Daniel 2:44

Shall the God of Heaven set up a Kingdom.

The Establishment of the kingdom of Christ

The stone being cut out of the mountain without hands, is a phrase used in Scripture to convey to us the idea of spirituality; as, for instance, our present body represented as “the earthly house of this tabernacle,” it is material; but the house in the heavens is “a house not made with hands,” that is spiritual. The cutting out of the stone without hands marks, I apprehend, the spirituality of the kingdom. The material is very unpromising, when compared with the reality. Though the stone is represented here as possessing mighty power, it does not possess that from any inherent property which it possesses, but from the vigour of the arm by which it is employed. The material, too, is utterly contemptible when compared with the others; it is indeed contemptible in the eyes of those who are dazzled with the gold, the silver, the brass, and iron. It is intended by the idea coming under the figure of a stone to be contemptible and despicable; yet to be possessed of such a power as to break the image in pieces. You will look, in the first place, at the circumstances of the increase which is here predicted. The stone came from the mountain--either impelled through the air by an invisible hand or rolling along the plain--smiting the feet of the image, and destroying it; and then the stone gradually increased. Now, I think, the idea here is, gradual advancement. It did not suddenly start up and fill the whole earth; but I apprehend there is the idea of gradual increase. I do not know that in the dream that increase was represented as always advancing with the same rapidity. I do not know whether it was or was not, very likely it was not; and ere it filled the whole earth its increase might be sometimes gradual, and sometimes more rapid. But the idea presented to our attention is, the ultimate effect of the extent of that increase. Then there is its ultimate extent. It increased and increased until it filled the whole earth. I do not know how that was represented in the dream, but certainly the impression was conveyed to the mind of the man to whom God, by this figure, was setting forth what was to come to pass in the latter days. The ultimate extent of the kingdom was exhibited by the stone becoming a great mountain, and filling the whole earth, all other kingdoms and nations being destroyed and superseded, as it were, by it. I do not admit that there is to be such an alteration in the character and form of these kingdoms (God’s Kingdom is in the heart alone) as that there shall be no such things as nations and particular forms of government, or secular societies and confederacies; but, I apprehend, they will be very different sorts of nations to those represented by these metals. Men confederate together generally for the purpose of conquest, or tyranny, or selfishness; for their patriotism is selfishness, and the very profession of liberty among the ancients was the liberty of the few over the many, the liberty of the masters over the slaves. I apprehend, therefore, that though nations will exist to the end of time, yet this spiritual Kingdom of God will co-exist along with them; and it will be the unlimited spiritual reign of truth and piety conveyed to all hearts, operating upon all characters, regulating all movements, private, domestic, social, and public; and thus, while the confederacies of human beings will remain, this will be the grand universal reign of truth, godliness, and peace throughout the whole earth. Then the last idea is its perpetuity. It is to be continued for ever and ever. It is not to be left as these other nations successively were, to other people and other forms of government, or to other secular societies and confederacies; but it is to continue for ever and ever, never to be superseded. Now, I think, we should take this idea along with us; this kingdom that is to continue for ever and ever is to be coextensive with the present system of things, and will continue also throughout eternity. This kingdom which is to last for ever and ever is that very same kingdom which begins in the stone; the kingdom of the mountain is the kingdom of the stone. We learn that this dispensation of ours, the Gospel dispensation, and the Gospel church, as it now exists, is an ultimate dispensation. It is not a preparatory dispensation; it is not to be superseded; it is not introductory to anything else. It is this very kingdom of the stone that is to last for ever and ever. Two or three observations will suffice on the circumstance of its certainty. The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. Wherever you find man’s heart and man’s nature, you find something which Christianity is just adapted to meet; adapted to meet its wants, its capacities, and its aspirings, and to satisfy, direct, and cultivate them aright. There is an adaptation to the mind of every individual, and there is an adaptation to their external affairs, an adaptation to men existing under any particular form of government that may be set up in the world, to any particular form of secular administration. There is, therefore, a propriety in our indulging the delightful thought that the interpretation of the dream is sure, and that the Gospel shall go on conquering and to conquer, increasing and increasing until it shall fill the whole earth. Then there is another thought which lies on the surface of Scripture, which meets us perpetually, and is of great practical advantage, that although we admit, most unequivocally, the work to be God’s, we also admit, unequivocally, the mysteriousness of the movement under, as it were, the omnipotence of God, by which the stone is increased. We admit most unequivocally, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.” We admit that God set up the kingdom, that God will carry it on, and that God will complete it; and we delight in thus referring everything to God. But we must never forget that God in his sovereignty, his condescension, and his benevolence, has determined that this shall be accomplished by human instrumentality. God could very easily do without us, He could convert the world without preachers; He could convert the world without Bibles; He could edify the church without the recurrence of Sabbaths and ordinances. God does not need to have His omnipotence aided (the very term is absurd) by your instrumentality. But God has chosen--and there is sovereignty, and condescension, and privilege, and kindness towards us in the very choice--to effect and fulfil His purposes by the instrumentality of His church. God is present, positively and personally present, in every scene of idolatry. God is positively present in every heathen temple; He is present at every idolatrous festival; He is actually present in the very midst of the worshippers of all man’s absurd and ridiculous superstitions. Aye, He is in the presence of His whole church; He is observing them, and His eye is upon them all; He is listening to their insults, observing their blasphemies, their fanaticism, their absurdity, and yet He does not put forth directly His power to enlighten, to convert, to sanctify, and to make them all that He could delight in. But He could do that, and why does He not do it? Let us remember always that human instrumentality is necessary in order that the little stone may become a mountain, and fill the whole earth. Now, why has not the stone grown larger? Why does it not fill the whole earth? A great many reasons may be found, some of which we have to refer to the Divine sovereignty, to the secret things that belong to God. But there are other things that belong to us, and causes to which we ought to give the most earnest hood. For my part, I have no hesitation at all about saying that I think the connection, alliance, and confederacy, unnatural and improper friendship of the church with the world has been a great obstacle in the past ages of Christianity, and in the present, to the going forth of God’s chariot in all its freedom and in all its power. Oh, no, the stone was cut out without hands. The Christian Church, before it was encumbered with wealth, went on with God in the midst of her, and the shout of a king accompanied her; and it will do so again! We exult in the thought--we feel confident in it. This great and delightful object has been impeded by the oblivion of the church. The church forgot both the duty and the privilege of the work; she soon forgot when she fell into luxury and ease the solemn obligation resting upon her from Christ, that so long as there was a corner of the earth in which there was not a preacher the command remained to be fulfilled--“Go into all the earth, and preach the Gospel to every creature.” We are not alive to the fulness and the intensity of this obligation yet. We want our sensibilities refined in order that we may perceive all the goodness of God towards us, in making the conversion of the world to rest upon the church. It will be well, then, to remember that the Gospel dispensation is here spoken of under the idea of a kingdom--the kingdom of God, setting up a kingdom. But if you and I are true Christians, as we profess to be, we are subjects of the Kingdom of God. A kingdom implies laws, authority, duty, respect, reverence for the government under which we live, under which we act, and by which we are protected. Let us feel that, and let us act as obedient, devoted, humble, faithful subjects of Him who is the Head and King of that government under which we live, and by which we are protected. There is something delightful both in thinking that we are under the government of God as subjects and that we have the Kingdom of God within us to give us vigour for the work of Christ. Then I think we may feel from this subject that we need have no fears about the ultimate realisation of the intentions of God, all our fear ought to be with respect to ourselves; our fear should be, whether we are faithful to our trust, faithful to our God, faithful to our country, faithful to our church, faithful to the world, faithful to posterity. (T. Binney, D.D.)

