THE KINGDOM - A TEST AND A REWARD
[p. 338] THE KINGDOM — A TEST AND A REWARD
Luke 12: 32; 2 Thessalonians 1: 5; Ephesians 6: 10 - 17
The more you look into the truth, the more you see what an important place the kingdom has, it is the sense of it that has led me to Luke’s gospel tonight, where the Lord says, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”, and in the light of that He exhorts the disciples to “sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not”; that was the gain the Lord contemplated for them; and, as far as I understand it, the kingdom is great gain.
I need hardly stop to explain that I speak of the kingdom morally, not dispensationally; in fact I do not think that in its present form it is properly a dispensation, for it is a mystery, not a thing manifest as yet. Neither do I speak of what the kingdom has become in the hand of man, of what man has made of it. You see it as a great mustard tree in the world, or may look at it as three measures of meal which have been leavened — that is, a limited sphere in the world which has become permeated with a sort of Christian doctrine, but it is not of that that I am speaking. Neither do I speak of the government entrusted to man, nor yet even of God’s moral government, for that always has been, but I speak of the kingdom entirely in a moral point of view, and of that we read, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”, therefore the kingdom is very great gain. One can see that it is great gain to be under the sway of grace, to be conscious that you are heard of God, that you have approach to the throne of grace, so that you gain mercy, and grace to help in time of need. God is not indifferent to the cry of His people. It may be that you do [p. 339] get the answer just at the time you ask; often people look for that, and are disappointed because they have not received it; but you may believe that God is not indifferent to you, and be encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace. To know that “sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under law, but under grace”, must be a great comfort to the heart of any Christian. It is the fact of being under grace that leads us to the practice of righteousness, in the way of self-judgment.
Now there are two ways in which I wish to speak of the kingdom — as a test and as a reward. I think the kingdom is presented in both these lights. The kingdom is presented clearly in the shape of a test; you are to seek first the kingdom of God. So too in the passage I read in 2 Thessalonians, you suffer for the kingdom of God, and in the epistle to the Ephesians, you fight for it; the kingdom is thus a test for faith, you seek it, you suffer for it, and you fight for it. But then you come to the reward; you are accounted worthy of the kingdom for which you suffer, that is, you get the privilege of reigning with Christ. When Christ takes the kingdom and reigns when He comes again in power, then the part of the saints will be that they will be accounted worthy of the kingdom for which they have suffered. And even in the present we have great gain in the kingdom.
Now the kingdom is a test of what you are pursuing. I ask, what are you pursuing? Do you seek the kingdom of God? or, on the other hand, are you helping on the course of this world? People take up as a necessity a business, or a profession, or what not; but they may be taking it up in such a way so to be helping on the glory of man. I think a Christian needs to be exercised in regard of this, for seeking the kingdom of God is a very different thing from seeking the glory of man. The kingdom of God is in contrast to the glory of the world; the world is Babylonish; the principle [p. 340] of Babylon is that man is exalted, that man is to have a name. Not only did men set to work to build a tower — that is, a memorial — but a city, and the idea of a city is imperial rule; that has been the character of Babylon. It means, in principle, the glory of man, whether it be the ecclesiastical Babylon or the civil Babylon; in this day men have taken up Christianity and used it to confer glory on man. If you think of the Pope, and of the glory that he has acquired by Christianity, or of the head of a christian State, you will soon see that christianity has been used to confer glory on man, and a name; things are falsified in that way. I think that it is of all moment that we should be alive to the existing state of things, and that all will eventually be headed up in the antichrist.
Now, in contrast to this, we have the kingdom of God, and it is a great safeguard; it is not meat nor drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit and these are no small gain in the midst of a world of unrest, and sorrow, and sin; and it is great gain in that it preserves you from what is ruling in this world, that is, the glory of man. But it is a test, for it raises the question as to what you are pursuing, whether helping on the course of the world or pursuing in peace the kingdom of God.
