J. N. Darby
In Psa. 72 we have Christ as King. This takes us back to Psa. 2. Jehovah's determination is to set His kingdom in Zion. The kingdom is not confined to this setting up of the King.
In Matt. 13:4343Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:43) we have the "kingdom of their Father." There we get its heavenly character, not setting aside the kingdom on earth which is to be established, but it goes farther and higher. "Every scribe... instructed...bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." The scribes had the old things concerning the kingdom, but they stumbled at the Christ having to suffer. If they had received Christ, man would not have been proved to be such a sinner. But they hated both Him and His Father, and so proved there is no good in flesh. There would have been something good in flesh if they could have received Him. The kingdom was not set up then through their not receiving Him.
What Is the Kingdom?
Two things came out after that: the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, and the Church. What is the kingdom? It is very simple, if we take the word as it is. It is the sphere of the reign, or where the King reigns. If I take the word church as "assembly," which it really means, I can never confound "church" and "kingdom." Compare the word "reign" with "assembly," and the difference is easily seen.
Another thing often not understood is the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. If the kingdom of God had been accepted on earth, it would not have been the same as now, not the actual form of the kingdom of heaven. Matthew takes up the change in consequence of the King's rejection, and also speaks of the "Father's kingdom" for the heirs who follow Christ in His rejection, because He takes it from His Father when rejected. He is set down, not on His own throne (and so the judgment in this Psalm brought in), but for the present on His Father's throne. Divine righteousness is shown in God's setting Him there and justifying us according to all He had accomplished.
There was righteousness due to set Him on the throne of God. "I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me," etc. Christ then sits down there, and there is no judicial kingdom at all now—it is postponed and known only to faith. The kingdom of the world is not become that of our God and of His Christ.
The Kingdom of Heaven
The kingdom of heaven is likened to a sower, etc. He has altered the ground on which He deals with the people-He sows; He brings something with Him, instead of seeking something from man. The King is obliged to take this mysterious character of sowing in the world. Then, notice, He does not sow only on Jewish ground; as to outward nearness to God, that was gone. God does not look for fruit. He is going on ground that is settled by judgment. Therefore He is not seeking fruit from man. This goes against man's good opinion of himself. Man is cut down as the good-for-nothing tree, in spite of all culture from God. The trial has been made of all men in the Jew. All flesh is grass, and the grass is withered. He sows; He is not exercising His royal title in sowing. It is a new work, different in kind. All are given up (Matt. 12) and He sows (Matt. 13).
The field is not the Jewish people, but "the world." God goes outside guilty Judah to begin a fresh work everywhere. The time of the harvest is the judicial time of the kingdom—not the sowing time. Christ lets all go on as if at the beginning and He saw nothing of the corruption, but then He begins a judicial character. Personally He deals with it on earth. That is the kingdom in the mysteries of it, or hidden. Its outward character is a great tree; the sowing is in the world. Pharaoh was a great tree, and the Assyrian was another. Christendom is now a great tree-an influential power in the earth. It is ruled from heaven, if it be the kingdom of heaven, but the sphere is this earth. The sowing, the field, the harvest, the search for the treasure or the pearl, the net, are not in heaven, but on earth.
The Kingdom of God
When the joy of the kingdom is spoken of, it is the kingdom of God. "The kingdom of God [not of heaven] is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The kingdom of heaven is dispensational; the kingdom of God is sometimes a moral thing.
Christ is not taking possession of the kingdom on the earth now. He is not sitting on His own throne yet. It is the Father's throne where He is. He is perfectly accepted in divine righteousness, which is now being ministered by the Holy Spirit to faith, and which is better than any other portion, but there is no execution of judgment. If He had executed judgment when He went away, there would have been no dealings in grace. He must have extinguished the wicked from the earth at once.
The word is, "Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." There He is sitting down and doing nothing as to the kingdom, but sowing, etc., in this mysterious way. Meanwhile the mustard tree, in which the birds of the air (the emissaries of Satan) may lodge, is being produced. The leaven is spreading in the three measures of meal; that is, formal doctrine extends itself through Christendom. At the close Christ brings in the execution of His power.
