Christ The Future World King

THE object of this lecture is to prove that the time is coming when the Son of God, now in the heavens, shall return to the earth in visible person, to dispossess all human governments of their power, secular and ecclesiastical, and establish himself in their stead as the universal ruler of mankind. The essential constituent of the Messiahship of Jesus Christ, and the most prominent element of his character, as portrayed in all the Scriptures is his KINGSHIP. Therefore, any faith which ignores this phase of his character, is vitally defective, to which let everyone see for himself as a matter of the highest individual concern.

There is a great deal more said in the Scriptures about the kingship of Christ than anything else. In the Old Testament, particularly, we find very little mention of the shame and the suffering to which he was to be subjected on account of sin. His sacrificial character is kept pretty much in the background. That which stands out in brilliant prominence is the glory which is to cover the earth when he shall reign in righteousness. This is true also of the New Testament, though it tells us more of "the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" there the other.

Every professed believer in Christ is prepared to admit that he is a king. It must be obvious, however, that this admission is only valid in so far as it recognises the true idea of that office. If a man say that Jesus is the Christ, or anointed one, while having an entirely erroneous idea of what the statement means, his words are an empty sound. When words do not mean the thing they properly stand for, they have no value. That this is the case with the popular recognition of the kingship of Christ will certainly appear. The popular recognition of the kingship of Christ both expresses a view which is untrue, and ignores the view exhibited in the Scriptures. By the kingship of Christ, it means the present exercise by him of a spiritual authority in heaven; therefore, it is no recognition of Christ's Messiahship at all, in the true sense, as we shall presently see.

It is admitted that the Jewish expectation of the Messiah was that he should appear upon the earth in person, and visibly exercise the power of a king over all nations: and it is also admitted that the disciples themselves shared the same view. The real controversy is as to whether this view is right. Our religious teachers take upon themselves to say that so far from being right, it was a mistaken view of a gross and carnal nature. They severely condemn the idea of a visible kingdom on earth as opposed to the very spirit of Christianity, calling it Judaical, grovelling, "earthly, sensual, and devilish", and as the teachers teach, so the people believe; so the untruthfulness of the Jewish national hope and the expectation of the disciples, has passed into an unquestioned article of popular creed; and people look surprised and incredulous when they are gravely defended.

Now let the merits of the case be candidly considered. Were the expectations of the disciples erroneous and carnal? If they were, how is it that they were not so pronounced by Christ? and how is it that none of the apostles made confession of the error in the epistles which some of them wrote subsequently to the time when they are supposed to have their errors removed? Those who affirm the misguidedness of the Jews and disciples in the belief in question, go against the evidence. There is not only no Scriptural countenance for the popular condemnation, but all Scriptural testimony is directly in favor of the doctrine which it is so common to condemn.

Jesus said to those who heard him, "I am not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil" (Matt. 5v 17). Now with this statement in view, we shall look at a few of the statements of the prophets concerning him. We read in Micah 5v 2:

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be RULER IN ISRAEL."

Who came out of Bethlehem? Jesus of Nazareth. Here then is a prophetic warrant for regarding him as the future "ruler In Israel":

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and A KING SHALL REIGN AND PROSPER AND SHALL EXECUTE JUDGMENT AND JUSTICE IN THE EARTH: in his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely" (Jer. 23v 5, 6).

What could be more calculated to inspire the Jewish national hope? and what more likely to create the expectations which the disciples are condemned as "carnal" for entertaining? Who is the Righteous Branch of David? None other than Jesus: for he claims the designation. He says:- "I am the root and the offspring (or BRANCH: 'offspring' being the antithesis to 'root' of David,) and the bright and morning star" (Rev. xxii. 16). If Christ be the Righteous Branch raised up unto David, and be come to fulfil the law and the prophets, he must "reign and prosper, and execute judgment and justice IN THE EARTH": for so the prophet hath declared the Righteous Branch shall do. The idea is not confined to one or two statements, but appears in the face of many testimonies, at a few of which we shall look:

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land." (Jer. 33v 14, 15).

"UNTO US a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID, AND UPON HIS KINGDOM, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this" (Isa.. 9v 6, 7).

"Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place . . . and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne" (Zech. 6v 12, 13).

"He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. 2v4).

"And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name One" (Zech. 14v 9).

"Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment" (Isa 32v 1).

"The Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously" (Isa. 24v 23).

"The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious" (Isa. xi. 9. 10).

"Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee" (Isa. 12v 6).

"I will make them (the Jews) one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one King shall be King to them all" (Ezek. 37v 22).

"The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne" (Psa. 132v 11).

"The Lord said unto my lord, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies" (Psa. 110v 1, 2).

"I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Psa. 2v 8).

"He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth....Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him" (Psa.72v 8, 11). (See also Dan. 7v 14).

These are a few out of many testimonies of a common import, and the question for us to consider is whether they do not amply justify the expectations which the Jews are admitted to have built on them. Nay, could they have consistently professed a belief in such testimonies, and not have entertained such expectations? It is not possible to conceive of language more designedly adapted to express the one idea of Christ's visible manifestation as a king on earth; and if the Jews were wrong in looking for such a manifestation, it was no fault of theirs. It was not because they were carnally minded; but because the language of the holy men of old, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, was so framed as to preclude every other but the one idea which they derived from it.