徒十四22　坚固门徒的魂，劝勉他们恒守信仰，又说，我们进入神的国，必须经历许多患难。

　　启一9　我约翰，就是你们的弟兄，和你们在耶稣的患难、国度、忍耐里一同有分的，为神的话和耶稣的见证，曾在那名叫拔摩的海岛上。

　　由基督的繁殖所产生的众召会就是神的国。神的国乃是由基督的繁殖所产生的生命范围。事实上，国度就是这复活、繁殖者的扩大。这位在升天里，凭着那灵，借着门徒，繁殖祂自己的复活基督，乃是神国的实际；神的国就是祂的扩展（使徒行传生命读经，一七页）。

　　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.

　　Rev. 1:9 I John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

　　The churches produced by Christ's propagation are the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a sphere of life produced by the propagation of Christ. Actually the kingdom is the expansion of this resurrected, propagating One. The resurrected Christ, who is propagating Himself in His ascension, by the Spirit, and through the disciples, is the reality of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is His expansion. (Life-study of Acts, p. 14)

　　我们可以用人的国为例，说明神的国是基督的扩展。起初，只有一个人，就是亚当。然后，亚当开始扩展、扩增。人的国先是一对夫妇，然后这对夫妇生了孩子。这样，人的国就从一个人扩展到一个家。如今全人类都是人国的一部分。人的国就是人类，就是亚当这人的扩展。

　　神的国就是神的扩展，而这位神的具体化身就是基督。这基督的扩展就是众召会。众召会就是这位来把自己当作神国种子撒播出去之基督的扩展。……在福音书里，基督乃是国度的种子。在使徒行传里有这种子的繁殖，以产生众召会，就是神的国。

　　也许你说，使徒行传有二十八章。这当然是对的。然而，我们也可以说，使徒行传还在继续写，因为复活基督的繁殖还在进行。……甚至今天，也许就写下了某一章的某一段。这个写就是复活基督的繁殖，这繁殖就是基督的扩展，成为神的国。我们在众召会里乃是基督的繁殖，也是基督的扩展，并且我们正在扩大神的国。

　　使徒行传的主题〔乃是〕复活的基督在升天里，凭着那灵，借着门徒，为着产生众召会—神的国—的繁殖。……国就是众召会，众召会就是基督的繁殖。

　　我们对使徒行传的主题印象越深，就越会说，“主，我们敬拜你这位复活升天者。为着你的繁殖，我们赞美你。主，我们感谢你，我们乃是你今天的繁殖。感谢你，我们与你一同在诸天之上，众召会就是神的国。”让我们向全宇宙宣告：主耶稣现今是在诸天之上，祂这位被高举者，现今正借着我们作祂的见证人，在地上繁殖祂自己（使徒行传生命读经，一七至一九页）。

　　在行传十四章二十二节，保罗和巴拿巴就告诉门徒：“我们进入神的国，必须经历许多患难。”……今天我们在受苦时，就是在国度里，在此我们受到操练、训练、预备，使我们有资格在基督的国里掌权，与祂一同作王。

　　进入神的国，就是进入对基督这国度的完满享受里。……然而，全世界都反对神的子民进入对基督这国度的完满享受里。历世纪以来，宗教尤其被神的仇敌利用，使神的子民不能进入对包罗万有之基督这神的国完满的享受。为这缘故，我们要借着经历许多患难，以进入神的国（新约总论第六册，一八六至一八七页）。

　　参读：使徒行传生命读经，第四十篇。

　　We may use the kingdom of man, the human kingdom, for an illustration of the kingdom of God as the expansion of Christ. In the beginning, there was just one man, Adam. Then Adam began to expand, to increase. The kingdom of man was a couple, and then this couple brought forth children. In this way the kingdom of man expanded from one man to a family. Now the entire human race is part of the kingdom of man. The kingdom of man is simply mankind as the expansion of the man, Adam.

　　The kingdom of God is the expansion of God, whose embodiment is Christ. This expansion of Christ is the churches. The churches are the expansion of Christ as the One who came to sow Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God....In the Gospels Christ was the seed of the kingdom. In the book of Acts we have the propagation of this seed to produce the churches as the kingdom of God.

　　Perhaps you would say that Acts has twenty-eight chapters. This, of course, is correct. However, it is also true to say that the book of Acts is still being written because the propagation of the resurrected Christ is still taking place....Even today a portion of a chapter may have been written. This writing is the propagation of the resurrected Christ, and this propagation is the expansion of Christ to be the kingdom of God. We in the churches are the propagation of Christ and the expansion of Christ, and we are enlarging the kingdom of God.

　　The subject of the book of Acts [is] the propagation of the resurrected Christ in His ascension, by the Spirit, through the disciples, for the producing of the churches—the kingdom of God....The kingdom is the churches, and the churches are the propagation of Christ.

　　The more we are impressed with the subject of Acts, the more we shall say, "Lord, we worship You as the resurrected One and the ascended One. We praise You for Your propagation. We thank You, Lord, that we are Your propagation today. We thank You that we are with You in the heavens and that the churches are the kingdom of God." Let us declare to the whole universe that the Lord Jesus is now in the heavens, and that as the exalted One He is now propagating Himself on earth through us as His witnesses. (Life-study of Acts, pp. 14-15)

　　In Acts 14:22 Paul and Barnabas told the disciples that "through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God."...While we are suffering today, we are in the kingdom where we are being exercised, trained, prepared, and qualified to reign in Christ's kingdom as His co-kings.

　　To enter into the kingdom of God is to enter into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom.

　　However, the whole world opposes the entering of God's people into the full enjoyment of Christ as the kingdom. Throughout the centuries, religion in particular has 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. For this reason, it is through many tribulations that we enter into the kingdom of God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 1731)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Acts, msg. 40