Now I want to show you the effect of the kingdom of God upon us — how you are affected by being under the sway of grace; this comes out in the teaching of grace. A verse in Titus wonderfully describes the teaching of grace; it works in this way, that we live “soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world”. You are separated from the spirit and principle of the age. The age is the contrast to these principles; you could not say that man is marked by sobriety, or righteousness, or piety! But the heart, under the sway of grace, is taught that “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world”. Now, is that not right,
[p. 341] morally wholesome? As regards sobriety, it is a great thing to get away from inflated notions of oneself. Man is accustomed to think much of himself, and of men, but it is inflation, and it is a great thing to get away from this, that is to live soberly — to judge of things not by appearance, but in a sober estimate of myself first, and then of all around me. Grace does not make a radical of a man; it helps a man to estimate things by what they are in the light of truth. Thus we have sobriety.
Then as to righteously. First you walk in self-judgment down here, that is, the application of righteousness to ourselves. It is impossible to carry out righteousness in regard to anyone else, if I do not first in myself, in the way of self-judgment. I judge the motives and springs of things in myself. There are springs of evil in every one of us, but there is no reason why evil should break out in you, if you walk in self-judgment. I quite admit the importance of walking righteously in regard of one’s neighbour; we are to “owe no man anything, but to love one another”; but if you are to maintain righteousness in the world, you must begin at home. That is what the presence of the Holy Spirit calls for in a Christian. Sin is not allowed; we do not walk in sin, but in the judgment of sin — that is the path of the Christian.
Now righteousness undoubtedly separates you from the course of the world. Any man who is accustomed to walk in self-judgment is practically separated from the world, for it is impossible for him to go on with those who do not walk in self-judgment; there is that distance between him and the unconverted man. The unconverted man is not exercised as regards holiness, and he could not be pursuing it, because he does not carry out righteousness, and that is the true way to holiness. He might not break out into anything gross, but he is not concerned with regard to holiness, and it is impossible for the Christian to go [p. 342] on with those who are not pursuing holiness, without which no man can see the Lord.
But further, we have piety. I think that piety means the sense of God’s care in regard of every necessity of this life, so that one is not governed by mere worldly prudence or forethought. Confidence in the care and goodness of God is what I understand by piety. Faith carries me into God’s things, piety brings God into my things. Now that is the effect of being under the sway of grace. My course and ways are not ordered according to human prudence, but in confidence in God. As the apostle says to Timothy, “Therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe”. Seek the kingdom of God, and the effect will be greatly to separate you from the spirit and principle of the age in which you are, because your mind is governed by principles different from those which rule in the world — by sobriety, and righteousness, and piety; and these things do not contribute to the glory of man. If a man is to have part in the glory of the world, there must be a considerable amount of self-confidence with him — he must not be too morally punctilious; and he cannot be pious, because he must be governed by the principles, and maxims, and spirit of this world, and they have nothing to do with denying ungodliness and worldly lusts; but in having done this you find yourself against the current of this world, and it brings you to suffering, and a Christian must be prepared to suffer loss in this world. It is a question of the glory of this moment, or of the glory of the Lord; and if you have glory with men, you will not have glory with the Lord.
Now where grace has its true effect you are “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ” — you are waiting for the glory. Grace leads to glory — it is the divinely-appointed way to glory; but you will [p. 343] not have part in the glory of the Lord if you are pursuing the glory of man, and therefore the kingdom becomes a test to each one of us. But there is the other side to it; you will be accounted worthy of the kingdom for which you suffer. In early days Christians suffered much more that we do. These Thessalonians had suffered in a very real way for the kingdom of God; when they had turned from idols they found themselves separated from all that was accounted religious. The Jews, the religious people, had turned to be persecutors of all who took the ground of being under grace, and the Gentiles had suffered like things of their own countrymen; but then they were accounted worthy of the kingdom for which they had suffered.
