Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Matthew?
And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying,
All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth.
Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you:
and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying,
Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Christ:
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,
who accuseth them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb,
and because of the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their life even unto death.
And the seventh angel sounded;
and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said,
The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ:
and He shall reign for ever and ever.
Dear Heavenly Father, we want to thank Thee because Thou hast brought us to this point. It is all Thy mercy and grace. And we do thank Thee that Thou dost allow us to meet again in the name of Thy beloved Son.
We know that we are in Thy presence, and we just ask Thee that Thou wilt speak to us through Thy Word. Thy words are life and spirit to us. We pray that through Thy Word, Thy work may be done in us, as it is in heaven; and to Thee be the glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
This is the last ministry session of this conference. Thank God, we have been considering together before Him this matter of, “Thy kingdom come.”
We have considered the matter of the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens. You know, sometimes we think the kingdom of heaven is not much of a gospel—a good news.
Now, to those who do not know the Lord, or to those who know the Lord and yet do not follow the Lord, the kingdom is bad news. But to those who belong to Him and who love Him, the kingdom is really the best news. There can be no better news than the news that the King is coming, that He is to have His kingdom, and that He has included us in that kingdom.
As our brother has already mentioned, when we think of the kingdom, we think of kingship. We think of our Lord Jesus as our King. Who can be a better King than our Lord Jesus? He is the best King. To be under His kingship, under His rulership, to be served by Him—that is the greatest blessing.
Now, it is true, as our brother has already mentioned, in order to gain the kingdom, we need to seize it by violence, and the violent seize it by force. It is true that we have to be violent to ourselves, to deny ourselves, to take up the cross, and follow Him.
And it seems as if it is very difficult—impossible for us to enter and gain the kingdom. But thank God, there is grace there. It is only by His grace that we are able to attain the kingdom, and His grace is always there. His grace is sufficient for each day.
Then we considered together the matter of the kingdom and the cross. Sometimes when we think of the kingdom, we think of the throne; we never think of the cross. Who would want the cross? But everybody desires the throne.
The early disciples of our Lord Jesus were no different from us. They all wanted to sit at the right and the left of our Lord Jesus without drinking the cup that the Lord was drinking and being baptized with the baptism with which our Lord was baptized.
But without the cross, there can be no kingdom. Even our King had to go to the cross in order to have His kingdom. The cross is the very nature of that kingdom. Therefore, brothers and sisters, thank God for the cross, because it is the way to the kingdom of God.
Then we considered together the matter of the kingdom and the church, because we find in the Word of God that the kingdom and the church, in spiritual reality, are the same. They are two aspects of the same thing.
When we talk about the church, we think of life—the life that our Lord has given to us. When we think of the kingdom, we think of authority: His authority exercised in life.
We think of the church as fellowship; then we think of the kingdom as discipline. So, brothers and sisters, we find that the kingdom and the church, in spiritual reality, are one and the same thing. But in history they are different.
There are times when the church and the kingdom seem to run together, and at other times we find that the kingdom actually is bigger than the church.
Now, how can the church be built? The church is built by the kingdom—that is, by kingdom principles. Unless we hold fast the Head, there is no way for us to be united together and joined together as the body of Christ.
Unless we know the government of God, we will all be scattered and cannot be put together. Unless we know the discipline of the Holy Spirit, there is no way that we can be united as one. So, brothers and sisters, it is the kingdom that builds the church.
Now this morning, we would like to consider before the Lord the last thing: the church brings in the kingdom.
The church is the instrument of God in preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom. Then, after His death and resurrection, before His ascension, in the Gospel according to Matthew, He met His disciples on a mountain in Galilee. There He came to them and said, “All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth.”
Now, of course, as the Son of God—as God—all power and all authority were His eternally. But when our Lord Jesus said, “All authority hath been given unto Me,” we know that He was given authority and power over heaven and earth on the basis of His victory won on Calvary’s cross.
He was given that authority and power by God the Father as the Son of Man. He has authority because He has overcome.
He has, on the cross, judged the ruler of this world. He has spoiled principalities and authorities and has publicly displayed them as His spoils. He has overcome death. He has the keys of death and Hades.
In other words, He has wrested from the usurper the authority and the power. It is now His, and He is going to establish His kingdom upon this earth.
