KINGDOM OF GOD
I place no
value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of
God. If anything will advance the interests of the kingdom, it shall be given
away or kept, only as by giving or keeping it I shall most promote the glory of
Him to whom I owe all my hopes in time or eternity.
The kingdom
of God is for the spiritually sick who want to be healed, the spiritually
corrupt who want to be cleansed, the spiritually poor who want to be rich, the
spiritually hungry who want to be fed, the spiritually dead who want to be made
alive. It is for ungodly outcasts who long to become God’s own beloved
children.
John MacArthur
Taken
from Matthew 8-15, by John MacArthur, Moody Publishers, © 1985, p. 67.
According to
Scripture, a mystery form of the kingdom of God – incorporating all the
elements of heaven itself – is the spiritual sphere in which all true Christians
live even now. The kingdom of heaven invades and begins to govern the life of
every believer in Christ. Spiritually, the Christian becomes a part of heaven
with full rights of citizenship here and now in this life.
John MacArthur
No
Earthly Idea About Heaven taken from The Glory of Heaven by John MacArthur,
copyright 1996, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton
Illinios,60187, www.crosswaybooks.org,
page 60.
Some
Christians misunderstand God's plan for His kingdom. They want to establish it
their own way rather than waiting for God to do it His way. God's way of
establishing the kingdom is primarily through the preaching of the cross. But
that does not seem very effective to most people. They would prefer to use
force, which is the kind of thinking that leads to bloody crusades. Or they
would rather entertain people into the kingdom, which is the kind of thinking
that leads to man-centered worship.
Philip Graham Ryken
Lead
Us Not Into Temptation from When You Pray by Philip Graham Ryken, © 2000,
Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, page 82.
The reason
the church tries so many other things besides preaching Christ is because it
suspects the kingdom can be established some other way. But there is no other
way. People will not come into the kingdom because they like the minister,
support the children's program, or enjoy the music. They may come into a church
that way, but not into the kingdom. The only way people ever come into God's
kingdom is by hearing His heralds proclaim a crucified King.
Philip Graham Ryken
Lead
Us Not Into Temptation from When You Pray by Philip Graham Ryken, © 2000,
Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, page 83.
When
you hear the glad news that Christ is King, the thing to do is to submit to His
rule. When you repent for your sins and believe in Jesus Christ, God
establishes His rule in your heart. This is part of what Jesus meant when He
said, “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Anyone who has ever
entered that kingdom has done so by praying to God, “Your kingdom come” or
words to that effect. That is the way the kingdom comes to you and the way you
come into the kingdom. To become a Christian is simply to ask God to set up His
throne as the supreme King of your heart.
Philip Graham Ryken
Lead
Us Not Into Temptation from When You Pray by Philip Graham Ryken, © 2000,
Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, page 83-84.
If you wish
to come into God's kingdom, therefore, you must ask God to rescue you
"from the dominion of darkness" and bring you "into the kingdom
of the Son He loves" (Col. 1:13) You must
renounce your deal with the devil and swear allegiance to Christ the King. You
must say, in the beautiful words of hymnwriter
Frances Havergal, "Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne."
Philip Graham Ryken
Lead
Us Not Into Temptation from When You Pray by Philip Graham Ryken, © 2000,
Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, page 84.
The
coming of the kingdom has often been compared to the way the Allies defeated
Germany in 1944. For all intents and purposes, World War II was over on D-Day,
when British and American troops established a beachhead in France. There were
still battles to be fought, of course, and lives to be won and lost. But from
that point on, the Germans were fighting a losing battle. All that remained was
for the Allies to liberate Europe. As far as the kingdom of God is concerned,
D-Day was Good Friday. That was Satan’s last mad attempt to defeat God’s King
and have Him betrayed, tried, and nailed to the cross. But Satan was only able
to wound Him. By dying on the cross for our sins, Jesus actually struck a
death-blow to sin, death, and the devil. Now the outcome of the battle between
the two kingdoms is certain. All that remains is for God to liberate the
captives of Satan’s kingdom and bring them into the kingdom of His Son.
Philip Graham Ryken
Lead
Us Not Into Temptation from When You Pray by Philip Graham Ryken, © 2000,
Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, page 86.
