The Kingdom and the Church
The Kingdom and the Church THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH
By Reuel Lemmons Of all the interests which have engaged the attention of humanity, religion has proven itself the most powerful, the most inspiring and the most lasting. Amid all the affairs of life with which men have concerned themselves,, there has ever been, above all els.e, the persistent sense of relationship with higher power. The best product of every mind is essentially religious. In the Christian system God is recognized as the Supreme Counsellor of the soul; Jesus as the Savior and Guide; and his word as the anchor of the soul in its struggles. In a correct understanding of religious principles, I had rather be right than be president. The environs of Christianity stretch so far beyond this present world that to be wrong would be disastrous. I have no joy in being right, just because it is right, but because the salvation of my soul depends upon my being right. If I am not right I am lost. Since the Bible is God’s only revealed method of setting men right in religious matters, then to the Bible we must go for authority in discussing the subject, ‘'The Kingdom and the Church.”
God inspired some holy men of old to write this book for the human race. When the scratch of the last pen could be heard no longer and the last of the ink had dried upon the pages, man had received his greatest legacy. Nothing has ever equaled it. Nothing ever shall. It is perfect; it is supreme. I’m glad God has given man this book—he needs something so badly by which to guide his wandering feet. History wouldn’t be so beautiful if it were composed only of the lists of bloodthirsty country makers and breakers and their gory deeds, but to find it dotted here and there by accounts of godly men drawing humanity from the path of ruin is like finding a diamond on a rocky hill. With like yearning wre approach it today, in an effort to settle a question which is rapidly growing in proportions—namely "Are the Kingdom of God and the Church of our Lord one, or do they differ to such an extent that they are not one?”
I am conscious of the fact that in this lecture I shall be forced to touch upon subjects covered thoroughly by men who have preceded me, and men who will follow me on this program. This I must do in order that this subject may have the resemblance of completeness within itself. I recognize that no one of these lectures can stand, independent of others, but that each is a part of an entire discussion. At those points where this subject is inter-linked with other addresses I have tried to touch lightly, leaving a complete discussion of them to others. As a starting point in this discussion let us turn to the first chapter of the book of Revelation, reading verses 4 to 6 inclusive. "John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven spirits that are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first born from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood; and he made us, to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; unto him be glory and the dominion forever and ever.” In this text, you will notice that John addresses himself to the “churches,” and then, addressed to thes,e same churches, he says, “Christ has made us to be a kingdom.” Here we have the two words of our subject in the same text and referring to the same group of people. These verses within themselves should show any reasonable person that the terms “church” and “kingdom” are here used synonomous- ly. The terms are also used thus in another place. In Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus ended his conversation with Peter thus: “And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven . . .” Here again the two terms are used in the same breath, with the same meaning. In the midst of this passage in Revelation, which we have read, Jesus is called “a faithful witness” and “the first born from the dead.” Let us, keep these terms in mind, as Jesus will be the witness most frequently called upon during this les-son. By the word “kingdom” I mean the kingdom of heaven, also called the “kingdom of God,” and the “kingdom of Christ.” In his comments upon the last passover, Jesus s.aid (Luke 22:29-30) “And I appoint unto you a kingdom as my father hath appointed unto me; that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.’’ In recording by divine inspiration the same scene, Matthew says in chapter 26:29, “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Now these men were guided “into all truth” and both of them, describing the same conversation from the same set of lips. Thus Jesus himself used the terms “My kingdom” and “My Father’s kingdom” interchangeably.
