The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be a reward to the overcoming saints, including the overcomers in the church in the New Testament age. Paul says, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will save me into His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:18). The heavenly kingdom is “the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43), “the kingdom of My Father” (26:29), “the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5), and “the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:11), and it will be a reward to the overcoming saints. The heavenly kingdom in 2 Timothy 4:18 equals the crown of righteousness in verse 8 and is an incentive to the believers who run the heavenly course.
The New Testament reveals that the kingdom of the heavens is wrapped up with the church. In Matthew 13 the Lord spoke concerning the revelation of the church with respect to the kingdom of the heavens. He also prophesied concerning the main points of Christian history between His first coming and His second coming.
The kingdom of the heavens is also called the kingdom of God. It is in the section of God’s kingdom where God reigns in a particular way, in the sense of life. At the beginning of the New Testament the kingdom of God was present, but it needed a new start in the way of life. According to the Gospel of Matthew there are three aspects of the kingdom of the heavens: the reality, the outward appearance, and the manifestation. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the inward content of the kingdom of the heavens in its heavenly and spiritual nature. The outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens is the outward condition of the kingdom of the heavens in name. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is the practical coming of the kingdom of the heavens in power. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens is the proper church life. The outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens includes false believers who are not regenerated. Both the reality and the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens are with the church today.
The kingdom of the heavens began on the day of Pentecost, beginning at the same time and going on in parallel with the church. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens was established with the sons of the kingdom, the wheat. They are the genuine believers regenerated by the divine life. The enemy, however, sowed tares, false believers, among the wheat, the genuine believers, to form an outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. The development of the outward appearance is like a mustard seed, the smallest among seeds, growing into a tree. When thousands of false believers entered into the church, the world was mixed with the church. With its nature changed, the church became deeply rooted and settled as a tree on the earth, flourishing with its enterprises as the branches in which many evil persons and things are lodged. The Lord used the parable of the leaven to prophesy concerning the corruption of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. The church must be a loaf of unleavened bread. However, the Roman Catholic Church, which was fully and officially formed in the sixth century, took in many pagan practices, heretical doctrines, and evil matters and mixed them with the teachings concerning Christ, leavening the whole content of Christianity. The outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens exists along with the church in the church age and will continue until the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, that is, the manifestation of the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. The outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens will be burned away. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens will be transferred into the next age to become the manifestation of the kingdom. The manifestation of the kingdom is the kingdom of the Father, the heavenly part of the millennium; it will be a reward to the overcoming saints.