4. The Coming of the Kingdom

When did the Kingdom of Heaven begin? "With the ministry of John," says one; "With the ministry of Jesus," says another; "With the first sending out of the Twelve Apostles," says a third; "At the resurrection of Jesus," says a fourth; "At none of these; but gradually from John's baptism until the fall of Jerusalem," says a fifth.

The reader should remember that there are at least five elements essential to a perfectly organized kingdom, and that it may be considered in relation to one or more of these components. Hence the numerous and varied parables of the Savior. Sometimes he speaks of the administration of its affairs—of its principles in the heart—of its subjects—of its King—of its territory—of its progress—of various incidents in its history. Hence the parable of the sower—of wheat and weeds—of the leaven—of the merchant seeking fine pearls—of the mustard seed—of the dragnet—of the marriage of a king's son—of a nobleman going into a distant country—of the ten virgins—of the talents—of the sheep and goats, all presenting the Kingdom of Heaven in different aspects, either in its elements or in its history—its beginning or its end.

The approaching or coming of the Reign of Heaven can properly refer only to one or two of the elements of a kingdom; or to the formal presentation of that whole organization of society which we call a kingdom. It cannot properly refer to its territory; for that was created and located before man was created. It cannot refer to the persons who were made subjects, for they too existed before the kingdom began. It cannot refer to the birth or baptism of the King, for it was not until after these that Jesus began to proclaim its coming or approach. It cannot refer to the ministry of John or Jesus any more than to the patriarchal or Jewish dispensations; because Jesus did not begin to proclaim the coming of this reign until after John was imprisoned. This is a fact of such importance that Matthew, Mark, and Luke distinctly and substantially declare that, in accordance with ancient predictions, Jesus was to begin proclaiming in Galilee, and that he did not begin to proclaim the doctrine or gospel of the coming of the Reign until after John's ministry ended and he was imprisoned. The Evangelists agree on this: "Now when Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, he went to live in Capernaum. For this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet," etc. From that time Jesus began to proclaim, saying, "Repent, for the Reign of Heaven is near," or, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," as the common version says.

Some Baptists, for the sake of immersion, and some of our brethren in the Reformation, for the sake of immersion for the remission of sins, seem eager to include John in the Kingdom of Heaven, and to date the beginning of the Christian dispensation with the first appearance of John the Baptist. They argue in support of this view that Jesus said, "The Law and the Prophets continued until John," (the only instructors of men;) "since that time the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is pressing into it." "Tax collectors and prostitutes show you the way into the Kingdom of Heaven," Jesus said to the Pharisees. Again, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! For you shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men, and neither enter yourselves nor allow those who want to enter." "The Kingdom of God is within you." "The Kingdom of Heaven has overtaken you." From these premises they conclude that the Kingdom of Heaven was actually established by John the Baptist: "For," they say, "how could men and women enter a kingdom that was not established? And did John not immerse for the remission of sins, and call on people to repent and reform in order to be baptized?"

The Paedobaptists, too, include Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, David, and all the circumcised Jews in the Kingdom of Heaven, because Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am;" "Abraham saw my day and was glad;" and Paul says Moses considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt, and left Egypt in faith of the Christian reward. Yes, and Paul affirms that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their families, who lived in tents in the promised land, looked not only to rest in Canaan, but sought a heavenly country, and expected the city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Thus the Jews had Christ in the manna and in the rock, and baptism in the cloud and in the sea.

The mistake is essentially the same. Christ was promised and foreshadowed before he came, and the Kingdom of Heaven was promised and preached by John, by Jesus, the Twelve, and the Seventy (who went about proclaiming the good news of the Reign), before the Reign of Christ, or Kingdom of Heaven, began. Because Christ was promised and foreshadowed in the patriarchal and Jewish ages, the Paedobaptists claim the Kingdom of Heaven has been on earth since the days of Abel; and because the good news of the Reign and Kingdom of Heaven and the principles of the new and heavenly order of society were proclaimed by John, the Baptists include John the Baptist in the Kingdom of Heaven, and even the very person who established it.

Let us, then, examine this matter with all honesty: first, we will place the passages quoted above from the Evangelists on one side, and the following passages on the other; then see if we can reconcile them. John says, "Repent, for the Reign of God is near." Jesus began to proclaim, saying, "Repent, for the Reign or Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." He also commanded the Twelve and the Seventy to travel all over Judea, making the same proclamation. Of John the Baptist he said, though greater than all the Prophets, "The least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he."

