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THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The Kingdom of God is God in Christ in the saints governing the creation of God. The Kingdom of God is the eternal union of the Life of God with all that is found worthy in the material realm. The Person and Life of God provide the government, the life, the righteousness, the holiness, the love, the joy, the peace, the significance, the wonder, the glory of the Kingdom. The people, creatures, and things of earth provide the substance and visible form of the Kingdom.
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Concept of the Kingdom of God
The Kingdom is the Word made flesh
The Kingdom of God has image, relationships, ability to multiply,
and dominion
Two major misconceptions
Some basic understandings
The Church and the Kingdom of God
God’s purpose in creating a spiritual-material kingdom and revelation
The King
The Queen
The nobility
The center of government
The laws
The army
The power
The wall
The territory
The subjects
The subordinate kingdoms
Organization and care
The spiritual and material environments
A spiritual nature and a material form
Relationships and fellowship
The means of communication
The activities
The program of expansion
The Old Testament Vision of the Kingdom of God
Psalms
Daniel
Isaiah
Zechariah
Review of the elements of the Kingdom
The New Testament Revelation of the Kingdom of God
The two dimensions of the Gospel of the Kingdom
Our perception of the Kingdom
John the Baptist
Jesus of Nazareth
The keys of the Kingdom
The early apostles and evangelists
The human, tangible aspects of the Lord Jesus, and His Kingdom
The Kingdom of God is within us
A harmful error
Sin, and the Kingdom of God
The Mount of Transfiguration
The power and coming of the Lord
Installed on the earth with force
The rich have great difficulty entering the Kingdom
The relationship between Pentecost and the Kingdom
Children enter the Kingdom readily
The wheat and the tares
Treasure hidden in a field
Goodly pearls
A net cast into the sea
Things new and old
A grain of mustard seed
The leaven of the Kingdom
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
Patience and tribulation
The Kingdom suffers violence
Repentance and belief
The Kingdom of God is hidden
The Word of the Kingdom grows in us
The supreme importance of the Kingdom
The Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth
The first two laws of the Kingdom
Water baptism
The Kingdom of God is one kingdom
We must be born again
The Kingdom of God is not of the present world system
The poor in spirit
Persecution for righteousness’ sake
Healing the sick
More important than family ties
Perseverance
A witness to all nations
The elect who reject Christ
Pressing into the Kingdom
Not less righteous but more righteous
How to enter the Kingdom
Diligence
The rulers are servants
Forgiveness
The fruits of the Kingdom
We must respond!
Proper clothing
Not everyone will be ready
The Kingdom does not consist of religious observances
Final victory
Unregenerate man cannot inherit the Kingdom
The Kingdom is of the Holy Spirit
Sin shall never enter the Kingdom of God
Coming under the authority of the Kingdom
The Kingdom of God needs workers today
Worthy of God
The judgment of the living and the dead
The scepter of righteousness
The Kingdom of God cannot be shaken or removed
The poor inherit the Kingdom
An abundant entrance
Dying and living
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
The Kingdom of God (of Heaven) is God in Christ in the saints governing the creation of God.
The Kingdom of God is the eternal union of the Person and Life of God with all that is found worthy in the material realm. The Person and Life of God provide the government, life, righteousness, holiness, love, joy, peace, significance, wonder, and glory of the Kingdom. The people, creatures, and things of the material creation provide the substance and visible form of the Kingdom.
Introduction to the Concept of the Kingdom of God
The Kingdom is the word made flesh. It is the eternal union of Heaven and earth. It is not a place in Heaven or on the earth. It is the blending, the merging, the intersecting of Heaven and earth. The Kingdom "cometh not with observation." It is in us when we are new creatures in Christ. Yet the Kingdom does have a visible, external dimension.
The Kingdom of God has character, life, and a material form, as a person has a soul, spirit, and body. God Himself possesses a Soul, a Spirit, and, in Jesus, a material Form.
The Lord Jesus is the Logos, the Expression of God. Jesus Christ, who is the word, the Logos, has a glorified material Form. His Form can be seen. The Logos has become flesh. The saints, the members of the Body of Christ, are being created an integral part of the Logos. We are being brought into eternal union with Jesus in spirit and in soul, and finally will be like Him in form. We then shall be the Kingdom of God.
All persons who are saved, all the things, and all the circumstances of the universe will reveal to some degree Christ, the Logos of God. Christ will be central in the creation. Through Christ, God will become All in all.
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10)
The result of the rule of the Kingdom of God in the earth will be to make the Lord Jesus the Center and Circumference of everything.
Through the discipline of a cross-carrying life our souls are being brought into union with the Soul of God so that our will and God’s will are becoming one will. When our will becomes one with the will of God we enter the greatest freedom and joy possible for a human being to experience.
The Spirit of God is the Spirit of the Kingdom of God. Our spirit is being made one with the Spirit of God so that we are one Spirit with God (I Corinthians 6:17).
The Lord Jesus is the fullness of the expression of God, and His glorified body is the beginning of the material form of the Kingdom of God. The members of the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb, are being created an eternal part of the expression of God, of the revelation of God to His creatures. Through union with Christ we are becoming part of the Logos. When we receive glorified bodies the form of the Kingdom of God will be enlarged through us.
As Kingdom life flows through the members of the Body of Christ to the nations of the earth, those people too will begin to show in themselves the likeness and ways of God. In this manner the Kingdom of God will spread until it fills the whole earth.
. . . and the stone [Christ—the Kingdom of God] that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:35)
We realize that our description is imperfect and limited. It is impossible to comprehend the infinite God and to describe His Person and work in human language. May the God of Heaven through the Lord Jesus give to all of us an ever-increasing understanding of His Person, will, ways, and eternal purpose.
The Kingdom of God has image, relationships, ability to multiply, and dominion. The Kingdom of God has image. It is being fashioned after the image and likeness of God.
The Kingdom of God has relationships. Human beings are so constructed that they can be one with God and with one another. Such union is not possible to the angels. The supreme, final law of the Kingdom of God is perfect love for God and perfect love for one another. When there is enmity between two persons the Kingdom of God is lacking in one or the other, or both.
The Kingdom of God has the ability to multiply. The Kingdom can be born in people. Of the increase of Christ’s government and of peace there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:7).
The Kingdom of God is destined to have dominion over all other governments and powers. God’s will shall be done in earth as it is in Heaven.
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel 2:44)
Two major misconceptions. Today there are at least two major misconceptions concerning the Kingdom of God: (1) that there will be two kingdoms of God, an earthly and a heavenly; and (2) that Heaven is the Kingdom of God.
There will not be two kingdoms, a kingdom of Christians in Heaven and a kingdom of physical Jews on the earth. Israel after the flesh was a necessary forerunner of the Kingdom of God. But it is impossible for God to have a true and lasting relationship with flesh and blood. No human being can enter the one Kingdom of God until he or she has been born a second time, becoming—as Christ is—both Divine and human.
The Lord Jesus is, as the Church fathers have stated, very God of very God and very Man of very Man. We who are members of the Body of Christ are flesh and blood. But because Christ has been born in us we now are both son of man and son of God. God is bringing forth in us a new creature who is from Heaven but wrought in the earth.
We are being fashioned in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29; I John 3:2). We are His brothers, having the same Father. Yet, Christ remains Lord of all.
There are not two kingdoms as some are teaching. The new Jerusalem is not an earthly kingdom consisting of members of the Jewish race while the Christian Church, a "spiritual" kingdom, remains in Heaven forever. This concept is not biblical.
