are His subjects, let us
begin with taking a general view of these chief points; and then
afterwards enter more fully into the consideration of the various
passages of Holy Scripture which describe the details of the Kingdom.

The Jews expected the Messiah as their King. And when the Wise Men
came from the East, and asked "Where is He that is born King of the
Jews" (S. Matt. ii. 2), we read that King Herod referred their enquiry
to those who were learned in the Scriptures, in this form, "He
demanded of them where Christ"--i.e. Messiah, The Anointed
One[1]--"should be born" (S. Matt. ii. 4). And that there should be no
doubt at all about the person of the King, so long expected, God in
His providence had arranged that one should go before Him to announce
His coming. For John the Baptist acted as a herald going before a
king, proclaiming his approach. And this was the proclamation, "Repent
ye; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (S. Matt. iii. 2). And then
the Herald declared that he was come as foretold by the prophet
Isaiah, and that the people must prepare at once to receive their
King, saying, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make
straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias" (S. John i.
23; Isaiah xl. 3).

The proclamation of "The Kingdom of Heaven" by John the Baptist
defined the exact time in the world's history when this Kingdom took
its rise. And our Lord afterwards called express attention to this,
saying, "The Law and the Prophets were until John: since that time the
Kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it[2]" (S.
Luke xvi. 16). And because John was only the Herald going before, and
was not himself enrolled as a subject of the Kingdom, He added, (after
referring to the greatness of John the Baptist), "Notwithstanding, he
that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he" (S. Matt.
xi. 11).

Thus we are assured that "The Kingdom of Heaven" began from the
proclamation of John the Baptist; and, therefore, we know for certain
that the Lord Jesus Christ, whose coming he proclaimed, is the King of
this Kingdom.

This is the great truth which forms the foundation of all the teaching
of the New Testament; and it is of the utmost importance to have a
clear idea of it. The Lord Jesus Christ came to be the Saviour of the
world by becoming King of a spiritual Kingdom of grace and blessing,
whose subjects were to be purchased and redeemed by His own Blood shed