THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN by C. P. Bollman

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 1, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 18.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

By C. P. Bollman

Tho ever since the fall the earth has been under the dominion of Satan, he rules only as a usurper. There have always been some who have been loyal to God. When, upon a certain day, as recorded in the first chapter of Job, Satan came before the Lord, and by implication claimed dominion over the earth, the Creator reminded the fallen angel that his title was not clear; that He, Jehovah, had a servant there in the person of Job. Again: “When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion.” Ps. 114:1, 2. Moreover, when the children of Israel demanded a king, the Lord said to Samuel, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” 1 Sam. 8:7.

These texts show clearly that the Lord has ever had a kingdom in this earth. This kingdom over which the Lord reigned, in so far as it pertained to civil duties, was given to Saul, then to David, to Solomon, and so on down to Zedekiah. In 1 Chron. 29:23 we are told, in so many words, that “Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father.”

In the days of Zedekiah (B. C. 588) this dominion was transferred to Babylon, as foretold in Eze. 21:25-27. As indicated also in the same scripture, this dominion passed in turn from Babylon to Medo-Persia, then to Grecia, and then to Rome. Rome ruled God’s people as a distinct nation until the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70. Then this phase of the kingdom ceased, to be no more “until He come whose right it is.”

But while this national dominion became extinct, never to be again until Christ comes crowned “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16), the spiritual dominion, something that had never been committed to any earthly king, was re-established even more firmly than before.

As we are told in Matt. 21:33-45, this spiritual dominion was taken from the priests and rabbins and given to “other husbandmen.” The Lord did not destroy His vineyard and plant another. He destroyed the husbandmen, and gave the vineyard—the vine that He brought out of Egypt, His church—into other hands. To Peter, as representing the twelve, He said: “I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock [the truth that Peter had just avowed, that Jesus was the Christ] I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matt. 16:17-19.

This kingdom, as here re-established and given into other hands, differs from the theocracy of Israel in this respect, that while in the theocracy were united the spiritual and the civil, the kingdom of heaven is purely spiritual. Said the Saviour to His disciples: “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto; but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matt. 20:25-28.

Israel was once God’s kingdom upon earth. That feature of it that pertained to the administration of civil justice was, on the demand of the people, given into the hands of a king. It was this that was given in turn to Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. The spiritual dominion remained in the Jewish church,—that is, in the sense of administration. There never was any legislative authority given either to Moses or to the elders of Israel; God was the law-giver. And this is true of the church to-day.

The church as reorganized by Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry and upon the day of Pentecost—the vineyard taken from the wicked men and given to others—is just what “the church in the wilderness” was, stripped of all connection with the civil authority. That is to say, it is a pure, self-governing democracy. Said the Saviour, “One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” Matt. 23:8. By these words is all lordship, both civil and spiritual, forbidden to Christians. The supreme duty of the Christian is to order, not his brother’s life, but his own life, according to the divine law. To Peter’s anxious inquiry concerning another’s duty, the Saviour answered, “What is that to thee? follow thou Me.”

The lesson that God would teach His people now is the same that He sought to teach them under the theocracy, namely, separation from the world, and self-government under the divine law. In one sense of the term these can not be learned, but must come into the life and experience by the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the heart. “I am crucified with Christ,” the apostle said, “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20.

This is Christian experience; this is self-government. This is the kingdom of God that “cometh not with observation;” for it is within, even in the heart and in the life. C. P. BOLLMAN.

Chicago, Ills.