The new Jerusalem is in Heaven at the present time. It consists of the true saints, all of whom have been born from above. At the beginning of the thousand-year Kingdom Age (Millennium) the Lord Jesus and His saints will descend from Heaven and enter the Jerusalem on earth, making it the governing city of the world.
At the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age the new Jerusalem in Heaven will descend to the new earth and govern the nations of saved peoples of the earth forever. This is what the Scriptures teach. Thus it is not possible for there to be two different kingdoms of God made up of two different sets of people.
The new (and eternal) Jerusalem does not consist of Jews after the flesh. The new Jerusalem is the Wife of the Lamb, the Christian Church, the Kingdom of God. It is destined to govern the creation of God. The new Jerusalem eternally will be thoroughly Divine and thoroughly human.
Flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God. But humanness, an essential, eternal part of the Kingdom of God, is a quality distinct from the flesh and blood characteristics of the physical body. Dogs and horses are flesh and blood but they do not possess the quality of humanness.
Human beings are part spirit. Humans never can come into lasting joy and peace until their spiritual life has been renewed in Christ. But angels, who also are spirit, never can enter union with one another or with God. God never will dwell in an angel because God dwells only in Jesus, and through Jesus in man. Humanness is a quality unique to Christ and to all the other sons of God.
To enter the Kingdom of God we must be born twice: once of a human being and also of God. This is true of Jesus and of all other members of the Kingdom of God. (We recognize that the Lord Jesus is the eternal Logos of God and is different from us in this respect.)
Now that Christ has come, God will recognize no earthly kingdom, such as physical Israel, that is human but not born of the Spirit of God. The Scriptures do teach, however, that as soon as the full number of Gentiles has been grafted on the good olive tree, God in Christ will turn once again to the people and land of Israel. The physical Jews then will be born again and will enter the Kingdom of God.
All the beauty and joy of Heaven is included in the Kingdom of God, and all that is found worthy in the earth will be made new and included in the Kingdom of God.
As far as we know, when a saint dies he or she passes into Paradise, into the beautiful and wonderful light-filled domain of the spirit realm that we term Heaven. Paradise is the present location of God and of Christ, of the tree of life, and of the spiritual Jerusalem and Mount Zion.
The spirit paradise is an environment created by the Soul of God working through the Holy Spirit through Christ. When we lose our flesh and go to Paradise we enter love, beauty, peace, joy, and other extraordinary surroundings and things that are not of our making.
Here’s the point.
Heaven is not a projection of the unregenerate human soul but of God’s Soul. Heaven is an external Paradise imposed from without. But the Kingdom of God is the re-creation of what we are, as well as the filling of us with the Spirit of Christ, until we can project Paradise wherever we are.
It is important to understand that the Heaven of God and Christ is external to us, while the Kingdom of God is what we are.
Current Christian teaching is attempting to bring hellish people into God’s Paradise by grace. To do so would be to turn Paradise into Hell. If untransformed personalities were brought into the spirit paradise we would have a repetition of the original rebellion. Satan once more would be in Heaven with God.
On the other hand, the unsullied Paradise of God would be "hell" for the untransformed because they would be forced to live in an environment that they have rejected while on the earth, an environment of peace, of the worship of God, of holiness, of obedience to God. Would this be "heaven" to someone who longs after the fulfillment of the lusts of the flesh?
It is time for a reformation of Christian thinking.
The creating of the Kingdom of God is the creating of people who themselves are of the Spirit and life of Heaven. Such people are of the nature of Heaven and bring Heaven wherever they go.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them [the highways to Zion]. who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. (Psalms 84:5-7)
The heart of the saint is a highway to God. The true saints make the valley of Baca (weeping) a well of refreshing.
The Kingdom of God is not a location, such as Paradise, so we can say Here it is! or Now I have arrived! The Kingdom of God is in us. It is God in Christ in the saints ruling and ministering to the creation of God.
Every true saint of Christ yearns to be in a place of peace and joy with God. This evil world no longer is home to us after we are filled with the nature of Christ. For the victorious saint to die is great gain. After all, what godly person wouldn’t want to live in Paradise? What saint wouldn’t desire the immediate fellowship of God, of Christ, of the saints, of our deceased loved ones, in an environment filled with every conceivable delight and totally free from pain, anxiety, and dread?
God’s will is being done in Heaven, in Paradise. Paradise is a location in the spirit realm. When the righteous die they enter the spiritual realities of Paradise, which also are realities of the Kingdom of God.
The fullness of God’s Kingdom is the eternal union of the Paradise of God with the material realm. When Christ is born in us we enter the Kingdom of God. Now our humanity receives glorious paradisiac spiritual life into itself. The heart and substance of the life of Paradise is Christ. It is He, and only He, who makes Paradise our delight and goal. When Christ is formed in us, the heart and substance of Paradise have been formed in us.
The Apostle Paul did not wish to be "unclothed," that is, to lose his flesh and depart into the spirit realm. Rather, Paul was seeking to be "clothed" with his house, his glorified form, from Heaven.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (II Corinthians 5:4)
When we are in Heaven with the Lord we are in the spiritual environment of the Kingdom of God. But when Christ has been formed in us, the Kingdom of God is in us.
The Gospel of the Kingdom is not the good news that we will go to Heaven to live forever in an external Paradise. As extraordinarily marvelous as that would be, God has something far better for us.
The incident of the thief on the cross (who demonstrated remarkable faith), or Paul’s desire to be "present with the Lord," thus making his physical death a gain to him, are part of the grand design. But they are not central to the Gospel of the Kingdom or to the eternal purpose of God.
"Going to Heaven" is not what John the Baptist, or Christ, or the Apostle Paul, or any of the other first-century apostles and evangelists meant when they cried out in the streets concerning salvation and the soon coming of the Kingdom.
The good news of the Christian redemption is not that of "going to Heaven." The good news of the Kingdom of God is that of salvation in the Day of the Lord, of being spared the wrath of God, of entering eternal life when Christ returns to set up His Kingdom on the earth. This is what was preached by the Apostles of the Lamb.
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: (Acts 3:19,20)
The invitation given to the thief to be with Jesus in Paradise, and Paul’s anticipated and longed for homegoing in the event of his physical death, reveal to us that those who are approved of God will pass into the Presence of Christ when their soul leaves their body. The emphasis is on being "with the Lord." But this is not our entrance into the Kingdom of God or the coming of the Kingdom to the earth.
The tradition concerning going to Heaven is so strong that it affects our ability to perceive what is written in the Scriptures.
For example:
To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (I Corinthians 5:5)
Our traditions would say of the preceding verse that Paul was trying to get the sinner of Corinth into Heaven. But that is not what the passage is about. That is not what is stated.
The expression go to Heaven does not appear in the entire Scriptures.
Paul was attempting to save the man’s spirit in the Day of the Lord, not so he would go to Heaven but so eventually he would be permitted to live on the earth under the reign of Christ. Paul’s success or lack of it, concerning this member of the church in Corinth, will be revealed in the Day of Judgment that will occur at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. Second Corinthians 2:6,7 gives us some ground for confidence that Paul’s efforts in this case proved to be fruitful.
The Apostles preached salvation in terms of the coming of the Lord, not in terms of what happens to us when we die physically.
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (I Thessalonians 1:10)
Again:
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (II Thessalonians 1:7)
And so forth.
The first message of the Gospel of the Kingdom has to do with our being saved in the Day of Christ. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16). Being "saved" means to escape torment and destruction when the Lord returns.
In addition to this primary message, the New Testament writings speak of the attainment of victory in Jesus such that rewards are gained. The rewards are given to the nobility of the Kingdom, the royal priesthood, the conquerors—the "mighty men" who will govern the nations of saved peoples of the earth. The second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation have much to say concerning our attainment to power, glory, and opportunities for service.
