CONCLUSION.
"From Heaven He came and sought her
To be His Holy Bride,
With His own Blood He bought her,
And for her life He died."
"The Kingdom of Heaven," what is it?
It is the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ. It is that
Kingdom which was prophetically set forth by our Lord in His parables;
that Kingdom, the subjects of which were described in His teaching,
and redeemed by His Blood to be His own "purchased possession" (Eph.
i. 14); that Kingdom which was founded through the coming of the Holy
Ghost--being a spiritual Kingdom not of the world, though at present
in the world--and which was preached from land to land as an Universal
Kingdom, intended to embrace the whole race of man.
The purpose for which our Blessed Lord came down from Heaven, and
"humbled Himself even to the death upon the cross" (Phil. ii. 8), was
that He might found this Kingdom. "He purchased" it at no less a cost
than "with His own blood" (Acts xx. 28). For He "loved the Church and
gave Himself for it[31]" (Ephes. v. 25).
In other words, the salvation which is proclaimed in Holy Scripture,
as the great gift of God's love, is offered unto man through the means
of a Kingdom of which our Lord Jesus Christ is the King, and all the
men and women and little children in the world are intended to be the
subjects. The Son of God became the Son of Man, that in Him the words
of the Psalmist might be fulfilled, "I will give Thee the heathen for
Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy
possession" (Ps. ii. 8); and those other words (which are quoted by
S. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews), "Thou hast put all things
under His feet" (Ps. viii. 6).
"But we see not yet all things put under Him" (Heb. ii. 8). Although
He "gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works" (Tit. ii.
14), the perversity of man has spoilt the perfection of His work, and
hindered the results of His self-sacrifice. Eighteen hundred years
have passed, and still His rule is imperfect; and not one third of the
human race, whom He redeemed unto Himself with His own blood, accept
Him as their King. But in His perfect foreknowledge, this hindering of
His work of love for the salvation of man was present from the first;
and was foretold by Him in part in His parables. And it pleased Him to
entrust to His faithful people the task of removing and overcoming by
their prayers and exertions the obstacles which opposed His rule.
When the Pharisees once asked "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 among[32] you" (S. Luke xvii. 20, 21).
His Kingdom was already being set up amongst them, though they knew it
not; and ever since those days it has been spreading amongst men. But
He knew how strongly the great enemy of God and man would oppose the
extension of His Kingdom; and how powerful the perversity of man would
be to hinder it; and when His disciples asked to be taught to pray,
these were the words He bade them pray, "Thy Kingdom come" (S. Matt.
vi. 10).
It follows, therefore, that it is a matter of great importance that we
understand clearly the meaning of these words. We cannot suppose for a
moment that our Lord meant that the Kingdom of God is not _come_ at
all in this present time. Because many passages, which have been
already quoted, have assured us that His Kingdom was founded long ago
amongst men. Moreover, He expressly directed His disciples to assure
those to whom they preached, whether they hearkened or not--"The
Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you" (S. Luke x. 9, 11).
What then is the meaning of the prayer, "Thy Kingdom come"?
The Kingdom of God is come already, and men are everywhere "pressing
into it" (S. Luke xvi. 16). But His rule over the hearts of men is
imperfect, and will be so as long as it can be said "We see not yet
all things put under Him" (Heb. ii. 8). Therefore He has taught His
faithful people of every age to lift up this prayer--"Thy Kingdom
come"--that it may be brought to pass that He may rule in all hearts
supreme; that the lands which are still heathen may be brought into
His Kingdom; and that those who now profess to bear His Name may be
"Saints" indeed. And inasmuch as He "loved the Church and gave Himself
for it," not that it might consist of so-called Christians--who in
heart are worshippers of Mammon, and not subjects of the
Crucified--but "that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water and the word, that it should be holy and without blemish,"
this prayer--"Thy Kingdom come"--must continue to ascend until He can
"present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing" (Eph. v. 25-27). And then at last the cry will be
raised, "The Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our
Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Rev.
xi. 15).
We are taught in Holy Scripture that faith can move mountains of
difficulty (S. Matt. xvii. 20), and that the prayer of faith has a
power to which God has set no bounds (S. Matt. xxi. 22). And the
surest way to pray in faith is to be ourselves striving for the
fulfilment of our prayers.
Now the King Himself declared the source from which the weakness of
His Kingdom would arise. When He prayed for His little band of
disciples, He added, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may
be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may
be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" (S.
John xvii. 20, 21). Consequently if we would gain an answer to our
prayer, "Thy Kingdom come," we want to lead Christian men to think
that the saying is true, "A Kingdom divided against itself cannot
stand" (S. Mark iii. 24); and that it is impossible for "The Kingdom
of Heaven" to be strong to win souls for Christ, whilst its subjects
are forming factions and so-called denominations, and are opposing one
another. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity! For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even
life for evermore" (Ps. cxxxiii. 1, 3).
To re-unite the divided branches of Christ's Holy Church, or even to
heal the divisions amongst God's people in our own land, is a work
which is beyond the power of man to accomplish. But if Christians
would but be persuaded to see the advantages of unity, and to desire
to live up to their high calling as God's children--as the one family
of God--the first step would have been taken which would lead, in
God's own time, to the end in view.
For if the subjects of "The Kingdom of Heaven" only realised their
position, how great would be the answer to this universal prayer, "Thy
Kingdom come!" How would Christ's Kingdom be then advancing in the
world! For His Church would be moving, as one mighty army, against His
foes, and Christ in His members would be indeed going forth,
"conquering and to conquer" (Rev. vi. 2).
May He pardon all that is defective in these pages, and bless them to
the promotion of His glory. May He grant that those who read them may
be strengthened in their own faith, and be themselves prepared for the
great day, when "The Kingdom of Heaven," as we know it, will have
become the Kingdom of Glory; "when there shall be one flock and one
Shepherd" (S. John x. 16); and the daily repeated prayer will have
been fulfilled,
THY KINGDOM COME.
FOOTNOTES:
[31] When it is said that Christ died for the Church, it is necessary
to remember that in His intention the Church included the whole world
(see S. Matt. xxviii. 19). The wilfulness of man in refusing to
believe cannot alter that intention though it spoils the completion of
it. "God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son"--thus
the wideness of His loving intention was set forth--"that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish" (S. John iii. 16)--thus the
necessity of man's belief, in order that the intention might be
carried out, was announced beforehand.
[32] See marginal note in a reference Bible.
THE END.
_A Prayer for Unity._
O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the
Prince of Peace; Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great
dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and
prejudice, and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and
concord: that, as there is but one Body, and one Spirit, and one Hope
of our Calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father
of us all, so we may henceforth be all of one heart, and of one soul,
united in one holy bond of Truth and Peace, of Faith and Charity, and
may with one mind and one mouth glorify Thee; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. _Amen._
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Transcriber's Note
This book contains some archaic spelling, and unusual punctuation and
capitalisation. All have been left as printed in the original.
The author used both Eph. and Ephes. as references to Ephesians; these
have been left as printed.
Minor typographic inconsistencies (e.g. use of italics in adverts
section) have been corrected without note.
The advertising material was printed with the author names in bold
typeface. This is indicated with = symbols in this version.
In this version of the text, *.* is used to indicate a reverse
asterism.