ng shall reign in righteousness" (Isai. xxxii. 1); and in many a
glowing passage described the peace and glory of His Kingdom. And
Jeremiah yet more clearly announced, "Behold the days come, saith the
Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King
shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the
earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell
safely; and this is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our
Righteousness" (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6). And Daniel was directed to explain
the king's dream, as a vision of earthly empires, which should be
overpowered "by the Stone cut out without hands;" for "the God of
Heaven shall set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the
Kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in
pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever"
(Dan. ii. 44, 45). And Zechariah sang, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto
thee" (Zech. ix. 9).

Many years were yet to pass before the fulfilment of these promises
should be commenced, through the setting up of the everlasting
sovereignty of Messiah. But at last the fulness of time was come; and
the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary at Nazareth, and after
addressing her as the favoured mother of Messiah, declared of her Son,
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and
the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David; and
He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His Kingdom
there shall be no end" (S. Luke i. 32, 33).

This then was the Gospel--the Gospel of the Kingdom--the Gospel of
God. The good news was published abroad that the long-promised King of
the seed of David was come. Messiah's Kingdom was to be set up; and
all men were invited to enter in and be saved.

The King Himself went forth to preach the good news, and to describe
His Kingdom and the character of His subjects. But by what means could
He persuade the people that He was their King? We often wonder that
the Jews were so slow to believe in Him; but perhaps we do not realise
their difficulties. There was one great obstacle which stopped all
but a very few from accepting Him. And it was this. "The Kingdom of
Heaven" which He preached as the Kingdom of Messiah was altogether
different from anything which they had expected, because it was a
spiritual Kingdom. No doubt the