The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 390

". ki?gdom whi_ch CRnnot be moved." Christi11n Chur?hcs_ may pass away; but Chris- tiamty ever abides and ever grows, Christian denommat10ns and sects may die• but the Cln~rch of C~rist ever lives and advances toward~ its position of supreme' and world-wide sorere1gnty. Again, "grace and truth," "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost," o.s realized by the individual Christian, are not constant and per- manent. Our consciousness of these things may vary and fluctuate; but the things themselves cannot be moved. The presence of the sun in the heavens may be veiled Jrom us; but the sun is there, calm and luminous as ever. Clouds may hide every star from our riew, and present to us a canopy of pitchy blackness; but the stars are not l,,,t-beyond and above the clouds they pursue their appointed courses. So the con- ,ciousness of the kingdom within us may be disturbed and suspended and lost for a time; but the kingdom is not lost, or suspended, or disturbed. If we have received ,T esus Christ as our Saviour and Lord, we have " received a kingdom which cannot be moved." Let us now fix our attention upon some of the chief teachings of the text. I. CHRISTIA1'7:TY IS A SOVEREIGN POWER. It is "a kingdom;" "the kinadom of God;" "the kingdom of Christ;" "the kingdom of heaven;" the "kingdo~1 which cannot be moved." Jesus claims supremo authority over the heart and life of all men, and over all institutions and societies. He claims to be the King of men. Have we received Christianity as a ruling power in our lives? Some accept it only for purposes of study and speculation; others only by manifesting towards it a little respect and interest; others admit it to a limited measure of control over them. But none of these has received the "kingdom which cannot be moved." He who has not welcomed the Lord Jesus as his King has not truly welcomed him at all. Personal Christianity is a sovereign power and person in the soul, ruling the thoughts and words, the desires and foclin!!"s, the purposes and actions of our being-ruling, in a word, our whole life. Have we so received Christ? II. CHRISTIA.1''ITY AS A SOVEREIGN POWER IS UNOHANGEABLE AND EVERLASTING, "A kingdom which cannot be mored." We have seen that this kingdom is" grace and truth," "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." These are immutable :ind abiding things. They are essential to the being and character of God, and he is unchangeable and eternal. And these things as possessed by his people are derived from him. Ephemeral is the seeming reign of falsehood and wrong; eternal is the reign of truth and righteousness-the kingdom of God. Amid change and decay, amid revolution and dissolution, here is an abiding thing, a sovereign and eternal thing. Ilave we received the "grace and truth," the "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost"? Then we have received the immovable kingdom, the kingdom which rests upon the eternal and unchangeable God. 1. Marie the blessedness of the true Christian. Amid all the painful uncertainties and changes of this life, he possesses the unalterable and the certain. He has a portion and an inheritance which shall not be taken away from him. He will carry bis wealth with him into eternity, and it will increase for ever. "Grace and truth," "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost," are incorporated with his very being, and will never pass away from him. 'l'he blessed and permanent " kingdom of God is within " him. 2. Here is the basis of an argurrumt for the immediate acceptance of Christianity, or rather, of the Christ. Christianity is not to give place to any other remedial dis1,onsation. The patriarchal form of religion passed away, and the Mosaic system followed ; that in its turn passed away with the advent and growth of Christianity, which will never be removed until the end of time. God will not speak to us with any voice more attractive, persuasive, or convincing than that by which he now addresses us. "Seo that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not," etc. (vers. 25-27). Accept at once the blessings e.nd obligations of this kingdom.-W. J. Ver. 1.-Tl~ doud of witnesses. I. THE 1''1JMBER OF THE WITNESSES. From mauy ages, of both sexes, and in all positions of life. Our attention is called, not merely to IL cloud, but to so great a cloud. Birds gather together in clouds. And the cloud may be so great as to compel notice. Whether we shall he impressed by the number of the witnesses depends altogether on the spirit in which we consider them, If we are 0urselves of e. believing disposition, we shall quickly recognize faith in the lives of others. We shall notice faith in the peculiarity of its beginnings, in the nobleness OH, :m. 1-29.] THE EPI8'£LE '£0 THE HEBREWS. 385