We have spent some time on the book of Matthew. I think we all know that the theme of Matthew is the King and the kingdom.
Personally, I feel that after we have gone through the book of Matthew, we should all realize that our Lord Jesus is truly the King. He is not only the King of the Jews; He is our King.
Not only should we be clear on this point, but, by the grace of God, we should really subject ourselves under His kingship. I think this is the most important thing in the study of Matthew.
Unless we really see the Lord as our King—not a figurehead, but a real King—and yield ourselves under His rule so that we may be transformed and conformed to His image, then I think our time in Matthew has been well spent.
Now, if this is not the case, then probably our study of Matthew is a failure. I do not think we need to labor on this point, because I believe every brother and sister realizes that our Lord is our King. Whether we really live our lives under His rulership or not, that is another question; but I think in our minds there is no doubt about it.
But last time, when we were here, I felt burdened that, after we have studied the book of Matthew, somehow we are still not very clear on the kingdom. Because we are not very clear on the kingdom, in a sense it affects our lives today.
So I really feel burdened to share a little bit on that now. In one sense, I feel that after this extensive study on Matthew, we tend to see all the trees, but we do not see the forest. We forget the forest.
What I am thinking of sharing tonight is that we will try to see the forest—try to see the kingdom in its overall view.
I feel probably the best way to approach this is from two directions. One is to approach the matter of the kingdom timewise—that is, from the historical viewpoint. Then we will try to make a cross-sectional study of the kingdom. So just bear this in mind as we go on.
Now, when we open the book of Matthew, immediately we find in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus, “the son of David.”
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
— Matthew 1:1
So the emphasis of the book of Matthew is no doubt upon our Lord Jesus as the King. When He was born, He was born to be King.
In Matthew, you find the wise men coming to worship the King of the Jews. In Matthew, you do not find the shepherds coming to worship the Savior; instead, you find Matthew recording how the wise men came to worship the King.
So He was born, but He was born in Bethlehem, not in Jerusalem. He was born in a manger, not in a palace. From the very outset, you can see that this is very different from all other kings, and His kingdom is very different from all the kingdoms of the earth.
I remember Brother Sparks said that at the birth of our Lord Jesus, heaven invaded the earth. That is very true, because we find that the King of heaven came to this earth. It was an invasion, but it was a blessed invasion. He came to this earth with one purpose: to set up His own kingdom.
Now, if you look at the book of Matthew, you find that when John the Baptist came to proclaim the gospel, he actually started his ministry six months ahead of our Lord Jesus. He was the forerunner of the King.
His message was:
Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
— Matthew 3:2
In other words, his message was that the kingdom had drawn near. The kingdom had not come yet, but it had drawn near.
Because the kingdom was drawing near, therefore the nation needed to repent. Very strangely, you find repentance here. The reason for repentance is because the kingdom has drawn near.
In other words, the chosen people of Israel were not qualified to be the people of that kingdom. They were looking forward to the Messiah. They thought that when the Messiah came, their kingdom would be revived and restored, and they would become the nation over all the nations.
But in the very message of John the Baptist, he told them, “You are not qualified. You have to repent.” Repentance is a very strong word. In other words, it is a complete turnaround.
All your religious exercises, your piety, your pedigree, your history—all these do not help. Your whole attitude should be completely changed to prepare for the coming King. That is the message.
Six months later, our Lord Jesus began His ministry, and He gave the same message:
Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
— Matthew 4:17
Why is it? Because the King is here. Yet He did not have a people yet. A king without a people does not have a kingdom, because the kingdom is composed of people over whom the King can rule.
At the beginning of the ministry of our Lord Jesus, He gave the same message: “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” The heavenly kingdom was coming, but the people needed to repent to be qualified as His people.
Then you will remember that in Matthew 4, our Lord began to call disciples. Later, when you come to Matthew 11, John the Baptist was in prison, and he sent his disciples to ask our Lord a question: “Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?”