Both primary salvation and attainment to power and glory (attainment to the first resurrection from among the dead), have to do with the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth, not with our dying and "going to Heaven." God is interested in bringing righteousness and justice into the earth. This is the burden and message of the Hebrew Prophets.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4)
When we emphasize the concept of going to Heaven to live forever, the entire Scriptures become incoherent. Since going to Heaven is the subject neither of the Old Testament nor the New Testament, we find ourselves constantly adding to the text a concept not present, making the entire passage say something other than what is stated in the words. Christianity then takes its place alongside the other religions of the world that teach matter is evil and spirit is good. We change the message of God, the intent of His redemption in Christ.
The truth is, the Christian redemption has to do with the removing of all sin and death from the earth. All that is glorious and wonderful in the spirit paradise will be brought into the earth and made one with the things of earth. The kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of God and His Christ.
Some basic understandings. The key parable of the Kingdom of God is the parable of the sower. The sower sows the Seed of the Kingdom, which is Christ—the living word of God. Until one understands the parable of the sower the other parables of the Kingdom are not clear.
The parable of the sower reveals that the Kingdom of God is Christ, the word of God, conceived and brought to fruitfulness in us. According to this parable, many in whom the Seed germinates never bring any fruit to maturity. Of those who do succeed in bringing forth fruit, some produce more than others.
The Kingdom of God is the forming of Christ in us. To enter the Kingdom is equivalent to having Christ formed in us. The Spirit brings our first personality down to death so henceforth it is Christ who is living in us. It no longer is our original personality who is living but Christ who is living. This is the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God does not consist of a set of theological beliefs. Theological beliefs can be helpful, but as far as eternal life is concerned, theological beliefs are sterile. Only Christ Himself is eternal life. It is only as His life is in us that we have the light of the Kingdom of God. Theological beliefs are useful in the Kingdom of God only to the extent that they contribute to the forming of Christ in us. Otherwise, such beliefs are dead religion.
The Kingdom of God is not in words but in the power of the Presence of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life.
Christianity is not a religion, although its practitioners have made it so. Rather, Christianity is a kingdom that soon will descend from Heaven and by great violence take over the governments of the earth. Christianity is the giving of Divine Life and Substance to the concepts of biblical Judaism.
Our church trappings, organs, pews, steeples, are not essential parts of the Kingdom. They are scaffolding that will be removed when they no longer are needed. Christendom has created a culture of its own separate from the ordinary ways of earth and therefore alien to the Kingdom of God. The Body of Christ is being created in the midst of this alien culture, this Babylon (man-directed Christianity). How good God is! How patient and loving!
No sin ever can enter the Kingdom of God. Sinning people can be forgiven through the grace of God in Christ and thus be saved in the Day of the Lord. In fact, Christ pointed out that the "publicans and the harlots" go into the Kingdom of God before the chief priests and the elders of the people (Matthew 21:31). The remorseful and truly repentant find a welcome awaiting them at the door of the Kingdom, the cross of Calvary. Nevertheless sin cannot be brought into the Kingdom of God.
We do not obtain permanent status in the Kingdom of God on the basis of forgiveness, on the basis of the removing of our guilt by the mercy of God. Satan never will obtain residence in the Kingdom of God. We who believe become part of the Kingdom by means of the power of deliverance that resides in the Kingdom, and that is extended to people at the will of Christ. He is the King and Judge.
The churches on earth are composed of forgiven sinners. The Kingdom of God consists of new creatures.
Perhaps the greatest single mistake in Christian thinking is the concept that the grace of Christ brings the sinful and self-seeking into Paradise. This would be to destroy Paradise, to make it Hell.
Christ did not come in order to bring the sinful and self-seeking into Paradise. Christ came in order to convert the sinner into a righteous person and the self-seeking into a God-centered individual. For only the righteous and the God-centered enter the Kingdom and are the Kingdom.
The Kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace, and joy, is in us. The Kingdom of God, the rule of God, is formed in us. It is not a delightful place where, by the application of grace or faith, the unrighteous go when they die. This is our current tradition but it is incorrect.
The Kingdom of God begins in our spiritual nature and will extend into the material realm when our spiritual nature has been brought into union with Christ. God always creates the heavens before the earth.
The human being begins in the material realm because the material realm is the form of the Kingdom; not the eternal substance, but the outline, as it were, of that which will be eternal one day if the program of redemption is allowed to succeed in his life.
If the person is faithful with the "unrighteous mammon" he then will be entrusted with the true riches, which are spiritual. "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual" (I Corinthians 15:46).
First we are natural. Next, our spiritual nature is perfected in Christ. After that our perfected spiritual nature will return, take up the dead material outline (the resurrection), and fill it with incorruptible life, substance, and glory. This is the Kingdom of God.
If in this present life we "overcome"; if we through the Holy Spirit resist the opposition of Satan and enter God through Christ; if we allow Christ to bring us into restful union with God; if through the grace of Christ we conquer the world, Satan, and our own lusts and self-centeredness and put on the image of Christ; then we "attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Philippians 3:11).
If we attain to the resurrection from the dead, the first resurrection, we will be given back our visible form, our body, when the Lord Jesus returns from Heaven with the saints and holy angels. Our present body will be tremendously strengthened and enlarged, being brought into the likeness of the body of the Lord Jesus. Such is true of the ruling priesthood of the Kingdom of God.
Having received the Kingdom from the hand of the Lord Jesus we now are ready to work and rest in total righteousness, peace, and joy alongside Christ in the activities of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps our most important task will be developing the righteousness, peace, and joy of the Kingdom in other people.
The Kingdom of God will be formed in the elect, whether Jew or Gentile by natural birth, and also in the members of the nations of saved peoples of the earth.
The first resurrection from the dead, that which will occur when the Lord Jesus returns, is for the purpose of gathering to Christ His army, His kings and priests—the nobility of the Kingdom. These have had the Kingdom created in them in this life and now are able, through Christ’s Presence and the Spirit of God, to bring the power and glory of the Kingdom wherever Christ directs them.
The victorious saints will reign with Christ throughout the thousand-year Kingdom Age and will not be affected by the judgment that will take place when the Kingdom Age has been concluded.
The great judgment that will take place at the end of the Kingdom Age, when the present heaven and earth have vanished in a fiery explosion, will be for the purpose of determining who will be saved: that is, who will be permitted to enjoy the glorious reign of the Kingdom of God; who will be given eternal life and become part of the nations of the saved.
In the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, every person who is saved, every thing and every circumstance of worth, will have been renewed and will continue to be renewed by the revelation of God in Christ in the saints. God will be All in all. Christ will be the Center and Circumference of the universe.
The thousand-year Kingdom Age is for the purpose of moving all saved persons toward this perfect reign of God through His Christ.
The Church and the Kingdom of God. There has been confusion over the relationship between the Church and the Kingdom of God.
It is not true that the Kingdom of God is for the earth while the Church is for Heaven. Rather it is true that the Kingdom of God rules in Heaven now and soon will govern the earth also. The Church is the Body of Christ and is destined to govern all things, including the heavens and the earth.
It is not true that the Church is for the Gentiles and the Kingdom of God is for the Jews. The most superficial knowledge of the Scriptures will confirm that both Jews and Gentiles enter the Church and also into the Kingdom of God.
The term church means "called out from." A synonym is "elect." God’s elect, although drawn from the Jews and Gentiles, are no longer Jew or Gentile. They are the one Church, the one Kingdom of God that shall rule on the earth from the city of Jerusalem.