Now I think you will admit that grace has a very great effect upon us. I feel the great importance of righteousness; grace reigns through righteousness. It is of great moment in connection with the authority of the Lord. Under grace we are not afraid to touch the question of righteousness, because we know that there is no imputation of sin; we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, and therefore we can afford to walk in righteousness. I do not think I should be concerned about righteousness, unless I knew that I had the forgiveness of sins. And grace reigns “unto eternal life” — you are going in that direction. I will tell you how that works; if you recognise the obligation to righteousness the Spirit is free, and is a well of water springing up unto eternal life. The great point is that the Spirit should be free, and for that there must be the acceptance of the obligation to righteousness. To have righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, you must learn that the Spirit will not tolerate the flesh; but with many of us the Spirit is occupied against the flesh, but in self-judgment the Spirit is free in you to spring up to eternal life. You must walk in self-judgment; you cannot conceive a greater delusion than the idea of holiness as held by [p. 344] some today; the only way to holiness is in self-judgment. They that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, because they do not walk in self-judgment; and they that sow to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting — and that does not refer to the future, you reap it now, in the power of the Spirit. The Spirit of God, being free, leads us into the light of the Father and the Son, into the sphere and region of divine life, and there it is that we reap life everlasting. It is into the sphere of divine love, where the love of the Father and of the Son is known and enjoyed, that the Spirit leads the heart of the Christian, and there it is that you get the reality of eternal life.
Now one word more. As you go on you will find that it was the Father who brought you into the kingdom, and that is a very important point to apprehend. Many have thought that they got into the kingdom by faith in the gospel, and that is true, too; but when you get more light you apprehend that the Father brought you into it. That is a great comfort to me — to see that everything originated with the Father; if it had originated with me, I should have little comfort, but I can have confidence knowing that everything originated with the Father — as you read in Colossians, “Giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light; who has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love”. It has been the work of the Father to translate you into the kingdom of the Son of His love. The Father has brought you there that you might be in the light of the Son of His love, that your pathway down here might be directed and governed by Him. And if you walk in the light of the Lord, you cannot go far wrong in this world. It is a great thing to get away from man, and from the regard of man, so that you are not looking for direction to this one, or to that one; and to be conscious too that your pathway down here is not in yourself — it is not in man [p. 345] that walketh to direct his steps, but in the light of the Son of the Father’s love. We get guidance and direction from there, where He is — from above. And He, too, is your Shepherd.
And there is a reward. You will sit down with all the worthies of the Old Testament at the table of Christ, in His kingdom. They all will have their part in the glory of the kingdom; everything that has been of God will be gathered up in heaven, and every worthy will be there — Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob — and you will sit down with them, and Christ Himself will be the minister of our joys there, and we shall reign with Him. Christians who seek to reign now can have very little knowledge of what it is to be under the sway of grace; they want to hold to the world, and yet with a certain amount of piety. If your heart is under the sway of grace, it will certainly have the effect of separating you from the scene of Babylonish glory. I do not think we can be too simple in our ways in this world in the avoidance of show or anything of the sort, living soberly, and righteously, and piously. You do not want to sail as close to the wind as possible, but to value what is of God; and that can only be as the heart is under the sway of grace. And then we are like men who wait for their Lord; the great thing is faithfulness to the Lord in the time of His absence, the confession of His name. But the Lord is going to return, and the point is that when He comes and knocks, we might open to Him immediately. The coming of the Lord is bound up with the thought of the kingdom, and it is a great thing on our part to be watching and faithful, looking for the blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The glory of man is in appearance, but the glory of God is moral; it is the effulgence of what God Himself is morally, the shining forth of His wisdom, and holiness, and love in the accomplishment of His counsels. The glory of man is glitter and tinsel; it may be very good [p. 346] tinsel, but tinsel it is, and the characteristic of all here is that it degenerates. Solomon says, in regard to everything under the sun, “all is vanity”; it degenerates, but the glory of God will never degenerate.
May God give us grace to see the gain of the kingdom, that is the thing I would press. It is a gift on the part of the Father. If the Father has brought you to the kingdom, it is because the kingdom is great gain, but at the same time it is a test to each of us. We must be prepared to suffer for it. If you stand for it, you have to take to you the whole armour of God, and the sword of the Spirit, and you fight for the kingdom; and though apparently you suffer, often you gain the victory. It is a curious thing that where saints suffer for the kingdom, they often gain the victory morally. You see this with the Lord Himself — it was in death that He gained the victory over the enemy; and so it is often true, that in suffering for a thing you gain the victory. May God give us to see the reality of these things, and separate us more from the course of things in this world, and from the glory of man.