THE KINGDOM OF GOD
E.M.Walkinshaw
Romans 14: 16-18; 1 Corinthians 4: 17-20; Colossians 1: 12-18
I have the impression, dear brethren, to say something about the kingdom of God, because the gospel has in mind that God should have moral sway in the soul of the believer. It is the secret to much, I think, in our history. The glad tidings reach us bringing with them benefits - the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit - and I trust that every one here knows the forgiveness of sins and has received the Holy Spirit; that is God's intention when the glad tidings reach us. God's disposition which is towards all men is that of blessing. Often we get a wrong impression of God. I had a wrong impression of God when I was a young man, thinking for quite a long time that God's attitude was one of severity and judgment. But because of the work of Jesus God's disposition towards man is to bless. Now I know that Scripture does speak of the severity of God and of the judgment of God, but judgment is His strange work. What God has in His mind for man is blessing; that is for all mankind. Scripture says "God, who desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth", 1 Tim 2: 4. What a wonderful outlook that is! It is God's outlook, and that is to be the outlook of the believer; so you can preach the gospel to anybody. There is no class distinction, no colour distinction, it is a question of God and men, and God's outlook towards men is that of blessing.
But God blesses in order that He might rule. His will in the world to come will dominate, but there will still be blessing. And I think the end of the gospel is that man should come under the moral sway of God. Our greatest deficiencies, dear brethren, I think spring from insubjection. The world is insubject; man in the world is increasing in lawlessness and in the insistence on his own way, and it will no doubt culminate in the man who exalts and opposes himself against all called God, or object of veneration (see 2 Thess 2: 4), so that he himself sits down in the temple of Goel saying that he himself is God. That I suppose is the fullblown expression of what was said at the beginning: "ye will be as God" (Gen 3: 5) - a solemn consideration, because we are having to say to divine realities, not philosophies or teachings, either Christian teachings or teachings of a particular group of Christians, but we are having to say to God. This is a sobering consideration that such a man, the man of sin, will appear and sit himself down in the temple of God saying that he himself is God. Now that is in every human heart. As far as I am concerned personally I have the potential in sin to be the man of sin, but I have not the potential in brains, for which I can thank God. I have the potential in sin, my heart is no better than his and no different, but I have no doubt that that man will be a genius, which everybody knows I am not. Nevertheless it is a sobering consideration that there will be such a man that will be the full blown expression of what is in the human heart.
Now God has a kingdom and He would bring us into the gain of it. As we are brought into the gain of the kingdom we are brought, as we know, into the assembly. There is no room for any will other than God's in His assembly, and there is no room for selfopinionated people in God's assembly. And I think the object in the gospel is to bring us into subjection to God, because the kingdom of God is that God is supreme. He will be that in the day to come but I think that the word for us today is that there should be subjection. Now I would like to call attention to the fact that subjection is not simply obedience to commandments but is a state of soul. You will notice that in the end of John 3 it says "He that is not subject to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon Him" (v 36). The footnote to the word subjection is, not simply practical obedience to the commandments which may be a consequence but the obedience of submission to His person. So whether you approach God, or the Scriptures, or the brethren, or a brother in regard of a difficulty, or a problem in the local assembly, you approach in a subject frame of mind and a subject state of soul. You may have to question what is said or raise questions about the truth, but you would raise them in a subject frame of mind and state of soul. So I look on subjection not as a practical submission to commandments but as a state in the believer who is in the gain of the kingdom of God.
Now we all know the expression 'the moral sway of God in the soul'. That is continuous and constant, not something that arises when it is necessary. But the fact is that God is to be supreme in the soul of man and I think the gospel would bring us to that. The Lord Jesus has died that it might be so. Righteousness has been satisfied in the work of Jesus and love flows freely. But love flowing freely is intended to bring us into love's subjection to God Himself, so that He is supreme in our souls. And if He is supreme in your soul, and if He is supreme and in control in the soul of every brother in the meeting, you have a subject state where the will of God predominates. And where do you begin? You begin with number one, you must do! It is not a question of looking at some difficulty; I am not thinking of that for the moment but of what is characteristic in my state of soul as I am before God. Peter says "ye younger, be subject to the elder", 1 Pet 5: 5. And let me appeal to my younger brethren in particular, those who are likely to fall into the snare of the enemy through this teaching of free expression; if you are seeking to stand for the truth with the older brethren, stand for the truth with respect both for it and them and approach it in a subject state of mind and soul.