It is customary today to refer to a Gentile Christian as a "Christian," while a Jewish Christian is termed a "Jewish Christian." This is unfortunate. The truth is, a Gentile Christian is a Christian and a Jewish Christian is a Christian. There is no difference. Both are of God’s elect, of the one Body of Christ. Until this obvious truth is thoroughly accepted, all kinds of false distinctions will continue.
The difference is not between Jew and Christian, it is between Jew and Gentile. The terms Jew and Gentile refer to race. The term Christian refers to faith in Christ. Let us have done forever with the terms Gentile Church, Jewish Christian, Messianic believer. Were Peter and Paul Messianic believers or Christians?
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
True, or false?
How many Churches are there? How many Bodies of Christ? How many Kingdoms of God?
We have such confusion today over this simple truth that some Christians are teaching the Torah while others are making the observance of the Levitical feasts mandatory. Two thousand years have passed and we still are unable to believe the Apostle Paul when he stated that the cross of the Lord Jesus reconciled Jew and Gentile and created one new Man in Christ!
It is no wonder that some Christians, Jews and Gentiles alike, are returning to the Torah, in that the prevailing perversion of the grace of God into an excuse for sin has removed the moral strength from Christian doctrine. The Torah at least makes some moral demands on the worshiper.
It is not true that the Kingdom laws, such as the precepts set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, were for the Jews of Jesus’ day only, and now that grace has come we no longer are under the discipline of the words of Christ our King.
When we accept this teaching we make the precepts of Christ and of His Apostles of none effect by our tradition. The four Gospel accounts, as well as the Epistles of the Apostles, contain numerous exhortations to righteous and holy living. We are learning each day to obey these Kingdom laws, as the Spirit of God gives us the wisdom and power.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)
The preceding statement, as well as all the other words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Kingdom of God, will still be in effect when the heaven and earth pass away.
The true relationship between the Christian Church and the Kingdom of God is as follows.
The Lord Jesus Christ himself uniquely and perfectly is the Kingdom of God.
The Church, the Body of Christ, is the enlargement, the fullness of Christ. The Church is the royal priesthood of the Kingdom of God. The members of the Church, the Body of Christ, are the kings and priests of the Kingdom of God.
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
This is the true relationship between the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of God. The members of the Body of Christ, when they are filled with the Spirit of God and are walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus, hold the keys of the Kingdom. They possess the power and authority to close and open the doors of the Kingdom of God.
Because Christ in them governs both Heaven and earth, whatever the saints (when they are abiding in Christ) bind on the earth is bound in the heavens and whatever they loose on the earth is loosed in the heavens. When Christ is living and working in them they possess the authority to forgive and to retain sins (John 20:23).
God’s purpose in creating a spiritual-material kingdom and revelation. Now we come to a great mystery.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (I Timothy 3:16)
The question is, What is the significance of the Kingdom of God? Why is God creating an eternal revelation of Himself that is both spiritual and material?
A related question is, Why did God require that His sons, the rulers of His Kingdom, even His only begotten Son, be born physically in the material realm? God could have created mankind in the spirit realm as easily as He put Paradise on the earth and created Adam and Eve in that environment. And why did God permit Satan to enter His new creation?
The beauty and wonder of the spirit paradise was created by and for the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who have had visions of the spirit paradise say there are parks, children playing on the grass, tame animals, lovely valleys and hills, rural and suburban scenes of unblemished beauty and joy. Some have seen the jasper wall, the gates of pearl, and the transparent gold street of the heavenly Jerusalem.
No one who has returned from such an experience has expressed disappointment in what he or she has witnessed. Many were grieved because of having to return for a season and finish their tasks in the world.
The Logos of God dwells in His spirit paradise. Paradise is His true environment. Paradise issued from God who dwells in the Logos.
But Paradise is not the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God began when the Logos became flesh.
. . . These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14)
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; (Colossians 1:18,19)
God envisioned a state of being for the Logos that is better than the spirit paradise. God counseled the Logos:
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psalms 2:8)
Why should the Logos be required to pray in order to receive that which He Himself had created? Another mystery!
God’s Kingdom is the eternal union of the Person and Life of God and the material world. The everlasting inheritance of Christ is the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth. Christ had to pray for possession of the nations because God cannot possess a human being merely by creating him. God must gain his love, his heart.
Isn’t Paradise marvelous and wonderful enough for us? Why does the Father deem it desirable that the Kingdom of God include the material realm as well as the spirit realm?
Perhaps it is easier for us to understand the reasons for a temporary sojourn of God’s Son and sons in the material world, a temporary spiritual-material revelation of God and His Kingdom.
One reason for a temporary joining of Heaven and earth might be that the Character of Christ (who was made perfect in the world—Hebrews 2:10), and the character of the sons of God could be forged in God’s image and likeness, developing obedience, faithfulness, courage, faith, patience, perseverance, trust, and other virtues necessary for the proper conduct of the universe. We know that the tribulations of this life work patience—a mark of perfection in the Kingdom of God.
How could overcomers, conquerors, an eternal wall against sin and rebellion, be created in the spirit paradise where, it appears, there is nothing to overcome? The creation of kings and priests certainly must be one reason that man is born of woman on earth and not created in Paradise (although it appears that Melchizedek, a priest of God, was not created on the earth of human parents).
Another reason that may be advanced for a temporary union of Paradise and the earth is that the physical body is an excellent tool for teaching us humility and dependence on God. From the standpoint of what will be true of the overcomers in the future, the frail physical body of today is ludicrous. We could consider our animal body to be a joke that God has played on us, shutting us up in prison like this.
But God is serious about our behavior in our physical body. Our body is a perfect arena of testing, a means of challenging and evaluating our character in terms of righteousness, holiness, faithfulness, obedience to God, courage, understanding, compassion, and other attributes and virtues. The Judgment Seat of Christ will reveal that which we have done in our body.
Our physical body is the temple of God, of the Holy Spirit. Our body will be redeemed through means of an increased portion of the same resurrection life that currently is dwelling in us and thus be brought into the Kingdom of God.
The redeeming of our mortal body by resurrection life signifies our adoption as sons of God, and so we understand that our body is of great importance in the Kingdom of God. The resurrection from the dead has to do only with our body, our spirit and soul already having been received of God.
But we have stated that the Kingdom of God is not a temporary but an eternal union of Paradise with the earth. Why an eternal union? Why is the Lord God of Heaven transforming the purely spiritual into that which internally is spiritual but externally is material? Why is God clothing Paradise with a robe of flesh?
Perhaps for the pure joy of creating something new. God is the great Creator.
A central emphasis of the Scriptures is the construction of the house of God. It appears that God no longer is content with His temple in Heaven. He now is constructing for Himself a living temple, of which the conquerors are pillars. This is not a temporary abiding place. It is God’s house forever. It is the new Jerusalem, eternal Zion, the holy city, the Wife of the Lamb.
For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. (Psalms 132:13,14)
By dwelling eternally in a tabernacle that is material in outer form the invisible God is given Substance. He then can be seen by humans, by angels, by all His creatures. His holy, fiery Glory can be observed in material form.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the chief Cornerstone of the eternal Temple of God. The members of the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb, are living stones in the Temple of God. In this form God can dwell among the people whom He has created and wipe away their tears.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)
God dwelling in Christ in the saints can govern and bless other people, having fellowship with them. God loves all His children but there is a great gap between Him and them. That gap can be bridged only by a person who has met God’s standards, in whom God is dwelling.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Bridge, Jacob’s ladder that reaches from earth to Heaven. The ladder always is "set up on the earth" and the angels of God ascend and descend on it.
The members of the Body of Christ are being created "Jacob’s ladder." The entire Body is born of humanity and also of Divinity so God in Christ in us can rule, bless, and have fellowship with His creatures. This is the Kingdom of God and it is an eternal kingdom.