Mark reports that Jesus came into Galilee preaching, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). Matthew reports (Matthew 4:17) that Jesus withdrew into Galilee and “Began to preach and to say, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Thus the same lips use these three terms interchangeably. By the church, I refer to the “heavenly Jerusalem,” also called the “church of God” and the “church of the first-born.” In Hebrews 12:22-23 we read, “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born.” Thus we see that the heavenly Jerusalem and the church of the first-born are one. Paul says in Colossians 1:18 that Christ is the first-born. Hence, the heavenly Jerusalem and Christ’s church are one. In Acts 20:28 the same institution is called the “church of God.” “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Hence these three titles, as well as others, all refer to the same church. Then, the kingdom and the church belong to Christ, to God, and to heaven. This in its,elf identifies them as one. In discussing the church and the kingdom, I propose to discuss only the New Testament, or “last days” phase of the subject. God has always had a priesthood. That priesthood Melchizedek held for a brief space in the days in which Abraham dwelt in Canaan. That same priesthood Jesus Christ holds today according to Hebrews 6:20. Likewise God has always had a kingdom and a throne. David, in Psalms 45:6 says, “Thy throne, 0 Lord, is, forever and ever.” God from that throne ruled over men until the days of Saul. In 1 Samuel 12:12-13 we read, “And when ye saw that Nahash, the king of the children of Ammon, came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us; when the Lord your God was your king. Now, therefore, behold the king which ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you.”
David sat upon that same throne, and after him Solomon. And after Solomon sat a long line of kings of the tribe of Judah. Finally, because of the wickedness of Coniah, God had the prophet Jeremiah pronounce the curse recorded in Jeremiah 22:30. Thus saith the Lord, “Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days, for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” So God took away the throne which he had given to Israel in the days of Samuel and Saul. He solemnly promised that none of the descendants of Coniah should ever sit on that throne in Judah, yet Matthew lists Jesus as a descendant of Coniah. This one statement forever brands the theory of the personal return and reign of Christ over the earth from Jerusalem in Judah for a thousand years as purely the fictitious product of speculative minds.
In due time, Jesus was, born in Bethlehem of Judea —born to be king—to sit upon the throne of David, but not born to sit upon a literal throne in the city of Jerusalem in Judah. That throne had been removed from the earth since the days of Coniah and God had promised that none should ever sit on it in Judah either now or after the resurrection.
I have presented these things to show that in s,ome sense of the term, God has always had a church and always had a kingdom, and that the two have always held the identicl spot in God's plan. However in this lecture we are concerned with that kingdom and that church as they were given to Jesus, Christ upon his ascension to the right hand of God.
Jesus did not receive his kingdom until after his death. Even as Joseph of Arimathea sought permission to bury the body, he “looked for the kingdom . (Mark 15:42). In the first chapter of Acts, as, the disciples stood with the risen Christ on a little hill outside Jerusalem, and asked, “Lord, doth thou now at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus had not yet received the kingdom. It had not yet been restored. While these disciples watched, in the next instant after this very question, Jesus was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. While their human and finite vision had to end with the underneath side of a cloud, the eye of the prophet Daniel pierced the mists and saw “one like unto the Son of man came wi^h the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him, and there was, given unto him dominion, and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14). The apostle Paul does not leave us in doubt as to when Jesus received his church, or became head of it. Hear him: “ . . . the working of the strength of his might which he (God) wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is, to come; and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph) Herein is conclusive evidence that Jesus Christ received the kingdom and the church at the same time —namely when he ascended to the right hand of God, and was clothed and crowned with power. Thus, Jesus became head of the church and king of the kingdom at the same instant and by the same process. They must be one.
We can approach one step nearer to an infallible conclusion by finding that the kingdom and the church entered their New Testament phase at the same place, in the same instant and by the same process, and were composed of the same subjects. Jesus told his hearers, in Mark 9:1 : “There are some here of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death, until they see the kingdom come with power.” The kingdom was to come with power during their lifetime. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told them, “ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is, come upon you . . . So then they were to receive the power when the Spirit came; but the kingdom was to come when the power came. Again in Acts 2:4 we read, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” It is the day of Pentecost. The Spirit comes. The power was to come with it. The kingdom was to come with the power. Therefore the kingdom came on Pentecost. Jesus went away to receive it at the hands of the Father. He did receive it, and the day of Pentecost was, infalible proof. On the other hand, I find that Jesus promised Peter that he would build his church (Matthew 16:18). That church being based upon a (new) testament, it could not have been built before his death, for the writer of Hebrews 9:16 f says, “For where a testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him that made it, for a testament is, of force after that men are dead, for it doth never avail while he that made it liveth.” Again, the church could not have belonged to Jesus for Paul said that he purchased it with his blood (Acts 20:28). It was not his until it was purchased by him, and he purchased the church with his blood. The last verse of Acts , 2 refers to the Lord adding to the church, which was then in existence. In it were apostles, prophets, teachers, etc. which Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:28, were set in the church. One has only to read the second chapter of Acts to see the “setting in” of these men. Thus the church and the kingdom were ,set in operation under Jesus the Christ at the same place, in the same instant, and by the same process, and was composed of the same subjects,. They must be one.
