Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 28:110 (Apr 1871)
Article: The Idea Of Christ’s Kingdom On Earth, In Itself And In Its History, Proof That It Is From God
Author: Samuel Harris

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The Idea Of Christ’s Kingdom On Earth, In Itself And In Its History, Proof That It Is From God1

Samuel Harris

The theme of the present lecture is this: “The idea of Christ’s kingdom, in itself and in its historical origin, development, and prevalence, is proof that it is from God and that it will be realized on earth.”

In unfolding this proof the following points are to be considered:

I. The Idea Of Christ’s Kingdom Is An Existing Power In Human Thought And Action

The thinking of Christendom is now earnestly directed upon the person and work of Jesus, the Messianic King. The number of treatises recently published on the significance of his life and work, the extent to which they are circulated, and the interest with which they are discussed, are remarkable. More than one of them have been translated into different languages of Christendom and have had a sale that is extraordinary in the history of bookselling.

This power over the thinking of our day of one who lived in an age and country so remote, is a pregnant fact. If, as careless observers say, this is a superficial age given to novel-reading, it is significant that such an age is interested in a personage of antiquity who addresses himself only to that which is most profoundly spiritual in man. If, as is more correctly said, the age is unsurpassed in earnestness, this power of Jesus is equally significant in view of the direction of that earnestness—the political and social questions urgent

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in every Christian nation, involving in some instances the constitution and even the existence of the nation; the industrial interests absorbing human enterprise; the philosophy and science apparently leading away from religion.

In the generation preceding this, other questions pertaining to the life and work of Jesus were the subjects of excited controversy. This is another fact of similar significance. So in every age of intellectual or moral earnestness since Christ came, his person and kingdom have been powerful in human thought and action.

No other personage of antiquity has power over the age sufficient to awaken general interest in any discussion or controversy respecting him. Homer is one of the greatest of the ancients. His authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey, and even his existence, are denied. Yet the public is utterly indifferent to the question, and it would be impossible to awaken any general interest in its discussion.

This interest in Jesus is not speculative, but practical, pertaining to him as the world’s Redeemer and King. The idea of his kingdom on ea...