The marriage of the Lamb is the eternal union of the saints with the Lord Jesus and God in Him. Perhaps it would not have been possible for such a union, such a kingdom, to be accomplished in the spirit realm only. In any case, Christ was born as a Human.
Each of us is born as a human. It is in this realm, the material realm, that Christ and we are pounded, pounded, pounded together until we are one new creation in Christ in God. The new creation is the indissoluble union of Christ and the saint. The new creation is both human and Divine. The new creation is the Kingdom of God.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God,.... (II Corinthians 5:17,18)
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
For in Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature [creation]. (Galatians 6:15)
The deepest mystery of all is that God is multiplying Himself and is bringing Himself into a new dimension. There is a Man seated on the highest throne of Heaven; not an angel, or a cherub, but a Human Being. That Man still is clothed in the body that walked along the shores of Galilee, for the cave of Joseph of Arimathea is empty. Those who have seen Him say that the marks of the nails can be seen in His hands and His feet.
As is true of many other kingdoms, the Kingdom of God has a King and Queen (Psalm 45:9). We capitalize queen because of the glory, authority, and power to which God has raised her. The Kingdom also has a nobility. The Queen and the nobility are not different groups of people but different roles of the victorious saints.
The Kingdom of God has a government, laws, an army, and power to perform the King’s will. The center of government, Jerusalem, will be protected by a massive wall. The Kingdom has a territory that it governs, subjects whom it rules, and subordinate kingdoms that are under its sovereignty. The Kingdom of God is organized carefully; nothing is left ungoverned or uncared for.
The Kingdom of God has a spiritual nature and a material form; a spiritual environment and a material environment. The rulers and subjects of the Kingdom have a spiritual nature and a material form. There are relationships and fellowship in the Kingdom. Such relationships and fellowship are of supreme importance in the Kingdom, for the Kingdom is one of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
There are means of communication and a common language. There are all kinds of activities.
The Kingdom of God has a means of expanding, a method of growth and development. The expansion of the Kingdom will continue forever—ages without end.
The King. The Kingdom of God has a King. Jesus is His name. He will sit on the Throne of David forever.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6,7)
The Lord Jesus is the King whom God has chosen. He is King of all kings and Lord of all lords. Whoever rejects the rule of Christ will not be admitted to the Kingdom of God.
The Queen. The Kingdom of God has a Queen. The Queen of the Kingdom is the Church, the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb.
Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: on thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. (Psalms 45:9)
There are many "daughters of Jerusalem," but there is only one queen.
My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. (Song of Solomon 6:9)
The Spirit of Christ in David addresses His Queen:
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. (Psalms 45:10,11)
No doubt the imprisoned Paul was meditating on this passage when he exclaimed, "Brothers, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before" (Philippians 3:13).
Many people have been brought into the churches as the Kingdom invitation has gone forth. There are numerous individuals who profess belief in Christ. Among these there are a few who abide "in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs." These are the dove, the Bride, the undefiled. Jesus knows precisely who they are.
If the call to the Bride has come to us we are to "forget" the persons, things, and circumstances of this life and seek the King with a perfect heart. When we do, the King greatly desires our beauty, which is His own image in us. We are to worship Him alone.
The second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation are the royal summons directed toward the Bride, toward her who will share all things with Him.
It is important to note that in the New Testament the Wife of the Lamb never is referred to as the queen. However, "Babylon the great" (man-directed Christianity) regards herself as sitting as "a queen" (Revelation 18:7).
"Babylon" represents the Christian religion, denominationalism, the attempt of man to organize the things of Christ into a system whereby he can get what he desires, including advancement in an ecclesiastical organization.
Babylon sits as a queen. She views herself as being on the throne with Christ and using His name to accomplish her own ends. She eats her own bread and wears her own apparel, and uses the name of the Lord to take away her reproach: that is, to give an appearance of merit and Divine sanction to what she does (Isaiah 4:1).
Perhaps the major part of Christendom is of Babylon the great.
The reason the true Wife of the Lamb never is referred to as Christ’s queen is that she is one with Him. A queen is separate from the king. She is a different personality. She may be stronger than he. She may survive him when he dies.
Some of the subjects may be loyal to her rather than to the king. Most importantly, a queen has her own personality, her own ways, her own ambitions, her own goals. She is a different person from the king. Queen Jezebel and King Ahab are a case in point.
This is not the case with the Wife of the Lamb. She is Him! She is nothing apart from Him. She is of His bone, His flesh. He and she are one. He is revealed in her. He is her life. She is a branch growing out from Him. She has been created on His body and blood. She is termed "the Lamb’s wife" because she eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Lamb.
He who does not understand the perfect oneness of the Lamb and His Bride is in danger of becoming part of Babylon the great.
Many Christians today are part of Babylon. They are seeking to use the name of the Lord to further their own religious ambitions. In the day of tribulation at hand, all who are using the Lord for the accomplishment of their own ends will find themselves in the church of Laodicea. They are lovers of themselves. They say they are Jews but are of the synagogue of Satan.
Before the Lord returns, the true members of the Body of Christ will be cleansed from their spots and wrinkles by the blood of the Lamb and by a baptism of fire. Their number may prove to be relatively small by the time the Lord appears, but they are the ones who will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
The members of Babylon, of Laodicea, will be dealt with as those who are separate from the Lord. Even though they call themselves by His name they never have become part of Him. They love themselves and their sect of the Christian religion, not the Lord Jesus.
In the New Testament writings the victorious saints never are referred to as the queen of the Kingdom. They are the Church (called-out), the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb, the Temple of God, the new Jerusalem, the saints (holy ones); but never the queen.
The nobility. The Kingdom of God has a nobility. The saints are joined to Christ as His Body, speaking of their eternal union with Him. The saints also are destined to rule over the works of God’s hands, thus constituting the nobility of the Kingdom of God.
Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. (Isaiah 32:1)
The nobility must be spiritually strong.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;.... (Isaiah 53:12)
The nobles must learn to serve and not attempt to be tyrants over God’s inheritance.
If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14)
Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. (I Peter 5:3)
The nobles are kings and priests unto God the Father.
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
It is the nobles, the overcomers, who will be raised at the coming of Christ from Heaven, in the Day of the Lord, in the first resurrection. The nobles will be raised so they can proceed, in Christ, with the program of growth and development of the Kingdom of God.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)
The center of government. The Kingdom of God has a center of government and a specific location of that center.
Today the center of government of the Kingdom of God is at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.
And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (Acts 7:56)
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22)
When Jesus returns He will sit on the Throne of David in Jerusalem.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (Luke 1:32)
. . . upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, . . . . (Isaiah 9:7)
And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22:29,30)
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)
In the present hour the throne of Christ is in the new Jerusalem in Heaven. During the Kingdom Age, the thousand-year period, the throne of Christ will be in Jerusalem on the earth. During the new heaven and earth reign of Christ, which will commence after the thousand-year Kingdom Age has been concluded, the Lord Jesus will govern from the new Jerusalem, which will be located on a "great and high mountain" of the new earth.
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (Revelation 22:3)
The laws. The Kingdom of God has laws. Many of the laws of the Kingdom are found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, Chapters Five through Seven).
The first law of the Kingdom of God is that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second law of the Kingdom of God is that we love our neighbor as ourselves.
One of the greatest misunderstandings in contemporary Christian thinking is that the Sermon on the Mount is for the Jews but not for the "heavenly Gentiles," who are "saved by grace." This is not true. The grace of God in Christ creates in us the ability to obey the eternal moral law of God.
