Chapter IV.
THE KINGDOM
OFFERED
39
IN subject matter the division between the Old Testament and the New occurs
at the cross of Christ, rather than between Malachi and Matthew. The Gospels,
in the main, carry forward the same dispensational conditions that were
in effect at the hour when Christ was born. Especially is this true of
the Gospel of Matthew, Christ being set forth in that Gospel, first of
all, as a King with His kingdom in full view. The Spirit has faithfully
selected those deeds and teachings of Christ from the complete manifestation
in the flesh which portray Him in the dominant character reflected in
each Gospel.
In Matthew
He is presented as the King; in Mark as Jehovah’s servant; in Luke
as the perfect human; and in John as the very Son of God. In all these
narratives, this one Person is seen acting and teaching under the same
conditions which existed for centuries before the cross. There is some
anticipation of what would follow the cross as there is reference after
the cross to what had gone before. Whatever preceded the cross, in the
main, fell under those conditions and colorings of “the law which
came by Moses,” and Jesus not only held up Moses as the authority
for the time, but also expanded his teachings. A great division
40
between the Old Testament and the New, herefore, lies in the fact that
“grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,” and became effective
with the cross of Christ rather than with His birth.
Matthew opens
with an emphasis upon Christ as the Son of David: “The book of the
generation (genea, nationality or line of descent, cf. Mt. xxiv.
34) of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” Although,
in this Gospel, Jesus is presented as the “Son of Abraham”
in sacrificial death, the primary purpose of the writer is to set forth
the nation’s King. This being the only office that is ever assigned
to a “Son of David.” The tracing of the divinely appointed
kingdom thus proceeds from the Old Testament into the New without a change
other than the appearance of the long expected King, accompanied by His
forerunner, whose predicted ministry had occupied the closing words of
the Old Testament revelation. There is no break in the narrative.
The fact that
Jesus was David’s Greater Son, the fulfiller of all the nation’s
kingdom blessings is not based on human opinion. It was announced by the
angel Gabriel before the birth of Christ as recorded in Luke i. 31-33:
“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a
son, and shall call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called
the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
41
This treats distinctly
of the “Throne of David” over the “House of Jacob,”
and proclaims of this kingdom that “there shall be no end.”
No Gentile blessings are in view here; nor need the Gentiles seek to intrude.
Gentile blessings will eventually flow out of this very throne; but these
are not in view, nor are any Gentile blessings endangered by a faithful
recognition of this distinctly Jewish purpose. The same is clearly stated
in Rom. xv. 8: “Now this I say that Jesus Christ was a minister
of the circumcision (Israel) for the truth of God, to confirm the promises
made unto the fathers.” He did not come to annul those promises;
but He did come to confirm them. The promises made unto the fathers are
well defined: no promises were made to Gentiles. The term “the fathers”
can mean none other than God’s chosen men of Israel.
By these promises
Israel was to be redeemed and placed in her own land and that by Immanuel
who should be the final Prophet, Priest and King. He should be her King
over her covenanted kingdom. These promises made unto the fathers were
the nation’s only hope, as is clearly indicated: “We trusted
that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.” “Lord,
wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom unto Israel?”
In Christ,
then, the kingdom covenant made to David had its confirmation as well,
it being one of the promises made unto the fathers. How certainly that
covenant must stand to-day!
It is recorded
of Jesus that He was “born King
42
of the Jews” (Mt. ii. 2). To this throne He made final claim at
His trial (Mt. xxvii. 11). And under this accusation He suffered (Mt.
xxvii. 29) and died (Mt. xxvii. 37). One needs only to search the Scriptures
to discover the fact that He is never mentioned as King of the church,
nor King of the nations until He comes again as “King of kings,
and Lord of lords” (Rev. xix. 16). He fulfilled every prediction
that described Israel’s Messiah King and the manner of His coming,
at a time when all the records and genealogies were intact. He came of
the tribe of Judah, a Son of David, born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Judea.
Such claims could not then be made by an impostor without arousing the
violent opposition of the rulers of the nation. His claim to be King was
never challenged, so far as title was concerned. He met every prediction
concerning Israel’s Immanuel King. He was that King.
Four centuries
before the birth of Jesus Malachi had prophesied the coming of a forerunner
to the King: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn
the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children
to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse”
(Mal. iv. 5, 6). This had a certain fulfillment in John the Baptist according,
again, to angelic testimony: “But the angel said unto him, Fear
not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall
bear thee a son, and thou
43
shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many
shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the
Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled
with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the
children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go
before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just;
to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Lk. i. 13-17). Thus
also another Messianic claim was met in the faithful ministry of John.
The first
message of this divinely foreseen witness is recorded thus: “In
those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. iii.
