For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
The kingdom of God is not food and drink or outward display, ceremony, fine appearance, church membership, or earthly power and rule. It is inward rightdoing by the Holy Spirit — living uprightly by God's law in goodness, mercy, justice, love and truth — bringing peace and joy that the world can neither give nor take away. It is entered by wholehearted surrender to God, looking to Jesus and learning meekness from Him, grasping His promise without waiting to become worthy, and obeying His word in daily life. Its subjects show its character by pursuing what brings peace and builds others up, laying aside selfishness, dissension and boasting, and dealing righteously so none stumble. It is established now in the heart under Christ as Head, bringing present righteousness, peace and joy through cross-bearing, and it will be completed when God's will is done on earth as in heaven as a home of love, peace, rest and joy for the righteous.
Kingdom Not Outward Show
The kingdom of God is not food and drink but right standing with God and peace and joy given by the Holy Spirit. A person's life and happiness do not consist in the abundance of possessions, but in wholehearted surrender of will and way to God and in Christlike conduct expressing that surrendered life. Differences over diet must not disrupt fellowship, for what matters in serving Christ and being acceptable to God and approved by others is pursuing what brings peace and builds one another up. Every family should take this to heart and hunger and thirst for that righteousness and peace and joy. The same rule governs business dealings, which must be righteous and must not cause others to stumble or bring discredit on what is good, and governs the work for this time, which must go forward in the demonstration and power of the Spirit with a faith that has convincing power.
Nor is the kingdom outward show, ceremony or form, gorgeous apparel, fine singing, instrumental music, hollow profession, having a name on the church record, worldly things, or an earthly rule marked by kingly power and display. Its vital forces are inward godliness in the individual heart, a new life from Christ implanted within and developed to its highest degree, raising the lowered standard of piety. Those grafted into Christ bear its rich fruit free from selfish preferences, corrupt motives, partiality, hypocrisy, frivolity and love-sick sentimentalism, and where this fruit appears truth gains power and its progress and growth are extended. It is received not by following selfish plans or human suppositions but by looking to Jesus and following His leading, which calls for laying aside all selfishness, keeping God's honor constantly in view, doing work for God with persevering fidelity, perfecting a pure and pious character in daily life, living in unity and love with all dissension ceasing, and speaking at every opportunity in words that arrest attention and convict the heart.
Ceremonies become multitudinous and extravagant as the vital principles of the kingdom are lost. Its truth must be implanted in the heart, where grace works outward in fruit of holiness and unselfishness, deeds of goodness, mercy and truth, and principles of goodness and sympathy and love which are the principles of heaven. Without that inward truth religious practice becomes a stumbling-block to sinners. When those heavenly principles are revealed in human lives Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, and even the poorest congregation without music or outward show can sing because the joy of Christ is in the soul, offered as a sweet oblation to God, which alone calls forth heaven's approval.
Righteousness Peace and Joy
The kingdom is inward rightdoing with peace and joy by the Holy Spirit, not outward things, and Christ taught this by His whole life from childhood to manhood. Because He never separated Himself from God by even one disobedient act, the Spirit rested upon Him and divine peace and grace were with Him, and He grew in favor with God and people while living unceasing humiliation yet keeping a lovely character. His peace was unbroken because it came from perfect rectitude, it was His own possession independent of the world so that none could give it or take it away, and it fitted Him to speak peace to sorrowing souls, and everyone who has His peace receives the same peaceful and restful character.
Its righteousness is walking uprightly, keeping God's commands, and living the great spiritual principles of goodness, sympathy, love, justice, mercy, holiness, unselfishness, goodness and truth. It is strict rectitude according to God's law in contrast to human impulse and the world's policy, and it is known by spiritual fruit — holiness, unselfishness, deeds of goodness, mercy and truth — rather than by form and ceremony, gorgeous apparel, fine singing, instrumental music, or outward show. Ceremonies become multitudinous and extravagant as these vital principles are lost, but when they are revealed in human lives Christ is formed within as the hope of glory. The kingdom is a great spiritual kingdom with Christ as Head, governed by ennobling, sanctifying principles with justice, mercy and love as controlling powers, and extending it requires following His example in self-control and quiet, peaceable, obedient lives apart from temporal and civil disputes. This experience belongs to the humble, persevering Christian in daily life including business transactions, as God's eternal covenant with commandment-keepers on the safer narrow path opened by Christ's sacrifice, where faith stands at the entrance gate to everlasting life and the whole way is lined with light and peace and joy from willing obedience, with the mark of the high calling ever in view and what first appeared as crosses found by experience to be crowns.
