Christ had come at the exact time and in the manner foretold by prophecy . The testimony of Scripture had been fulfilled in every detail of His ministry . He had preached the message of salvation , and " His word was with power ." The hearts of His hearers had witnessed that it was of Heaven . The word and the Spirit of God attested the divine commission of His Son . The disciples still clung with undying affection to their beloved Master . And yet their minds were shrouded in uncertainty and doubt . In their anguish they did not then recall the words of Christ pointing forward to His suffering and death . If Jesus of Nazareth had been the true Messiah , would they have been thus plunged in grief and disappointment ? This was the question that tortured their souls while the Saviour lay in His sepulcher during the hopeless hours of that Sabbath which intervened between His death and His resurrection .
Though the night of sorrow gathered dark about these followers of Jesus , yet were they not forsaken . Saith the prophet : " When I sit in darkness , the Lord shall be a light unto me . . . . He will bring me forth to the light , and I shall behold His righteousness ." " Yea , the darkness hideth not from Thee ; but the night shineth as the day : the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee ." God hath spoken : " Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness ." " I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not ; I will lead them in paths that they have not known : I will make darkness light before them , and crooked things straight . These things will I do unto them , and not forsake them ." Micah 7:8 , 9 ; Psalms 139:12 ; 112:4 ; Isaiah 42:16 .
The announcement which had been made by the disciples in the name of the Lord was in every particular correct , and the events to which it pointed were even then taking place . " The time is fulfilled , the kingdom of God is at hand ," had been their message . At the expiration of " the time " --the sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9 , which were to extend to the Messiah , " the Anointed One " --Christ had received the anointing of the Spirit after His baptism by John in Jordan . And the " kingdom of God " which they had declared to be at hand was established by the death of Christ . This kingdom was not , as they had been taught to believe , an earthly empire . Nor was it that future , immortal kingdom which shall be set up when " the kingdom and dominion , and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven , shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High ;" that everlasting kingdom , in which " all dominions shall serve and obey Him ." Daniel 7:27 . As used in the Bible , the expression " kingdom of God " is employed to designate both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory . The kingdom of grace is brought to view by Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews . After pointing to Christ , the compassionate intercessor who is " touched with the feeling of our infirmities ," the apostle says : " Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace , that we may obtain mercy , and find grace ." Hebrews 4:15 , 16 . The throne of grace represents the kingdom of grace ; for the existence of a throne implies the existence of a kingdom . In many
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