One of the most obvious features of the teaching of Jesus is the prominence which it gives to what is called “the kingdom of heaven,” or, “the kingdom of God.”  And this prominence becomes the more striking when we turn from the Gospels to the Epistles where the phrase is only rarely to be found.  With Jesus the kingdom was a kind of watchword which was continually on His lips.  Thus, e.g., St. Mark begins his account of the preaching of Jesus in these words:  “After that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:  repent ye, and believe in the Gospel.”  In like manner, St. Matthew tells us that “Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom.”  Parable after parable opens with the formula “The kingdom of heaven is like unto—­,” or, “So is the kingdom of God as if—­,” or, “How shall we liken the kingdom of God?” When Christ sent forth the Twelve, this was His command, “Go ... and as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Again, when He sent forth the Seventy, He said, “Into whatsoever city ye enter ... say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”  And in the great Forty Days, before He was received up, it was still of “the things concerning the kingdom of God” that He spake unto His disciples.  Every time a little child is baptized we call to mind His words, “For of such is the kingdom of God.”  Every time we repeat the prayer He taught His disciples to pray we say, “Thy kingdom come.”  In all, it is said, there are no less than one hundred and twelve references to the kingdom to be found in the Gospels.

When, however, we turn to the Epistles what do we find?  In the whole of St. Paul’s Epistles the kingdom is not named as often as in the briefest of the four Gospels.  It is mentioned only once by St. Peter, once by St. James, once by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and not at all in the three Epistles of St. John.  Not only so, but at least until quite recent times, the Church of Christ has in the main followed the lead of the apostles, and has said but little of the kingdom of God.  How is this to be explained?  Does it mean that the whole Church of Christ, including the Church of the apostles, has failed to understand the mind of the Master, and has let slip an essential element of His teaching?  So some recent writers do not hesitate to declare.  Burke once said that he did not know how to draw up an indictment against a whole people; but these, apparently, have no difficulty in drawing up an indictment against the whole Church.  “With all respect to the great Apostle,” writes one of them, “one may be allowed to express his regret that St. Paul has not said less about the Church and more about the Kingdom."[28] To which I hope one may be forgiven if he is tempted to retort that the great apostle probably knew what he was about