with the Lord helping me this
evening I would direct you again to the words that we were considering
this morning in John chapter 18 verse 36 the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ which he uttered before Pontius Pilate my kingdom
is not of this world The whole verse reads, Jesus answered,
my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered
to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. We began to consider
these words of the Lord Jesus Christ. My kingdom is not of
this world over a month ago now. And then again this morning with
considered the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom. As I say,
a month ago we considered that subject and then this morning
we considered the internal nature of Christ's kingdom. And we come
now this evening to consider the eternal nature of the kingdom
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ exercises
three offices, or perhaps we should say one three-fold office,
as the mediator of the New Covenant, that of prophet, priest, and
king. And what we've been considering,
then, is Christ's mediatorial office as king. This is to be
distinguished from his providential government of the world as God. As God co-equal with the Father
and with the Holy Ghost, He governs the nations, and He upholds all
things by the word of His power. As the God-man mediator, He is
peculiarly the King of saints. See the church there in the Revelation,
and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song
of the Lamb. saying, Great and marvellous
are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou
King of saints. As we have said before, this
is not the king or the kingdom which the Jews were expecting.
They were looking for the Messiah to set up a secular kingdom,
as opposed to a spiritual kingdom. They were looking for a kingdom
altogether of this world, with a temporal throne in Jerusalem. And sadly, there are many professed
evangelicals who are expecting the Lord to set up a similar
kingdom on this earth at his return, a so-called millennial
kingdom, a kingdom which will last a mere thousand years. No. Christ's throne is far superior
to any earthly throne. He is set on the right hand of
the majesty in the heavens. His crown outshines all the crowns
of every earthly monarch. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, with
glory and honor. Yes, he wore a crown of thorns
when he suffered death for the sins of his people. But now,
oh now, he is crowned with glory and honor. He has delivered his
saints from a far greater threat than the Romans ever were to
the Jews. We read of Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath to come. a far greater threat than any
Roman centurion. Christ's kingdom is spiritual
as opposed to secular. It is internal as opposed to
external. It is set up in the hearts of
his people. John 17 verse 20, And when he
was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should
come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not
with observation, neither shall they say, Lo here! or Lo there! for behold, the kingdom of God
is within you. Or as it is in the margin there
in Luke 17 verse 21, The kingdom of God cometh not with outward
show, neither shall they say, Lo here! or Lo there! for behold,
the kingdom of God is within you. Well, before we go on to
consider the eternal nature of Christ's kingdom, I would just
remind you again that the notion of a state church, or a state
religion, the doctrine or the concept of sacralism, is completely
contrary to the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ and to that
which he states here in the words of our text. My kingdom is not
of this world. Sacralism is the joining of the
state with a particular religion, or the joining of a particular
religion with the state. And so we see it, for example,
in Roman Catholicism, and in Islam, the beast and the false
prophet. We see sacralism perfectly illustrated
in the book of the Revelation, where we read of the great whore,
which is the apostate, or false church. John says there in Revelation
17, verse 3, And I saw a woman, this is the great oar, sit upon
a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having
seven heads and ten horns. There is the false church, riding
on the back of the beast, which is the civil state, or empire. The Church of England, which
is one of Rome's harlot daughters. You know, we read of Mystery
Babylon, she's the mother of harlots. She has some harlots
who are her daughters. Well, the Church of England,
I believe, is one of them. It has divided the land into dioceses
and parishes. It's territorial. The reigning
monarch, the king or the queen of the United Kingdom, whether
regenerate or unregenerate, holds the office of the Supreme Governor
of the Church of England. The Archbishops and the Bishops
are appointed by politicians. Again, whether unregenerate or
regenerate. And I'm talking about the politicians,
not just the Bishops. The Church and the State are
tied together. That is sacralism. And it's completely
contrary to what Christ says here. My kingdom is not of this
world. The kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ is made up of those of whom he speaks in prayer to the
