THE KINGDOM AND CHRISTENDOM

I shall try to shew you that they are distinct. I have no doubt that God attaches no value to Christendom. He will judge it for its admixture with His kingdom. But God attaches no value to it, He only attaches value to the kingdom.

What men see consequent on the first coming of Christ is Christendom, what they do not see is the kingdom. It is evident that the birth of Christ was not for the establishing of Christendom, that which man can see. It was God putting forth His hand to establish the kingdom —to commence in souls what suited Him, and the fact that the Holy Ghost is here is the proof that God has never withdrawn from that act of His. God’s work is not discernible by man. There must be a divine work in man if he is to see the kingdom.

The kingdom began with the advent of the King, although He was rejected. It was preached by Christ, and this preaching was continued after His death, Mark 1: 14 and Acts 20: 25. What sprung up in an outward way then on earth was the reality and the imitation, the imitation is ‘Christendom’ The kingdom, however, had begun for God, and “the powers of the world to come” (Heb 6: 5) are thenceforward all in activity. The Holy Ghost is here to oust the rejecter and to maintain in souls what suits God, as seen in Him who has been rejected—“We receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved”, Heb 12: 28. It is received or it is not entered, see Mark 10: 15.

Now there never was yet a work of God (and the kingdom in its present form is the work of God) but the devil started a counterfeit to, if possible, nullify its influence amongst men. This is Christendom, and this is its effect. The consequences are all around us, they are in the main all summed up in the words of the apostle to Timothy. It is a Satanic system, “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”, and many stripes await what is now called Christendom. God will not judge the kingdom. The kingdom is His own work. He will “gather out of it offences and all that offend”. Christendom is the counterfeit, and not the reality. I know there is the church, but I am speaking of the kingdom.

The kingdom of England is found, not where England is known, but where England rules. In like manner the kingdom of heaven is found where heaven rules. It is a beneficent rule. Christ, God’s King, has been openly crucified. His crime written, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”. God has given to Him a place in heaven, and since the King is in heaven, we now speak of “the kingdom of heaven”. But it is a reality—that which is for God in men down here, not an empty profession.

Matthew generally speaks of the kingdom as the kingdom of heaven, because Matthew’s gospel is the link between the Old and the New Testament. God’s King was the subject of the Old Testament, and He is also the subject of Matthew’s gospel, for He is yet to reign on the earth. In the last chapter of that book, the Lord says of Himself, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”. None could say that but a King. “He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdom there shall be no end”. He has all that today, but He holds it in heaven. God’s King for the moment is there. Hence the expression “the kingdom of heaven”.

We read (Rev 1) that John in Patmos was “in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ”; and saints now are “delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of his dear Son”, Col 1: 13. Now both of these are true for all that have “received the kingdom”. “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein”, Luke 18: 17. What is it to receive the kingdom?

It is to receive that which will characterise it when it shall be established in glory. When received, that rules in the recipient of the kingdom, which will bear rule in the kingdom itself, and which will form all in it according to God when it is established on earth. What is the kingdom?

“The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost”, Rom 14: 17. Do these characterise Christendom?

Only these will obtain when the kingdom is established in power and glory on the earth. And these three things mark one who has “received the kingdom” today, and they rule in him.

These same three were always prophesied of in the Old Testament as the characteristics of the kingdom when it should be established. The first two are repeatedly referred to as marks of God’s kingdom. In Isaiah 32 righteousness and peace characterise it, and “joy” is found as its accompaniment in chap 35, but Isaiah’s testimony is only one out of the many that may be found, and especially in the Psalms. Any one who possesses these has received the kingdom. He has received it individually and in anticipation. He is in the good of God’s new day.

As to the earth, the kingdom is not yet. “Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion”. The kingdom will be for the earth the time of public praise, and of displayed joy. The kingdom will be the rule of righteousness and of peace. All these find their expression in the saint now because he has received the kingdom. I turn now to say a word on the imitation of them.

If the word Christendom means anything it means the domain of Christ. It is the assumption that Christ is now in possession and in honour within its sphere. But this is false, and the name is only an empty mockery with the name of Christ attached to it. There is no ‘DOM’ on earth owned of God but the kingdom. People get satisfied with what they see, and they see what is called Christendom, a lie, and an empty counterfeit of the kingdom.

What is there for God on earth? Since the King has been rejected there is nothing for God but the kingdom, and what is true is that some have received it, and possess the marks of it externally, and the good of it internally. It is not a locality, it is a people. “The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one”, Matt 13: 38.

Since Christendom claims to have given Christ a place, it becomes for us all a serious question, which is more and more thrust upon us by this assumption, Am I seeking (Matt 6: 33) God’s kingdom, or content with what is called Christendom? “Righteousness”, which will characterise the kingdom, “peace”, which will also be in blessed display in it, and “joy in the Holy Ghost”—do these things characterise me? In short, it is time that we aroused ourselves to the difference between Christendom and the kingdom! Am I characterised by what men can see—outward display (or Christendom), or am I characterised by these marks of the kingdom? For judgment is coming on all that is not of the kingdom! See Daniel 2: 44.

From Helps for the Poor of the Flock—vol 4, 1899