The role of God’s moral law in the Christian redemption has been grievously perverted in the thinking, preaching, and teaching of numerous Christians of the twentieth century.
It is taught that the law of God, the Ten Commandments, has been done away. But this is not true. The new covenant is not the doing away of the Ten Commandments. The new covenant is the putting of the Torah, the law, in our minds and the writing of the law in our hearts. To state that New Testament grace is the removal of the law is to misunderstand the new covenant.
The law referred to here is not the Law of Moses but the eternal moral law of God, of which the Law of Moses is an abridged, negative at times, covenantal form.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inner parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
The above could not be termed a doing away with the law.
Grace is much more than imputed (assigned) righteousness. God’s grace includes imputed righteousness but has much more to do with the actual practice of righteousness. Christ did not come to forgive the works of the devil. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil.
The current definition of grace is limited to forgiveness and imputed righteousness. It is incorrect and misleading to say that the Kingdom of God consists of "sinners who are saved by grace," unless by "saved by grace" one means delivered from the person and works of Satan and brought into the Person and works of Christ (which is the New Testament concept of redemption).
The truth is, there are no sinners in the Kingdom of God. Those who practice the works of the flesh cannot possibly inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).
The Kingdom of God is the doing of God’s will. The Kingdom of God does not consist only of an imputed (assigned) righteousness. The Kingdom of God consists of actual righteousness, actual peace, and actual joy in the Holy Spirit—the eternal moral law of God placed in the mind and engraved on the heart.
It is correct to state that the Kingdom of God consists of sinners who are being changed by grace.
The Lord Jesus Christ did not come from Heaven so men would not reap what they sow. Rather, He came from Heaven so men would have better seed to sow.
Any human being who transgresses the moral law of God will die. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross in order to suspend the sentence of death until the transgressor has had an opportunity to avail himself of Christ’s Virtue, Substance, and Nature, thus to be transformed from the image of Satan into the image of God.
But the permanent doing away with the sentence of death is dependent on the believer keeping his part of the contract.
For the earth that drinketh in the rain that cometh oft on it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:7,8)
The passage above implies that our redemption is conditional, being based on our fruit-bearing, that is, on the image of Christ coming forth in our personality. If we do not bear the fruit that the Lord desires we will be cursed just as Jesus cursed the fig tree.
We see that doing away with the sentence of death is conditional for the individual. If the new covenant is to have an eternal effect, the believer must keep the commandments of the Lord. He must follow the Holy Spirit in the work of sanctification.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, will be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: (Matthew 7:26)
Some theologians of today will disagree vehemently with our position that our redemption depends on our response. The teaching of today, which is strongly affected by the concept that once we make a profession of Christ we never can come under the curse of God, clearly is unscriptural. Numerous believers have been deceived and their spiritual potential destroyed by the error of the doctrine of the "eternal security" of the saints.
The end result of the workings of God with man is to make man in God’s image so he can have fellowship with God.
Many Christians of the twentieth century have perverted God’s plan by interpreting the Apostle Paul to mean that the Christian redemption is a method of bringing man into eternal fellowship with God on the basis of forgiveness and imputed (assigned) righteousness alone, apart from a continuing process of transformation into God’s image (II Corinthians 3:18). We have made the word of God of none effect by our traditions. Truly, it is a grievous perversion of Divine truth.
The keeping of God’s commandments is essential to the Kingdom of God. Under the new covenant the Ten Commandments have been greatly expanded in application until they govern the entire personality at all times. For example, the observance of the Sabbath Day is amplified until the individual ceases for eternity seeking his own pleasure, speaking his own words, performing his own works. He enters the Sabbath rest that is the Day of the Lord, the eternal day during which we rest in God’s perfect will and He is able to find rest in us (compare Isaiah 58:13; Hebrews 4:10).
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)
"In the kingdom of heaven"!
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:3,4)
The doing of God’s will in the earth is the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Heaven).
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
The army. The Kingdom of God has an army. It is a powerful army indeed!
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:11)
The army of the Lord will invade the earth at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven.
When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. (Habakkuk 3:16)
The army of Christ will destroy the forces of Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:19,20)
Because the Kingdom of God is both spiritual and material there is an army of angels, led by Michael, that fights alongside the army of saints. There actually are two armies (Mahanaim —Genesis 32:2).
The army of saints is an army of judges passing judgment, opening and closing the gates of the Kingdom, forgiving and retaining sins, as they are guided by the Spirit of God.
The army of angels constitutes irresistible power that moves at the judgments and pronouncements made by the saints in whom the Lord Jesus is abiding. All this is an expression of God the Father who is dwelling eternally in Christ.
The power. The Kingdom of God possesses the power to perform the will of King Jesus, to crush all rebellion and sin and drive it from the creation.
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 4:3)
Satan himself will be forced to bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. (Habakkuk 3:13)
And the God of peace shall bruise [crush] Satan under your feet shortly. . . . (Romans 16:20)
The wall. The Kingdom of God has a great wall that protects its center of government from all that is unholy.
And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: (Revelation 21:12)
No sin ever will be allowed past those gates.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
Here is another misconception concerning the Kingdom of God. It is believed commonly that people can enter the new Jerusalem, the center of government of the Kingdom of God, on the basis of being forgiven through means of the shed blood of the Lamb of God, Christ. But this is only partly true. It is a fact that whoever would enter the holy city must be forgiven by the blood of the Lamb. It never will be possible for an individual to come into the Presence of God apart from the Lord Jesus.
But, as we have stated previously, the Christian redemption does not stop with forgiveness. It includes the total rehabilitation of the individual.
Adam and Eve were denied access to the tree of life because they had sinned. God in His mercy thrust them out of the garden. In order for them to get back into the garden they must be delivered from the guilt of their sin, from the compulsion to sin, and from the effects of sin.
In order to go through the gates in the city of God the individual must keep God’s commandments.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14)
The wall is one of the most important concepts of the Kingdom of God. The wall of separation from all sin and rebellion against God is being constructed now in the personalities of the victorious saints. It is the wall that is stressed in the description of the new Jerusalem. God has determined to have no more unwalled Edens, no more undefended glory. One rebellion against the Lord God of Heaven is enough.
Building the wall against sin is of extreme importance in the present hour. The believers who are dwelling in carelessness, as far as the development of resistance against sin is concerned, are missing the current move of the Spirit of God. The purpose behind the current deceptions, such as the overemphasis on grace, the overemphasis on the love of God, the overemphasis on the ascension of the believers, is to prevent the building of the wall against sin. Satan knows he has access to the work of God until the wall has been constructed.
God requires that each saint of today become a reinforced bronze wall (Jeremiah 15:20). Such victorious Christians will play an important role in the days to come. But the believers who continue in their carelessness and lukewarmness will suffer much in the near future. They will not be able to stand in the midst of the spiritual darkness hovering over the world.
Around the Kingdom of God is a jasper wall. It is high and impenetrable and its gates are guarded by angels. Sinners cannot enter past the gates whether or not they name the name of Jesus. It is the holy city and the holy city it shall remain. Neither the person of Satan nor any of his works will ever enter through the gates. The sinner cannot enter through the gates. Only those who have actually washed their robes (conduct) in the blood of the Lamb, making themselves pure as He is pure (I John 3:3), can enter through the gates into the holy city.
Blessed are those who do the will of Christ. They will be permitted to enter through the gates into the city of God.
The territory. The Kingdom of God, as is true of other kingdoms, has a territory it governs. The territory of the Kingdom of God is everywhere God’s will through Christ is being performed. It is the determination of God that His will through Christ will be performed everywhere in His creation. The King of our Kingdom has been given the entire universe, by God, His Father.
