The kingdom of God is the rule, the government, of God from eternity to eternity. This kingdom is composed of four dispensations (see chart on pp. 12-13). Romans 5:14 refers to the period of time “from Adam until Moses.” This was the age before the law, the first dispensation. The second dispensation is from Moses to Christ. This is the dispensation of law. The third dispensation is the dispensation of grace, or the dispensation of the church. Outside the church is the external appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, today’s Christendom. Within Christendom is the true church, which is the composition of the real believers, and within the true church are the overcomers who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. Outside Christendom is the world, the unbelievers. There is no real separating line between Christendom and the world. The last dispensation is the millennium of a thousand years. In the millennium there are two parts: the heavenly part and the earthly part. The heavenly part is the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. In this manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, Christ and the overcoming believers will be the kings (Rev. 20:4, 6). In the earthly part of the millennium the saved Jews will be the priests teaching people how to serve God (Zech. 8:20-23). The overcoming believers as the kings, the saved Jews as the priests, and the nations as the people are the three groups of people in the millennium.
With the kingdom of the heavens there are three main aspects we must be clear about. The first aspect is the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. This appearance is today’s Christendom, which includes the Roman Catholic Church and all the false Christians. The second aspect is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. This aspect is composed of the overcomers, the victorious Christians. All the genuine Christians, whether victorious or defeated, are the church. However, within the real church among the true believers there is a distinction between the victorious ones and the defeated ones. With the victorious ones there is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. The victorious Christians who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, the defeated believers who are in the church yet not in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, the false Christians who are merely Christians in name but not members of the true church, and the world composed of all the unbelievers are the four groups of people on the earth today. The appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, Christendom, and the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, the overcomers, constitute the dispensation of the church.
After the dispensation of the church, the Lord will come back. This will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Those who live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today will be manifested with the Lord to be the kings in the dispensation of the millennium to rule the nations on the earth with the saved Jews as the priests. The kings who are the overcomers in Christ, the saved Jews as the priests, and the people, the nations, constitute the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens.
To be clear about the kingdom truths we must first be clear about the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the heavens. Second, we must be clear about the three aspects of the kingdom of the heavens: the appearance, the reality, and the manifestation. We have already seen the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the heavens. Now we must see in more detail the difference between the appearance, the reality, and the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens. Matthew is a book on the kingdom of the heavens. The only other mention of the kingdom of the heavens is in 2 Timothy 4:18 where the term “heavenly kingdom” is used. In the Gospel of Matthew there are three main parts. The decree of the kingdom’s constitution in chapters 5 through 7, the parables in chapter 13, and the prophecy of the kingdom in chapters 24 and 25 are the three great parts of the Gospel of Matthew. If we can understand these three parts, we can understand the Gospel of Matthew. In chapter 13 the Lord unveils the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. In chapters 5 through 7 we can see the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. In chapters 24 and 25 the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is revealed by the Lord Jesus.