On the Nature and Extent of the Kingdom of Christ

I. We here observe THAT THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST NOT ONLY IS TO CONTINUE, BUT IS TO EXIST IN A STATE OF PROGRESS TO FARTHER DOMINION; STRUGGLING WITH ENEMIES, BUT STILL PREVAILING. It is in a progressive manner that the ordinary plans of Providence are, in most cases, unfolded and accomplished. Almost all the objects around us pass through various states before they arrive at their full maturity and perfection. The same rule of progress is also generally followed, not only in regard to the nature, but the extent of the blessings. The discoveries, for example, of science and learning are at first only known to a few individuals. They afterwards extend to neighbouring communities and nations. From one nation they are communicated to another, and at last, in various degrees of fulness and excellence, they spread throughout the world, and affect the general condition and character of mankind. The Kingdom of Heaven is represented as carrying on, in a similar manner, its operations, and accomplishing its grand designs. It exists in various states of power and extent. Its blessings are experienced in various degrees of fulness and excellence, in different quarters and ages of the world; and the number of its true subjects are seen varying even among the same people, in different periods, during its progress to full glory and universal dominion. We cannot explain all the reasons for this part of the Divine procedure. But whatever difficulties may seem to our short-sighted eyes attending it, you will observe they are not confined to the dispensation of the Gospel; they attend the whole plan of Providence in the communication of its blessings. We are very ignorant of the means which are best for securing most extensively, and most lastingly, the ends of the Divine government. And this method of procedure may be found at the termination of the mighty and complicated plan, to have been the most effectual in producing on the whole, and in the greatest extent and degree, that excellence, and that happiness, which are suited to rational and immortal beings. It is obvious, also, that the blessings of Christ’s kingdom, being of a spiritual order, the knowledge which it conveys, and subjection of the heart which it requires, necessarily suppose that it may be neglected, perverted, and abused. Nay, the nature and design of the gospel must lead to the expectation that for some period, and on many occasions, it must struggle with difficulties and meet with much opposition. The obstinacy of ignorance; the slavery and errors of superstition; and all the perverted passions, depraved habits, and predominant inclinations of our corrupted race--all of them are opposed to the doctrines, spirit, and precepts of Christianity. In this contest betwixt the empire of darkness and of light, trial is made of the spirits of all flesh. The subjects of the Kingdom of God are trained, and sanctified, and perfected under the Captain of their salvation. The Church of Christ is founded on a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The principle of renovation is infused into the corrupt mass; and by the direction and power of God it will spread throughout the world its heavenly influence. Amidst all the disorders and ragings of the nations, the Son of God is pursuing, with undeviating purpose, His mighty plans nor will He cease from His great undertaking till ignorance and error yield before Him. And thousands, and tens of thousands, are now standing before the throne, whom Jesus hath redeemed, out of every tongue, and kindred, and people.

II. But from this mixed scene of opposition and success, which we now contemplate, LET US TURN TO THE VIEW OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, BRINGING ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD UNDER ITS POWER; and Gentile and Jew of every country acknowledging His sway, and experiencing the blessings of His reign. The Gospel has nothing in it of a local and temporary nature, and is fitted and destined for all nations, and for all ages. In the accomplishment of this great dispensation of grace, we thus contemplate the downfall of every system which exalteth itself against Christ, and the universal prevalence of that knowledge which is in Him. In the contemplation of this great renovation, the prophets break forth into strains of rapture, and in beautiful and affecting imagery, foretell its glory and its blessedness. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break forth, and streams in the desert. As the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” Were we to confine our attention to those effects of the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ, on the temporal condition of mankind, we should still see a prospect so sublime, a change and amelioration so great, as should awaken our gratitude and admiration. The depravity and vices of men are the chief causes of the disorders which disturb the world, and lay it waste in every quarter. They have ruined the happiness of our race; they have, in various ways, brought misery even on the inferior beings with whom we are connected. Every mean of amelioration ought to be valued and employed; but never, my brethren, let it be forgotten that no mean will avail for our behest which is not accompanied with a change and improvement in our moral and spiritual character--which does not tend to rescue us from the power of sinful passions and indulgencies. The Gospel presents the amelioration of mankind in connection with the only method by which that amelioration can be accomplished--the renovation and improvement of the character. The design of the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ is directed chiefly and ultimately to the salvation and eternal happiness of men. To these all other objects are subordinate and subservient; and faith in the Saviour is the great mean by which His power effectually operates for their accomplishment. In contemplating the progress and power of the Gospel, we contemplate the increasing numbers of our fallen race, delivered from their lost condition, received into the families of God, and raised to the privileges and joys of His children. How worthy are such views to engage your chief affections and your highest admiration! Again, the views which we have been considering should guard against security, and teach us that the progress and final triumph of the Messiah’s Kingdom do not prevent the apostasy and the rejection both of individuals and nations calling themselves Christians. But chiefly, and lastly, I observe that we learn from those views the way by which we shall promote most effectually the glory of God and happiness of man. It is by promoting the knowledge of the Gospel, and bringing the minds of men under the dominion of the Son of God. The source of misery is sin, and until Christian knowledge, and Christian holiness, be rendered prevalent among mankind, vain and ineffectual will be every mean to promote their happiness. Let every man do good as God has given him the opportunity--and in his own sphere, and among those over whom his influence extends, promote the cause of Christ’s Kingdom and oppose abounding iniquity. (S. MacGill, D.D.)