Now as we proceed in this epistle Paul comes to this wonderful statement that "the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit". That is the normal consequence seen in a person under the moral sway of God. Is God not entitled to expect us to be practically righteous if He has reckoned us righteous through faith in Christ? And peace, which is a consequence, and joy in the Holy Spirit; all three are in the Holy Spirit; it is righteousness in the Holy Spirit, peace in the Holy Spirit and joy in the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God emphasises the presence of the Spirit here to put into effect in the souls of the saints what is vested in Christ on high. The kingdom of the heavens of Christ above; the kingdom of God is the effective operation of the Spirit to put the truth into effect. Now I would desire myself, dear brethren, to be in the gain of the kingdom. If I am not in the good of the kingdom I shall be of no value in the assembly, in fact I shall not be vitally in it. It is a solemn thing when there is an expression of the will of man in God's assembly. And after all, whatever difficulty may arise there, the reason is that there is some will working other than God's. You may say that it is weakness. But whose will is it? God's will? That is the question that determines everything, and I think that the Spirit of God would help us to be under the moral sway of God and exercised in His presence to be characterised by subjection. Now righteousness is practical; you do what is right. I find the test is not the doing of what is right but knowing what is the right thing to do. The Spirit of God would help us about that; but one thing is certain, that if righteousness is not pursued then peace will be absent, and if righteousness and peace are not known then joy also will be absent. It may be that is the secret of Mr Taylor saying at one time that he noticed an absence of joy amongst the brethren, because it could well be there was an absence of righteousness with a consequent absence of peace and of joy. Now I think the full effects of this will be seen in the world to come: righteousness, peace and joy. Tension will be absent. I find it is difficult to visualise the world to come where God will be supreme in blessing. Now, as I say, the gospel is intended to bring us to this, and I would like to ask each of us here whether we are exercised to come under the moral sway of God. He has nothing but blessing for us. I tend to shrink from it, I admit that, because it means the setting aside of my will and I do not like that. There is nobody here who likes that. We know it is true that you may have a company present of two hundred and fifty people and you have two hundred and fifty wills, two hundred and fifty wills all working in different directions it may be. What a wonderful thing to have two hundred and fifty persons who have come under the moral sway of God through our Lord Jesus Christ and where only one will is dominant!
In Corinthians Paul speaks again of the kingdom of God, which, he says, "is not in word, but in power". One feels the great need for this, dear brethren. It is one thing to speak about the kingdom of God but it is another thing for there to be some evidence of divine power in the Spirit putting into effect the speaking. It says of certain that they so spake that many believed (see Acts 4: 4), and I would love so to speak that many believe. Paul was not concerned about words as we know; he says later that it is better to speak five words that can be understood than ten thousand in an unknown tongue (see 1 Cor 14: 19). The great question is, is the source of the speaking the Spirit of God or the flesh? Paul brings in the truth of the assembly about which we prayed - Christ loved the assembly and gave Himself for it (see Eph 5: 5) - and the administration of it was given to Paul – the mystery - in the same way as the administration of the glad tidings was given to him. The Lord put the two things in one man so that they would never be separated; it was never intended that they should be. Men have separated them but it has never been intended that the administration of the glad tidings should be separated from the administration of the assembly. But now he says "I will come quickly to you, if the Lord will; and I will know not the word of those that are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power". That is to say, as far as one understands it, that the Spirit of God is here to put things into effect in the souls of the saints, and I think ministry is intended to that end. But the truth makes a way for itself; so in another connection he says "we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth", 2 Cor 13: 8. You see, dear brethren, I can do nothing in you and you can do nothing in me. I cannot see your motives, your thoughts, neither can you see my motives or my thoughts. But in speaking, whether in ministry or with one another, we are wholly dependent on the Spirit of God to give efficacy to what may be said. Now we count on Him to do that, and I think if I might be so bold as to say so, where our deficiency lies today is not in assembly administration but in the truth of the kingdom. It is my impression that we are not sufficiently in the path of God's will in simple subjection to Himself. Other considerations turn us aside, such as personal feelings which often enter into difficulties. All this exposes that we - and when I say 'we' I mean we and not you - we are affected by all kinds of influences, man's soul being the battleground of influences. But God's mind is that the Spirit should be in control and that the truth should be effective so that we may be persons subject to the will of God and as such fitted to have our part in His assembly; whether it be in administration, or in the service of praise, or in the representation of Himself here, all must be as we are in the gain of the kingdom of God. Now I think you will find that in almost every difficulty that arises amongst the saints and has done since the outset of the recovery, God in His goodness brings us back to the truth of the kingdom. In other words He says, This is the problem, there is someone else's will working instead of Mine. I think another problem that we are facing today is that there is not a resistance to the ministry but an ignoring of it, and I think we should be exercised not to resist it and not to ignore it but to take it up in exercise with God so that we might come into the gain of it.
