THE expression, “The Kingdom of Heaven,” only occurs in the Gospel of Matthew. This is not surprising seeing that Matthew is the evangelist, who presents the Lord Jesus as King.
The question may be asked, What is meant by the expression, the kingdom of heaven? We answer, The kingdom of heaven is not heaven. We must be clear as to that. It might be defined as the rule of heaven upon earth.
As presented in the Scriptures it takes two forms, viz., the kingdom of heaven in mystery, and the kingdom of heaven in manifestation. While the King is rejected His kingdom cannot be a public affair. When it is public there will be the kingdom of heaven in manifestation, that is to say, the millennial reign of Christ. Meanwhile the kingdom is in mystery; that is, the kingdom, in the absence of the rightful Heir, is committed to the hands of men in responsibility, and is in a world that has rejected the rightful Heir, and whose every principle is contrary to God.
The whole Sermon on the Mount — Matthew 5-7 — is based on the supposition of the rejection of the rightful Heir. “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,” we read. This could not be the portion of the faithful when the kingdom is set. up in power. But it is their privilege to share the rejection of the Lord, whilst He is rejected.
When did this kingdom begin? It is evident that it could not exist in Old Testament times for the simple reason the King had not then come. It is true that God affected lives in Old Testament times, but the work did not then ‘take the form of a spiritual kingdom.
This is proved by Matthew 11:1111Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matthew 11:11). The Lord says that there had not risen one born of women greater than John the Baptist. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than He. John was the Forerunner of the King, and he was the first to announce it as imminent, though, of course, the Old Testament prophets had foretold it. That the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than John, and that he was the greatest born among women, proves that, whilst he was privileged to announce the kingdom, he was not privileged to be in it. It awaited the formal presentation of the King, the One that John announced.
It is evident that the start of the kingdom must be by divine work. Hence the parables of Matthew 13 are of immense value. The kingdom is the result of the work of the Sower, and we are plainly told who the Sower is, even the Son of Man. The good seed that springs up are the children of the kingdom, in other words, true believers on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But, as we have already said, the kingdom of heaven is the rule of heaven on earth committed to man in responsibility. It is true that sometimes Scripture clearly speaks of the kingdom as looked at only from the side of reality, as in Matthew 18:3,3And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3) where we are told that conversion is absolutely necessary for entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
But when it is considered as being connected with man in responsibility, we get in Matthew 13 the significant phrase, “While men slept.” It was then that the enemy got the advantage, which he was not slow to avail himself of. He sowed tares among the wheat, in other words, mere professors introduced among that, which professed to be under the rule of a rejected King.
It is good that we have these parables from the lips of the Lord Himself. They were prophetic, and really give a prophetic outline, until the King shall come, of the history of that which professes the name of the Lord on the earth. If it were not for these parables, believers might get puzzled as they see such corruption in that which professes the name of the Lord upon the earth.
But as we see the parable being fulfilled, the trend of things, unspeakably sad as far as man is concerned, does not stumble us. It is what we have been led to expect by the Lord Himself. Prophecy is history anticipated, and when the history unrolls itself according to the divine anticipation, we are only more and more confirmed in the truth.
The result of mere professors being connected with the kingdom leads us quite simply to the next parable. The kingdom of heaven is likened to a grain of mustard seed, which sown in the field of the world, grew into a great tree, and the birds of the air lodged in its branches. Here we get religious pretension. Unconverted professors could have no sense of the rejection of the King, and would naturally desire to popularize religion in the world, and make it acceptable by the introduction of worldly methods, methods which would gratify the eye and please the senses. The offence of the cross must cease. So we get magnificent buildings, magnificent singing, philosophical sermons with the cross left out, a whole paraphernalia of religion with the real thing smothered under forms and ceremonies. Is this not seen full blown in the Church of Rome, and in a lesser degree in all the great bodies of Christendom? It is the attempt to get the kingdom into manifestation without Christ. Its end is utter apostasy and the unveiling of the Man of Sin.
Then we get the parable of the woman hiding the leaven in the three measures of meal, a fit picture of the leavening of the great truths of the Scriptures, of Christianity, with evil doctrines. It was a master stroke of Satan to introduce mere profession where all should be reality.
The situation today is graphically outlined in these parables. Today we find leaders of religious thought openly refusing to believe the Bible except where it suits them. For instance, they are ready to believe in heaven but not in hell. The same book tells us of both. How can it be trustworthy as to heaven and false as to hell? What right has any person professing to believe on Christ to refuse to believe His word, for HE testified of hell over and over again in the plainest warnings possible.
The kingdom of heaven began when our Lord was here on earth, and it will go on after the church is caught up at the second coming of Christ. But we must remember that, whilst the Christians of this present dispensation are true members of the kingdom of heaven, they are also members of the body of Christ, and have a higher calling than that of the kingdom of heaven.
After the church is caught up at the rapture there will go forth a testimony to the Jew and the unevangelized heathen. The main lines of prophecy, and certainly all the prophecies of the Old Testament, have to do with the earth, the earthly calling as seen in the promises of God made to Abraham and David. Now the church has a, heavenly calling, and when God begins to visit the earth in judgment, having in view chiefly the restoration of His earthly people, the subjects of the heavenly calling — the believers of this present church dispensation — will be with the Lord in glory waiting for the day of manifestation.
The gospel of the kingdom was that which the Lord and His disciples preached whilst He was on earth, but during this present dispensation the gospel takes the character of the gospel of the grace of God, connecting souls with Christ in glory and a heavenly calling, bringing them into the church of God, making them members of the body of Christ. But when the saints are caught up, the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom will begin afresh, and the result will be seen as delineated in Matthew 25:31-46,31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31‑46) where those, who receive the testimony that the King is coming, will be found among the sheep on the right hand side of the King, and go into life everlasting, whilst the rejecters of the testimony will be classed as the goats, and pass into everlasting punishment.
Then will be set up the kingdom of heaven in manifestation. Then will the King reign in righteousness. Then will “the earth be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:99They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)).
As to our entrance into heaven that will be accorded equally to every believer. The Apostle Paul will not get a more abundant entrance than the youngest convert or the feeblest saint, for our entrance there depends on the blessed finished work of the Lord Jesus, and there are no degrees of acceptance in that connection.
But our place in the kingdom of heaven will depend on our faithfulness. It does not depend upon gift, but upon devotedness. The highest place in the kingdom is open to any and every saint.
So we find the parable of our Lord in Matthew 25:14-3014For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:14‑30) gives reward in exactly the same language to the one, whose two talents put out to usury had made two talents, as to the one whose five talents had made five talents. There was a difference in their gifts, but the devotedness that each showed in doubling what was committed to their care was the same, and their reward was the same.
But in the parable of Luke 19:11-27,11And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. 12He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 15And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 20And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 22And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? 24And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. 27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. (Luke 19:11‑27) where we find the ten servants each given a pound, all starting alike, and where one with his pound makes ten pounds, and another with his pound five pounds, the rewards are different. Clearly the one, who gained ten pounds was more diligent than the one who gained five. The one is made ruler over ten cities, the other over five.
Is there not a voice to us in this? Will not this cause exercise, and lead us to prayer and true activity in the Lord’s things? We may not be equally gifted, but we can be equally devoted.
The Lord give us to be really exercised about this for His glory, and for our true usefulness to the absent King in the midst of the abounding need on every hand, and for His joy in giving and ours in receiving His reward in the coming day of manifestation!
A. J. Pollock.