THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN;

WHAT IS IT?

BY

EDWARD BURBIDGE, M.A.

RECTOR OF BACKWELL, SOMERSET.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE.

LONDON:
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE;
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS;
4, ROYAL EXCHANGE; AND 48, PICCADILLY.

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PREFACE.

There is nothing new in the following pages;except it be that they call popular attention tofacts which have been commonly recognisedonly by scholars.

But I am aware that their contents will appearnovel to many; and to remove this ideasome extracts are here given from the Commentariesin general use.

1. Bishop Wordsworth on S. Matt. xiii. 3;“This chapter may be described as containinga Divine Treatise on the Church Militant hereon earth.”

2. Dean Alford on S. Matt. xiii. 52; “Theseven Parables compose in their inner depth ofconnexion, a great united whole, beginning withthe first sowing of the Church, and ending withthe consummation.”

3. The Speaker’s Commentary on S. Matt.iii. 2; “It—the Kingdom of Heaven—signifiesthe promised Kingdom of the Messiah. Hencethe expectation of the Messiah is spoken of asa waiting for the Kingdom of God. Our Lord,adopts the expression and frequently employsit to denote His Spiritual Kingdom the Church.”

4. Bishop Walsham How (S. P. C. K. Commentary)on S. Matt. iii. 2; “It—the Kingdomof Heaven—is generally used to signify the[Pg 4]Kingdom of Christ on earth, the Kingdom ofthe Gospel, the Church of Christ.”

I desire also to remove by anticipation a fearthat some may feel, lest, in regarding the Gospelas being the good news of the Kingdom ofHeaven, the great doctrine of the Atonementshould be forgotten. Such an idea is refutedby the words of Holy Scripture. For not onlyis the Preaching of our Blessed Lord, before Hesuffered, thus described—see S. Mark i. 14—butalso the teaching of S. Paul, in later years,who gloried in knowing only “Jesus Christ andHim crucified”—see Acts xx. 25.

My object has been to provide an answer totwo questions.

1. What did our Blessed Lord teach aboutHis Church in His discourses?

2. What is meant by the words of the Creed,“The Holy Catholic Church; the Communionof Saints?”

May these pages help men to gain an intelligentknowledge of that Kingdom, into whichour Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has called us.May they lead many to desire the fulfilment ofHis last prayer for us before His Passion, “Thatthey all may be one.” And may every word inthis little book, which is not in accordance withGod’s will, be pardoned, and overruled to HisGlory.

Backwell, August 1879.

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CONTENTS.