Our Lord Jesus sent a message back: “Tell John what you have seen: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the dead are raised,” and so forth.
Then our Lord began to speak about John. He said:
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.
— Matthew 11:12
In other words, the law and the prophets came to an end with John. John was not only concluding the law and the prophets; he was also the one who introduced the kingdom.
From the days of John the Baptist until then, the kingdom of the heavens was being taken by violence, and the violent were seizing upon it. By that word, you can see that the kingdom was already here. If the kingdom were still only drawing near, how could the violent seize it?
Who are the violent? The violent are those who have received the word of the kingdom—the teaching of the kingdom. The violent are those who deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow the Lord. The violent are the disciples.
The Lord already had His disciples, and among the disciples there were those who were violent. So even at that time, the kingdom of the heavens was a reality on earth, because not only did you have the King, but the King had begun to have His people.
His kingdom is different from the kingdoms of the world. You remember, when our Lord stood before Pilate and was judged by him, Pilate said, “Art thou the King of the Jews?”
The Lord Jesus said:
My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
— John 18:36
Our Lord showed very clearly that the kingdom of the heavens is entirely different from any kingdom in the world. It is a heavenly kingdom upon the earth.
It is a reality, but because of this it is hidden. So far as the world is concerned, the world is not able to see it. Only those who are violent see it and enter into it. In other words, they already live in that kingdom, even though it is hidden from the world.
In Luke 17:20-21, the Pharisees asked the Lord when the kingdom of God would come. Our Lord said that the kingdom of God does not come by observation. You cannot say, “Lo, here!” or, “There!” It is in your midst; some versions say, “within you.”
Here you find that the kingdom, in its reality, is already on earth. There are already some people in that kingdom. They really live under the kingship of Christ. The world cannot see it, but it is there.
This reality of the kingdom of the heavens is spiritual. It is not a physical thing, because it cannot be seen by observation. It is spiritual, and that which is spiritual is not limited by time or space.
Wherever there is the reality, there it is. But thank God, even so, this kingdom of the heavens will continue growing until finally its testimony will go throughout the whole world and prepare for the return of our Lord Jesus.
This is a real encouragement to us. Through the twenty centuries, you do not see it with your natural eyes; yet in the unseen realm, this kingdom is growing. It is growing in power and overcoming the power of darkness.
One day, you will find that it is ready to receive the King who returns. In Matthew 24 and 25, you already see prophecy that one day this kingdom, which has already been present on earth in spirit, will be publicly manifested upon the earth.
When our Lord Jesus, the King, returns, He shall set up that kingdom publicly on this earth, and righteousness shall rule. So, if you look at it timewise and historically, this is the progress of the kingdom.
That is one way to look at it. There is another way to look at it: to look at it cross-sectionally.
If you read the book of Matthew, you will find that, so far as the kingdom truth is concerned, there are three sections:
What you see in Matthew 5-7 is the reality of the kingdom of heaven. In other words, what is the kingdom of the heavens? What is its nature? What is its character? In what way is it different?
Matthew 5-7, the so-called Sermon on the Mount, has been greatly misunderstood. Some people think that it is a new law. Moses gave the children of Israel the old law, the Ten Commandments, and here our Lord Jesus came and gave us a new law.
This new law, they think, was given for us to keep. Especially the so-called modernists consider the Sermon on the Mount as Christian ethics. They may deny all the other Bible passages, but they like this one and think that it is Christian ethics—something that we should imitate, something that we should try to keep.
But if you take that kind of interpretation seriously, you will enter into deception. The more you try to do what you find in Matthew 5-7, the less you are able to follow it.
It would be a stricter law than the law of Moses. If no one can keep the law of Moses, how can you keep this higher law? It is impossible. That should not be our approach.
What does Matthew 5-7, the so-called Sermon on the Mount, really reveal to us? It is the Lord, the King of the kingdom of heaven, telling us the nature of that kingdom and who lives in that kingdom.