Father in John 17. They are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. They are born from above. Their
citizenship is in heaven. from whence also they look for
the Saviour. They are those who are delivered
from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of
God's dear Son. In short, the Kingdom of Christ
is the Gospel Church. The true Gospel Church is the
true and it is truly the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. And in preaching this doctrine
of the kingdom, we are following the example of Christ and of
his apostles. We read of the commencement of
the Lord's public ministry in Matthew chapter four, verse 23,
and Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. After he had risen from
the dead, We read there in the beginning of Acts, Acts chapter
1, from verse 2, we read of the things that Jesus spoke of with
the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself
alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen
of them forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God. At the end of the book of Acts
we read of the Apostle Paul preaching the kingdom of God and teaching
those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence
no man forbidding him. And so at the beginning of Acts
and at the end of the book of Acts we have the preaching of
the kingdom of God and the teaching of those things which concern
the Lord Jesus Christ, first by Christ and then by his apostles. And so, as we declare these things,
we find ourselves in the true apostolic succession. So let
us go on then to consider the eternal nature of the Kingdom
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ is from everlasting, it endures throughout all time,
and it is to everlasting. And these shall be our three
headings this evening as we consider the eternal nature of Christ's
kingdom. Firstly then, the kingdom of
Christ is from everlasting. The kingdom of Christ is from
everlasting. It is founded, as we've said
before, on the eternal covenant of grace. In that covenant, all
the blessed subjects of the kingdom were given to the Lord Jesus
Christ, their Mediatorial King. before the foundation of the
world, that is, before even the world was made. The Lord Jesus
constantly referred to this covenant throughout His public ministry.
For example, in John 6, verse 37, All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. In chapter 10 of John, the Lord
speaks of those who are given to him and he speaks of them
as his sheep. These are his blessed subjects.
He speaks of them as his sheep. John 10 verse 11, I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And we notice that he does not
give his life for the goats. No, we believe in a particular
redemption, a definite atonement. And again there in John chapter
10 verse 14, I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known
of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. and other sheep I have which
are not of this fold them also I must bring and they shall hear
my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd and then
he goes on to speak to the unbelieving Jews there in John 10 and he
tells them that the reason that they do not believe is because
they are not his sheep they have not been given to him by the
father. John there in John 10 verse 26,
but ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep. As I said
unto you, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow
Me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which
gave them Me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. In John 17, We have the prayer
of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Father, and throughout that prayer,
He speaks of those whom the Father had given to Him. Verse 6, I
have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me
out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me, and they have kept my word. Verse 9 of that chapter,
I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which
thou hast given me, for they are thine. Verse 11, and now
I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I
come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one,
even as we are. Note the words, those whom thou
hast given me, that they may be one even as we are while I
was with them in the world I kept them in thy name those that thou
gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost but the son of
perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled and that's
a reference of course to Judas Iscariot and then in verse 24
father I will Mark this, none but the Son of
God could pray after this manner. Father, I will. Father, I will
that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am
that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for
thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. In the parable of the sheep and
the goats which we have just read in Matthew 25 we see there
that the sheep were given to Christ from the foundation of
the world. Matthew 25 verse 31, When the
Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And
before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats.
