Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/baccalaureateserOOmill 
 

 BACCALAUREATE SERMON 
 
 PRESIDENT J. S. MILLS, 
 
 Of Western College, delivered at the United 
 
 Brethren Church, Toledo, Iowa, 
 
 June 15th, 1890. 
 
 ^ 
 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE TRUE 
 SOCIALISM. 
 
 Ba aureate Sermon of President J. S. Mills. 
 
 Tliy Kinf^dom Come, Thy will bo done ; as in liouven, 
 soon oarth.— Matt. G:10-^' 
 
 An ideal state in which all the people are 
 prosperous and happy has been sought through 
 all the ages. It has been the dream of the 
 poBL, the ambitiouot the philosopher, and the 
 liope of tlie patriot. Evideuces of this fact, 
 and at the same time proofs that this ideal 
 has never been realized are found in Plato's 
 
 Republic, Cicero's Conunonivealth, Moore's Ulopia 
 and Spencer's Social Statics. 
 
 x\. universal kingdom, eml)racing the whole 
 race in one realm, has been a vision of many 
 a dreamer. Oriental, Grecian, and Koman 
 monarchs tried to stibdue the world, and by 
 force unite it into one empire. But the ef- 
 forts all proved that such an ideal can never 
 be realized through the sellishness of either 
 people or ruler. 
 
 During these experiments, there lived a na- 
 tion in Judea which l)elieved that their God 
 was their King; and whose prophets foretold 
 tliat this King should have a universal em- 
 pire, whose people shall be all righteous, and 
 whose realm shall be full of peace. 
 
 Immediately before the beginning of the 
 public ministry of Christ, his herald went 
 forth proclaiming "the Kingdom of God 
 draws near.'' "When Christ began his minis- 
 try, he declared, "tlie Kingdom of God is at 
 hand." This was tlie theme of all his preach- 
 ing. His parables are paral)les of the King- 
 dom of God. Ilis gospel is tlie glad tidings 
 of the Kingdom of God. It is assumed that 
 the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of 
 Heaven are synonymous expressions. This 
 Kingdom is sometimes si)oken of as a present 
 reality. At other times it is referred to as a 
 thing of 'the future. Both views are in har- 
 mony with the fact, it is a growing realm, a 
 
 present existence, but its ideal not yet real- 
 ized. 
 
 I. 
 
 What is the Kingdom of God? It is that 
 part of Human Society which partakes of 
 the spirit of Christ,— ultimately, tlie whole 
 world redeemed. 
 
 It will be more clearly defined by slutwing 
 its relation to certain other things. 
 
 1. Its relation to the world. 
 
 The world has two very distinct meanings. 
 In the one case it means society under the 
 dominion of selfishness, al)nornuil, unreal, 
 and transitional, as seen in the llglit of its 
 divine ideal. In this sense we speak of the 
 "world" or "worldly pople." This was the 
 spirit of the age, when Christianity was intro- 
 duced. And acontllct at once arose between 
 the two. This conflict and the one which 
 soon followed between Christianity and the 
 Roman empire,— the world empire of that 
 age, —made the impression upon the Church, 
 that the world in every sense is evil and evil 
 only, and that beyond recovery. This im- 
 pression abides to this day, in many minds. 
 Out of it grows the spirit that takes men 
 away from society, to live a secluded life, the 
 life of the hermit, to mortify his l)ody, be- 
 cause it is a part of this world. The same 
 spirit leads others to look upon many of the 
 mo.st serious interests of life, such as science 
 or politics, as secular or profane. From the 
 same mistaken view of the world, others look 
 ujion all recreations and amu.sements, liow- 
 ever innocent, as sinful. For the same rea- 
 son salvation is looked upon merely as the 
 deliverance out of tlie world of indviduals. 
 The salvation of families and of society lias 
 been overlooked, thougli this Is abundantly 
 taught in the liible. 
 
