The Existence of the Kingdom of Heaven--Past, Present and Future
The Existence of the Kingdom of Heaven--Past, Present and Future THE EXISTENCE OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
Scripture Reading: Revelation 1:1-9; Text: Revelation 1:9.
By W. B. West, Jr.
Introduction
President Cox, Ladies and Gentlemen, Brethren and Friends: The invitation of President Cox to have part in these annual historic lectureships is appreciated very much. They have done much good for the cause of Christ. By them thousands of brethren have been brought together from various sections who received instruction, inspiration, and edification which they took back to their homes.
It is encouraging to be greeted by this large audience. For Mrs. West and me it is good to return to our alma mater and go down memory’s lane to scenes and experiences with profound gratitude. From the Central church and from George Pepperdine College in Los Angeles we bring greetings.
In his, great address this morning Brother Roberson told us what the kingdom of heaven is. He defined it as the reign of God or Christ in the hearts of men and women finding corporate expression in the kingdom of God or church on earth. The subject of this evening’s address is “The Existence of the Kingdom of Heaven, Pas.t, Present, and Future.” If the assignment is understood by me I am to present nineteen hundred years of church history ;and to speak of the future existence of the kingdom of heaven within thirty or thirty-five minutes. It is certain I cannot be as brief as the school boy who was as,ked by his teacher to write an essay on Benjamin Franklin who wrote: Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, moved to Philadelphia, met a woman on the street whom he later married and discovered electricity.
I. The Past Existence of the Kingdom of Heaven The basis for the idea of the kingdom of heaven is found as far back as the creation story in Genesis where God is the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator, Lord, King, and Ruler of all things,, animate and inanimate. It is voiced in the promise of a Messiah given in Genesis 3:15 which reads: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” It found expression in the calling of Abraham, in the leading of the children of Israel out of Egypt, in the formation of a theocratic kingdom at Sinai, in the toleration by God of an earthly king as a representative of him when his people asked for a king to be like the na-tions around them, in the prophets of the eighth, seventh, and sixth centuries before Christ, in the apocryphal and apocalyptic literature between the Old and New Testaments, in the preaching of John the Baptist, Jes.us, the seventy, and the twelve. In Daniel 2:44 we read this promise: “And in the days of those king's shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Matthew represents the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist in this manner: “And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:12). Matthew informs us that the burden of the message of Jesus was: “Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). In his address this morning, Brother Roberson identified the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, and the church as meaning essentially the same. In the parts of Csesarea Philippi Jes,us predicted the establishment of his church in these words: “Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Jesus connected this prediction with an accompanying promise to Peter that “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” would be given to him (Matthew 16:18-19). In the same chapter, verse 28, Jesus said: “There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” After his resurrection Jesus commanded his disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high. In obedience to this command they tarried. On the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, in the city of Jerusalem, “they were clothed with power from on high.” On this day the apostle Peter preached tne first gospel sermon in the history of the world to which about three thousand souls rerdered obedience, becoming citizens of the kingdom of heaven, which w'.as established on this day with all a kingdom implied.
After Pentecost the kingdom, or ctiurch is spoken of as being in existence. We read of the church of God jin Corinth, of the church in Ephesus, Smyrna, etc. John tells us he was in the kingdom (Proverbs 1). Prior to Pentecost with the prophets it was in the future and with Jesus and John the. Baptist it was at hand. Thus, we can say that the kingdom of heaven or church was established on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus.
For fourteen years, from A. D. 30-44, its center of operation on earth was Jerusalem. Thousands of men and women became subjects of it who “continued steadfastly in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread and the prayers.” Its worship and work were under the supervision and guidance of the apostles, the elders of the Jerusalem church, and the seven men chosen to serve tables. A number of persecutions arose against it, the chief of which resulted in the martyrdom of Stephen which culmmated in the dispersion of the Christians into the regions of Judea and Samaria where Jesus had said they should be his witnesses, together with Jerusalem and the uttermost parts of the earth. For some time messengers of the Cross spoke the word “to none save only to Jews,,” but shortly the picture is to change.