Thus, after John was beheaded, we have some eighty-four preachers daily proclaiming the near approach of the Reign of God; and Jesus often assuring his disciples that the Kingdom of God was soon to appear, and that some of his companions would see him begin his Reign before they died—and yet the Kingdom was set up by John! Scribes and Pharisees were shutting the kingdom against men, when Jesus had only given the keys to Peter! John the Baptist was in the kingdom, and the least in the kingdom is greater than he! More than eighty preachers say, "Repent, for the Reign of Heaven is at hand;" and John the Baptist, before he died, introduced all Judea and Jerusalem into it! How, then, shall we reconcile these apparent contradictions? Make both sides figurative, and it may be done. Regard both sides literally, and it cannot be done! To say that the kingdom came in one sense at one time, and in another sense at another time, is only to say that it came in different ways—literally and figuratively. For our part, we must believe that the Kingdom of Heaven began, or the Reign of Heaven literally and truly started on one day.

Many of its principles were developed by the ancient Prophets; David, Isaiah, and others wrote much about it; John the Baptist proclaimed its immediate and near approach, and more fully developed its spiritual design; therefore he was superior to them. Jesus often explained its character and design in various parables; and everyone who understood and accepted these principles was said to "press into the kingdom," or to have "the kingdom within them;" and wherever these principles were proclaimed, "the Kingdom of Heaven" was said to "come near" to the people, or to have "overtaken them;" and those who opposed these principles and used their authority to prevent others from receiving them were said to "shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men;" and thus all these scriptures must necessarily be understood from the contexts in which they appear: for it is impossible that the Reign of Heaven could literally begin "until Jesus was glorified," "received the promise of the Holy Spirit," was "made Lord and Christ," and "sat down with his Father on the throne"—for he left the earth to receive a kingdom.

To make this, if possible, even clearer, we ask When did the Kingdom of God, established by Moses among the descendants of Abraham, end? This question goes to the heart of the matter: for will anyone suppose that there were two Kingdoms of God on earth at the same time? Certainly one ended before the other began.

Now, that the kingdom of God, administered by Moses, had not ended during the personal ministry of the Messiah on earth, is, we think, abundantly clear from the following facts and documents:

First. Jesus was to appear, and did appear, "at the end of the age," or last days of the first Kingdom of God. "At the end of the age he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." The "world to come" was one of the names of the gospel age. He has not subjected "the world to come" to angels, as he did the world past, says Paul to the Hebrews. He appeared, then, not at the beginning of the gospel age, but at the end of the Jewish age.

Second. The Temple was the house of God until very close to the life of Jesus. For it was not until the Jewish leaders conspired to kill him that he abandoned it. At the last festival of his life, and immediately before he was arrested, as he was leaving the Temple, he said, "Behold, your house is left to you desolate, for you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'" It was his Father's house, the house of God, until that moment. Then, indeed, the glory departed.

Third. The Jewish offerings and services, as a divine institution, continued until the condemnation of Jesus. He sent the cleansed leper to the priest to make the offering commanded by the law. He commanded the people to listen to the teachers of the law who sat in Moses' seat. He paid the temple tax. He was a minister of the circumcision. He lived under, not after the law. He kept all its ordinances, and caused all his disciples to regard it in its original meaning and authority up to the last Passover. Indeed, it could not be annulled, for it was not completed until on the cross he said, "It is finished." Fourth. When he visited Jerusalem the last time, and in the last parable spoken to them, he told them plainly that "the Kingdom of God should be taken from them" and given to a nation that would make better use of the honors of the kingdom; therefore, at that time the Jews had the Kingdom of God.

Fifth. It was not until his death that the veil of the Temple was torn; that the things "which could be shaken were shaken." It was then, and not before, that he nailed the legal institution to the cross. Then, and not before, was the middle wall of partition broken down. The last Sabbath he lay in the grave. From the moment of his death there was no life in the old Kingdom of God. The Temple was deserted, its veil torn, its foundation shaken, the city devoted, the ritual abolished, and as after death comes judgment — the Temple, city, and nation waited for the day of his vengeance.