Now in Colossians it says "giving thanks to the Father, who has... delivered us from the authority of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love". How beneficent that is! For a long time I generally thought of the kingdom as something that was introduced to put my will down. But God's kingdom is much greater than that. The world to come of which we speak and of which we have spoken will be a world of blessing, but it must be contingent on God's will being predominant - it must be so. When God comes in sin goes out. When God's will comes in publicly it will come in in power to affect the whole universe and then every other will must be put out. Now that should obtain in our local assemblies; where the Lord comes in (and we should watch for Him to come in) sin and lawlessness go out. But then there is the breadth of blessing in it: "the kingdom of the Son of his love". The world to come will be an administration of blessing. It says "he shewed me a river of water of life", Rev 22: 1. Where is the source of that? "Going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb". A river of water of life going out of the throne shows that God's throne is recognised, and the result of that is the beneficent flow of the river of water of life, on this side and on that side the tree of life the leaves of which are for healing of the nations. The whole of God's kingdom is one of blessing, where God is known, where God is loved, where God is responded to. It is not arbitrary but marked by the divine nature which is love. So the kingdom of the Son of His love is indeed wonderful. Have we thought sufficiently about the beneficent side of the kingdom? because the throne in Revelation 22 is a beneficent throne. Everything has been settled, and therefore the river is flowing; righteousness is satisfied and love flows freely. And how beneficent it is and how blessed in the assembly to be brought into the knowledge of God in the kingdom of the Son of His love!
Paul goes on in Colossians to speak of the greatness of the Person, as you will notice: "in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins; who is image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation", and then it outlines the glories of Jesus as man. There are things said of Him that could only be said of God, I agree, but what is said of Him is said of Him as man. And one of the things said to which I would like to call attention is this: "that he might have the first place in all things", that is in the kingdom of the Son of His love. What does "all things" mean? Has He the first place in your heart? I would desire that the Holy Spirit would make these things real to us all. Has He the first place in your heart? I noticed last week in ministry this remark: where Christ is dwelling in the heart it is hard for a person to be discontented. Now if Christ has the first place in your heart you will be contented; you will not want a bigger and better car, or a bigger or better house, or a bigger or better salary; you will be contented because Christ is in your heart and He has the first place there. Now is that the case with you? Oh yes, you are perfectly entitled to reply, I will ask you the same question, has He the first place in your heart? It is a challenge to each of us. And I repeat what has been said many times, that one of the greatest dangers that any minister or preacher could face is in supposing that what he says to others does not apply to himself. What is said applies as much to the speaker as those to whom he speaks. I would like to ask you, has Christ the first place in your heart? Then in your practical life, does He have the first place day by day? I would have to say, alas, that often it is not so with me. With the Lord Jesus His Father was the sole object and motive of everything He did and said and thought, and I think Jesus was a contented Man. Now I ask myself if that Man has the first place day by day in my life. Then what about my home? Has He the first place there? I find that is a test too. And what about the local assembly? Has He the first place there? Remember this, if you desire the first place in the local assembly then you desire Christ's place. Now that is very sobering. We do not want anybody to have that, and nobody would wish to have it, I trust. The human heart is such and works in such a subtle way that each person might wish to have the first place in the local meeting, but it is Christ's place: "that he might have the first place in all things". All of us need to be exercised about it because I do not suppose there is one person here that would say that Christ has the first place in all things in his life; I do not think there is anybody that would dare to say it. Therefore let us be exercised and we will find that where He has the first place there will be satisfaction and contentment; whatever your circumstances you will be content. I think Paul was a man who was in the good of the kingdom of God, the moral sway of God; his soul was satisfied with what he found in Christ; He was everything to him; Therefore he said "I have learnt in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied in myself" (Phil 4: 11); not with myself of course but "satisfied in myself". There is a man in the good of the kingdom. Now what about you? Paul is with the Lord, he has been with the Lord a much longer time than he suffered here in the testimony, and the same is true of Mr Darby. Those are just practical facts. But Paul, I think, demonstrates a man who is in the good of the kingdom, and as in the good of the kingdom he knew in his own soul the beneficent sway of God and all the blessings that flow from it. Now you can have no greater blessing than the knowledge of God. You will take it with you, you will take nothing else; you brought nothing in, and you will take nothing out but the knowledge of God. Now do you not think that is very wonderful? You must admit that if you just think of it objectively it must be, that a creature such as I am should have the knowledge of the eternal God - what a privilege! - yet that knowledge has been brought to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. And in having the knowledge of God we have the knowledge of all the blessings that result from it. Now these things will be known by us as there is a simple state of subjection with us. This is one of our difficulties I believe generally. I am not speaking of this locality or this country, I am speaking generally; one of our difficulties is that we do not approach matters in a subject state of soul and a subject frame of mind. Most of us are too self-opinionated, that is one of the greatest problems, and we are quite prepared on the basis of being self-opinionated to act independently instead of acting in the normality of the position as it is in God's grace, leaving certain matters with Him, although of course taking matters up that should be taken up as He would help us. But I think whatever it is, what God looks for in the believer is meekness and lowliness; meekness is before men, lowliness is before God. That is the character that should mark the believer; not the character of the believer when he is facing difficulties but the character of the believer all the time. How wonderful that is, dear brethren! I think there is no greater blessing than that which the gospel brings us into, which is the knowledge of God and simple submission to His will.
May we be exercised, all of us, in this direction. Wherever we may have attained, whatever present exercises may be, may we be exercised to be increasingly in a subject frame of mind and subject state of soul before our blessed God in our approach to every matter of daily life; whether home life, personal life, assembly life, general life, whatever it be, to approach it as subject to God Himself. May it be so for His glory.
NEW YORK
14 July 1979