is at hand." Matt. iii. 2. "The kingdom of God is come unto you." Matt. xii. 28. 3. The overthrow of the Jewish polity, and the destruction of Jerusalem, as consequent upon the introduction of the Messiah's reign. "But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God." Luke ix. 27. 4. Vital religion in the heart, by which sin is subdued, and the soul made subject to the dominion of grace. "The kingdom of God is not in word but in power." 1 Cor. iv. 20. "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. xiv. 17. 5. The universal reign of Christ. "Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ," or of his anointed, Xgors aurs. Rev. xii. 10. Within the limits of an ordinary discourse, it will be impossible to repeat all that may be said on the gospel kingdom. I shall therefore confine myself to a few such particulars as suit the present occasion. The kingdom of Christ established in the heart consists in a full and voluntary submission to the will of God. This is the true spirit and design of the gospel, and nothing short of this can constitute us the people of God. Professions, creeds or forms, though proper in their place, can never compensate for the want of that sincere, holy and obedient love which the word of God enjoins, as the essence of religion. Before this kingdom is set up in the heart, sin must be destroyed. The tyranny of depraved nature must be abolished, every passion and power of the soul subdued, and even "every thought brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor. x. 5. In a word, the conquest must be complete, Jesus must have the unrivalled possession of body, soul and spirit as his proper right, for, "as sin reigned unto death, even so does grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. v. 21. It is a fine observation of a late author, that Jesus Christ never saved a soul which he did not govern, nor is Christ precious or estimable to any man who does not feel a spirit of subjection to him. The phrases "kingdom of grace," and "kingdom of glory," though they occur not in the sacred writings, seem to be very proper expressions to denote the connection and resemblance between the present and the eternal state of believers; for these are departments of the same grand empire; one being the perfection and consummation of the other. So sings the poet in the following beautiful lines :— "Thee in thy glorious realm they praise, And bow before the throne; We in the kingdom of thy grace, The kingdoms are but one, "The holy to the holiest leads, From thence our spirits rise; The dispensation of grace under which we live is termed a kingdom; but we are not to look for a temporal dominion. In nature and operation, it essentially differs from all human establishments. "My kingdom," says the Saviour, "is not of this world." The expectation of a secular prince in the person of the Messiah, constituted the grand mistake of the Jews; and we are not far from an error, similar to this in its tendency, whenever we would extend or establish the cause of religion by the violent measures of political authority. The Redeemer of the world, when he entered upon his glorious mission, assumed neither the character of a prince, nor a conqueror, nor even that of a philosopher. On the contrary, his advent was humble, his life laborious, his doctrines unpopular, his death ignominious. This seems an inauspicious commencement for a kingdom. Yet, "who hath despised the day of small things." There is, indeed, no subject of human thought more noble, more animating to the man of God, than the march of the church militant, from the time, when "The Sun of Righteousness appeared, to these latter days in which God is revealing his power and goodness beyond former example. Soon after his ascension, Jesus sent the promised Comforter; and on the day of pentecost commissioned anew his apostles and ministers. All gloom and fear were now dispelled; and the angel of the covenant appeared, in his followers, "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." From this period the cause of truth progressed with wonderful rapidity. The apostles or their successors penetrated into every region, traversing the earth from east to west, and from north to south, until, as is supposed, every part of the then known world had received the tidings of salvation, and all ranks of men, from the prince to the slave, paid their willing tribute to the Lord of life and glory. Amidst this prosperity, when it almost seemed that Christianity had no more victories to gain, there gradually arose a cloud of dismal aspect, charged with materials more terrible than pestilence, famine or sword, which overhung and finally enveloped the earth. Error and superstition, bigotry and violence, drenched, with tears and blood, the fairest portions of our globe, and swept away every vestige of primitive religion. Such was the obscurity of the times, that the former glory of the church was as though it had never been. These dark ages, as they are generally called, exhibit some of the most extraordinary events of history; events which show-what we are naturally surprised to discover the most rapid declension of genuine religion and learning, from times distinguished and illustrious for both. However, in the fifteenth century, it pleased God to raise up Luther and others, who strenuously opposed the prevailing errors, and soon kindled a flame which blazed over the whole of Europe. This was a new era in the annals of the church. But the lapse of a few centuries plainly discovered a lamentable degeneracy, even in the followers of the German reformer. Infidelity without, and formality within the church, combined to spread delusion and impiety throughout the land, while vital godliness was laughed out of the company of the great, and insulted by the vulgar. This was the state of things in England, about the middle of the last century, when Wesley was raised up. Small and unpropitious at the outset, the prospects of this great and good man soon brightened with success. Under the guidance of Providence, he stemmed a universal torrent of opposition, until, for every ten, God gave him hundreds, for every hundred, thousands, and for every thousand, tens of . ́thousands. How striking and even prophetic are his own