Thus far we have shown that the kingdom and the church are in actual existence now; that Christ is the head of both of them; that he received the positions at the same instant, by the s.ame process, and that the kingdom and the church began simultaneously, at the same spot, and by the same process. Soon after the creation, God decreed that every thing should produce after its own kind. That law, all the realm of nature respects. That same law is true with respect to the production of the kingdom. Jesus said in Luke 8:10-11, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to the rest in parables; that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.” The seed produces the kingdom. One produced by the seed would be a citizen of the kingdom.
Yet Peter says (1 Peter 1:23), “Ye are begotten again not of corruptible seed but by incorruptible, through the word of God. . .” If the seed of the kingdom produces the kingdom, then those to whom Peter wrote were all a part of the kingdom. Yet he refers to them as the “elect,” “obedient children,” “spiritual house,” “holy priesthood,” “a people called out of darkness into light,” “brethren,” and other titles, all of which are us.ed elsewhere in God’s word as descriptive of the church. The seed does not produce two different plants. No grain of wheat planted leaves the sower in doubt as to whether there will spring forth a stalk of wheat or of corn. It would be unreasonable to suppose that the seed of the kingdom, when s.own, might produce the kingdom, or on the other hand it might produce something entirely different — the church. The. seed of the kingdom is the only thing under heaven that can be sown and the church produced. If the church is produced then the seed of the church was sown, according to God’s law in Genesis,. If the church is produced by the seed, and the kingdom is produced by the same seed, then the two products of that seed are not two but one.
Every element necessary to produce the kingdom is present with us, today. We have the seed of the kingdom, which Jesus said, in Luke 8, “is the heart of man.” We have the field, which Jesus, in Matthew 13:38, identified as the world. So we have the field, the soil in the field, and the seed. Now when the seed was sown, results were produced. Jesus said in Luke 8:15 that some “brought forth fruit with patience.” So then the seed, or word of God is planted in the soil, or heart of man, in the field, this present world, and the result is a citizen of the kingdom.
Likewise the identical elements make the existence of the church in the world possible. Paul, in writing to “the church of God which is at Corinth,” said, “Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:1). Here we have the essential elements. The field, or world; the soil or heart; the seed, or gospel; a combination of which Paul s,ays produced the “church of God which is at Cornith.” The same elements are necessary for the existence of the kingdom and the church, and by the identical process they both are expanded. They are not two but one.
Paul sowed the seed of the kingdom and produced the churches in Asia. In writing to the church at Colossse, Paul spoke of the Father “who hath delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love” (Colossians 1:17), which kingdom we found in the beginning to be ihe kingdom of God and of heaven. So, then, all the Colossian churches were also in the kingdom. Again the writer of Hebrews says that all of them had come unto “the church of the first born,” yet in Hebrews 12:28, he tells them that they have received a kingdom that cannot be moved. So then, all who were in the church to whom the book of Hebrews was addressed were also recipients of the kingdom. In Revelation 1, John, addressing himself to “the seven churches that are in Asia,” said in verse 9, “I, John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus . . .” So all who were in the seven churches in Asia were to a man in the kingdom also. To be in the kingdom is to be in the church, and to be in the church is to be in the kingdom. Show me any man in the New Testament age, and prove to me that he was in the kingdom, and I will prove by the same process that he was in the church. Show me one man in the New Testament church, and prove him to be a member thereof, and I will by the same process show that he is a citizen of the kingdom.