1, 2). This, too, was the first message recorded of Christ: “From
that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand” (Mt. iv. 17). So, again, it was the only message
committed to His disciples when He first sent them forth to preach: “These
twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way
of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but
go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. x. 5-7).
This message,
it will be seen, had no application to Gentiles: The messengers were to
go “only to the lost sheep of
44
the house of Israel.” It can scarcely be unnoticed that while every
detail of the manner of their journey was subject to the most careful
instruction by the King, there is no record of instruction having been
given them as to the meaning of this first, or kingdom, message committed
to them. Evidently they did not need such instruction concerning the kingdom.
Had not the kingdom hope been passed from father to son for generations?
Had it not been sung to them at their mother’s knee? Had it not
been the one great theme of the synagogue instruction? Was it not their
national hope? How much in contrast to this was the prolonged inability
on the part of these same disciples to grasp, later on, the new message
and world-wide commission of the cross!
This focusing
of the testimony of Jesus, of John and of the disciples upon one solitary
message, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” places that message
under unusual emphasis and its actual meaning should be carefully considered.
The phrase
“The kingdom of heaven” is found only in Matthew, the Gospel
of the King, and there it appears with different shades of meaning. One
only of these shades of meaning is used in Chapters i. to xii. of this
Gospel. Here it seems to refer to the same earthly Davidic kingdom with
which the Old Testament had closed. As has been stated, whatever was meant
by this announcement of the “kingdom of heaven,” it was clearly
understood by the preachers who proclaimed it and by the hearers.
45
No other kingdom message could have thus been received by those people
in that day. So, also, it was addressed to one nation, Israel, and to
them as a whole, rather than to individuals. Thus the “kingdom of
heaven” as a message must ever be distinguished from the message
of the gospel of grace which came by the cross. The gospel of grace Israel,
as a nation, has never understood, and it is addressed to all peoples
and to them as individuals only. The message of the “kingdom of
heaven” as first set forth by Matthew had, therefore, a limited
and national meaning, — limited as to time of its application, because
a new message has come in; and national, because, for the time being,
it was addressed to Israel alone.
The message
of the “kingdom of heaven” did not concern itself so much
with the Person of the King as it did with His kingdom. But Israel had
never dreamed of a kingdom apart from the presence and power of the expected
King. Thus Jesus could say of Himself, in the light of the accepted close
relation between the Person of the King and His kingdom: “The kingdom
of God is within you” (“in the midst,” in the Person
of the King, Lk. xvii. 21). To assert the imminency of the kingdom was,
to them, to assert the imminency of the King.
This kingdom
message conforms in another respect, also, to the conditions of the Old
Testament kingdom. There must be a great national heart-turning, or repentance
to God as an
46
immediate preparation for the kingdom as seen in the Old Testament (Deut.
xxx. 1-3; Isa. xxiv. 7; Hos. iii. 4, 5; xiv. 7; Zech. xii. 10 –
xiii. 1; Mal. iii. 7). Repentance, therefore, became an imperative part
of the message concerning the imminency of the kingdom. So each of these
kingdom messengers called upon that nation to repent: “A generation
of vipers” must “bring forth fruits meet for repentance.”
They must turn about in heart as a condition of this covenanted kingdom
blessing. This they, by His grace, are yet to do, “in His time.”
It is to be regretted that this required national repentance of Israel
has been so often misapplied as a necessary preliminary step in an individual’s
salvation by Grace.
As certainly
as the message of the “kingdom of heaven” was a claim upon
the nation’s hope, so, also, the rule of life presented in connection
with this claim by both John the Baptist and Christ was in harmony with
the Old Testament kingdom rule of life. The kingdom as foreseen in the
Old Testament had ever in view the righteousness in life and conduct of
its subjects (Isa. xi. 3-5; xxxii. 1; Jer. xxiii. 6; Dan. ix. 24). The
“kingdom of heaven” as announced and offered in the early
part of Matthew’s Gospel is also accompanied with positive demands
for personal righteousness in life and conduct.
This is not
the principle of grace: it is rather the principle of law. It extends
into finer detail the law of Moses; but it never ceases to be the very
opposite of the principle of grace. Law
47
conditions its blessings on human works: Grace conditions its works on
divine blessings. Law says: “If ye forgive, ye will be forgiven,”
and in that measure only (Mt. vi. 14, 15): while grace says: “Forgiving
one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”
(Eph. iv. 32).
So, again,
law says: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of
heaven” (Mt. v. 20). This is not a present condition for entrance
into heaven. Present conditions are wholly based on mercy: “Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his mercy he saves
us“ (Titus iii. 5).
