THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Kingdom
Message Two—The Three Aspects of the Kingdom of the Heavens
Scripture Reading: Matt. 5—7; 13:24-43; 24:44—25:30; Rom.14:17; 2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:11;
I. The kingdom of God is the rule, the government, of God from eternity to eternity; this kingdom is composed of four dispensations:
A. Romans 5:14 refers to the period of time “from Adam until Moses;” this was the age before the law, the first dispensation.
B. The second dispensation is from Moses to Christ; this is the dispensation of law.
C. The third dispensation is the dispensation of grace, or the dispensation of the church—Matt. 11:10-12; 13:1-5, 5-7:
1. Outside the church is the external appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, today’s Christendom.
2. Within Christendom is the true church, which is the composition of the real believers, and within the true church are the overcomers who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
3. Outside Christendom is the world, the unbelievers.
D. The last dispensation is the millennium of a thousand years; in the millennium there are two parts: the heavenly part and the earthly part—Rev. 20:4, 6; Zech. 8:20-23:
1. The heavenly part is the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens; in this manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, Christ and the overcoming believers will be the kings—Rev. 20:4, 6.
2. In the earthly part of the millennium the saved Jews will be the priests teaching people how to serve God—Zech. 8:20-23.
3. The overcoming believers as the kings, the saved Jews as the priests, and the nations as the people are the three groups of people in the millennium.
II. The kingdom of the heavens is the ruling of the heavens, that it is a specific section within the kingdom of God, God’s reign in a particular way in the sense of life; according to the Gospel of Matthew, there are three aspects of the kingdom of the heavens: the reality, the appearance, and the manifestation—Dan. 4:26; Matt. 3:2; 16:18-19.
III. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the inward content of the kingdom of the heavens in its heavenly and spiritual nature, as revealed in chapters five through seven:
A. The record of Matthew 5—7 gives us a view of a certain kind of reality, the reality of the high standard of the divine life; this is the overcoming church life.
B. There is not much of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens in today’s Christianity; the reality of the kingdom of the heavens exists today within the church in the church age—Matt. 13:24-43.
C. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is an exercise to the seeking believers:
1. We need to be poor, emptied, unloaded, in this part of our being so that we may realize and possess the kingdom of the heavens—Matt. 5:3.
2. Every aspect of the world is unrighteous; if we are righteous, we shall be condemned, opposed, and persecuted; if we seek righteousness at a cost, the kingdom of the heavens becomes ours—1 John 5:19; Matt. 5:6, 10.
3. “Unless your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens;” to enter into the kingdom of the heavens demands surpassing righteousness in our living after regeneration; it means to live in its reality today and to participate in its manifestation in the future—Matt. 5:20; 1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 3:16.
4. To enter into the kingdom of the heavens we need to call on the Lord and do the will of the heavenly Father; entering into the kingdom of God is by the birth of the divine life, entering into the kingdom of the heavens is by the living of that life—John 3:3, 5; Matt. 7:21; Rom. 10:13.
IV. The appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is the outward condition of the kingdom of the heavens in name, as revealed in Matthew 13:24-43 through the parables of the tares, the mustard seed, and the leaven:
A. The appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is today’s Christendom, which includes the Roman Catholic Church and all the false Christians—Matt. 13:24-43:
1. The parable of the tares reveals the establishment of the kingdom and its false constituents; whereas the sons of the kingdom constitute the kingdom, the sons of the evil one have formed the outward appearance of the kingdom, which today is called Christendom—vv. 24-30, 36-43.
2. The parables of the mustard seed telling of the abnormal development of the outward appearance of the kingdom; the church, which is the embodiment of the kingdom, should be like an herb to produce food, but it became a tree, a lodge for birds, having its nature and function changed; this has formed the outward organization of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens—13:31-32.
3. The parable of the leaven hidden in the fine flour concerning the inward corruption of the outward appearance of the kingdom; the hiding of leaven in three measures of meal signifies that the Catholic Church has fully leavened in a hidden way all the teachings concerning Christ; this became the inward, corrupted content of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens—Matt. 13:33; 16:6, 11-12; 1 Cor. 5:6, 8; Lev. 2:1; Gen. 18:6; 1 Cor. 5:7-8.
