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This "near future" of the Kingdom, as we have interpreted it, is referred to by Our Lord in St. Mark 9: 1: "Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." In fact, many of the passages which are usually interpreted as referring to the Final Coming of the Kingdom, really refer to its spiritual and continuous coming. The writer is persuaded that such passages as St. Mt. 10:23, St. Mt. 16:27-28, St. Lu. 17:22-36, St. Mt. 24: 29-51, St. Mt. 26: 63-64, and their counterparts in the other Gospels, bear this significance. Unfortunately the limits of this work do not permit proof of the fact. However, let us now remember that, in Jesus' view, the Kingdom was to be ushered to advancing stages by marked steps, which could be compared to the coming of the Son of Man in majesty (St. Mt. 16:28), or to the Kingdom of God coming with power. These "comings," however, are always regarded as imperfect and incomplete. The thought implied is "that the Kingdom is not fully come till everything in human life and in the relations of man in society is brought into complete harmony with the will of God." A full and complete coming of the Kingdom is therefore posited.

The Kingdom of God, indeed, will not be a mere continuous evolution. Having had a beginning, and having a present development, it will have a consummation: the more remote future of the Kingdom. Christianity is, in this respect, closely allied to all the great religions of the world, and to the great philosophic and scientific systems of human thought. All have some doctrine of an end. Of course, in using the word "end,” we do not mean an absolute end or termination of all thingsbut the entrance upon the celestial stage, when the end of things as they are constituted at present shall be at hand. The human mind, the constitution of the physical earth, the very nature of the Universe itself, no less than past history, and all human experience, demand and predicate an end. Hence Christianity has its teleological aspect.

Our study would lead us to expect this. The language of the parable which illustrates the development of the Kingdom by the growth of a seed is significant: "first the blade, then

the ear, then the full corn in the ear." Here, indeed, are "the times" of the Kingdom-present, near future, remote future. The remote future of the Kingdom is also distinctly emphasized in the words: "But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come" (St. Mk. 4: 29). The luxuriant growth of the Mustard seed, and the thoroughness of the leaven in its work, may be said, also, without unduly emphasizing the details of a parable, to predicate the consummation of the Kingdom. The parables of the Tares and the Drag-Net clearly demonstrate the same truth, and may contribute certain features of the event. The most convincing proof of the final coming of the Kingdom, however, is to be derived from the entire trend of Jesus' teaching in regard to the Kingdom of God. As the Old Testament demanded the New Testament as its complement and apology, so the Kingdom of God, as revealed by Jesus, demanded through its present character, a more complete and glorious final manifestation. Without this, the Kingdom is unintelligible and a mockery. It is especially noticeable, also, that the Fourth Gospel, which is the most insistent of all the Gospels upon the spiritual and progressive coming of the Kingdom, is not without unreserved testimony to a final consummation of the Kingdom, and an adjudication of all things.

Our data for determining the details of this "coming," however, are few and unsatisfactory. This "time" of the Kingdom will mark the transference of the stage of action from earth to heaven, yet the character of this stage is entirely beyond our ken. Men endeavor to ascertain the conditions of this era, only to fail. Their attempts are sometimes interesting, often inane, and not infrequently ludicrous. Here, where certainty is less justifiable than elsewhere, we often find a dogmatism at once irreverent and unseemly. Time is projected into eternity. The after-world is constructed upon the basis of the present world. Heaven is a much magnified earth. Golden streets, pearly gates, and a catholicity of musical ability are integral factors of the conception. Of course this is pardonable, if it remains in the realm of the figurative and the approximate. When accepted literally, it becomes puerile and utterly inadequate.

