The way to bring others out of the world and into the kingdom of the heavens is not by today’s superficial gospel but by the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations” (Matt. 24:14). The gospel of the kingdom includes not only forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47) and the impartation of life (John 20:31) but also the kingdom of the heavens with the power of the coming age (Heb. 6:5) to cast out demons and heal diseases (Isa. 35:5-6; Matt. 10:1). Both forgiveness of sins and the imparting of life are for the kingdom.
The gospel of the kingdom, which also includes the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24), not only brings people into God’s salvation but also into the kingdom of the heavens (Rev. 1:9). The emphasis of the gospel of grace is on forgiveness of sin, God’s redemption, and eternal life, whereas the emphasis of the gospel of the kingdom is on the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord.
The New Testament speaks of the gospel of life, the gospel of grace, and the gospel of salvation. However, all these are different aspects of the kingdom. The kingdom is the center, the hub, and all the other items may be considered the spokes, which are centered on the hub. The gospel of life is for the kingdom, the gospel of salvation is for the kingdom, and the gospel of forgiveness is for the kingdom. All these different aspects of the gospel are for the kingdom. The kingdom is the real gospel. We may think that the gospel is the gospel and that the kingdom is something else. This concept is wrong. The kingdom is the gospel. If we do not know the kingdom, we do not know the gospel in a full way. If we want to know the gospel in a full way, we must realize that the kingdom is the all-inclusive gospel. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age comes. The inhabited earth means every place inhabited by man. I believe that the churches in the Lord’s recovery will bear the burden to bring this gospel to all the inhabited earth. The gospel of grace has been preached in every continent but not the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of grace is the lower gospel, but the gospel of the kingdom is the higher gospel. This higher gospel must be brought to every continent through the churches in the Lord’s recovery.
Matthew 5:13 says, “You are the salt of the earth.” Here the Lord Jesus is speaking of the people of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 5:3, 10). In particular, the “you” in 5:13 refers to the overcoming believers in the kingdom life. Furthermore, being the salt of the earth is a corporate matter, not an individual matter. Individually we cannot be the proper salt. It is as a corporate entity that the kingdom people are the salt of the earth. If we separate ourselves from the church life, we cannot be such salt.
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