Kingdom Within

There is a popular teaching among various denominations today that says "the Kingdom of God is in your heart," and therefore you should "ask Jesus into your heart where he rules and reigns in the Kingdom within."

All of this is based on a misunderstanding and a misapplication of a passage found in the gospel of Luke. It reads:

Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

That phrase, "the kingdom of God is within you," is where the misunderstanding comes from. But when you think about it, there is no way that the "kingdom" could be "within" these unbelieving Pharasees. The Lord explains what he means that the kingdom "cometh not with observation" in verse 24. The literal coming of the Kingdom will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

The phrase "within you" does not mean "in your heart" as some think. It literally means "in your midst." Notice this passage in Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 4:33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

Deuteronomy 4:34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

So a nation, the nation of Israel, was taken from the midst of another nation. In other words from the midst of Egypt. Just as Moses led the children of Israel out of apostate Egypt, Jesus Christ was forming a NEW nation of Israel, the Israel of God, which at that time was "in the midst" of the existing nation of Israel. You can see that in Matthew 21 where the Lord gives the parable of the vinyard to the elders and chief priests of Israel:

Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

Matthew 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Matthew 21:45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

There is no doubt as to WHO this nation is that the Lord said the Kingdom would be given to:

Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

So, the "little flock" of believers who followed the Lord in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and the 3000 and the 5000 of the early part of the book of Acts that Peter preached to is the "nation" which was taken out of the midst of a "nation." They were looking for the "kingdom to be restored to Israel" as in Acts 1:6. You see that clearly when you compare what Peter wrote:

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

The "kingdom" has not yet been restored, but it will be at the second coming of Christ.