The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-10-19
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The following sermon va. preach
cd Al the Long Reach cneampmsHt,
Iul, .. lN9l. ~ Rev ". 4 How
man. ~ Ntor of the Nc~ Era church.
L", Angeles
The conception "f Atngdom Of
heaven has doubtless vx,sit~l sub
siant'sl!y ia alt age and nations
wherever man has existed N n moral
and SOCIAL state. For uo snauer does
man rise from harharlsm Ia the
/ plane Of moral conception. than h.
h"gIns Ia long aud hope aud dream
OF ideal states of happiness and per
tcciton Superior {" that which hr
see. around him. II q, th,, kiud Of
ideal aspiration aud desire which
mas gwen rt~r t. all the bright
proph'rirs tor the future aud all the
beautiful legends of the past 1t -
tins alone which has given Ia the
world ~ golden ages. tts garden 81
Eden, ITS ElySlAn fields, lts far uft
llcsperidcs. It's mll"nnlAt hopes, tis
cities of the New Jerusalem. with all
rs bright visions Of new heavens
and new earth.
This idea of Kingdom Of God.
belongs to the sam" category. IL
was tn" name given l'y the prophet
and rrformrr. Jesus uf Nazareth. Ia
the new order of lt" which hc came
10 establish among men. IL was the
great conception which filled HiS
mind and Was constantly on His lips.
The kingdom of heaven is likened
unto" this "hkcued unto" that
was the great burden of His teach
ings. But the conception itself did
not originate with Jesus aud His
times II had been clearly sugges-
ted by some o ia" old prophets.
: whose predictions no came 10 fulfill
The prophets had abundautly fore
told the future glory of the Jewish
nation under the symbol to he estab-
lished by 1.-THE God of heaven" "ln
: the days of these kings" says
r Daniel, "shall the God of heaven set
up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed. SO, as this kingdom
t,, h.. ht
heaven" 1t was quite natural for
Christ, who had come To established
this kingdom, to speak of II both as
the "kingdem of God" and ""he
Kingdom of heaven" Accordingly
both his for.runncr and Himself
came proclaiming the Kingdom
of heaven is at hand" and Jesus
literally spent his life in trying To
. explain what this heavenly kingdom
I was like.
But laying aside, for the time be
= ing, all questions and theories Of the
theologians as to the mystical mean
I ings Of this kingdom, let us consider,
: in the light of reason and common
q sense, the substance and spirit of
this beautiful conception of IA king
4 dom of heaven on earth, as present
D ed bv the Great Teacher, Himself,
uncorrupted by the mystifications Of
the theological doctors For be it fe
!, mem bered, the more Christ's teach
n ing have been ''dOctored" the worse
r il has been both for Christianity and
the world. So, freeing our minds
from theological inventions and su-
4 perstltions on the subject, we shall
find this beautiful doctrine Of the
t kingdom Of heaven as presented by
!; the author, one Of the most interest
\ ing and soul-inspirlng studies IN the
: moral, social and religious history
e of the world And il is remarkable
Z that, though Christ spoke of it as
, His kingdom, He never spoke of il
as already come. but as coming
V just at hand, but yet 10 come. He
= describes 1t under twofold ckarac-
ter.
First, as great external event of
, the most extraordinary character, of
z national import, terrible rending
a and overthrow Of the Jewish state in
the destruction of their capitol city,
Jerusalem. Employing the high
Il n.
this event in the most vivid meta
J phors as 1.-The coming of the son of
: man in clouds of heaven-with all
} the holy angels-the darkening Of
sun and moon, the falling of the
stars and shaking Of the powers of
nf heaven" All of which was to tran
spire after he left the world. but
during the life time of that genera
=. tIon. And it did 50 occur, though
hs by strange pervefsIon Of under
er standing, and grossly literal inter
"a probation of fgurative langage,
90 many sincere Christian ministers are
,st still preaching this second coming
od as al event yet in the future. But
OF the other and main aspect under
on 40 which Christ presented this king.
dom of heaven was a moral and spir-
itual power to come into the lives
:. and hearts of the people, bringing
> with it state of peace, happiness
harmony, justice, law and brother
''' hood among men. To the indvidua
=" it was to be something of the mos