The Kingdom of God was clearly in the Jewish institution until Jesus died. Hence the Kingdom of Heaven did not come while Jesus lived. In anticipation, those who believed the gospel of the kingdom received the Kingdom of God, just as in anticipation he said, "I have finished the work which you gave me to do" before he began to suffer; and as he said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for the forgiveness of many," before it was shed. So while the doctrines of this reign — faith, repentance, baptism, and a new principle of sonship to Abraham — were being proclaimed by John, the Twelve, the Seventy, and by Himself, the Kingdom of Heaven was approaching; and those who received these principles in anticipation were said to enter into the kingdom, or to have the kingdom within them.

The principles of any reign or revolution are always proclaimed, debated, and discussed before a new order of things is established. A party is formed around these principles before strength is gained, or a leader is found competent to begin a new order of things. In society, as in nature, we first have the blade, then the stem, and then the ripe grain in the ear. We call it wheat, or we call it grain, when we only have the promise in the blade. By such a figure of speech, the Kingdom of God was spoken of, while only its principles were being proclaimed.

When these American states were colonial subjects of the king of England, and long before the establishment of a republic, republican doctrines were proclaimed and debated. The believers and advocates of these doctrines were called republicans, while there was not yet a republic on this continent. He who dates the beginning of the Kingdom of Heaven from the ministry of John the Baptist aligns with him who dates the American republics from the first proclamation of republican principles, or from the formation of a republican party in the British colonies. But as a faithful and intelligent historian, in writing the history of the American republics, begins with the history of the first proclamation of these principles, and records the sayings and deeds of the first proclaimers of the new doctrines; so the sacred historians began their history of the Kingdom of Heaven with the appearance of John in the wilderness of Judea, preaching the Messiah, faith, repentance, a holy life, and raising up a new race of Israelites on the principle of faith rather than of flesh; for this in truth was the "blade" of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Having from all these considerations seen that until the death of the Messiah his kingdom could not begin; and having seen from the record itself that it did not begin before his resurrection, we proceed to the development of things after his resurrection, to determine the day on which this kingdom was established, or the Reign of Heaven began.

The writer to whom we are most indebted for an orderly and continuous narrative of the affairs of the Kingdom of Heaven is the Evangelist Luke. His history begins with the angelic announcements of the births of John and Jesus, and ends with the appearance of the great standard-bearer of the Cross in Imperial Rome, A.D. 64. That part of the history to which we now look as a guide, to the affairs of the beginning of the Reign, is the account he gives of the forty days which the Lord spent in his crucified body, prior to his ascension. The reader should not need to be told (for he should know) that Jesus rose in the same body in which he was crucified, and in the reanimated fleshly body did eat, drink, and converse with his Apostles and friends for forty days. That body was not changed until, like the living saints who will be on the earth at his second personal coming, it was made spiritual, incorruptible, and glorious at the moment of his ascension. So the man Christ Jesus was made like all his brothers in his death, burial, resurrection, transfiguration, ascension, and glorification; or, rather, they will be made to resemble him in all these respects.

The Apostles testify that they saw him ascend — that a cloud received him out of their sight — that angels descended to inform them that he was taken up into heaven, not to return for a long time — that he ascended far above the visible heavens, and now fills all things. Stephen, when dying, saw him standing at the right hand of God.

Much attention is due to all the events of these forty days — at least as much as to the forty days Moses spent on the Mount with God in the affairs of the previous Kingdom of God. For the risen Messiah makes the affairs of his coming kingdom the main topic of these forty days. Toward the end of these days, and immediately before his ascension, he gave the commission to his Apostles concerning the establishment of this kingdom. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me: go, therefore," he said, "make disciples of the nations," "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things which I have commanded you; and, behold! I am with you always, even to the end of this age." "But stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are empowered from on high." Thus, according to his promise and the ancient prophecy, it was to "begin at Jerusalem."

The risen Savior thus directs our attention to Jerusalem as the place, and to a time "not many days" away as the time, of the beginning of his reign. The great facts of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, not yet fully understood by his Apostles, left them unqualified to take any steps toward establishing a kingdom that was to be founded upon Christ crucified. They needed an interpreter of these facts, and a supernatural advocate of the King's claims, before they could lay the foundation of his kingdom.

