We need to realize that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God, because the whole world opposes our entering in; therefore, today we need to cooperate with the Lord for the development of the kingdom of God.
The whole world opposes God, and when the gospel of the kingdom is being preached, the enemy will bring up many things to distract us and hinder us from believing into the Lord and cooperating with Him for the development of His kingdom.
God is in Christ and Christ is in the church; if we want to see God, we can see Him in Christ, and if we want to see Christ, we can find Him in the church.
Where is the church? The universal church is expressed through many local churches, which are produced by the propagation of the resurrected Christ to be His kingdom on earth today.
The proper church life in the local churches is the reality of the kingdom of God today. The churches and the kingdom of God go together; for us to touch the reality of the kingdom of God today, we need to be in the proper church life today.
On one hand the kingdom of God is personal and intimate – Christ as the seed of the kingdom is sown in our heart, and He develops and grows in us for the expanding and increase of the kingdom of God in us.
On the other hand, the kingdom of God is something corporate – it is the local churches as the many local representations of the one Body of Christ.
The reality of the kingdom of God is the church life today, and in the church we not only learn to enjoy Christ to express Him, but also to pray the prayers of authority to deal with God’s enemy.
In the church life, on the one hand, we enjoy Christ, eat Christ, and are filled with Christ so that we may express Christ and shine Him forth; on the other hand, we exercise to pray with authority to release on earth what the Lord has released in the heavens.
The resurrected Christ is propagating Himself in His ascension by the Spirit through the disciples, and He is the reality of the kingdom of God; the kingdom of God is His expansion.
Today God is expanded and enlarged in the church as the kingdom of God on earth today. Christ came to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God, and the churches are the expansion of Christ; this is what the Gospels reveal to us.
Christ came as the seed of the kingdom; in Acts we see the propagation of this seed to produce the churches as the kingdom of God. Praise the Lord, today in the churches we are the propagation of Christ as the expansion of Christ, and we cooperate with Him to enlarge the kingdom of God on earth!
Realising that through many Tribulations we must Enter into the Kingdom of God
In Acts 14:22 Paul entreated the believers who were continuing in the faith to realise that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God, because the whole world opposes our entering in.
The whole world, as the satanic system which lies in the evil one, opposes our entering into the kingdom of God. For us to enter into the kingdom of God is for us to enter into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom of God.
If we read Acts 19 we see how Paul went to preach the gospel in a prevailing way, in a particular city, and as a result, a considerable number believed and realised that the gods made by hands are no gods at all.
Therefore, there was an uproar instigated by the demons behind the idol worship, and the idol makers tried to hurt Paul and his co-workers. Whenever the gospel of the kingdom is preached in a prevailing way, it will stir up others to believe into the Lord, and at the same time it will stir trouble and tribulations.
To take the way of the kingdom of God is to take the narrow way, the constricted way.
We in the church life have no regrets for forsaking the broad way of the denominations in Christianity and have entered the gate of consecration, for today we are walking the footsteps of those who went ahead of us on the constricted way.
The more we walk on the way of the kingdom of God to enter into His kingdom, the more constricted this way it becomes, and the more life we enjoy.
In the kingdom of God in the church life today we have no “pastors” or “reverend”; here we lose any outward glory, and God gets all the glory, and here there’s no title or outward reward – we seek the reward given at the judgement seat when we meet the Son of Man!
The way into God’s kingdom is constricted, there are many tribulations, but our testimony in a collective way is that we don’t look back, we don’t have any regrets, and we go full speed ahead, thanking the Lord for His mercy for bringing us on this constricted way.
The trials, the tribulations, and the troubles may be severe, but they are temporary; our glorious future is ahead of us! For us to be ministers of the resurrected Christ, we need to pay the price and not hold anything back.
It is the ministry in the Spirit of Jesus that will bring out the propagation. In Acts 19 we see that Satan is fighting against God’s spreading of His kingdom on earth; the prevailing ministry for the propagation of Christ is a fighting, a battle, for God’s kingdom (Acts 19:9, 23-41).
We are fighting not for victory but from victory; the Lord Jesus has already conquered the enemy, and we are standing in Him! Amen!
Paul’s proclaiming the kingdom of God in Acts 28:31 was the propagation of the resurrected, ascended, and all-inclusive Christ; this is proved by the words “teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ”, which things go together with the kingdom of God (v. 23).
To teach concerning Christ is to spread the kingdom of God; therefore, the kingdom of God is actually the propagation of the resurrected Christ – a process that continues to be carried out through the believers today! Amen!
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your mercy in bringing us through the narrow gate and on the constricted way of the kingdom of God in the church life. Cause us to realize that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God, because the whole world opposes our entering in. Oh Lord, we want to enter into the kingdom of God by entering into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom! Strengthen us to look to You, not look back, not shrink back, and not look at the trials and tribulations but pay the price to propagate the resurrected, ascended, and all-inclusive Christ as the development of the kingdom of God!
10 Aspects of what we Experience related to the Development of the Kingdom of God
As a conclusion to this week, which focuses on the development of the kingdom of God, we need to see ten of the main aspects of what we experience related to the development of the kingdom of God.