Believing brings peace and trusting in God brings joy in the Holy Spirit, marking the heights of faith believers may reach and marking life in God's kingdom as a life of peace, rest and joy. That peace and joy are experienced through Jesus Christ as God's pardoning love is revealed to the heart, so the believer finds peace and joy even after darkness and distress, and united with Christ and submitted to His will bears fruit to God's glory and displays God's character. When Christ dwells in the heart by faith as personal Saviour, pardon becomes individual experience bringing contentment, peace, hope, rest and quietness, harmony with God, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Knowingly sinning against God destroys that peace and drives the Spirit away.
Righteousness, peace and joy are the character of the kingdom's subjects — those who do God's will, belong to Christ, and follow Him — belonging to a living Christian experience that shapes the whole person. They are rich fruit from new life in those grafted into Christ, free from selfish preferences, corrupt motives, partiality, hypocrisy, frivolity and love-sick sentimentalism, in contrast to hollow profession and hollow form of religion. Where this fruit appears truth gains power and its progress and growth are extended, and where they are missing growth is dwarfed like the fruitless fig tree, so they are the measure of spiritual growth and of a raised standard of piety developed to its highest degree. Genuine conversion brings a changed heart, love for Christ and willing surrender, and the Spirit's peace grows as the person lives Christ's life, with love leading to unselfish service and continual fruit-bearing as a holy people showing God's praise.
This joy is the mystery of godliness, not easily explained but felt and enjoyed, coming with closeness to Christ and communion with God. Those who abide in Jesus are happy, cheerful and joyful in God, with subdued gentleness in the voice, reverence for spiritual and eternal things in the actions, and joyful music echoing from the lips wafted from God's throne, and the closer the connection the more words and actions show pleasantness, peace and subduing, transforming grace. Freedom, light and joy are retained only through self-denial, constant watchfulness, prayer and continual reliance on the merits of Christ's blood, with will and powers responding when the Spirit breathes upon the soul. A stubborn and rebellious heart can close its doors to all the sweet influences of grace and shut itself off from all this joy.
Peace, joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit are the path from which people turn when they reject the light of Christ. Rejecting further light brings spiritual darkness, stops growth in grace, and can lead others away from that path.
How Kingdom Is Entered
The kingdom is entered by wholehearted surrender, giving will and way entirely to God and living for His glory alone. In that surrender self dies and Jesus lives within, and the heart is sustained and comforted in suffering without murmuring or complaint because Jesus reveals Himself as best Friend. Its peace grows as the person lives Christ's life, seeing Him who is invisible, with the earnest desire to know it is well with the soul and refusing to let temporal matters trouble and distress. This is genuine conversion of a changed heart loving Christ and willingly yielding to Him, expressed in Christlike conduct, unselfish service and continual fruit-bearing, belonging to the Lord whether in life or in death with life hid with Christ in God and the hope of appearing with Him in glory, meeting around His throne, seeing the King in His beauty and beholding His matchless charms, and receiving that life which measures with the life of God, a heaven worth everything and worth a lifelong, persevering, untiring effort.
Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit are experienced by grasping God's promise and cooperating with Him without waiting to become worthy. No one can become worthy by effort, and Christ's coming shows that human worthiness cannot be the condition for receiving the promise. God's grace and power earnestly sought make the soul possess comfort, peace and joy.
Righteousness, peace and joy are found in obeying God's Word and doing His commandments in daily life, including business transactions, by refusing the world's policy and holding to strict rectitude according to the law of Jehovah. This is God's eternal covenant with those who do His commandments, a safer narrow path opened by Christ's sacrifice, in contrast to the ruin of following human impulse and ungodly example. Faith stands at the entrance gate of the narrow path to everlasting life, and the whole way is lined with light and peace and joy from willing obedience. The traveler keeps ever before him the mark of the high calling in Christ with the prize ever in sight, and what first appeared as crosses are found by experience to be crowns.
The kingdom is not received by following selfish plans or human suppositions, but by looking to Jesus and following His leading. It is found by answering God's call to do His work by looking to Him alone instead of following plans of one's own devising, coming to Christ, wearing His yoke and learning meekness and lowliness from Him, discovering His yoke easy and His burden light. This calls for ready workers who speak at every opportunity in words that arrest attention and convict the heart. Unselfish love flowing from Christ and working through human plans and conduct makes the inward life of righteousness, peace and joy given by the Spirit visible, rather than outward forms and ceremonies.