Christianity as a World-Power

“A dream, only a dream,” is likely to be the mocking language of the so-called practical men of the world, who regard it as an evidence of superior sanity to trust only facts and figures, when this immortal declaration is read in their hearing. True, in the visions of night royal Nebuchadnezzar had seen a gleaming colossus of different metals, not unlike the huge colossi guarding his own palace gates, which had been smitten by the mysterious fragment of rock cut from a mountain without hands, and which Daniel had interpreted in the passage before us. And what then? Are all such disclosures necessarily unworthy of credence? Was not Abimelech Divinely guided through a dream? Was not the immediate future of Egypt accurately foreshown to Pharaoh through the same means? Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions relate the accomplishment of various events that were anticipated in sleep. Thus Gyges, King of Lydia, had been admonished to enter on an alliance with Assurbanipal; and by this method Egypt had been encouraged to unite against the Assyrians. Likewise in Persian history, rulers, such as Afrasiab and Xerxes, were warned and directed when their senses were wrapped in slumber, and the scenes uncurtained were faithful counterparts of approaching realities. And what are all the successes of our modern era, all the conquests over nature, all the triumphs over tyranny, all the vindications of human rights, but the fulfilment of dreams dreamed by saints and sages, poets and philosophers, for the announcement of which they were derided and cursed, were shut up in prison and thrust out of life? My own opinion is, as far as chronology is concerned, that we are taught that during the rise and fall of ancient nations God was cutting out of the mountains a stone, was setting up a kingdom, and is still setting up a kingdom, which, in the fulness of time, shall prevail over all empires and shall fill the entire earth. But I am inclined to believe that the prime intention of the writer was not so much to fix times and seasons as to bring into relief the eternal antagonisms that exist between what the mighty image represents and what the stone denotes; and to create a just conception of the nature and history of Christianity as a world-power. The originality of Christianity as a world-power is worthy of serious thought.

1. This originality appears in the source of its inspiration. Whoever reads carefully the New Testament must have observed the prominence assigned the Holy Spirit. His presence and potency constitute likewise the distinguishing excellency of our faith. With the day of Pentecost came His advent and His incarnation in the church. Revivals of religion are not fresh processions of the Comforter from the Unseen. They are distinct manifestations of what is the perennial possession of God’s people, There are times when the tides of the sea rise higher, but we are not to suppose that there has been a new or larger supply of water, only a peculiar concentration and elevation. So revivals are only higher tides, more overmastering demonstrations of power, and greater exhibitions of fervency; they are not a new descent or coming of the Paraclete. They are often needed, and are needed now, to recall the church to the source of her inspiration. Political world-powers are impelled onward, sometimes by lust of conquest, sometimes by desire for gain, sometimes by glory, or by what they vaguely term, “manifest destiny.” They are at times governed by the spirit of the Chauvinist, of the French soldier, who could not conceive of anything wrong in the great Napoleon; and thus become fatuous idolaters of country and party. Frequently they are dominated by a Machiavelianism, which seeks, as Richelieu stated, to preserve the unofficial conscience separated from the state conscience, and which forms the habit of acting indirectly and crookedly so that nothing can be done without deception. Their statesmen are often incapable of the great thoughts which are necessary to precede great actions, and listen with ear to the ground for the whisperings of the crowd; or they are unpardonably indifferent to the needs of the people, and betray them when concentrated wealth demands the sacrifice and offers its dirty thirty pieces of silver. And whenever churches, in the remotest degree, approximate to such motives and methods, they lose their unique character. Then their originality is obscured, and the world treats them as they deserve, as mere lath and plaster. The Kingdom of Christ should always be moved from within, from the impulses of the Spirit who hath descended from above. Throughout the New Testament, from the birth of Christ to the separating of Paul and Barnabas to the ministry of missions, the Holy Spirit is the chief actor. Nothing is more impressive in the post-resurrection life of our Lord than His constant breathing of the Spirit on His followers. Without Him Pentecost would have been impossible, and without Him there would have been no adequate momentum toward the evangelisation of Samaria and the regions beyond. Almost every departure in new and aggressive work has been preceded by a spiritual quickening somewhere. It was so when the great missionary organisations came into being. They were not called into existence by human ingenuity to serve as organs for the work of the Holy Spirit; they were themselves begotten by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, I fear, we forget this. Sometimes we approach the work of the kingdom as though it were identical with that of the world. And soon we are tempted to boast that we administer churches and missions as leading business men manage business. In a sense this is very well; but after all, the kingdom cannot be administered merely as a vast corporation. Indeed, were this ideal paramount, corporations being what they are to-day in fact and in the popular estimate, the sympathies and prayers of the Christian masses would speedily be detached from the cause of Christ. No; it must seek to be guided by the Holy Spirit, to follow His leadings, yield to His inspirations, and become more and more a pliant instrument in His hand; and where this is done, the unique glory by which its Founder designed it to be for evermore distinguished will be displayed and recognised.

2. The originality of Christianity also appears in the power of its assimilation. Usually national types are fixed and definite. It is not an easy thing to overcome them, and after generations of intermarriages they are not always obliterated. What has been accomplished to render homogeneous this heterogeneous mass has been largely the work of the evangelical faith. That faith is like a magnificent furnace in which the representatives of various nationalities are melted down, fused, and are made capable of being moulded. What it has wrought in Fiji, in Polynesia, in Burma, in China, and Japan would have been impossible if Christianity were not wonderfully adapted to all races and tribes, the lowest and the highest. If the day ever comes when differences shall disappear and humanity be as one, it will be in consequence of the transforming grace of the Spirit. This religion alone seems to be gifted with the universal quality. It is broad enough, it is wide enough, it is deep enough. It knows the needs of the common heart of man. In it kings and princes find comfort, and in it barbarians and outcasts find hope. To confer its blessings it asks no man of what house, family, or clime he comes. His needs are recognised, and the provision is Sufficient and abundant. This cannot be said of Hinduism, Brahmanism, Buddhism, and the rest. However numerous their adherents, these creeds nevertheless are provincial and narrow in their scope. They are only accepted by kindred peoples; and the more they are known the less charm they have for the European and American. By this test, if their claims are judged, they must yield to the superior merit of Christianity.

