My Kingdom is not of this World
From Signs of the
Times—November 1, 1845.
Thus
spake the Son of God when mantled in the flesh. He stood arraigned at the bar of
Pilate; and when, if there had been anything in the elements of this world which
could contribute to the defense or benefit of His kingdom, they must have been
called into action. All the interests of the kingdom which He claimed as His
own, centered in Him, and the destiny of the kingdom, for weal or woe, was at
that important moment hinged upon the result of what was at that time
progressing.
None of the princes of
this world knew Him; He had not made a revelation of what He was, even to those
who sat empowered to deliver Him to death. He had not labored in His ministry to
make Himself familiar to the crowned heads of the nations of the earth. He had
proposed no treaties or terms of alliance with them; not had He called on them,
or any of them, to propose terms for His acceptance; for the nature of His
kingdom was so radically different from every kingdom under heaven, that it was
not possible that an alliance could be entered into that could subserve the true
interests of either party. His kingdom truly was destined to encounter the
violence, enmity, wrath, strife, and persecution of kingdoms of men, both in her
King and in the subjects of her government.
The powers which should
oppose Him in person and in His people were not such as He was compelled to
succumb to for what of power to resist, for He reminded Pilate that he would not
have had any power, if it had not been given him; and on another occasion He
declared that He was able to call on His Father, who would instantly honor His
requisition for more than twelve legions of angels—a force sufficient to
overwhelm all earthly powers engaged against Him; but how, in that case, could
the Scriptures be fulfilled? Not an intimation was made of raising up an earthly
force to resist the assaults of the enemies of His kingdom, even if a force had
been requisite, He would have called from the heavenly world.
We may well conclude, that
if in that most trying hour, when His holy soul was pressed within Him, He had
nothing to ask of the rulers of this world, there never could a period arrive
when the powers of earthly princes should be required to defend Him or His
cause. To those who tempted Him with their questions concerning tribute money,
He said, “Render unto Caesar the things which belong to Caesar, and unto God the
things which belong to God,” (Mark 12:17); thus clearly intimating that the
governments were not only distinct from each other, but that the distinction
should be perpetual; and that the requisitions of Caesar, or of the governments
of the nations, had to do with men as citizens of the world, and that their
obligation to earthly magistrates and rulers was not relaxed nor abolished by
the administration of His laws. And again, that the things of God were not to be
rendered to Caesar, but unto God.
Things of a civil nature,
relating to the natural rights of men, were to be settled by God’s own
providential appointment, by human legislation; but the things aside from a
respect for and obedience to earthly potentates, in natural matters, belonging
to God, such as matters of faith, of conscience, of religion, were not things
over which the kings of the earth had any supervision or power, and things in
which His subjects were not at liberty under any circumstances, to submit to the
dictation or legislation of any other than God Himself.
The
The laws for the
regulation of this heavenly kingdom are not of earthly enactment. Christ the
anointed of the Father, is the sole Legislator, and he, by His Spirit, writes
his law upon, and sets it up in the hearts of his children. The elements, or
component parts, viewed separately or collectively, are all of God, and every
plant that the heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.
The provision on which
this kingdom is sustained, were given us in Christ Jesus before the foundation
of the world, and being prior to, could not be of the world. Grace, mercy,
peace, righteousness, and truth, with all things else necessary for the
commandment of the everlasting and unchanging decree of God, were treasured up
in the Head of the church before the world began; and all the provisions of His
spiritual house on which His poor are fed, were brought down from the abounding
and overflowing fountain from which every good and perfect gift comes. And He
will abundantly bless her provisions and fill her with bread.
The policy of this kingdom
is from above. “For our conversation is in heaven,” and it is therefore as
becomes the children of God. All earthly religions have to depend on human
policy, human wisdom, and humanly devised means; but not so with the kingdom
which no man can see except he be born again.
The
protection of that kingdom is of him who is a wall of fire round about it, and
the glory in its midst. All anti-christian religious establishments desire the
arm of human government—regal power, and human means for their protection; but
not so with the
All provisions on which
the subjects of the kingdom of our Lord are fed, comforted, instructed, and
secured, are spiritual, and therefore cannot emanate from any but a spiritual
fountain. Although the world, the flesh and Satan have volunteered like the
aliens about Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah, to furnish God’s people with
food, the order of the government forbids the traffic with them; and it is
impossible that the children of the kingdom should be fed with any other food
than that which God has graciously provided, and abundantly blessed.
Should the government of the kingdom of our Redeemer be to any extent divided
with angels or men, whatever part or portion these should administer, must
necessarily detract so much from the power and glory of Christ. “The government
shall be upon his shoulder; and of the increase of his government and peace
there shall be no end, (Luke 1:33)” So stands the record of the Holy One. The
subjects of His government are forbidden to call any man, master, or father, as
their Master and spiritual Progenitor is in heaven, and nothing can be born of
the flesh but flesh; so that without being born again, no man can see the
The destiny of the kingdom
of which we write, differs essentially from that of all other kingdoms. The best
systems of human government are destined to crumble to the ground. In the
providence of God, empires are founded, kingdoms and republics are raised up,
they reach their climax, and then decline, and finally cease to be reckoned
among the things that be; but the kingdom of Jesus is an everlasting kingdom,
and a dominion that shall never end. It shall never be changed, superseded, or
transferred to other hands. The mountains shall depart, the hills shall be
moved, the earth and the sea shall pass away, and all the elements of this world
shall be dissolved, but the kingdom of our God shall survive them all, and
flourish in eternal bloom. How presumptuous then, for monarchs of the earth,
whose transient glory is as a withering flower, or human legislatures which God
shall obliterate, to prepare the way of the rising empire of His to reach forth
the guilt-polluted fingers of their power, to point out the course in which God
requires His children to move.
Seeing, then, that we look
for such things—seeing that we have received a kingdom which is not of this
world, which cannot be moved—let us have grace whereby we may serve God
acceptably, with reverence and godly fear; for our God is a consuming fire.