You cannot establish a kingdom without power and authority. But now authority and power have all been given to Him. Therefore He said, “You go.” On the basis of that, you can go and preach the gospel of the kingdom.
We call this the Great Commission. In Christianity, we consider this Great Commission as a commission to the church to go into the world and evangelize the world. Now, it is true that this is included, but this is much more than just evangelizing.
Because our Lord Jesus Himself, who gives this Great Commission, said, “Go and disciple all the nations.” We know discipleship is more than just teaching the gospel of forgiveness, remission of sins, and receiving Jesus as Savior.
We know that discipleship means that after you have come to the Lord, you need to put yourself under His authority. To be a disciple is to be a learner: to learn of Him, to put yourself under your Master, to let Him control your life, and to let Him train you so that you may be transformed and become like Him.
So we know that the gospel which the church is to bring to the world is the gospel of the King. We have a King, and He is building His kingdom upon this earth. To disciple all nations means that people come to Him and put themselves under His training.
“Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Now, why baptism? What does baptism mean?
It simply means this: by being baptized, you go into death, burial, and resurrection. That is to say, you die to your past—not only your past history, but your past life. You die to everything in the past and get it buried, disappeared from sight, so that you can come up in resurrection in newness of life.
Newness of life means that from now on you no longer belong to Pharaoh. The children of Israel, as they passed through the Red Sea, were baptized. They were dead to Pharaoh, dead to the world, and they were made alive unto God.
So when the children of Israel were baptized, they came out of one realm, one world, and entered into a different world. Now, brothers and sisters, this is the reason why, when the gospel is preached and people receive the gospel, they have to be baptized.
They have to let the past completely go, and they belong now to a new King, to a new Master—our Lord Jesus Christ. That is baptism. But that is only an initiation into the kingdom.
Unless we let go of everything, unless we are completely separated from the past, He is not able to continue His work in us. That is the reason why, having baptized them, we are to teach them all things that He has commanded.
In other words, you are now in a position to learn. You are in a position to learn of Him. And He promises us that He will be with us until the completion of the age. In other words, this will continue until His coming.
This is the Great Commission.
Thank God, the early church knew what that commission was. You find the first preaching in the early church—and you cannot get any earlier than that, because this was the first day the church was born.
There on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter stood up with the eleven and gave a message preaching on the kingdom of God. He concluded his message with this: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.”
Now, what kind of message is this? It is the message of the kingdom. Here is a King whom you rejected, but God recognized; and this is the King to whom you have to yield yourselves.
When they heard this, of course, they were pricked in their hearts. Why? Because they knew they had done the wrong thing. They had to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins, that they might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
So in the beginning, you find that the church did preach the kingdom—the gospel of the kingdom. And when that gospel was preached, what resulted? Three thousand came into the kingdom of God in one day. Continuously, you find God adding to them.
You go through the Book of Acts, which is the history of the early church, and you come to the last chapter, chapter 28. There you find the apostle Paul. He was a prisoner in Rome, and yet in his own rented apartment he was able to preach the kingdom of God and teach the things concerning our Lord Jesus for two years, unhinderedly.
In other words, no matter what opposition there was in the world, the church was still preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and God was with them.
When the church preaches the gospel of the kingdom, it prospers.
But unfortunately, we find that gradually the church began to preach half a gospel instead of the full gospel. We find that the church began to preach only the gospel of grace—of forgiveness of sins, of receiving the Lord Jesus as Savior, that you may go to heaven and not to hell.
In preaching such a gospel, you produce a whole harvest of Christians who are self-centered, because everything is for them. God is for them. Jesus Christ is for them. It is for their good. Christ died on the cross.
Now, it is true in one sense, but in another sense you find that you produce a whole crop of believers who are saved, yet self-centered. They live their own lives. They want God to serve them; and when God does not serve them as quickly as they think He should, they murmur and rebel.
Brothers and sisters, because of such preaching, you find a weak church.
Furthermore, gradually you find that the church is not teaching the gospel of the kingdom. They begin to preach on the church.
Now, brothers and sisters, when our Lord Jesus was on earth, He preached the gospel of the kingdom. He did mention the church, but He did not preach on the church. By preaching the gospel of the kingdom, He got His church.
