where shall he inscribed the motto upon Gideon's altar, "Jehovah-Shalom." (Judg. vi. 24, margin.) " The beasts of the field shall be at peace with us " (Job v. 23) ; for " the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them ; and the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down toge- ther. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." (Isa. xi. 6.) The groans of creation shall then be over, and its deliverance accomplished. All shall be peace ; for the great peace-maker is come. His name is King of Salem, that is, King of peace. (Heb. vii. 2.) He is called " the Prince of Peace" and " of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end." (Isa. ix. 6, 7.)
With what longing hearts do we desire the arrival of that kingdom, so unlike what this troubled earth has yet known from the
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beginning hitherto. Each new sorrow stirs the longing. Each new conflict makes us glad at the thought that there is such a kingdom in reserve. Were it not for this, how we should "fret because of evil-doers;" and how soon should our patience give wray ! But with our eye upon this kingdom of peace, we can ".glory in tribulation," we can drink the bitterest cup, we can face the thickest storm, we can endure the rudest clamour; and when the world's up- roar waxes loudest we can " lift up our heads, knowing that our redemption draw- eth«nigh."
6. It is a kingdom that cannot be moved. (Heb. xii. 28.) All other kingdoms have not only been moved, but shaken to pieces. Great Babylon, " the glory of kingdoms," has been a sand-wreath, raised by one tide, and levelled by the next. So have all others been, greater or lesser. One by one they have been overthrown and crushed, or they have crumbled down and become like
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the chaff of the summer threshing-floor. But the kingdom that we look for is " the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Pet. i. 11.) It abides for ever. Neither force nor age can affect it. It rises out of the ruins of earth's present empires, though unlike them all. fhe things that can decay or moulder, are e shaken/' in order that they may be ihaken off, and that those things that can- not be shaken may remain. And thus there comes forth the immovable king- dom,— the kingdom into which sin comes not ; in which change has no place ; into which the curse eats not; of which wisdom and holiness are the strong pillars ; where misrule is unknown; where order triumphs; and of which the glory never dims. It is joy to us in such a world of instability and convulsion, to think of such a kingdom. Driven to and fro with the changes of the kingdoms we inhabit here; wearied with the falling and the rising, the casting down
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and the building up, we long for a king dom that shall give us rest, a kingdom that cannot be moved. From this uncer- tainty and fickleness, how many of our griefs have come ! For what is there so saddening, so sickening, as the thought that every inch of ground beneath us is shifting, — that every prop on which we lean is breaking, that every twig to which we cling is snapping? As we draw our curtains around us, we know not what change, what loss, what sorrow shall greet us on the morrow. Or though going forth light-hearted and unburdened in the morn- ing, we tremble to think what clouds may have gathered over our dwelling ere the evening has fallen. Such is the perishable- ness, the changeableness of earth and its kingdoms ! What joy to look beyond them all, and see through their shadows the everlasting kingdom ! Nay, to be assured that this kingdom is at hand, and that ere long He " who is without variableness 01
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shadow of turning/' shall bid us welcome to its unchanging rest; and He who is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever," shall seat us upon the eternal throne.
" Heaven," says an old writer, " is a com- pany of noble venturers for Christ ; " and we may add, of "noble sufferers too." — Of such is the kingdom of heaven ! It is in that kingdom that we shall rest from our labours, and find the end of all our sufferings. We shall find that we have not ventured too much, nor laboured too much, nor suffered too much. The glory of the kingdom will make up for all.
" Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Along with " the King of glory," we shall take our place upon the throne, in that day when, after " raising the poor out of the dust, he shall set them among princes, and make them to inherit the throne of glory ; " when " tho wicked shall be silent in dark- ness, and the adversaries of the Lord shall
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be broken in pieces ; " when " the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, giving strength unto his king, and exalting the horn of his anointed." (1 Sam. ii. 8 — 10.)