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)
The Kingdom of God rules throughout the heavens and the earth. The kings and priests of the Kingdom have access to Heaven and earth. Being both spiritual and material they are at home equally in Heaven and on the earth. They are thoroughly human and thoroughly of the Divinity of Christ. They are the expression of His Life (John 17:22).
The subjects. The Kingdom of God has subjects. If there were no subjects, no one to rule, love, and teach, what would be the use of being a king or priest? But there are in fact nations of saved people for whom we are responsible in Christ.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: . . . . (Revelation 21:24)
These saved peoples will respond gloriously to the love for them that Christ has put in the heart of His saints.
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. (Isaiah 60:4)
The nations of the saved peoples of the world, who are the subjects of the Kingdom of God, will believe that Christ came from God when they behold the glory of the Kingdom in the saints.
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)
"That the world may believe."
The subjects of the Kingdom will respect and serve the royal priesthood.
And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. (Isaiah 61:5,6)
The subordinate kingdoms. The Kingdom of God will include subordinate kingdoms that it governs. The subordinate kingdoms are the nations of saved peoples of the earth. They will be ruled by God’s kings. This is why Christ is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. Christ is King of God’s other kings and Lord of God’s other lords.
The peoples of the earth will enter eternal life in the Kingdom, or into torment in the everlasting fire, depending on how they have treated God’s witnesses, the saints, the "brothers" of Christ.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (Matthew 25:31-34)
"The kingdom prepared for you [for the people who assisted the Lord’s elect, His brothers] from the foundation of the world."
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:40)
"The least of these my brethren."
For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. (Isaiah 60:12)
The nations of the saved will pay tribute to the Kingdom of God.
And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. (Revelation 21:26)
The nations of the saved will be required to come up to Jerusalem and worship God, who then will be dwelling in and with His saints.
And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. (Zechariah 14:17)
Because the wicked will have been destroyed by the brightness of the Lord’s coming, and the Spirit of God in the sons of God will have driven the spirit of evil from the earth, the nations of saved people left alive on the earth shall have a "will" to go up to Jerusalem to be blessed of the Lord.
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)
Organization and care. The Kingdom of God will be organized perfectly. Nothing will remain ungoverned or uncared for.
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel 2:44)
In the Kingdom, no individual will be overlooked or allowed to suffer harm. There will be no "sea," that is, no mass of persons who are tossed here and there like the waves of the ocean without regard for their individual identities.
Ungodly spirits and ungodly people no longer will be permitted to enter and abuse God’s subjects, as happens today.
There will be nothing hurtful or destructive in all of the Kingdom. The knowledge of the Lord will cover the peoples of the earth so they no longer will be driven to and fro by every wind of doctrine. The whole world will be filled with the waters of God’s Spirit.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)
The spiritual and material environments. The Kingdom of God has both a spiritual and a material environment. The world of today has both a spiritual and a material environment. However, the spiritual environment of the world of today flows from rebellious angels and demons. Therefore the material environment is confused, corrupt, destructive—altogether under the curse of God.
In the beginning the creation was both spiritual and material. There was "light" prior to the creation of the sun, moon, and stars. There was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent was able to speak.
But when Adam and Eve rebelled against the will of God the spiritual life was withdrawn. Only the lifeless material creation remained.
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (Romans 8:20)
The material creation still is under the curse of God; still is void of God’s holy Life. The spiritual activity of the world, to a great extent, is that which proceeds from wicked, rebellious spirits.
At the present time the Kingdom of Heaven is "not of the world."
The material forms we see about us, the people, trees, grass, mountains, valleys, and so forth are the forms of the eternal Kingdom of God. These forms will be greatly improved and glorified when the Kingdom of Heaven comes. Yet they are the forms of the Kingdom. Individuals who in vision have seen Paradise describe much the same forms of nature as those to which we are accustomed.
It is the spiritual environment that must be changed.
If God were to fill the earth that we have now with His Holy Spirit, driving out the spirit of Satan, then Paradise would have come to earth.
This precisely is what the Scriptures state will take place. It is the coming of the Kingdom of God.
But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. (Numbers 14:21)
. . . for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)
In order for the spiritual environment to be changed there must be a change in the spiritual personages who are attempting to create the earth and its people in their own image. The coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth is just such a change. It is a change of the kings who sit on the spiritual thrones that control the world.
The purpose for the first resurrection, that which will occur when the Lord Jesus returns, is to bring spiritually perfected saints into glorified material forms so they can ascend to the spiritual thrones that govern the world, and also live and move among earth’s peoples.
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)
The first resurrection is the resurrection of God’s royal priesthood. The first resurrection will take place when the Lord comes. There is no resurrection or ascension prior to the first resurrection.
Today the Lord God is perfecting our spirit, the spiritual dimension of our being. He will perfect our body when Jesus returns to earth.
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)
The Lord Jesus has exhorted us and warned us to keep our material concerns to a minimum and to concentrate on seeking the Kingdom of God.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
When the Lord Jesus teaches us to seek first the Kingdom of God He means to seek first the realm of God’s righteous spiritual Presence and power. No doubt the greatest mistake any believer in Christ can make is to walk "in the flesh" (occupying himself primarily with eating, sleeping, working, playing, and reproducing—the life of the animal).
When we walk in the flesh we miss the whole point of the Kingdom, the whole idea of what man is destined to be. Our flesh is dead in sin. When we allow our flesh to dominate our existence we reap only corruption.
Flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is made up of creatures who are at once human and Divine. They began as living souls, but through the Substance and Nature of Christ in them they have become life-giving spirits—a different kind of creation.
They no longer can be classified as merely intelligent animals. They are like the angels in some ways; like human beings in other ways. They are a new creation of God. To continue to live in the flesh is to continue to live as an animal. Such neither can see nor enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
As we have stated previously, the Kingdom of God does not consist of people who only are forgiven. The Kingdom consists of transformed personalities. It is a new creation, not a forgiven old creation.
Being forgiven by grace means that God will allow our prayers to enter His Presence on the basis of the atoning authority of the blood of the righteous Jesus. However, we have been granted this grace wherein we stand in order that we may devote our time and energy to seeking the Kingdom, not to following the appetites and dictates of our dead flesh.
If we who are members of God’s elect allow our flesh to rule us, God will send judgment on us even though we have professed belief in Christ. In this case we have received the grace of God in vain. We have turned again as a dog to its vomit.
The Scripture admonishes us to "walk in the Spirit." This means we are to seek the Lord Jesus, pray much, study the Scriptures, and obey the Spirit of God until we begin to experience the righteousness, peace, joy, and love of God’s Presence.
The holy Scriptures contain many negative statements because God is exhorting us and warning us concerning the danger of continuing in the deadly ways of Satan, of the world, and of our own flesh and self-will.
Also, the Scriptures contain many positive statements because God is holding out to us saved sinners the joy of fellowship with God. Christ rebukes and chastens us because He understands the peace and love that will be ours if we succeed in pressing past the lusts and covetousness of our flesh and soul and enter the life lived in the Spirit of God.
It is time now to "take the Kingdom." We must seek Christ with utmost diligence. There are thrones to be gained. The treasures of the Kingdom will be handed out to those who care enough to ask, seek, and knock. It is today that God is training the kings and priests of His Kingdom.
The spiritual environment of the Kingdom of God is incorruptible, eternal resurrection life—the same life that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. We are to sow to that life now. We are to "lay hold on eternal life." The river of God’s Spirit is too wide for any of us to completely pass over. How far into the River we get depends on the diligence with which we seek the Kingdom.
If we are thoroughly diligent we can attain to the first resurrection from the dead; we can experience life lived in the power of Christ’s resurrection.
