parated from the Christ, all of you who [seek to] justify yourselves by the law ye are fallen from grace.' (Gal. 5. 2, 4.) In effect, these apostates from the faith, though saved by grace, put themselves under the yoke of the law, and were in fear of death, like the faithful Jews who sat in the region and shadow of death, and were waiting for the coming of the Messiah to give them light. For they were slaves under the law, and had no assurance of justification for life, having ceased to believe in the efficacy of the sacrifice of Jesus for the pardon of their sins, and they had thereby fallen from the grace of God; for God cannot love those who, after having known his Son as their Saviour, seek to be made just by their works; for by doing so they practically deny the efficacy of his propitiatory sacrifice for the pardon of their sins. And well might Paul, therefore, express his sorrow for their apostasy, saying 'O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus the Christ hath been evidently set forth as crucified among you?' (Gal. 3. 1.) You who began in the Spirit, that is, as sons of God, why seek you to be justified as slaves under the law? (Gal. 3. 3.) But nevertheless, although they ceased to believe in justification by grace, and had lost the assurance of salvation thereby, they did not on that account lose everlasting life, for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. (Rom. 11. 29.) For he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he died to save sinners, is himself one of the elect for whom he died, and however imperfect may be his apprehension of the efficacy of his sacrifice, he is freed for ever by faith from the curse of the law, and is made an heir of the inheritance of the saints in light. There are many believers in Jesus at the present day who, like the Galatians, seek for justification by their works, of whom, however, it cannot be said that they have fallen from grace, inasmuch as they never knew the truth; nevertheless they dishonour their Saviour by their testimony; and although they are

under grace, they do not enjoy the peace of God's children, who know that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin; and they cannot say, 'Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by Jehovah?' (Deut. 33. 29.) They have not what Paul calls the 'plerophoria,' or full assurance of everlasting righteousness by faith in the Son of God; for Jesus hath said, 'All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out' (John, 6. 37); and again, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me and I give unto them everlasting life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall pluck them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.' (John, 10. 27-29.) They who have this faith find rest and peace for their souls, for they have the full assurance of everlasting righteousness, which they lost through the sin of Adam, by faith in the propitiatory sacrifice of the Anointed Man Jesus.

The moral law is good, says the Spirit, if it be used legitimately, that is, to guide the disciple of Jesus in his walk; but that no one can obtain justification by it for life is evident, for the apostle says, 'I through the law [of faith]' (Rom. 3. 27) am dead to the law [of Moses], that I might live unto God. I am crucified like the Christ: nevertheless I live; yet it is not I, but the Christ that liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who hath loved me, and given himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness came by means of the law, then the Christ died in vain.' (Gal. 2. 19-21.)

102

CHAPTER VII.

THE KINGDOM OF THE CHRIST.

'Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his palace, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; he shall come, saith the Eternal of Hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and cleanse them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Eternal an offering of righteousness.'-Mal. 3. 1-3.

I. THE coming of the kingdom of the Christ is announced.

II. Jesus the Christ founded his kingdom when he rose from the dead.

III. It was manifested with power on the day of Pentecost, the feast of first-fruits.

IV. It was opened to the people of the nations by the apostle Peter.

V. The kingdom of Israel was a type of the kingdom of the Christ.

VI. Its blessings.

VII. The signification of the kingdom of God.

I. The coming of the kingdom of the Christ is announced.

When Jesus was anointed as a prophet, he exhorted

the faithful remnant of Israel to be converted, saying that the kingdom of heaven was at hand; for, like John the Baptiser, he was a preacher of righteousness; because without conversion Jehovah could not show mercy to his chosen people. (Deut. 30. 1-10. Dan. 9. 3-27. Mal. 4. 5, 6. Matt. 3. 2, 3.) But the new covenant which God promised to Israel (Jer. 31. 31-34. John, 3. 16) was not proclaimed till Jesus rose from the dead, when the Lord, whom they expected, suddenly came to his palace, and founded his kingdom, which is called the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, because all who are in it are begotten by God, for except a man be begotten from above he cannot see his kingdom (John, 3. 3); for no one can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 12. 3.) The kingdom of God, or of the Christ, is composed of all those who are under the covenant of grace, who obey him as the Lord; and hence his kingdom and his Assembly, which in our translation is rendered Church,' are synonymous terms, and this kingdom is the Lord's, because he hath purchased it with his own blood. (Acts, 20. 28. Matt. 16. 28.) Now as the children of Abraham entered into the kingdom of Israel by means of the rite of circumcision, and as the Messiah was specially promised to them, they imagined that the whole nation should enter into his kingdom; but our Lord assured Nicodemus, that 'Except a man be begotten by water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' (John, 3. 5.) That is to say, except a man be cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus, and be begotten by the Holy Spirit as a child of God, which he testifies by baptism (Acts, 11. 38-41), he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Nicodemus, who was a teacher of Israel, ought to have known these things, for the prophets announced the salvation of Israel by the Messiah, and their regeneration by the Holy Spirit under the covenant of grace. (Ezek. 36. 25-27. Jer. 31. 31-34.)

It is of the kingdom of the Christ that Isaiah testified,

saying, 'Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given ; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be Wonderful, the Counsellor, the mighty God, the Father of eternity, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with justice, from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Eternal of hosts will perform it.' (Isa. 9. 6, 7. Comp. Dan. 2. 44.) And the prophet Daniel, speaking of the Messianic kingdom, saith, '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 to him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.' (Dan. 7. 13, 14. Comp. Isa. 53. 10. Mark, 9. 1. Matt. 16. 28. Col. 1. 13.) And of the universal dominion of the Christ we read, 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 he shall speak peace to the nations, and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.' (Zech. 9. 9, 10.) To which we may add the testimony of Micah, who foretold the place of the birth of the Christ as the king of Israel, saying, 'But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth that is to be a lawgiver to Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from the days of eternity.' (Mic. 5. 2.) These prophecies delivered by the angel of God

correspond with the message to the Virgin Mary, saying, Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name