Why they even went by the same names,. In 1 Corinthians 15:1 Paul spoke of those who were with him in the church as “brethren.” John, in Revelation 1:9, speaks of those who were in the kingdom with him as “brethren.” Paul calls those at Colossie who were in the kingdom “saints,” and uses the very same term to identify those who were in the “church o£ God which is at Corinth.” These titles and others do not describe two different sets of people. They refer to one people. That people comprises the church. That same people comprises, the kingdom.
It may also be noticed that the same method of entrance places one in the kingdom and in the church. In John 3:3-5 Jesus told Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, “Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his, mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except one be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” So, one enters the kingdom by way of the new birth. Yet Peter, in 1 Peter 1:23, says that those whom he calls “spir-itual house” in 2:5 had been born again. Now the writer of Hebrews speaks of the “spiritual house” as, the church in Hebrews 3:6. So then, all who were in the church were there by virtue of having been born into it. Yet Jesus explains that one gets into the kingdom by being born again. So then, the same birth places one in the kingdom and in the church. One could not then be born into the kingdom and not be born into the church. Thus it is impossible for one to get into one without getting into the other. So then, they must be one institution and not two.
Paul further wrote to those Colossians who had been “translated into the kingdom,” that they had ‘put off the old man with his deeds, and had put on the new man. . .” (Colossians 3:9-10). The same writer, writing to the church at Ephesus in chapter 4, verses 22 24, says to those who were in the church. “. . .Ye put away . .. the old man .. . and put on the new man.” So then one does exactly the same thing when he enters the kingdom that he does when he entersl the church.
Furthermore, every single attribute of character required of one who is a citizen of the kingdom is required of the member of the church with the identical degree of quality. Every duty demanded of one in the kingdom is also demanded of one in the church. Whatever the prophets, or the writers in the New Testament, said concerning the character of Jesus could just as easily have been spoken concerning the character of either the man in the kingdom or the man in the church. A good example of this reasoning is found in Matthew 25. Jesus there, under the figure of a kingdom shows the good and the bad of all the earth drawn before him in judgment. Beginning with verse 34 we have, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink . . .” Then he enumerates the things, they had done, by virtue of which they were receiving- their reward. Yet each of those things was a work expressly commanded of the church by the apostles,. Thus these people received a reward in the kingdom for doing what was commanded of the church. Jes,us further makes this contention clear by referring to those people as “these my brethren.” The term brethren is used extensively to designate the relationship of those in the church. In this instance, Jesus evidently did not make a distinction between the church and the kingdom. If he did not, what right have we to make such a distinction ?
Christ’s method of ruling his kingdom and his church is one method. He reigns over the kingdom by or through his truth. He governs the church by the same truth. James wrote to those who were “heirs of the kingdom” that they were “brought forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). And again, Peter, writing to the church said “wherefore seeing' ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth . . .” So Jesus uses the same truth in exactly the same way to govern both the kingdom and the church. They must be the same institution.
Undoubtedly worship is carried on in both the kingdom and the church. Yet there is only one acceptable brand of worship. Jesus says in John 4:23, “The hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” Those in the kingdom and those in the church then must worship in the same spirit and according to the same truth. If there was the slightest difference between them, this could not be true. Every true worshipper is both in the kingdom and in the church for the two are one.
Considering for a moment the structure of each, we find that also to be identical. These five things are necessary for the existence of a kingdom: (1) a king, (2) a kingdom, (3) subjects,, (4) law, (5) authority. Those live things are present. Christ is that king (1 Timothy 6:15). He has a kingdom now (Colossians 1:13). He has subjects in that kingdom now (Revelation 1:9). We are under a royal law (James 2:8). The Son of man has dominion over that kingdom which was given him (Daniel 7:14).