1. Seeing the Kingdom of God (Mark 4:11). The kingdom of God is a mystery, and the Lord wants to show it to us. Unless someone is born anew, born from above, he cannot see the kingdom (John 3:3). Only the divine life born into us enables us to see the kingdom.
2. Entering the kingdom by regeneration. We enter into the kingdom of God by being born of God – born of the water and the Spirit. The kingdom of God as seen in the gospel of John is the realm of the divine species; we enter into this kingdom by being born of God to become God in life and nature but not in the Godhead. We enter into the kingdom of God when we become children of God.
3. Living under the shining of Jesus. One day the Lord Jesus told His disciples that some of those standing with Him will see the Son of Man in His kingdom; a few days later He took three of them on the mountain and was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun.
This was the temporary emergence of the glory hidden within the shell of His humanity. To see the Lord shining is to see the Son of Man in His kingdom. To live in the kingdom is to live under the shining of Jesus, the inner shining.
Often the Lord will not say anything – He will just shine. We are in the kingdom of the Son of His love, and He doesn’t want to be harsh – He simply shines, and eventually we all have to agree with His light.
4. We live in the reality of the kingdom by living a life in secret with the Lord. In Matt. 6 the Lord told us that our Father is in secret, He sees in secret, and He rewards us in secret. We need to have public activities, do this and that for the Lord, and be visible; however, there has to be a root system that is hidden, a hidden life with the Lord, a hidden reality that we may never talk about….We need to have a secret life with the Lord; we need to learn to have such a life so that we may have an inward reality supporting our outward activity.
5. We will seek first the kingdom of God and do the Father’s will. When the kingdom of God develops in us, we will not seek to “balance” our married life with the church life, but we will simply seek the kingdom of God first.
God’s way of balancing our life is Matt. 6:33 – seek first the kingdom of God. Then, as the kingdom develops in us, we will realize that we enter into the kingdom of the heavens not by merely calling on the Lord’s name but by doing the Father’s will (Matt. 7:21).
Even doing great things in the Lord’s name, yet not doing His will, is living in the principle of lawlessness; we can do a work seemingly for the Lord but without the Lord, not doing His will.
When we stand before the Son of Man, we want Him to know us and reward us, not to tell us to depart from Him. We need to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and we need to do the Father’s will.
6. Living in the church as the kingdom of God. For us to be in actuality in the kingdom of God and its development, we need to be in the church life fully as the situation allows.
The church life is not perfect, but it is the best environment for the divine life in us to grow and develop for the increase of the kingdom of God. We all are works in progress, so we need to love and care for one another in the local churches.
7. We need to be built up into the church as the kingdom of God. We need to not only select certain aspects of the church life that we prefer, but we need to be built up with the saints in the church life.
8. We need to grow in life unto maturity so that a rich entrance into the kingdom would be supplied to us (2 Pet. 1:5-11). The development of the kingdom requires growth in life unto maturity. We shouldn’t stop at praying for transformation; we need to pray for maturation for ourselves and for all the saints.
9. Exercising the authority of the kingdom in prayer and fighting for the advance of the kingdom. As we are in the development of the kingdom, we as the church exercise the authority of the kingdom in prayer, and we fight for the advance of the kingdom.
10. The Lord will deliver us from every evil work and will save us into His heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 4:7-8). At the end, Paul as a pattern knew he is an overcomer, and he testified that he has fought the good fight, he finished the course, he kept the faith, and now there’s a crown of righteousness waiting for him. Furthermore, he testified that the Lord will deliver him from every evil work, and He will save him into His heavenly kingdom.
Amen! For the fulfilment of God’s will and the desire of His heart, may we give ourselves to Him so that we may participate in the full development of the kingdom of God, and our Lord will deliver us from every evil work and save us into His heavenly kingdom! Praise His glorious name!
Lord Jesus, we want to live in the development of the kingdom of God today, entering into the kingdom of God through many tribulations by faith in You. Keep us under Your shining, Lord, and strengthen us to develop a secret life with You, a secret history with You which will supply us to do things for You. We want to seek You first and do the Father’s will. May we live in the church life as the kingdom of God, and may we built up as the church with all the saints. Amen, Lord, may a rich entrance be granted to us in Your kingdom, and may the Lord deliver us from every evil work and save us into His heavenly kingdom!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by James Lee for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Acts, msg. 52 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Propagating the Resurrected, Ascended, and All-inclusive Christ as the Development of the Kingdom of God (2018 fall ITERO), week 8, The Development of the Kingdom of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Jesus Christ will get His kingdom / Just by growth—the normal way. / Not an instant transformation; / Growth goes on from day-to-day. / This life-seed is all-inclusive— / Everything we’ll ever need; / Yes, our God’s eternal purpose / Is within this precious seed. (Hymns #1299)
# We’re in the local church, / God’s chosen ground; / Here we have Christ as life / And blessings all abound. / “In spirit, on the ground” / Our battle cry; / And we will overcome the enemy / To bring the kingdom nigh. (Hymns #1260)
# Lord, help us to redeem these golden moments; / Our vessels fill with ointment from above; / Help us amen each trial and tribulation; / Increase in us; make us abound in love. / He’s coming soon—these moments are so precious. / The oil is here—Oh, let us buy the more. / Amen the trials and welcome tribulations— / The kingdom’s ours through these afflictions sore. (Hymns #1307)
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