The Sermon by John Norton Loughborough

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 11, 1866

The Sermon.

By John Norton Loughborough

Preach the Word. 2 Tim. iv, 2.

THE KINGDOM.

BY ELD. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

TEXT. “And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke i, 32, 33.

The above words were spoken by the angel to Mary, the mother of Christ, concerning Jesus and his kingdom. His statement is, that “of his kingdom there shall be no end.” The first question that will engage our attention in this discourse, will be, What is Christ’s kingdom? Is it an immaterial kingdom beyond the bounds of time and space? Is it simply the work of the gospel? Or, is it a tangible, literal kingdom, the territory of which is as literal as the earth itself? Each of the above views concerning the kingdom, has its advocates.

While we admit that the kingdom, or at least the capital of it,—the New Jerusalem—will come down out of Heaven, we cannot admit that it comes from beyond space; but, it is a literal city in space, constructed of most glorious materials. Those texts too, which speak of the gospel as the kingdom of God, only speak of the kingdom in a secondary sense. The language even so used is mostly that of parables. The gospel, in its perfecting work upon the heart of the receiver, is called the Kingdom of God, because it has as its great ultimatum, the preparation of subjects for that kingdom. If, then, the kingdom of God is spoken of in the Scriptures in its primary sense, in the same manner as we would speak of the kingdom of Assyria, Greece, Rome, or Great Britain, then it becomes necessary in the proper investigation of this matter, to inquire, What is the territory of the kingdom of Christ?

Of the many scriptures which speak of the locality of that kingdom, our space will only allow us to notice a few. In Dan. ii, while speaking of earthly kingdoms in their last, divided, and mingled state, the prophet says to Nebuchadnezzar, “And 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 these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Verse 44. This scripture shows that the kingdom, which the God of Heaven sets up, is to take the place and territory of earthly kingdoms.

In Dan. vii, we have the record of a vision given to Daniel concerning earthly kingdoms and the close of their career. This is presented before him under the symbol of four beasts diverse one from the other.

In making the record of this vision, he says, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given 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.” Verses 13, 14.

In making the explanation of this matter, the angel says to Daniel, “These great beasts which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.” Verses 17, 18. This, of course, shows that they are to take the kingdom which earthly monarchs have ruled. But this is made still plainer in the description of the close of the career of the little horn of the fourth beast. “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Verses 26, 27. A dominion which is “under the whole heaven,” can be nothing less than this earth.

But let us also read the testimony of the prophet Micah: “And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” Micah iv, 8. All will readily admit that this tower of the flock is Christ. He is to receive the “first dominion.” What is the first dominion? As we find this scripture refers to matters on this earth, the dominion must also apply here. If we turn to Gen. i, 26, there we read the first testimony concerning a dominion on earth: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” David in recording the same fact says of man, “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands.” Ps. viii, 6. Man by transgression, lost the position in which God had placed him; but Christ is interposed as a help. He, by his death and suffering, not only opens up a way for man’s escape from the effects of sin, but he also brings back that which man lost in the fall. By reading Paul’s testimony, this is all made plain. He says to the Hebrews, “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Heb. ii, 5-9. We understand Paul, in the above as teaching, that although all things were once placed under man, we do not see them there now; but Christ has been made a little lower than the angels, that he might help man out of death, and recover his lost dominion, so that, “in the world to come,” man, with Christ, may exercise that first dominion which was given to him.

Of Christ’s dominion, we read in Psa. lxxii, 8, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” The same statement is made in Zechariah’s testimony, which is clearly shown by its partial fulfillment, to apply to Christ. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off; and he shall speak peace unto the heathen; and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” Zech. ix, 9, 10.

My hearers are all familiar with the fulfillment of the former part of this passage, as recorded in Luke’s testimony concerning Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, a short time before he was crucified. See Luke xix, 28-40. The latter part will also be fulfilled when Christ shall cause “wars to cease to

the ends of the earth,” thus cutting off the battle bow, and setting up a kingdom the dominion of which shall fill the whole extent of the earth.