3. The Originality of Christianity appears in the benevolence of its aspirations. This cannot be alarmed of worldly empires of the Babylonian or Roman type. Doubtless some among them in our day justify their interference in the affairs of inferior races on the ground that they would do them good. But every competent judge perceives that all this is reversed in the case of Christianity. Wherever she goes she blesses, and in pagan lands it is only her spirit and influence which mitigate the evils of foreign occupation. Sir Herbert Edwardes testified years since, as the result of his observations in the East: “That secular education and civilization will ever regenerate a nation I do not believe; as an able missionary once said, ‘He alone can make a new nation who can form a new man.’” In the same direction I quote Mr. Hawthorne: “The only salvation of India, even from an economic point of view. .. is its Christianisation.” And with him the Hon. Mr. Bryce evidently agrees, for he is quoted as saying that the Indian Empire could not last unless it were Christianised, and that nothing else can hold it together. Captain Mahan likewise perceives a peril in bringing together the East and the West on the basis of common material advantages without a correspondence in spiritual ideals. Men like Schwartz, Livingstone, Carey, and Ashmore are the saviours of pagan lands. When their disinterested labours are understood, a new and regenerating idea begins to dawn and an uplift is experienced. Here lies the secret of Christian power. Religion asks for no man’s silver and gold, attempts not to rob him of his wealth, brings to bear on him no violence, does not shoot down his children or burn his villages; and the method is so novel, the intent so unselfish, that the hearts of multitudes are moved to repentance and faith. Sovereignty means right, authority, chieftaincy; the right to subdue, overcome, and sweep away whatever wrongfully is arrayed against it. But Christianity has no authority to fall on, to crash and annihilate by sheer force what she may regard as antagonistic to her reign. She is not permitted to appeal to the sword. Christ Himself decreed that the servants of the kingdom should not fight. They were not authorised to invoke the weapons of war for the advancement of the Cross. This inhibition likewise forbids them to encourage others, the secular powers, for instance, to invade distant lands, seizing them and occupying them for the sake of Christian evangelisation. Then the paucity of language appears again in the dream when the idea is suggested that these various empires are so blotted out as to obliterate their inhabitants, and that all human governments are to be supplanted by the church. Interpreting Scripture by Scripture, and symbols by common sense, I understand the action of the stone in falling on the huge form to denote the right of the church to efface and expunge everything in the State that is ungodly, unrighteous, and unjust, so that the actual administration of affairs will come to harmonise with her ideals. In other words, she is to incarnate herself in human society and in all of its mechanism, whether it be the machinery of government, of education, of commerce, or industry. She is not to remain for ever outside, a something distinct from the secular; but she is to take possession of it, transform it, become its very soul, and direct all of its movements from within. As Christianity is not to take the sword, the expression and action of her sovereignty must be moral; and we are to learn from the scene before us that this exceeds all other weapons in potency. We are all slow to learn this truth. And yet not an age passes without being demonstrated anew. A nation rushes into speculations which imperil industry, and encourages business methods which are pernicious, and dazzled by her successes sneers at the conservatives and the moralists. But the day of judgment comes. Some stone--the hard, inexorable law of rectitude asserts itself falls on the entire mass of chicane and deceit, and collapse fallows. It ought also to be noted that these indications which are making for the final triumph of Christianity are usually characterised by suddenness and occasionally even by violence. This violence is the natural overflow of the moral principles which have been generated through religion in the volcanic soul of humanity. The humiliation of Spain is a case in point. The Reformation under Luther was another illustration of what we should learn from this theme. What a crash it was? How unexpected though inevitable? What cruelty and horror it occasioned. And yet what marvellous progress it inspired. It was blowing up the barrier that impeded freedom of thought and the advance of civilization. Thus Christianity goes on demonstrating the sovereignty of the ethical and spiritual over the political and the commercial, developing moral crises in which her own influence comes to be recognised as potent. And it is questionable whether any vast upheaval has occurred since the birth of Christ which has not been in some real sense the result of His teachings and has not contributed to their wider dissemination. This I hold to be alike true of the convulsions that crushed the Roman Empire, of the agitations and struggles that wrecked the dominance of feudalism, of the catastrophies that characterised the French Revolution, and of all the strange and violent antagonisms which have led to the unity of Italy and to the conquest of the Soudan. But it may be asked, Is there to be a final and widespread crisis involving, not isolated nations, but the existing civil order everywhere, both east and west, among civilized and barbarous people alike? The probabilities point in that direction; and the Scriptures seem to be decisively on its side. “Sun and moon are to be darkened, the stars of heaven are to fall before the great and notable day of the Lord.” Armageddon precedes the millennium. Scenes of conflict and anguish are announced as opening the way to the final Gospel triumph. Anyone can see the utter impossibility of realising the reign of righteousness under present social and political conditions, whether in America or Europe, in lands civilized or lands blighted by heathenism. And there seems to be a growing consciousness that something critical is about to take place, because it ought to take place; and governments and leaders are apprehensive lest they should go down in the crash. They are voting more cannon, new explosives, fresh levies, stronger fortifications, and are encouraging inventors to devise novel means of destruction; but they are not adopting the true defence--“righteousness exalteth a nation”; “God is our refuge, a present help in time of trouble.” And yet with all their expenditures and preparations they are not at ease. “The hearts of the nations are failing them for fear.” Moreover, in all these lands, grave solicitude is felt regarding social inequalities. The control of business is rapidly passing through trusts into the hands of relatively a few chieftains in America, and the result is that opportunities for employment are diminishing, not increasing. Anyone can see that things cannot continue as they are. The social Vesuvius is already in a turmoil, and its fires and lava cannot be eternally suppressed. A crisis is inevitable. Some of the most passionless students of our times perceive the imminence of the danger. They work out this result as coolly and scientifically as a mariner works out his reckoning, and as deliberately as the weather bureau forecasts the atmospheric changes. With them it is not a question of feeling and sentiment, but of strict reasoning and logic. Given rapaciousness, heartlessness, and cold-blooded selfishness on the part of employers as the major premise in the social syllogism, and discontent, discouragement, and the ever-increasing sense of wrong on the part of the employed as the minor, and the outcome can hardly be anything else than chaos, though it may be chaos leading to a new industrial creation. I know that the taunt will not be lacking that I am preaching pessimism. No, I am an optimist and proclaiming optimism. Were I a pessimist, I should now be declaring that the image seen by Daniel’s sovereign never could be destroyed; and that it would go on trampling beneath its feet of iron and clay--a mixture of militarism and materialism--the best hopes of humanity. But I have no such doleful message to deliver. My song is that of the lark; I herald the flay, not the night; but I dare not hide from myself the fact that night precedes the day. “The stone which the builders rejected,” aye, “the stone cut out of the mountains,” shall finally bring to an end all of these mischievous evils, aged shall “fill the whole earth.” But not without a scene of conflict and experiences of sharp agony. Let us hope and pray that it may be without anarchical riots, incendiary outbreaks, and bloodshed, and may accomplish itself in one of those wonderful upheavals wrought by the patient determination of free peoples, who, enlightened by the Gospel, by their principles and convictions expressed at the polls, will bring down the lofty and exalt the lowly. Thus it may be; but however the result shall be accomplished, the spirit that shall compass it, that antagonises everything wrong at home or abroad has been engendered by Christ’s Kingdom, and the ultimate deliverance will furnish the crowning evidence of its victorious sovereignty. The responsibility of Christianity as a world-power must now claim our attention, or this discussion would fail of its purpose. The prophet tells us that in the days of the ancient kings God set up a kingdom. To me the beginnings of this creation antedate the appearance of Christ. Every prediction that announced it, every psalm that chanted its glories, and every providence that prepared the world for its manifestations, were as the digging of foundations; or, better still, as the felling of timber in the forests, and the disinterring of reeks in the quarry for the construction of this everlasting sanctuary. And I believe that still the God of Heaven is setting up a kingdom. Generals and soldiers are lauded and rewarded as the builders of empires; but the missionaries and evangelists, with all the lowly souls that are helping in their enterprise, are usually ignored or are misunderstood by society that still walks by the light of its carnal vision. And yet these obscure labourers are building up a kingdom that shall not be moved, and are establishing a world-power whose beneficence and beauty transcends the highest excellencies of all earthly imperialisms. May I not remind you by what God has already wrought through His people that there is a responsibility resting on the kingdom to yet further fall in with His plans, and to co-ordinate itself to His Spirit? If the claims of humanity can appropriately be pressed home on the conscience of a secular power, how much more are they entitled to weight by the spiritual. Responsibility is an attribute of sovereignty. Do we, as Christians, realise ours? What we need to-day is a quickened conscience in our churches. An aroused conscience would solve all difficulties; provide adequate missionary income, supply the brightest type of workers, and provoke an activity at home and abroad which would speedily bring to an end the reign of darkness.