Likewise for the existence of a church five things, are necessary: (1) a head, (2) a body, (3) members of that body, (4) a law, (5) authority. These five things are present. Christ is head of the church (Ephesians 1:22). The church is the body (Ephesians 1:23). We are members of the body (1 Corinthians 12:27). We are under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). Christ has authority to execute his law in the church (John 5:27). So then, both church and kingdom are struc-turally one. Jesus, in Matthew 28:18, proclaimed that all authority in heaven and earth were given unto him. Yet James speaks of his law as singular. So then, both the church and the kingdom are subject to the same law.
Furthermore, within the kingdom, Jesus promised his apostles that they should “sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes, of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). These apostles were to rule with him in his kingdom. Yet these apostles were given the very same position in the church, when he commissioned them to “go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. . . .” (Matthew 28:19-20). So we find that the church and the kingdom are one from the dawn of prophesy until the end of eternity. The speech of the prophets had tickled the ears of the human race for generations, and turned anxious eyes, toward some future day, which according to Jehovah God should be designated as the “last days.” Isaiah said, in Isaiah 2:2-3, “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up unto the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways and we shall walk his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Isaiah here says that the “Lord’s house” or “Zion” s.hall be established in the last days. In Hebrews 12:22, we find that we have come unto that house and to that Zion, which the writer says is the “church of the firs.t born.” So then, the church in prophecy was to be established in the last days. Joel likewise prophesied concerning the happenings of the last days. Peter informs us on Pentecost that Joel’s prophecy is here fulfilled. Yet we have shown earlier in this lecture that there can be no doubt but that the kingdom had its beginning in that moment that Peter said Joel had prophesied of. Thus we find that the kingdom was also to be a product of the last days. That both the church and the kingdom was to fill the same territory is, clearly demonstrated. In the dream of the King of Babylon, a stone, cut out of the mountain without hands, fell down and smote the image upon its feet and “became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel says that this stone was the kingdom (Daniel 2:44). Thus the kingdom was to spread into all the earth.
Jesus, in Matthew 13, shows the growth of the kingdom to be like that of a mustard seed, which, being the smallest of grains, became the largest of trees. He also used the parable of the leaven to demonstrate the expansion of the kingdom. Now let us trace briefly the expansion of the church. From the smallest of beginnings on the day of Pentecost, it spread from Jerusalem into Judea, Samaria, and then into the continents of the earth and the islands of the sea. From East to West and from pole to pole the gospel is carried. The seed is sown. Whenever and wherever one becomes obedient to it that one becomes a Christian or a member of the Lord’s church. Thus it can be easily seen that the expansion of the boundaries of the church so as to include all peoples, nations, races, and tongues, in all ages of the last days fulfills perfectly every prophecy dealing with the expansion of the kingdom.
Daniel spoke concerning the endurance of the king-dom that it “shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to another people . . . and it shall stand forever.” Jesus, in a parallel prophecy, recorded in Matthew 16:18, says of the church, “on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades s.hall not prevail against it.” If Jesus here spoke the truth, then the church is everlasting also. It follows that if the church and the kingdom are two distinct institutions, each of which is eternal in duration, then there must be two heavens to contain them, or else a partition put up to divide them. Since all our information concerning the glory world mentions only one innumerable host over there where God and angels dwell, we must conclude that there will be no distinction there between those who were in the church and those who were in the kingdom. If there is no distinc-tion there, there is no distinction here.
We have the promise of Paul that Jesus will reign over his, kingdom until the last enemy is put under his feet, and the last enemy to be put under his feet is death (1 Corinthians 15:25 f). In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 we are informed that death will be destroyed by the ressur- rection, for the dead shall arise and the living be changed. At that time, according to verse 24, Jesus will deliver up the kingdom to the Father.