B. The outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens exists along with the church in the church age; as a principle, we do not allow tares in the church life, and we do not allow the big tree with its abnormal growth or the leaven with its corruption to be in the church—vv. 24-30, 36-43.
V. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is the practical coming of the kingdom of the heavens in power, as revealed in Matthew 24:44—25:30:
A. During the present age, the reality of the kingdom and the appearance of the kingdom progress simultaneously; however, when the Lord Jesus comes back, the reality of the kingdom will be transferred into the manifestation of the kingdom, and the appearance of the kingdom will be burned away—Matt. 13:40-42.
B. The heavenly part of the millennium will be the kingdom of the Father; this will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens as a reward to the overcomers; in the millennium the overcomers in the heavenly part of the kingdom will reign with Christ over the earthly part, which will be the restored kingdom of David, where Christ as the Son of Man, David’s royal descendant, will be the King over the children of Israel—Matt. 13:43; 2 Sam. 7:13; Acts 15:16; Matt. 13:41; Rev. 11:15.
C. Only the overcomers who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today will have a share in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the future; the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be a reward, a prize, given to the overcomers—2 Tim. 4:18; Matt. 13:43; 26:29; Eph. 5:5; 2 Pet. 1:11.
D. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will exist in the millennium during the age of the millennium; whereas the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is with the church in this age, the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be in the coming age—2 Pet. 1:11; Rom. 14:17.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE FOUR DISPENSATIONS IN THE KINGDOM
The kingdom of God is the rule, the government, of God from eternity to eternity. This kingdom is composed of four dispensations (see chart on pp. 12-13). Romans 5:14 refers to the period of time “from Adam until Moses.” This was the age before the law, the first dispensation. The second dispensation is from Moses to Christ. This is the dispensation of law. The third dispensation is the dispensation of grace, or the dispensation of the church. Outside the church is the external appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, today’s Christendom. Within Christendom is the true church, which is the composition of the real believers, and within the true church are the overcomers who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. Outside Christendom is the world, the unbelievers. There is no real separating line between Christendom and the world. The last dispensation is the millennium of a thousand years. In the millennium there are two parts: the heavenly part and the earthly part. The heavenly part is the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. In this manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, Christ and the overcoming believers will be the kings (Rev. 20:4, 6). In the earthly part of the millennium the saved Jews will be the priests teaching people how to serve God (Zech. 8:20-23). The overcoming believers as the kings, the saved Jews as the priests, and the nations as the people are the three groups of people in the millennium.
THE THREE ASPECTS
OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS
With the kingdom of the heavens there are three main aspects we must be clear about. The first aspect is the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. This appearance is today’s Christendom, which includes the Roman Catholic Church and all the false Christians. The second aspect is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. This aspect is composed of the overcomers, the victorious Christians. All the genuine Christians, whether victorious or defeated, are the church. However, within the real church among the true believers there is a distinction between the victorious ones and the defeated ones. With the victorious ones there is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. The victorious Christians who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, the defeated believers who are in the church yet not in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, the false Christians who are merely Christians in name but not members of the true church, and the world composed of all the unbelievers are the four groups of people on the earth today. The appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, Christendom, and the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, the overcomers, constitute the dispensation of the church.
After the dispensation of the church, the Lord will come back. This will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Those who live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today will be manifested with the Lord to be the kings in the dispensation of the millennium to rule the nations on the earth with the saved Jews as the priests. The kings who are the overcomers in Christ, the saved Jews as the priests, and the people, the nations, constitute the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
To be clear about the kingdom truths we must first be clear about the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the heavens. Second, we must be clear about the three aspects of the kingdom of the heavens: the appearance, the reality, and the manifestation. We have already seen the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the heavens. Now we must see in more detail the difference between the appearance, the reality, and the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Matthew is a book on the kingdom of the heavens. The only other mention of the kingdom of the heavens is in 2 Timothy 4:18 where the term “heavenly kingdom” is used. In the Gospel of Matthew there are three main parts. The decree of the kingdom’s constitution in chapters 5 through 7, the parables in chapter 13, and the prophecy of the kingdom in chapters 24 and 25 are the three great parts of the Gospel of Matthew. If we can understand these three parts, we can understand the Gospel of Matthew. In chapter 13 the Lord unveils the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. In chapters 5 through 7 we can see the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. In chapters 24 and 25 the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is revealed by the Lord Jesus.
THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS IN MATTHEW 13—
THE APPEARANCE WITH THE REALITY
The Parable of the Sower
In Matthew 13 the first parable is the parable of the sower: “And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow” (v. 3). This parable does not mention the kingdom of the heavens, because at this time the kingdom of the heavens had not come yet. The sower is the Lord Himself, who comes to sow Himself into humanity as the seed of life. This was the preparation for the coming of the kingdom of the heavens.
The Parable of the Tares
The second parable begins in verse 24: “Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field.” The kingdom of the heavens is mentioned in this second parable. The man sowing good seed in his field is the sower in the first parable, the Lord Jesus. “But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares in the midst of the wheat and went away” (v. 25). This happened just a little while after the day of Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost came, thousands of believers were added to the church. Among those believers there were some false ones, some tares, among the wheat. The second parable is a parable concerning the church as the beginning of the kingdom of the heavens.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
The third parable is the parable of the mustard seed: “Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, and which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches” (vv. 31-32). The mustard is an herb for food. The real church coming out of the seed of life should be just like the mustard, good for food to others. The herb in this verse, however, becomes a great tree, and the birds of heaven lodge in its branches. In the first parable the birds (v. 4) signify the evil one, Satan, who came and snatched away the word of the kingdom sown in the hardened heart (v. 19). The bird is the devil, and the birds are the evil persons, spirits, and things out of the devil who lodge in this big tree. This happened when Constantine the Great mixed the church with the world in the first part of the fourth century. He brought thousands of false believers into the church, making it Christendom, no longer the church. Christianity became the national religion of the Roman Empire, and Constantine encouraged all the unbelievers to come into the church. Before this time the Roman Empire had persecuted Christianity, but during Constantine’s reign the Roman Empire welcomed it. From that time onward the church’s nature changed. It became deeply rooted and settled in the earth as a great tree, flourishing with its enterprises as the branches in which many evil persons and things are lodged. Today’s Christendom is a big tree with many branches, and many sinful persons and evil spirits are lodging in its branches.
The Parable of the Leaven Hidden in the Fine Flour
Matthew 13:33 says, “Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.” This woman is a type of the Roman Catholic Church. In Revelation the Lord likens the Roman Catholic Church to a woman sitting on a scarlet beast (Rev. 17:3). The beast is the Roman Empire, and the woman on the beast is the Roman Catholic Church. This portrays religion joining with politics. After Constantine welcomed Christianity into the Roman Empire as the national religion, the church transmuted into something large and worldly and even became a worldly power. This worldly power became the Roman Catholic Church, typified by this woman in Matthew 13. The leaven which this woman took signifies evil things (1 Cor. 5:6, 8) and evil doctrines (Matt. 16:6, 11-12). Meal, for making the meal offering (Lev. 2:1), signifies Christ as food to both God and man. The Roman Catholic Church has something real, but it puts in something false. Today’s modernism, which is even among the Protestant churches, denies the deity of our Lord Jesus and the fact that He was born of the virgin Mary. The Roman Catholic Church, however, always recognizes that Christ is the Son of God, the very God, born of a virgin. This is the fine flour, the meal, but they added leaven into the fine flour (Lev. 2:4-5, 11). Many pagan practices and heresies were added into the fine flour.
The birth of Christ is a part of the fine flour, but Christmas is the leaven added to the fine flour. History tells us that December 25 was celebrated as the birthday of the sun god. When Christianity was accepted as the state religion by the Roman Empire in A.D. 313, many people in the church were not regenerated. Some of these unregenerated ones were accustomed to having a festival on December 25 to celebrate the birthday of the sun god. To accommodate these unbelievers, the apostate church declared December 25 to be the birthday of Christ. This is the source of Christmas. The apostate church has the fine flour, but within the flour there is leaven.
