to take the place of those of the faithless Sanhedrin of Israel'. This was no mere form of words: for in the society so framed the Spirit of Christ has lived; it has been, as the Epistle to Timothy calls it, 'the house of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth 2;' and the principles which it has announced, and has striven, though weakly, to practise, are those by which all mankind even now are judged. It is the body of which He is the inspiring soul. In the just and loving relations of its component parts are expressed the mind and will of the Father.

The establishment of the Church as a kingdom was the final gage of the battle. The Sadduçaic party of the priesthood, the Pharisaic party of the Scribes and Pharisees, trembled, the one for their power, the other for their influence. Either Christ or they must go down. To believe in Jesus now meant not merely general trust in His teaching, but practical adherence to the new kingdom, the rudiments of which were already formed. All the spiritual teaching of our Lord thus gains a keener edge through the thorough and immediate application which must be made of it. The parables, which now form the staple of the teaching, with their double aspect, attracting and repelling, describe the fortunes of the Kingdom, the qualifications of those who enter it, the presence of good and bad within it, the growth from the little seed to the great

So we may understand the words about binding and loosing in Matt. xviii. 1820, following as they do immediately on the appeal to the church' prescribed in the case of obstinate wrong-doing.

2

1 Tim. iii. 15.

s Matt. xiii. 23.

Ibid. 24, &c.

to be alarmed.

tree1, the sifting process which each great judgmenttime would bring with it. Then follow the denunciations of those in authority among the Jews; for the influence of the teachers and rulers of Israel is gone for all who enter the new kingdom. The conflict which is thus set up grows more intense towards the close of the ministry. The last year is one of incessant strife. At the beginning of it there come down from Jerusalem into Galilee Scribes and Pharisees to stir up the people against Christ, and they succeed. The little band of believers are found constantly in the outskirts of the country wandering almost as exiles 5. Herod also begins Christ Himself plainly foresees and accepts His doom. It cannot be,' He says, 'that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem; I do cures to-day and tomorrow, and the third day I must be perfected'; and He steadfastly sets His face towards the fatal city. The great prophecy of Matthew xxiv. points plainly to the doom of the old system, and the deliverance which this would effect for all who own the true King. The death of the King is the condemnation of the murderers; the stone which the builders refused shall be the headstone of the corner; and they who resist it and on whom it falls shall be ground to powder. The King Himself will come with power and great glory in the clouds of heaven (the well-known metaphor for a coming in spirit and in power) for the deliverance of His subjects, and

9

the burning of the rebellious city'. The kingdom of God shall be taken from the wicked husbandmen and given to a nation which will yield the fruits of righteous

ness 2.

No doubt this idea of the kingdom was misunderstood by both friends and foes. They alike supposed that the Master was aiming at a dominion to be gained and exercised by means of force, for the temporal advantage of Himself and His followers. From all such ideas Christ resolutely withheld His countenance; and every reader of the Gospels understands the childish mistake of those who wished the Saviour of men's souls and of the world to imitate the debased patriotism of Judas of Galilee or Barabbas, and who quarrelled for places on the right and left of the King. But it is almost, if not quite, an equal misunderstanding to think of the kingdom as merely the assertion of a moral principle without any care for its social and political results. What Christ demands is the carrying of the principle into its fullest practical effect, the entering into all the relations of life under His leadership, the bringing of every sphere of human existence under His spiritual dominion. It was for this purpose that, at the close of His ministry, when His approaching death made the attribution to Him of selfish ambition no longer possible, He accepted the part which He had before refused, and allowed Himself to be borne into Jerusalem with the triumph of a king.

We are here at the very centre of our subject, which we may best bring into relief by giving an answer to

1 Matt. xxii. 7.

2 Matt. xxi. 43.

the question: What did Christ mean by saying that He was a King? In the remarkable words recorded in the fourth gospel, and also in the early document called the Acts of Pilate, we have our Lord's own answer: Thou sayest that I am a King; to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth. He that is of the truth heareth My voice 2,' becomes, that is, my spiritual subject. And, again, 'My kingdom is not of this world.' Does this imply, we ask, that the Church or Kingdom of Christ is to exist solely for certain objects which are to be marked off as spiritual, apart from the organization of human society which is to be regarded as profane? I think We cannot thus cut human life and society in Indeed, experience shews that it is impossible. Nor do the words of Christ demand it. We may well interpret the expression this world' as meaning the present evil condition of the world, which is essentially transitory; and we may understand the assertion to mean, My kingship does not belong to the present evil state of things in which empires are built up by fraud or force; it will build up an empire of its own on the true principle of love.' Moreover, How shall we define a purely spiritual kingdom? Shall we take as purely spiritual functions prayer, and teaching, and beneficence? But each of these, as functions of a community,

not.

two.

1 Acts of Pilate, or, Gospel of Nicodemus, i. c. 3, and ii. c. 3. This Apocryphal book is believed to be the one referred to by Justin Martyr in his Apology (A.D. 139). It contains the passage alluded to in the text in words varying but slightly from those of John xviii. See, upon this, Tischendorf, When were our Gospels written ? p. 83. The Apocryphal Gospels are published in English by Mr. B. Harris Cowper (Williams and Norgate, 1867).

2 John xviii. 37.

has necessarily a secular side. On the other hand, the organization of human society, where it is in a healthy state, cannot be conceived of otherwise than as spiritual. The assertion of a spiritual society is well-grounded, but it extends to the whole organization of mankind. The assertion, on the other hand, of a merely spiritual society is one-sided. It has, indeed, a certain truth in it, but not the whole truth. Let us try to estimate this.

The truth aimed at by the assertion of a society which shall be merely spiritual is this-First, that the beginning of all Church life is a spiritual influence which may be called faith, or sympathy with goodness, or aspiration; and we must add that this spiritual influence is not bound up with the existence of any organization, not even of the baptized community, since our Lord spoke of the other sheep which were not of the fold, of the children of God which were scattered abroad2; and we see the Church influence outside as well as within the baptized community; but, Secondly, that the kingdom of Christ is not dependent on the intrigues and selfishness which so commonly actuate human organizations, those established for worship quite as much as others; and that, so far as it takes shape in human organizations, it must be constantly freeing them from these evil influences: Thirdly, that the discovery and vindication of truth is the supreme matter, the working out of this in human relations coming afterwards: and, lastly, that this vindication of truth, and the expression of it in worship and teaching, is one of those spheres,

1 John x. 16.

2 John xi. 52.