The only way to live according to Matthew 5-7 is to live by the life of Christ, because that is what the King is. The kingdom takes its character from the King.
The kingdom of the heavens is characterized by what our Lord is. This is what He is. This is His character. Whoever is in that kingdom has to bear that character.
The only way we can grow into that character is by His life given to us. In other words, the Sermon on the Mount is not a law given for us to keep. The Sermon on the Mount is a description of what the kingdom is.
By the life He has given to us—which is the kingly life—if we live by that life, that will be what is manifested in us.
So, brothers and sisters, we need to see what is the nature of the kingdom and who are in it.
In the very beginning, we have the Beatitudes. “Blessed” means happy.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
— Matthew 5:3
In other words, the Beatitudes reveal the character of our Lord Jesus. That is what He is. If we begin to take up His character, we are happy—really happy—and the kingdom is ours.
As you go on, you find that our Lord did not come to destroy the law. He came to fulfill it—that is, to fill it to the full. Instead of something merely in letter, He goes into the spirit.
The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was the keeping of the letter of the law. Paul, before he was saved—Saul the Pharisee—said that according to the righteousness of the law, he was blameless.
In other words, you can keep the letter of the law, but even when you do that, you may break the spirit of it. That is why the Lord called the Pharisees hypocrites.
Unless our righteousness surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we cannot enter into the kingdom of the heavens. The kingdom of the heavens is intensely inward. It is an inner life.
It is not merely outward behavior. It is a human life that is divine, that is heavenly—a life lived according to its nature. A heavenly character begins to develop in us, and this makes us fit to be the people of the kingdom.
When you read Matthew 5-7, you find that He tells how this life is extraordinary. If we live just like the nations, we are not extraordinary, and we are not fit for the kingdom.
We are supposed to live differently—extraordinarily—because we live by that heavenly life. We have a secret mind, a heavenly mind. We choose the narrow way, and we will be rewarded with the kingdom.
So, generally speaking, Matthew 5-7 shows us what the kingdom is, who are really in it, and by what means they are in it: only by the life of Christ. If we daily learn to live by this life, we will be His people in reality.
The second cross-section is Matthew 13. In Matthew 13, the Lord was not speaking to the disciples only; He was speaking to the multitude. He was not speaking on the mountain; He was speaking by the seaside. So you can see that the setting is entirely different.
In Matthew 5-7, He went up into the mountain, and the disciples followed Him. The crowds came later, but actually He was speaking to the disciples. When you come to Matthew 13, He was speaking by the seaside to the multitude, and He spoke in parables.
The world, when it hears these parables, can only hear a beautiful story, but it cannot understand the meaning implied in the stories. The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are not for the world today.
So far as the world is concerned, it is always a mystery—always something hidden. They do not understand it. But our Lord explained some of these basic parables to His disciples in the house. In other words, His disciples should enter into the reality and meaning of these things.
These parables are called the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens. The Lord does not mean for the world to know about them, but He does explain them to His disciples. We should understand what these parables of the kingdom of the heavens mean.
These parables tell us the outward appearance of the kingdom of heaven as the world sees it. The world does not understand. What it sees is only the outward appearance, not the reality. But we, as disciples of the Lord, should understand.
There are seven parables. Some say eight because they include the scribe who brings out of his treasure things new and old, but actually that is not within the seven parables.
The seven parables are a whole. They are not separate, isolated parables. They are all related, and there is a progress and development.
The first parable is the parable of the sower. The Sower is none other than our Lord Jesus. While He was on earth, He was sowing, and the seed is the word of the kingdom.
In other words, He was sowing the message of the kingdom. The seed fell into four different kinds of ground, and the four different grounds refer to four different heart conditions. The ground is not the world; it is the heart.
When our Lord Jesus preached the word of the kingdom, some seed fell by the wayside. It never entered into the heart, and the evil one came and took it away.
