According to Matthew, the kingdom of the heavens is divided into three aspects. If we want to understand the kingdom of the heavens, we must be clear concerning these three aspects.
The first aspect of the kingdom of the heavens is the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. This is Christendom, comprising the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox church, and Protestant churches. Within the sphere of the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, Christendom, there are genuine believers and false believers, righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and heresy, and things of the Lord and things of the devil. The Lord spoke of these matters in His parables in Matthew 13:24-42.
1. “The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field. But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares in the midst of the wheat” (Matt. 13:24-25; see also vv. 30, 36-40).
According to the Lord’s words, He is the kingdom of the heavens coming to the earth to sow Himself as the seed of life on earth. True believers, who have His life, are portrayed as wheat that grows up from this good seed. However, the Lord also spoke of His enemy, the devil, sowing false believers as tares among the true believers. These false believers, who do not have the Lord’s life, are mixed among true believers, but they have not truly repented or believed from their hearts to receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior. They have not been regenerated with the Lord’s life. Thus, they do not have an inward relationship with Christ based on His life. They have only an outward relationship with organized Christianity. They are pew-warmers, blind followers, seekers of base gain, traditional followers, religious leaders who do not believe in Christ, and superstitious ones looking for blessings. The devil mixes these false ones among true believers in order to corrupt the church as the kingdom of God, the realm in which He exercises His authority on earth today. Although they cannot participate in the kingdom of the heavens, they give a false appearance to the kingdom of the heavens because they are mixed together with true believers.
2. “The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, and which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches” (Matt. 13:31-32).
In this parable the Lord said that the kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed planted in the field. Just as in the previous parable, the seed represents the Word of life. Since every seed should reproduce according to the nature of the life within it, the kingdom of the heavens, like an annual mustard seed, should not be deeply rooted in the earth. The church should sojourn like a pilgrim on the earth but also be full of the element of life and the function to nourish and feed people. In this parable, however, the mustard seed grew up and became a great tree, like Christendom, having great size, deep roots in the world, and a perennial expression. In this way it lost its nourishing element and grew large branches where the devil and his angels could roost. This is related to the devil mixing false believers into the church, which caused her nature to change and enlarged her outward organization. With tens of thousands of false believers mixed into it, the church, which should have been small like an herb, became Christianity, a large tree. Christianity is great on the earth today. It truly is a large tree. With such a large outward appearance, many of the works, occupations, organizations, and institutions of Christianity are simply branches in which Satan and his angels can roost. As a great tree, Christianity represents the false, worldly, and outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens on earth today.
3. “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened” (Matt. 13:33).
In the preceding parable, the Lord spoke of the abnormal development of the kingdom of the heavens. In this parable He spoke of the inward corruption within the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. The Roman Catholic Church, signified by the woman, has brought all kinds of heresies and evil things, as leaven (cf. Gal. 5:8-9; 1 Cor. 5:6-8), into the church and mixed them with the teachings of Christ. This has leavened and corrupted the entire content of Christianity. Today’s Christianity has teachings that are full of the leaven of heretical doctrines and unbelief, just like those of the Sadducees in ancient times (Matt. 16:12); its actions are full of the leaven of evil and hypocrisy, just like those of the Pharisees in ancient times (Luke 12:1); and its positions are full of the leaven of corrupt power and injustice, just like that of King Herod in ancient times (Mark 8:15). These different kinds of leaven have caused all of Christendom in its outward appearance to be inwardly corrupted.
The parables concerning the tares, the mustard seed, and the leaven all refer to negative matters, but since the Lord said, “The kingdom of the heavens is like,” in reference to them all, they speak of matters related to the kingdom of the heavens. However, they do not refer to the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. Rather, they refer only to its appearance since they are related to negative matters. These parables speak only of the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens and the condition within its outward appearance. In its outward appearance, there are false believers as well as true believers. These false believers are Christians in name only, not in life. In the kingdom’s appearance there is outward worldly development and inward heretical corruption. This is the first aspect of the kingdom of the heavens.