SERMON X.

CHRIST'S KINGDOM NOT OF THIS WORLD.

JOHN, XVIII. 36.

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.

The policy of kings and the pride and avarice of priests have sought to raise the Church to civil power and to make it an appendage of the state. Every such attempt has served only to sink the spirit of religion into the spirit of the world. While the altar has been set to prop the throne, it has fumed the nose of majesty, but has ceased to send its incense to heaven. God is a Spirit, and it is the business of his kingdom to govern the spirits of That kingdom, though it extends its authority to the courtier as well as the peasant, has nothing to do with the affairs of state. And it asks nothing of the state but protection. sword to cut the throats of heretics. It seeks no alliance offensive and defensive with the civil arm. It thanks no potentate for his officious interference

men.

It asks no

to force men to heaven. It is the empire of the Eternal Spirit over the spirits of men, and is founded only in their free consent. Had this principle been well understood, it would have saved all the Christian blood which has stained the sword of guilty persecution; it would have broken up all religious establishments, and swept away a long catalogue of lords spiritual and ghostly magistrates.

The Jews expected that their Messiah would appear in the character of a temporal prince; that he would raise them to the empire of the world, and like another Cesar tread the nations beneath his feet. Hence the jealous attempt of Herod to take off the infant Saviour by a general massacre of the infants of Bethlehem. Accustomed as the nation were to this expectation, they supposed that Jesus of Nazareth intended to set up for an earthly king, and their plan was to accuse him of treason against Cesar. For this purpose they watched his words; they sent forth spies to ensnare him; and when they could gain nothing, they suborned false witnesses to swear, "We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Cesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king." All this time their great objection to his claims was, that he did not appear in the spirit and splendor of a temporal monarch and break their Roman yoke. The very disciples followed him with the same expectations, and were disappointed and chagrined at the long delay. But why, ye followers of the Lamb, does it grieve you that your Master, who is to rule over all worlds, does not come down to an earthly

throne? Why, ye malicious Jews, should it be a matter of complaint that he does not lay aside his universal dominion to manage the affairs of your little state? Is it not a more godlike office to rule the spirits of men, to reduce their raging passions, and to make them good and happy, than to shine in the pageantry of earthly splendor? to overcome the powers of hell, than to destroy the Samaritans? to deliver you from the bondage of sin and Satan, than from the power of the Romans? to raise you to an eternal throne, than to lift you to dominion over the heathen. Has not he who has been taught to govern himself, been served by a better king than he who has been led to victory through the blood of slaughtered armies? Is not the peasant who under this banner has vanquished the world, the flesh, and the devil, a better and happier man than Cesar in all his glory? It became then the benevolence as well as the dignity of Christ to put himself at the head of a kingdom not of this world.

But he had other ends to answer by this arrangement. He wished to draw away the affections of his subjects from creature enjoyments, and he wished to separate them from the principles and manners of worldly men. And it behooves them to demean themselves as the subjects of a kingdom not of this world. Let us attend to these three ideas.

I. He declined an earthly throne and established a kingdom not of this world, in order to draw away the affections of his subjects from creature enjoyments. He saw that the very soul of the apostacy consisted in loving the creature more than the CreaVOL. II.

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tor,-in forsaking the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns,-in removing the heart from God to the gratification of worldly tastes. He saw that mankind had become slaves to the world, and that their selfishness, pride, and idolatry were hourly inflamed by a close connexion with worldly objects. The grand thing therefore to be done was to weaken their attachment to the world and to send them back for happiness to the Source of their being. For this purpose he took measures to convince them that the world was not the good which he came to bestow. That he might fasten a deep and lasting impression of this truth upon their minds, instead of assuming the badges of royalty he appeared in our world in a destitute condition, not having where to lay his head. He was the reputed son of a carpenter and born in a manger. He selected his officers of state from a band of illiterate fishermen, and was crucified between two thieves. He passed by the mighty and noble, and chose for the materials of his Church the base things of the world, and things which were despised, and things that were not, to bring to nought things that were. Had he appeared in royal splendor and selected his ministers and disciples from men of rank and fortune, it would have seemed as though a part of the blessedness of his kingdom consisted in worldly greatness. But now it is manifest that it consists, not in those things which foster pride and carnal desire, but in those which gratify humble benevolence.

II. Another end which he had in view in establishing a kingdom not of this world, was to sepa