Some fell into stony ground. They received it quickly and joyfully, but because there was rock underneath, there was no root. When persecution came, they left it.
Some seed fell among thorns. It began to take root, but it was crowded by the cares and riches of life. It grew, but it never bore fruit.
Lastly, the good ground had been turned over and prepared. It received the seed and brought forth thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.
When the message of the kingdom of the heavens is preached, only a small portion of the people really receive it. Even among some who have received the teaching, the cares of this life and other things squeeze them and choke the word.
Others merely listen and become emotionally involved, but there is no root. Remember, this is the word of the kingdom. It does not refer merely to what we call the initial gospel message or the gospel of grace.
It refers to the word of the kingdom. As our Lord said, the gospel of the kingdom must be preached throughout all the nations, and then the end shall come. It is the message of the kingdom.
You find that only a small part really receives it, and patience is needed. By faith and patience, you inherit the promises.
Then the second parable follows. The second parable is a development, because the seed is no longer the word of the kingdom. The seeds are the sons of the kingdom.
In other words, those who have received the word of the kingdom become the sons of the kingdom. The Lord sows them in the field. The field there is not the heart; the field there is the world.
The Lord sows His sons of the kingdom throughout the whole world. But while men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.
“While men slept” does not refer to our Lord, because the Lord never sleeps. He knows everything. It refers to the servants of the Lord. Because of the carelessness of God’s servants, the enemy came in and sowed the sons of the evil one.
Even where the gospel of the kingdom is preached, you find the enemy entering the same field. He sows the sons of the evil one. There is a mixture.
What does this tell us? It tells us about Christendom—the Christian world. In the Christian world, you find a great mixture. There are sons of the kingdom, yes, but also sons of the evil one, and they grow together.
Wherever the gospel is freely preached, you have so-called Christian hospitals, Christian countries, Christian colleges, schools, and all these things. That is the field in which the influence of Christianity goes forth.
You cannot divide them. It is impossible to separate them now, because if you do, you will hurt the real wheat. They have to grow together until finally God sends His angels to separate them.
The tares will be gathered into bundles and burned, while the wheat will go into the barn. So you see a development here.
Thank God that He sows the sons of the kingdom everywhere in the world where the gospel is preached. But this is Christendom, a great mixture. This is not the church. The church is a part in Christ, but this is Christendom.
Then come the third and fourth parables: the mustard seed and the leaven. These two parables speak of the evil side—the abnormal side—of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
People may look at Christianity and say, “This is the kingdom of the heavens,” because they do not know that there is an evil side. That evil side is represented by the mustard seed and the leaven.
Mustard seed in the Bible speaks of faith—living faith. The Lord said that if your faith is like a mustard seed, even though it is the smallest of seeds, it can move a mountain.
But a mustard seed is a plant; it grows into a tree. In other words, this is abnormal growth. It is out of its kind.
When God created everything, it was according to its kind. When something gets out of its kind, God’s judgment comes. Here you find the abnormal growth of Christianity. It should be a humble plant, but it becomes a great tree.
The birds come and lodge in its branches. According to the interpretation of the first parable, the birds refer to the evil one. Therefore, these birds also refer to evil. The enemy and evil ones come and lodge in Christianity.
If you look at the history of Christianity, that is what you see: abnormal growth, becoming a great institution, and the enemy finding a roosting place there.
The three measures of meal speak of the meal offering. It should be unleavened. But a woman came and put leaven in it, and it became leavened throughout.
Leaven refers to corruption—to a corrupting system. These are the abnormal aspects of the outward appearance of the kingdom.
But thank God, the Lord Jesus spoke another parable: the treasure in the field. He balances the evil side with the real side.
In the second parable, you find a mixture. In the third and fourth, you find the evil side. In the fifth and sixth, you find the good side.
