Prayer: Lord, we worship and thank You that You have gathered us into Yourself, into Your name, around Your word. We trust in You that we may see light from Your word. Unveil Yourself to us. We are here to hear the word and to have You Yourself, the One whom we seek. Lord, we want to touch You and be touched by You. Thank You, Lord, that You are the Spirit today and that we have You in our spirit. Lord, be with us as we are speaking concerning Your truth. Speak in our speaking the things concerning the mysteries of God’s economy. Lord, give us the utterance and the proper understanding, and bring us into the truth that we may know You according to Your Word. Lord, build us up, and build up Your church. Shame Your enemy. Lord, do gain glory among us. Amen.
The kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 3:2; 5:3, 10) is a very crucial item in the New Testament. This item is troublesome to Bible students. For this reason, we need to receive light so that we may see a clear vision of the things concerning God’s mysterious economy and concerning the kingdom of the heavens.
The kingdom of the heavens is the last item related to the Body that was constituted by the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the consummated Triune God was for the baptizing of all the believers into one Body. All the believers universally, in space and in time, were baptized in this outpouring of the Spirit into one Body. This one Body comprises a number of items: the Body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the universal new man, the household of God, the temple of God, the church, and the kingdom. The first three items—the Body of Christ, the bride of Christ, and the universal new man—are related to Christ. The last four items—the household of God, the temple of God, the church, and the kingdom—are related to God.
In the New Testament the kingdom implies both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the heavens. These are not one thing but two. They are two aspects of the kingdom.
The kingdom of the heavens is the strict section of the kingdom of God (Matt 3:2, cf. Mark 1:15; Matt. 13:24, cf. Mark 4:26), while the kingdom of God is the kingdom in a broad sense. A person who visits the state of California from another country may say either that he is visiting California or that he is visiting the United States. These are not two separate places, but two ways to designate the same place. To say that we are visiting the United States is to speak in a broad sense, whereas to say that we are visiting California is to speak of the same place, but in a narrower sense, since California is a section of the United States. In the same way, the kingdom of the heavens is a section, the most crucial section, of the kingdom of God.
In the previous message we saw that the kingdom of God is a wide sphere and that, like God’s existence, it is eternal. Where God’s existence is, there His kingdom is also. God’s kingdom was in existence long before man was created, because at that time the angels were under God’s rule. God’s kingdom is unlimited, but the kingdom of the heavens, comparatively speaking, is very narrow. It comprises only two ages: the church age, which began on the day of Pentecost, and the kingdom age, which will end at the close of the millennium. The church age is approximately two thousand years in length, and the kingdom age is exactly one thousand years. Together, these two ages constitute the sphere, the realm, of the kingdom of the heavens, which will last approximately three thousand years. The New Jerusalem, which will come after the millennium, is not included in the kingdom of the heavens; it is a part of the kingdom of God. Today, we are in the church age; therefore, we are in the kingdom of the heavens.
The kingdom of God, being broader than the kingdom of the heavens, includes the Old Testament age. However, the kingdom of the heavens has nothing to do with the Old Testament age, since the kingdom of the heavens began on the day of Pentecost in the New Testament age and will conclude at the close of the millennium. The kingdom of the heavens is in the New Testament economy of God and includes the church age and the kingdom age. Matthew 3:2 says, “The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” This proves that even at the time of John the Baptist, the kingdom of the heavens was not yet present; it had only drawn near.
Mark 1:15, which says, “The kingdom of God has drawn near,” is nearly identical with Matthew 3:2. The latter refers to the kingdom of the heavens, whereas the former speaks of the kingdom of God. Matthew 13:24 says, “The kingdom of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field,” and Mark 4:26 says, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth.” Again, the two verses are nearly the same, except that Matthew refers to the kingdom of the heavens, whereas Mark refers to the kingdom of God. This indicates that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the heavens are two aspects of the same thing.