On the Words: ‘The Kingdom of God is Within You’
26 Feb, 1946
‘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: Neither shall they say, Lo here: or, lo there: for behold, the kingdom of God is within you”’ (Luke 17:20,21). And that’s important for you to remember – the kingdom of God is within you.
People with little understanding - even Orthodox Christians – imagine the kingdom of God in the wrong way. Their imagination brings them closer to the crude conception held by Muslims. Muslims imagine eternal life to be some happy garden for the faithful, where they will be surrounded by beautiful young women, and where they will enjoy pleasant victuals. This is a crudely materialistic notion.
Christ said that the kingdom of God is inside us. And that it is not coming in a visible way. But rather quietly, unnoticed, it will come into the human heart, as it already is in the hearts of the righteous, of God’s saints. For them the kingdom of God begins while they are still alive.
Living in the kingdom of God means to live where God is King.
Our profoundest, innermost spiritual life passes in the depths of our heart, and the kingdom of God starts for us when our heart has been entered by the Holy Spirit. At that point, according to the word of Christ, He and His Father will come to those who have kept his commandments and make from him a dwelling place. If a righteous man has been counted worthy to have the Holy Spirit come reign in his heart, then he is already in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is in his heart, and in his heart the Holy Spirit dwells and reigns. Such a Kingdom of God does not come suddenly, or in a visible way, in answer to the loud blaring of trumpets. The kingdom of God is the Holy Spirit quietly, peacefully, invisibly entering into the human heart.
Saints like Serphim of Sarov, Sergius of Radonezh, and Anthony and Theodosius of the Kiev Caves were already living in the kingdom of God in this life. The Holy Spirit dwelled in their hearts, and for them the blessed kingdom of God began here on earth.
The Lord said to His disciples, ‘the days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightening, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day’ (Luke 17:22-24). That’s how sudden, how stunning his return will be. It will be sudden, completely unexpected for all, on a day only your Heavenly Father knows.
But before that stunning flash of light Christ will have to, according to his words, ‘suffer many things and be rejected of this generation’ (25).
What kind of suffering is the Lord Jesus Christ talking about here? He’s not talking about the suffering he will face on the cross. He’s talking about the suffering He’s going to be facing every single day – from the Ascension to Judgment Day – at the hands of people who have rejected Him. And He knew it was going to be difficult to be rejected by humanity, and that our sins would torture Him. Bloody wars between Christian nations cause Him great pain. We cause Him great pain with our lives, with the sinful acts we commit, with wicked thoughts, ungodly words… We cause Him this pain when we serve our passions.
The Lord Jesus Christ talks about this suffering when he says: ‘I must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation.’ The vast majority of humanity has rejected Him… Let us, His little flock, fear causing Him even the smallest suffering with our wicked senses, our wicked thoughts, our wicked acts. May the Lord God keep you from such things!
‘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: Neither shall they say, Lo here: or, lo there: for behold, the kingdom of God is within you”’ (Luke 17:20,21). And that’s important for you to remember – the kingdom of God is within you.
People with little understanding - even Orthodox Christians – imagine the kingdom of God in the wrong way. Their imagination brings them closer to the crude conception held by Muslims. Muslims imagine eternal life to be some happy garden for the faithful, where they will be surrounded by beautiful young women, and where they will enjoy pleasant victuals. This is a crudely materialistic notion.
Christ said that the kingdom of God is inside us. And that it is not coming in a visible way. But rather quietly, unnoticed, it will come into the human heart, as it already is in the hearts of the righteous, of God’s saints. For them the kingdom of God begins while they are still alive.
Living in the kingdom of God means to live where God is King.
Our profoundest, innermost spiritual life passes in the depths of our heart, and the kingdom of God starts for us when our heart has been entered by the Holy Spirit. At that point, according to the word of Christ, He and His Father will come to those who have kept his commandments and make from him a dwelling place. If a righteous man has been counted worthy to have the Holy Spirit come reign in his heart, then he is already in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is in his heart, and in his heart the Holy Spirit dwells and reigns. Such a Kingdom of God does not come suddenly, or in a visible way, in answer to the loud blaring of trumpets. The kingdom of God is the Holy Spirit quietly, peacefully, invisibly entering into the human heart.
Saints like Serphim of Sarov, Sergius of Radonezh, and Anthony and Theodosius of the Kiev Caves were already living in the kingdom of God in this life. The Holy Spirit dwelled in their hearts, and for them the blessed kingdom of God began here on earth.
The Lord said to His disciples, ‘the days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightening, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day’ (Luke 17:22-24). That’s how sudden, how stunning his return will be. It will be sudden, completely unexpected for all, on a day only your Heavenly Father knows.
But before that stunning flash of light Christ will have to, according to his words, ‘suffer many things and be rejected of this generation’ (25).
What kind of suffering is the Lord Jesus Christ talking about here? He’s not talking about the suffering he will face on the cross. He’s talking about the suffering He’s going to be facing every single day – from the Ascension to Judgment Day – at the hands of people who have rejected Him. And He knew it was going to be difficult to be rejected by humanity, and that our sins would torture Him. Bloody wars between Christian nations cause Him great pain. We cause Him great pain with our lives, with the sinful acts we commit, with wicked thoughts, ungodly words… We cause Him this pain when we serve our passions.
The Lord Jesus Christ talks about this suffering when he says: ‘I must suffer many things and be rejected of this generation.’ The vast majority of humanity has rejected Him… Let us, His little flock, fear causing Him even the smallest suffering with our wicked senses, our wicked thoughts, our wicked acts. May the Lord God keep you from such things!
posted by teacher at 10:33 PM
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