Shepherding Materials
Volume 5
Knowing the Truth
LESSON EIGHT – THE THREE ASPECTS OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS
Matt. 5:3 — Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
THE REALITY OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS
Matthew 5—7 reveals the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. The word spoken by the Lord Jesus in these chapters is the revelation of the spiritual living and heavenly principles of the kingdom of the heavens [see chart on pp. 60-61].
THE APPEARANCE OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS
The parable of the tares (13:24-30, 36-43) reveals the establishment of the kingdom and its false constituents. Verses 24 and 25 say, “The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field. But while the men slept, his enemy came
and sowed tares in the midst of the wheat and went away.” The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man (v. 37), the field is the world, the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one (v. 38). Both the tares and the wheat grow in the field; that is, the false believers and the true ones live in the world. The kingdom of the heavens was established with the sons of the kingdom, the wheat, but the sons of the evil one, the tares, grew up to alter the situation. Hence, a difference has arisen between the kingdom of the heavens and its outward appearance. Whereas the sons of the kingdom constitute the kingdom, the sons of the evil one have formed the outward appearance of the kingdom, which today is called Christendom.
THE MANIFESTATION OF THE KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS
When the Lord Jesus comes back, the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be realized. This is revealed in Matthew 24:44—25:30. Only the overcomers who are in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today will have a share in the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the future. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens will be a reward, a prize, given to the overcomers. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 2572, 2575, 2577)
References: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 243; Recovery Version, Matthew 5, “A Chart Showing the Difference between the Kingdom of the Heavens and the Kingdom of God”
THE SON OF GOD HAS COME TO SOW
The Kingdom— Its Outward Appearance – 945
- The Son of God has come to sow
Himself, the seed of life, in man,
That thru Himself God’s Kingdom grow
And thus fulfill th’ eternal plan.
- He was the only grain of wheat
Whence many grains have been produced
To be the Kingdom’s children meet,
Thru whom God’s reign is introduced.
- But Satan, enemy of God,
Sowed many tares among the wheat,
The Kingdom’s children to confuse,
And awful damage to create.
- ‘Tis by this subtle work of his,
The mixing of the tares with wheat,
The Kingdom in appearance is
Abnormal and grotesquely great.
- The Kingdom should as mustard be,
A little herb, yet good for food,
But it has changed into a “tree,”
A system of great magnitude.
- Instead of being good for food,
A lodge of “birds” it has become;
‘Tis now a place where evil men
And evil spirits make their home.
- A great religion of the world
Its outward form to us reveals,
Including pagan, evil things,
As leaven mingled with the meal.
- A system of the world as such,
It thus has changed in outward form;
By evil things which it imbibes,
Corruption inwardly doth swarm.
- But something hidden God doth seek,
As “pearl” and “treasure in the field”;
As such the Lord would us transform
That pearl and treasure be revealed.
- ‘Tis hidden from vast Christendom
And from the Kingdom’s great facade,
Yet in its full reality
‘Tis transformed like to Christ and God.
- Lord, separate us from the “tares,”
And save us from the monstrous “tree”;
From all the “leaven” purge us now
That we may purely be of Thee.
- May Thou in life transform our souls
That we as precious stones may be,
Meet for Thy house to build and in
Thy Kingdom’s full reality.