Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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The last question the disciples asked Jesus before he returned to the father in heaven was this: "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" This question from Jesus' disciples shows clearly that even after Jesus was resurrected, his disciples did not understand what he was doing. They were still expecting him to set up an earthly kingdom, to drive the Romans out of the land of the Jews, and to rule the whole earth (with them as his chief administrators, of course). This wrong idea concerning the kingdom of God sparked bitter debate among the disciples on several occasions before Jesus was crucified, and with their question in Acts 1, we see that even after he rose from the dead, they still did not understand. In a very real way, they were still dead to many of the things of the kingdom of God.
Jesus could not preach the kingdom to men because it was not yet available; he had to die first. Neither Jesus nor John the Baptist preached the kingdom of God to men who could receive it. They both merely said to people that "it is near." The first real kingdom of God message was preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost, when the holy Ghost came to deliver him and all men from wrong ideas about God. Peter's message on the day of Pentecost opened the doors of the kingdom of God for the Jews. Peter did not tell the Jews that day, as Jesus and John the Baptist had always done, that "the kingdom of God is near". The kingdom of God (righteousness peace and joy in the holy Ghost) was no longer "near"; it was there, and Peter declared it!
The disciples "tarried" for the kingdom of God in an upper room in Jerusalem because it was not yet available. On Pentecost morning, it came, and since that day, no one has needed to "tarry" for the Spirit. People need only to believe in Jesus and repent to receive it. It is here, not near.
The door is still open. The kingdom can still be preached. Be wise and come in the open door while you can.
The kingdom of God is an inward experience with God. Jesus said, "the kingdom of God is within you" (Lk. 17:21). This is what Paul was saying when he wrote that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). Jesus tried to guide men toward this understanding (Lk. 17:20-21), but they could not fathom it. It was too majestic an idea, too holy, too far beyond the realm of man's experience, imagination, and understanding. When the holy Ghost was at last poured out from heaven, it enabled those who loved Jesus to comprehend what God was doing. It brought to men's hearts the very thoughts of God. Before he died, Jesus told his disciples that he had things to tell them that they could not yet bear to hear (Jn. 16:12), but after they were filled with God's Spirit, they could bear to hear them. From that time, Jesus began to reveal mighty things to them that heretofore they had not been able to bear.
The kingdom of God is that "kingdom which cannot be moved", a kingdom into which those who believe are translated by the holy Ghost baptism. In this heavenly kingdom, there are thoughts beyond those that mortal man can think; there are feelings man cannot feel; there is wisdom that man cannot know; there is power that man does not have, and there is life so rich and full that men without it can only be called dead in comparison, though they be walking around on earth. "It has never entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit." So said, Paul, and so say all those who love the Lord with all their hearts and have experienced the new life that belongs to the bright kingdom of God.