In Matthew 16:18-19 the words church and kingdom are used interchangeably. … This indicates that in order for the church to be built, the kingdom needs to be opened. In other words, opening the kingdom is the way to begin the building of the church.
We know that any kind of life is the kingdom. So the life of God is the kingdom of God itself. And this life issues in the church. We must realize the life we received through the gospel is the very kingdom of God and whenever we live this life, the church is produced.
The gospel of the kingdom brings forth, produces, the church because the kingdom is the life itself and the church is the issue, the produce, of life. …the church is the product of what is preached.
As long as we are living in the divine life within us, there is the kingdom life. And the kingdom life issues in the church life. The kingdom is the divine life expressed in the church.
Quotes from Life-study of Mark, p. 120
Further Reading: Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery, ch. 4; What the Kingdom Is to the Believers, chs. 1-3; The Kingdom and the Church, p. 33
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Matthew 4:23 – And Jesus went about in all of Galilee, teaching… and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom…
Matthew 16:18-19 – …Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens.
In His Perfecting Hands 