(a) Where is the visible kingdom subject to the senses? In the Church, which was created partly by Jesus Christ, and more by the apostles, which until the end of the world will be under the direct leadership of Jesus Christ Himself and the Holy Spirit. He is her soul, life, bridegroom. By His power it is preserved and will one day present itself as pure, having no defilement. That is why each part of it leads to Christ, in it and on it the Cross of Christ is visible. The Church is founded on the cross; the cross was erected on the Church. In what ways does Jesus Christ rule through it? From its structure one can also see the means of control. So, what is the Church? The Church is a society established by Jesus Christ and the Apostles, which is under the direction of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, in which certain people, on the basis of the Gospel law, act to correct people, to bring them to the light, and thus transfer people to another world - to the Kingdom, visibly governed by Jesus Christ Himself. This is the essence of the Church or the Kingdom of Grace! In particular, the activity of Jesus Christ and the Church is one and the same. Thus Jesus Christ taught, and the Church is a theological school; it is also the light of the world, its teachers are the pillars of the teaching handed down by Jesus Christ, and therefore Jesus Christ continues to teach in their person.

This is the first image, or method of government! Further, Jesus Christ was the corrector of conscience, he denounced the errors of conscience, he bound and decided. The Church does this as well. It shuts the door of the Kingdom, and no one is able to open it; opens, and no one hinders it. Moreover, it continues to represent the life and work of Jesus Christ in its rites, it is, as it were, a panorama of all this, and what has been accomplished in the course of centuries it has enclosed in one liturgy. In this way, the Church teaches and corrects in the person of Jesus Christ, and presents His very Person sensually. Imagine that an unbeliever entered our church; being a witness of what is happening in it, he would ask the faithful: "What do these symbols mean?" In order to express His teaching more tangibly, Jesus Christ only partially subjugated the Church to Himself. It is a school; But who has the right to teach? Famous persons who received this right from Jesus Christ Himself. It is governed by certain chosen members, who were at first the apostles, who received direct authority from the Saviour Himself, and now the priests, who are ordained and dependent on the same direct and uninterrupted election. Thus, the Christian Church is the most tangible Kingdom of Christ. All that can be demanded in this case is that Jesus Christ does not appear visibly in it, but there are reasons for this.

b) Invisible, direct control. Jesus Christ, ruling His Kingdom through people and the Mysteries, governs them and acts on them Himself, directly. This administration is twofold, as can be seen from the Holy Scriptures and from Christian history: one is spiritual, moral, similar to the action of angels or the Holy Spirit; the other is physical, explicit. The first consists in the arousal of good thoughts and in the quenching of bad ones, or in the infusion of the soul. All the passages of Scripture that speak of the mysterious union of Jesus Christ with the faithful vouch for this. For example, Jesus Christ compares Himself to a vine, and His disciples to branches: "You cannot bear fruit," He says to them, "unless you are on Me (on the vine)" (cf. John 15:1-4). This expresses more than a union in thought; Here we can see the closest contact, the basis of which should not be thought, but something more. Another action of Jesus Christ, immediate, direct, subject to feelings, is evident primarily from the place (John 14:23), where He promises to come to the believer with His Father and make His abode with him; also from where He is represented as pushing at the door of the heart (John 10:7-9). But let the history of the holy persons serve as a sufficient foundation for the truth we are proving. All holy people, while still in the body, took advantage of the minutes of the appearance of Jesus Christ. Not to mention the times of the Apostles, in which Jesus Christ appeared to Stephen, Paul and many others, we see later in the history of Christianity frequent repetitions of this. And therefore there is no reason to deny the spiritual communication of Jesus Christ with the faithful, it is possible, and it is.

The Apostles and the Scriptures in general reveal little of the other kinds. The Revelation of St. John the Theologian (Apocalypse) says only a little about this; but it is impossible to resolutely apply what it contains to certain events. However, this cannot be completely rejected or considered the fruit of pious fantasy. In John's visions, everything moves for Jesus Christ and under His rule. There is His invisible dominion over the entire human race. The struggle of people with evil spirits is described, a terrible struggle not so much by force as by cunning, which must be defeated not by deceit, but by love and patience.