Theologians
sometimes describe this delay as the “already” and the “not yet.” God’s kingdom
has already come, but it is not yet here in all its glory. Christ
has already come, but He has not yet come again. The Puritans described the
same truth in a different way. They made a distinction between the “kingdom of
grace” and the “kingdom of glory.” These are not two different kingdoms, but
one kingdom in two installments.
Philip Graham Ryken
Lead
Us Not Into Temptation from When You Pray by Philip Graham Ryken, © 2000,
Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, page 87.
God's plan is
to establish His kingdom through the preaching of the cross. His purpose is to
rule in the hearts of His people. The progress of this spiritual kingdom will
be steady, but slow. In one sense, the kingdom has already come with the death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It continues to grow as His cross and His
empty tomb are preached in all the world. There is
another sense, however, in which we are still looking for the kingdom, waiting
for the King to come again. We live in the kingdom of grace, where Christ rules
by faith, but we wait for the kingdom of glory, when Christ will reign supreme
over all.
Philip Graham Ryken
As the messiahship of Christ involved two phases, a coming in
humility to suffer and die, and a coming in power and glory to reign, so the
kingdom is to be manifested in two realms: the present realm of righteousness
or salvation when men may accept or reject the kingdom, and the future realm
when the powers of the kingdom shall be manifested in visible glory. The former
was inaugurated in insignificant beginnings without outward display, and those
who accept it are to live intermingled with those who reject it until the
consummation. Then the kingdom will be disclosed in a mighty manifestation of
power and glory. God’s kingdom will come; and the ultimate state will witness
the perfect realization of the will of God everywhere and forever.
George
Ladd
Crucial Questions About the Kingdom of God, Eerdmans, www.eerdmans.com, 1952, p.132.
The whole of
the preaching of Jesus Christ and His apostles is concerned with the kingdom of
God.
Herman Ridderbos
The Coming of the Kingdom, P&R,
1962, p. xi, Used by Permission.
Nothing is
ever wasted in the kingdom of God. Not one tear, not all our pain, not the
unanswered question or the seemingly unanswered prayers. Nothing will be wasted
if we give our lives to God. And if we are willing to be patient until the
grace of God is made manifest, whether it takes nine years or ninety, it will
be worth the wait.
Author Unknown
Greatness in
the kingdom of God is measured in terms of obedience.
John Stott
Authentic Christianity, Christianity Today,
v. 40, n. 3.
We cannot be
sincere when we pray “Thy kingdom come” unless we are doing what we can to
hasten the coming of that kingdom – by our gifts, our prayers and our service.
Author
Unknown
The Kneeling Christian, circa 1930, ch. 11.
The coming of
God's reign either demands repentance or brings judgment.
D.A. Carson
Matthew, The
Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1984, p. 103. www.zondervan.com.
Just as the
angel's announcement to Joseph declared Jesus' primary purpose to be to save
His people from their sins (Mt. 1:21), so the first announcement of the kingdom
(delivered by John the Baptist) is associated with repentance and confession of
sin (Mt. 3:6).
Matthew, The
Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1984, p. 99. www.zondervan.com.
The kingdom
of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who
know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it.
D.A. Carson
Matthew, The
Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1984, p. 328. www.zondervan.com.
We should
understand "kingdom" as meaning "rule" rather than
"realm"; that is to say, the expression is dynamic: It points us to
God as doing something, as actively ruling, rather than to an area or group of
people over whom He is sovereign. The
kingdom is something that happens rather than something that exists.
Matthew, Eerdmans, 1992, p. 53.
We must make
the invisible kingdom visible in our midst.
John
Calvin
It is a
kingdom which is to come, yes. But it is
also a kingdom which has come. “The kingdom of God is among you” and “within
you.” The kingdom of God is in every
true Christian. He reigns in the Church
when she acknowledges Him truly. The
kingdom has come, the kingdom is coming, the kingdom
is yet to come. Now we must always bear
that in mind. Whenever Christ is
enthroned as King, the kingdom of God is come, so that, while we cannot say
that He is ruling over all in the world at the present time, He is certainly
ruling in that way in the hearts and lives of all His people
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Eerdmans,
1960, p. 16.