The Kingdom is the Reality of the Church: Live the Kingdom Life in the Church Life

Upon this rock I will build My church … I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 16:18-19)

The New Jerusalem as the holy city of God with man, the consummation of God’s work throughout the ages and the fulfilment of His purpose for eternity, should be our experience as a foretaste today in the church life.

The New Jerusalem is a city – the centre of the kingdom of God, the place where He exercises His authority and where He rules over His people. In the center of the city there is the throne of God and of the Lamb; the redeeming God rules in this city from the center.

Today in the church age we are in the church life, and the content of the church life is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens (see Matt. 5-7). We believed in the gospel of the kingdom, the seed of the kingdom of God came into us, we were regenerated for the kingdom of God, and now we are kingdom people living in the church life, whose reality is the kingdom.

We need to see that the reality of the church is the kingdom, and apart from living in the kingdom of God under His throne and authority, we cannot be built up with others in the Body of Christ. We may be in the church life enjoying the Lord and even helping here and there, but if we do not live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, the church life is empty.

After the Lord Jesus revealed to Peter that He will build His church in Matt. 16, He went on to say, I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens (see Matt. 16:19).

For the building up of the church to be possible, we need to exercise the keys of the kingdom, some of which are, denying our self, taking up our cross, and losing our soul-life for the building up of the church. May we be the ones who allow the Lord to assert His authority over us so that we may be built up into the church.

May we live not only in the general sphere of the church, meeting with the saints in a general way in the “perimeter” of the church life, but may we be those who have the throne of God set in the center of their being, those who are under God’s rule inwardly and ready to fellowship with the saints before doing anything – for the building up of the church.

The Kingdom is the Reality of the Church

The kingdom is the reality of the church

We may not know or realize this, but according to the New Testament revelation, the kingdom of God is the reality of the church. This means that we cannot live the church life apart from the proper kingdom life. All the genuine believers in Christ have heard the gospel of the kingdom and believed into the Lord, and they entered into the kingdom of God.

What God desires to do is to bring in His kingdom on the earth, and in this age, He does so in the church. First, He regenerates man into His kingdom, and then He brings man into the church, whose reality is the kingdom. Our daily salvation in life, the supply for our enjoyment, is real to us when we live a kingdom life in the church.

There should be a hunger in us for the reality of the church. How much church life in reality do we have? How much of our living in the church life is in the kingdom of God? Apart from the kingdom, there is no church life; rather, the reality of the kingdom of the heavens (as revealed in Matt. 5-7) is the content of the church life.

Without us living in the kingdom of God as kingdom people, without the reality of the kingdom, the church life is empty. We need to daily come to the Lord and live in the church life poor in spirit, pure in heart, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, being meek and lamenting over the current situation of unrighteousness, and rejoicing in the Lord only.

All the Epistles show us that the reality of the kingdom should be the content of our church life. Christ is our life (Col. 3:4) and the church is our living. We seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33), and we have much prayer for the reality of the kingdom to be the content of the church life.

If we look to ourselves to live the kingdom life, it is impossible; but in the compound ointment, the compound life-giving Spirit, there is ability to bear the responsibility of living in the kingdom of God. We trust not in ourselves or in our capacity to do this or that but in the anointing that brings us to do what we could never do in our natural capacity.

Without the Kingdom as the Reality of the Church, the Church Cannot Be Built Up

We love the church life: eating, drinking, breathing Jesus together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart! But have you ever wondered, what is the Lord’s assessment of the local church you’re in? How much building there is?

Are you built up with some others in a vital group together with whom you live in the reality of the kingdom? Is the Lord enthroned in your being and is He on the throne in the centre of the saints’ being? How much reality of the kingdom is there in the church life? There may be many meetings, activities, and services, but what about building up?

Without the kingdom as the reality of life, the church cannot be produced or built up. Without the saints living in the reality of the kingdom of God today, without the kingdom as the reality of the church, the church cannot be built up. The New Testament tells us clearly that the building up of the church is closely related to the believers living in the kingdom of God.

The Lord Jesus said, Upon this rock I will build My church. I will give to you the keys to the kingdom of the heavens (see Matt. 16:18-19). The building up of the church is possible when the keys of the kingdom are exercised.

If God’s authority is absent if we don’t enthrone the Lord in our being, and if we don’t deny our self for the sake of the Body, there is no building up of the church. We need to deny our self, take up our cross, and lose our soul life so that the church may be built up and we would be built up with the saints practically.

The Scriptures present this far more profound aspect—that the church has been secured through the sovereign rule of heaven. Because the kingdom of heaven is able to assert its authority over a company of men, that company of men can be built up into a church. (Witness Lee, The Kingdom and the Church, pp. 36-37)

Does the Lord assert His authority over you and the ones you’re meeting with? Or is there someone who always wants to take the lead and be the first? Are we under the Lord’s authority, welcoming His ruling, and living under the throne of God and of the Lamb?

God needs to gain a group of people that welcome the exercise of the Lord’s authority; these ones will be built up in and as the church, and the kingdom of God can be seen among them.

It is a beautiful thing to see a group of brothers and sisters who have the throne of God set up in the centre of their being and there is a river of water of life flowing in and among them from the throne, and these ones fellowship and pray together in oneness under the throne!

Simply being saved doesn’t mean that you’re the church in reality; those who are saved are in the church, but only those who live the kingdom life under the throne of God, drinking the river of water of life and eating the tree of life, can be the church by being related to others and built up with them in spirit.

Lord, unveil us to see that the kingdom is the reality of the church. May we realize that apart from living the kingdom life we cannot live in the church life. We want to be the church in reality, those who enthrone You, welcome Your authority, and let You rule in them. Lord, gain the corporate living of the saints under the throne of God. May there be in all the local churches a manifestation of the kingdom life. May all the saints take the lead to allow You to assert Your authority over them so that they may be built up into the church.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, The Kingdom and the Church, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Aspects of the Christian Life and Church Life Seen in the New Jerusalem, week 2 / msg 2, The City and the Bride.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # God’s Kingdom today is a real exercise, / But when Christ comes to reign it will be a great prize;…/ Today we must learn to submit to His throne, / How to have a strict life and His government own. (Hymns #947)
  # Jesus the kingdom has come into us, / Reigning and shining He’s all glorious, / Christ as the seed is the King who has come, / Into our spirit His kingdom He’s sown. (Hymns #1301)
  # God’s Kingdom on the earth is now / His sovereign government within; / ’Tis Christ Himself in us to live / As Lord and King to rule and reign. (Hymns #942)