But in addition to these revelations, the history of mankind and the Church presents the experience of the frequent appearances of Jesus Christ in this world. Let us run our thoughts over the past XVIII centuries and dwell on the most important events; in them we will see the direct actions of Jesus Christ.

The first enemy of Christianity was Judaism; but this enemy was the first to die, with a noise. From him the Christian Church of Stephen and James was lost, and some of the faithful suffered plundering of their estates. But how severely punished from Jerusalem for all this! How clearly Jesus Christ showed Himself in His punishment! Flavius, describing this, several times turns to Providence and exclaims: why did this not happen otherwise, we clearly see the finger of God. This is especially evident in the destruction of the temple. Titus, partly out of kindness, partly out of ambition, ordered the temple to be spared as much as possible from destruction. Meanwhile, one soldier climbed into a place where it was difficult to climb, threw a firebrand, and thus burned the temple. In general, the fall of Jerusalem is a tangible action of Jesus Christ. That is why many interpreters understand the discourse of Jesus Christ about the final end of the world only about the end of the Jewish temple and city.

The second enemy of Christianity was paganism. Christianity fought against this enemy for three centuries. The most severe persecution took place during the reign of Diocletian. This struggle had to be decided, and it was resolved directly by Jesus Christ. True, the martyrs gave a strong witness by their deaths; but this natural testimony would not be sufficient without the miraculous testimony of Jesus Christ Himself. The triumph of Christianity, which Constantine the Great brought to him, would not have happened without the miraculous sign of the Cross; without this sign, there would still be many Julians on the Roman throne! A similar dominion was manifested by Jesus Christ in the overthrow of Julian. His death is clearly surrounded by mysterious miraculousness! His power appeared where it was needed in the conversion of the nations. So, it was seen when Russia appealed. Askold and Dir are shipwrecked, taken prisoner and become Christians. This storm could have happened naturally, but how conveniently it serves the Kingdom of Christ here! In addition, the Slavs are convinced of the truth of Christianity by the unburned Gospel. Vladimir is disposed to accept the Gospel with an eye disease; all these are the actions of the direct power of Jesus Christ. Similar miracles are told in the history of the conversion of other peoples. It is possible to admit that they are exaggerated and altered, but it cannot be assumed that they do not exist at all. When those who have been eyewitnesses and experienced them themselves are aware of them, who will dispute such confessions? In converting the nations, it is most appropriate for Jesus Christ to manifest His direct action, and therefore it is possible to believe in miracles in this case without fear of falling into superstition.

But the greatest miracle of His royal power was manifested by Jesus Christ in our times. It consisted not in the violation of the laws of the physical world, but in the upheaval of the political and moral world, which took place to the glory of Christ, and moreover in the most unexpected and miraculous way. By this shock is meant the French Revolution. It is well known that the past century, as history presents it, was a century of unbelief: French, German, and English freethinkers formed whole societies hostile to Christianity. It has become a proverb among these encyclopedists: "To cast down the Inglorious One, that is, Jesus Christ, from the throne." During their lifetime these hostile actions were successful, and after their death even more so. The kings themselves were infected with this, for Frederick the Great clearly followed an encyclopedic godless trend. But especially the French people fell from abyss to abyss. The Convention decided to expel the Christian religion from France, and the Archbishop of Paris rejected God before the Convention, saying that He had deceived the people. A terrible betrayal, if only equal to the betrayal of Judas! Finally, after such a satanic renunciation of the archbishop, the triumph of reason was presented in the square, which was represented by an obscene woman. In this way, among Europe, what was described by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, in the place where he speaks of the Antichrist, took place. After this, who would have thought that where reason had triumphed so disorderly, Christianity would triumph again? No one! Except for faithful followers of Christ. But under Napoleon the triumph of the Catholic Church had already been accomplished. However, this was not yet the true triumph of Christianity. It was the same beast, only from the other side; only the outward appearance of piety has been restored here, and no one has thought of a true restoration, and those Catholic writers who wrote about it were revered as dreamers. But Napoleon fell, and true piety was restored in place of Christian hypocrisy. At the place of the celebration, which was celebrated in honor of reason, a pannikhida was performed, then an unparalleled alliance of the three monarchs of Europe was concluded, promising to preserve faith and virtue in the name of the Holy Trinity. This union is recognized by one of our ministers as the first act of the future Kingdom of Christ. And he really is. Who inspired monarchs with such thoughts as our Emperor Alexander I begins his manifesto? Before, it would have been a shame to admit it like that. Who made Voltaire, Diderot, and others like them think of evil spirits? Who, if not our supreme King, Jesus Christ? He brought about such a saving change that if Voltaire and others like him had been resurrected, they would have become true Christians.