Again, the King himself had to be glorified before his authority could be established on earth; for until he received the promise of the Spirit from his Father, and was placed on his throne, the Apostles could not receive it; so Christ's ascension to heaven and coronation were essential to the beginning of this Reign of Heaven.

Here let us pause for a moment — leave the earth, and on the wings of faith in the testimony of Prophets and Apostles, the two witnesses for Jesus, let us follow him to heaven and examine his reception into the heaven of heavens, and exaltation to the right hand of God.

The Ascension of the Messiah

Prophets and Apostles must now be heard. David, by the Spirit, says, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them as in Sinai in the holy place. You have ascended on high; you have led captivity captive; you have received gifts for men; yes, for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them." The same Prophet, speaking of the solemn and joyful procession at the carrying up of the ark of the ancient covenant to Mount Zion, turns his eye from the type to the antitype, and thus describes the entrance of the Messiah into Heaven: — "Who shall ascend into the hill of God?" The attendant angels in the train of the Messiah, approaching the heaven of heavens, shout, "Lift up your heads, O you gates! be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." Those inside, filled with astonishment that anyone should so confidently demand admission into those gates so long barred against the sons of men, respond, "Who is the King of glory?" The angels attending the Messiah reply in triumphant strains, "The Lord, strong and mighty! the Lord, mighty in battle!" and still more exultantly triumphant, shout, "Lift up your heads, O you gates! even lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? He is the Lord of hosts! he is the King of glory!"

Coronation of the Messiah

Everything in its proper place. He who ascended first descended. Jesus died, was buried, rose from the dead, ascended, and was crowned Lord of all. In the presence of all the heavenly hierarchies, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, and ten thousand times ten thousand angels, he presents himself before the throne. As soon as the Firstborn from the dead appears in the royal palace of the universe, his Father and his God, in his inaugural address, when anointing him Lord of all, says, "Let all the angels of God worship him" — "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." "The Lord will send from Zion the rod of your strength: rule in the midst of your enemies, "Your people, willing in the day of your power, will come to you. In the beauty of holiness, more than the dawn, you will have the dew of your youth. The Lord has sworn, and will not change his mind. You are a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at your right hand will strike down kings on the day of his wrath." "Your throne, O God, endures forever: the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of righteousness. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your companions. You, Lord, laid the foundations of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands: they will perish, but you remain; and they will all grow old like a garment, and like a robe you will fold them up, and they will be changed: but you are the same, and your years will never end." Thus God highly exalted him and set him over all the works of his hands, and gave him a name and honor above every name in heaven and on earth, so that at the name of Jesus every knee in heaven and on earth will bow, and every tongue will confess, to the glory of God.

"Now we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, that he might taste death for everyone, because of the sufferings of death, crowned with glory and honor" — Now "angels, authorities, principalities, and powers are subjected to him." "His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on himself his crown will flourish."

The Holy Spirit, sent down by Jesus from heaven on Pentecost after his resurrection to the disciples gathered in Jerusalem, informs the Apostles of all that had taken place in heaven during the week after his ascension and up to that day. Peter, now filled with that promised Spirit, tells the large crowd assembled on the great day of Pentecost that God had made that Jesus whom they had crucified both Lord and Christ — exalted him as a Prince and Savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

The first act of his reign was the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, according to the prophecy of Joel and his own promise. As soon as he received the kingdom from God his Father, he poured out the blessings of his favor on his friends; he fulfilled all his promises to the Apostles and forgave three thousand of his fiercest enemies. He received pardons and gifts for those who rebelled and abundantly poured out all spiritual gifts on the small flock to whom it pleased the Father to give the kingdom. Thus began the Reign of Heaven on the day of Pentecost, in the person of the Messiah, the Son of God, and the anointed Monarch of the universe. Under him, his people, saved from their sins, have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken or removed.

But just as the construction of the Jewish tabernacle, after the beginning of the first Kingdom of God, took some time and required united and combined effort from those raised up and qualified for the work, so was the complete establishment of the new temple of God. The Apostles, as wise master builders, laid the foundation — proclaimed the constitution, laws, and institutions of the King, and raised the standard of the kingdom in many towns, cities, and countries over the course of forty years. Some of them not only saw "the Son of Man begin his reign," and the Kingdom of God start on Pentecost and extend his conquests over Judea, Samaria, and the farthest parts of the earth; but they also saw the Lord "come with power" and awesome glory and fulfill all his predictions concerning the deserted and devoted temple, city, and people. Thus they witnessed a bright display of the golden scepter of his grace in forgiving those who submitted to his authority, and a terrifying demonstration of the iron rod of his wrath in taking vengeance on his enemies who refused to have him reign over them.