Life That Shows Kingdom
The kingdom is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and those who serve Christ are acceptable to God and approved by others as they pursue what makes for peace and builds one another up. In each person's own sphere this means laying aside all selfishness, keeping God's honor constantly in view, doing work for God with persevering fidelity, and perfecting a pure and pious character in daily life, which alone makes a perfect church. It calls for unity and love with all dissension ceasing and the inward work going on in the heart. These blessings are to appear in conduct especially under test and trial through meekness and lowliness rather than boasting or self-confidence.
Business dealings must be righteous and must not cause others to stumble or bring discredit on what is good. The humble, persevering Christian can and will have this experience in daily life, including business transactions, by refusing the world's policy and holding to strict rectitude according to the law of Jehovah in obeying God's Word and doing His commandments. Every family should consider the kingdom and hunger and thirst for righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Advancing that kingdom is earnest, self-denying labor for the truth that will bear away the victory. The work must go forward in the demonstration and power of the Spirit, with much of the Spirit waiting to be asked for, and those with a special work must manifest a faith that has convincing power. Those who labor for it are to be encouraged and sustained. Those who have led out in the conflict, carried burdens when few shared them, remained faithful to principle through evil report and good report, and grown old in service bearing the burden in the heat of the day are to be dealt with considerately, kindly and generously.
Those who represent Christ and minister the Word are to reveal peace and joy. Ready workers are needed who look to Jesus and follow His leading rather than selfish plans or human suppositions, and who speak at every opportunity in words that arrest attention and convict the heart. Serving Jesus is marked by peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, not sullen drudgery, for assurance of Christ's love sweetens toil, strengthens the worker, and keeps the Christian spiritually minded even while working. Abiding in His love and in this gift of peace and joy preserves influence by bearing indifference, lack of appreciation, criticism and insults as Christ bore them from those He came to save, without spoiling influence by overworking to accomplish some great thing, without becoming worried so that every adverse word looks large, without yielding to stirred natural feelings that imagine evil against ministering brethren and drive against them, without speaking unfavorably of brethren even if wrongs are real, and without breaking out in hasty, unexpected words.
Joy and peace in the Holy Spirit are given to God's people, but those who view matters in a distorted light through prejudice and unbelief see it as inconsistent and turn to war against God's work instead of receiving it.
Present and Future Kingdom
The kingdom of God is a great spiritual kingdom of righteousness with Christ as its Head, governed by ennobling and sanctifying principles with justice and mercy and love as its controlling powers. It is established in people's hearts as a kingdom of righteousness and peace, not as an earthly rule marked by kingly power or display. Jesus came in poverty and humility to establish it, teaching that kingdom and offering hope to the lowly, while those who expected Him to restore Israel's earthly kingdom rejected it. Its extension requires following His example, with those who rule over others themselves under the control of the divine Ruler, having learned self-control and living quiet, peaceable lives in obedience to the commandments, apart from temporal and civil disputes.
No flattering representation or earthly reward is held out to those who embrace truth and follow Christ, only the cross of denying self and following Him. That cross-bearing life is a committing entirely to God and living for God alone to His glory, in which self dies and Jesus lives within, and the heart is sustained and comforted in suffering without murmuring because Jesus reveals Himself as best Friend. It brings present righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, lived as seeing Him who is invisible, with the earnest desire to know it is well with the soul and without letting temporal matters trouble and distress. It leads at the end of the warfare to the reward of a crown of life, the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness, and an abundant entrance into the kingdom of the Lord and Saviour, belonging to the Lord whether in life or in death, with life hid with Christ in God and the hope of appearing with Him in glory, meeting around the throne of God, seeing the King in His beauty and beholding His matchless charms, and receiving that life which measures with the life of God. Heaven is worth everything and worth a lifelong, persevering and untiring effort.
Its righteousness, peace and joy, not outward matters of food and drink, are marked by everlasting righteousness and are established in the final kingdom when God's will is done on earth as in heaven. It is the Father's kingdom, a home for the righteous where love, peace, rest and joy prevail, and its subjects are the pure in heart, peacemakers, those persecuted for Christ, and all who sincerely love God. These qualities were present among the repentant church, showing that God was blessing and sanctifying them as His people. This joy in the Holy Spirit, with hope, comfort and peace, belongs to the life of God's kingdom and is offered to sinners who look to Jesus and live.