Now on the other hand I find that Christ is to be head over the church until he comes, for that church. Paul wrote to the “church of the Thessalonians” (1 Thessalonians 1:1) telling them that, “we . . . shall be caught up . . . to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Then I find further that “Christ hath reconciled you through the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unreprovable before him” (Colossians 1:22). Now we see that Christ is to present the church, just as he presents the kingdom, at the same time, to the Father. He doesn’t perform a double duty in this respect. In any action there is a purpose. Every intelligent deed of ours has some definite purpose behind it. It would be unreasonable to think that God had no purpose back of what he did. In all God’s creation it is easy to see that he had the welfare of his creature, man, in mind. When man sinned, God’s purpose for his eternal happiness was thwarted. Immediately God set about to effect man’s return that the eternal abode of the soul should not be left uninhabited. God so announced his intentions to Eve, promising that her seed should bruise the serpent’s head. That eternal purpose God kept hidden from the world until the days of Jesus. Paul says, in Ephesians 3:5, that that mystery is “now made known to his apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” He further says in verse 10 that the manifold wisdom of God is made known by the church. Thus we find that the church was, God’s instrument through which to. attain his eternal purpose.. But on the other hand, Jesus has promised to “gather out of the kingdom those that offend, and they shall be burned” (Matthew 13:41). Therefore the kingdom is also God’s instru-ment through which to attain his eternal purpose.
Now it is unreasonable to believe that God has two methods in operation at the same time through which to attain his purpose.. God does not deal that way. Their objects, on earth are the same. There is no logical reason for a difference in the two. They accomplish exactly the same purpose. Since these things are true, the church and the kingdom must be the same institution.
These conclusions within themselves would refute any possible acceptance of the theory that the church is simply the “vestibule” of the kingdom; or of the theory that the kingdom does not now exist, but will begin when the church ends. I can see no reason for such an idea outside the fact that in order to court the speculative fancies of materialistic religionisms concerning the literal existence of a literal thousand literal years of a literal reign of Jesus on a literal throne in the literal city of Jerusalem, such a distinction must be made. If the arguments presented herein do prove the church and kingdom to be one and the same, then there is no possibility for the existence of s,uch a future kingdom. If, on the other hand, they are wholely false, then there might possibly be some way of getting an earthly reign of a thousand years, if such an idea were acceptable to God, and if there were any conceivable reason for it.
Rightly, Jesus referred to the church or kingdom as, a pearl of great price. In it is exemplified and commanded all the pure and good and holy. It is set against all evil and all sin. The progress of the race is but living testimony to its power and greatness. Prophets, priests, kings and singers have ex- toled its glory, growth, and praise. Every reference in prophecy to Jesus the Christ found its greatness in the fact that he established the kingdom or church. All that God now does for man is done through it, and all that man hopes to attain in eternity is brought within his grasp by it. In it is symbolized the joy and purity of immortal glory. When shadows fade, clouds all pass, and trials cease, then shall the pearl of great price shine forth in regal splendor and glory. It is worth a man’s forsaking all that he might possess it. Of all the creations of God, the kingdom or church is the most beautiful. Though God made the lily, its, garments are not so fair as the robes of the redeemed. The solidity of a granite peak, towering like a sentinel above surrounding hills cannot be compared to the immobility of that kingdom that time cannot affect and that man cannot destroy. Even the ending of time cannot sweep it away. And God’s glorious people—the “ekklesia” of every nation and every age! Spirit filled! Garments washed white in the blood of the Lamb! An invincible host! Redeemed! Purchased! Forgiven! Sons! Heirs! Partakers, of light! Saints! Angels! A heavenly building, and a holy priesthood. What an honor and privilege to share with saints and martyrs the distinction of being a part of God’s glorious kingdom! Indeed it is a foretaste of heaven itself!
Today we stand in God’s “holy place” offering up our daily sacrifices, awaiting with anticipation the time when life’s whippoorwills shall call and not in vain—the time when the Great Reaper—no longer grim—shall fold each child of God into his earthen trundle-bed; and each shall sleep in peace, awaiting the day when the unequivocal finger of God rubs out the hills and vales of time, and the righteous dead, like a million daisies, spring from bursting tombs to join the heaven bound host. There in the solemnity of that divine tribunal to have the nail pierced hands of our crucified King, press down the crown that fadeth not away upon our immortalized brow, and then with saints of earth through centuries past gather of one accord in one place, in sweet communion while ages roll in an undivided assembly that shall never be dismissed.