THE KINGDOM OF GOD
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Romans 4:23,25; Romans 5:1,11.
I suppose if we look at the kingdom as in Romans it is the kingdom of God. Do you think it is the way in which God is here: He has a footing here?
I suppose it is that on the part of God which insures things. In this epistle it is presented as related to men. What is needed really is establishment in the truth of the kingdom, that is, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. All that comes out in the fifth chapter is consequent on what the last verses of the fourth present. It is a question of what is established in Jesus our Lord as risen from among the dead.
This clothes the resurrection of the Lord with great significance; while the Lord is not actually here yet He has brought to pass all that is of God, and maintains it here through the power of the Holy Ghost. God is here to stay — a wonderful pledge of what is soon to be displayed.
There is a very important principle in the 1 Samuel 30. The spoil was to be divided among those who remained behind with the stuff as well as those who actually went into the conflict: that is, it did not require that one should enter into the battle in order that he should reap the benefit of victory. David established the decree in Israel. I think it may be applied to the Lord. He entered into the conflict alone, while we partake of the spoil. In resurrection all is recovered. This is the platform from which the gospel is presented. It is immense. The Lord has a free hand, and He distributed, as it were, the spoil of victory. Romans 5 gives an account of the spoil. The Lord could not find anything with which to help man, so He would establish that which should be effective to this end; that is, the kingdom, and its bearing is universal.
[p. 79] In the kingdom you find light; that by which you are guided, and power. It is effective for the deliverance of man from the power of evil, and for his preservation and guidance while still in the presence of evil. In its present form it is adapted for everyday life. We have to do with what is adverse, and in virtue of the existence of the kingdom we are made superior to it. The experience recorded here is of a man moving about in triumphant superiority to every hostile power. The tables are completely turned: what he would have recoiled from before now becomes his boast — tribulation.
There is no possibility of real progress unless we are clear regarding the kingdom. Outwardly circumstances are not changed. If in the good of the kingdom you must have a sense that you are guarded as identified with divine things, and participating in them. That is really the starting point. John the Baptist announced the coming of what man needed — the kingdom. The thought has been, getting forgiveness and justification for heaven, but the gospel is the announcement of the kingdom.
The Lord could not use what He found here, hence He would bring in something new; what should be effective. I think the great want all along had been, ‘The man that is able’. This, I think, is the idea of a king. In the gospel of Matthew this Man appears. In chapter 11 the Lord calls attention to Himself and in chapter 12 His greatness comes out. One great proof of His greatness is that He can establish a kingdom great enough to deliver men from all adverse power; and not only this, His kingdom will break to pieces and supplant every other kingdom. This involved His going into the lower parts of the earth, and His ascension far above all heavens. He has broken the power of evil in its own domain, and now as on high He distributes the fruit of victory to men. There is nothing else to succeed the kingdom;
[p. 80] it goes on, but all offending things will be taken out of it. The kingdom is not what it was at the beginning; it has become encumbered with lawless and offending elements; hence we do not reap such advantages from it now as the early Christians did. Things have become so paralysed and disjointed that we are greatly hampered in endeavouring to enter into the blessings of the kingdom. Paul could preach the kingdom with the utmost liberty and confidence, because there was a power behind him that could not be denied. The Spirit was not then grieved and hindered by the incubus of lawlessness and corruption that weighs down the kingdom now. It is not an easy matter to make evident to men that the kingdom really exists down here, and this fact should have a humbling effect on all who seek to preach it. The way we get the good of the kingdom now is by coming into contact with those who are walking in the Spirit. You must be near Christians to get the benefit of the kingdom. The Lord will do the best He can for us, and I am sure we shall lack nothing even in a day like the present, if we are cast upon Him, but it must be evident that He is greatly hampered by the existing condition of things. There can be no change in the Lord personally, and in spite of the condition of things He can take care of us, so that no matter how terrifying the enemy may be we need have no fear. We cannot change the general condition of things. The Lord alone can do this. In endeavouring to walk together in the Spirit we enter more or less into the good of the kingdom, and our hope is that the Lord will soon remove the “tares”. Our point is to get the good of all we can at the present time. It is a mistake to assume that we can get the benefit of the kingdom as at the beginning.
If our state is not right we shall not be maintained. I think the state at Philadelphia (Revelation 3) indicates [p. 81] that they had gone on in the truth. I think Romans is the great kingdom epistle in its application to men. You get the moral foundation laid. The time was when we all moved with the corrupted condition, but we moved out of it. Men adopt worldly methods in connection with the preaching of the gospel, and act as if no change had come to pass in the kingdom. A heathen would be justified in saying to Christians, ‘We are just as good as you’. The Lord will do the best He can at all times. What we are enjoying here this morning is a sample of what the Lord can do for us. If I find a few saints anywhere walking in the truth, I thank God. They are there for my good, and for the good of others. The Lord has placed them there. But as regards the kingdom publicly it has long since ceased to be the expression of the power of God. When the Babylonians were battering down the walls of Jerusalem what testimony was there to the illustrious power of Jehovah there; the power that delivered them from Egypt, and brought them into Canaan? This illustrates the present condition of that in which the kingdom was established; and yet it is assumed that the gospel can be carried to the heathen as in apostolic days The bearing of the state of things is this: it tends to humble us; but we look for the Lord who will shake the earth and the heavens. But while we are humbled, we are drawn to the Lord. He is not changed, and the Spirit is here.
It is remarkable how little we go on with what the Lord places within our reach — I mean the saints living near to us. We should value intercourse and nearness to the Lord’s people. They are, so to say, the Lord’s provision for us. The Lord is available for us: you could not have things brought nearer to you. It is very encouraging to think of what the Lord can do for us in this way. It is involved in the work of the Good Samaritan: the inn to which He took the man [p. 82] who had fallen. The inn is among the Lord’s people. Everything is through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you get peace it is through our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is through Him.
If we are going on together it must necessarily affect us to see the corrupt state of things. The coming in of the Spirit in the saints established the kingdom, and we should make much of the saints. You find some leave the saints, but it is the height of folly: they are leaving the source of supply, and those who do it never go on in divine things.
You hear the expression “Assembly” here and there, but the Lord never intended to restore any church position. It would be well if the Lord’s people could see this. And the Lord never intends that we should go on together if there is no confidence, but the Lord has revived the truth so that we can walk in the light of the assembly and in fellowship with one another. When Mr. Darby was about to pass away a brother said to him, “We shall have the Lord left”. To this Mr. Darby replied, “And the saints too”. When we find a few saints walking in the truth we find a home; it is the Lord’s provision for us. The measure in which we turn to the Lord, is the measure of our relation to the saints.
To acknowledge the Lord is to stand in relation to His universal claim. You think not only of the church, but all things to which Christ stands related. It is an immense thing to have the understanding that the foundation of God stands. It is a question of what the Lord is capable of. If there is failure in the church the Lord can effect all the will of God.