The church is a matter of grace and life, whereas the kingdom is a matter of exercise in this age and discipline in the coming age (Matt. 25:15-30; 1 Cor. 3:13-15). The church, like a human head, has a different appearance when seen from different angles. If you look at the back of my head, you do not see any holes; however, if you look at the front, you will see seven of them. Although the back of my head differs from the front, both are aspects of one entity. It is the same with the church. From one angle we see the church as a matter of grace and life; from another angle we see it as the kingdom of God with exercise and discipline. In the church, on the one hand we enjoy grace and experience life, while on the other hand we undergo a certain amount of exercise.
We should not neglect our need for such exercise. Because of our need for exercise, the church is the present kingdom of God. According to some of the Brethren teachers, every believer will enter the millennial kingdom as a king. But, look at ourselves. Do we resemble kings? If the Lord Jesus should come and ask you to be a king I think that you would be frightened because you don’t know how to be a king. You have never been exercised and trained to be a king. I have been told that the kings of Britain are trained to be kings from their youth. Birth is insufficient; a king must be trained and exercised. Although you have the potential of being a king, the kingship also depends upon your exercise. Do not be loose and careless. If you are unwilling to be exercised in this age, you will be disciplined in the coming age. Your destiny is to be a king, and sooner or later the Lord will make you one.
God has arranged all the details of your daily life to enable you to be exercised. Every event which transpires in your life is a part of God’s sovereign arrangement. Without the help of your environment and circumstances you cannot know yourself. You will imagine yourself to be an angel, considering yourself to be nice and wonderful, but ignorant of how poor, mean, and wild you actually are. You need a spouse, children, brothers and sisters in the church, and various circumstances to give you a multi-dimensional photograph of yourself that you may be exposed from every direction. When you see this photograph, you will declare, “Is it I? I didn’t know that I was that bad.” I have experienced this myself. When I have been tempted to blame others, the Lord has told me to put the blame on myself. He has told me to thank Him for the dear brothers that expose me and give me a healthy look at myself. Without such brothers I could not be exposed. This is an exercise we undergo in the church life for the sake of the kingdom.
In one sense, the church is God’s family, God’s home (Eph. 2:19; 1 Tim. 3:15). In this house we enjoy grace and receive the life supply. In another sense, the church is also the kingdom. What is the meaning of the word kingdom? It means ruling. Many Christians say, “I like to attend the meetings, but I don’t like to be ruled. Whom do those elders think they are? Why must they be in the lead?” On the one hand the church is a family, a home that is full of grace and life; on the other hand the church is a kingdom, a government to rule. In the church as the kingdom we do have the leadership and the rule under the headship of Christ. This is a matter of exercise. In order to have the church life we need the exercise of the kingdom. Thus, the church is our home and the church is also our kingdom. In our home we have the enjoyment of love, the supply of grace, and the riches of life. In the kingdom we have the rule, the government, the exercise, and the discipline. Praise the Lord for both aspects of the church! I have heard many saints proclaim concerning the church, “Praise the Lord, I am home!” However, we also need to proclaim, “Hallelujah, I am also in the kingdom!”
Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” When you are about to receive the saints, you must realize that the saints are not to be received according to your doctrinal concepts or religious practices regarding eating and drinking. The kingdom of God is neither eating nor drinking. The kingdom of God is righteousness toward yourself, peace toward others, and joy with God in your spirit. Whether you eat turtle or cabbage means nothing. However, righteousness, peace, and joy mean a great deal, for these items are the expression of Christ. When Christ is expressed, He is our righteousness toward ourselves, our peace toward others, and our joy with God. We must be strict with ourselves and make no excuses for ourselves. Toward ourselves we must be right, narrow, and righteous in everything we do. Toward others we must endeavor to pursue peace, continually seeking to be at peace with them. However, some brothers do not even have peace with their wives, and some sisters have no peace with their husbands. We must be careful to maintain peace with everyone related to us. This peace is Christ lived out from our being. Furthermore, we need joy. Every day we should be joyful. If we cannot say, “Hallelujah, praise the Lord,” every day, it means that we are defeated and are not in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of joy. We must constantly be joyful with God, praising Him, and saying, “Hallelujah.” Righteousness, peace, and joy are the characteristics of the kingdom of God today. And the kingdom of God is the exercise of the church life. The church life is for the kingdom life, and the kingdom life is an exercise of the Christian life. We need such exercise.