Present Administration of the Kingdom of Heaven

During the personal absence of the King, he has entrusted the management of this kingdom to stewards. These were first Apostles; next Prophets; then teachers; then assistants or helpers; then directors or presidents, all equipped with gifts, knowledge, and character suited to their respective roles. Besides these, many people with miraculous powers — gifts of healing and speaking foreign languages — were employed in establishing and organizing the communities that make up the Kingdom of Heaven. Angels also were employed, and still are, under the great King in ministering to those who are heirs of salvation. For Jesus now, as Lord of all, has the Holy Spirit at his disposal, along with all the angels of God; and these are employed by him in the affairs of the kingdom.

The Apostles were plenipotentiaries and ambassadors for Jesus and had all authority delegated to them from the King. Therefore, everything was first taught and commanded by them. They were the first preachers, teachers, pastors, overseers, and ministers in the kingdom and had the direction and management of all its affairs.

The communities gathered and organized by the Apostles were called the congregation of Christ, and all these together are sometimes called the Kingdom of God. But the phrases "church of God," or "congregation of Christ," and the phrases "Kingdom of Heaven" or "Kingdom of God," do not always or exactly represent the same thing. The elements of the Kingdom of Heaven, it will be remembered, are not simply its subjects, and therefore not simply the congregations of disciples of Christ. But since these communities possess the oracles of God, are under the laws and institutions of the King, and therefore enjoy the blessings of present salvation, they are in the records of the Kingdom regarded as the only constitutional citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven; and to them exclusively belongs all the present salvation. Their King is now in heaven but present with them by his Spirit in their hearts and in all the institutions of his kingdom.

Every baptized believer, of good conduct, is, by the constitution, a free and full citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and entitled to all the social privileges and honors of that kingdom. Those who regularly meet together in one place in obedience to the King, or his ambassadors the Apostles, for the observance of all the King's institutions, form a family, or house, or congregation of Christ; and all these families or congregations, thus organized, constitute the present Kingdom of God in this world. So far, the phrases Kingdom of Heaven and the congregation or body of Christ are equivalent in meaning.

Now, in gathering these communities and organizing them, the Apostles had, while alive, and when dead, through their writings, the sole right of legislating, ordering, and managing all things. But it is not the will of Jesus Christ, because it is not suited to human nature nor to the present state of his kingdom as administered in his absence, that the church should be governed by a written document alone. Therefore, in every city, town, and country where the Apostles gathered a community by their own personal efforts or by their assistants, in organizing them for their edification and usefulness and influence in this world, they consistently appointed elders or overseers to labor in the word and teaching and to preside over all the community's affairs. To these were also added deacons, or public ministers of the congregation, who, under the direction of the overseers, were to manage all the affairs of these individual families of God. The very names Bishop and Deacon, and all the qualifications they held, fully and fairly imply this.

But since all the citizens of the kingdom are free men under Christ, they all have a voice in selecting the persons whom the Apostles appoint to office. The Apostles still appoint all persons so elected who possess the qualifications which they by the Holy Spirit prescribed. *And if a congregation refuses to elect to these offices the persons possessing these qualifications; or if, through their own stubbornness and selfishness, they elect those unqualified and thus reject those marked out by the possession of those gifts; in either case, they despise the authority of the Ambassadors of Christ and must suffer for it. It is, indeed, the Holy Spirit, not the congregations, who creates Bishops and Deacons. The Spirit gives the qualifications, both natural and acquired; and, speaking to the congregations through the written oracles, commands their ordination or appointment to the work.

In the present administration of the Kingdom of God, faith is the principle, and ordinances the means of all spiritual enjoyment. Without faith in God's testimony, a person is without God, without Christ, and without hope in the world. A Christless universe, as far as spiritual life and joy are concerned, is the most complete void that imagination can create. Without faith, nothing in the Bible can be enjoyed; and without it, there is no Kingdom of Heaven for man anywhere in God's dominions.