The kingdom of God is not food and drink or outward display, ceremony, fine appearance, church membership, or earthly power and rule. It is inward rightdoing by the Holy Spirit — living uprightly by God's law in goodness, mercy, justice, love and truth — bringing peace and joy that the world can neither give nor take away. It is entered by wholehearted surrender to God, looking to Jesus and learning meekness from Him, grasping His promise without waiting to become worthy, and obeying His word in daily life. Its subjects show its character by pursuing what brings peace and builds others up, laying aside selfishness, dissension and boasting, and dealing righteously so none stumble. It is established now in the heart under Christ as Head, bringing present righteousness, peace and joy through cross-bearing, and it will be completed when God's will is done on earth as in heaven as a home of love, peace, rest and joy for the righteous.
Kingdom Not Outward Show
The kingdom of God is not food and drink but right standing with God and peace and joy given by the Holy Spirit. A person's life and happiness do not consist in the abundance of possessions, but in wholehearted surrender of will and way to God and in Christlike conduct expressing that surrendered life. Differences over diet must not disrupt fellowship, for what matters in serving Christ and being acceptable to God and approved by others is pursuing what brings peace and builds one another up. Every family should take this to heart and hunger and thirst for that righteousness and peace and joy. The same rule governs business dealings, which must be righteous and must not cause others to stumble or bring discredit on what is good, and governs the work for this time, which must go forward in the demonstration and power of the Spirit with a faith that has convincing power.
Nor is the kingdom outward show, ceremony or form, gorgeous apparel, fine singing, instrumental music, hollow profession, having a name on the church record, worldly things, or an earthly rule marked by kingly power and display. Its vital forces are inward godliness in the individual heart, a new life from Christ implanted within and developed to its highest degree, raising the lowered standard of piety. Those grafted into Christ bear its rich fruit free from selfish preferences, corrupt motives, partiality, hypocrisy, frivolity and love-sick sentimentalism, and where this fruit appears truth gains power and its progress and growth are extended. It is received not by following selfish plans or human suppositions but by looking to Jesus and following His leading, which calls for laying aside all selfishness, keeping God's honor constantly in view, doing work for God with persevering fidelity, perfecting a pure and pious character in daily life, living in unity and love with all dissension ceasing, and speaking at every opportunity in words that arrest attention and convict the heart.
Ceremonies become multitudinous and extravagant as the vital principles of the kingdom are lost. Its truth must be implanted in the heart, where grace works outward in fruit of holiness and unselfishness, deeds of goodness, mercy and truth, and principles of goodness and sympathy and love which are the principles of heaven. Without that inward truth religious practice becomes a stumbling-block to sinners. When those heavenly principles are revealed in human lives Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, and even the poorest congregation without music or outward show can sing because the joy of Christ is in the soul, offered as a sweet oblation to God, which alone calls forth heaven's approval.
Righteousness Peace and Joy
The kingdom is inward rightdoing with peace and joy by the Holy Spirit, not outward things, and Christ taught this by His whole life from childhood to manhood. Because He never separated Himself from God by even one disobedient act, the Spirit rested upon Him and divine peace and grace were with Him, and He grew in favor with God and people while living unceasing humiliation yet keeping a lovely character. His peace was unbroken because it came from perfect rectitude, it was His own possession independent of the world so that none could give it or take it away, and it fitted Him to speak peace to sorrowing souls, and everyone who has His peace receives the same peaceful and restful character.
Its righteousness is walking uprightly, keeping God's commands, and living the great spiritual principles of goodness, sympathy, love, justice, mercy, holiness, unselfishness, goodness and truth. It is strict rectitude according to God's law in contrast to human impulse and the world's policy, and it is known by spiritual fruit — holiness, unselfishness, deeds of goodness, mercy and truth — rather than by form and ceremony, gorgeous apparel, fine singing, instrumental music, or outward show. Ceremonies become multitudinous and extravagant as these vital principles are lost, but when they are revealed in human lives Christ is formed within as the hope of glory. The kingdom is a great spiritual kingdom with Christ as Head, governed by ennobling, sanctifying principles with justice, mercy and love as controlling powers, and extending it requires following His example in self-control and quiet, peaceable, obedient lives apart from temporal and civil disputes. This experience belongs to the humble, persevering Christian in daily life including business transactions, as God's eternal covenant with commandment-keepers on the safer narrow path opened by Christ's sacrifice, where faith stands at the entrance gate to everlasting life and the whole way is lined with light and peace and joy from willing obedience, with the mark of the high calling ever in view and what first appeared as crosses found by experience to be crowns.