But when the church begins to preach on herself, the truth begins to become introspective. We begin to turn within ourselves and begin to see how we should organize ourselves, how we should engage in all the activities, and how we should draw people to us.
You find that we all become involved in methods, programs, and ways. We adopt the ways of the world and try to build the church. Brothers and sisters, when you are doing that, not only does the kingdom disappear; even the church disappears.
And that is what has been happening, and it is still happening.
Remember, when our Lord Jesus gave us this Great Commission, He wanted us to go and preach the gospel of the kingdom. He wants us to go out and declare that there is a King. He is the King of heaven, but He has come upon this earth. He has overcome. He has every right to have this earth, and we are His.
Brothers and sisters, the church is the instrument in God’s hand to preach the kingdom of the heavens.
Thank God, in recent decades there seems to be a return. As a matter of fact, you find in church history that whenever there is a recovery, a revival, or a renewal, you find that in the message there is always an element of the gospel of the kingdom.
Thank God that in our days, it seems as if the gospel of the kingdom is gradually being recovered. People begin to talk about the headship of Christ. People begin to talk about authority and submission. People begin to talk about discipline.
Now, it is true: the enemy knows, and he tries to come in and confuse us. When we are talking about authority, we find that among God’s people authority may be understood in such a way that it becomes human authority instead of divine authority.
We may talk about submission to such a degree that you not only submit to God and obey God absolutely, but people demand that you obey man absolutely. They rule your life.
It is true that discipline is a principle of the kingdom, and yet you find it taught to an extreme, putting people under other people so that they lose completely not only their liberty, but even their personality.
Now, it is true that there are extremes. But thank God, we do find in our days that these teachings are coming back. Actually, they are part of the gospel of the kingdom.
What is needed is the real thing, and not the counterfeit. We need to know the difference between the real and the false. We must not throw the whole thing away because there are extremes, false teachings, and so forth.
Brothers and sisters, our King is coming. It is time for us to put ourselves under His authority. It is time for us to be under His rulership. It is time to be disciplined by Him.
The kingdom must be preached. As our brother mentioned yesterday, in Matthew 24, the gospel of the kingdom must be preached throughout all the nations. Then the end shall come.
In preaching the gospel of the kingdom, you have to practice the principles of the kingdom yourselves. Otherwise, our preaching will be in vain.
We may preach the gospel of the kingdom, but if we ourselves are not under the kingship of Christ, brothers and sisters, our preaching will be ineffective.
So first of all, we who are the messengers of the gospel of the kingdom need to put ourselves under His kingship first. Be sure that this is the case. Then, when we start to preach, you find that the Holy Spirit will bear witness to our preaching, and people will come and put themselves under the kingship of Christ.
So this is how the church brings in the kingdom: by preaching.
Secondly, the church brings in the kingdom by praying it in.
You know, our theme is from the so-called Lord’s Prayer. Our brother has already mentioned it; I am always following in their footsteps.
The Lord taught His disciples to pray. The Lord taught the church to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Now, I personally believe that the Lord would never teach us to pray that which He Himself has not prayed. So evidently, this is our Lord’s prayer too.
Our Lord is so one with the Father. He knows the purpose of God. He knows the desire of God. He knows how God desires that His kingdom may come.
His kingdom has suffered loss on this earth, and it is the desire of the Father that His kingdom will come upon this earth as it is in heaven. In heaven, His kingdom is there. He rules supreme, unchallenged. He is willingly and voluntarily served by countless numbers of angelic hosts. There in heaven, you find harmony.
But on earth, it is a different story. On earth, we find resistance and opposition. On earth, we find darkness there. So it is the desire, the longing, of our God and Father to regain His kingdom, as it were—to recover His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Our Lord Jesus knew the Father’s heart and was one with the Father. So it was also His prayer: “Thy kingdom come.” How He longed to see His Father’s kingdom come upon this earth.
That is the reason why He shared it with us and said, “Now, you pray too: Thy kingdom come.” Brothers and sisters, He wants us to be one with Him. He wants us to share with Him in His burden. He wants us to desire what He desires and pray for it.
You know, prayer is a mystery. We do not understand it, because we think that God, who is almighty, if He has a will or desires anything, can do it all by Himself. He does not need any help. When He created the heavens and the earth, He had no help.
So why is it that He wants us to pray? And if we do not pray, He cannot have His kingdom? It is a mystery.
