Page 37 - 01 The Opening Vision

DANIEL AND THE REVELATION-Uriah Smith

~The Response of History to the Revelation~

Chapter 1 – The Opening Vision
Does John really mean to say that Christians

in the present state are in the kingdom of

Christ, or in other words, that in his day

Christ’s kingdom had already been set up? If

this language has any reference to the present

state, it must be in a very limited and

accommodated sense. Those who take the

ground that it has its application here, usually

refer to 1 Peter 2:9 to prove the existence of a

kingdom in the present state, and to show its

nature. But, as was remarked on verse 6, the

literal reign of the saints is yet future. It is

through much tribulation that we are to enter

into the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22. But when

the kingdom is entered, the tribulation is

done. The tribulation and the kingdom do not

exist contemporaneously. Murdock’s

translation of the Syriac of this verse omits the

word kingdom, and reads as follows: “I John,