The kingdom of God really means the reign of God; it means the law and the rule of God. . . . In one sense the kingdom of God has already come. It came when the Lord Jesus was here. He said, "If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you." He said in effect, "The kingdom of God is here now; I am exercising this power, this sovereignty, this majesty, this dominion; this is the kingdom of God" . . . . The kingdom of God is also here at this moment in the hearts and lives of all who submit to Him, in all who believe in Him. The kingdom of God is present in the . . . heart of all those who are truly Christian. Christ reigns in such people. But the day is yet to come when His kingdom shall have been established here upon the earth. . . That day is coming. The whole message of the Bible looks forward to that. Christ came down from heaven to earth to found, to establish, and to bring in this kingdom. He is still engaged upon that task and will be until the end, when it shall have been completed. The He will, according to Paul, hand it back to God the Father, "that God may be all in all."
. . . When we pray, "Thy kingdom come," we are praying for the success of the gospel, its sway and power; we are praying for the conversion of men and women; we are praying that the kingdom of God may come. . . everywhere in the world. . . . It means that we should be anticipating the day when all sin and evil and wrong and everything that is opposed to God shall finally have been routed . . . that the name of God may be glorious and magnified over all. (D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Vol. II, p. 63-64).
Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
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Martyn-Lloyd Jones (1899 - 1981)
Lloyd-Jones was well known for his style of expository preaching, and the Sunday morning and evening meetings at which he officiated drew crowds of several thousand, as did the Friday evening Bible studies, which were, in effect, sermons in the same style. He would take many months, even years, to expound a chapter of the Bible verse by verse. His sermons would often be around fifty minutes to an hour in length, attracting many students from universities and colleges in London. His sermons were also transcribed and printed (virtually verbatim) in the weekly Westminster Record, which was read avidly by those who enjoyed his preaching. The MLJ Trust now archives all his audio messages preached over the years, a staggering 1600 sermons.Lloyd-Jones retired from his ministry at Westminster Chapel in 1968, following a major operation. For the rest of his life, he concentrated on editing his sermons to be published, counselling other ministers, answering letters and attending conferences. Perhaps his most famous publication is a 14 volume series of commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans, the first volume of which was published in 1970.
This man of God was born in Wales and at the age of 13 moved to London in 1914. It was here that he as trained for a medical career and was associated with the famous Doctor Thomas Horder. During his medical years he was a much sought after physician and was well respected in his field.
He abandoned his medical career for the Gospel ministry, and served a pastor at the Presbyterian Church at Sandfields from 1927 to 1938. His teachings were respected by many including G. Campbell Morgan. He was offered and accepted the post as associate pastor under Dr. Morgan in 1938.
In 1943 when Dr. Morgan retired he succeeded him as Pastor of Westminster Chapel. His teaching attracted many and his lectures on Friday night where attended by a wide range of the populous. He was loved and admired for his dedication to the scriptures. Her retired in 1968, but was much sought after until his death.