Luke 17:20-21

THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM

‘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: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’

Luke 17:20

Every child who comes under the influence of the teaching of the Church of England is taught to say that in its baptism it was made ‘an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven.’

I. Let us then consider what this kingdom is, this relationship between the Creator and His creatures; which is declared to be so full of glory and blessing, both here and hereafter; the mystery of which it is given to us, the disciples of Jesus, to know.

(a) It is the manifestation of God to man in His power and justice. The outward aspect of the Kingdom has undergone many changes, but its inward principle has always been the same—God manifesting Himself to man, man drawn into communion with God. Before the Fall this Kingdom existed.

(b) It is the manifestation of Himself to man in His wisdom, through Jesus Christ. ‘In the beginning was the Word,’ the Revealer, the Wisdom of God; ‘and the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us … full of Grace and Truth.’ And as the earliest and most perfect form of a kingdom is that of a father ruling over his family, so ‘as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.’ Do we not see that this is the potential restoration of man to that close relation to God the Father enjoyed by Adam, ‘which was the Son of God,’ before his fall?

(c) It is the manifestation of Himself to man through the power of the Holy Ghost. He is the ‘Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father,’ Who enables us to use that power of becoming the sons of God, given us by the Divine Wisdom.

II. The nearness of the Kingdom.—If we seek for the knowledge of that Kingdom now, we must not look for it from without, but from within; for He Who is the Ruler of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth dwells not in the world around us, but within that Body of which we are members, and more particularly in the hearts and bodies of His baptized people: ‘My kingdom is not of this world’; ‘know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?’ And therefore to that indwelling Spirit we must look for the knowledge of the Kingdom.’

Rev. A. B. Orr.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

TRUTHS OF THE KINGDOM

Certain fundamental truths about this Kingdom are brought home to us which it is all-important for us not to lose sight of. If the Kingdom of God begins within the man, then—

I. This Kingdom is not merely a visible organisation.—It is that; it must be if it is to fulfil the end for which God has founded it: but it is more than that.

II. The Kingdom of God does not consist merely in numbers, nor is it measured only by size.—In our day specially, there is a tendency among men to place reliance on statistics and to find in figures arguments for or against the progress of the Kingdom of God among men.

III. The evidence of the Kingdom of God is not merely outward profession.—True, the form of godliness is all-important, yet if there be no living spirit within, the form is dead and useless.

Bishop C. J. Ridgeway.

Illustration

‘The workings of God’s grace are, for the most part, not only beyond, but contrary to our calculation. It is not said that “the Kingdom of God is not with observation,” but “the Kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” And the principle is this, that the greatest and plainest effects are produced by causes which are themselves unnoticeable. God is mounting up to His grand design; but we cannot see the steps of His ascent. We look back—but we marvel at the line of the processes; and as each came in its order, it was so simple that it escaped our observation, or so minute that it baffled our perception.’

(THIRD OUTLINE)

‘YOUR REASONABLE SERVICE’

How reasonable is the claim that God makes when He appeals to the man to give Him his heart! It is reasonable because—

I. This King is the God of love, Who is not satisfied without love on the part of those over whom He reigns.

II. The Gospel of His kingdom is a Gospel of love.—‘God so loved the world.’ This is the starting-point of the royal proclamation.

III. Service in this Kingdom is a service of love.—There are no slaves in this Kingdom, only freed men.

IV. It recognises a correspondence between God’s rule and the constitution of man as he has been made by God.—The heart of man is always seeking an object worthy of its love; always hungry, it craves for this food; always thirsty, this is the only water which will quench its thirst. And God alone can satisfy the desire He Himself has implanted in man.

V. The heart holds the supremacy within the man.—All else follows the lead of the human heart—conscience, will, reason, character—and if the heart goes wrong, all goes astray. He who gives his heart gives his best.

Seek, then, to live your daily life ruled by the power of the love of God the King, and the prayer you pray, ‘Thy kingdom come,’ will find its answer within you.

—Bishop C. J. Ridgeway.

Illustration

‘The Pharisees were looking for “a kingdom” with all that appeals to the natural senses. It was the offence of Christ—not that He set up “a kingdom,” but that He set up “a kingdom” without parade. The Jews would have received His “kingdom,” if it had come in pageantry. In answer to this expectation, Christ declared His “kingdom” to be devoid of those things: to be inward and spiritual. “The kingdom of God is within you”—it “cometh not with observation”; or, as it is in the marginal reading, it “cometh not with outward shew.” We must give to God—for it is most meet—the best and the brightest of our property. Let every thing which is, nearly or remotely, for God’s service, be the chastest, the richest, and the most dignified that is in our power to present. Let everything about God’s service emulate the spotlessness of the world in which He dwells. But, shall we judge of the splendour of a ritual, or the magnificence of a Church? Show it in the Spirit’s work and promote that “kingdom” which “is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Ought we not to write it on all the pomp and spangle of human fabric—“The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation”?’