Readers will not require a detailed refutation of conclusion No. 1 as the majority will already have arrived at

conclusion No. 2. It is our duty however to reject both conclusions and to examine the theme independently. It

will first be necessary to go into the reasons for rejecting No.2, especially as this has been taken up by many

who have sought rightly to divide the Word of truth, and who are clear as to the distinction between the

kingdom and church.

Let us look at the Sermon on the Mount and consider the claim upon our faith for the conception that these

verses constitute `the laws of the kingdom'. The opening beatitudes speak of `mourning' and being `persecuted

for righteousness' sake'. A blessing is pronounced upon those who are `reviled', `persecuted', and `slandered'

falsely for the sake of Christ. We believe that the Scriptures testify that, when the kingdom of prophecy is set

up and Christ reigns as the Son of David:

`In his days shall the righteous

FLOURISH;

and abundance of

so long as the moon endureth' (Psa.

The `needy' and the `poor' are to be His special care and:

`They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are

the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands ... They shall not hurt nor

destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the LORD' (Isa. 65:22-25).

One cannot but realize that a different atmosphere pervades the references of the Old Testament to the

kingdom of the Messiah, than that of the Sermon on the Mount. The beatitudes of verses 1-12 are not the only

references to the persecuted and outside position of those addressed here.

Under the conditions recognized by the Sermon on the Mount a man may be in danger of gehenna or of

prison and the payment of the uttermost farthing. Divorce is still contemplated as a possibility, which we feel

can find no warrant from Old Testament prophecy of the future kingdom. Again, the injunction to resist not evil

and being sued for one's coat, or being compelled to go a mile, etc., bring before the mind a totally different

economy from that which fills the vision of the prophets of old. Enemies are still abroad, and those that curse

and hate. In the great prayer taught by the Lord to His disciples, the kingdom is still future. They pray, `Thy

kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven'. Those addressed still `fasted' and had the

possibility of serving `two masters'. The kingdom of God is to be the first object of their seeking, and `evil' is

still to be expected day by day. `Dogs' and `swine' may still turn and rend those who indiscriminately dispense

holy things, and those addressed are still in the condition that can be spoken of like this, `If ye then, being evil,

etc.'. False prophets will still deceive, and some still build upon sand.

We cannot reconcile the general tenor of the teaching of these three chapters with the conception of those

with whom in the main we agree, namely, that the Sermon on the Mount gives us the laws of the kingdom.

Rather do we see a persecuted, waiting people, suffering during the absence of their rightful king, sustained by

the hope that, when He comes and the kingdom is set up, they will then receive their great reward which is in

heaven, awaiting the day when they, the meek, shall inherit the earth.

We have dealt with the subject negatively in order to free ourselves from the tradition mentioned above. We

can now approach the passage to search and see as true Bereans its purpose and place in the Gospel of the

Amplifying what we have enunciated in the preceding section we find that those who do not perceive the

dispensational position of the Gospel of Matthew express their views in some such way as `The Sermon on the

Mount gives the laws of Christ's kingdom'. Is this true? Let us again look carefully at the subject. By `The

kingdom' is understood that future and literal kingdom of which Christ is King, and saved Israel the first and

nearest to the throne. If these words of Matthew 5 to 7 are the `laws of that future kingdom', what do we find?

(1) When Christ reigns in person on the earth, His people will still be subject to persecution! For this read

The most elementary acquaintance with prophecy will dispose of such an idea.

Persecution for

righteousness' sake is a mark of the absent Lord, not of the reigning King.