Believing brings peace and trusting in God brings joy in the Holy Spirit, marking the heights of faith believers may reach and marking life in God's kingdom as a life of peace, rest and joy. That peace and joy are experienced through Jesus Christ as God's pardoning love is revealed to the heart, so the believer finds peace and joy even after darkness and distress, and united with Christ and submitted to His will bears fruit to God's glory and displays God's character. When Christ dwells in the heart by faith as personal Saviour, pardon becomes individual experience bringing contentment, peace, hope, rest and quietness, harmony with God, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Knowingly sinning against God destroys that peace and drives the Spirit away.
Righteousness, peace and joy are the character of the kingdom's subjects — those who do God's will, belong to Christ, and follow Him — belonging to a living Christian experience that shapes the whole person. They are rich fruit from new life in those grafted into Christ, free from selfish preferences, corrupt motives, partiality, hypocrisy, frivolity and love-sick sentimentalism, in contrast to hollow profession and hollow form of religion. Where this fruit appears truth gains power and its progress and growth are extended, and where they are missing growth is dwarfed like the fruitless fig tree, so they are the measure of spiritual growth and of a raised standard of piety developed to its highest degree. Genuine conversion brings a changed heart, love for Christ and willing surrender, and the Spirit's peace grows as the person lives Christ's life, with love leading to unselfish service and continual fruit-bearing as a holy people showing God's praise.
This joy is the mystery of godliness, not easily explained but felt and enjoyed, coming with closeness to Christ and communion with God. Those who abide in Jesus are happy, cheerful and joyful in God, with subdued gentleness in the voice, reverence for spiritual and eternal things in the actions, and joyful music echoing from the lips wafted from God's throne, and the closer the connection the more words and actions show pleasantness, peace and subduing, transforming grace. Freedom, light and joy are retained only through self-denial, constant watchfulness, prayer and continual reliance on the merits of Christ's blood, with will and powers responding when the Spirit breathes upon the soul. A stubborn and rebellious heart can close its doors to all the sweet influences of grace and shut itself off from all this joy.
Peace, joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit are the path from which people turn when they reject the light of Christ. Rejecting further light brings spiritual darkness, stops growth in grace, and can lead others away from that path.
How Kingdom Is Entered
The kingdom is entered by wholehearted surrender, giving will and way entirely to God and living for His glory alone. In that surrender self dies and Jesus lives within, and the heart is sustained and comforted in suffering without murmuring or complaint because Jesus reveals Himself as best Friend. Its peace grows as the person lives Christ's life, seeing Him who is invisible, with the earnest desire to know it is well with the soul and refusing to let temporal matters trouble and distress. This is genuine conversion of a changed heart loving Christ and willingly yielding to Him, expressed in Christlike conduct, unselfish service and continual fruit-bearing, belonging to the Lord whether in life or in death with life hid with Christ in God and the hope of appearing with Him in glory, meeting around His throne, seeing the King in His beauty and beholding His matchless charms, and receiving that life which measures with the life of God, a heaven worth everything and worth a lifelong, persevering, untiring effort.
Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit are experienced by grasping God's promise and cooperating with Him without waiting to become worthy. No one can become worthy by effort, and Christ's coming shows that human worthiness cannot be the condition for receiving the promise. God's grace and power earnestly sought make the soul possess comfort, peace and joy.
Righteousness, peace and joy are found in obeying God's Word and doing His commandments in daily life, including business transactions, by refusing the world's policy and holding to strict rectitude according to the law of Jehovah. This is God's eternal covenant with those who do His commandments, a safer narrow path opened by Christ's sacrifice, in contrast to the ruin of following human impulse and ungodly example. Faith stands at the entrance gate of the narrow path to everlasting life, and the whole way is lined with light and peace and joy from willing obedience. The traveler keeps ever before him the mark of the high calling in Christ with the prize ever in sight, and what first appeared as crosses are found by experience to be crowns.
The kingdom is not received by following selfish plans or human suppositions, but by looking to Jesus and following His leading. It is found by answering God's call to do His work by looking to Him alone instead of following plans of one's own devising, coming to Christ, wearing His yoke and learning meekness and lowliness from Him, discovering His yoke easy and His burden light. This calls for ready workers who speak at every opportunity in words that arrest attention and convict the heart. Unselfish love flowing from Christ and working through human plans and conduct makes the inward life of righteousness, peace and joy given by the Spirit visible, rather than outward forms and ceremonies.
