Revelation 9:15

Revelation 9:15

(with 1 Corinthians 15:24 , 1 Corinthians 15:28 )

The Coming of the Kingdom the Sure Hope of the Church.

When we read these passages, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever," and again, "Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father, and God shall be all and in all," we are transported in thought to the utmost verge of future history. The end stands in contrast to the beginning. Sin began in man putting God off the throne of his heart and will; redemption ends in "God being all and in all." Again, we have seen how Israel was trained to the idea of an invisible King, and how all the national institutions of law, temple, monarchy, priesthood, were to be witnesses for Him, being pictures of an ideal state. In the shattering of the earthly symbolism and the advent of Christ, the training passed from the narrow limits of a nation to the whole world, and from external domain to inward and spiritual obedience. The true theocracy is reached when "the end comes," and "the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of the Lord." The advance of that kingdom of God is by the increasing recognition of the truth, the truth of God and the truth of humanity as in Christ, sin and evil passing away as the mind of Christ possesses the spirit of man. But in what sense can the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ?

I. The kingdoms of the world are something more than the various political states empire, monarchy, or republic into which nationalities are divided. The true kingdoms of the world are the moral forces and interests which bear sway over human life. There are the kingdom of commerce, with its penetrating influences, the kingdom of science, with its vast interests, the kingdom of literature, of art, of public opinion, all of which govern in that inner sphere which gives shape to history and character to movements. When we weigh what these kingdoms are we can perceive the possibility of their becoming the kingdoms of the Lord without any arrestment of movement or any shock to the methods in which they now control society. Life need not be of the world, but "the pride of life" constitutes it worldly. If we take away "the lust" and "the pride," then "the eye," and "the flesh," and "life" remain, but purified and true parts of the kingdom of God.

II. From these hints we can imagine the kind of victory secured by the coming of the kingdom of God. Already we can see how the aspect of civilisation has been changed by the inward influence of the Christian spirit, as in the case of marriage, slavery, and a thousand cruelties that have passed away as the mist vanishes when the sun arises in its strength. Let us imagine the diffusive power of the heavenly leaven to have penetrated the entire "lump" of human interest. To believe in the possibility of such an end is itself ennobling. It is good for us even to hope that Christ will yet reign, not by the forceful putting down of all authority, but by winning the willing homage of every heart.

D. Macleod, Christ and Society, p. 107.

References: Revelation 11:15 . J. Halsey, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxiii., p. 264.Revelation 11:19 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1621.Revelation 12:7 . Ibid., Evening by Evening, p: 337. Revelation 12:7-9 . H. S. Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvi., p. 209. Revelation 12:10 . Expositor, 1st series, vol. ii., p. 405.Revelation 12:11 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1237; Preacher's Monthly, vol. vii., p. 77. Revelation 12:12 . Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1502.