18 13 Meditations on the Kingdom
13 Meditations on the Kingdom
13. Meditations on the Kingdom Our Lord, in speaking to us to not be anxious about what we shall eat and what we shall drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed, says: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33).
Now Christ said this, and most certainly it is true. It would be well for us to read Matthew 6:19-34. "First things first" is a principle that we should get well fixed in our hearts. There are things that come just, and whenever we allow something else to come first in our hearts and lives, it simply means disaster, if we do not discover our mistake in time to correct it. Let us, therefore, meditate on this great command of our Lord.
Some say it is in heaven, but this is a mistake. That its headquarters are there is a certainty. Others would say the kingdom of God is in the Bible; but here they are also mistaken. The Bible is the guidebook for those who are citizens of the kingdom. Going to Luke 17:20-21, we have these words: "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
Now let us think the above statement through. Just what could our Lord have meant when he said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation"? In Mark 9:1 he talked like it would come with observation; for did he not say to his disciples, "There be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power"? This certainly sounds like it would come with observation. And most certainly it did come with observation on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit, which was the power referred to, came upon the apostles as a mighty rushing wind.
Why then, if the kingdom did come with power and observation, did our Lord, in answering the Pharisees, say, it "cometh not with observation"? There is a great lesson here. The point is this: The essential thing to us, so far as the kingdom is concerned, is not so much when it came, as in having the kingdom within us. Do you not think a soul could have the kingdom within him when knowing but little about the time of its establishment? Are there not thousands today who have the kingdom in them who could not do much toward showing when the kingdom was established. The Bible certainly teaches when it was established, hence we should teach it, too; but we should evaluate things as did our Lord, and teach that the principles of the kingdom coming into us and mastering us is the thing that sanctifies and saves us. Don’t you know this is true? The Pharisees were much concerned about just when the kingdom would come, and very little concerned about its principles and spirit possessing them and mastering them. And may this not be true today?
Yes, let us remember that the kingdom of God is within us, if we are indeed disciples of our Lord. That we could be able to route every sectarian on earth as to the time when the kingdom was established, and still not have the kingdom in us, is true. Such would make us a curse to the kingdom today.
WHAT IS THE KINGDOM? And we are not left to guess, for Paul, in his plain-as-day way of speaking, declares: "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14:17). Do you wonder if this is really true? Do you believe that God’s kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost? Well, this is what it says, and we are commanded by this same writer to let God be true and every man a liar who speaks to the contrary.
"Seek" is in the imperative mood, hence is a command. We are commanded to seek the kingdom of God. But the thing that we must seek is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Did not our Lord say, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled"? Did he not also say in the same chapter, verse 9, of Matthew 5, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God"? In 1 Peter 3:10-12, it says that the man who would love life and see good days must "Seek peace, and pursue it." In Hebrews 12:14 are we not commanded to "Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord"? And are we not commanded in Romans 12:18, "If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men”? Then are we not taught, in the plainest words, that we are the house of our Lord, the church and kingdom, "the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end"? (Hebrews 3:6). We are the true church if we are a happy, joyful people. Are we not commanded to "rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice"? Are we not taught to be anxious in nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, to let our requests be made known unto the Lord, and a peace that goes beyond all understanding will keep our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus? And "rejoice evermore" you find also in 1 Thessalonians 5:16. And in 1 Peter 1:8, to those who had the kingdom within them because they had Jesus on the throne of their hearts, does not the spirit say, "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory"? Do you have this real joy and peace in your soul? If so, the kingdom of God is within you. And remember it comes not with observation; that is, by some miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit as when it was established on Pentecost, but comes in that quiet, unobserved way by God’s word coming into your heart and enabling you to cast Satan out and let Jesus come in and reign. Remember our Lord says: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20 :
THE KINGDOM MUST BE FIRST The kingdom must be sought first or not at all. There is no need here to give the many statements in the Bible that teach, overwhelmingly, that Christ must be first or he will be nothing; that in seeking the kingdom, it must be first or we can never find it; that the seeking must be done with the whole heart if we are to find. The following Scriptures declare this very fact: In Luke 14:24-33, Christ says that if any man comes to him and hates not his own father, mother, brother, sister, and his own life also, he cannot be his disciple. Jeremiah 29:13 says: "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." And we are not left to guess what wholehearted seeking is. David says in Psalms 119:2-3 : "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity; they walk in his ways." This is wholehearted seeking; it is ceasing to do evil and doing whatever our Lord says. And again in Isaiah 55:6-7 it says: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord; and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Then we go to Deuteronomy 4:29-30, and it says: "But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." But what is it to so seek him? Here is the answer: "If thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice." Well did our Lord command: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Yes, the command is to seek God’s kingdom, but the command says seek it first. Are you making the kingdom first? Answer that question now, and know for a certainty that you know your own heart when you answer it. Our Lord says if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother, brother and sister, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. If you think you are a disciple when not making our Lord first, you are just thinking you are something that our Lord says you cannot be. You cannot be a disciple, indeed, unless you make him first, and his kingdom first.
Honestly, friends, let us quit playing at religion. Let us cease to be halfhearted disciples and be rather disciples indeed. Our Lord says: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." To all such Jesus says: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32). David says: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant." (Psalms 25:14).
"And all these things shall be added unto you." This has reference to food and raiment, the things that we need for our,bodily comfort. Study the First Psalm, where David says that the man who walketh not in the counsel of wicked, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but whose delight is in God’s law, and on that law meditates day and night, that whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. This is the assurance of the eternal God. Here we have our Lord teaching that if he will seek the kingdom of God first, and his righteousness, that all things needful to our bodies will be added unto us. Do we believe this? If so, will we not make the kingdom first? In keeping with this promise, the words of David again should be called in for consideration. He says: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." (Psalms 37:26). And let us sing together. with David in the following words: "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my youth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." (Psalms 34:1-8). And again: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." (Psalms 46:1-3). And again: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." (Psalms 37:5). Think of his "exceeding great and precious promises." God’s book declares that by these promises we are made partakers of the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:4). But most certainly we are not made partakers of the divine nature if we do not, with our whole heart, believe in him and that he is able to take care of his promises. (Hebrews 11:6).
Think of the words in Romans 8:31 : "If God be for us, who can be against us?" This certainly does not mean that no one can be against us; but most certainly it means that the combined powers of the underworld cannot effectively be against us if God is for us. David says: "For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." (Psalms 84:11). This is what it means by the kingdom of God being within us. It means that he who died that we might live has a throne in our hearts that no other one can get. It means that our daily song and prayer is: "Father, your will in me be done while I live here on earth, as it is done in heaven." This is righteousness, for it leads us to respect all of his commandments, and the book declares that "all thy commandments are righteousness." (Psalms 119:172). That soul who thus respects every word that he knows has come from our Lord’s heart, has peace, and he is a peacemaker; he has joy—yes, a joy that he cannot express in words. All such constitute the salt of the earth and the light of the world. May God give us more and more such disciples in the church of our Lord today.
Remember these words were spoken to the disciples of our Lord. As stated in the beginning, you should study prayerfully all of Matthew 6:19-34. The idea is we must make God’s kingdom first from the day we are baptized into Christ until death. It is not a seeking that we begin and soon get through with; it is a life’s work; it is a gradual growing more and more into the likeness of our Lord. It is a gradual becoming more and more a partaker of the divine nature. This coming of the kingdom within us is not a matter of observation, no more than the growth of the child from infancy to manhood. The growth from day to day we see not, but that it is going on we know for a certainty. May God bless every child of his now hungering more and more for his righteousness and that the kingdom in its fullness may come into them.