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"The Kingdom of Heaven" (posted May 8, 2013)

   On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. ... Then He spoke many things to them in parables.
   - Matthew 13:1, 3

By the sea He gave them parables illustrating the kingdom during the whole period of His absence from Israel and the world until His return. This He styles "the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven," or the kingdom in its mysterious form.

What is mysterious about that kingdom now? Because in this kingdom, already formed upon the earth, there is no visible king. It was never so before, nor will ever be again-- thousands and millions of subjects, but no visible king! Yet multitudes on the earth profess to be subject to Him; and the kingdom in its present form embraces this whole class. Many can say from their hearts what David's servants said in 2 Samuel 15:15: "We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king commands."

This sets before us the kingdom as we need to know and understand it. In the Millennium* it will embrace the whole world; but now it includes only those who are His professed followers, whether it be real or only nominal [that is, as a Christian in name only but without real faith]. In its present form there are tares (weeds) as well as wheat, foolish as well as wise virgins (Matthew 13:24-30, 38; 25:1-10).

(*Millennium: A period of 1000 years when Christ will rule over the nations as King of kings, described in Revelation 20:1-4 and other Bible passages.)

While Paul's line [of teaching] was the Church, yet we see that he did not set aside the kingdom truth; and this led adversaries to say that he preached another king, one Jesus (Acts 14:22; 17:7; 20:28). But when we study Peter's line, we see that his special ministry was the kingdom itself-- the kingdom as it is now, and the kingdom as it shall be by and by.

The apostle Paul preached another king, even Jesus; and we are in the kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:13). What can He be to those in the kingdom except our sovereign ruler?-- that is, the King; and we are in the kingdom, His subjects. We fill this place and ought to recognize it as well as the truth of the Church.

In the writings of a few hundred years ago they never got much beyond the kingdom truth. [Later] the truth as to the Church has come out so fully that many of us may have gone to the opposite extreme. We can see little anywhere but the Church. Of course, we do not call Christ the king of the Church. He is Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23). But when we touch the kingdom, we give Him His true place there as King.

When we turn to John's epistle, we do not see the Church and its Head, nor yet the king and the kingdom, but rather the Father and the children. These lines are all distinct, and we must give to each its own distinctive place. Yet we belong to the three distinct spheres-- the Church, the Family, and the Kingdom.

As we are developing the kingdom in its present stage, we will be greatly helped if we see that there are two sides to the kingdom now. Failing to see this, many are left in a fog, and there appear to be contradictions. So far we have been looking at it in its earthly aspect, where the advancement of it is in human hands; and of course failure can be seen, for there are tares in it as well as wheat. Our Lord declares this.

But there is another side of the kingdom also-- the heavenly, or divine, side; and none but those who are real, those who are born of God, belong to that. This is the side spoken of in Colossians 1:13. There is no contradiction betweeen Matthew 13 and Colossians 1, for one gives the earthly side of the kingdom as it now is, and the other the divine side. By our profession [that is, our personal claims to follow Christ] we are recognized as subjects and followers of our Lord on earth, and thus we are in His kingdom among men. But it might be only profession [without reality]. If truly born again, converted, we belong to God and His Son, and by that fact we belong to the kingdom in its divine and heavenly aspect. Hence the great importance of distinguishing between these two sides of the kingdom.

A. E. Booth



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