 Now, it must be admitted, with both scrip- 
 ture and exiierience, that tliis world is very 
 imperfect, and frecpiontly unjust. It is pre- 
 
verted. But its whole structure bears wit- 
 ness to a higher destiny reached through re- 
 demption, 
 
 The second meaning of tlie world is "the 
 organized constitution of things in wliich we 
 live, including the material universe, but 
 chiefly humanity, as its head." The world 
 thus conceived is a harmony l^roken through 
 by man's sins. It is this world that God so 
 loved that he gave his only begotten Son that 
 it might not perish. It is this world that the 
 Son gave his life to redeem. It is this world 
 that the Holy Spirit has come to sanctify. It 
 is this world of which Paul says: "For the 
 earnest expectation of the creation waiteth 
 for the revealing of the sons of God. For the 
 creation was subjected to vanity not of its 
 own will, but by reason of him who hath sub- 
 jected it in hope; because the creation itself 
 shall be delivered from the bondage of cor- 
 ruption into the liberty of the glory of the 
 children of God. For we know that the whole 
 creation groaneth and travailetli in pain to- 
 gether until now. And not only so, but our- 
 selves also, which liave the tlrst fruits of the 
 Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within our- 
 selves, waiting for our adoption, to-wit: the 
 redemption of our body. For in hope, were 
 we saved." It is this imprisoned, suffering, 
 groaning, yet hopeful and expectant world 
 that is the subject of redemption, and that is 
 to be changed by and transformed into tlie 
 Kingdom of God. 
 
 2. Its relation to the church. 
 
 The Kingdom of God and the Church are 
 often thought to be identical. They are very 
 closely related but not identical. The Church 
 is a religious idea; the Kingdom of God is a 
 moral idea. The Church seeks to obey the 
 first command, "Love God;" the Kingdom of 
 God seeks to obey the second command, 
 "Love thy neiglibor." The Church is theolo- 
 gical; the Kingdom of God is socialistic. The 
 
 Church is Mary sitting devoutly at the feet 
 of Jesus; the Kingdom of God is Martha, 
 serving her Lord, by doing the duties of the 
 liour. The Church is the Disciples on the 
 mount of Transfiguration, enjoying the vision 
 and the glory, and desiring always to stay 
 there; tlie Kingdom of God is the same Dis- 
 ciples with their master, going down into 
 the dark valleys, where men are in bondage 
 and possessed by evil spirits, and bringing de- 
 liverance unto them. The Church has too 
 far assumed that this world is necessarily 
 evil, and hence has pre-empted a place in an- 
 other world for the fruition of its hopes; tlie 
 Kingdom of God seeks to change and restore 
 this world, until all things are made new. 
 The Church lias made a bad bargain with tlie 
 Devil, by accepting its inheritance in another 
 world, and allowing him to have this world; 
 the Kingdom of God repudiates this bargain, 
 and declares the kingdoms of this world shall 
 become the Kingdom of our Lord. 
 
 This antithesis is not a necessary antagon- 
 ism between the Cliurch and the Kingdom. 
 They repre.sent two ways of manifesting the 
 Christian life. They unite in every perfect 
 Christian. But as the churclily or theologi- 
 cal idea has chiefly dominated in the past, 
 the socialistic idea must be emphasized now. 
 Love not God less, but man more. Corres- 
 ponding to the triple division of man's men- 
 tal powers, — intellect, sensibility and will — 
 there are three types of religion, — the reli- 
 gion of the head, the religion of the heart, 
 and the religion of the hand. One takes the 
 form of knowledge, another the form oi feel- 
 ing, the other the form of action. The latter is 
 now the chief type. In due proportion, they 
 combine to make the Kingdom of God. 
 
 3. It has a relation to whatever is i)uie 
 and right and good everywliere. There is no 
 difference between "natural virtue" and 
 Christian virtue. "Every good gift and every 
 
perfect gift cometh down from the above, from 
 the Father of lights.'' This is true of moral 
 gifts as well as of all other good gifts. Of 
 the eternal Word of God, it is declared, "He 
 lighteueth every man coming into the world.'' 
 All goodness is a beam of that light, and is 
 tlierefore essentially Christian. There is no 
 difference between the same kind and grade 
 of fruit growing in the garden, and that out- 
 side the wall. The fruit is the test of tlie 
 tree. 
 