Christ is the fine flour, but the so-called pictures of Jesus are included in the leaven. Any picture of Jesus is false. The book of Isaiah tells us that when the Lord was on the earth, He had “no attracting form nor majesty that we should look upon Him, / Nor beautiful appearance that we should desire Him” (53:2). Isaiah 52:14 tells us that “His visage was marred more than that of any man, / And His form more than that of the sons of men.” Today’s pictures of Jesus always portray Him as a handsome man. This is not the true picture of Jesus, but the leaven. In 1937 when I was traveling in northern China, a case of demon possession was brought to my attention. A certain Christian sister had become possessed. When I was asked the reason for this, I said that, in principle, either sin or some idols or images in that sister’s home would give ground for the demon to possess her. This sister was a young Christian and did not know these things. She had bought a picture of the so-called Jesus and had put that picture in her room. Eventually, she was bowing down to it with respect. Later on she was possessed by a demon. I told her to burn the picture. From the moment she burned that picture, the demon departed.
Adding leaven to fine flour makes it easier for people to take. Unleavened bread is harder for people to eat. This is the principle operating in the Roman Catholic Church. They maintain that if the leaven is not put into the things concerning Christ, it will be hard for the people to take. If people were simply told that God is in Christ as the Spirit, they would not be able to take it. To put up an image of Christ or a statue of Christ at the entrance of the cathedral and tell people that this is Christ makes it easier for people to worship and realize Christ, according to the Roman Catholic Church. They maintain that the images, even though they are not really Christ, remind people of Christ. To them, the image of Christ makes it easier for people to contact Christ. This is the leaven within the fine flour.
When I was in Manila, I visited a Catholic cathedral. At the entrance of this cathedral was a statue of Mary. Noticing that one of the hands of the statue was almost completely worn out, I asked the people what had happened. They said that everyone who entered the cathedral first touched the hand of the statue and that, through the years, this had worn out the hand. When I asked them about the need for such a statue, they said, “If people do not have statues, they cannot understand what we are saying when we talk about the Bible. They need something solid to grasp.” This is their justification for having statues of Jesus and Mary. What subtlety! That is not Jesus or Mary—that is an idol. Apparently, they worshipped Jesus; actually, they worshipped an image of stone. This is the subtlety of the enemy.
Now we can see the evil of the apostate church—it absorbs pagan things and adds them to the fine flour. How wicked this is! The Roman Catholic Church preaches Christ with paganism, with heathenism, with idols, with images, and with sinful things and false things. The Lord likens the kingdom of the heavens to this practice; hence, this is the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. This is not the real thing.
THE REALITY OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is revealed in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. The parables in Matthew 13 reveal many evil things, leaven, and false believers. In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, though, the kingdom of the heavens is revealed as something very pure. This is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” Verse 10 says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” Verse 20 says, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” These verses show us how strict the kingdom of the heavens is and how pure this kingdom is. Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens.” This is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. To be in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens we must be poor in spirit, we must suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake, we must do the will of the Father, and we must be pure and meek (5:3-10). The parables in Matthew 13 unveil the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, whereas the teachings in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 unveil the reality of the kingdom of the heavens.
A real believer in the church is not necessarily an overcomer. We may be in the church and still not be in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. Some people are in Christendom, the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, but not really in the church. To be in the church a person must be a real believer in Christ, regenerated with the life of God. After regeneration, a Christian has to go on with the Lord to be victorious. He must overcome all the sinful things; then he will be in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. To see whether or not we are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, we need to compare ourselves with the teaching in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. We may be saved, but are we in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens?
THE MANIFESTATION
OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS
When the Lord comes back, the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be realized. This is revealed in Matthew 24 and 25. Only the overcomers who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today will have a share in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the future. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be a reward, a prize, given to the overcomers. (A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of the Heavens, msg. 2)