1. This responsibility can only be met by liberality, and not by retrenchment. The church should be as wise as the state. Alas! her financiers have too frequently been given, when financial emergencies have arisen, to talk approvingly of retrenchment. If there is a spectacle offensive to Heaven and contemptible before men, it is that of professed disciples living like Dives and begrudging the crumbs which fall from their affluence into the missionary collection for poor Lazarus. Let us recognise the truth. The truth is, the church has money enough to fulfil her responsibilities at home and abroad. She has not enough for wastefulness or extravagance, or even for sentimental experimenting; but she has ample resources for the evangelisation of the entire world. But this wealth was not bestowed that it might shut God out; and yet it will assuredly do so if it is not expended as He has planned and directed. Its accumulation ought once and for all to teach that the church is bound to prosecute her work, not by the measure of her offerings, but by the measure of her possessions.

2. But more than this, our responsibility can only be honoured by combination, and not by isolation. The unsocial communities have been violently disturbed of late. China’s great wall has fallen; Japan has emerged from her solitude; and it is claimed that the United States can no longer refrain from joining the European Powers in their confederate activities. The progress of this race is wonderful. It controls ever one-third of the earth’s surface. Prof. Marsh has said: “More than one-half of the letters mailed and carried by the universal postal system are written, mailed, and read by the English-speaking populations”; and they distribute more than two-thirds of all Bibles and Testaments published; and in literature and general intelligence they excel all that is found among other people. But it must not be supposed that every aspect of this great branch of the human family is attractive or promising. Far from it. Even now, after centuries of training, it displays much of the spirit of the Vikings and of the Heligoland pirates, and it is constantly in danger of defying force. For the history of its progress and aggrandisement is in no small measure the history of violence and aggression. If isolation is fast becoming impossible between nations, and particularly between Great Britain and the United States, it ought to be equally impossible between denominations. Fast is it becoming so. Missionary congresses and federation of churches are helping to draw into one holy alliance the diverse and separated forces of the living God. Something more than independency of action and enthusiasm of spirit is demanded, if the claims of Christianity as a world-power are to be substantiated. But while I speak thus, I realise that organisations, however complete and indispensable, can never supersede the zeal and personal endeavour of the individual. Man is grander than a machine, and the religious machine is, after all, only a supplement to the man. What we need to-day is, that while we sustain our missionary societies we likewise develop all the resources of the individual. Obligations cannot be vicariously met. The hour has arrived for personal decision and consecration. Two tendencies are observable to-day. The one is toward secular imperialism. It is the dream of nationalities in the old world, and is not without charm for ourselves in the new. Success along this line apart from religion is freighted with ultimate mischief and peril. But the other trend is more encouraging and more ennobling; it is toward the triumphant imperialism of Christianity. For which shall we labour? I am not saying that they are necessarily inconsistent with each other; but so far as grandeur and sublimity are concerned, I would rather devote myself to the second than to the first. Would not you? As for me, I would rather stand with Livingstone, Carey, Marshman, Judson, than I would with Clive, Hastings, and Lawrence; and I would rather in the end be associated with Christ and His apostles than I would with Caesar and the legions thundering at his heels. (J. G. Lorimer, D.D.)