Antioch m Syria, from A. D. 44-68, became a center for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom. From this city Paul departed for each of his three missionary journeys. Professor Wm. M. Ramsay in his “Church in the Roman Empire,” 147, etc. pointed out that the peculiarity of the Pauline mission was thait it followed the great lines of Roman communication, and aimed at establishing itself in the large cities—the centers of civilization. The Book of Acts and the Epistles show how remarkable were the results. Churches were planted in all the great cities of Asia Minor and Macedonia. In his Annals 15:44 Tacitus testifies, that in Rome by the time of Nero’s persecution (64 A. I).) the Christians were a “great multitude.” For the ensuing thirty-two years, from A. 1). 68100, Ephesus was the center for the extension of the kingdom of heaven. Paul had spent more than two years there establishing a church and teaching in the school of Tyrannus, a result of which was all Asia heard the word. The Jewish W.ar of A. D. 66-70 resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and the burning of the temple. Fire and sword made the destruction so complete that Josephus says “there remained nothing to make those who came thither believe that the place had ever been inhabited” (Jewish War, VI, 2. 1.) The destruction of the whole fabric of the Mosaic theocracy caused the Grseco- Roman world no longer to consider Christianity a mere sect of Judaism. John the apostle, at the beginning or during the Jewish War, left Jerusalem and went to Ephesus where his long stay was roughly interrupted by his being banished to the island of Fat- mos, during the reign .and persecution of Domitian (A. D. 81-96). He was permitted to return to Ephesus, where he difd in extremely old age after 98 A.D.
Concerning’ the territorial progress of the kingdom of heaven from 68 to 100 A. D. information is scanty. Around 80 A. D. the Roman government established Roman provinces in Upper and Lower Germany. Irenseus, one of the early fathers who died in 202 A. I)., evidently referred to these provinces when he wrote of preaching the gospel among the Germans and other barbarians who “without paper and ink, have salvation written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.” The main interest of the period is m spiritual de-velopment amid outward persecutions, apostasy, and besetting heresies. The spiritual development is well reflected in the. New Testament writings, of this period. The readers addressed in the Epistle of Jude were in a most threatening danger because of prevalent libertine and antinomian tendencies. Ephesus and vicinity had been a field of speculative thought even in the days of Paul. This is evidenced by Co lossians, and by the warring of Paul to the Ephesian elders to whom he said: “I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples, after them” (Acts 20:29-30). What Paul had predicted became a reality during John’s residence in Ephesus. False teachers and unsound tendencies found their way to the. city. In fact, they were to be found in various parts of the Mediterranean World. In our survey of the past existence of the kingdom of heaven, we have just closed the apostolic era, from A. D. 30 to 100. We come now to the post or sub-apostolic, from A. D. 100 to 170, so known because the leadership of the church during this era was entrusted largely to men who had enjoyed intercourse with and instruction from the. apostles, among them Clement of Rome (Php_4:3); Barnabas,, the fellow missionary of Paul; Hernias (Romans 16:14); Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and a disciple of John; and Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, and a disciple of John. During this period special interest centers in the transition from apostolicity to catholicity, our having s.een during the last part of the first century the beginnings of departure from the apostolic church. Beginning with 170 A. D. and closing with 325 A. D. we see the rise of the Catholic Church with its organized life being gradually but permanently moulded by the Roman genius for government, law and order.
Brevity of time forces us to survey the continued past history of the kingdom of heaven very briefly, remembering that all along God is, reigning in the hearts of some men and women, they composing the kingdom of heaven on earth and further keeping in mind that Jesus said the gates of Hades should not prevail against the church and that where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst. With David Lipscomb, and others I believe the true church has existed through the ages. We may not be able to find it in corporate form as it exists today. But somewhere and all the time God has had faithful children. Brother Lipscomb believed that every Lord’s day since the first on Pentecost there have been faithful children of God who have iaken the Lord’s Supper. This opinion is shared by me. From the proclamation by Constantine of Christianity as the official religion of the Empire in 313 A. D. to the accession of Gregory I in 590 A. D., the Catholic Church gained supremacy in the Roman world regardless of pagan reaction under Julian, hut internal divisions appeared, the most notable of which call forth the Council of Nicea in 325 A. I). During the next two hundred and ten years from Gregory to Charlemagne (590-800) the outstanding features were the founding of the Catholic Church among the Germanic nations and the subjugation of many of the Christian lands of the East by Islam. Parenthetically, we may observe it was only the victories of Charles Martel and his Franks in 732 and the resistance of the Eastern Empire till 1453 that stemmed the tide of Islam conquest, and saved Europe from the danger of an exchange of the Cross for the Crescent. The next significant event m our cursory survey of church history is, the crowning of Chailemagne, the Frankish king, as Roman Emperor by the Pope, Leo III, in 800. Charlemagne conceived this Imperial power as a universal theocratic Christian monarchy. as the head of all Christendom, he claimed to direct the external government of the church itself, while he acknowledged the Pope as its spiritual head. The dominating interest of the Middle Ages is, the contest for supremacy between Emperor and Pope, but undoubtedly the most significant fact wras the final severance of the Holy Orthodox Church of the East from the Roman Catholic Church of the West. Other features of church history during the Middle Ages worthy of mentioning are the rise and advance of Scholasticism, Monasticism, the Seven Crusades, to recover from Mohammedans sacred spots of Bible lands, the Babylonian Exile (A. T). 13051377) of the Papacy, and mysticism—the stress on the inwardness of the religious life—which may be regarded as a preparation for the Reformation, two forerunners of which should be mentioned—John Wy- clif (1324-1384) in England, and John Hus (13691415) in Bohemia.
