with the prayer which He taught us "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth." Luke 11:2.10 Earthly kingdoms are corrupted by the deception of Satan. But in the Millennial Kingdom he will not deceive them, for he shall be bound.11 There is nothing essentially sinful in matter. Adam was sinless before his fall and he had a material body. Christ has a material body and is without sin. The earth was cursed because of sin and the spirit of the world clings to sin.1 12 But when the curse is removed,13 and all things that offend are gathered out of the kingdom,14 then shall things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Gal. 4:26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (10) Dan. 2:44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Dan. 7:18. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Jer. 23:5. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwel safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (11) Rev. 20:1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled : and after that he must be loosed a little season. (12) Rom. 1:32. Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (13) Rev. 22:3. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him. (14) Mat. 13:41. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. all creation have that for which it groans,1 No. V. The Kingdom Within You. It is objected, that the kingdom of God is not material and visible, but that it is spiritual and invisible. In support of this the following words of Jesus in Luke 17:20-21 are cited: "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; neither shall they say, lo, here! or lo, there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Observation should be translated "careful watching," see Dr. Adam Clarke, or "narrow watching," see Rotherham. The marginal, and better reading for "within you" is "among you," see Rotherham, Wilson, Prof. Whitting, and others. He did not say that the kingdom of God was within, or in the hearts of those wicked Pharisees, but that it was among them, viz.: within the Jewish nation. Bengel states it, "within is here used, not in any respect of the heart of individual Pharisees, but in respect to the whole Jewish people. The King, Messiah, and therefore the kingdom is here: ye see and ye hear." As The sense, then, is as follows: The kingdom of God cometh not with "careful watching." That is, not in such a way as to be discerned only by sagacious critics, nor is it (15) Rom. 8:19. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. was 20. For the creature made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; 21. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until 23. And not only they, but (16) Mat. 13:42. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. to be seen only by those who are scrupulously watching for it. They shall not say, Behold here or there, for the kingdom of God is among you, to-wit: it was then visibly present among them, in the person of Jesus the King. And so it will be visibly present when He comes again.17 It did not, and will not, need scrupulous watching to discern it, Had they received Him with faith,-instead of (narrowly) watching Him with deceitful spies,18 they might have realized that their King was then visibly present, and ready to usher in the universal manifestation of the kingdom, which had been seen by the favored disciples of the Mount.19 How gladly He would have then fully manifested Himself as King, and established His Kingdom among them, is shown by His words of tender yearning in Mat. 23:37-39: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord." He came in His Father's name; but the Israelites to whom He spoke would not receive Him.20 (17) Rev. 6:16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb; 17. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (18) Luke 20:20. And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the gov ernor. (19) Mat. 17:9. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. 2 Pet. 1:16. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. (20) John 5:43. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall "He came unto His own and His own received Him not." John 1:11. Preferring a robber, they rejected and crucified their King and so the kingdom waits until they shall accept Him, 21 when the kingdom of the world shall become the kingdom of our Lord's and of His Christ's and He shall reign for the AGES OF AGES. See Greek.25 22 Oh! Blessed "KING OF KINGS!" COME, and may "THY KINGDOM COME." The King there in His beauty, It were a well-spent journey, Though sev'n deaths lay between, The Lamb, with His fair army, Doth on Mount Zion stand, And glory, glory dwelleth In Immanuel's land. No. VI. The Kingdom Is Not Meat and Drink. It is objected that Paul said, "The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14:17. come in his own name, him ye will receive. (21) Zech. 12:10. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Zech. 13:6. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Mat. 23:39. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Rom. 11:25. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. (22) Rev. 11:15. And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world Indeed it is not "meat and drink," or eating and drinking, or simply outward observances. Neither was the Kingdom of Israel meat and drink, nor the Roman Empire. But the subjects of each did eat and drink, and Paul simply taught that they should do so circumspectly and with charity. So will the subjects of the kingdom of God eat and drink. "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." Luke 14:15. "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." Rev. 19:9, See the Feast of Isa. 25:6-8.23 Jesus himself said, "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Mat. 26:29. And again: "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom." Luke 22:29-30. This is the strongest proof that the kingdom will be literal and material, though it shall be freed from the curse of sin.24 It is objected that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.25 Certainly we do not INHERIT it through the flesh-the unregenerate man. But through the Spirit we are born is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign* for ever and ever. *Gr. unto the ages of the ages. (23) Isa. 25:6. And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 7. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. 8. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth for the Lord hath spoken it. (24) Mat. 13:41. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (25) 1 Cor. 15:50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. |