The kingdom of the heavens is the realm of God’s heavenly rule in the New Testament believers in Christ (cf. Dan. 4:26). We are presently in such a realm. However, some teachers of the Bible, most notably those among the Brethren, have taught that, because the Jews rejected the kingdom when it was offered to them by the Lord Jesus, the kingdom of the heavens was suspended, and the church age came in to replace the kingdom. According to this teaching, after the church age has passed through a period of about two thousand years, the kingdom of the heavens will come down to the earth. Such a teaching regarding the kingdom is inaccurate. The kingdom of the heavens has not been suspended, and we are not waiting for the kingdom of the heavens to come. We are in the kingdom of the heavens today, and we are even part of the kingdom of the heavens.
The kingdom of the heavens has three aspects: the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, and the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Without a proper understanding of these three aspects, we could never understand such a subject as the kingdom of the heavens in the Bible.
In chapters five through seven of Matthew, the Lord Jesus gave a long message to His disciples. In this long discourse, He unveiled to them that the reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the victorious living of the overcoming believers. When we rise early in the morning to have a morning revival in the holy Word with the Lord, while we are there enjoying and praising the Lord, we are a part of the heavenly kingdom. This is an aspect of our victorious living. If, on the other hand, we sleep late and do not rise up early to be with the Lord, that should be considered a defeated living, a living that is not part of the kingdom of the heavens.
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is a living that surpasses that of the law, with the highest standard of ethics. Matthew 5:20-44 shows us that the standard of the Lord Jesus is much higher than that of the law. For example, the law tells us to love our neighbor (Lev. 19:18), but the Lord Jesus tells us to love our enemies as well (Matt. 5:44). This indicates that the standard of ethics in the kingdom of the heavens is much higher than that of the law.
The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is a living by the divine life expressed in the human life (Matt. 5:45). The human life is not capable of living a life that matches the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. A dog cannot live the human life; only a human being can live such a life. Similarly, only the divine life can live a life that matches the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. The marvelous thing is that the living of the divine life is expressed through the human life. It is the living of a mingled life. This is proven by Matthew 5:45, which says, “...that you may become sons of your Father who is in the heavens.” We can live the divine life because we are children of the divine Father. We could never live such a life as children of our human father. There is a much greater capacity in the divine life than in the human life. To live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens by the capacity of the divine life, we need to exercise our spirit to praise Him, to fellowship with Him, and even to remain in Him and to abide in Him all day.
Such a living is the expression of the processed Triune God mingled with the regenerated and transformed believers (Matt. 5:48). During our morning revival with the Lord and in the church meetings, we all enjoy the Lord and are living in the reality of the heavenly kingdom. However, those who have experienced more of the Lord’s transformation will be in this reality to a greater degree than those who have been saved only recently. If several pieces of cloth are put into blue dye, all the pieces will become blue, but the darkness of the blue will vary depending on the length of time each piece has been in the dye. Likewise, all believers are the same in being regenerated, but not all are the same in the degree of transformation. The process of transformation is somewhat like the procedure of dying a piece of cloth. The degree of transformation we have experienced depends on how much we have given the Lord the opportunity to mingle Himself with us. We all enjoy the same Lord, but there is a difference in our enjoyment based on the degree of our transformation.
Matthew 5:48 says, “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In order to be perfect, we must be perfected, and the only way for us to be perfected is to be mingled with the Father. Other than the way of mingling, there is no way for us to be perfected. We may illustrate the process of being perfected by the pouring of lemon juice into a glass of tea. The more we pour lemon juice into the tea, the more the tea will be “lemoned”; that is, the more it will be perfected to be like the lemon juice in its color, taste, and element. Without the heavenly Father’s mingling of Himself with us, there is no way for us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
The Apostle Peter was one who became perfected. On the day of Pentecost, he was not as fully perfected as he was when he wrote his two epistles, 1 Peter and 2 Peter. Between these two times, Peter’s being perfected became very much intensified. On the day of Pentecost, Peter had not experienced much mingling, but at the time that he wrote his two epistles, his experience of the mingling had greatly increased. The same can be said of the Apostle Paul. By comparing 2 Timothy with 1 Thessalonians, it is clear that 1 Thessalonians was written by a younger apostle, and 2 Timothy by an older, more mature apostle. At the time of the writing of 2 Timothy, Paul had experienced much more mingling.
Matthew 5:45 indicates that we have the heavenly life because we are children of the heavenly Father. Matthew 5:48 indicates that we shall be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. These two verses show not only that we have the life of the heavenly Father, but also that our being becomes mingled with the heavenly Father’s being.