 In the old world, and in tlie modern lieathen 
 world, in their systems of morality, religion, 
 and philosophy, are found many gleans of 
 this true light, a sort of unconscious Chris- 
 tian faith in the better things to come. The 
 Old Testament recognizes people of God out- 
 side of Israel. The New Testament declares: 
 "God is no respecter of persons. But in every 
 nation he that feareth him, and worketh 
 righteousness, is accepted with him." As it 
 is the same ITniversal Spirit, who inspires the 
 life of the plants, and paints the beauty of 
 the flowers, and perfects the fruits of tlie 
 trees in every land; so he is the same God 
 who inspires all moral excellence of every 
 kind; it is his Kingdom that is leavening so- 
 ciety, consciously or unconsciously. '-Wher- 
 ever justice and love are found in any of tlieir 
 various manifestations, the love of kindred 
 and of country, the generous and com-teous 
 demeanor of man toman, valor, love of truth, 
 ol)edience, s(^]f-disciplino, i)urity; wherever 
 there is anything that is lovely and of good 
 report;" there the Kingdom of God is silently 
 working, and transforming, even though 
 men know not its name. Multitudes are thus 
 affected, some of whom may be iniwilling to 
 acknowledge the source of their goodness. 
 But the unity of effect is proof of the unity 
 of cause everywhere. ''An evil tree cannot 
 bring forth good fruit, lU'ither can a good 
 tree l)ring forth evil fruit." Wliatever stands 
 
 this test is essentially Christian. 
 
 4. It has a definite relation to all modes of 
 activity, and human progress. The family, 
 the school, the vocations of life, the fraternal 
 associations of men, the citizen's relations to 
 his country, and the civil government, as 
 well as the Church, are all to be transformed 
 by the spirit of Christ, and become organs 
 of the Kingdom of God, to help bring its 
 blessings to the world that now is. To the 
 Christian, instead of one day being holy, and 
 without depreciating the necessity of that 
 one day, all days are holy; instead of one 
 place being holy, the whole earth is sacred 
 ground, a glorious temple in which God 
 dwells; instead of one class of men being 
 ministers of God, all the redeemed are minis- 
 ters and priests unto God; instead of some 
 work being sacred and other secular, all right 
 work is holy work, according to the command, 
 "•Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in 
 the luune of the Lord Jesus." Thus every 
 thing in his life is to be holy, because every 
 relation of man partakes of redemption, as lie 
 shares the spirit of Christ. Hence the cul- 
 ture of man, and of the earth; the progress of 
 science and of art; the increase of knowledge, 
 and of learning; the triumph of mechanical 
 inventions, and the works of genius; the 
 growth of the means of alleviating i)ain, and 
 of producing human happiness; the eloquence 
 of the orator, and the wisdom of the states- 
 man; the inspiration of the luunane spirit, 
 and the advance of moral reforms; righteous- 
 ness in governments, and liberty among tlie 
 people, — in a word, Civilization finds its 
 highest inspiration, its truest unity, and its 
 final goal in the Kingdom of God. 
 
 "The genius of Christianity recpiires us to 
 conceive of the spiritual not as separate 
 from, but as interpenetrating and vivifying 
 the nuiterial; of (iod, not as separate, but as 
 a spirit, prevading the universe; of the hmnan 
 
soul, not us separate, but as penetrating and 
 transforming the body; of redemption, not as 
 making men separate by removing the re- 
 deemed into a different sphere of existence, 
 but as drawing them and all their surround- 
 ings into holy and loving relations; of the 
 Kingdom of God not as a separate body, but 
 as seeking always, and destined finally, to 
 embrace the whole race of mankind." 
 
 II. 
 
 Having called attention to the nature 
 of the Kingdom of God in general, I will now 
 present its fundamental principles in parti- 
 cular. 
 
 1. The fundamental idea. 
 
 This is not the fact of human sinfulness, 
 though it shows why sin is so great a matter. 
 This is not the possibility of an eternal loss 
 through sin, though it shows why that possi- 
 bility is such a fearful one. This is not the 
 offer of salvation to all men, though it shows 
 why God was pleased to make the offer. 
 This is not the joy of the redeemed in hea- 
 ven, though it reveals the source and ground 
 of that joy. But this fundamental idea up- 
 on which the Kingdom of God rests is the 
 
 Fatherliood of God, and the childhood of all vten to 
 him, and the brotherhood of all men to each other. 
 
 Phillips Brooks says: " Upon the race and 
 upon the individual, Jesus is always bringing 
 into more and more perfect revelation the cer- 
 tain truth that man, and every man, is the 
 child of God. This is the sum of the work of 
 the Incarnation. A hundred other statements 
 concerning him are true; but all statements 
 concerning him hold their truth within this 
 truth —that Jesus came to restore the fact of 
 God's fatherhood toman's knowledge, and to 
 its central place of power over mail's life. 
 
