"FO R G O D SO LOVED THE WORLD 99 “ R ed or Y ellow , B lack or W hite, All are precious in His sight” Th e W orld Christian Tract Society P.0. Box 805, Phoenix, Arizona. Tract Dis tributors wanted all over the WORLD.
MARCH 21, 1948 THE KINGDOM OF GOD AMONG MEN L uke 4:16-20; M ark 4:26-29; L uke 17:20, 21; R om . 14:17
T he K ingdom I n I ts S piritual A spect (L uke 17:20, 21) Jesus is here answering the query of the critical Pharisees who were demand ing to know when Christ was going to set up His earthly kingdom. Christ’s answer was to the effect that His king dom at this time was not a matter of outward manifestation. The kingdom in its outward form had been rejected by the Jews and so, in this dispensation would not come “ with observation.” Not withstanding, the kingdom was “ in the midst” o f them or “ among them” be cause the King was present. The common translation “within you” is not accurate; Christ certainly would not have said that the Kingdom was within those who were hostile. T he K ingdom I n I ts P resent C haracter (R om . 14:17) It is not the future kingdom of pro phecy that is meant, but rather the pres ent spiritual kingdom, or the reign of God in the believer’s heart, that is re ferred to. This kingdom is not a matter of “ eating no meat on Friday” or re fraining from intoxication during Lent. It is a matter o f the Spirit-filled life manifesting itself in “ righteousness, and peace, and joy.” Not forms and cere monies, days and seasons, but a life lived “ in the Holy Spirit” : that is the charac ter of the Kingdom of God in this dis pensation.- The Lord Jesus had been away from Nazareth, his “ home town.” Soon after He was tempted by Satan, the Saviour returned to Nazareth. “ As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day.” When Jesus asked to be allowed to read the Scriptures, the book of Isaiah was handed to Him. He opened the book to the verses that told about Himself—how He was to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the broken hearted, preach freedom to the captives, bring sight to the blind, give freedom to those who were bruised, and preach the acceptable year of the Lord. The Lord Jesus closed the book, gave it again to the minister, and sat down. As the people looked at Him eagerly, He said, “ This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” All of the people wondered at the gracious words which the Lord spoke. The Saviour had returned to His home church to read from God’s Word about Helps for the Children T he W ork J esus C ame to D o (L uke 4:16-22a) M e m o r y V e r s e : “ Blessed are they that hear the word o f God, and keep it” (Luke 11:28).
Pointers on the Lesson According to C. I. Scofield, “ the king dom of God is universal, including all moral intelligences willingly subject to the will o f God, whether angels, the church, or saints of past or future gen erations.” He states further that “the kingdom of God is only entered by the new birth.” Our lesson .for this week presents several aspects of this kingdom, each of the four passages selected for consideration presenting one: A P icture of the K ing (L uke 4:16-20) You cannot have a kingdom without a king. Jesus is the king in God’s king dom. He came into this world as “ King of the Jews” (Matt. 2 :2 ), and one day will be proclaimed “ King of kings, and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16). The pas sage before us portrays Jesus just be fore He entered upon His great Messi anic ministry. We see Him in the syna gogue in His home town of Nazareth, “ as his custom was.” He stood and read Isaiah 61:1,2, which evidently was the prescribed reading for the day, as the Jews always followed such a schedule. Doubtless it was providential that this particular portion of the Word was on the calendar for that day for it was wholly appropriate to the occasion. If the Old Testament passage is compared with Christ’s reading, it will be discov ered that He, contrary to usual proce dure, ceased reading at a comma. Why? He stopped at the place where His min istry in connection with His First Com ing into the world ended. The next phrase, “ The day of vengeance of our God” was not for that time. That per tains to His Second Advent. “ To pro claim the acceptable year of the Lord” shows the King as Saviour. S ilent G rowth in the K ingdom (M ark 4:26-29) This beautiful parable appears only in Mark. The mystery of growth in the fields of earth is used to illustrate the secret and mysterious growth of the kingdom of God in the human heart. It is the believer’s duty to sow the seed faithfully, and water it from time to time, but the growth of the seed is a profound mystery wrought only by the Spirit of God. We cannot comprehend how the work is done. We only need to know that He does it through the Word of life. In His own time the Word fruc tifies, first the blade, then the ear, after that, the full corn in the ear. Christian character does not develop into maturity at once; we are first babes in Christ, then we are youth, and finally mature.
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