The only thing we know is that somehow it is His good pleasure. It pleases Him that He wants us to cooperate with Him. He wants us to desire what He desires. He wants us to stand with Him. He likes it. This is the way He wants it to be.
What a privilege it is. What an honor it is.
We are told, what is prayer? Prayer actually does not begin with man. Prayer begins with God. There in God is a will, and then He reveals that will to those who are near to Him.
Those who receive the revelation of that will become so one with Him that they begin to pray to God concerning that will. They tell God, “We want that will to be done. We want it to be done as You will.”
When we begin to pray in this manner, He hears it, and He says, “I will do it.” Now, that is prayer.
He shares with us His desire. In a sense, if we do not pray, then what will happen?
You know, God is almighty. He can do everything. But have you ever thought that there is one creature that can limit God? And that is man. Man is the only creature that He has created who can limit Him.
If the church does not pray, “Thy kingdom come,” His kingdom will not come. Do you realize how serious it is?
Why? Well, it is the good pleasure of God. It is as if He says, “Unless you want it as I want it, unless you desire it as I so desire, I am willing not to have it.”
You know, when you really realize it, it overwhelms you.
Oh, how He longs that we take up His desires. How He wishes that we will pray to Him, “Thy kingdom come. We cannot wait. We want Thy kingdom to come as quickly as possible.”
Not for our sake—for Your sake. We love You. We want You to have what You want.
Brothers and sisters, through all the ages, can it be because the church is sleeping? When our Lord Jesus said, “Stay awake. Watch with Me just for a moment,” we went to sleep. We let Him pray all by Himself.
He is calling His church, the vessel of His will, to join with Him in prayer: “Thy kingdom come.”
Brothers and sisters, in the early church you find kingdom prayers. You know, today we pray small prayers—personal prayers, individual prayers. We pray for our needs; we pray for this and for that. But we do not know how to pray the kingdom prayer.
If you read the Book of Acts, in chapter 4, you find the apostles being persecuted. They came back to their own and told them how the world was opposing the gospel, opposing the King.
What did they do? You find the whole company of believers joined together with one accord, and they prayed the kingdom prayer. The place was shaken, and they were given boldness to go out and preach the gospel.
When Peter was put in prison, the Bible says the church prayed. In answer to the prayer of the church, God sent His angel to open iron gates and set His servant free, that he might continue preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
But, brothers and sisters, such prayer has vanished.
Can it be because we are praying our own prayers and not praying for the kingdom of God? Is that the reason why, even today, the kingdom of God has not been able to be publicly manifested on earth?
The church has a tremendous responsibility here.
You know, prayer is our weapon. We are engaged in spiritual warfare. In this world, you find there are two kingdoms.
There is a kingdom of darkness, and darkness rules over the whole earth. Then you find there is a kingdom of God among those who are discipled to Christ. These two kingdoms are in collision.
How are we going to face this warfare? What is our weapon?
In 2 Corinthians 10, we are told that we are engaged in warfare, but it is not against flesh and blood. Even though outwardly it is flesh and blood that is forcing upon us, persecuting us, and pressing upon us, the Lord says, “No, we are not fighting against flesh and blood.”
Our real enemy is the unseen force. He hides behind everything—every man, every event. He hides behind them, but he is the real enemy. The only way to fight against him is through prayer.
How the enemy builds up strongholds in people’s minds. Over the years, over the ages, he has been building many strongholds in the human mind—in our imagination, in our perception, in our memory, and in our thinking. He has built tremendous strongholds in our minds.
We are told that a battle of the mind is going on. Of course, the purpose is to reach the will, the citadel which is the will. It is through the mind that you get to the will.
Brothers and sisters, how are we going to overthrow all the strongholds built through the years? Not only in unbelievers, brothers and sisters, but we find that even in the minds of believers—those of us who are the Lord’s—these strongholds are still there.
You know, when we are saved, initial salvation is a matter of the spirit. He that is born of the Spirit is spirit. Our dead spirit is quickened into life and becomes a new spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in our spirit. That is new birth—regeneration.
But what happens to our mind? Now, it is true, when we believe in the Lord Jesus, there is a kind of change in our mind, because repentance means a change of mind. But that change is for a moment.