The Kingdom of Christ

This image, then, represents to us the kingdoms of the earth, such as they are without the fear of God, in all their pride and stateliness. You see them, in it, condensed and combined into one vast body, glittering, as we behold them with our eyes, with silver and gold, and lifting up their heads to Heaven itself, with the insolence of a giant strength and the godlessness of an unrebuked security. The eye of flesh and blood, obedient to its instincts, and, ignoble, like them, is dazzled at their looks; and the heart of man, like that of the Babylonish king, is not only moved with a momentary awe, but crouches down with a real servile terror at their outward grandeur. But all this has nothing substantial in it, notwithstanding--no more than the show of solidity which you see in the summer clouds--how suddenly, like them, do they dissolve, nay, consume, perish, and come to a fearful end! The reason is that, being unbased on that reality of power which belongs to God alone, they have no essential and true strength; they stand on feet of iron and clay, unharmonizing materials, ill mixed, and uncompacted. And they break away into a thousand fragments the moment they come into collision with the Almighty’s purposes, and the smiting of His avenging rod. “But,” you say, “it is difficult to draw a practical lesson from so mystic a warning”; true, but the whole Bible is full of such warnings, as well as its great interpreter, the history of the world. When, therefore, learned and worldly men talk of this great kingdom and of that, as being ruined by a mistake in policy, or a mismanagement in war, and so on, and puzzle themselves and others in the vain attempt to unfold, by external and secondary events, what they are pleased to call the real causes of this great ruin; the humblest Christian man, with the Bible in his hand, may say, “I cannot deny what you tell me, nor can I, indeed, understand the difficult operation of those fine-sounding things on which you make the adversity or prosperity of kingdoms to depend; but I know this, which is far better than all your science and philosophy put together, that nations, like individual men, only prosper while they love and obey God; and that when they refuse or cease to do so, He punishes and destroys them for their sins. And if you ask me why I dare contradict one so much more learned than myself, and am so sure of this conclusion, touching, as it does, the very mysteries of politics, I have but one reason to give, though that is the best of all--God says so--I find it plainly written in the Bible.” Well, then, all the kingdoms of theworld are represented by the prophet Daniel as finally crushed beneath the weight of that everlasting kingdom which God shall set up among the nations, and which they shall resist--not recognising as Divine a power so unlike their own, nor discerning that penal ruin, which, by ways beyond the scan and compass of the carnal politician, its rejection necessarily involves, even during this earthly dispensation. But is not God love, and the Gospel merciful, and Christ,. the Saviour, meek and gentle beyond the meekness of man, not so much as quenching the smoking flax, or breaking the bruised reed? it is not to be denied, so He is; yet He shall tread out, notwithstanding, in His wrath, the wine-press of Almighty God. And, if you will think for a moment of God’s goodness and of man’s wickedness, and the exceeding guilt of rejecting such great salvation, you will no longer marvel that the Gospel, with its revelations of unspeakable love, and the blood of the cross, whoso sprinkling cleanseth from all sin, should be presented to us under an aspect so tremendous, or should exercise in the world at large, in its final development, a condemnation so awful, and a ruin so sweeping! And I say a ruin so sweeping, because the words of the prophet seem to indicate that all nations, from the empire of the Chaldees downwards, shall, in their turn, share the same fate; and that our native land, therefore, with all its privileges, may ultimately be added to the catalogue of nations blotted out or tormented in fire for incorrigible wickedness. Our Lord himself, perhaps in intended allusion to these very words of the prophet, describes thus the result of resistance to His eternal kingdom: “Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.” “A stone cut out without hands”; that is, without human and visible agency, any power mensurable by carnal calculation, but by the power of Almighty God himself, operating when and where He wills, with or without the instrumentality of subordinate agents; a stone so guarded and so blessed by all Heavenly graces, as to lay a meet foundation for an everlasting church. Such, then, is the Christian kingdom, coming out from God, and of God; it goes forth, from age to age, in spite of evil spirits and evil men, conquering and to conquer. What though the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? Nay, but I put it to yourselves; have not the prophet’s words been gloriously fulfilled? Has not the stone become a mountain, and filled the whole earth? it is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. Who would have ventured to pronounce that the crucified Jesus, hanging between two thieves, on the accursed tree, the despised and rejected of men, would, after a few years had passed, have been worshipped as a God and a Saviour from one end of Heaven to another? “O the depth of the riches both of the power and the wisdom of God; how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” Now, all that I have been laying before you of God’s eternal purpose to raise the Kingdom of His Son on the ruins of an unbelieving world, is the clear word of God; so clear that they who run may road, confirmed, too, in the history of the world, by many infallible and terrible proofs; and, therefore, it is as certain to be fulfilled in what is to come, as it has been in all that is past. Moreover, there is not an attribute of Almighty God which is not pledged, and actively engaged in the issue of it. There are His unchangeableness and truth--for, from all eternity He has planned this spiritual kingdom to be carried on in the midst of the kingdom of the prince of this world; and, by no less an oath than His immutable self, hath He sworn to preserve it unto the end. There is His justice, for by the same solemn engagement, He has announced in the oars of Heaven and earth, that He will punish all the guilty, and cast out from that presence, in which alone is light and life, the enemies of Him who reigneth on His hill of Zion. There is His love, and with it, Hid abhorrence of sin; for with such incredible earnestness, and love for man, has He wrought for the establishment of this kingdom that He has given His blessed Son to die for us, and by His death, to open the gates of life. (J. Garbett.)

The Kingdom of the Saints

Daniel’s interpretation is: “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 those kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” This prophecy is fulfilled among us at this day. Look into the details of this great providence, the history of the Gospel dispensation.

1. Observe what it was that took place. Many kingdoms have boon set up and extended by the sword. This, indeed, is the only way in which earthly power grows. But the propagation of the Gospel was the internal development of one and the same principle in various countries at once, and, therefore, may be suitably called invisible, and not of this world. Apostolic efforts do not provide adequate explanation. See what really happened. In the midst of a great empire, such as the world had never seen, powerful and crafty beyond all former empires, more extensive, and better organised, suddenly a new kingdom arose. Suddenly, in every part of this well-cemented empire, ten thousand orderly societies, professing one and the same doctrine, and disciplined upon the same polity, sprang up as from the earth. This was a new thing, unprecedented in the history of the world before or since, and calculated to excite the deepest interest and amazement in any really philosophical mind. When men began to interrogate this enemy of Roman greatness, they found no vague profession among them, no varying account of themselves, no irregular and uncertain plan of action or conduct. They were all members of strictly and similarly organised societies. They all refused to obey the laws of Rome, so far as religion was concerned. At the same time they professed a singular patience and submission to the civil powers. They did not stir hand or foot in self-defence. They avowed, one and all, the same doctrine clearly and boldly, and they professed to receive it from one and the same source. They were bound to one another by the closest ties of fellowship. And, in spite of persecutions from without, and occasional dissensions from within, they prospered. .. If there be a moral governor over the world, is there not something unearthly in all this, something which we are forced to refer to him from its marvellousness, something which from its dignity and greatness, bespeaks his hand?

2. Consider the language of Christ and His apostles. From the first they speak confidently, solemnly, calmly, of the destined growth and triumph of the kingdom. Christ contemplated the overshadowing sovereignty of His Kingdom. He spoke also of the disorganisation of society which was to attend the establishment of His Kingdom. In like manner, St. Paul takes for granted the troubles which were coming on the earth, and the rise of the Christian church amidst them, and reasons on all this as if already realised.

3. If the Christian church has spread its branches high and wide over the earth, its roots are fixed as deep below the surface. The intention of Christ and His apostles is itself but the accomplishment of ancient prophecy.

