrinsic purpose of our preaching the gospel is not merely to help others be saved and believe in Jesus but to bring the people of the nations into the Triune God in order to make them citizens of the kingdom of the heavens.
We want to preach the gospel so that the King of kings would enter into people and bring in His throne with His government, and we want to help others not be in “anarchy” within themselves by not submitting to God’s authority within.
Today we are citizens of the kingdom of God, and our church life must be the reality of the kingdom. When we preach the gospel, we bring people into the reality of the kingdom, into the church life.
When we have such a testimony, when we have the reality of the kingdom in the church life, then the end shall come; when God has the kingdom in reality in the church life on earth, He can bring in the manifestation of the kingdom, the upcoming kingdom age.
Many in Christianity say that to preach the gospel is for winning souls. But there is no mention of winning souls in the New Testament. The first book of the New Testament tells us that the preaching of the gospel is to bring people into God to make them the citizens of the kingdom of the heavens. This is very high and very deep. To preach the gospel is not to win souls but to gain people from different countries and put them into the Triune God that they may become the citizens of the kingdom of the heavens for the establishment of this kingdom. When we go out to preach the gospel, we should not forget this purpose. (Witness Lee, Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans, p. 285)
What the Bible tells us is that God became man and that Christ passed through crucifixion to enter into resurrection, becoming a life-giving Spirit to enter into man and bring God’s life into man. Now all those who believe into the Lord are kingdom people, and they are the Lord’s disciples, commissioned by Him to preach the gospel of the kingdom so that heathen people would become kingdom people by being baptized into the name, the person, the reality of the Divine Trinity.
Our preaching of the gospel is not merely for winning souls for the Lord or for saving people from hell; we preach the gospel so that we may put people into the Triune God so that they would be united and mingled with God and be constituted into the kingdom of God.
God’s heavenly kingdom is not an organization but an organic constitution of people who have been immersed into the union with the Triune God and who have been established and built up with the Triune God who has been wrought into them (see Rom. 6:3-4; 14:17; Gal. 3:26-27; 4:19; 5:21; Eph. 3:14-19; 5:5).
There’s a great need for us to preach the gospel of the kingdom so that people would be brought into an organic union with the Triune God to be mingled with the Triune God and become part of kingdom of God, the heavenly kingdom.
Lord Jesus, cause us to realize that the intrinsic purpose of our preaching the gospel is to bring people into the Triune God in order to make them citizens of the kingdom of the heavens. Lord, we want to live in the reality of the kingdom today in the church life, and we want that many heathen would be discipled to be kingdom people. May You gain an enlarged kingdom among men today constituted with many who are one with God and mingled with God to live the kingdom life in the church life today.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, bro. Minoru C’ sharing in the message for this week, and Life-study of Matthew, msg. 72 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Gospel (2016 International Chinese-speaking Conference), week 1 / msg. 1, The Gospel of the Kingdom.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic:
# If we will speak, Christ will witness in the hearts of men. / If we will speak, Christ will witness in the hearts of men. / Tell every man, / Win all we can. / Through our speaking, Christ is speaking in the hearts of men! (Hymns #1294)
# Now this gospel of the kingdom / Shall be preached until the end; / Till the Lord who with the kingdom / Of the heavens does descend. (Hymns #1263)
# ’Tis by His ruling from within / His fulness vast is testified; / ’Tis when His inner kingdom rules / His Body’s blessed and edified. / ’Tis by His heav’nly rule within / As heav’nly citizens we live; / ’Tis by submission to His rule / Expression of His reign we give. (Hymns #942)
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After Christ, as the last Adam, had passed through the process of crucifixion, entered into the realm of resurrection, and become the life-giving Spirit, He came back to His disciples, in the atmosphere and reality of His resurrection, to charge them to cause the heathen to become the kingdom people by baptizing them into the name, the person, the reality, of the Trinity….Such a baptism into the reality of the Father, Son, and Spirit, according to Matthew, is for the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. The heavenly kingdom cannot be organized with human beings of flesh and blood (1 Cor. 15:50) as an earthly society; it can only be constituted with people who are immersed into the union with the Triune God and who are established and built up with the Triune God who is wrought into them. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, p. 830)