1517 A. D. will forever remain one of the decisive dates, of the history of the world. It marked the nailing of the ninety-five theses of Martin Luther to the Castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. It set in motion the world’s greatest reformation movement in which Luther attempted to reform the Roman Catholic Church and to give the Bible to the masses. Almost contemporary with Luther, Ulrich Zwingli emphasized the restoration of primitive Christianity. D’Aubigne says, Luther desired to retain in the church all that was not expressly contrary to the Scriptures, and Zwingli to abolish all that was opposed to the word of God. The Zurich reformer passed over those ages, returned to the apostolic times, and carrying out an entire transformation of the church, endeavored to restore it to its primitive condition.
Even before Luther and Zwingli there were advocates, of the restoration of primitive Christianity. John Calvin, John Wesley, the Haldanes, of Scotland, and many others led in a movement to reform the existing church and to restore primitive Christianity. But God gave the fruition of the noble task to Alexander and Thomas Campbell, to their associates, leaders of what is known in church history as the “Restoration Movement of America.” The aim of the leaders of the Restoration movement was different from that of the leaders during the Reformation. The intention of Luther was to reform the Roman Catholic Church and to Calvin and Wesley reformation was their goal. But the aim of the Campbells and their associates was not to reform, but to res.tore, the New Testament Church. They sought to go back beyond John Wesley and the Methodist Church, beyond England and the Episcopal Church, beyond Geneva and the Presbyterian Church, beyond Germany and the Lutheran Church, beyond Constantinople and the Greek Church, beyond Rome and the Roman Catholic Church, until they came to Jerusalem, and there the corner stone was laid. The fact should be emphasized that Alexander Campbell did not found a church, but he found the church. The aim of his father, Thomas Campbell, of himself, and of his associates was, “Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent,” which is another version of 1 Peter 4:11 which reads: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.”
II.The Present Existence of the Kingdom of Heaven
Tonight the churches of Christ as a corporate ex-pression of the kingdom of heaven on earth stand up-XJ. K. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation, 401. Cited . by J. W. Shepherd, The Church, the Falling Away and the Restoration, 123. on this platform with the knowledge that the kingdom of heaven has been in existence for one thousand nine hundred and ten years. We know of no better way to speak of the present existence of the kingdom of heaven than by giving a cross section of what is, being done by citizens of the kingdom. There are more than five thousand churches with more than five hundred thousand members. There are congregations in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres, with a large constituency in Great Britain and the largest in the United States. Churches of Christ are preaching the gospel in six non-Christian lands. Already congregations, some of them strong, have been established in these lands. Brave soldiers of the Cross are working in virgin fields in our country. Citizens of the kingdom of heaven are operating six colleges, wherein young men and young women are being taught how to become citizens of the kingdom of heaven and those who are already citizens how to become better ones. Members of the church are operating six Christian homes for the homeless children where “pure and undefiled religion is practiced.” Eight major religious journals are published by individual members of the churches, of Christ wherein teaching is disseminated by means of the printed page. Within more recent years congregations are giving more attention to teaching the word of God. As an example, in Los Angeles, California, the Central church is leading in a cooperative effort of the churches of the city by having special training classes, taught on Friday evenings by local ministers and teachers. Also, within recent years much interest has been taken in radio broadcasting. In a recent issue of the Gospel Advocate ninety-five different radio programs were listed. Another recent feature of our work are lectureships sponsored by individual congregations, and by the majority of the colleges operated by our brethren. No church in the world is growing on a percentage basis as much .as the churches of Christ.