If we persevere in the power of Christ’s resurrection today, attaining to the first resurrection from the dead, we will be given back our material form when Jesus comes. Our body will be marvelously strengthened and glorified. If we are living in Christ’s resurrection, and yet are alive on the earth when the Lord Jesus returns, our body will be strengthened and glorified in the same manner that is true of those saints whose bodies are asleep in the ground.
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)
But if we have not gained the spiritual life of the Kingdom of God during our pilgrimage on the earth we will not be given back our material form when the Lord comes. We will not be given back our material form until our spiritual life has met with God’s approval.
When Jesus appears and the Spirit of life pours out from Him through His saints, the material creation will awaken from its long sleep, its chains having been broken by Christ in the sons of God.
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
Nature once again will be filled with life.
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12)
Eternal springtime will have come.
For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; (Song of Solomon 2:11,12)
When Jesus comes it always is springtime.
A spiritual nature and a material form. The subjects of the Kingdom of God will possess both a spiritual nature and a material form. There will be no person in the new heaven and earth reign of Christ in whom Christ is not dwelling to some degree. Flesh and blood cannot enter the Kingdom of God. The individual must be born again of the Spirit of God if he or she is to see or to enter the Kingdom.
No person can live by bread alone because God intends that mankind be both spiritual and material in nature. Every human being on earth must eat both spiritual food and natural food if he is to maintain his life.
Spiritual food and spiritual healing will be available to the members of the nations of the saved. Pain and death will be removed forever from God’s Kingdom.
And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:12)
There also will be natural food.
And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. (Isaiah 65:21)
It is interesting to note that the resurrected Jesus ate bread and fish.
Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. (John 21:13)
Relationships and fellowship. There are relationships and fellowship in the Kingdom of God. There is no other element of the Kingdom as important as relationships. The first law of the Kingdom is that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second law of the Kingdom is that we love our neighbor as ourselves. All the Law and the Prophets proceed from these two Kingdom laws.
We have spoken in our other writings of the supreme importance of union with God as distinguished from seeking power with God or working for God. It appears that far too much is said today about gaining power with God, as though God is seeking to develop more "christs." The desire to find ways of gaining power in Jesus’ name can run dangerously close to the Antichrist spirit.
The highest concept of the Kingdom of Heaven is as follows:
That they all [all the saints] may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)
It is good for us to strive for unity and for love among ourselves. We always must continue in that endeavor, for love is the mark of the Lord’s disciples.
But John 17:21 goes far deeper than our frail attempts to love the brothers. There is a perfection of unity that can be achieved only as we die to self and the Life of Christ is created in us. The unity of the saints among themselves, and of the saints in Christ in the Father, is not only the unity of agreement and good will, it is a unity of substance, of nature, of what we are in essence.
When God in Christ fills every atom of our being, our spirit, soul, and body, then there exists among us the unity that exists among the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Such unity is not of our striving. It is not of the world. It is the unity of the Kingdom of Heaven. When our abiding in Christ is kept in its proper place of emphasis, then our moral behavior and the works of the power of Christ Himself in us will follow naturally, being kept in perspective and balance.
The Kingdom of God will affect the relationships among the nations. The coming of the Prince of Peace will put an end to war on the earth.
And he will judge among the nations, and will rebuke many people: and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4)
The means of communication. There will be extensive communication in the Kingdom of God. When we began this present study of the Kingdom of God we mentioned that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Logos, the Expression, the word of God.
All the elements of the Kingdom we are discussing have been and are being created by and for the Logos, the Expression, the Manifestation of God. The Logos has had from eternity a spiritual Being, and has revealed His Nature and His intention for man by forming Paradise and the remainder of the material creation. Now the Logos has become flesh. Now the Revelation of God is both spiritual and material.
The entire Kingdom of God is a communication to all God’s creatures of the true Character of God (compare Romans 1:20).
Christ—Head and Body—is itself the Covenant of God to the nations of the earth. Originally the Ten Commandments were the Covenant of God. Now the Ten Commandments are being personified in those in whom the Logos is being formed (Isaiah 42:6).
The confusion of language instituted at the Tower of Babel will be removed.
For then will I turn to the people a pure language [purified lips], that they may all call on the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent. (Zephaniah 3:9)
God will give the nations of the earth holy expression so they may be able to communicate with Him (and with one another) and serve Him. At the Tower of Babel, God deliberately created a multitude of languages, knowing that confusion, suspicion, and wars would be the result. God did this because He understands that human beings, in their present state, would not use the gift of a common language to call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.
We humans suppose that if all men were at peace with one another an ideal situation would be created. The truth is, such a unified world of people would shake its fist at God. Nonbelievers and believers alike would gather together against the Lord of Heaven. God, understanding this human trait, works so that each individual enters his own relationship with God before he enters lasting unity with other people. True unity among humans, the unity of the Kingdom of God, can result only from the union of each individual with God through the Lord Jesus.
Many churches of our day consist of believers who are in love with one another. Their assemblings reflect these strong horizontal relationships. But the essential relationships, the union of each believer with the Lord, are not nearly strong enough. The assemblies of people who are bound to each other but not to the Lord reject the spirit of the prophet.
Also, there is a tendency for such "churches" to fall into immorality. This type of unity is not healthy. It is spiritually soft, soulish, tending toward foolishness, spiritual laziness, sympathy, and lust.
True union with God always results eventually in union with those who are abiding in the Lord. But union with people does not always result in true union with the Lord.
In the Holy Spirit the confusion of Babylon is reversed. When the Holy Spirit first was poured on the Christian Church, marking the beginning of the expansion of the Kingdom of God (expanding from the Person of Christ who Himself Is the Kingdom of God), God enabled the disciples to communicate with Jews from all over the Roman Empire who were in Jerusalem for the observance of the Jewish feast of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit of God is the great Light, the great Communicator. When the Holy Spirit reveals Christ through the believers He gives them supernatural wisdom, knowledge, tongues, prophecy, interpretation of tongues, and discernment. The Holy Spirit includes the seven Spirits who give light before the Throne of God.
It is interesting to note the New Testament emphasis on speaking in tongues. By tongues the Holy Spirit enables us to speak "in the Spirit." It appears that one of the reasons otherwise devout Christians refuse to speak in tongues is that they are so busy attempting to build God’s Kingdom by means of their own wisdom and strength they do not know how to turn the task over to the Spirit, whose responsibility it is.
It is true also that many who do speak in tongues never have learned the "rest" into which the speaking in tongues will lead us if we are sensitive to the Spirit of God.
The activities. There are all sorts of activities, creative enterprises, services, and responsibilities in the Kingdom of God. Whether our area of responsibility is in the spirit realm or on the earth our days will be filled with opportunities to rule, to judge, to teach, to love, to bless, to create. In the Kingdom of Heaven each creature will find the reason for his existence—that for which God has created and trained him or her.
Our opportunities for service begin now, in this life, as we serve the Lord. The two great tasks of today are (1) building the Body of Christ to the fullness of the stature of Christ; and (2) bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to every man, woman, boy, and girl on the earth. God is doing a third great work also, in bringing back the Jews to the land of Israel.
At the time of Jesus’ return to earth, the victorious saints will follow Him in the great cavalry charge, the attack of Armageddon. They then will participate in the greatest of all coronation ceremonies, when the Lord Jesus Christ ascends the Throne of David in Jerusalem.
The Lord Jesus will establish His kings on the spiritual thrones that were vacated when Satan and his angels were hurled down from their positions in the air.
Then will come the period when the sons of God bring the liberation of the thousand-year Jubilee to the members of the nations of the saved.
In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. (Amos 9:11-13)