Basically, our mind is still the old mind. So that is the problem with believers today: we have a new spirit, but we carry an old mind. We still think in the old ways. We still evaluate things in the old way.
Our imagination is still held by the enemy. Sometimes God’s truth cannot penetrate. You may hear, but you do not hear. Or you may hear and misinterpret it. You interpret it by your darkened mind—your reprobate mind.
Oh, how our mind needs to be saved and delivered. All the strongholds that the enemy has built up through the years—our prejudices, preconceived ideas—all these need to be overturned. Every thought must be led captive to Christ, to the obedience of Christ.
Now, how can this work be done? It can only be done by prayer, because our weapons are not carnal, but powerful according to God. It is through prayer that we are able to destroy the works of the devil.
It is through prayer too that we may loose all that needs to be loosed.
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven;
and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
We are told that in the original it says, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven.” It is not good English, but it is good biblical teaching.
In other words, the will begins in heaven, is made known to earth, and earth begins to bind; then heaven says, “I have bound it.” The same is true with loosing. This is how the church, through prayer, is to bring in the kingdom.
In 1904 and 1905, there was a revival in Wales—the Welsh Revival. The Spirit of God moved in such a mighty way. Many came to the Lord.
They said that in some places the judges wore white gloves because there was no case to judge. Many of the miners and drunk people were saved. They used donkeys to carry loads, and the donkeys did not understand them anymore because they had used curses. The men had new tongues, a new language.
It was a tremendous revival. The instrument used by God was a young man, Evan Roberts, a miner.
He was a miner, but his heart was so burdened for the kingdom of God. He prayed a prayer in agony: “Lord, bend the church, and save the world.” God heard him, and God used him mightily at that time.
But after that revival, he disappeared. He was hidden for a number of years. After a number of years, he came out again, and people asked him, “What were you doing during these years?”
He said, “I am praying the kingdom prayer. I am praying for the kingdom.”
The same thing happened to Charles G. Finney. During his later years, all he could pray was, “Thy kingdom come.”
The church needs to take up the burden of prayer. We are approaching the end, and I do believe that He wants many, everywhere, to start to pray, “Thy kingdom come.”
If there is enough love, enough crying to God for His kingdom, God cannot but bring His kingdom in. May the Lord help us.
Certainly, the church is to bring in the kingdom by her testimony.
Satan is called the ruler of this world. Where did he get his rulership?
Now, I believe in prehistorical time it was quite possible that God gave the rulership of this earth—our planet, or perhaps our solar system—to that archangel. But because of his rebellion, it was taken away from him.
Then God created man, and God gave the rulership of this earth to man.
God gave man dominion over all things in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and in the sea. Actually, the rulership of this earth was given to man. The ownership remains in God’s hand; He never gave us His ownership. But He gave the rulership of this earth to man.
But man surrendered it to the devil. So that is the reason why you find that he is the ruler of this world.
He organized this world into a cosmos, well-organized—whether political, economic, educational, religious, or social. Whatever it is, you find that everything is organized and ruled by him.
So when the King of heaven came upon this earth, He came to a hostile world. The world had no place for Him. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. There was not even room in the inn. He was born in a manger.
The King of heaven came upon this earth, and the world would not have Him. Not only Herod wanted to get rid of Him; the whole world rejected Him. Not only the Roman world rejected Him, but the religious world—the Jewish world—rejected Him.
Why? Because He was foreign to this earth. He did not belong to this world. He came out of heaven and came upon this earth. He was an invasion: heaven invaded earth in the person of our Lord Jesus.
Of course, you find how hostile the world is. In Psalm 2, you find the whole world gathered together to get rid of Him. They thought they succeeded.
You know, when our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the kingdom of God on earth. The kingdom of God had come in the person of our Lord Jesus.
Wherever He traveled, He carried that kingdom with Him and exerted kingdom power and influence. He said, “If I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.” And so He did. He was an invasion upon this world.
So finally, they got rid of Him on Calvary’s cross, not knowing that that was the greatest victory our King had won.
There on the cross, He judged the ruler of this world. There on the cross, He spoiled all the principalities and authorities and made a public show of them by the cross. By death, He robbed death of its power.
In other words, you find that He won a decisive battle on Calvary’s cross. The two kingdoms came into that decisive battle, and the King of the heavens won it.