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats
on the left. then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand come ye blessed of my father inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world oh it is a prepared kingdom for
a prepared and predestinated people the kingdom of christ
then is from everlasting for god is my king of old working
salvation in the midst of the earth and secondly the kingdom
of christ endures throughout all time being founded on and
in the eternal covenant of grace it is from everlasting and it
continues through all the ages of time Jesus said, and he still
says even to the present day, my kingdom is not of this world. He said, and it's repeated three
times in the Gospels, heaven and earth shall pass away, but
my words shall not pass away. These words of Christ then are
as true today as they were on the day when they were first
spoken before Pontius Pilate. My kingdom is not of this world. All the kingdoms and all the
empires of this world are but temporary. Paul says, for the
fashion of this world passeth away. and John says, for all
that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of
the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of
the world and the world passeth away and the lust thereof but
he that doeth the will of God abideth forever all Christ's kingdom then because
it is not of this world shall never pass away and he that is
in this kingdom who doeth the will of God shall abide like
the kingdom forever." What is it to do the will of God? It
is to look to the King and to trust in Him. Jesus said, and this is the Father's
will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every
one which seeth the sun, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Christ's kingdom
lasts throughout all time, and will endure even until this present
world's very last day. The kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ was manifested in the days of the Roman Empire. It
was set up, it was seen to be set up, shall we say. It was
seen to be established in the days of the Roman Empire when
the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, was born of
a virgin. When he came into this world, Remember the words of
the wise men from the East, where is he? That he's born King of
the Jews, for we have seen his star in the East, and I've come
to worship him. Although the kingdom of Christ
was manifested in the days of the Roman Empire, it pre-existed
before the days of the Roman Empire, and we can prove that
from the Holy Scriptures. If we turn to the book of the
prophet Daniel, We read in Daniel chapter 2 that Nebuchadnezzar, the king
of Babylon, had a dream. Daniel was able to tell the king
his dream and the interpretation thereof. Daniel chapter 2, verse
31. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold,
a great image. This great image, whose brightness
was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was fine gold, his breast and his
arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs
of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest
till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the
image upon his feet that were of iron and clay. break them
to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay,
the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together
and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors and
the wind carried them away that no place was found for them and
the stone that smoked the image became a great mountain and filled
the whole earth. and Daniel proceeds to tell the
king the interpretation verse 38 thou art this head of gold
and after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee and
another third kingdom of brass which shall bear rule over all
the earth And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch
as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things. And as iron
that breaketh all these shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet
and toes part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom
shall be divided. And there shall be in it of the
strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed
with miry clay, and as the toes of the feet were part of iron
and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly
broken. And whereas thou sawest iron
mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed
of men, and they shall not cleave one to another, even as the iron
is not mixed with clay. That is a description of the
Roman Empire. We know from history what those
kingdoms were which was seen in Nebuchadnezzar's dream and
we can see how precisely this prophecy was fulfilled. Following
the Babylonian Kingdom there arose the Medo-Persian Empire
and then the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great And
then finally the Roman Empire. It was in the days of that fourth
empire, the Roman Empire, that Christ's kingdom was manifested,
as you see there in verse 34 of Daniel 2. Thou sawest till
that a great stone was cut without hands, which smote the image
upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and
break them to pieces. In the next verse Daniel tells
Nebuchadnezzar that the stone that smoked the image became
a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Well that stone
which became a great mountain and filled the whole earth is
the kingdom of Christ. It's a fifth kingdom, a kingdom
not of this world. Not made with hands, not cut
with hands. See Daniel's interpretation again
of the dream there in verse 44. And in the days of these kings,
that is in the days of the Roman Empire, shall the God of heaven
set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And then
he goes on to say, He goes on to tell the king that it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, that is, all
these four great empires, and it shall stand forever, for as
much as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands, and that it break in pieces the iron, the brass,
the clay, the silver, and the gold. You see, it was Christ's
kingdom which destroyed the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian,
the Roman Empires. His kingdom predates all the
kingdoms of this world and it shall outlive them. The Lord
Jesus Christ puts down one empire and he puts down another empire.
Why? For the sake of his church, his
people, his kingdom. And so we read that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the head over all things to the church. Christ is the head over all things
to the church. He works out all his purposes
for his people. The Lord Jesus Christ, you see,
he acts on behalf of his people as he sets up one and he pours
down another. It is the church, really, which
is the centre of this universe. Christ has his eye fixed on his
people. Indeed, his people are the apple
of his eye. They are the apple of his eye, his church. It's
the apple of his eye. It's also, of course, the object
of Satan's enmity and hatred. That's why there is such an attack
upon the Word of God and upon the Gospel Church in these days. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
the head over all things to the Church. He ever was and He ever
will be. He is Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday and today and forever. One can remember praying in the
prayer meetings here on a Thursday night. Here in this chapel we
used to pray for the persecuted Christians of the Soviet Union.