 Jesus is mysteriously the Word of God 
 made flesh. He is the worker of amazing 
 miracles upon the bodies and souls of men. 
 
 He is the Savior by suffering. But behind all 
 these, as the puri)ose for which he is all these, 
 he is the redeemer of men into the fatherhood 
 of God. It would be deeply interesting to 
 dwell upon any one of these special aspects 
 of his wondrous life; but to gather into one 
 great comprehensive statement the purpose 
 for which Jesus lived, and the power which 
 his life has had over the lives of men, we 
 must seize his great idea, and find his power 
 there. Every man's power is his idea multi- 
 pied by and projected through his person- 
 ality, liis special actions are only the points 
 at which his power shows itself, not where it 
 is created. And so the power of Jesus, in 
 founding a Kingdom, is the idea of Jesus 
 multiplied by and projected through his per- 
 sonality. That idea is,— the relation of child- 
 hood and fatherhood between man and God, 
 and the relation of brotherhood between all 
 men." Man is the child of God, even tliough 
 he is sinful and rebellious. He is the pn)di- 
 gal child of God, ignorant of his Father. 
 But his rebellion breaks not that first rela- 
 tionship. To reassert this fatherliood, child- 
 hood, and brotherhood as an everlasting 
 truth, and to reestablish its power as the cen- 
 tral, formative idea of society was the mis- 
 sion of Jesus to earth. 
 
 It is sometimes asserted that man is not 
 the child of God by origin, that he becomes 
 such by adoption, through redemption. But 
 it is more in harmony with the word of God 
 to understand adoption to mean a restoration 
 to lost privileges and relations which man 
 has forfeited by his sins, and from which ho 
 has alienated himself by wicked works. 
 When the Spirit witnesses to man's salvation, 
 he becomes conscious of God's fatherhood, 
 and cries, "Abba, Father." Paul taught the 
 Greeks that their own poet uttered the truth 
 when he said, referring to God, "For we are 
 also liis offspring." Luke traces tlie geneal- 
 
ogy of man to God. 
 
 Open the Bible at the parable of the Pro- 
 digalSon. "A certain man liad two sons," 
 and from the emljrace of the father's love 
 neither of them ever departs. The Prodigal 
 in his wanderings in the far-off land is still a 
 son, tliough he has alienated himself from 
 the privileges of a son. His return does not 
 for the first make him a son; it restore him to 
 what he had lost, in tlie liorne. Or, turn to 
 another scene, and hear Jesus teaching men 
 to pray, "Our Father which art in heaven," 
 not only the needy eliild who prays for bread, 
 but the sinful child whose lii)s tremble with 
 the prayer to be forgiven, begins his peti- 
 tion with the claim of the son upon the 
 father. Or, again under the solemn circum- 
 stance beside the tomb from which Jesus has 
 just risen, when he draws back the curtain, 
 and proclaims his life and his disciple's life 
 together, he declares, "I ascend unto my 
 Father and to your Father." Or, once more, 
 hear John's testimony, as he sums up the ef- 
 fect of his Master's life and teaching; '-To 
 as many as received him, to them gave he 
 power to become the sons of God." "Behold 
 what manner of love the Father hath bestow- 
 ed upon us that we should be called the sons 
 of God." In harmony with the old Greek 
 idea, this One who is the Father of all men 
 is the Sovereign of the kingdom, and the 
 kingdom is built ui)on the fact of the broth- 
 erliood of all men. For there is neitlier Jew 
 nor (Jreek, bond nor free, male nor female in 
 ('iirist Jesus, but all are one common broth- 
 er) lood. 
 
 2. The .second great principle of the king- 
 dom of God is a natural outgrowth of the 
 
 first. // «-f /i>7>e, IIS the supreme law of the king- 
 dom. All moral evil is an outgrowth of self- 
 ishness. Tiiis is the heart, tlie inner life, the 
 very princii)le of all sin. Out of it are the 
 i.ssues of deatli. Selfi.shness is separating our 
 
 life, interests, efforts, sympathies, from our 
 fellow-men. It is living a self-centered life, 
 as if all the world were made simply to serve 
 our wants and wishes. Love is to identify 
 ourselves with a larger whole of which we 
 are but a part. 
 
