The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-11-13
DIR. DEwHURsr's SERMON.
He Talks in an Interesting Manner at
pIymoufh Church..

Rev. F. Z Dewhurst delivered an inter-
esting sermon at Plymouth Church last
night, taking for his text the thirty-irst to
thirty-third verses, inclusive. of the thir-
tenth chapter of Matthews. In part, he
said:
I'VE are coming TO perceive with increas-
ing clearness that the kingdom Of heaven
was the phrase which was used 10 describe
the condition of human life and society in
which Christ's principles and ideas should
have unhindered way. The Kingdom of
heaven describes a distinctively social ideal,
condition of the community life which
all ideallsts cherish in their dreams This
first enthusiastic use of the phrase has
surely been laid long upon the Snelf, or,
rather. 1T has been exploited in the inter-
ests or religion which has drawn apart
from the secular and social movement or
lie and has undertaken to prepare men che
Dy one Tor an after-death existence, and
that existence they have described by its
phrase kingdom of heaven
But IL is clear enough that He was rooted
In the NE that was near at hand; that lie
preached gospel Of the secular life, 400
cial programme and given IL a name. A
few centuries further on and st. Augustine
embodied his own hopes for the social real
lzation under the phrase The city of God
Out of the awakening of life which fol-
lowed medieval torpor there came Mores
Utopia and number of other productions
OF these men thought out their dream for
humanity under the form not of the iso-
ldted out or the community life; none or
them believed that it was possible for any
man to be saved by himself alone. They
did not by any means have the same ideal:
they did not all touch those motives and
quality of lie that Jesus touched. / do
not believe That any one of them touched
life so fundamentally as He, but the point
of emphasis now is that He with all the
rest thought out His dream for humanity
also under the social and community form.
1t may be that kingdom is less democratic
in its sound than republic. but kingdom
is just as much community as a republic;
IL is just as truly an organization Of the
common life and ii was there in the midst
OF that common life so real, immediate,
so full Of need that He took His stand.
He tried to describe in many ways; in ST.
mile and parable striving 10 tell men what
1t was like. The parable Of the mustard
seed and the parable of the leaven appear
on the surface to express the same thought,
the conviction on Christ's part of the ulti-
mate triumph of His ideas They imply
that He believed His principles to be uni
versal, and therefore was certain that they
would one day meet with universal accept
ance His kingdom was like the mustard
seed, small and humble in its beginning,
but capable OF enormous growth; it was
like the leaven, apparently weak and power
less, but capable of expansive energy which
So 1t would seem that Jesus in likening the
Kingdom of heaven to the mustard seed and
TO the leaven was looking far beyond those
obscure beginnings, and first in one Smile
then In the other was assuring His disciples
how great and complete the ultimate
triumph was to be. There is also con-
trast between these two parallels. The de-
| personal life will bring US closer to the life
beyond"