October 5 Daily Devotional

The two worlds

... the Christian and the non-Christian belong to two entirely different realms ... the first thing you have to realize about yourself is that you belong to a different kingdom. You are not only different in essence; you are living in two absolutely different worlds. You are in this world; but you are not of it... you are citizens of another kingdom....

What is meant by this kingdom of heaven? ... It means, in its essence, Christ’s rule or the sphere and realm in which He is reigning.... Many times when He was here in the days of His flesh our Lord said that the kingdom of heaven was already present. Wherever He was present and exercising authority, the kingdom of heaven was there. You remember how on one occasion, when they charged Him with casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub, He showed them the utter folly of that, and then went on to say, ‘If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you’. (Matthew 12:8.) Here is the kingdom of God. His authority, His reign was actually in practice. Then there is His phrase when He said to the Pharisees, ‘the kingdom of God is within you’, or ‘the kingdom of God is among you’. It was as though He were saying, ‘It is being manifested in your midst. Don’t say, “look here” or “look there”. Get rid of this materialistic view. I am here amongst you; I am doing things. It is here’. Wherever the reign of Christ is being manifested, the kingdom of God is there. And when He sent out His disciples to preach, He told them to tell the cities which received them not, ‘Be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you’.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, i, pp. 39–40