 Christ states the law of his kingdom thus: 
 "Thou Shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy 
 mind, and thy neighbor as thyself." The 
 second command, as if in more danger of 
 being neglected tlian the first, was given a 
 working method in these words; "What.so- 
 ever ye would that men should do unto you, 
 do ye even so unto them." 
 
 Paul, in referring to it, sums up both in 
 the one, saying, "All the law is fulfilled in 
 one word: thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
 thyself." Thus making neighbf)r-love carry 
 with it the love of God. John declares that 
 our love for our brethren is the test of our 
 love to God. Love has been compared to the 
 law of gravitation. As that mighty energy 
 holds all the physical universe in harmonious 
 balance as it revolves around a common cen- 
 ter, so the power of love will finally hold in 
 perfect harmony all the members of God"s 
 kingdom, as they move about him as their 
 supreme center. "The command of sui)reme 
 love toward God cannot be fittingly laid up- 
 on men, except in connection with such a 
 disclosure of his character and of liis rela- 
 tions to us as is fitted to call out and sustain 
 this love. The injunction, when made, gains 
 its full scope only as the relation which ac- 
 companies it becomes c(»mplete. It is a fee- 
 ble and ineffectiuil thing to command love, 
 unless its conditions are at the same time 
 supplied. The force which is to evoke this 
 great love of man toward (Jod is not the 
 word of autliority, but that absolute ration- 
 ality, tliat supreme excellence, tluit patience 
 of power, that overfiowinglove of God which 
 
removes all distrust, all fear, and render the 
 mind able to draw near to God and abide in 
 his wisdom and grace. The fatherhood of 
 God, in its fullest scope is the idea which an- 
 swers to the perfect moral law, and gives that 
 law the possibility of fulfillment. 
 
 The possibility of that obedience to the 
 second command which shall make the flow 
 of our affections toward our fellow men pure 
 and restful, is double. It involves first a 
 recognition of the fact that they are by con- 
 stitution the members of one h<,usehold, un- 
 der one law, harmonious in its action; and 
 secondly, our hearty acceptance of this 
 fact, with corresponding desire to secure its 
 complete realization. Not till we find God 
 as a father can we love him; and not till, 
 standing with our fellow men, we find him 
 as our father who art in heaven, can we feel 
 the full flow of the reflex love we owe to 
 
 them. " f there is no theoretical unity in the spirit- 
 ual kingdom, if men do nut by constitution belong to 
 one kingdom then it is vain to strive to construct a 
 kingdom out of discordant materials by mere author- 
 ity." -(Bascom) Eut they do rightly belong to 
 one kingdom, which is the family of God, in- 
 cluding him as the Father. 
 
 Taking the first command and the parable 
 of the Prodigal Son as tlie exponent of our 
 relation to God; and the second command, 
 and the parable of the Good Samaritan as its 
 working formula, and the life of Christ as an 
 illustration of both, we have a divine plan of 
 social unity clearly outlined. 
 
 This bond of unity is not a mere sentiment. 
 It is obedience to a universal law, that noth- 
 ing is made for itself alone, but everything is 
 a part of a viniversal system. Everything 
 belongs more to the organism of which it is a 
 part than to itself. Everything gives up its 
 individual will for the will of the whole. This 
 is the law of sacrificial love. It is an uncon- 
 scious law in nature. The sun shines not for 
 
 self. The rain falls not for self. The grass 
 grows not for self. The flowers bloom not for 
 self. The fruits and grains ripen not for self. 
 Each lives its life, performs its appointed task 
 for the good of others. God obeys the same law 
 of love. He gives all good gifts even his son. 
 The son gives even his life. Tiiey are parts 
 of this great whole and obedient to the law of 
 
 sacrificial love. A/an's life is to come under this 
 law or he remains a discordant element in the tini- 
 verse. 
 
 Christ represented his relation to redeemed 
 humanity as the vine and its branches, — Mu- 
 tual dependence. Paul represents redeemed 
 humanity as one body with Christ as the head, 
 members one of another. The will of God, 
 which is love, is the gravitation of the whole 
 moral universe. Hence "Thy will be done," 
 is the most rational prayer the soul can ofi'er. 
 
