When men think they are the "Kingdom of God"

Doug Mason

In his book “Kingdom of God”, John Bright writes the following:

Although the New Testament teaches us that the people of Christ’s Kingdom are his obedient followers, his Church, there is never the slightest hint that the visibly existing church can either be or produce that Kingdom.

There is no tendency in the New Testament to identify the visible church with the Kingdom of God.

The church that makes such an identification will soon begin to invite God to endorse its own very human policies and practices, will equate the people of God with those nice people who share its particular beliefs and participate in its services, and will reckon the advance of the Kingdom in terms of its numerical growth. But it will not be the New Testament church!

Such an identification is a great snare, as prophets since Amos have told us. It only fathers the fatuous conceit of rightness with God by external conformity, and the equally fatuous expectation of divine protection -- for, forsooth, this is his church! Not so the New Testament!

The Church is indeed the people of the Kingdom of Christ, but the visible church is not that Kingdom. On the contrary, let it take heed to itself, lest by its behavior it becomes so much lukewarm water to be spewed out of the mouth of God (Rev. 3:16)! Let it live in full awareness that it, too, is under the judgment of God (Rom. 2:5; 14:10; I Cor. 3:13; 4:5; 11 Cor. 5:10). It, too, the new and pure Israel, must be purged!

The church is like a wheatfield in which a good many weeds have come up (Matt. 13:24-30). Weeds and wheat now grow side by side in it, but God (and only God: vss. 28-29!) will know how to separate them. (The Kingdom of God, John Bright, page 236)

yaddayadda

Very interesting, thank you. This is a subject that interests me.

JW's feel that 'fleeing' (from Babylon the Great: the 'world empire of false religion') to their organisation is literally fleeing to the Kingdom. They have a song called "Flee to God's Kingdom", which JW's picture as going to all the meetings and in all other respects dutifully serving as a loyal member of the organisation.

JW's are constantly exhorted to 'put first the interests of the Kingdom', which means to put first the interests of the organisation, ie, do more of the JW programme of works.

To a JW, to 'seek first the kingdom' means almost exclusively two things: to regularly attend and participate in all the meetings, and to have a 'full share' in the ministry ('field service').

Since the anointed are viewed as the kingdom (144,001 government rulers), then the organisation is the literal representation of that Kingdom on earth because it alone contains the 'anointed remnant' of those remaining kingdom heirs yet to receive their heavenly reward.

Yes, flee to the modern day Ark and the antitypical City of Refuge, THE ORGANISATION, for salvation!

skeptic1914

The church that makes such an identification will soon begin to invite God to endorse its own very human policies and practices, will equate the people of God with those nice people who share its particular beliefs and participate in its services, and will reckon the advance of the Kingdom in terms of its numerical growth.

Interesting stuff DM. Thanks for sharing.

Skeptic1914

Mad

John Bright? I'm convinced! Will he pray for my soul? Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

the Mad JW

Rooster

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Rbi8Matthew27:3-10***

3

Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing he had been condemned, felt remorse and turned the thirty silver pieces back to the chief priests and older men, 4 saying: "I sinned when I betrayed righteous blood." They said: "What is that to us? You must see to that!" 5 So he threw the silver pieces into the temple and withdrew, and went off and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said: "It is not lawful to drop them into the sacred treasury, because they are the price of blood." 7 After consulting together, they bought with them the potter’s field to bury strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called "Field of Blood" to this very day. 9 Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying: "And they took the thirty silver pieces, the price upon the man that was priced, the one on whom some of the sons of Israel set a price, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, according to what Jehovah had commanded me."

Narkissos

"Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God; the church came instead." (Alfred Loisy, 1857-1940).