Living Stream Ministry

THE KINGDOM

The book of Ephesians also mentions the kingdom. Ephesians 5:5 speaks of an inheritance in the kingdom. Although Ephesians is a book on the church, it also refers to the kingdom, because the proper church life is the reality of the kingdom. Do not follow the traditional teaching which says that the church is the church and the kingdom is the kingdom. We must not separate the church from the kingdom; they are two aspects of one thing. The genuine church life is the reality of the kingdom. If we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, and possessed by the Lord as the all-inclusive Spirit, then we are participating in the kingdom. We may put Ephesians 5:18b and 3:19b together: "Be filled in spirit..that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God." This means to be saturated thoroughly and fully with all the riches of God’s element.

We need to pay the price for the Lord’s transformation. This means that we must give up what we hold on to. Whatever you hold on to, that is the price you must pay. Some brothers hold on to their long hair. The problem is not the long hair itself: the problem is their holding on to long hair. It is the holding on to certain things which hinders our transformation. Whatever you hold on to is the price you must pay. You are holding on but you must take your hands off. You should not hold on to anything. This is what it means to pay the price. If we will pay the price, the Lord can spread within us, and we can be matured.

(The Kingdom, Chapter 18, by Witness Lee)