We used to get information from organizations like Friedensteiner,
especially concerning the persecuted Baptists under the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics. The state religion of which was
atheistic communism. Its doctrines were those of Charles
Darwin and Karl Marx. They were their prophets. Atheism
was their religion. It's reckoned that there were
more people murdered under the emblem of the hammer and sickle
than were murdered even under the Nazi swastika. But where are those empires now?
The Nazis used to refer to their Third Reich as the Thousand Year
Reich. It lasted 12 years. The Soviet Union lasted just
69 years, until it fell in 1991, and the fall, and great was the
fall of it. It was not founded on the word
of God, you see, it was founded on the sandy foundation of atheism. and so it could not stand. The
everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, however, is still
here. It has endured all the persecutions of the wicked since
the day that Cain killed Abel. Think of how Pharaoh tried to
destroy the kingdom of Christ. We read in Exodus, And Pharaoh
charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall
cast into the river, The Hebrew boys, they were to
be drowned as soon as they were born. Ah, but see what became of Pharaoh
and his army as they pursued after the children of Israel.
Why? They were all drowned. They were drowned themselves.
Oh, the justice of God is impeccable. It's perfect. The Egyptians were all drowned
in the Red Sea, Pharaoh and his army. And this is celebrated,
isn't it, in the Song of Moses, there in Exodus 15. The Lord
shall reign forever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went
in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and
the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them. But the
children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
The Lord is well able to preserve His Church, His Kingdom, throughout
all ages and through all persecutions and temptations and trials. See, the second Psalm. Why do the heathen rage? And
the people imagine a vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and
cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall
he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king. upon my holy hill of Zion the Lord Jesus Christ shall reign
forever and ever it may seem at times as if the
kingdom of Christ is brought almost to nothing as in the days of Elijah as in
the days of papal darkness before the reformation when the two
witnesses had been slain and the light of the gospel was all
but extinguished from the world yet it is written of Christ's
kingdom there in Daniel chapter 2 that it shall stand forever
it shall stand forever The kingdom of Christ stood even under the
law before the king actually came into this world in person.
You know, National Israel was an earthly kingdom, but as an
earthly kingdom it was different to all the other kingdoms of
the earth. That earthly kingdom, you see,
was typical of the kingdom which is not of this world. It was
typical of Christ's kingdom. It was the nation of whom, as
concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed
forever. Amen. Oh, but how few there were of that earthly kingdom who were
made citizens of the celestial kingdom. As John says, he came
unto his own and his own received him not. Paul in his epistle
to the Romans says, for they are not all Israel which are
of Israel. In other words, they're not all
spiritual heavenly Israelites which are of the earthly national
Israel. And again he says it there in chapter 2 of Romans,
for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that
circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew
which is one inwardly. Here is that inward kingdom again
you see. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Oh, there were but few of that
nation. who were Jews inwardly. Most were Jews merely outwardly
being circumcised in the flesh, but not in the heart. But there
was, even at that time, a remnant according to the election of
grace, who did know a circumcision of the heart, who were translated
into the kingdom of God's dear Son, and one such was Nathanael.