 Any effort at social unity that omits either 
 of these two factors. — God and humanity as 
 one family, and love as its bond, — will be a 
 repetition of the old effort to build the tower 
 of Babel out of earthly materials, and the end 
 will be confusion and separation. But ac- 
 cording to this divine plan the world is pro- 
 gressing toward unity. A symbol and pro- 
 phecy of this was witnessed on the day of 
 Pentecost, when strangers from all parts of 
 the world gathered at Jerusalem, under the 
 l)aptism of the Holy Spirit, each heard and 
 nnderstood in his own tongue, wherein he 
 was born, the wonderful tilings of God. 
 
 8. Next in oi'der is the l,i7c> ol life in the king- 
 dom. 
 
 Man by his physical organism is rooted 
 in nature and shares its common life. 
 By his spirit, he is related to God and capa- 
 ble of sharing God's life. Thoughtful minds 
 have ever contemi)lated God, as not simply 
 above nature but also as imminent in nature. 
 He not only transcends all nature and works 
 upon it from without, but lie is in all nature 
 
as its moral and spiritual centre, its guiding 
 force, the "power that makes for rigiiteous- 
 ness." A distinguislied Christian pliilosoplier 
 speaks of all material existence as "a mode 
 of the divine energizing,'- a revelation of 
 God's presence and power. lie would trace 
 all force to God as its ultimate origin, — 
 the wliole world as a revelation of liis in- 
 dwelling life. God was not only in the world 
 but the world was made by him and for him. 
 And as men have been able to receive him, 
 he has more and more entered into fellow- 
 sliip with them. "Tliat was not tirst which 
 was spiritual but that wliich was natural 
 afterward that which was spiritual. The first 
 man is of the eartli earthy; the second man 
 is the Lord from heaven. As Ave have 
 borne the image of the earthy, we shall also 
 be the imaged of the heavenly. This pre- 
 sents an order of growtli under a new type, — 
 the Lord from heaven. Since tlie incarna- 
 tion of God in Jesus Christ, he has become 
 in a true sense the life of the world. Hu- 
 manity has become grafted into the divine 
 stock and draws its life from a divine foun- 
 tain. There is now community of life be- 
 tween God and his people. 
 
 The life whicli Christ manifested unto the 
 world becomes, henceforth, the life of the 
 Spirit. lie says; "It is expedient for you 
 that I go away; for if I go not away the 
 Comforter will not come nnto you; but if I 
 depart I will send him unto you. When he, 
 the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you 
 into all truth, for he shall not speak of him- 
 self; but wluitsoevei- lie shall hear that shall 
 he speak. lie shall glorify me; for he shall 
 receive of mine and sluill show it unto you. 
 All things that the Father liatli are mine: 
 therefore said I that he shall take of mine, 
 and shall show it nnto yon." 
 
 "That which is born of the llesh is flesh 
 and tliat whicli is l)orn of tlie spirit is spir- 
 
 it." Under this reign of the Spirit, the soul 
 is brought into a realm of new ideas, new im- 
 pulses and new life. Man is now made a 
 partaker of that eternal life, which is to 
 know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath 
 sent. Ilis real life becomes the life of the 
 Spirit. Henceforth men are the temples 
 of the living God. God dwells in them, 
 not as inert matter, but as life. Wher- 
 ever there is a vacuum in a liuman soul into 
 which he is welcome, God fills it. lie is thus 
 the complement or completion of our little 
 fragmentary lives, by uniting tliem in faith 
 and lioi)e and love to the groat system of 
 which he is the center, lifting us up to a 
 conscious union with him. The prophets 
 looked forward to this time of the union 
 of God and man, when human life 
 should expand in all directions, filled with 
 wisdom and adorned with all graces. They 
 compared it to the effect of rain upon the 
 earth after a long drought, saying: "The 
 wilderness and the solitary place shall be 
 glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom 
 as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly 
 and rejoice even with joy and singing, and 
 the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it.'' 
 
 In this fullness of the life of the Spirit, 
 the selfishness of the human heart will be 
 expelled and the soul will grow into its type 
 and attain its true perfection in Christ. I 
 have tried to show you that the kingdom of 
 (Jod is the Spirit of Christ in society, organ- 
 izing men into social imity — ultimately the 
 whole world redeemed. 
 
 Its vuiderlying idea is the Fatherhood of 
 God, the childhood of all men to him, and 
 the brotherhood of all men to each other,— 
 one family. 
 