In the time of the establishment of that kingdom upon this earth, we shall find the fulfillment of such promises concerning this earth, as Num. xiv, 21. “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Here the Lord has pledged his own life for the fulfillment of his word. None surely would claim that this text has been fulfilled in the past history of the world, while it has been filled with anarchy, violence, and sin. The same great event is spoken of by the prophet Habakkuk; but, it is placed in the future from his time. “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Hab. ii, 14. If we look at Isaiah’s testimony, we shall learn that this filling of the earth with God’s glory, is after Christ comes again and destroys his enemies.

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isa. xi, 1-9.

Then will be fulfilled the promises made to Abraham and his seed, that they should have the land for an “everlasting possession.” Gen. xiii, 14-15; xv; xvii, 7, 8. These promises did not relate to an inheritance in Abraham’s lifetime; for we read, “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their’s and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. . . . And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.” We read in the discourse of Stephen, concerning Abraham: “Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran; and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” Acts vii, 4, 5.

From Paul’s testimony in Heb. xi, we learn that Abraham and the multitude of his natural descendants, “all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Vers. 13. That this does not refer to a possession of the earth in its present state, but to a future possession, after it is redeemed from the effects of the curse, is clear from what follows: “For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.” Heb. xi, 14-16. This heavenly country, and city, which God hath prepared, we understand to be the same that are mentioned in Rev. xxi, of which more hereafter. Paul continues to speak in Hebrews of ancient

worthies, “who were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword, wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Heb. xi, 37-40.

The plan God has devised, is better than to have Abraham or his posterity receive the possession in their lifetime, or even at their death. When perfection comes on all of God’s saints, at the day of final reward, then they with us, will be made perfect, then will these ancient worthies receive the fulfillment of the promises made. These promises, as we shall see by examining the testimony to the Galatians, refer to Christ as the seed, and of course could not be fulfilled till that seed comes, nor till that state of things is introduced which is called his kingdom; which, as we have already shown, is when his dominion is “from sea to sea,” when the glory of God fills the earth “as the waters cover the sea.” Paul says: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Gal. iii, 16.

No one, by carefully reading the Scriptures, could claim that any of these promises above quoted concerning the earth, had yet been fulfilled, or that they will be fulfilled this side of Christ’s coming and the resurrection of those to whom the promises were made. The Lord said to Abraham, “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it.” So, when that promise is fulfilled, Abraham must be there to participate in it. This will explain why Paul in pleading before Agrippa, Acts xxvi, 6-8, says: “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead.” His testimony shows clearly that the promise to the fathers involves their resurrection, in order that they may be partakers in person of the things promised. It also as clearly shows that the fulfillment of those promises will be in the resurrected state of the saints.

Some of these promises refer to a time when the earth shall be as full of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea, and when “They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.” Jer. xxxi, 34. No such state of things as this has been seen on earth since these promises were made, nor need we expect such a state before the coming of Christ. Paul says, “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. iii, 13; “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Tim. iv, 3, 4; “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” 2 Tim. iii, 1-5. The above texts are receiving a striking fulfillment in the age in which we live, when evil and wickedness of every kind is on the increase.

Such also is to be the condition of things till the coming of Christ, as is further evident from the parable of our Saviour; “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matt. xiii, 24-30. Our Saviour gives an exposition of his own parable to his disciples in this same chapter: “He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the Devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.” Verses 37-43.

The above testimony clearly shows that wickedness is to exist on earth till the judgment and the second coming of Christ; and it also shows that the righteous are not to receive this earth as the kingdom, until the destruction of Christ’s enemies in the furnace of fire.

Again, this text is also additional evidence that this earth is the kingdom of Christ. He is to gather offenders out of his kingdom. To apply this language to this earth it is all clear, but to apply it to Heaven itself would only make confusion, for there are no sinners, or offenders in Heaven.

But we will now inquire, When is Christ’s kingdom established on this earth? The testimonies last quoted, prove that it will not be till after the second coming of Christ. This is also still further confirmed by the parable of Christ recorded by Luke: “He added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money,” &c. Luke xix, 11-15. Christ is the nobleman of the parable. Heaven is the distant country where he goes to receive his kingdom. His coming to earth is the coming of the nobleman of the parable. This shows that his kingdom is not established on earth till after his second advent. But whether it is then immediately established here, or whether other events are to transpire before the final filling of the earth with God’s glory, will yet appear in the testimony we wish to present on the subject of the establishment of that kingdom.

(To be continued.)