可一15　时期满了，神的国已经临近了。你们要悔改，相信福音。

　　约三3　耶稣回答说，我实实在在地告诉你，人若不重生，就不能见神的国。

　　约翰职事的开头，就传神的国度，说，“要悔改，因为诸天的国已经临近了。”（太三2）他的意思是，诸天的国，神的国，已经……临近了；所有的人都应当预备好。什么叫作“神的国”？我们必须领悟，神的国就是神自己。……神一离开，神的国里就什么都没有了（神的经纶与神圣三一输送的奥秘，三七至三八页）。

　　Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the gospel.

　　John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

　　In the beginning of his ministry John preached the kingdom of God, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 3:2). What he meant was that everyone had to be prepared because the kingdom of the heavens, the kingdom of God, was drawing near. What is the kingdom of God? We must understand that the kingdom of God is God Himself....If God leaves, the kingdom of God will have nothing left in it. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity,” p. 350)

　　我们对神的国必须有一个清楚的认识。神的国就是神自己，以神为其内容；这内容就是耶稣基督，祂是神成为人，也就是神的自己，是神国的实际。……神的国是一个神圣的范围，人必须有神的生命才能进入〔参约三3〕。……生命本身就是一个国，一个界，一个管制。同样的，神的国就是神自己，神自己就是生命，有神圣生命的本质、生命的能力和生命的形状；这就形成神掌权的范围（神的经纶与神圣三一输送的奥秘，四四页）。

　　国度是一个又大又难的题目。我们必须领悟，任何一种生命都是一个国度。……神的生命是神的国度。你若要进入一个国度，你需要那国度的生命。你若要进入植物的国度，你需要植物的生命。你若要进入动物的国度，你需要动物的生命。我们人类都在人的国度里，因为我们生在其中—我们有人的生命。

　　人的生命使我们进入人的国度。同样的原则，约翰三章五节告诉我们，我们必须从那灵而生，意思就是我们必须凭神圣的生命，神的生命，非受造的永远生命而生。这样我们才能进入神的国度。神的生命乃是我们进入神国度的入口。我们必须看见这个基本的原则（长老训练第二册，四四页）。

　　已过，我们〔认为〕……神的国仅仅是神的掌权；这种认识是人的领会多过神的启示。如果神的国仅仅是神的掌权，是神掌权的范围，那么就是神来管理人。你要去偷东西，祂不让你去；你要发脾气，祂不让你发；你动怒要说气话，祂阻止你；你要作不对的事，说不好听的话，祂就先警告你，否则就管教你。这种对神的国的认识和领会，太狭窄了。

　　实际上，神的掌权不是外在的，乃是生命的。比方一只猴子如果能重生，再生成为一个人，得着人的生命，这生命在它里面自然会约束它，使它能照人的方式生活；这样，它自然就进入人的国了。那时再叫它像猴子般生活、行走，它反而会觉得遭罪。所以这完全是生命本能的事，而不是外面教导、管理的事（神的经纶与神圣三一输送的奥秘，四二至四三页）。

　　参读：神的经纶与神圣三一输送的奥秘，第三篇；长老训练第二册，第四章。

　　We must have a clear understanding of the kingdom of God. God's kingdom is God Himself, and God's kingdom has God as its content. Moreover, this content is Jesus Christ, who is God incarnated to be a man and who is God Himself as the reality of the kingdom of God....God's kingdom is a divine realm, and man must have the life of God to enter into it [cf. John 3:3]....Life itself is a kingdom, a world, and a regulating element. Similarly, God's kingdom is God Himself, and God Himself is life, having the nature, ability, and shape of the divine life, which forms the realm of God's reigning. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity,” p. 355)

　　The kingdom is a great and difficult subject. We must realize that any kind of life is a kingdom....The life of God is the kingdom of God. If you want to enter into a kingdom, you need that kingdom's particular life. If you want to enter into the botanic kingdom, you need the botanic life. If you want to enter into the animal kingdom, you need the animal life. We human beings are all in the human kingdom because we were born into it—we have the human life. The human life is our entrance into the human kingdom. In the same principle, John 3:5 tells us that we must be born of the Spirit, which means that we are born with the divine life, God's life, the uncreated eternal life. Then we can enter into the kingdom of God. The life of God is our entrance into the kingdom of God. We must see this basic principle. (CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders' Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord's Recovery,” p. 121)

　　In the past...our understanding [was that] God's kingdom was merely God's reigning. This kind of understanding was based upon human realization more than upon God's revelation. If the kingdom of God is merely God's reigning and the realm of God's reigning, then this means that it is God controlling man. For example, when you are going to steal, He would not let you; when you are going to lose your temper, He would not allow you; when you are furious and are going to speak some angry words, He would stop you; when you are going to do a bad thing or say a bad word, He would warn you first, and if you refuse to listen, then He would chastise you. This kind of understanding and realization about the kingdom of God is too narrow.

　　In actuality, God's reigning is not an outward matter but a matter of life. If a monkey could be regenerated, born again, to become a man and have the human life, this life would automatically regulate the monkey from within to live like a man. In this way the monkey would automatically and naturally enter into the human kingdom. If this happened, then to try to make the monkey to live and walk like a monkey again would be a suffering to the monkey. Therefore, it is altogether a matter of the innate ability of life, not a matter of outward teaching and regulation. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity,” pp. 354-355)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1986, vol. 2, “The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders' Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord's Recovery,” ch. 4