He ascended, and He sent the Holy Spirit. One hundred and twenty people were baptized into one body. You know what? This is the first settlement of heaven upon the earth.
On hostile ground, in a hostile land, in a hostile world—an earthly world—the kingdom of the heavens gained a beachhead, a foothold, and established a settlement in Jerusalem. That is the beginning.
In that settlement—that is, in the church in Jerusalem—the heavens ruled. All the people there lived a heavenly life.
Their testimony was such that, on the one hand, people did not dare to get near to them; they feared them. On the other hand, they were drawn to them. Many came into the kingdom through their testimony.
Then again, the Spirit of God began to move, and you find more settlements: some in Judea, some in Samaria. This foreign settlement, this kingdom of heaven that invaded the kingdom of this world, began to grow. It began to have beachheads, footholds, and settlements all over the world.
You know what is going on?
Let me use an illustration. It is only an illustration. Watch with me, brothers; watch with me.
Probably you in this country do not quite understand this, but we in China understand it. You know, after the Opium War—China was defeated by foreign powers. After China was defeated, there was a treaty between China and these foreign powers.
In the treaty, they demanded that certain cities and ports in China must be opened for trade. In these ports, they set up foreign settlements.
For instance, in the city of Shanghai, when I was brought up, we had foreign settlements. We had a section called the French Concession. In this settlement, the French ruled. We also had an international settlement; there, the international powers ruled. They had their police, they had their judges, and we called it extraterritorial jurisdiction.
All those who lived in these settlements lived in China, on Chinese soil, but they were under a different government. If they committed a sin, they could not be judged by Chinese law; they were judged by the law of their foreign country.
You know, that is a settlement. Now, of course, it is a bad illustration, but it illustrates something.
This is a hostile world, and Satan is ruling over it. But Christ has already overcome. On the basis of His victory, He is able to set up settlements here and there all over the world.
In these settlements, He rules. That is to say, the kingdom of the heavens has come upon the earth in these settlements.
Through the testimony of these settlements—or, to put it another way, in these settlements—the power that used to rule over them is banished and destroyed.
So you see the spiritual battle there. The strategy of God is that through the victory of our Lord Jesus, He begins to set up strategic points and settlements all over this world. In such settlements, the power of the enemy has been destroyed.
Little by little, gradually, you find that you come to Revelation 12. There you find a man-child born. When that man-child is born, he is caught up through the air to the throne.
Now, what does that mean? It means that enough spiritual power has been produced so that those who are the Lord’s have the spiritual power to pass through the air, which is the headquarters of the enemy, and reach the throne.
Not only has our Lord Jesus won that victory on Calvary’s cross; the church, in that man-child, has also overcome. There is tremendous spiritual power there.
You know, when you can get through the headquarters of the enemy, it means that you have defeated the enemy and prepared the way for the coming of the Lord to the air.
How did they overcome? How do we overcome? They overcome because of the blood of the Lamb.
No one is perfect. But thank God, there is repentance. There is humility. There is the availability of the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, their robes are washed white.
They overcome because of the word of their testimony. They have a testimony, and they proclaim it. Their testimony is: Jesus is Lord.
Jesus is their Lord, and they proclaim it. This is the gospel of the kingdom. This testimony is powerful.
Satan knows he is a defeated foe. They love not their lives even unto death. “Life” there in the original is the soul-life. Just as our brothers have said, they are willing to lose their soul-life.
They do violence to themselves for the sake of the Lord Jesus and for the sake of the gospel. They love not their soul-life even unto death.
Brothers and sisters, it is through the testimony of the church that the kingdom of darkness is completely destroyed and the kingdom of God is established upon this earth. So, you see, it is the church that brings in the kingdom.
If this is the case, brothers and sisters, the building of the church is not a small thing. Do not consider the church as something insignificant.
Are we being built together as the church of God?
As we are being built together, then we are able to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Then we will be able to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” Then, through our testimony, the kingdom will come.
So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, oh, how we do praise Thee, because it is Thy will that Thy kingdom should come.
Lord, we want to agree with Thee. We want to tell Thee that it is also our desire that Thy kingdom come.
We are tired of the kingdom of this world. We want to see the kingdom of this world become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ.
Lord, together we express our desire before Thee. Hear us for Thine own sake. Thank Thee.