^ It is " the kingdom " — not, as in the Authorized Version, "the kingdoms" — "of the world," which has become Christ's possession. The contest is not for the kingdoms, the separate nationalities ; the varying political systems might exist, as far as mere organization is concerned, under the rule of Christ; the contest is for the kingdom of the world. Satan was willing to surrender the kingdoms of the world to our Lord on condition of a homage which would have left him still in possession of the kingdom of the world. But now the close of the contest is the overthrow of the kingdom of evil, the establishment of the kingdom of good ; that is, of God.^
^ This is the future triumph-song of the Christian Church.
We cannot rightly sing it yet ; we can only join in its prelude.
As sung by the inhabitants of heaven it is the fulfilment of a
wondrous and long-continued prophecy ; as heard by us it is the
inspiration of all true Christian service. It is, even now, by
* W. B. Carpenter, The EevelatioHf 151. 223
224 THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD
anticipation, the song of the blessed over the earth, as it will be hereafter, by the complete realization, the song of the earth over itself. No false note quavers through its music. To the redeemed in glory it is the completion of a great joy ; to the redeemed in heaven it is the embodiment of a living hope.^
The Kingdom.
1. The text is the announcement of the time of the arrival of the restored Kingdom to which men had looked forward since the loss of Eden. Its burden is this : God's purposes have now become finished. The work of the Eedeemer has been successful. This world, devil-conquered, has now become Christ-restored. The sceptre has been wrested from the hands of that spiritual tyrant who has cursed it with so much sin and misery. And now " the kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ " ; henceforth a reverse history of it is to begin — holiness instead of sin, happiness instead of misery, life instead of death ; and no further reversion is to be feared, for " He shall reign for ever and ever."
The text is a vision, but it is not visionary. It is a vision only in the sense that it unfolds to us things yet future. The Christian prophet here dips into the future farther than human eye can see, and sees the vision of the world, and all the wonder that shall be. And it is the certainty of that " shall be " that redeems it from unreality. It is a vision of the world — of this world ; and it is a vision of something that will certainly be seen in it. God's truth is pledged to this ; and it is as certain as any- thing that has been in the history of the past. Hence the historic form of the language — " the kingdom of this world " — not merely shall be, but is — " is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ." It is so put because there can be no contingency, no doubtfulness about it. It has been God's plan to bring about this issue from the beginning — from the first inception of His purposes of grace respecting the redemption of this world. And, as time has rolled on, all has been slowly tending to its final accomplish-
» W. Watson.
REVELATION xi. 15 225
ment. All prophecy has sung of it ; and it is only part of a series that has ever been fulfilling.
Tf The conception of the Kingdom of God on which Jesus based His gospel was determined for Him by contemporary Juda- ism ; but in its essence it is fundamental to all religion. Amidst the imperfections of the present, men have ever looked forward to some glorious consummation, and have lived and worked in the faith of it. To the prophets of Israel it was the new age of righteousness — to the Greek thinkers, the world of pure intelli- gible forms — to Augustine and Dante, the holy theocratic state — to the practical thought of our own time, the renovated social order. Each successive age will frame to itself its own vision of the great fulfilment ; but all the different ideals can find their place in that message of the Kingdom which was proclaimed by Jesus. He expressed it, for He could not do otherwise, in the language of His own time ; but the aspiration which He cherished will ever find its response in the hearts of men. " Thy Kingdom come — thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
Jesus foretold the coming of that Kingdom, and transformed the dream of it into a living hope. In His own Person He was the Messiah of the Kingdom. The title to which He laid claim was inherited by Him from a bygone world of Jewish thought ; but He filled it with a new and lasting significance by identifying it with Himself. He has taught us to see in Him the Anointed One — the chosen Leader of mankind, by whom God will bring in His Kingdom.^