The Kingdom Within

The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, the world that lies within. Often we want to change the world around us, but the greatest work that can be done is the work within our hearts and the hearts of others. I found commentary on two verses about the nature of the kingdom by my one of my favorite theologians of all time, John Gill. He was a brilliant scholar whose mind and ability to interpret the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures was a gift from God.

Luke 17:21
nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Commentary by John Gill:
"For behold the kingdom of God...escapes the observation of natural men, and cannot be pointed at as here, or there: hence it appears, that the work of grace is an internal thing; it is wrought in the hearts of men; it has its seat in the inward parts, and is therefore called the inner, and the hidden man: it does not lie in words, in an outward profession of religion: it is oil in the vessel of the heart, and is distinct from the lamp of a visible profession; it does not lie in external works and duties, but it is an inward principle of holiness in the soul, or spirit of man, produced there by the Spirit of God, and is therefore called by his name, John 3:6 and it also appears to be a very glorious thing, since it is signified by a kingdom: it is a rich treasure; it is gold tried in the fire, which makes rich; it is an estate, that good part, and portion, which can never be taken away; it is preferable to the greatest portion on earth men can enjoy; even the largest and richest kingdom in the world is not to be compared with it; it is a kingdom which cannot be moved; and as it is glorious in itself, it makes such glorious who are partakers of it: 'the king's daughter is all glorious within', Psalm 45:13 and it is high in the esteem of God; it is the hidden man of the heart, but it is in his sight; it is in his view, and is in his sight of great price: it is likewise evident from hence, that it has great power and authority in the soul; it has the government in it; it reigns, through righteousness, unto eternal life; and by it, Christ, as king of saints, dwells and reigns in his people."

The kingdom of God is expansive and it takes over what it inhabits like a glorious catalyst. The process can take time but the results are incredible. There is a multiplication of goodness. In the parable of the sower Jesus talks about seed being sown on different types of ground. When it's sown on good ground the results can be incredible, yielding a crop of thirty, sixty or a hundredfold.

Matthew 13:33
The Parable of the Leaven
Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

Commentary by John Gill:
"...it is a little leaven that leavens the whole lump, and may express, as the grain of mustard seed does, the small beginnings of the Gospel, and its meanness in the eyes of men; and on account of its piercing, penetrating, and spreading nature: so the Gospel reaches the conscience, pierces the heart, enlightens the understanding, informs the judgment, raises and sets the affections on right objects, subdues the will, and brings down all towering thoughts, to the obedience of Christ, in particular persons; and has penetrated and made its way, under divine influence, through towns, cities, kingdoms, and nations: also on account of its heating, swelling, and assimilating nature; so the Gospel, where it takes place, warms the affections, causes the heart to burn within, inspires with zeal for God, and Christ, and the Gospel; it swells and fills churches with such as shall be saved, and assimilates the several persons it operates in, makes them like one another, one bread, one body, having like precious faith, knowledge, and experience, though in a different degree."


We bring the kingdom to those around us when we share the gospel, and it has a chance to expand within them. We aren't called to change the world around us so much as we are called to bring the kingdom within us to those around us, one at a time.