(1) There was an existing belief among the heathen, at the time of its rise, that out of the east a new empire of the world was destined to arise. This rumour was known in Rome, the then seat of dominion; and it is recorded by a Roman historian. It became matter for heathen poetry. Full and varied are the predictions of it delivered by the natives of Judaea themselves. What would be our surprise if we, in the course of our researches into history, found any resemblance to this prophetic forecast in the annals of other kingdoms.

4. The course of providence co-operated with this scheme of prophecy. God’s word and hand went together. Notice the strange connection between the dispersion of the Jews and the propagation of Christianity. Does not such a manifest appearance of cause and effect look very much like an indication of design? (J. H. Newman, B.D.)

God’s Everlasting Kingdom

All that was foretold in this remarkable prophecy in due time came to pass. This universal and everlasting kingdom is distinguished by certain infallible marks and evidences which prevent it from being confounded with human institutions, which may resemble it in some respects.

I. THE FIRST NOTE OF THIS KINGDOM IS ITS VISIBILITY. It has a visible ministry; visible scriptures; visible forms, and ceremonies, and observances; visible sacraments. The very idea of a kingdom implies its visibility.

II. ITS PERPETUITY. It is expressly foretold of it in the text that it should “never be destroyed.” But that it should “stand fast for ever.” All temporal kingdoms are exposed to changes and decay. That kingdom, complete in all its parts, and vigorous and active in its operations, must now be found upon this earth. There does exist a great and Divine system, having the properties of vast dominion, distinguished privileges, and eternal endurance.

III. ITS UNITY. This is a distinguishing mark of God’s Kingdom, and good men should never cease to pray that “all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the Faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.”

IV. ITS SANCTITY The Divine Head and Founder of the church gave Himself for His people that he might “redeem them from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

V. ITS APOSTOLICITY. In other words, it must have a history, and be able to trace back its origin to the days of the Apostles of Christ. (John N. Norton.)

The Kingdom of Christ

1. The mediatorial action of the Son of God is of the nature of kingly rule. Christ rules in the first place within the church. He is King of Saints. His subjects are hearts willingly submissive to His sway. He rules by His word and Spirit. His dominion extends beyond the church; beyond even the world of men. Nature and the invisible world are beneath His feet.

2. The kingdom is of supernatural origin. The kingdom is one which the God of Heaven set up. It was Divine in its origin, so it was endowed with inextinguishable life.

3. The kingdom was insignificant in its commencement. The stone was small. Look at the Messiah himself, at the veil of obscurity which He assumed. He was “of a decayed and delapidated house; was ranked with the poor; was without powerful friends or political connections; of no uncommon advantage of learning; and was regarded with contempt and scorn by the great mass of His countrymen.”

4. The kingdom is destined for universal prevalence. It began by casting down that which would and did oppose its way. Significant as the destruction wrought by the stone may be, even more so is the displacement of the image by the stone. Man-created universal empire gives place to a universal empire God-created. The worldly rule gives way that Heavenly rule may speedily appear. That the stone which smote the image will become a great mountain and fill the whole earth we devoutly believe. The truth might be argued from the essentially aggressive character of the Gospel

5. The kingdom is to be everlasting. It has stood for eighteen hundred years. Not, however, because no attempt has been made to annihilate it. Physical force, mental power, transcendent genius, have each and all done their worst. It is the great fact of the world still. (H. T. Robjohns, B.A.)

A Contrast between Paganism and Christianity

You will recall to your minds King Nebuchadnezzar’s wonderful dream, and the interpretation of it by Daniel. God can touch the heart of a person in sleep. He can touch the heart of a man dead in sin. How easily He gains His purposes--the forgetting of a dream raised Daniel next to the throne. In the dream we find revealed a contrast between paganism and Christianity.

1. Paganism is constructed; Christianity is a growth. The image was builded of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of clay. But the little stone grew.

2. Paganism is of human origin; Christianity, like the little stone, is made without hands.

3. Paganism divides men; Christianity unites. Disorganisation is inherent in paganism, and it cannot but crumble. How different with Christianity! Its centre is God, and that Centre is everywhere, and its circumference is nowhere. Every individual in this kingdom is at the very centre of power. We have even no need of one to stand between us and this Centre, for Christ is God. The advance of civilisation is destructive to error; but Christianity is fitted for the highest civilization. The greater the advancement, the more irresistible becomes this stone cut from the mountain. Its development is the crowding out and destruction of all false systems. There need be no fear that science will harm Christianity; it will, in the end, help it, not harm it. Literature is on this side. Never has Christianity exercised so great a power over the press as to-day, Education is also helping, not hindering, religion. Our colleges are nearly all in the hands of Christian people. Nine-tenths of all educational endowments are the gifts of Christian men and women. Art is not hostile to Christianity. The best of painting, the best of sculpture, the best of architecture, the best of music, is helping to roll this stone that is filling the earth.

4. The power which makes this stone irresistible is God. It is omnipotent as is the throne of Jehovah. No man-made power can resist it. Gold, brass, iron, are crushed beneath it. The great movement for the purification of the earth is going forward. God wishes us to Join in this work. Blessed are we if we are found co-workers with Him. (Bishop Simpson.)

The Fifth Monarchy

I. WHAT IS THE KINGDOM? By the kingdom we understand the gospel church or Christian dispensation. When John the Baptist commenced his ministry in the wilderness of Judaea, he preached, saying, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In this passage we evidently find the church represented as a kingdom. There are, we apprehend, sufficient reasons why she may be so represented. She has all the qualities peculiar to a kingdom. A kingdom consists of a number of men associated for purposes of mutual benefit, who have ordained a certain code of laws for the regulation of their lives, and who have elected a ruler to preside over their interests--to dispense law and preserve order--to act as “a terror” to evil-doers and a praise to them that do well. Similar in all these respects is the church. The revealed and written word of God contains the constitution and rules of their society. It contains laws for the regulation of their lives, as individuals, as congregations, as churches, and as nations--rules for all the relations into which man in this life of change can possibly enter. Christ is their King, Lawgiver, and Judge--“King of kings, and Lord of lords”--“Head over all things” to the church are titles conspicuously written on His vesture and on His thigh.

