THE KINGDOM AT HAND

John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:1, 2. “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:14, 15. And as Jesus sent forth the twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he said to them, “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Matthew 10:5-7.BIAD 95.3

We have now reached a very important point in the discussion of this subject. Many will meet us here with the popular view that the kingdom was set up at the time of the first advent. They will use the phrase, “The kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” expressed by John, Jesus, and the twelve, with force upon the minds of those who do not study the subject in all its bearings. But, as we have shown, in no sense of the word whatever was the kingdom set up at the time of the first advent of Christ. The words, “kingdom of Heaven,” and “kingdom of God,” have but two significations: first, the plan to save men by grace; and second, the future condition and reward of the saved. The plan of salvation, or the kingdom of grace, was instituted soon after the fall; and the reward of the saved, or the kingdom of glory, is future.BIAD 95.4

The Greek word translated “at hand,” as used by Jesus, John, and the twelve, is engizo, and is defined by Greenfield as follows: “To approach, draw near. By metonymy, to be at hand, to impend. Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; Luke 10:9, 11; Mark 1:15” The immortal kingdom was not at hand, according to this definition, or the obvious meaning of the phrase, in the days of John and of Jesus. In fact, Paul warned the church at Thessalonica against the idea that the day of Christ — the day to destroy earthly kingdoms, and establish the immortal kingdom — was even then at hand. “Be not soon shaken in mind,” says the apostle, “or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” 2 Thessalonians 2:2.BIAD 96.1

The Greek work translated “at hand” in this text is enistemi, and signifies, according to Greenfield, “To place in, or upon; to stand near, be at hand, impend. 2 Thessalonians 2:2.” In their bearing upon the subject of the kingdom, there is really no difference in the signification of these two Greek words. But, does Paul contradict John, Jesus, and the twelve? Certainly he does not.BIAD 96.2

What, then, did John and Jesus mean in proclaiming the kingdom of Heaven at hand? Not that the kingdom of grace was soon to be set up. No; that had been instituted more than four thousand years before that proclamation. Neither did they urge immediate repentance on the ground that the kingdom of Heaven was at hand in the sense of being the next universal kingdom! With this view, their fervent announcement would seem to lose its force. But their proclamation had direct reference to the wonderful manifestations of divine power and grace immediately to follow, during the work of confirming the covenant, Daniel 9:27; first, by Christ, for three and a half years, and by the apostles, Hebrews 2:3, the same period of time. John looked forward to the ministry of Jesus, which was approved of God “by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him,” Acts 2:22, and proclaimed the kingdom of Heaven at hand. And Jesus looked forward to his own ministry, and also to that of the apostles as “they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following,” Mark 16:20, and proclaimed the kingdom of Heaven at hand.BIAD 97.1

This view of the subject is sustained by the commission given by our Lord to the seventy: “Go your ways. Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.” “And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” Luke 10:3, 8, 9. The kingdom of God in this connection can mean nothing more, and nothing less, than the manifestation of divine power and grace.BIAD 97.2

And with this agree the words of Christ addressed to the worthy scribe. “And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Mark 12:34. This scribe was sound on the fundamental principles of God’s government. He only needed to know Christ and the power of his great salvation, in order to enjoy all the privileges and blessings of the kingdom of grace.BIAD 98.1

Deception has been the work of Satan ever since he so successfully deceived Eve. He led the Jews to expect in the Messiah a ruling monarch, instead of the meek and lowly teacher, and finally the sacrifice for sinners. The Pharisees supposed the kingdom of Israel would then be established with outward show. “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; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20, 21. But was the kingdom within the unbelieving Pharisees? The marginal reading — “among you” — helps the case. What was then among them? Christ had just cleansed ten lepers who showed themselves to the priests, and one of them returned to give glory to God. In their midst were the wonderful manifestations of divine power and grace in the miracles of Christ; hence he said to the Pharisees, “The kingdom of God is among you.”BIAD 98.2

At the time of the second advent, and the establishment of the eternal kingdom, the people will doubtless be under as great deception relative to the nature of the coming and kingdom of Christ, as the Jews were relative to his mission at his first advent. Then he came as the humble teacher of the people, closing his mission with giving himself a sacrifice for sinners. The Jews rejected Jesus because he did not meet their vain expectations. Satan led them to look for the coming of Messiah with outward show, and grandeur, when he was to come in humility. And now that he is to appear the second time in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, Satan has the delusion prepared for the people, that Christ comes at death, at conversion, or in the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Jesus anticipates the heresies of our time, and says: “The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here! or, See there! go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven; shine unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of Man be in his day.” Luke 17:22-24.BIAD 99.1

But in order to enter the kingdom of glory, we must first be in the kingdom of grace, sharing all its privileges and blessings. The faithful John bears testimony: “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:9. John was in the kingdom of grace.BIAD 99.2

Paul to the Colossians delineates true Christian experience in a style wonderfully rich and full. He sets forth the change necessary for a moral fitness to be partaker of the eternal inheritance, in words that should stir the soul, and burn their way to every Christian heart.BIAD 99.3

“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son; in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:9-14.BIAD 100.1

The apostle here sets forth real conversion. When compared with this, most experiences will be found spurious. True conversion is not always the work of a day, or of a year. It is, however, always an onward work, widening and deepening as it progresses. Those who are truly converted are delivered from the powers of darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of grace. In Christ they have a moral redemption, “even the forgiveness of sins.” This passage has no reference to the physical redemption at the resurrection of the just. Its words of stirring interest describe the preparation necessary to inherit the eternal kingdom of God.BIAD 100.2