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, it
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 hours 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 pace
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 thee, 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 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.