II. SOME OF THE MORE OBVIOUS QUALITIES OF THIS KINGDOM. Every man has his distinguishing characteristics. In like manner, every community, every kingdom is distinguished by some special properties. Thus we find Russia, notorious for despotism; Spain, for bigotry; France, for fickleness and instability; Christ’s kingdom is distinguished by:

1. Its spirituality.

(1) It is entirely spiritual--spiritual as to its Author, spiritual as to its origin, spiritual as to its laws, ordinances, rewards, and punishments. The founders of all kingdoms of this world have been mere men, inheriting the same nature with ourselves. The founder of the kingdom under review is God; and “God is a Spirit.” Most kingdoms of men have been established by carnal means, by force, by rapine, and by blood. By the same means all false systems of religion. How different from this the manner in which the Prince of Peace extends his regal rule. He establishes His empire by the exhibition of love, by the manifestation of truth, by arguments and persuasion, adapted to operate on men’s mental and moral nature. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.”

(2) The laws also of this kingdom are spiritual. They take cognizance more especially of man’s moral nature. Human laws can take cognizance of the external conduct alone. The greatest tyrant on earth cannot command the sentiments of the mind, or desires of the heart. God requires the heart: “Son, give me thine heart.”

(3) The ordinances of this kingdom are spiritual. They are intended and adapted to remove the vices of sin from our nature, and to effect a spiritual change. Ordinances the result of human wisdom, or political sagacity, cannot correct an evil bias nor remove a sinful tendency. Human ordinances are powerless for such purposes. The ordinances of Christ’s Kingdom exert a higher and more potent influence. When accompanied by the blessing of the Spirit they can transform the whole soul.

(4) The rewards and punishments of this kingdom are spiritual. Earthly rulers can confer only a material or temporal reward for obedience, or inflict a temporal punishment for disobedience. If we obey their mandates, they may confer riches, honours, something agreeable to our sentient nature. If we disobey, they may kill the body, but cannot destroy the immortal spirit. The rewards of Jehovah infinitely transcend temporal advantages however great or desirable. There are pardon of sin and acceptance in His sight, peace and joy in believing, and the crown of glory that fadeth not away. Similar also His punishments. Is not Messiah’s Kingdom, therefore, spiritual and consequently different from all worldly monarchies?

2. Light. Scripture informs us that “God is light.” Being light in himself He can never be the author of darkness. The kingdoms of men are kingdoms of darkness. Satan is the god of this world, and he is the prince of darkness. He knows that “Where there is no vision the people perish.” Hence he endeavours by all means to keep those subject to his sway in gross moral darkness. Whilst we doubt the Divine existence, or entertain wrong views of His character and law, of our present condition--our wants and requirements--we will never come to God that we may have life. Hence, when Jehovah wills the salvation of any sinner, he commences the work of grace on his heart by spiritual illumination, by opening the eyes of the understanding to see the wonderful things contained in the law. Thus, every believer, on receiving Christ, though formerly darkness, becomes light in the Lord. His soul is filled with light on all subjects affecting his interests for time and eternity.

3. Liberty. Freedom is sweet to every living being--to everything “in whose nostrils is the breath of life.” The entire animate creation rejoices in the free and unrestrained exercise of every power conferred by the Author of life. By man more especially is liberty prized. The mere mention of its name fills his soul with pleasurable emotions. Christ confers liberty in the highest and most extended sense of the term--liberty infinitely superior to that for which philanthropists have oftentimes sighed and patriots bled. Jesus confers spiritual and a right to temporal liberty on all His followers. These two kinds of freedom are intimately connected. When the former obtains the latter will in due time be sure to follow. When the former has no place the latter cannot possibly exist. When men are spiritually slaves they can neither understand nor enjoy temporal freedom. Jesus delivers all His people from the thraldom of sin and Satan. When Messiah “reigns in Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously,” “He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper.” A bright future is, therefore, in reserve for the oppressed nationalities of Europe; for the persecuted and oppressed of every clime.

4. Peace and happiness. Peace and prosperity are intimately connected. Without peace there can be no progress, no enjoyment, personal, domestic, or social. There can be no happiness to the man whose soul is filled with the tumult of contending passions, whose mind is agitated by fear, or distracted with doubt. There is no enjoyment in the family where alienation and strife reign. The kingdom or nation divided against itself will assuredly fall. Peace is thus of paramount importance; but unhappily it has long been banished from the world. The world has long been a scene of violence, of rapine, and of blood. There is no peace on its wide extent but that which prevails in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ gives peace to all His subjects--peace with God and peace with man. The enmity of the carnal mind is slain and a spirit of love imparted--love to God as Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and love to all His people. Such a disposition obtaining in the mind--such a spirit pervading society--peace will prevail, and harmony reign.

5. Universal. It has at all times baffled the highest efforts of human genius to establish a universal empire. The experience of Alexander in ancient, and of Napoleon in modern times, is proof positive on the point. The honour thus denied the most gifted of our race is reserved for Him who is “Prince of the kings of the earth.” There will never be a universal kingdom but that of Immanuel. We learn from the context, and kindred portions of Inspired Writ, that His empire will embrace all the kingdoms of men.

6. Eternal growth and decay is the order of nature. This holds good both in regard to the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Every plant and every animal, every species of organic existence has its period of development, its period of maturity, and its time of decline. The majestic oak, monarch of the forest, once grew as a tender sapling; gradually and slowly it attained its noble dimensions; after having lifted on high its head for ages, and shaking out its green drapery to the breeze, seeming to bid defiance to the lightnings of Heaven and fury of the blast, at length it becomes gnarled and bare, and yielding to the violence of the storm, falls prostrate on the ground. In like manner with man, lord of the animate creation. As with man individually, so with man collectively, so with nations. Nations as such have their rise, their growth, their maturity, and decline. Thus with all the celebrated kingdoms of antiquity. They all prevailed for a time, and maintained their proud supremacy, but at last the elements of decay contained in their constitution wrought their ruin. Christ’s Kingdom, however, though it had a commencement, and an increase, will never be destroyed, nor suffer a decline. It is free from all elements of dissolution. Sin is the cause of all death, national as well as individual. The Redeemer’s Kingdom is distinguished for holiness, hence it “shall never be destroyed,” but on the contrary, “shall stand for ever.” The wicked may plot its overthrow; but their devices will redound to their own confusion. Observe:

(1) This kingdom, though long organised, is still in a very immature state. It is still in its infancy every way considered, as regards extent knowledge, liberty, in all the qualities that give dignity and importance to any society. When it may attain its complete development is a subject of uncertainty.

(2) If the last dread conflict between Christ and Belial, light and darkness be not far distant, it is our duty to be preparing for the contest. Jehovah calls all to whom His gospel comes in its fulness and freeness to His help “against the mighty.” He works by human agency in the prosecution of His plans. (G. Stewart, M.A.)