Where Does the Church Fit in?
This has nothing to do with the Church. Instead of His having immediate power on earth, He is "expecting till His enemies be made His footstool." During this time of waiting the Church is being gathered, and when He comes in judgment His glorified ones come with Him. He has accomplished righteousness before this gathering began, and has sent down the Holy Spirit, by whom we have the revelation of that righteousness. We are "made the righteousness of God in Him." This divine righteousness is established on the throne and revealed to us in the gospel and therefore by faith.
While the kingdom is in abeyance, the Holy Spirit has come down to make us know the righteousness of God in Christ, which is fit for the throne of God. We share that righteousness; we do not sit on the throne of the Father where He is now. This seat He has by virtue of His personal title as the Son of God, and God Himself indeed.
The kingdom of heaven in mystery takes in all Christendom, professors as well as true Christians. Now there are no signs of the kingdom. What sign is it for a king to suffer? But if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him. Suffering is no sign of a kingdom at all, but it is likeness to the King. The same thing that made Him suffer on earth made Him glorified in heaven. So it is with us. But instead of His reigning over the Church, the Church will reign with Him. He is the Bridegroom of the Church, not the King of the Church.
We have the same place as Christ Himself, and when we shall see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We could not now see Him as He is and live, but then we shall be like Him, and therefore can see Him. We shall appear with Him and be glorified together with Him. The heavenly saints are to be like Christ and be with Him forever. We shall take the heavenly places which spiritual wickedness has now (Eph. 6). We shall be "caught up... to meet the Lord in the air." In the parable of the talents in Matt. 25, there is no allusion to the rule of the kingdom, while in Luke, the use of the pounds is rewarded with cities to reign over. In Matthew all the servant's reward centers in the joy of his Lord.
The King Reigns
Jude speaks of the Lord coming with ten thousands of His saints. So in Rev. 19:1414And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14), "The armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses." The saints come with Him when He comes to execute judgment. (See Rev. 17:1414These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. (Revelation 17:14).) They are associated with Him in the glory He brings, as also in what is much better, in the Father's house. While He is on the Father's throne, the Church has no throne, but suffers with Him. When He takes His own throne, we shall be with Him and share His glory when He appears.
It is wonderful to be associated with Him in His glory, but better to be associated with Himself. It is better to be thinking about Himself than about Him as a King or a Lord, important as this too may be. When Christ comes to reign, there will be perfect human righteousness, because Christ will execute it. But now it is divine righteousness, ministered by the Spirit in grace (2 Cor. 3), grace which associates us in the effect of divine righteousness. When He comes back as King, at first it will be the David character of reign. So it is in Psa. 101, "I will sing of mercy and judgment"; mercy always comes first.
Divine Love in Righteousness
Psa. 72 states prophetically the character of Christ's kingdom. When He takes the kingdom, all will be judicially set up in righteousness. It will be seen by all that God has laid hold upon this mighty One for His people's salvation and the world's blessings. There will be real righteousness here below, but human as to its measure, and divinely ministered. It will be Messiah and the new covenant. The law will be written on their hearts. The law never required the death of Christ; this is entirely outside and above all that the law could righteously demand.
By the grace of God He tasted death. Divine love was in it; God (not law) "made Him to be sin for us." It was the unspeakable, unfathomable love of God who was glorified in it about sin. For God to be glorified, everything in God was to be made good in spite of sin, yea, and in respect of sin.
Where and how would love be manifested if all His enemies were destroyed now? The cross glorifies God above all law. The announcement of the Man who was God, dying for sinners, is that righteousness? No, it is beyond right; it is love—infinite, divine and sovereign love.
When once we come really to know God, we know Him as love. Then, knowing that every- thing comes to us from Him, though we be in a desert—no matter where, or what the circumstances—we interpret all by His love. What is deepest is simplest, that is the perfect love of God.