First. Geography tells us where to find places.
Where is the Kingdom of God? It is said that when a Prussian officer
was killed in the Franco-Prussian war, a map of France was very often
found in his pocket. When we wish to occupy a country, we ought to
know its geography. Now, _where_ is the Kingdom of God? A boy over
there says, "It is in heaven." No; it is not in heaven. Another boy
says, "It is in the Bible." No; it is not in the Bible. Another boy
says, "It must be in the Church," No; it is not in the Church. Heaven
is only the capital of the Kingdom of God; the Bible is the guide-book
to it; the Church is the weekly parade of those who belong to it. If
you turn to the seventeenth chapter of Luke you will find out where
the Kingdom of God really is: "The Kingdom of God is within
you"--within _you_. The Kingdom of God is _inside people_.
I remember once taking a walk by the river near where the Falls of
Niagara are, and I noticed a remarkable figure walking along the river
bank. I had been some time in America. I had seen black men, and red
men, and yellow men, and white men; black men, the Negroes; red men,
the Indians; yellow men, the Chinese; white men, the Americans. But
this man looked quite different in his dress from anything I had ever
seen. When he came a little closer, I saw he was wearing a kilt; when
he came a little nearer still, I saw that he was dressed exactly like
a Highland soldier. When he came quiet near, I said to him:
"What are you doing here?"
"Why should I not be here?" he replied; "don't you know this is
British soil? When you cross the river you come into Canada."
This soldier was thousands of miles from England, and yet he was in
the Kingdom of England. Wherever there is an English heart beating
loyal to the Queen of Britain, there is England. Wherever there is a
boy whose heart is loyal to the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of God is
within him.
What is the Kingdom of God? Every Kingdom has its exports, its
products. Go down the river here and you will find ships coming in
with cotton; you know they come from America. You will find ships with
tea; you know they are from China. Ships with wool; you know they come
from Australia. Ships with sugar; you know they come from Java.
What comes from the Kingdom of God? Again we must refer to our
Guide-book. Turn to Romans, and we shall find what the Kingdom of God
is. I will read it: "The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace,
joy"--three things. "The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, joy."
Righteousness, of course, is just doing what is right. Any boy who
does what is _right_ has the Kingdom of God within him. Any boy who,
instead of being quarrelsome, lives at peace with the other boys, has
the Kingdom of God within him. Any boy whose heart is filled with joy
because he does what is right, has the Kingdom of God within him. The
Kingdom of God is not going to religious meetings, and hearing strange
religious experiences; the Kingdom of God is doing what is
right--living at peace with all men, being filled with joy in the Holy
Ghost.
Boys, if you are going to be Christians, be Christians as boys, and
not as your grandmothers. A grandmother has to be a Christian as a
grandmother, and that is the right and the beautiful thing for her;
but if you cannot read your Bible by the hour as your grandmother can,
or delight in meetings as she can, don't think you are necessarily a
bad boy. When you are your grandmother's age you will have your
grandmother's kind of religion. Meantime, be a Christian as a boy.
Live a boy's life. Do the straight thing; seek the kingdom of
righteousness and honor and truth. Keep the peace with the boys about
you, and be filled with the joy of being a loyal, and simple, and
natural, and boy-like servant of Christ.
You can very easily tell a house, or a workshop, or an office where
the Kingdom of God is _not_. The first thing you see in that place is
that the "straight thing" is not always done. Customers do not get
fair play. You are in danger of learning to cheat and to lie. Better a
thousand times to starve than to stay in a place where you cannot do
what is right.
Or, when you go into your workshop, you find everybody sulky, touchy,
and ill-tempered, everybody at daggers-drawn with everybody else, some
of the men not on speaking terms with some of the others, and the
whole _feel_ of the place miserable and unhappy. The Kingdom of God is
not there, for _it_ is peace. It is the Kingdom of the Devil that is
anger, and wrath and malice.
If you want to get the Kingdom of God into your workshop, or into your
home, let the quarreling be stopped. Live in peace and harmony and
brotherliness with everyone. For the Kingdom of God is a kingdom of
brothers. It is a great Society, founded by Jesus Christ, of all the
people who try to live like Him, and to make the world better and
sweeter and happier. Wherever a boy is trying to do that, in the house
or on the street, in the workshop or on the baseball field, there is
the Kingdom of God. And every boy, however small or obscure or poor,
who is seeking that, is a member of it. You see now, I hope, what the
Kingdom is.