ess and the solitary place have been made
glad by it, and the desert has rejoiced and blossomed as the rose. It
has sought studiously to mix itself up with all the relations and
interests of mankind; it has a word about them all, it has a law for
them all; the weight in the pedlar's bag, the sceptre of the monarch on
the throne, are alike under its rule and cognisance, for it claims man
as man to be its subject. It says that man was made to be the subject of
this kingdom, and all man's life is the true domain of its sway. It
looks upon this worldly life of ours--our life as men of this world--as
the most solemn, most sacred thing in this universe; God's school of
culture of the beings who are to fill His heavenly kingdom through
eternity. It cannot spare one relation of men, one art, one industry,
one field of activity, one interest, one joy, one hope, one love, from
its domain of empire. The whole man, the whole world, in the wholeness
of its life, it claims absolutely; and it aims to present the whole man
and his whole life, body, soul, and spirit, perfect before the presence
of His glory at last. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service."

And now let me ask your attention to some principles which are suggested
by a true understanding of this statement of our Lord.

1. His kingdom is not _of_ this world. It is from above, and all the
springs of its power are above. The attempt to help it from beneath, to
bring the strength, the riches, the honour of this world to help the
Spirit who is from above in the work of the kingdom, cripples its
energies, frustrates its aims, and exhausts its life. Its one power is
the power of truth; "to this end was I born, for this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth," said its Founder
and King. It has absolutely no other power. "Every one that is of the
truth heareth my voice;" and all the efforts of men to force, tempt, or
bribe mankind to support it, but silence that witness, which is all that
it asks to win the world to itself.

One can understand the argument of those who support a state
establishment of religion and the whole apparatus by which men seek to
win for it the supremacy to which it rightfully aspires. They say, "It
is of God, it is the heavenly truth, it is worthy of all that men can
give to it and of all the pow