The Local Church and the Kingdom

The Organic Development of the Kingdom in the Local Churches

While we may speak of living in the reality of the kingdom in the local church life, we must also realize that the requirements of the heavenly kingdom are strict and lofty. For example, among other rigorous commandments (Matt. 5-7), the King of the heavenly kingdom decreed that the believers be perfect, as their heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48). The entrance into the kingdom of God is difficult, even impossible by the sheer efforts of man (Matt. 19:23, 26); this entrance is secured only by receiving Christ as the perfect divine life through regeneration (John 3:5). Similarly, as we shall see from Witness Lee's writings, the believers are able to live in the reality of the kingdom in the local churches only by living Christ (Phil. 1:21) as the indwelling divine life (Col. 3:4).

Thus, while the kingdom of the heavens extrinsically is a realm of God’s glory and authority, as expressed in the local churches, intrinsically the kingdom of the heavens is a realm of the divine life within the believers in the local churches. That is to say, the divine life is the very nature and essence of the kingdom, and God’s glory and authority are the expression of the development of the divine life within the kingdom.

In Mark 4:26-29, the Lord speaks of the kingdom and its organic development using the parable of the seed:

So is the kingdom of God: as if a man cast seed on the earth, and sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and lengthens—how, he does not know. The earth bears fruit by itself: first a blade, then an ear, then full grain in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he sends forth the sickle, because the harvest has come.

This marvelous parable reveals that the kingdom of the heavens is a growing kingdom, a kingdom that is produced by the sprouting and lengthening of the seed of the divine life. Correspondingly, the organic development of the kingdom is its development in the divine life by the growth and increase of the divine life within the believers in the local churches. Witness Lee explains the organic development of the kingdom portrayed in this parable:

What is the kingdom? The kingdom is the totality of Christ as life, spread into us with all of His activities. The kingdom is not a totality of doctrines or any other things, but of Christ as life, spread into us with all of His activities. Do not forget Mark 4:26-29. In that parable the Lord Jesus likened the kingdom to a seed that is sown into the earth, grows, brings forth fruit, and eventually produces the harvest. The harvest signifies the full manifestation of the kingdom. Long before the harvest, the kingdom has already come as a seed. Strictly speaking, the coming of the kingdom began with the coming of the seed. The manifestation of the kingdom comes through a process of growth.

(Witness Lee, The Kingdom, 47)

The excerpt above from Witness Lee reveals that the kingdom of God intrinsically is simply Christ as the divine life growing in the believers in the local churches. In order to apprehend the organic nature and development of the kingdom of the heavens in the local churches, it is necessary to realize clearly that the kingdom is Christ Himself; the Lord Jesus standing in the midst of the unbelieving Pharisees is the kingdom in their midst (Luke. 17:21), and the Lord Jesus gloriously transfigured is the very kingdom coming in its power (Matt 16:28, 17:2; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27). Christ is the seed of life sown in the believers through regeneration, and as Christ grows within the believers in the local churches, this growth is His very kingdom as a seed sprouting and lengthening. Without the growth of this seed, there is no harvesting. That is, without the growth of the divine life within the believers in the local churches in this age, there is no manifestation of the kingdom in the next age.

Because the organic development of the kingdom hinges upon the growth of Christ within the believers in the local churches, the believers who wish to hasten the manifestation of the kingdom must be spiritually exercised to be filled with and grow in the divine life. Witness Lee explains the believers’ participation in hastening the coming manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens:

In order to have the coming of the kingdom, Christ must be growing within us all the time. The growing of Christ within us is the coming of the kingdom. It is good to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” but it is more practical to pray, “Lord, grow within me.” “Thy kingdom come” may be no more than a religious formula. Although this prayer has been repeated by millions of Christians for more than 1900 years, still the kingdom has not come. It is not difficult for the Lord to answer that prayer, but it is difficult for us to allow Him to grow within us. The coming of the kingdom is the growing of Christ within us. By being poor in our spirit and pure in our heart, we can give the Lord the ground to grow within us, and this growth will be the real coming of the kingdom. The more quickly we allow Him to grow in us, the more we hasten the coming of the kingdom.

(Witness Lee, The Kingdom, 58-59)

Witness Lee teaches that in order for the local churches to usher in the kingdom of the heavens in its manifestation, the believers in each local church must be faithful to grow in the divine life (1 Pet. 2:2). Paul therefore exhorted the believers in the local churches not to remain infants in Christ (1 Cor. 3:1), but to grow up into Him in all things (Eph. 4:15), to be brought on to maturity (Heb. 6:1), until they arrive at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Eventually, the believers in the local church who have matured in the divine life in this age will be raptured as firstfruits to God (Rev. 14:4) or harvested at the Lord's coming (Rev. 14:15) to become the constituents of the manifest kingdom of the heavens. May all the believers in the local churches render the Lord their full spiritual cooperation by living in the reality of the kingdom and growing in the divine life in this age, that they may hasten the Lord’s return and partake of His kingdom in its coming manifestation.

The Kingdom—A Brief Overview

The Church and the Local Churches as the Kingdom

Reality of the Kingdom in the Local Church

Its Organic Development in the Local Church

Bibliography

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