How much does the Holy Scripture say about the royal office of Jesus Christ? In the Old Testament, especially in the prophets, much is said, in the New Testament, in the Gospels, much is said, in the Epistles there is little, the Apocalypse almost all speaks of this. But is it possible to form a complete and definite teaching about the kingdom of Jesus Christ from what the prophets said? It is possible to compose a doctrine, but it is incomplete, because the prophecies are vague and too extensive. The gaze of the prophets often embraced not only the visible, but also the entire invisible extension of this Kingdom; with them everything was presented suddenly, as if in perspective, that is, persons and incidents seemed to be confused. In order to see where everything belongs, it is necessary to find the point from which they were looking; But we cannot always find this point. That is why we cannot form a complete and definite teaching about the Kingdom of Jesus Christ from their prophecies; however, we can extract the general teaching. The Gospels speak more about the moral kingdom that consists in the spirit. Jesus Christ, even if He touched upon His appearance in some parables (and He usually spoke about His Kingdom in the form of a parable), He limited Himself only to that time, and did not speak about the future, about the present state of His Kingdom. True, in the last conversation with His disciples, He touched upon it in part; but he touched only on the end of the visible kingdom, and then indefinitely. The Epistles that teach about the kingdom of Jesus Christ can be pointed to. They are: the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2; 1-12), which speaks of the Antichrist, also in the Epistles to the Corinthians, to the Ephesians - about the union of Jesus Christ with the Church, and to the Hebrews. In all these passages the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is spoken of directly and definitely, but these passages are few.

Why not enough, why did not the apostles say as much in their Epistles as John did in the Apocalypse? Partly because the Jews still had sensual conceptions of the Kingdom of the Messiah, and the Gentiles were politically suspicious, and partly, one might guess, because the Holy Spirit did not reveal it to them. On what can this conjecture be based? On the fact that they did not have a definite concept of this Kingdom, especially of the time of its continuation. From this they formed an opinion about the imminent expectation of the coming of Christ, which is clearly revealed from the words of the Apostle Paul. In this case, Providence left them to their own arbitrariness, but did not want to open them, and therefore they could sin. Crowding and misfortunes could predispose them to this.

Is it possible to use the Apocalypse much in this case? Not much, for here events are represented under symbols and pictures; but to what time should a certain event be assigned, what is essential in it and what is extraneous? It is difficult and even impossible to determine. The Apocalypse serves hope and feeling, but it is not enough for faith. It represents the struggle of light with darkness and the victory of the former over the latter; but how does this struggle take place, what means are used?.. Unknown. All this is presented to pious feeling, and not to reason. In letter this book is very extensive, but in spirit it is not so extensive; it presents descriptively the general and well-known truth that virtue is persecuted, but these persecutions end in glory.

So, is Jesus Christ a King? There is, - this is evident from the innumerable names. Thus, at His very birth He is called King. Where is the King of the Jews born? (Matt. 2:2). Likewise, Pilate calls Him King, and He does not deny this: Art Thou the King of the Jews? Jesus said to him, "Thou shalt speak" (Matt. 27:11).

What is the purpose of this Kingdom? The goal is general: the salvation of the human race from the oath and its management; otherwise - the overthrow of the enemies, vices, deeds of the devil and himself. In particular, in relation to the moral law, the destruction of the dominion of sin and the reign of truth, holiness and law; in relation to the whole world, the restoration of all sighing creatures, or the leadership of all; in relation to the Church, the presentation of her as pure, without defilement and vice, or something of these. What means are used, how is it expressed? It is expressed visibly through the pastors of the Church: in the New Testament it is Christ's rulership, since in the Old Testament there was God's rulership.

What are the laws? The internal code, written, and the external, unwritten, is the action of the Holy Spirit on the heart. Thus, the legal position here is one mediocre, and the other immediate.