284 The Plan of the Ages.
turn of Christ. And the message sent by the Lord to the Church long years afterward was, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Rev. 2 : 10.) From this it is evident that the kings who will reign with him will not be crowned nor reign as kings in this life.
The Church at present, therefore, is not the Kingdom of God set up in power and glory, but in its incipient, em- bryo condition And so, indeed, all the expressions of the New Testament with reference to it teach. The kingdom of heaven now suffers violence at the hands of the world \ the King was maltreated and crucified ; and whosoever will follow in his footsteps shall suffer persecution and violence in some form. This, it will be observed, is true only of the real Church, and not of the nominal one. But the promise is held out that if now we (the Church, the em- bryo kingdom) suffer with Christ, we also, in due time, when he takes to himself his great power and reigns, shall be glorified and shall reign with him.
James (2 : 5), in harmony with our Lord's teaching, tells us that God has chosen the poor and despised according to this world's standards, not to reign now, but as "heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised" The Lord says, " How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God." (Mark 10:23.) It is evident that he does not mean the nominal Church, which is now reigning with the world ; for the rich are pressed into it. Peter ex-* horts the heirs of the kingdom to patience, perseverance, virtue and faith, saying : " Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and elelion sure ; for if ye do these things ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" 2 Peter i : lojxt.
Paul's statement in Rom. 14: 17 is supposed by some to refer to a ^figurative kingdom ; but when examined in the
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