Is the Promised Kingdom Real?
By R. F. Cottrell
It is promised in prophecy that in the days of certain earthly kingdoms, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, that shall not be destroyed, but stand forever. Dan. 2:44. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is to be the king, and the uttermost parts of the earth are to be his possession. Ps. 2:6–8. It is said that he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Ps. 72:8. This kingdom is promised to those who love God, and believe on Jesus Christ. James 2:5. The time will come when it will be said to them, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matt. 25:31–34. And the kingdom and dominion under the whole heavens, i. e., over all the earth, is to be given to the saints of God. Dan. 7:25–27. But we are told of a spiritual kingdom, set up in the hearts of believers, and we are cited to the text that says, The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; and it is confidently set forth that there is sufficient evidence that the kingdom of God is not a real kingdom, consisting of a king, subjects, territory, and laws, as taught in the texts already referred to, and many more; but is merely a something invisible and intangible in the hearts of Christians; that this kingdom is already come to the Christian, and hence he has no interest in those prophecies that point out some future time of its coming. Now I have no objection to the idea of the Christian having the kingdom of God in his heart, in the sense that Paul had his brethren in his heart, i. e., in his affections; 2 Cor. 7:3; neither that he should have Christ within him by the Holy Spirit, reigning supreme in his affections and guiding the acts of his life. I humbly trust that I have the kingdom of God in my heart in both these senses; and this leads me to pray, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. But where is the text of Scripture that says that the kingdom of God is within Christians? It is not. The text which is supposed to prove this was addressed to the enemies of Christ, the unbelieving, captious Pharisees. Luke 17:20, 21. When they demanded when the kingdom should come, Jesus replied in substance that when it did come it would be without ostentatious parade, with the people saying, Lo, here, or there, but it would be suddenly within or among them, i. e., the people then living, the King appearing from heaven like the lightning. Matt. 24:27. But to evade the present truth, and to close the eyes to the signs of the times, Paul's language in Roman 14 is quoted with as much gravity as Romanists quote "This is my body" to prove the doctrine of transubstantiation. "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Therefore it is inferred that no real kingdom is to be expected; because Christians are in possession of it already. But should it be affirmed that the kingdom of Great Britain did not consist in beef and bread, coffee and ale, but in the righteousness of its laws and the consequent peace and happiness of its subjects, who would conclude from this that there was in reality no such kingdom as Great Britain? that the abstract principles, or emotions of righteousness, peace and happiness were the sum and substance, the beginning and end, and all that there is of any such kingdom? Who would assert in the face of history and geography that the British kingdom was a mere myth, having no real, tangible existence, but that whenever peace and joy are found in the heart of an Arab or a Hottentot, there is the kingdom of Great Britain? How is it that men of mind can, with such flimsy perversions as these, close their eyes, and deceive themselves in regard to the signs of the times and the near approach of that kingdom that shall break in pieces and consume all earthly kingdoms, and stand forever? Why should they desire to remain in darkness, so that the day of the coming King shall come upon them as a thief in the night? Why not rather choose to be children of the light? 1 Thess. 1:1–5.