The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 397

said Jesue, "is my kingdom not from hence." Designated "the kingdom of heaven" ?nd "the kingdom of God," it is, in its ground and in its character, what such desigrnitions involve, It is to the Divine wisdom and love that this unworldly kingdom must be traced. Christ is King by inheritance, as Son of God; by conquest, as th,, redeeming Lor~ ; by ohoico and election, being welcomed by the joyful acclamations of his loyal subjects. In all these respects our Saviour's title to the throne is very different from tho titles put forward by the kings of this earth. IV. CunrsT'B KIN0D0M 18 UNWORLDLY IN THE NATURE 01" ITS DOMINION OVER ITS BUIIJE0TB, 'l'he subjects of an earthly monarch are usually born beneath the i,way of their liege lord, In any case their obedience and submission, their aid and support, ere required, and the requirement is, if necessary, enforced by penalties. The sway of the king is over the outward actions, the speech and habits of the subjects. Very different is the case with the members of that spiritual state of which Jesus is the sovereign Ruler. 'l'hey are all citizens of the commonwealth and subjects of the Kinz in virtue of personal faith and voluntary submission. Christ reigns in the heart; he has no care for the mere homage of the lips, the mere prostration of the body. His is a spiritual empire, V, CHRIST'S KINGDOM 18 UNWORLDLY IN THE AIM IT BEEKS AND THE MEANS IT EMPLOYS. Whilst earthly sovereignties aicn at the outward order and prosperity of the community, at peace and wealth, at conquest and glory, at power and fame, and whilst they employ secular means towards these ends-Christ's kingdom contempla.tes purely moral ends-the growth and prevalence of righteousness and holiness, patience and love; in a word, those spiritual characteristics which are d.istincti ve of every divinely ordered society, and by means in harmony with such ends. No fear or constraint, no magistrates, officers, soldiers, prisons, does Christ employ. He disclaims force; "else," said he," would my servants fight." His is a kingdom in which truth is revealed and embodied-truth which calls for faith, and the support of intelligence and loyalty. The laws of the spiritual kingdom a.re not prohibitions; they take the form of examples, and are sustained by the sanction of Divine love. VL CHRIST'S XIl!GD0M 18 UNWORLDLY IN ITS EXTENT Al!o"D PERPETUITY. Whilst no earthly conqueror has been suffered by Divine providence to achieve a universal dominion, Christ shall "reign from sea to SE'.a, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." Whilst all human governments are liable to decay, and the Roman empire itself passed into a decline which issued in its fall, Christ's "kingdom is a.n everla.sting kingdom, and his dominion endureth to all generations."-T. Ver. 38.-" What is truth 1" When the Lord Jesus, in explanation of his claim to kingship, declared himself a Witness to "the truth," the tum to the conversation between him and the Roman governor was to all appearance very abrupt. Govern- ment, royalty,- these were ideas with which Pilate was familiar, in which his position bound him to take interest. With regard to truth, he might or he might not concern himself. In any case it would scarcely occur to him tbat there wa.s any special connection between kingship and that witness to the truth which the accused One professed that it was his mission to bear. Whether Pilate asked the question from mere curiosity, from real interest, in ridicule, or in cynical unbelief, we cannot confidently say. The possibility that any one of these motives may have influeuced him suggests the various attitudes of- mind with which the truth of God is regarded by men. I. U ~'11ELIE1" ASKS, " WHAT 18 TRUTH ? n WITH A CYNICAL CONTEMPT TOWARDS THOS.1,: WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE FOUND IT, The disbelief of Christianity as a Divine and authoritative religion is no new thing. Infidelity has existed from the earliest ages of Christianity down to the present time. It has taken different forms. .Atheism, agnosticism, deism, rationalism, m_ysticism, differ in ~hat they ~ll3:rm, _but they lar~~ly agree in what they deny. The chief offence taken with our religion IS because of 1ta supernatural claim, because, by affirming Jesus to be the Son of God and to have risen from the dead it affirms the being of a God deeply interested in man's true welfare, und interposing in order to secure it. That there \s some solid basis ~or the Christian faith and for the Christian Church, only the most ignorant deny. With regard to the historical facts which accounted for Ch!"istianity as a human system, there is among 410 THE GOSPEL AOCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [OIi. :r.vm. 1-40,