Remnant Seventh Day Adventist Church
Remnant Seventh Day Adventist Church
"And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation [outward show]: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20-21. It begins in your heart. Look not here or there for manifestations of earthly power to mark its coming.
Without the illumination of God’s divine Spirit, humanity cannot discern the glory of Jesus Christ. The truth and the work of God are unappreciated by a world-loving and compromising Christianity. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:6-7. Not in the ways of ease, of earthly honor or worldly conformity, are the followers of Jesus found. We are far in advance, in the paths of toil, and humiliation, and reproach, in the front of the battle" against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12. And now, as in Christ's day, Sabbath keepers are misunderstood and reproached and oppressed by the priests and Pharisees of our time.
The kingdom of God comes not with outward show. The gospel of the grace of God, with its spirit of self-abnegation, can never be in harmony with the spirit of this world. The two principles are antagonistic. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14.
But today in the religious world there are false Protestants who, as they believe, are working for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ as an earthly and temporal dominion. They desire to make our Lord the ruler of the kingdoms of this world, the ruler in its courts and camps, its legislative halls, its palaces and market places. They expect Him to rule through legal enactments, enforced by human authority. Since Jesus Christ is not now here in person, they themselves will undertake to act in His stead, to execute the laws of His kingdom. The establishment of such a kingdom is what Orthodox Jews desired in the days of Christ. They would have received Jesus, had He been willing to establish a temporal dominion, to enforce what they regarded as the laws of God, and to make them the expositors of His will and the agents of His authority. But He said, "My kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36. He would not accept the earthly throne.
The government under which Jesus lived was corrupt and oppressive; on every hand were crying abuses,—extortion, intolerance, and grinding cruelty. Yet our Savior attempted no civil reforms (e.g. voting). He attacked no national abuses, nor condemned the national enemies (Romans). He did not interfere with the authority or administration of those in power. He who was our example kept aloof from earthly governments. Not because He was indifferent to the woes of men, but because the remedy did not lie in merely human and external measures. To be efficient, the cure must reach men individually, and must regenerate the heart.
Not by the decisions of courts or councils or legislative assemblies, not by the patronage of worldly great men, is the kingdom of Christ established, but by the implanting of Christ's nature in humanity through the work of His Holy Spirit. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13. Here is the only power that can work the uplifting of mankind. And the human agency for the accomplishment of this work is the teaching and practicing of the Word of God [Bible].
Now, as in Jesus Christ's day, the work of God's kingdom lies not with those who are clamoring for recognition and support by earthly rulers and human laws, but with those who are declaring to the people in His name those spiritual truths that will work in the receivers the experience of Paul: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Galatians 2:20. Then you will labor as did Paul for the benefit of others. He said, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 2 Corinthians 5:20.
Finally, In the kingdom of God, position is not gained through favoritism. It is not earned, nor is it received through an arbitrary bestowal. It is the result of your character. In Revelation 3:21, the crown and the throne are the tokens of a condition attained; they are the tokens of self-conquest through our Lord Jesus Christ. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” Proverbs 16:32.
In the kingdoms of this world, gaining position means self-aggrandizement. Multitudes exist for the benefit of the ruling classes. Influence, wealth, education, are so many means of gaining control of the masses for the use of the leaders. The higher classes think, decide, enjoy, and rule; the lower obey and serve. Religion, like all things else, is a matter of authority. Especially in Catholicism. The people are expected to believe and practice as their superiors dictate. The right of man as man, to think and act for himself, is wholly unrecognized. Jesus Christ established a kingdom on different principles. He calls men, not to authority, but to service, the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak. Power, position, talent, education, places you under greater obligation to serve others. In the kingdom of Christ those are greatest who follow the example He has given, and act as shepherds of His flock.
In matters of conscience the soul must be left untrammeled. No one is to control another’s mind, to judge for another, or to prescribe his duty. God gives to every soul freedom to think, and to follow his own convictions. “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” No one has a right to merge his own individuality in that of another. In all matters where principle is involved, “let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” Romans 14:12, 5. In Christ’s kingdom of stone there is no lordly oppression, and absolutely no compulsion of manner. “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