So the preaching
of John the Baptist, like the Sermon on the Mount, was on a law basis
as indicated by its appeal which was only for a correct and righteous
life: “Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized
of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath
to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin
not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say
unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
And now also the axe is laid unto the roots of the trees: every tree therefore
which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answered and
said unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath
none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came
48
also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we
do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed
you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall
we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any
falsely; and be content with your wages” (Lk. iii. 7-14).
This, like
the Sermon on the Mount, is an appeal for a righteous life and cannot
be confused with the present terms of salvation without nullifying the
grounds of every hope and promise under grace. The present appeal to the
unsaved is not for better conduct: it is for personal belief in, and acceptance
of, the Saviour. There are directions concerning the conduct of those
who are saved by trust in the Saviour; but these cannot be mixed with
the law conditions of the Old Testament, or the New, without peril to
souls.
Later on the
same people said to Christ: “What shall we do that we might work
the works of God?” and to this He replied: “This is the work
of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (Jno. vi. 28, 29).
John the Baptist looked forward to the blessings of grace when he said:
“Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world;”
but his immediate demands were in conformity with pure law, as were the
early teachings of Jesus. Thus the legal principles of conduct of the
Old Testament kingdom are carried forward into the revelations of the
same kingdom as it appears in the New Testament.
49
The right division of Scripture does not destroy these legal passages;
but it does fully classify them with the other Scriptures relating to
the kingdom, both in the Old Testament and the New. There are many elements
found in this body of truth that indicate the required manner of life
in the kingdom which will be found likewise under the consistent walk
in grace; but whatever is carried forward to be a life-governing principle
under grace is there restated in its own place and with its own new emphasis.
Thus the two widely differing systems are meant to be kept distinct in
the mind of the faithful student of God’s Word.
It should
be borne in mind that the legal kingdom requirements as stated in the
Sermon on the Mount are meant to prepare the way for, and condition life
in, the earthly Davidic kingdom when it shall be set up upon the earth,
and at that time when the kingdom prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” has been answered. These
kingdom conditions appear in the early ministry of Jesus since He was
at that time faithfully offering the Messianic kingdom to Israel.
It has been
objected that such stipulations as “resist not evil;” “if
one shall smite you on the one cheek;” “one shall compel you
to go a mile;” and “persecutions for righteousness’
sake,” could not be possible in the kingdom. This challenge may
be based upon a supposition that the earthly Messianic kingdom is to be
as morally perfect as
50
heaven. On the contrary, the Scriptures abundantly testify that, while
there will be far less occasion to sin, for the sufficient reason that
Satan is then bound and in a pit and the glorious King is on His throne,
there will be need of immediate execution of judgment and justice in the
earth, and even the King shall rule, of necessity, with a “rod of
iron.” It is said that “all Israel shall be saved” and
“all shall know the Lord from the least even unto the greatest;”
but it is also revealed that at the end of that millennium, when Satan
is loosed for a little season, he is still able to solicit the allegiance
of human hearts and to draw out of the multitudes within the kingdom an
army for rebellion against the government of the King (Rev. xx. 7-9).
In that kingdom age “a sinner being an hundred years old shall be
cursed” (Isa. lxv. 20). The saints of that age will doubtless have
heaven before their eyes and be looking there for their reward. And they
will be the “salt of the earth.” These kingdom commands and
principles were given to Israel only and it is that same distinct nation
that shall stand first in that kingdom when it is set up in the earth.
Jesus was first “a minister to the circumcision,” and is it
an unnatural interpretation of Scripture to understand that He was performing
this divinely appointed ministry at that very time when He was offering
the kingdom to that nation and when He, with His forerunner, was depicting
the principles of conduct that should
51
condition life in that kingdom? Nothing is lost by such an interpretation;
on the contrary, everything is gained, for the riches of grace, which,
alas, so few apprehend, are thus kept pure and free from an unscriptural
mixture with the kingdom law.
It may be
concluded that the term “kingdom of heaven” as used in the
early ministry of Jesus referred to the Messianic, Davidic, earthly kingdom
seen in the Old Testament. As has been noted, the Jewish preachers needed
no instruction in the details of that message. It was the hope of their
nation, and it was addressed to that nation alone. So, also, an appeal
was made with this message for the anticipated national, repentance which
must precede the setting up of their kingdom in the earth, and the requirements
set forth were legal rather than gracious. Israel’s kingdom was
faithfully offered to them by their King at His first appearing.
*
* *
<—
Previous chapter
Next
chapter —>
The
Kingdom in History and Prophecy, Chapter 4,
was originally published by the
Sunday School Times Company, 1021 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA.
Copyright 1915. 4th Edition, 1919. Public domain.
Top
|
