Acts 14:22 Establishing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.
To enter into the kingdom of God is to enter into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom. The whole world opposes the entering of God's people into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom. Judaism, for example, has been usurped and utilized by Satan to frustrate the believers from entering this enjoyment. Throughout the centuries, other forms of religion...have also been used by God's enemy to keep God's people from entering into the full enjoyment of the all- inclusive Christ as the kingdom of God. In Acts 2 the one hundred and twenty were in the full enjoyment of the resurrected and ascended Christ as God's ruling realm. Such a realm is the kingdom of God. Very soon after the believers entered into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom of God, the Jewish religion came in to frustrate this enjoyment. If in chapters three, four, and five, Peter, John, and the other believers had shown any weakness, they would have lost the full enjoyment of the resurrected Christ, and as a result they would have missed the kingdom of God. Here he [Paul] seemed to be saying, "I entreat you through many tribulations to enter into the kingdom of God. You should expect opposition and be prepared for it. You will face much tribulation. But through all these tribulations you must endeavor to enter into the realm of the full enjoyment of the resurrected and ascended Christ as the kingdom of God. When you have the enjoyment of such a Christ, you will be under the divine rule. Then you will become the kingdom of God, which is the proper church life." (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Acts, pp. 343-345. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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