The setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah would intro- (continued)
Kingdom of God
continue secure, and will go on in their neglect and opposition of Christ and His Gospel till all the Christians are withdrawn from among them and gone to a place of refuge. One would have thought that this discourse of our Saviour's, which was public, and not long after published to the world, should have awakened them; but it did not, for the hearts of that people were hardened to their destruction. And in like manner, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world at the end of time, sinners will be found in the same secure and careless posture, altogether regardless of the judgment approaching, which will therefore come upon them as a snare. And in like manner sinners of every age go on securely in their evil ways, and remember not their latter end, nor the account that they must give.
It is only by vigilance in all things that any of us can escape the fate that awaits the secure and careless sinner. Take, for example, the rich (Mark x. 17-23). They have many temptations to grapple with, and many difficulties to get over, which lie not in the way of poor people. The danger arises not so much in their having riches as from their trusting to them, and placing their confidence in them, expecting protection, provision, and a portion from them, saying that to their gold which they should say only to their God, "Thou art my hope'' (Job xxxi. 24). They that have such a value as this for the wealth of the world will never be brought to put a right value upon Christ and His grace.
14. THE DIFFICULTY OF ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM "Tt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man'"' that trust in riches, or inclines to do so, "to enter into the Kingdom of God''. The disproportion here seems so great that some have laboured to bring the camel and the eye of the needle a little nearer.
(a) Some imagine there might be some wicket-gate or door at Jerusalem, commonly known by the name needle's eye for its straightness, through which a camel could not be got, unless he were unloaded and made to kneel. So a rich man cannot get to heaven unless he be willing to part with the load of his worldly wealth and stoop to the duties of a humble religion.
(b) Others suggest that the word we translate a camel sometimes signifies a cable rope, which, though not to be got through a needle's eye, yet is of greater affinity to it. A rich man compared with the poor, is as a cable to a single thread, stronger, but not so pliable, and it will not go through a needle's eye unless it be untwisted. So the rich man must be unloaded and disentangled from his riches, and then there is some hope for him.
The disciples understood their Lord's meaning. "Who then can be saved?" was their question. In answer to which He replied, 'With men it is impossible', but the grace and power of God can do it, and it is upon these that the kingdom of God is built up, peopled, and perpetuated.
SERMON OUTLINE
THE KINGDOM
THE PREACHING OF THE KINGDOM (Mark i) (a) A Word of Promise (6) A Word of Power
LOE
THE MANIFESTATION OF THE KINGDOM (a) Christ's Miracles a Witness to the Kingdom of God (6) Christ's Miracles Overthrow the Kingdom of Satan THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM (a) It Grows Surely (5) It Grows Mysteriously (c) It Grows Gradually THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE KINGDOM (a) The Kingdom of Grace Now (6) The Kingdom of Glory Hereafter THE PRINCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM (a) The Kingdom is Spiritual, not External (6) The Kingdom Meets with Human Opposition (c) The Kingdom is Universal in Extent (d) The Kingdom Involves the Cross (e) The Kingdom is Entered with Difficulty i ie
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