IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITHIN YOU ?

[douge]

Luke 17 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Jesus was saying the kingdom of God would not come with attentive watching.

Jesus referred to the kingdom as coming near to them by his presence (Luke 10:11).

The disciples were expecting a visible kingdom to immediately appear, not a spiritual kingdom within the believer (Luke 19:11).

Jesus said to expect a kingdom that would be visible, as is lightning (Luke 17:24).

Zephaniah 3:15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.

3:16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.

3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Joel 2:27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

The verses above, and others, speak of the Lord as being in the midst of Israel (Isaiah 12:6 Ezekiel 28:22 Hosea 11:9 Zechariah 2:11).

Zechariah 2:10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.

Scripture speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ as being in the midst of Israel and is the meaning of Luke 17:21 in saying the kingdom of God is within you.

[Isaiah43:25]

Alva McClain wrote a classic book on the Kingdom. It's old (1950's i think?), so it can be a somewhat difficult read, but still very insightful. It's call The Greatness of the Kingdom. He addresses nearly every verse in the Bible that talks about the Kingdom. As a theologian who spent his life dedicated to this study, he would conclude that the Kingdom would not be within us. 

What's cool about it too is that at the end, he lists every single verse discussed in the book and what page they're on. So if a person were wondering how to interpret a verse, they can quickly look it up to see his discussion of the verse.

But if you're asking the question: is the kingdom of God within us? I would say no based on the case Alva makes as well as my own study. The Kingdom is a literal Kingdom with a King (Jesus Christ), subjects (the redeemed), and land (all the earth with special emphasis on Israel and Jerusalem, proceeding through time to the millennial kingdom and finally to the New Jerusalem).

Full disclosure, he writes from a dispensational, pre-mil perspective and makes an excellent case for these.

[Leonardo Von]

• Quote

  IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITHIN YOU ?

  I hope so. After all, in Jesus' prayer, He taught us to pray for the coming of His kingdom in our life.