Two pieces of teaching come together this morning, one from Jesus and the other from Paul. Kingdom teaching connected to comfort teaching.

First, Jesus is asked by the Pharisees (like they really wanted to know) “when the kingdom of God would come.” Whatever they expected a heavenly kingdom to look like, they pressed this supposed heavenly king — who looked nothing like what they expected a heavenly king should look like — when’s it gonna be here? And Jesus says, in effect, the problem is with your expectation.

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

(Luke 17:20-21 ESV)

The kingdom of God is in the midst of you . . . It’s not a “look, here it is”, or a “behold, there it stands” sort of kingdom. It’s a kingdom “within you” (NKJV, NIV). It’s an inside thing. Not a brick-and-mortar reality, but a soul-known reality.

Okay, that’s problematic, isn’t it? For a people who live life through their five senses, a soul sensed reality can be kind of hard to grasp . . . literally . . . pun intended. The kingdom of God is here, but not “in ways that can be observed.” So, how you gonna know what’s kingdom and what’s not? Or, perhaps more difficult yet, what’s kingdom and what’s counterfeit-kingdom? That’s where Paul’s words are comfort words, words worth chewing on.

But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. . . . upsetting the faith of some. But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

(2Timothy 2:16-19 ESV)

But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows who are His” . . . That’s the materiality of an immaterial kingdom. That’s the ruling embodiment of a reign embodied within. That’s the earthly physicality of heavenly spirituality . . . The Lord knows.

That’s the seal of the kingdom’s firm foundation. That’s the signet stamped within the bedrock of all we are asked to believe about a kingdom which has already come but is not already seen, a kingdom which is now but not yet. That the Lord knows, fully and exactly, where the “in the midst of you” actually is. That He has no problem knowing where His reign and His rule have been established. No question about those who are His. No confusion about who is being conformed increasingly into the likeness of their King — King Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

A lot of stuff I may not know about the kingdom, but the Lord knows. As someone who now “sees in a mirror dimly” (1Cor. 13:12) and struggles some days trying to distinguish and discern the heavenly kingdom’s dynamics from our worldly kingdom’s dysfunction, I can rest in the reality that the Lord knows.

And isn’t that what it means, at least in part, to walk by faith? I’m thinkin’ . . .

The kingdom of God is in the midst of you . . . Oh, what words of hope!

The Lord knows those who are His . . . Aah, what words of rest and comfort!

So, while the kingdom of God may not be a 5-sense kingdom, I can yet trust in the Lord with all my heart, that other sense, that spirit-to-Spirit connected sense. And, I don’t have to try to lean on my own understanding. Because He is Lord — the Lord who knows who are His — I can acknowledge Him in all my ways, confident He will make straight my paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

By His grace. For His glory.