set forth
plainly; but they are not prepared.

Here as also in the parables of the vineyard let out to
husbandmen, and of the man who sowed good seed in his field, and
in a few other cases "the kingdom of heaven" means God's
government, his mode of dealing with men, his method of
establishing his truths in the hearts of men. "The kingdom of
heaven" sometimes signifies personal purity and peace, freedom
from sensual solicitations. "There be eunuchs which have made
themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is
able to receive it, let him receive it."

Christ frequently uses the term "kingdom of heaven" in a somewhat
restricted, traditional sense, based in form but not in spirit
upon the Jewish expectations of the Messiah's kingdom. "Be ye sure
of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you;" "I must
preach the kingdom of God to other cities also;" "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand." Christ was charged to bear to men a
new revelation from God of his government and laws, that he might
reign over them as a monarch over conscious and loyal subjects.
"Many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the
children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness."
The sense of these texts is as follows. "God is now offering unto
you, through me, a spiritual dispensation, a new kingdom; but,
unless you faithfully heed it and fulfil its conditions, you shall
be rejected from it and lose the Divine favor. Although, by your
position as the chosen people, and in the line of revelation, you
are its natural heirs, yet, unless you rule your spirits and lives
by its commands, you shall see the despised Gentiles enjoying all
the privileges your faith allows to the revered patriarchs of your
nation, while yourselves are shut out from them and overwhelmed
with shame and anguish. Your pride of descent, haughtiness of
spirit, and reliance upon dead rites unfit you for the true
kingdom of God, the inward reign of humility and righteousness;
and the very publicans and harlots, repenting and humbling
themselves, shall go into it before you."

To be welcomed under this Messianic dispensation, to become a
citizen of this spiritual kingdom of God, the Savior declares that
there are certain indispensable conditions. A man must repent and
forsake his sins. This was the burden of John's preaching, that
the candidate for the king