III. The Future Existence of the Kingdom of Heaven
Now, we come to consider the future existence of the kingdom of heaven. It is apparent to every student of current affairs that we are living in a world that is being shaken to its, very foundations. These are times that try men’s souls. War clouds that are hanging low over the Atlantic may at any time settle on our own beloved land. A major battle of world proportions looms on the horizon in every direction. It is a battle against ideologies—Communism, Nazism, and other isms. A new world is being born. What kind of a world it will be, God alone knows. Everyone recognizes we are living in a changing world. Such titles as “In the Shadow of Tomorrow” and “The End of an Era” indicate such a consciousness. Can and will the kingdom of heaven survive these conditions? If so, what part will it play in the world’s history? As to the survival of the kingdom of heaven the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, “it is a kingdom that cannot be shaken.” How much it will affect the world’s history will be answered by you and me. The proof that you and I are Christians may be measured best by whether we desire to go to China, Japan, India or some part of tho United States and establish the kingdom of God or to go to heaven. So the kind of existence the kingdom of heaven on earth will have in the future will be determined by how much we do God’s will. As builders of the kingdom we should be men and women of vision. It is difficult to overemphasize this. The writer of Proverbs says, “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). In the old assembly hall at the University of Virginia there is an almost perfect copy of Raphael’s picture, “The School of Athens.” In the center of this picture stands the figure of Socrates; on his right, Plato; on his left, Aristotle; standing next to the great logician is the figure of a slight, delicate youth, his dreamy eyes looking into the distant future. This is Alexander the Great. On one occasion when Professor Noah K. Davis, of the University of Virginia, was interpreting this picture to a brilliant woman visitor, he said, when he came to the figure of Alexander the Great, “This certainly seems a flaw in the great artist’s conception. Who would ever think of painting Alexander the Great as a dreamy youth?” She replied, “No, Mr. Davis, Raphael was right. He who would conquer a world must first di’eam he has conquered it.” So before we can conquer the world for Christ we must firs.t dream we have conquered it.
It was the vision of a Paul who evangelized the Mediterranean world of his day, the vision of a Luther who unchained the Bible from the pulpit and gave it to the masses, the vision of the Campbells, Stone, and their associates who called the world of their day back to the New Testament, and the vision of a David Lipscomb, James A. Harding and others who preserved the New Testament order of worship and work at a time when the simple New Testament churches were becoming like their religious neighbors. If you and I are to build the kingdom of God on earth we need to climb the everlasting mountains of God with Abraham and see the lands, God has given us for a possession, and, also, we need to lift up our eyes and look on. the fields and to see that they are white already unto harvest. For the continued and enlarged existence of the kingdom of heaven on earth, we need a vision of world-wide evangelization, beginning with our Jerusalem, the United States. This vision will need to be begotten by a pas,sion for souls. More than nine times in the New Testament it is said of Jesus; he was “moved with compassion.” Paul had a passion for the salvation of the Jews which is expressed in these words: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1). It was John Knox who said: “Give me Scotland or I die.” A young missionary who, due to poor health, was forced home and who wanted to return to the mission field was asked why he wished to return. The reply was, “I cannot sleep for thinking of them.” Paul wrote to the Romans that the gospel had been preached to the whole creation in one generation. Cannot we do the same today? We should tremble as we think of our lack of loyalty to the world-wide commission of Jesus,. For the continued and enlarged existence of the kingdom of heaven on earth we need a vision of genuine service in caring for the needy which characterized the early church. In Acts 6:2 we read of “the daily ministration” of the Jerusalem church. James defines pure and undefiled religion as visiting the fatherless and widows, in their affliction. A preacher was invited to the room of the wife of a pioneer preacher of the word. This widow was taken care of by the church. The Christian widow pointed to the picture of her husband on the wall. Memory was busy with the past. She doubtless heard him pleading with people to come to Christ. At the water’s edge she heard them singing: “Oh, Happy Day."
