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God’s Kingdom In The Heart, August 1
Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 17:21
.
The government under which Jesus lived was corrupt and oppressive; on
every hand were crying abuses—extortion, intolerance, and grinding cruelty. Yet
the Saviour attempted no civil reforms. He attacked no national abuses, nor
condemned the national enemies. He did not interfere with the authority or
administration of those in power. He who was our example kept aloof from earthly
governments. Not because He was indifferent to the woes of men, but because the
remedy did not lie in merely human and external measures. To be efficient, the
cure must reach men individually, and must regenerate the heart.
Some of the Pharisees had come to Jesus demanding “when the kingdom of
God should come” (
Luke 17:20
). More than three years had passed since John the
Baptist gave the message that like a trumpet call had sounded through the land,
“The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (
Matthew 3:2
). And as yet these Pharisees
saw no indication of the establishment of the kingdom....
Jesus answered, “The kingdom of God cometh not with outward show [mar-
gin]: neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God
is within you.” The kingdom of God begins at the heart. Look not here or there
for manifestations of earthly power to mark its coming.
The works of Christ not only declared Him to be the Messiah, but showed in
what manner His kingdom was to be established.... It comes through the gentleness
of the inspiration of His word, through the inward working of His Spirit, the
fellowship of the soul with Him who is its life. The greatest manifestation of
its power is seen in human nature brought to the perfection of the character of
Christ....
When God gave His Son to our world, He endowed human beings with
imperishable riches—riches compared with which the treasured wealth of men
since the world began is nothingness. Christ came to the earth and stood before
the children of men with the hoarded love of eternity, and this is the treasure that,
through our connection with Him, we are to receive, to reveal, and to impart.
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