"THE KINGDOM OF GOD
IS WITHIN YOU"
(Luke17: 21)
THIS
passage is generally used in the endeavor to prove that the kingdom of God
is not a visible dominion of God to be established upon earth in the handsof
the Lord Jesus Christ returned from heaven, but a spiritual reign of Christ in
the hearts of believers.
CHRIST
ANSWERS THE PHARISEES
A
careful reading of the episode (verses 20-37) will show how sadly mistaken is
such an endeavor. In the first place the words of Christ in question were
addressed, not to believers, but to unbelievers-to the Pharisees, Christ's
enemies, of whom he said, "Within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity" (Matt.23: 28); "Ye make clean the outside of the cup and
the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness"
(Luke, 11 : 39). How then could the kingdom
of God, in the sense of
the spiritual reign of Christ, be "within" such as these? It was
certainly not "within" them, and Christ meant no such thing. What he
did mean was this: that in spite of their “observation" (paratirisis,
narrow watching, compare Luke 6: 7;14 : 1), they could not discern
"the finger of God" plainly revealed in their midst. Even the
margin of the A.V. gives the alternative for “within" thus:
"or, among"; and the R.V. margin says: "or, in the.- midst of
you.- This certainly ought to have been put into the text, for the very obvious
reason indicated above.
When
his enemies attributed his works of healing to Beelzebub, Jesus referred them
to their own doctors, and added, "But if I with the finger of God cast out
devils (demons), no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you" (Luke11
: 20). That is, the power of God was thus openly revealed in Christ in the land of Israel. Hence, when he sent out his
disciples into the cities which he himself proposed to visit, he said:
"Heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God
is come nigh unto you" (Luke10 : 9, 11). In a sense the
"kingdom of God" is universal, all creation being in the grasp of His
divine dominion: "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and
his kingdom ruleth over all" (Psa. 103: 19).But we must not misinterpret
such general declarations in a way that will make void "the gospel of the
kingdom" which Jesus preached.
CHRIST
WARNS HIS DISCIPLES
The
Gospel concerns the purpose of God in Christ with regard to the earth, and
promises a kingdom of God upon earth, in which God's will shall be done
"as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6: 10). When this kingdom comes, then
will come the day of the Son of Man, of which Christ went on to speak to
his disciples on this same occasion (Luke 17: 20-37). Turning from the
unfriendly "observation," or narrow scrutiny of the Pharisees,”
he said unto the disciples, The days will come when YE shall desire
to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and ye shall not see it. And they
shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them nor follow them.
For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth
unto the other part under heaven, so also shall the Son of Man be in his
day. But first must he suffer many things and be rejected of this
generation." And he went on to tell them that his subsequent coming to
judge the world should be "as it was in the days of Noah" (v.26),
"as it was in the days of Lot" (v. 28)--a dreadful time of fallen
carcases and gathering eagles (v. 37, compare Ezek. 39: 17-22; Rev. 19:11-21).
Thus Jesus answered the Pharisees, and forewarned the disciples as to when
and how "'the kingdom
of God should come".
Study the days of Noah and of Lot, and we
have a type of how "the world of the ungodly"(2 Pet. 2: 5) will be
destroyed, and "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord
and of his Christ" (Rev. 11 : 15).
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE PAST
The
Gospel which Jesus preached was "the gospel of the kingdom of God"
(Mark 1 : 14,15; Luke 4: 43). It was not new as to its fundamental ideas, but
only as to Jesus' person and office. The Gospel was preached to Abraham (Gal.
3:8, 16) when God promised him the blessing of all nations in his Seed, the
Christ. The form of blessedness proposed was "the kingdom of God".
There was once a "kingdom
of God" upon earth,
but not of the kind that is coming. That was a mortal, though divine,
administration. This will be an immortal "everlasting kingdom"
in the hands of Christ and the saints.
The kingdom of Israel
of old was the kingdom
of God (Exod.19: 4-6; 1
Chron. 29: 23),and God covenanted with, David that his throne and kingdom
should endure for ever in the hands of the Son of David and Son of God, that is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Read carefully the terms of the "everlasting
covenant" (2 Sam. 7 : 4-16) and "the last words of David (2 Sam. 23: 1-7
It is true
that, because of Solomon's sin, the kingdom was divided, and because of
continued iniquity both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were overthrown.
But concerning the latter, when God gave the last king, Zedekia into the
hands of the Babylonians, he said, "I will overturn, overturn,
overturn it; and it shall be no more until he come whose right it is;
and I will give it him"
(Ezek.21 :
27).
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE FUTURE
"He
whose right it is," is the Lord Jesus Christ, "the heir." He is
"the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Mat I : 1); "and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne , his father David" (Luke I : 32).
That is not in heaven, for “David is not ascended into the heavens; but
he saith himself, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
tint I make thy foes thy footstool" (Acts 2: 34). This will be in Jerusalem, "for it is the city of the great
King" (Matt., 5: 35) "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out
of Zion: rule
thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power" (Psa. 110: 2).
There
will then be no more hostile Pharisees in Jerusalem
demanding "when the kingdom
of God shall come".
In the place where they said "We will not have this man to reign over
us" (Luke 19: 14) there they will submit to him. And of those who rejected
him or shall reject him, he said, "Those mine 'enemies, which would not
that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me"
(verse 27). They rejected "the kingdom
of God" when God in
Christ approached them in the message of peace and works of healing and mercy;
they must therefore learn by the "rod of iron" (Psa. 2: 9; Rev. 2:
26-27)."The kingdom
of God" was in their
midst then, and they knew it not; they will know in "the day of the Son of
Man" (Luke 17: 24).
In view
of the Scriptural facts and principles above indicated, the reader will be able
to understand how it is that
that John
the Baptist says, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"(Matt.
3:2); and yet Jesus says the kingdom of heaven shall be entered by obedient
believers "in that day" of his coming again to judgment (Matt.7: 21;
13: 43; 25: 34). Further, it will become plain what was meant when Jesus said,
"'He that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than
he" (John the Baptist- Luke 7: 28). For John, though "much more than
a prophet", was then only "among those that are born of women",
that is mortal flesh and blood, and "flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption" (1 Cor. 15:
50)."Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God
...Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit" (John 3: 3-6). A
man must be born again mentally, morally, and physically. He must believe
"the gospel ofthe kingdom
of God", repent, and
be baptized into Christ, and thus be "born of water" in "the
washing of water by the word" (Eph. 5: 26). Then he must “by patient
continuance in well doing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality”, that
the Lord Jesus Christ may reward him with eternal life "in that day"(Rom. 2: 7-16).
Then,
when Christ returns, if the obedient believer be dead, he will raise him to
eternal life; and all such "are the children of God, being the children
of the resurrection" (Luke 20: 36) . This is being "born of the
spirit”.” They are equal to the angels" who are
"ministering spirits", and being thus "partakers of the divine
nature ... an entrance is ministered unto them abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. I :
4, 11). See further, such passages as: Dan. 7;Zech. 9: 9, 10; Mark 11 : 1-10;
Luke 22: 29; Acts 1: 3, 6, etc.
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