 Its law is love, which is tlie gravitation of 
 the moral luiiverse. 
 
 Its life is the life of God in men. 
 
 Its aim is rigliteousness on earth. 
 
The hope of its realization is, it is God's 
 plan, and his plan will prevail. 
 
 III. 
 
 "What can we do to hasten the real- 
 ization of this ideal of human society? 
 
 1. Eecognize that each is only a part of a 
 greater whole. In this land where each is a 
 sovereign, Individualism has been carried to 
 an extreme. Socialism threatens the opposite 
 extreme. Christianity is the synthesis of 
 both Individualism and Socialism. It teach- 
 es that each is but a part of a greater body, 
 as a branch is a part of the vine, or as each 
 member of the body is a part of the whole 
 body, or as each child is a part of the 
 whole family. Let each member be as per- 
 fect as possible, but only to add to the per- 
 fection of the whole organism. This is the 
 true theory of Christian culture. Be as per- 
 fect as you can become, but hold every power 
 as a trust for the good of your fellow men. 
 Get all the knowledge and wisdom possible, 
 but hold it for the good of the common iH-oth- 
 erhood. Get all the mental and moral wealth 
 you can acquire, but regard it as a sacred 
 trust for the kingdom of God. 
 
 2. The law of love must be carried into 
 all the relations of life. Its demands are 
 very practical. "Bear ye one another's bur- 
 dens and so fulfill the law of Christ.'' Men 
 must not be a stagnant pool with all the 
 streams flowing inward; but they must be 
 living fountains, out of which issue blessings 
 to others. They must not be Sahara deserts, 
 mrkingno response to the simshine and rain- 
 fall, but they must be fertile fields that recip- 
 rocate the blessings of heaven by an abund- 
 ant luirvest. 
 
 Tlie law of love, and doing to others as we 
 would liave tliem do unto us, must be carried 
 into our theories of political and social econ- 
 omy, and these sciences must be revised on 
 
 the basis of Christian Ethics. Tlien labor, 
 and the laborer, will cease to be regarded as 
 a commodity in the sense in whicli material 
 things are commodities; and co-operation 
 wlil take the place of competition in many 
 cases; and love will help to regulate the rela- 
 tion of work and wages. 
 
 3. The kingdom of God has a message to 
 men of wealth. It does not join in tlie com- 
 munistic cry against riches. But it teaches 
 each man to improve the talents given him 
 of every kind. Tlie possession of any power 
 implies the right to use it. The man, who 
 by industry, economy and thrift, has accumu- 
 lated wealth, may do more for humanity 
 with it than by any other means. It will all 
 depend upon the use he makes of his riches. 
 Aresorvoir of water maybe a motor power to 
 move the machinery and carry on the indiis- 
 tries of a whole community; or it may sweep 
 away everything. Great wealth is such an 
 accumulated power. Its good or evil depends 
 upon the use made of it. 
 
 Tlie Christian theory is that all riches are 
 a trust for the good of humanity, not a self- 
 ish possession. Mr. Andrew Carnegie who 
 has recently given one and a quarter million 
 dollars to found public libraries, says: 
 "Every rich man should administer his own 
 estate while living, and distribute the chief 
 l)art of his wealth in the commmiity where 
 he gathered it, for tlie public good of his fel- 
 lowmen." Such men are benefactors of the 
 race. 
 
 If men should not selfishly use their riches 
 neither should they thoughtlessly give them 
 to others, as that tends to make men de- 
 pendent and thus to increase pauperism. 
 Help the fallen on to their feet, give them a 
 word of sympathy and cheer and thus en- 
 courage them to depend on self, and you 
 will do them more good then if you give 
 them afcrtime and let them live without 
 
 (10) 
 
work. Tlie poor Indian is a, sample ol" what 
 puljlic annuities will do. Private annunities 
 are equally pauperizing. 
 
 For the rich to take a kindly interest in 
 thi. poor man is more than to give money. 
 It allays the discontent of the latter by let- 
 ing him know that he is a recognized part of 
 the social organism, if he cannot be the 
 head, thi "^ hands are equally honor- 
 able if they do their work equally well. Soc- 
 ial discontent will still further be removed 
 by recognizing that all honest lal)orers are 
 co-workers witli God, and in toil they have 
 fellowship with him who came not to be 
 served, but as a servant to give his life for 
 many. 
 