She saw him coming home poor in purse but rich in faith. She was in the poor home doing all she could to make ends meet. Her husband dies in middle life and now the church is caring for her. In the arena of debate Roman Catholicism met a crushing- blow by Alexander Campbell, but it triumphs in its hospitals and benevolent work. The world s,ays, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day.” Isaac Errett told of a funeral service he conducted where the father and mother were buried in the same grave with four small, helpless, homeless, children looking on shedding tears not fully realizing all they had lost. Some wondered what would become of the children as; the cold, heartless clods were filling the grave. While the assembled neighbors stood silent as the little children looked at the mound of earth, above the sacred dust of their dearest friends on earth a Christian man walked forward and said to one of the children, “Will you go home with me and be my little boy?” Then another and another and another Christian man stepped forward making the same request until the two boys and two girls had homes,. There was not a dry eye around that grave, big men, out of the church, wept when they saw real Christianity practiced (James 1:27), some of whom later obeyed the gospel.
We need a better and a better trained leadership or eldership in our congregations. To this end special classes should be taught in the churches and in schools operated by members of the church. We need better trained preachers. If a doctor spends seven years in learning how to treat our ills and to keep us well physically, how is it we are satisfied for young men with no or little training to teach men and women concerning their souls? Preachers, it seems to me, can no longer have the attitude of the preacher in Kentucky, about whom Brother Roberson used to tell us, who when he was urged to study Greek, replied, “English was good enough for Peter and Paul; it is good enough for me.” In the Old Testament days there were the schools for the prophets and Jesus gave special training to the twelve. Should not the Lord's servants have thorough training for their work? To all more teaching should be done. Churches should teach the Bible every day of the week. For the extension of the kingdom of heaven all its, citizens should be better taught and trained. A spirit of genuine service will be necessary in the continued existence of the kingdom of heaven—a service of which Jesus spoke when he said, “For whosoever would save his, life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). Many a missionary goes to the foreign field giving up everything except the missionary. Many a minister goes to work with a church giving up everything except the minister. Many an evangelist goes to the field giving up everything except the evangelist. Many a teacher goes to teach giving up everything except the teacher. Dr. E. Stanley Jones tells the story of Lord Shaftsbury who was one of the greatest men England ever produced. In his brilliancy he was going straight into Parliament. But one day he looked into the faces of the poor of London and the sight haunted him. One night he lay tossing on his bed trying to decide which way he should go. Would he go into Parliament or would he give himself to the poor? All night he lay there, and one by one he pulled up by the roots the darling ambitions of his heart and flung them out. In the morning he belonged to the poor. He gave his life magnanimously and unselfishly to the poor. When Shaftsbury died, all England turned out to do him honor. No king ever had such a funeral as he had. When the procession moved up the street it was, lined by hundreds of thousands of people. Beside the hearse representing the vast crowd were those carrying a banner with these words, “We were hungry and you fed us.” Behind them another banner, “We were in prison and you came unto us.” Another group, “We were strangers and you took us in,” etc. All England turned out to do honor to him who forgot himself. It is this spirit—the spirit which characterized Lord Shaftsbury that will extend the kingdom of heaven on earth until “the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.” On the horizon I see increasingly glorious days for the kingdom of heaven. Evidences on every hand indicate that the knowledge of the Lord is covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. We are not standing gazing up into haven. We are striving to build a city of God upon earth and to do it by living and preaching the gospel and not by having speculative theories of a future reign of Christ on earth and of another way of s.aving men than by preaching the gospel for which there is absolutely no scriptural authority. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The last command of Jesus to his disciples was, “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations.” So far as me and my house are concerned we shall be busy preaching the gospel until Jesus comes again. Our attitude shall be that of the judge of a New York County Court who some years ago was holding court when there was a s.evere storm. The sky was becoming black and everywhere complete darkness was coming when an excited man rushed into the courtroom and shouted, “The world is coming to an end. Jesus is coming.” The calm judge replied: “If that be true let us light our lamps and be
busy when he comes,.”
Some sweet day Jesus is coming again for he has so promised. No one knows the day and hour of his coming but the Father. Without doubt he is delaying his coming for the preaching and acceptance of the gospel to make more people ready for it. When he comes he will deliver the kingdom—a spiritual kingdom—over which he has, been reigning since Pentecost to God the Father. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 : “Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. For he put all things, in subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him. And when all things have been subjected unto him, then s.hail the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.” If we add to our faith virtue; ;and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge self-control; and to self-control patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love, an abundant entrance will be ministered unto us into this everlasting kingdom—not a thousand-year period—but an eternal state of spiritual blessedness. In this kingdom the redeemed of the ages shall live forever.
Jesus said: “Except one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Are you here tonight outside of the kingdom of God? If so, will you respond to the invitation of the gospel while we stand and sing the song of invitation?