In the kingdom of nature, sense is the principle, and ordinances the means of enjoyment. Without sense, or sensation, nothing in nature can be known or enjoyed. All the creative, restorative, and renewing power, wisdom, and goodness of God, displayed in nature, are contained in ordinances. The sun, moon, and stars — the clouds, the air, the water, the seasons, day and night — are therefore called the ordinances of heaven because God's power, wisdom, and goodness are in them and felt by us only through them. Now sense, without the ordinances of nature, like faith without the ordinances of religion, would be no principle of enjoyment; and the ordinances of nature, without sense, would be no means of enjoyment. These are God's unchangeable decrees. There is no exception to them; and there is no reversal of them. To illustrate and enforce the doctrine of this single paragraph would be worthy of a whole volume. The essence, the whole essence of the reformation for which we argue, is wrapped up in this decree as expressed above. If it is true, the ground on which we stand is as firm and unchangeable as the Rock of Ages; if it is false, we build on sand. Reader, examine it carefully!

In the Kingdom of Heaven, faith is, then, the principle, and ordinances the means of enjoyment; because all the wisdom, power, love, mercy, compassion, or grace of God is in the ordinances of the Kingdom of Heaven; and if all grace is in them, it can only be conveyed through them. What, then, under the present administration of the Kingdom of Heaven, are the ordinances that contain the grace of God? They are preaching the gospel — immersion in the name of Jesus, into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit — the reading and teaching of the Living Oracles — the Lord's Day — the Lord's Supper — fasting — prayer — confession of sins — and praise. To these may be added other appointments of God, such as exhortation, admonition, discipline, etc.: for these also are ordinances of God; and indeed all statutes and commandments are ordinances. But we are not now speaking of those ordinances that concern the good order of the Kingdom, but of those that are the primary means of enjoyment. These primary and sacred ordinances of the Kingdom of Heaven are the means of our individual enjoyment of the present salvation of God. Without the sun, there is no solar influence; without the moon, there is no lunar influence; without the stars, there is no sidereal influence; without the clouds, there can be no rain; and without the ordinances of the Kingdom of Heaven, there can be no heavenly influence exhibited or felt. There is a unique and distinctive influence exerted by the sun, moon, and stars; yet they all give light. So in the ordinances of the Kingdom of Heaven—although they all agree in producing certain similar effects on the subjects of the kingdom, there is something distinctive and peculiar in each of them, so that no one of them can be substituted for another. Not one of them can be dispensed with; they are all necessary to the full enjoyment of the Reign of Heaven.

In nature and in religion, all the blessings of God bestowed on man are properly classified under two heads. These may be called, for illustration, antecedent and consequent. The antecedent include all those blessings bestowed on man to prepare him for action and to induce him to action. The consequent are those which God bestows on man through a course of action corresponding to these antecedent blessings. For example, all that God did for Adam in creating for him the earth and all that it contains—animal, vegetable, mineral; in forming him in his own image; giving him all his physical, intellectual, and moral powers, and investing him with all the personal and real estate which elevated him above all sublunary beings—were antecedent to any act of Adam; and these furnished him with inducements to love, honor, and obey his Creator and benefactor. All that God did for Abraham in promises and precepts before his obedience—all that he did for the Israelites in bringing them up out of Egypt and redeeming them from the tyranny of Pharaoh—was antecedent to the duties and observances which he enjoined upon them. And all the blessings which Adam, Abraham, and the Israelites enjoyed through conformity to the institutions under which they were placed were consequent upon that state of mind and course of action which the antecedent favors demanded and occasioned. God never commanded any being to do anything, but the power and motives were derived from something God had done for him.

In the Kingdom of Heaven the antecedent blessings are the constitution of grace, the King, and all that he did, suffered, and sustained for our redemption. These were finished before we came upon the stage of action. This is all favor, pure favor, sovereign favor: for there can be no favor that is not free and sovereign. But the remission of our sins, our adoption into the family of God, our being made heirs and inheritors of the kingdom of glory, are consequent upon faith and the obedience of faith.

Organization and life of any sort are necessarily the gifts of God; but health and continued enjoyment of life, and all its various and numerous blessings, are consequent upon the proper exercise of these. He who will not breathe, eat, drink, sleep, or exercise cannot enjoy animal life. God has bestowed animal organization and life antecedent to any action of the living creature; but the creature may throw away his life by refusing to sustain it by the means essential to its preservation and comfort.

