Kingdom of the world

“ Will he provide kings and priests for His kingdom, and afterwards people the globe in its perfect constitution, by natural generation, and physical regeneration; or, upon some other principle revealed in His word? Will He bestow the honour, glory, and dignity of His kingdom and empire upon men, because they are men; or because they are descended by natural birth from righteous ancestors? Or, will men inhabit the globe for ever, because they are flesh, and the offspring of His creative power? ”

“ As an officer in the Kingdom of His grace, that Kingdom which He has established in this world;—a Kingdom which is yet to rule over this and all other nations; and, as a citizen of this country, I deem it fit, and meet, that while the ideas of freedom, nationality, and independence, are fresh and lively in your minds, to bring before you the relation of Christianity to our country:—or, God in a nation ”

“ Are you ambitious, and do you seek after the greatnesses of the earth? taste this, and in an hour you will be a king, not a king of a petty kingdom hidden in some corner of Europe like France, Spain, or England, but king of the world, king of the universe, king of creation; without bowing at the feet of Satan, you will be king and master of all the kingdoms of the earth. ”

“ Until the heavenly civilization is founded, no result will be forthcoming from material civilization, even as you observe. See what catastrophes overwhelm mankind. Consider the wars which disturb the world. Consider the enmity and hatred. The existence of these wars and conditions indicates and proves that the heavenly civilization has not yet been established. If the civilization of the Kingdom be spread to all the nations, this dust of disagreement will be dispelled, these clouds will pass away and the Sun of Reality in its greatest effulgence and glory will shine upon mankind. ”

“ Sciences have advanced, industries have progressed, politics have been reformed, liberty has been proclaimed, justice is awakening. This is the century of motion, divine stimulus and accomplishment; the century of human solidarity and altruistic service; the century of universal peace and the reality of the divine Kingdom. ”

“ A king must needs have a kingdom, must needs have an army and subjects. Is it possible to be a king and have no country, no army, no subjects? This is an absurdity. If we say that there was a time when there was no country, no army and no subjects, how then could there have been a king and ruler? ”

“ Not surely a kingdom founded upon the social, religious, and political laws and customs of the world, like other kingdoms; but, not the less, a kingdom for men living in the world, and founded on its own social, religious, and political economies. ”

“ Then, whether a government is constitutional or republican, hereditary monarchy or democratic, the rulers will devote their time to the prosperity of their nations, the legislation of just and sane laws and the fostering of closer and more amicable relations with their neighbours—thus will the world of humanity become a mirror reflecting the virtues and attributes of the Kingdom of God. ”

“ Exert yourselves; your mission is unspeakably glorious. Should success crown your enterprise, America will assuredly evolve into a center from which waves of spiritual power will emanate, and the throne of the Kingdom of God will, in the plentitude of its majesty and glory, be firmly established. ”

“ A universal kingdom, the only universal monarchy, whatever others have pretended to, or aimed at: All people, nations, and languages, shall fear him, and be under his jurisdiction, either as his willing subjects or as his conquered captives, to be either ruled or overruled by him. One way or other, the kingdoms of the world shall all become his kingdoms. (2.) An everlasting kingdom. His dominion shall not pass away to any successor, much less to any invader, and his kingdom is that which shall not be destroyed. ”

“ Look at the world, and what does it present? Any one familiar with the history of the nations must know that it has been nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, power against power, dominion against dominion. The history of the world from the time of its commencement to the present is a scene of war, carnage, and desolation; and if you travel on the continent of Asia, where their history is more familiarly known than that of the inhabitants of this country, their monuments, their picture-galleries, and everything represent the very thing of which I have been speaking. ”

“ Although it is the Eternal Kingdom of God, and He always had, and has, a Kingdom, the Kingdom here means the manifestation of Himself;63 and He will issue all the laws and teachings which are the spirit of the world of humanity and everlasting life. And that universal Manifestation will subdue the world by spiritual power, not by war and combat ”

“ That it shall be an increasing government. It shall be multiplied; the bounds of his kingdom shall be more and more enlarged, and many shall be added to it daily. The lustre of it shall increase, and it shall shine more and more brightly in the world. The monarchies of the earth were each less illustrious than the other, so that what began in gold ended in iron and clay, and every monarchy dwindled by degrees; but the kingdom of Christ is a growing kingdom, and will come to perfection at last. [2.] That it shall be a peaceable government, agreeable to his character as the prince of peace. ”

“ To this point we intend to invite your serious attention in this discourse. The expression in our text, "till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men," does not only imply a knowledge of the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, who governs the world, but an obedience to the moral laws of his empire. ”

“ Born in the tiny sea kingdom, they had lived to wear the crowns of the greatest two realms the world has ever seen, two empires which between them covered half the surface of our planet, and included one-third of its inhabitants. ”

“ What, then, would you say of the one I inhabited fifteen centuries ago? A world also containing only one kingdom, and that not a movable one, but, on the contrary, as fixed as is your vegetable kingdom? ”

“ The kingdom is not hidden to-day. The leaven has been working through the centuries. The presence of the kingdom is the most noticeable fact in the world’s life to-day. We talk about the great empires of the world! We talk about the British Empire embracing one-fifth part of the habitable globe: and the great Russian Empire claiming a sixth part of the world; and the German Empire and the French Empire, and the rest of them. But there is one Empire greater, vaster than any 70other—the Empire of King Jesus. It is in our midst, the mightiest kingdom, the most potent force on earth. ”

“ In the first light it is a Kingdom, in the world, though not of the world, extending through different and widely-separated countries, often seemingly divided by outward circumstances, but, in reality, having all its parts subject to the same Invisible King, governed by laws which He has given, and by means of those whom He has appointed to be His representatives on earth. ”