Life That Shows Kingdom
The kingdom is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and those who serve Christ are acceptable to God and approved by others as they pursue what makes for peace and builds one another up. In each person's own sphere this means laying aside all selfishness, keeping God's honor constantly in view, doing work for God with persevering fidelity, and perfecting a pure and pious character in daily life, which alone makes a perfect church. It calls for unity and love with all dissension ceasing and the inward work going on in the heart. These blessings are to appear in conduct especially under test and trial through meekness and lowliness rather than boasting or self-confidence.
Business dealings must be righteous and must not cause others to stumble or bring discredit on what is good. The humble, persevering Christian can and will have this experience in daily life, including business transactions, by refusing the world's policy and holding to strict rectitude according to the law of Jehovah in obeying God's Word and doing His commandments. Every family should consider the kingdom and hunger and thirst for righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Advancing that kingdom is earnest, self-denying labor for the truth that will bear away the victory. The work must go forward in the demonstration and power of the Spirit, with much of the Spirit waiting to be asked for, and those with a special work must manifest a faith that has convincing power. Those who labor for it are to be encouraged and sustained. Those who have led out in the conflict, carried burdens when few shared them, remained faithful to principle through evil report and good report, and grown old in service bearing the burden in the heat of the day are to be dealt with considerately, kindly and generously.
Those who represent Christ and minister the Word are to reveal peace and joy. Ready workers are needed who look to Jesus and follow His leading rather than selfish plans or human suppositions, and who speak at every opportunity in words that arrest attention and convict the heart. Serving Jesus is marked by peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, not sullen drudgery, for assurance of Christ's love sweetens toil, strengthens the worker, and keeps the Christian spiritually minded even while working. Abiding in His love and in this gift of peace and joy preserves influence by bearing indifference, lack of appreciation, criticism and insults as Christ bore them from those He came to save, without spoiling influence by overworking to accomplish some great thing, without becoming worried so that every adverse word looks large, without yielding to stirred natural feelings that imagine evil against ministering brethren and drive against them, without speaking unfavorably of brethren even if wrongs are real, and without breaking out in hasty, unexpected words.
Joy and peace in the Holy Spirit are given to God's people, but those who view matters in a distorted light through prejudice and unbelief see it as inconsistent and turn to war against God's work instead of receiving it.
Present and Future Kingdom
The kingdom of God is a great spiritual kingdom of righteousness with Christ as its Head, governed by ennobling and sanctifying principles with justice and mercy and love as its controlling powers. It is established in people's hearts as a kingdom of righteousness and peace, not as an earthly rule marked by kingly power or display. Jesus came in poverty and humility to establish it, teaching that kingdom and offering hope to the lowly, while those who expected Him to restore Israel's earthly kingdom rejected it. Its extension requires following His example, with those who rule over others themselves under the control of the divine Ruler, having learned self-control and living quiet, peaceable lives in obedience to the commandments, apart from temporal and civil disputes.
No flattering representation or earthly reward is held out to those who embrace truth and follow Christ, only the cross of denying self and following Him. That cross-bearing life is a committing entirely to God and living for God alone to His glory, in which self dies and Jesus lives within, and the heart is sustained and comforted in suffering without murmuring because Jesus reveals Himself as best Friend. It brings present righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, lived as seeing Him who is invisible, with the earnest desire to know it is well with the soul and without letting temporal matters trouble and distress. It leads at the end of the warfare to the reward of a crown of life, the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness, and an abundant entrance into the kingdom of the Lord and Saviour, belonging to the Lord whether in life or in death, with life hid with Christ in God and the hope of appearing with Him in glory, meeting around the throne of God, seeing the King in His beauty and beholding His matchless charms, and receiving that life which measures with the life of God. Heaven is worth everything and worth a lifelong, persevering and untiring effort.
Its righteousness, peace and joy, not outward matters of food and drink, are marked by everlasting righteousness and are established in the final kingdom when God's will is done on earth as in heaven. It is the Father's kingdom, a home for the righteous where love, peace, rest and joy prevail, and its subjects are the pure in heart, peacemakers, those persecuted for Christ, and all who sincerely love God. These qualities were present among the repentant church, showing that God was blessing and sanctifying them as His people. This joy in the Holy Spirit, with hope, comfort and peace, belongs to the life of God's kingdom and is offered to sinners who look to Jesus and live.