God made only one man out of the earth, and one earthly nature of every sort, by a positive, direct, and immediate agency of wisdom, power, and goodness. He gave these the power, according to his own constitution or system of nature, of reproducing and multiplying to an indefinite extent. But still this life is transmitted, diffused, and sustained by God operating through the system of nature. So Jesus, in the new creation, by his Spirit sent down from heaven after his glorification, did by a positive, direct, and immediate agency create one congregation, one mystical or spiritual body; and, according to the constitution or system of the Kingdom of Heaven, gave that mystical body, created in Jerusalem out of the more ancient earthly Kingdom of God, the power of reproducing and multiplying to an indefinite extent. But still this new and spiritual life is transmitted, diffused, and sustained by the Spirit of God, operating through the constitution or system of grace ordained in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Hence, in setting up the Kingdom of Heaven, as in setting up the kingdom of nature, there was a display of divinity, compared with everything subsequent, properly supernatural. Hence the array of Apostles, prophets, extraordinary teachers, gifts, powers, miracles, etc., etc. But after this new mystical body of Christ was created and made, it had, and still has, according to the system of grace under the present administration of the Kingdom of Heaven, the power of multiplying and replenishing the whole earth, and will do it; for as God breathed into the nostrils of Adam the spirit of life after he had raised him out of the dust; and as he bestowed on his beloved Son Jesus, after he rose out of the water, the Holy Spirit without measure; so on the formation of the first congregation, figuratively called the body of Christ, Jesus did breathe into it the Holy Spirit to animate and inhabit it until he comes again. The only temple and habitation on earth, since Jesus pronounced desolation on that in Jerusalem, is the body of Christ.

Now, the first congregation of Christ, thus filled with the Spirit of God, had the power of raising other congregations of Christ; or, what is the same thing, of causing the body of Christ to grow and increase. Thus we see that other congregations were soon raised up in Judea and Samaria by the members of the Jerusalem body. Many were born again to God by the Spirit of God through the members of the first congregation. And since the Spirit himself ceased to operate in all those splendid displays of supernatural grandeur, by still keeping the disciples of Christ always in remembrance of the things spoken by the holy Apostles, and by all the arguments derived from the antecedent blessings bestowed, working in them both to will and to act according to the benevolence of God, he is still causing the body of Christ to grow and increase in stature, as well as in knowledge and favor with God. Thus the church of Christ, inspired with his Spirit and having the oracles and ordinances of the Reign of Heaven, is fully adequate to the conversion of the whole world, if she does not prove unfaithful to her Lord.

In the work of conversion, her evangelists, or those whom she sends beyond the precincts of her weekly meetings, have, under the influence of the Spirit of God, simply to propose the constitution, or the good news of the Reign, to those outside; and by all the arguments which the oracles of God and the times and occasions suggest, to beseech and persuade people to be reconciled to God, to honor the Son, to accept the constitution, to bow to him who is ordained a Prince and a Savior to grant repentance and remission of sins to all who submit to his government. Thus they, and the congregation who sends them forth and supports them in the work, beget children to God by the gospel and enlarge the body of Christ.

With all these documents before us, may we not say that, as Eve was the mother of all living, so "Jerusalem is the mother of us all?" And thus, to use the language of Paul, "Men are born again to God by the gospel" through the instrumentality of the congregations of Christ.

Under the present administration of the Kingdom of Heaven, a great apostasy has occurred, as foretold by the Apostles. As the church, compared to a city, is called "Mount Zion," the apostate church is called "Babylon the Great." Like Babylon the type, "Mystery Babylon," the antitype, is to be destroyed by a Cyrus who does not know God. She is to fall by the sword of infidels, supported by the fierce judgments of God. "The Holy City" is still trampled underfoot, and the sanctuary is filled with corruption. It is, indeed, a den of thieves; but strong is the Lord who judges the apostate city. Until that great and notable day of the Lord comes, we cannot, from the prophetic word, anticipate a universal return to the original gospel, nor a general restoration of all the institutions of the Kingdom of Heaven in their original character; and, consequently, we cannot promise ourselves the universal subjugation of the nations to the scepter of Jesus.

