The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1867-05-08
FoR THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
Christ's Kingdom Not of This World.

meeting IN Baltimore, April, 1867,
by the Moderator, Rev. s. Beach
Jones, ID. ID. Published By the order
Of the Pres6ytery.
"Jesus answered, My Kingdom is not of this
world; il my Kingdom we're of this world, then
would my servants fight, that should not be
delivered to the Jews; but now is my Kingdom
not from hence. John xviii 80.
1t is scarcely necessary to remind you
of the occasion on which these words
were uttered. To excite the jealousy
and fear of the Roman Governor, and to
array his power against Jesus of Naza-
reth, the Jewish rulers charged him with
disloyalty to the civil government; mas
much as he claimed to be the founder
and sovereign of new kingdom. Upon
being asked by the Governor, whether
this charge were true, Jesus did not deny
his claim to kingship. He was indeed
King; Ind he had founded King
dom; but it was not such kingdom AZ
earthly potentates need fear. From all
Kingdoms then existing, or which had
ever existed, his was wholly distinct in
its nature, and wholly diverse in its form,
its mode of administration, and Its aims;
so distinct and SO diverse, that it could
occupy the same territory and embrace
the same subjects with the Kingdoms of
this world, without interference, confu-
sion, or collision.
Our Lord did not deem it necessary
on this occasion. formally to define the
precise nature, or ultimate ends, of his
Kingdom, He simply announced its
unworldly character; leaving it to the
Governor to infer, what, under the cir
cumstances, it was most important to
know; namely, that there need be no
jealousy and no hostility between the civil
government and Kingdom which was
not of this world since between the two
there could be no legitimate rivalry.
Without attempting, at this time, to
dwell upon the unique character Of
Christ's Kingdom, l propose to present
to your consideration some of the mani
fold lessons suggested by the words, My
Kingdom is not of this world" In doing
this, / cannot but evolve the great truths
respecting the spiritual nature of this
Kingdom, and its exclusive subsection to
its Divine King. We shall learn, that
while not antagonistic to the Kingdoms
of this world, Christ's Kingdom in its
essential nature and fundamental charac-
teristics is their very opposite. That
what they are, his is not. What his is,
they are not; and, from the nature Of
the case, cannot be- What they aim to
do, can never lawfully be the aim Of
his Kingdom. What his seeks to effect
they can never achieve. Their respec
tive spheres are as different, as is then
origin and their duration.
From the great truth announced in
our text, both Church and State may
learn to eireumseribe their respective do
mains, by limits appropriate to their na-
tire and ultimate ends 1t is a signif-
can't and most instructive fact, that in
laying the foundation of the Christian
Church, Christ should have done so, with
out in any way invoking the aid, or en-
ploying the agency of the State. 1t is
not less significant, that his inspired
Apostles, whose authority he has taught
us to revere equally with his own,-did
in this respect initiate his example. We
look in vain through the records of the
New Testament for single declaration
intoxicating either the necessity, or expe-
diency, of countenance or cooperation,
on the part of the State. The idea is
not even implied; either in the acts, or
in the teachings of the Apostles. Had
the assistance of the State been necessa-
ry, or even desirable, for the welfare Of
his Kingdom, it had been infinitely easy
to the Son of God to secure it. He was
the Proyidential Governor of the world,
the Supreme Ruler of nations; and, as
such, could so have adjusted their affairs
and controlled their hearts, that from
the very outset, the powers of the world
should have allied themselves to his
cause, by assuming a fostering care of
his Church. In founding the Jew
ish Church he did unite Church and
State so intimately, that it is difficult to
define the boundaries of each. Why he
did so in this case, / cannot pause to
show; though his designs are far from
mysterious, or inscrutable. 1t is enough
now to note the simple fact, that while
in the one case civil authority and power
acas enlisted in the service of his Church,
in the other it was scrupulously ignored
and discarded. All that Christ asked,
or authorized his ministers to ask of
earthly powers was simple protection
from interference and violence; Just such
protection as States are bound to vouch-
safe to all their subjects, who prove ODE
dent to civil laws.
Need remind you, that so long as the
Church continued to prosecute its great
mission in strict independence of the
State, its most signal triumphs were
achieved? Though resisted by Jewish
and Pagan powers, though subjected to
successive and relentless prosecutions, it
multiplied its eonquests, until at the close
of the third century the religion of the
despised Nazarenes had become the pre-
dominant faith of a large part of the
Roman Empire.
Can we reasonably doubt, that one
reason why the Head of the Church re-
fused to avail himself of the patronage
of the State was, to furnish to the world
one credential of its Divine origin and
mission? If, without the aid Of civil
authority and despite all its opposition
and crual violence the raE0ion of the