The merchant seeking goodly pearls speaks of the Lord Jesus. We usually think that the pearl of great price is Christ, but that is not the interpretation.
The pearl of great price is the church. It is the reality of the kingdom—those who live in the reality of the kingdom according to Matthew 5-7. That is the treasure.
For this treasure, for this pearl, He was willing to sell everything to buy it. Our Lord paid everything for the church.
The treasure speaks more objectively; the pearl speaks more of our subjective experience. The pearl is formed through suffering, and it speaks of the church in its beauty and reality.
Finally, you find the net. That is the conclusion. At the end of the age, God will send His angels to gather everything and divide them. Everything will be separated.
So that is the outward appearance of the kingdom on earth. That is what the world can see, but the world does not understand. We who belong to the Lord have had these things explained to us.
The third cross-section is Matthew 24 and 25. This is the Olivet Discourse. Our Lord went through the temple, and His disciples came to Him privately and asked, “When shall these things be? What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the age?”
Here our Lord explained to His disciples what the process would be, so far as the kingdom of the heavens is concerned. Spiritually, it has already come. It is here, and there is a people. This people is increasing.
The kingdom of the heavens has not only invaded the earth; it is gaining momentum to overturn the present order and bring this earth back under the rule of God. This is our expectation.
Then you find how the Lord describes the dangers from the time that He leaves until the time that He returns. After He leaves, there will be wars and rumors of wars, pestilences, false prophets, and things like that. Because lawlessness will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.
But the gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all the nations, and then the end shall come.
The Lord speaks about the great tribulation. He speaks about the rapture. He speaks about the judgment of the nations. He will come in glory, and His kingdom will be set upon this earth for one thousand years.
Those who live in the reality of the kingdom today will reign with Him for one thousand years. That is what you find in the book of Matthew concerning the kingdom of the heavens.
The question is: in the Lord’s Prayer, He says, “Thy kingdom come.” If the kingdom has already come, why do we pray that the kingdom should come?
The kingdom has already come in reality—in spiritual reality. But so far as its public manifestation is concerned, that is still to come.
The kingdom of the heavens means that heaven shall rule over the earth. That is still going to come, because today heaven has not yet ruled over the earth in that public and complete way.
But already you find that the kingdom has been manifested in the lives of His people, who are living under His rule. The kingdom has already shown itself in reality.
There is another question. The Bible uses two different phrases: the kingdom of the heavens and the kingdom of God. Is there a difference?
The kingdom of God is the broader term. In other words, wherever God rules, there is the kingdom of God. Our God is from eternity, and His rule is from generation to generation.
The kingdom of God, in its broadest sense, means from eternity to eternity. God rules. That is His kingdom.
Even though Satan has set up his own kingdom, he is still under the rule of God. That is the reason why, without God’s permission, he cannot do anything.
In a more limited sense, the kingdom of God means where God actually rules. In heaven there is no problem, but on earth there is rebellion. That is why the Lord taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.”
The earth has not yet come under God’s actual rule. It is under His sovereign rule, but it has not obeyed His will voluntarily. So the limited explanation of the kingdom of God is where God actually rules.
The kingdom of the heavens is a more limited term. It is a term used from the first coming of our Lord Jesus to His second coming.
When the King of heaven came to this earth, the kingdom of the heavens was brought near. It began with His first coming and ends with His second coming, when He will set up the kingdom publicly upon this earth.
The kingdom of God is the whole range. The kingdom of the heavens is a section within that range. Because it is a section of the kingdom of God, the terms can sometimes be used interchangeably. Sometimes they are different, but sometimes they are the same.
You said that the spiritual kingdom is here and gaining momentum. Outwardly, it does not appear to be so. How are we to be encouraged when those who love the Lord seem to be suffering, and the world seems to be getting worse?
This is a natural question. The problem is that if we live by sight, what we see is just the outward appearance. That is where we need to exercise faith.