But were we to enter upon the consideration of the administration of the affairs of the kingdom after the fall and overthrow of the apostate city and the conversion of the Jews, we would have to launch upon a wide and stormy ocean, for which our slender vessel is not at this time sufficiently equipped. This may yet deserve the construction of a larger ship in a more favorable season. Meanwhile, the original gospel is widely proclaimed, and many thousands are preparing for the day of the Lord; and these are taught by the "Faithful and True Witness" that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, and that their happiness and safety alike consist in being prepared for his second coming.

1. These essays do not appear in the order in which they were written and published. We place the last-written first because, in the natural order of things, general views of the nature of the Christian kingdom ought to precede the special development of its peculiar institutions. They first appeared as extras to the regular series of the Millennial Harbinger; and as we thought it best to preserve them, as much as possible, in their original form, this will explain several repetitions that may appear in them.

All the leading and characteristic principles of that reformation for which we plead, as far as the gospel institution is concerned, may be learned from them. Much, indeed, of the proof of some of the propositions found in these essays lies scattered over several volumes; but such a miniature view of the evidence by which they are supported, as, in most cases, is sufficient to convince the reader, will be found embodied in them. Those, however, who may not be fully satisfied with the arguments offered must be referred to the various discussions of these principles found in the Christian Baptist and Millennial Harbinger. 2. Gen 4:7.

3. Exodus 16:15-27.

4. Gen 28:18.

5. Gen 35:14.

6. Job 1:4-5.

7. Job 42:8-10.

8. Gen 18:19.

9. Gen 21:12.

10. Gen 26:3-5.

11. Jer 31:31.

12. Men fit for war are never more than one-third or one-fourth of any population. There were six hundred thousand men of this class when they came to Mount Sinai.

13. If the following passages are carefully examined and compared, it will appear that both these phrases often represent the same thing: Matt. 3:2. Mark 1:14. Luke 4:43. — Matt. 13:11. Mark 4:11. Luke 8:10, — Matt. 11:11. Luke 7:28. To these three distinct examples many more could be added. What Matthew calls "the Kingdom of Heaven," Mark and Luke call "the Kingdom of God."

14. See chapters 6:33. 12:28. 19:24. 21:31, 43.

15. Matt. 21:43.

16. Eph. 1:3.

17. Eph. 2:6.

18. Eph. 5:5.

19. Dan 2:44.

20. Jer 31:31; Jer 31:34.

21. John 17:18.

22. Pro 8:23-31.

23. Mic 5:2.

24. Eph. 1:3-12.

25. Matt. 28:18. Luke 24:47. Matt. 11:27.

26. Psalm 2:6-8; Psalm 72:2-18.

27. Rev. 5:9-14; Rev. 14:1-5; Rev. 16:3-4; Rev. 21:9-27. Eph. 1:20-21.

28. Isa 62:1-7.

29. Heb. 8:10-13.

30. Rom. 6:5-6; Rom. 6:14; Rom. 8:1; Rom. 8:33-39. 1 Co 6:11. Eph. 1:7; Eph. 2:6; Eph. 2:19; Eph. 2:21-22. Col. 1:13-14. 1 Pe 2:5; 1 Pe 2:7. 2 Pe 1:10-11. 1 Jn 2:2.

31. John 3:5. Titus 3:5.

32. Isa 24:5.

33. Matt. 4:12. Mark 1:14. Luke 3:30; Luke 4:14.

34. Matt. 10:7. Luke 10:1-11. When eating the Last Supper he clearly said that the Reign of God was still future. Luke 22:18.

35. Luke 19:11-15.

36. Acts 1:3.

37. Matt. 28:17-20. Mark 16:15. Luke 24:47-48.

38. Isa 2:3. Mic 4:2.

39. Psalm 68:17-18.

40. Psalm 24:1-10:

41. Heb. 1:1-14

42. 1 Co 12:28. Eph. 4:11. Heb. 1:14.

43. 2 Co 3:6; 2 Co 5:18-20.

44. Rom. 12:4-8. 1 Co 12:27. Heb. 3:6.

45. Acts 6:2-7; Acts 14:23; Acts 20:17-36. Php 1:1. 1 Tim. 3:1-16. Titus 1:5-10. Heb. 13:7; Heb. 13:17; Heb. 13:24.

46. Jer 31:35-36. Job 38:31-33. Jer 33:25.

47. James 1:25.