Australasian Signs of the Times, vol. 18

July 6, 1903

“The Kingdom of Christ” Australasian Signs of the Times 18, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

Will the kingdom of Christ be established on this earth before His coming in glory? We sometimes hear it spoken of as though it could be advanced by civil power. Yet in Luke 19:11-27, Christ likens Himself to one who goes to a far country to receive his kingdom. BEST July 6, 1903, par. 1

When Christ was before Pilate He said, “My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence.” John 18:36 Christ did not refrain from fighting because His following was too small to cope with the Roman Government; for each one of His loyal disciples, together with Himself, could have had a legion of angels at His back. Matthew 26:53. But His kingdom was not of this world, and He could not use earthly power. The using of force would have been His ruin, for He Himself said, “They that take the sword, shall perish with the sword.” BEST July 6, 1903, par. 2

There was a time when the disciples and all the people were going to take Jesus by force to make Him King, and if He had consented, the whole Jewish nation would have flocked to His standard; but He would not listen to the proposition. Surely if the kingdom of Christ could be advanced by civil power, then was the time to make use of it. The fact that Christ would have nothing to do with it, shows what He expects of His followers. By allowing Himself to be betrayed into the hands of wicked men, and suffering the cruel death of the cross, Christ showed how only His kingdom can be gained and advanced. Because of the suffering of death, He was crowned with glory and honour. Let none of the professed servants of Christ think to gain the kingdom in a different manner. To make each an attempt is to deny Christ, and to make His sufferings of no account. Men have nothing to do with giving Christ His kingdom. All they are called upon to do is to yield themselves to the Holy Spirit, that they may be fashioned into fit subjects for the kingdom which the Lord God will give unto Him. True “the government shall be upon His shoulder,” but it is “the zeal of the Lord of hosts” that is to give it to Him. Isaiah 9:6, 7. The Father has sworn to give unto Him the heathen for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession (Psalm 2:7, 8); but when He receives them it is that He may dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. But He will do it in person, and not by deputy. BEST July 6, 1903, par. 3

“COMING IN HIS KINGDOM”

Christ Himself showed how and when He was to receive His kingdom. He spoke a parable for the benefit of those who thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He likened Himself to a nobleman who “went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.” And it came to pass that when he was returned, having received the kingdom,” etc. Luke 19:11-27. Christ has now gone to that far country to receive the kingdom. The receiving of it is described in Daniel 7:13, 14. When He comes the second time, He will come in His kingdom. Then He will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon them that know not God. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9. Then will those that would not have Him to rule over them be slain before Him,-“punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.” And when He shall have destroyed all the wicked, “then shall the righteous shine, forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Matthew 13:43. “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” BEST July 6, 1903, par. 4

Christ is now sitting upon His Father’s throne (Revelation 3:21), reigning as a priest, and devising peace for His people. Zechariah 6:12, 13. He is the “one Mediator between God and men.”1 Timothy 2:5. He is Mediator between God and men, not between God and nations. Moreover His authority as Mediator is not that of compulsion, but that of love and entreaty. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; it any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20. BEST July 6, 1903, par. 5

“In the Wilderness” Australasian Signs of the Times 18, 27.

E. J. Waggoner

When the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt it was “that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws.” Psalm 105:45. Accordingly when they murmured on account of hunger in the wilderness, a few weeks after leaving Egypt, the Lord said unto Moses, BEST July 6, 1903, par. 6

“Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or know.” Exodus 16:4. BEST July 6, 1903, par. 7

Read the entire chapter, and you will find that the people were to go out and gather manna each morning for that day. They were to leave none of it until the next morning, for if they did it would breed worms, and be offensive. On the sixth day of the week, however, they were to gather twice as much as on other days, and the extra portion was to be kept over for the next day’s use, since on the seventh day of the week none fell. And although it was ordinarily impossible to keep the manna overnight, without its utterly spoiling, no such trouble was experienced on the seventh day, for on that day they found that what remained over from the preceding day was sweet and good for food. BEST July 6, 1903, par. 8

“And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” Exodus 16:27-29. BEST July 6, 1903, par. 9

From this it appears that the Sabbath is the test of whether or not men will keep the law of God. Whoever will keep the Sabbath in spirit and in truth will keep whole law of God. Whoever refuses to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, thereby shows that his apparent obedience to any of the requirement of the Lord is not out of reverence to God, but because of some selfish motive. BEST July 6, 1903, par. 10