In other words, we receive the unseen. Do we have any ground to be encouraged? We do. The ground is the Word.
In the Word, it is clearly shown that the day is coming when His kingdom shall be established in fullness. God’s fullness of time is not mechanical or technical. God does not say, “On a certain date, it will happen.” God’s timetable is different.
It was at the fullness of time that our Lord Jesus was born. When God considered that the time was right, our Lord came. The same thing will happen at the fullness of time when Christ shall return.
How do you know that the time is full? One thing is that the Bride has made herself ready. Then the Bridegroom will come.
This is something you have to see by faith and believe. If you look outwardly, it seems to be getting further and further away. It does not look as though it is near. But we know God is working in secret.
In a sense, the kingdom is secret in its activity. God has His hidden work and His hidden people all over the earth. This momentum is growing until the day He comes.
We may not see it, but this is something that we have to exercise ourselves in. If we have the vision of His Word—that He is going to do such a thing—and we believe that He is doing it, then we can be encouraged.
How can you imagine that Christ has ascended to heaven, taken the scroll from His Father, and begun to open the seals, and yet is doing nothing? He must be working all the time, executing the Father’s will to bring the earth back to God.
As time goes on, we can believe that it is going to mature. We are now much closer than Christians in the first century. They expected the Lord to come back again, and they were not wrong. Their spirit was right.
It depends on what God considers to be fullness. They have gone to sleep, and we are still living. Thank God, we have a hope. If the Lord comes soon, we can be caught up alive without going through death. That is a blessed hope.
These are things you cannot see happening, but you can know that God has His hidden work.
Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness comes to mind. What does that ministry look like?
In Matthew 5-7, you find the righteousness of the kingdom. This righteousness is above the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
If we seek the righteousness of the kingdom—to live by this kingdom life—then all the other things will be added to us. In one sense, it is very simple: not I, but Christ.
Like Paul:
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
— Galatians 2:20
Simply, we live by His life. Then the righteousness of the kingdom will be manifested in us. That is the righteousness of the saints—the wedding garment.
In Revelation 19, the Bride has made herself ready, and it was given to her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure. The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
The righteousness of the saints is none other than kingdom righteousness. If we really seek His kingdom and righteousness first, then it is evident that we are no longer worried about the things that we see or the things that we should eat and wear, because our treasure is in heaven and our seeking is heavenly.
It is solemn, but it is blessed, because if it depends upon ourselves, it is impossible. No one can do it.
The life of Christ has many facets, but while He was on earth, He lived this life. If He lives in us, He will live the same life through us.
Sometimes we struggle with wanting to be given to the Lord. We say, “Lord, I want to live for You. I want to be here for You.” Yet the Lord seems to say, “No, thank you.”
That is true, because when you say to the Lord, “I give You my life,” the Lord may say, “No. I want to give My life to you, and You have to live by it.”
Sometimes we say, “I want to live for the Lord,” but that is backward. It is not for us to live for the Lord by our own strength; it is for the Lord to live through us. We need Him.
We may feel that we are in a place where we cannot do anything, yet we want to live for the Lord. The Lord gives us His life.
Because we want to live for the Lord, we should have a willing heart. God will not force us to do anything. If we do not want to live for Him, we can live our own life.
On our part, this is needed: we need to have a willing heart, touched by His love, and say, “Lord, I am willing to live with You.”
But that does not mean that you live for Him by your own life. As a matter of fact, if you are really living for Him, your own life has to be done with.
When we have such desire and willingness, thank God, He will take us at our word and give us His life. By that life, we are able to live.
Often we hear people say, “Offer yourself to the Lord. Give your talents to the Lord, and then use your talents to serve Him.” But it is still your own life trying to serve the Lord. Can the Lord accept that?
The willingness is right, because God has to have our permission, as it were. Then He begins to give us His life and teach us how to live by His life.
It is only when it is out of His life that we are living for Him. That is very true.