“ This language is taken from analogy between the world natural and an empire or kingdom as a world politic. Accordingly, the whole world natural, consisting of heavens and earth, signifies the whole world politic, consisting of thrones and people, or so much of it as is considered in the prophecy. Great earthquakes and the shaking of heaven and earth are put for the shaking of kingdoms, so as to distract and overthrow them; creating a new heaven and earth and the passing away of the old one, or the beginning and end of the world for the rise and wane of the body politic signified thereby. ”

“ The earliest of the phenomena here in question dates far back to the beginnings of the events known to us through historical monuments, and consists in the rise of world empires. Though the term 'world empire' is sometimes used to refer merely to a great kingdom that results from the absorption of a number of separate States, such a use of the word does not do justice to its meaning. ”

“ In the former part of this work, I have shown that it has been the purpose of God from the foundation of the world to set up a kingdom and empire of nations which shall supersede all others previously existing upon the globe. ”

“ They believed in the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and so do the world now, but still they worship a God without body, parts, or passions. We can say the same of kings, princes, rulers, and philosophers, for these have all believed in a Supreme Ruler of the Universe ”

“ When we look upon the human kingdom, we readily observe that it is superior to all others. In the differentiation of life in the world of existence, there are four degrees or kingdoms: the mineral, vegetable, animal and human. ”

“ It is true that he said his kingdom was not of this world, that it was in the hearts of men and not upon a throne; but it is equally clear that wherever and in what measure his kingdom was set up in the hearts of men, the outer world would be in that measure revolutionized and made new. ”

“ I know that the kingdom of God is in its youth upon this earth, and that the principles of life and salvation are freely proffered to the people all over the world.
Our Elders go from east to west, from north to south; and they almost invariably go without purse or scrip. ”

“ And under the influence and power of the Kingdom of God, the Church of God will rest secure and dwell in safety, without taking the trouble of governing and controlling the whole earth. The Kingdom of God will do this, it will control the kingdoms of the world. ”

“ What do we mean by our Empire, and what is its relation to that universal desire of mankind, the permanent rule of peace and justice in the world? The whole world will be the better for a very plain answer to that question. ”

“ And the kings of the earth do bring their glory [and honor] into it.—“When mankind reaches perfection at the close of the Millennial Age, as already shown, they will be admitted into membership in the Kingdom of God and given the entire control of earth as at first designed—each man a sovereign, a king.” (A. 296.) “That Kingdom, in which all will be kings, will be one grand, universal Republic, whose stability and blessed influence will be assured by the perfection of its every citizen, a result now much desired, but an impossibility because of sin.” ”

“ The Lord’s whole providence and government, the rising of the sun, and everything that He has created, are for the sake of the kingdom, which the elect are to inherit, for the constitution of the kingdom of peace and concord. ”

“ Would you, in time of peace, find a man capable of wisely governing the state of a commonwealth, of a kingdom, of an empire, of a monarchy; sufficient to maintain the clergy, nobility, senate, and commons in wealth, friendship, unity, obedience, virtue, and honesty? ”

“ I have never believed any man was qualified from the days of Father Adam to our day to go forth among the inhabitants of the earth with the declaration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in a way and manner to convince them or teach them the Gospel in its truth and purity, and in the power of God, only by inspiration. I have never believed that any man was qualified in any age of the world to build up the kingdom of God, or do the will of God only upon that principle. ”

“ What we call the will or volition of Man—a discussion of the nature and limitation of which would be impossible in these pages and is happily not necessary for my present purpose—has become a power in Nature, an imperium in imperio, which has profoundly modified not only man’s own history but that of the whole living world and the face of the planet on which he exists. Nature’s inexorable discipline of death to those who do not rise to her standard—survival and parentage for those alone who do—has been from the earliest times more and more definitely resisted by the will of Man. ”

“ They wander to and fro upon the earth; eyes have they, but they see not; ears; but they hear not, and they know not whither to go to find that joy and peace their hearts seek and long for. Their minds individually are confused and distracted, and they cannot see the way of safety when it is placed before them; yet here it is—this kingdom, a living miracle to all its beholders; this is admitted by and astonishes the world. ”

“ And because the whole kingdom is the body politic of the King, therefore the Sun, or a Tree, or a Beast, or Bird, or a Man, whereby the King is represented, is put in a large signification for the whole kingdom ”

“ Within the last few years we have had the laws of natural science opened to us with a rapidity which has been blinding by its brightness; and means of transit and communication given to us, which have made but one kingdom of the habitable globe. One kingdom;--but who is to be its king? Is there to be no king in it, think you, and every man to do that which is right in his own eyes? Or only kings of terror, and the obscene empires of Mammon and Belial? Or will you, youths of England, make your country again a royal throne of kings ”

“ The race that extorted from kings the charter of its political rights has won, from the princes and powers of the air, the earth and the water, the secret of supreme dominion, the illimitable franchise of beneficent progress. ”

“ By the fourth great power of the world I mean the mighty commonwealth of the western continent, which now commands the admiration of mankind. That homage is sometimes reluctantly given, and is sometimes accompanied with suspicion and ill-will. ”

“ If for a moment we reflect upon all creation that live upon this little globe—those that move in the air, the waters and on the land, we find there is a wisdom, an intelligence that provides for all. There is a prescient and an omnipotent power that governs, controls and shapes the affairs of this world according to the counsel of his will, and especially so in all matters pertaining to the human family. As one nation rises up and another falls, it is by his power that it is done. ”