words : "Saw ye not the cloud arise, Little as a human hand? Now it spreads along the skies, Wesley has gone to his reward; but he has left behind, in the affection of those who knew him, and in the admiration of those who follow him, memorials which can never perish, as long as the name of Methodism exists. Though dead, he yet speaketh. May all his followers possess the same religion which he displayed in his life, and preached with his lips, until "Millions of souls shall feel its power, And bear it down to millions more.' We gather from the general tenor of prophecy, that the kingdom of the Redeemer, which is already large and glorious, will finally become universal and perpetual; when Jesus shall indeed be "the Desire of all nations," and when "the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God." Thus the prophet Isaiah, transported in spirit to our day, cries out, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end." Isaiah ix. 6, 7. The most remarkable prophecy in relation to this subject is contained in the second and seventh chapters of Daniel. It is delivered in two visions or dreams, one by Nebuchadnezzar, under the similitude of an image, compounded of different metals, which Daniel interprets, and the other by the prophet himself, under the representation of four beasts, which an angel interprets to him. We cannot here enlarge upon these predictions, as far as they relate to the four great monarchies which preceded the coming of Christ; but the conclusion is to our purpose "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were made of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces." Dan. ii. 34. This points out the final subjugation of all empires to the Messiah; and Daniel's vision unfolds the same event. "And I saw, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given to him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Dan. vii. 13, 14. "The stone These predictions are not yet fully accomplished. cut out without hands" has indeed broken in pieces the preceding empires. We may perhaps say, it has already become a great mountain, but it does not yet fill the whole earth. Nevertheless, this part of the prophecy hastens to its fulfilment, and we cannot suppose that many ages will roll their mighty round, before that day shall dawn upon the world, in which Jesus will be hailed the Lord of all, and his kingdom flourish in the fulness of its power and glory. II. THE COMING of this KingDOM. Our text is a prayer, and a part of the best form ever indited. Let us then, before we proceed any further, inquire what it is for which we pray, when we use this petition, "Thy kingdom come." First, the submission of the soul to the power of God, and the operations of his grace, as a consequence of regeneration, together with the love and knowledge of Christ, constituting internal religion, may be viewed as objects of this prayer. "The kingdom of God is within you." Luke xvii. 21. Therefore all who are sensible that unholy principles and tempers predominate in their hearts, enslaving them in the worst of bondage, and repelling the influence and counsels of God in his spirit, word and ordinances; in short, the sinful, vile, guilty and miserable, all may pray, if they pray sincerely, Thy kingdom come." In the next place, as this passage cannot relate to the commencenent of the present dispensation, in which sense the kingdom had eady come when our Lord pronounced these words, so, it is likely, it was designed to point out the most glorious state of the church under the gospel, which is to take place at some future period; an event for which every saint of the Most High prays, when, in the words of our text, he says, " Thy kingdom come. 66 It must be admitted, that Christianity has never been so universally diffused as to justify the assertion, that it has, at any time since its rise, embraced the largest possible circle of influence, and height of grandeur, allotted to it in the divine purpose. If it has been preached in all nations, yet all nations have not universally received it. By far the greater part of the human family, in every age, has remained in error and idolatry, amidst all the labors of apostles and Christian ministers. This glorious state of things is, therefore, yet to come. And that it will sooner or later take place, is certain from the concordant testimony of all the prophets, and of the apostles of Christ, especially John the Evangelist. According to their declarations, the happy period shall arrive, when "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (Dan. vii. 27); when Jesus" shall have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession" (Ps. ii. 8); when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Is. xi. 9); when "the fulness of the gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved." Rom. xi. 25, 26. We should avoid interpreting too literally those passages which speak of this time. Such interpretations have led to a thousand wild speculations, and to theories as little supported by the Scriptures as by the Hindoo Shasters. This, however, is an error as old as the Christian era. The sanguine expectations of the Jews relative to the Messiah, and their subsequent disappointment in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, arose from no other source, than literal and exaggerated explanations of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ and his kingdom. These explanations gained currency and credit by nu merous traditions, spurious revelations, pretended visions, and Rabbin ical dogmas; the result of which was, that a King and kingdom, so different in all respects from their preconceived notions, gathered from the vivid and metaphorical language of the prophets, were treated with dishonor, and finally rejected. Even the apostles appear not fully to have understood the proper character in which Christ the Lord came upon earth, until after his resurrection. A secular monarch, a secular kingdom, and secular advantages, in their view, constituted the new dispensation. And certainly such errors in men of the best motives, could only have originated in too free an interpretation of prophecy, and in popular tradi tions. We are exposed to the same danger in our explanations of the |