 4. The kingdom of God requires its sub- 
 jects to try to remove all the evils of society. 
 Christianity n'^t only gives a hope of the 
 world to come, but it is a system of salvation 
 from the evils of thi§ world. Whatever hin- 
 ders the reign of righteousness and love must 
 be attacked with a sword as unrelenting as 
 the sword of Michael, wlio drove the rebel 
 angels from heaven. All forms of corners on 
 the necessaries of life, gambling, lotteries 
 and selfish monopolies should be condemned 
 and suppressed. 
 
 It you suffer to remain, unmolested, a cess- 
 pool of evil intluences in your neighbor's 
 yard, under the plea that it is none of your 
 business, you violate the law of love both to 
 self and to your neighbor. lie cannot be in- 
 jured without you suffering loss in the end. 
 
 •5. My suliject suggests a thought about 
 the churches. No one denomination is the 
 kingdom of God. All of the visible churches 
 united are not as extensive as this kingdom. 
 They may be called training .'■chools of the 
 kingdom. They are part of a common body. 
 If one suffer they all suffer with it; if one is 
 honored they all rejoice together. Such an 
 alliance l)etween lliem as will secure i)ractic- 
 
 al co-operation is near at hand. An inter- 
 denominational alliance is the hope of men 
 of the noblest soul in all the churches. This 
 is the spirit of the age. International treat- 
 ies for the spread of knowledge and the in- 
 crease of commerce; international laws for 
 the securing of righteousness; international 
 arbitration for the securing of peace and good 
 will; international alliances for Christian 
 work among the nations already exist. These 
 are providential. In God's light we shall see 
 light. When Christian co-operation exists 
 between all the members of the visible ])ody 
 of Christ, the whole earth will soon be leav- 
 ened by the idea of brotherhood, theprinciiile 
 of sacrificial love, and a community of life. 
 Then the evils that afflict society, like a dis- 
 ease preying upon the body, will be elimin- 
 ated by the very fullness of life. Then the 
 Church will make full proof of her divine 
 mission in the same manner her Redeemer 
 did when he said: "The Spirit of the Lord 
 God is upon me, for he hath sent me to preach 
 the glad tidings to the poor; he hath sent me 
 to heal the broken hearted; to preach deliv- 
 erance to the captives, and the recovering of 
 sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them 
 that are bruised. To preach the acceptable 
 year of the Lord." 
 
 Class of 1890! Do you ask if it will pay to 
 identify yourlives with thisdivinemovementy 
 lie that saveth his life by selfish isolation 
 from this larger whole, shall lo.se it. Hut he 
 thatloseth his life by identity with this com- 
 pleter organism shall find it again. Pay? 
 
 Go ask the students, who liave si)ent their 
 lives for the perfecting of knowledge; and let 
 the knowledge of to-day, that fioods the earth 
 as the light of the noonday sun be your an- 
 swer. 
 
 Go ask the inventors who spent their lives 
 in comi)leting the works of mechanical geni- 
 us; and let the triumpli of mind over matter 
 
 (H) 
 
BX9878.9.M65 
 
 Baccalaureate sermon of President J. S. 
 
 Princeton Theological Sen 
 
 1 1012 00047 4157 
 
 in this age be your answer. 
 
 Go ask the patriots who died for love of 
 country; and let the glorious civil institutions 
 of this age be your answer. 
 
 Go ask the martyrs and liberators of earth 
 if it pays to die for an idea; and the happy 
 voices of the millions of the free be your 
 answer. 
 
 Go ask the missionaries of the cross, if it 
 pays to die for love of man; and the voice 
 of the redeemed host as the voice of many 
 waters be your answer. 
 
 Go ask the Son of God if it pays to live and 
 die for this world; and the kingdom of God, 
 
 as the whole world redeemed under the type 
 of the new Jerusalem, descending from Gdd, 
 out of heaven, its glory lighting up the whole 
 earth and the nations of the redeemed walk- 
 ing in the light of it, its river of life Uowing 
 across earth's deserts, turning them into the 
 Paradise of God, sorrow and sighing lied 
 away as the ransomed of the Lord return and 
 come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy, 
 and the once suffering creation joins in the 
 anthem, "The kingdoms of this world are 
 become the kingdom of our God. Thine is 
 the kingdom and the power and the glory 
 forever," — this be your final answer. 
 
 (12)