One of the woes pronounced by our Lord against the Scribes and Pharisees was for this, “Ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (S. Matt. xxiii. 13). They would not themselves enter this Kingdom by accepting Him as Christ the King; and they hindered others from doing so. The Jews had thought themselves to be the subjects of God, whilst all the rest of the world were castaways. But from these words, as well as from those referred to above, which were spoken to Nicodemus, we conclude that the subjects of Messiah’s Kingdom are they, and only they, who “believe and confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (1 S. John iv. 15, v. 1), and, having thus accepted Him as their King, have been admitted by a formal act into His Kingdom.
When the Herald proclaimed “The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand” (S. Matt. iii. 2), he was calling upon the whole Jewish people to enter into it. But the call to enter Messiah’s Kingdom was not to be confined to the Jews. It was to be published far and wide throughout the world.
The Prophets had foretold a day when “The Gentiles shall come to Thy light, and kings to the brightness of Thy rising” (Isaiah lx. 3), and that “in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God” (Hosea i. 10). And this was now about to be fulfilled. And in the homage which the Wise Men from the East paid to the infant Saviour, “born King of the Jews,” we see the first sign that free and full salvation was henceforth placed within the reach of all the nations of the world without distinction. And thus it came to pass that, in after years, the Apostles addressed their converts, taken equally from amongst Jews and Gentiles, in such words as these, “God hath called you unto His Kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. ii. 12); God “hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. i. 13).
In other words, “The Kingdom of Heaven” is a real Kingdom, though a spiritual and heavenly one. The Lord Jesus Christ is King, and all the nations of the world are called to be His subjects.
And where is “The Kingdom of Heaven”?
The answer is clear. Wherever they are who have accepted the King and been admitted as His subjects.
“The Kingdom of Heaven” is not as yet in Heaven, so far as its subjects are concerned. It is true that the King Himself has ascended His throne in Heaven. And as members of Christ we share in some degree in the exaltation of our Head, so that S. Paul does not hesitate to say of the Lord’s people here on earth, God “hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephes. ii. 6). But such words seem to apply to that part of our nature to which our hopes and affections belong. So far as our duties and difficulties are concerned, we are still surrounded with earthly temptations. We are still in a state of trial here, however much we may be looking for and longing after our home. And Heaven will not be opened to receive the subjects of “The Kingdom of Heaven” until the Great Day, when they will be welcomed with the words, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you” (S. Matt. xxv. 34).
Christ’s Kingdom “is not of this world” (S. John xviii. 36), as He declared plainly to Pilate when he questioned Him about Himself. But for the present we may consider that, practically speaking, it is in the world though not of it. For its subjects are not yet in Heaven: but are partly at rest in Paradise; partly here on earth still warring against evil.
We can now express in few words the chief points respecting the nature of that “Kingdom of Heaven” which John the Baptist, in his office as Herald, proclaimed to be “at hand.”
The Lord Jesus Christ came to found a Kingdom. He is the King of “The Kingdom of Heaven.”