The morning times., 1896-12-28
BUILDING OF A KINGDOM
Rev. Hugh Johnston Contrasts
Those of Earth With Heaven.
In One Truth and Love Make a
Foundation Instead Of Armies
-v..- - and Navtes.

| The morning and evening services at
| the Metropolitan NJ. L. Church yesterday
We're attended by unusually large congre-
| Cations. The sermon at both services was
| by the pastor, Rev. Hugh Johnston, ID. D.
| The subject or the niorhing 'discourse was
The Fathers, Kingdom based. on the.
text taken from Matthew, 6 and 10, THY
| Kingdom Gomez .v1Ass.,+ t.-Aa f's'-~-
| In this petition, DR.. Johnson said, are
| three marked words, noun, a prOnoun
| and verb. First, the noun Kingdom"
| There are two senses in which God may
BE- said to have a Kingdom. His natural
| Kingdom, His rule over the entire l.ii-
verse; and His supernatural Kingdom, His
| dominion over the moral creation, which
is called in Scripture the kingd om Ct
heaven, the kingdom Of God.
| THIS also is twofold, the kingdom OF
grace and the Kingdom Of glory. BY the
| Kingdom OF sraceiis meant the reign OF
God in the soul. = I'd is a spiritual king
| dom, and men must be horn into it, 1t
coneth not with observation, the pomp
| ana displays of an earthly kingdom.
| The emperor of Russia, protesting against
some court observance, said: 1T is moth
| ing but ceremony
Very tue answered the prime min
lister, but your majesty is nothing but
a ceremoIy.'
| IL is kingdom that has its root and
beginning in Jesus Christ. We have Just
celebrated another birthday of our Lord.
! Whose birth was ever SO glorious or so
momentoHs? ,rtg.st
He acquired kingdom, not by violence
and force, but by right, grace and mer 81.
Great Britain, Germany, Russia and France
! arepowcrful at home and broa d by reason
OF gigantic armies.
| This republic 5 almost the only nation
| that does not depend on force, yet our Navy
| isincreas!ng and our battleships are ON all
waters. But the King of Zion rides pros
peIously because OF truth meekness and
| righteou sness.
Thetwo kingdoms are inscparably joined d.
Al Athens were tw o temples, the temple
| OF virtue and temple of honor, and there
was no gettin & into the temple Of honor but
| through the temple OF virtue. SO the king
com of grace leads to the Kingdom of glory.
The prorou THY" 1t isthe Father we
are addressing. Many suppose this refers
| toChrist's NossianiC Kingdom. They dream
| of an earth Kingdom Of Sldendor, ,Th n
| Christ is t. reign a thousand years on the
! earth.
The Lord Jesus disdains such tinsel
glory; His reign is purely spiritual. The
word OF God alludes To tins kingdom i'll
its various aspects. 1t had it's beginning
III and with Christ. AS thing OF time, [
had its birth with the Babe OF Bethlehem.
This Kingdom is a growth, a process 1t
is social and diffusive 1t is called the
church. We repeat i'll the creed Il believe
i'll the Holy Catholic Church, : which means
the universal church, made up Of every
name, denomination, form and usa ge
through ont the world in whose hearts have
been planted grace divine.
Never call the Roman Catholic Church
the catholic church, or Roman Catholics
catholics The catholic church is the uni
versaI church Of every age, determination
and cline. This kingdom has it's oonsum-
nation in the restitution Of all things when
the Son shall -dclivcr up the Kingdom 10
the Father that He may he all in all.
The verb Come This S prayer for
the growth of his Kingdom in our hearts
and its progress iHtife world Do we really
desire this kingdom to come?
Ii means a new departure, change OF
purpose and plans 1t means revolution
means fair play on the part of the master
and on the part of the man, no class lees-
! lation, but the principles of justice and
rectitude.
The prayer Implies that we work to
hasten its coming. a re you in hostility to
this kingdom? Then You are on the losing
| side. Wnat you do for Christ must be Gone
quickly, We are in the last Sabbath nf The
,I1. w
To last things. You will soon have Do
opportunity TO show your love for this
cause.
At the evening service Dr.. Johnson dis
cusSed The Meaning of Christmas lis
text being from Timothy iiil6, Great
is the mystery of GodlineSs God was mani
fest iii the flesh
Nature, as well as religion, said nr.
| johnson, is full of mystery. Why then
should We reject it? Should we do this
| we would be fools for we live in a world
of mystery.
This statement, he said is always forci-
| bly, brought to our attention by the fact
! that none OF our scientific men have ever
| been able to explain the mysteries of
an atom Of matter or human life
The incarnation he said, is emphaticany
| the mystery of Christianity. 1t tran
| Scends reason, but does not contradict it
| Acknowledge the mystery but never Yield
| the fact, that God was manifest in the
| flcSh'
Christianity alone rises to the con-
| Ception of the incarnation, which is not
| human nature deifed, but God hunanized
| For all that we can understand Of God we
| have n Christ.