We read of him in John's gospel there in the first chapter John
chapter 1 and verse 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and
saith of him behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile no
guile why he is an Israelite indeed Here is one whose sins
have been blotted out. Here is one whose sins are forgiven
him. Here is one who is circumcised in the heart. Here is one who
is born again. Oh, here is a true Jew, an Israelite
indeed. And we see this as the conversation
unfolds. Nathanael saith unto him, Whence
knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith
unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King
of Israel. Do we not see here the Holy Spirit
teaching us and showing us what a true Israelite is? Why, a true
Israelite is one who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's one
who is being brought to believe and to confess that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God and the King of Israel. Such a one is evidently
and manifestly an heir of heaven and of eternal life. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree,
believest thou, thou shalt see greater things than these. And
he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye
shall see heaven He shall see heaven open and
the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. This brings us to our third and
final point this evening. In our consideration of the eternal
nature of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, we've seen
that it is from everlasting, that it endures throughout all
time. We see thirdly that Christ's kingdom is to everlasting. It's
to everlasting. Long after this world has passed
away, The kingdoms of this world are no more. Christ's kingdom
will remain. Daniel again saw it in his vision
in Daniel chapter 7 verse 13. I saw in the night visions, and
behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven,
and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before
him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,
that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and
his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. And he sees the saints of the
Most High reigning there with Jesus in that eternal kingdom. Verse 27 of that chapter. And
the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom
and of the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Paul speaks of these things,
doesn't he? Romans chapter 8, verse 16, the Spirit itself.
Beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God, mark the words,
and joint heirs with Jesus. Joint heirs with Jesus. joint
heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may
be also glorified together for I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us James 2 speaks of these
things James 2 verse 5 hearken my beloved
brethren hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in
faith and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them
that love him. John in the Revelation speaks
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter 11 the kingdoms of
this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ
and he shall reign forever and ever. And then in the last chapter
of the Revelation he speaks of the people of God and they shall
reign forever and ever. So we read of Christ reigning
forever and ever, we read of his people reigning forever and
ever. Well this present life is for
the believer a time of trial and of trouble and of tribulation. We must through much tribulation
enter into the Kingdom of God, the Apostle said. Before the
crown there must be the cross. J.C. Riles says of the heirs
of salvation, they must not think to enter heaven without trouble,
pain and suffering and conflict on earth. They must be content
to take up the cross of doctrine and the cross of practice, the
cross of holding a faith which the world despises, and the cross
of living a life which the world ridicules as too strict and righteous
over much. They must be willing to crucify
the flesh, to mortify the deeds of the body, to fight daily with
the devil, to come out from the world, and to lose their lives
if needful, for Christ's sake, and the Gospels. If we will not
carry the cross, we shall never wear the crown. The cross is
but for a few days, a few years. The glory at the end is forevermore. Let us often ask ourselves whether
our Christianity costs us anything. Does it entail any sacrifice? Has it the true stamp of heaven? Does it carry within any cross?
If not, we may well tremble and be afraid. A religion which costs
nothing is worth nothing. It will do us no good in the
life that now is. It will lead to no salvation
in the life to come. Solemn words these are from the
first Anglican bishop of Liverpool. Hope that there were such Anglican
bishops today in the established church. Paul said, it is a faithful
saying, if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. What a glorious prospect
awaits the true citizen of the heavenly kingdom and the true
subject of King Jesus. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am
set down with my father in his throne. He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. In conclusion, how it behoves
us to make our calling and our election sure. As Peter says, wherefore the rather brethren
give diligence mark the words give diligence to make your calling
and election sure for if you do these things you shall never
fall for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly
into the everlasting kingdom of our lord and savior jesus
christ the scriptures speak of this
present world and of this present evil world but they also speak
of the world to come. Surely it should be our business
now. Our business should be this,
in making sure that we are prepared for that world to come. Are you prepared for the world
to come? That's the great question, isn't
it? Let us each ask ourselves the question, am I prepared for
the world to come? Prepare me, gracious God, to
stand before thy face. Thy spirit must the work perform,
for it is all of grace. In Christ's obedience clothe,
and wash me in his blood. So shall I lift my head with
joy among the sons of God. May the Lord bless his word to
each of our souls. May we know indeed that we are
in that kingdom, the celestial kingdom, the heavenly kingdom,
the kingdom which is not of this world. And may we prove to be
the true subjects of the King as we seek to walk in obedience. to all his holy will. My kingdom
is not of this world. Amen.