On the very threshold of our speculation, indeed, Jesus con

fronts us with an indication of its absolute futility. Let us note the incident. The Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead. Laughing at what they termed Pharisaic credulity, they came to Jesus with an inquiry, framed to show the absurdity of the Pharisaic belief. The Mosaic law required that, when a married man died without leaving children, his brother should marry his widow and raise up children to him. The case propounded to Jesus was this: A woman had been married to seven brothers in obedience to the Mosaic requirement; to whom would she belong in the resurrection of the dead? The supposition of the Sadducees was the prevalent supposition of to-day, that virtually the same conditions must prevail in heaven that prevail on earth. The reply of Jesus is very important. He declares that His questioners do not understand the Scriptures, which they profess to believe, for they unmistakably imply immortality, neither do they know the power of God. "Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven" (St. Mk. 12: 18-27). This language is explicit. In the future of the Kingdom of God there is no marriage. Now the married state is fundamental in this world. We cannot conceive of a worthy state or condition of humanity in which husband and wife, parents and children, and homes are not essential factors. Jesus, however, with very few words, informs us that in the final stage of the Kingdom this condition will not exist, and cites the power of God as the indication of the Divine ability to fashion another environment for man, which will illustrate another principle of social life entirely. If, then, the final stage of the Kingdom will not be organized on this fundamental principle of our present existence, is it not foolhardy to attempt to conceive of other characteristics of the future Kingdom? "We now see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see face to face." We must admit that we do not, and that we cannot know the conditions which will prevail, because we do not know the power or the resources of God. The words of St. Paul express our ignorance and our knowledge alike: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love

him" (I. Cor. 2:9). Thus, while ignorant of the details, we have every reason to believe in the final coming of the Kingdom after a long period of time, when Jesus who "being the Holiest among the mighty, and the mightiest among the holy, has lifted with His pierced hand empires off their hinges, has turned the stream of centuries out of its channel, and still governs the ages," shall return as "the glorious Leader and King of Mankind, the triumphant Founder and Perfecter of the Kingdom of a redeemed humanity." The dead will rise, and the day for Judgment be at hand. This, indeed, is clearly pointed out by the Synoptists, and by St. John. The Synoptists, however, dwell rather upon the final Resurrection, while St. John, who by no means ignores this event, dwells upon the resurrection as a moral and ethical fact, possible in this life, the prelude to, and the cause of the final Resurrection to Eternal Life. "And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (St. Jn. 5:29).

We We are thus limited to the baldest and barest of facts. We may enter the realm of fantastic speculation, indulging in either the wildest or the most sober of theories, and exercising to the Heart's content the most fascinating arts of rhetoric, yet all is profitless. This, indeed, men love to do, rather than to adhere to the substantial facts which are revealed, translating them into terms of their life. The important thing, however, to remember is, that the present and the future of the Kingdom are related to each other as cause and effect. There is "first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.' Hence those who would ultimately enter the Kingdom must pass through these successive stages. There must be this orderly progress. The individual must have the Kingdom present in his life, before he can be present in the future of the Kingdom in any satisfactory sense. This, indeed, is sufficient for mankind to know. Jesus simply brought life and immortality to light; the details of the eternal life are, and will remain, obscure.

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CHAPTER XIII

THE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM

THE world to-day hears a great deal of what the church has to say about Jesus. Equally important, however-if not more important, in view of present conditions-is it for the world. to hear what Jesus has to say about the church.

Only on two distinct occasions, however, did Our Lord make explicit mention of His church. The references are St. Matthew 16:18 and 18:17. Some scholars, notably Wendt, dispute the authenticity of these sayings of Jesus, inasmuch as there are only two references to the church in Our Lord's entire teachings, as we have them recorded in the Gospels, and both of these are found only in St. Matthew. While this paucity of reference is remarkable, yet the utterances in question are so eminently characteristic of the Christ, and so natural, logical and essential in view of the circumstances which called them into being, that we are compelled to disagree with that criticism which would invalidate them, and to acknowledge them genuine and worthy of most studious interpretation.

Before proceeding to their detailed interpretation, however, it may be pertinent to ask: What idea does the word "church" convey to us? A little reflection will reveal that the word is used commonly in one of three senses: the universal, the denominational, or the local. We speak, for instance, of the "universal church," meaning the Christian Church throughout the world, independent of any particular nationality, age, or clime. Again, we speak of the Episcopal, the Methodist, or the Presbyterian church, narrowing the term to apply to some specific body of Christians or denomination. Yet again, we speak of the church in some locality or town, thus more completely limiting the application of the word. Underneath this diversified usage, however, there is, in the popular mind, a substantial unity of conception or idea. It is the idea of organization. Using the word "church," we understand it as signifying an

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