Gospel of the Kingdom

“ The coming forth of such a government, the founding of such a kingdom, is in harmony with all the hopes of all the saints, and the predictions of all the prophets who have touched upon the subject. It is the actual reign of Christ on earth with His Saints, in fulfillment of the hopes held out to them in every dispensation of the Gospel. It is to be the burden of the song of the redeemed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, that Christ has made them unto their God kings and priests—"and we shall reign on the earth." ”

“ This Gospel of the Kingdom, Jesus said, had to be preached unto all nations as a witness—the same Gospel that was preached by Him and His disciples when they were upon the earth—that Gospel of the Kingdom had to be preached unto all nations before the end should come. ”

“ The gospel-church is a kingdom, which Christ is the sole and sovereign monarch of, in which he rules by his word and Spirit, to which he gives protection and law, and from which he receives homage and tribute. It is a kingdom not of this world, and yet set up in it; it is the kingdom of God among men. (2.) The God of heaven was to set up this kingdom, to give authority to Christ to execute judgment, to set him as King upon his holy hill of Zion, and to bring into obedience to him a willing people. ”

“ No matter whether it be Gentile, Jew, bond or free, heathen or Christian, this impression has been made on the minds of all classes of the children of men in all the nations of the earth, and it is true. The set the time has come when God will put forth his hand to establish his kingdom, and every body knows it. We proclaim in the ears of the people that the angel has come and brought again the everlasting Gospel to preach to all the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. ”

“ The scriptures contain the keys. Popes, priests, clergy, and ministers may suppress, torture, and garble the truth, and throw hindrances in the way; but the man who discards their authority, and thinks for himself, may, by the enlightening efficacy of the living word, become "wise unto salvation by the faith which is in Jesus Christ." Let the people then help themselves, if they would that God should aid them.
From what has been advanced it is manifest that "the word of the kingdom" presents itself to us in the scriptures in a three-fold relation:
1. As the gospel preached to Abraham, etc. ”

“ The Church is constantly called the kingdom of God in the gospel, because in it God reigns in the faithful by faith and grace, and leads them to the heavenly kingdom, that He may reign in them by glory. ”

“ Those who believe and obey the Gospel of the Son of God, and forsake all for its interests, belong to the kingdom of God, and all the rest belong to the other kingdom. There is a distinction, and the line must be drawn ”

“ And thus, not only has the Gospel been restored to the earth in this last dispensation, but the authority to administer in all its ordinances, and to build up the Church of Christ and the Kingdom of God on earth has been brought from heaven and bestowed upon men. ”

“ Having read the gospel of our Lord, who blessed and caressed those to whom he promised the kingdom of heaven, the last prayer of the church which throws a little earth upon the body that is to rise again, is that we, adult sinners, may one day rejoice with them in the same kingdom. ”

“ In the great commission Jesus commanded the apostles to make disciples of all the nations—to preach the gospel to the whole creation. This was a demand for world-wide evangelism, regardless of race or nationality. Had such evangelism been foretold by the prophets? What saith the Lord? In Luke’s account of this commission he quotes Jesus as saying: “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ”

“ Lord Jesus Christ, it is Thy holy Gospel, it is Thy cause; look Thou upon the many troubled hearts and consciences, and maintain and strengthen in Thy truth Thy churches and little flocks, who suffer anxiety and distress from the devil. Confound all hypocrisy and lies, and grant peace and unity, so that Thy glory may advance, and Thy kingdom, strong against all the gates of hell, may continually grow and increase. ”

“ In this dispensation, after all people have been warned and the Gospel has been preached for a witness to all nations, and the elect are gathered together from the four winds, namely East, West, North and South, the great tribulations and judgments will be poured out, the end of the world, that is, the end of the rule of Satan and of the wicked will come, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and His Christ, and He will reign over them forever. ”

“ These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also - The very character our forefathers had for preaching that Gospel, in every part of the land, by which the nation has been illuminated, the mob disciplined into regularity and order, and the kingdom established in the hands of the best of monarchs. ”

“ To express it in language more appropriate than any other, perhaps, the promise of the Holy Ghost is to wherever the Lord sends forth a revelation, wherever he makes proclamation of the Gospel, wherever he commissions men and sends forth the keys of the kingdom of God, and authorizes men to administer those ordinances in his name ”

“ Through the preaching of the gospel in all the world, the kingdom of Christ is steadily to enlarge its boundaries, until Jews and Gentiles alike become possessed of its blessings, and a millennial period is introduced in which Christianity generally prevails throughout the earth. ”

“ All the modern christian churches, who deny new revelation, have no more authority to preach, baptize, or administer any other ordinance of the gospel than the idolatrous Hindoos have; ”

“ If we get a number of men of that kind to go, there is faith, union, power, light, truth, the revelations of Jesus Christ, and everything that is calculated to elevate, exalt, and ennoble the human mind and happify the Saints of God. These are my views in relation to the Kingdom of God. ”

“ Do you not think it would be a matter of great astonishment for Christ to say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom to one who believes he has been in the kingdom as long as he has been in the Church”? ”

“ As Christ was the image of the invisible God, so the church is appointed to be the image of the invisible Christ, and the members of Christ, when they are glorified with him, shall be the express image of his person.... The church and the kingdom are not identical terms, if we mean by the kingdom the visible reign and government of Jesus Christ on earth. ”

“ But if you will examine the basis of that Kingship you will find it rests on God’s Creatorship. He is Lord of the world and of 68men because He has created them—because in Him they live and move and have their being. But God wants to be King in Jesus Christ—that is to say, He wants to be King in virtue not of His power, but of His love. He wants men to obey Him not because they are afraid of Him, but because they love Him. Look at the prayer: “Thy kingdom come.” Whose kingdom is it? ”

“ Yes, by the mental force of faith, and by good works, the march forth of the Gospel will increase, spread, grow and prosper, until the nations of the earth will feel that Jesus has the right to rule King of nations as he does King of Saints. ”

“ Ask any portion of Christendom why the ancient order of the Church of Christ is not among them—Apostles, Prophets, revelations, and other gifts, and they will inform you that they were only needed in the dark ages of the world, to establish the kingdom of God, but in this enlightened age are not necessary. ”