New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1900-05-12

| philosopher, the Invention or III
scientist, the song of the poet, tn
prayer of the saint, the blood of tn
martyr have not been lost on a
apparently needless world. /
literature, in science, i'll art, i
faith, in sacrifice. human life ha
grown rich. Surely then we shoul
thank God and take courage. At tn
same time we should not permit on
optimism to beget within us spiri
of Missee tape which might promp
the too easily satisfied to let wei
enough alone.
We cannot speak of the growtl
Of Gods kingdom without consid
ering its relationship to the King
When Jesus Christ came from tn
Father and was made manifest t.
man in the incarnation, he brough
the kingdom of God with him. |
was the very atmosphere whicl
environed his personality. Afte
his sacrifice on Calvary and hi
victory over death and the grave
our Lord remained on earth fo
forty days, speaking of the thing
pertaining to the kingdom of God
The kingdom then was undoubtedl!
reality, and the King established
its permanency by his victory owe,
sin and death. Henceforth as th,
Lord of life he shall reign, and his
power of life shall be the quicken
ing influence of the kingdom.
If then this kingdom came with
Christ, if it became a potentia
organism before the cloud received
him ont of the Apostles sight, why
should we still pray, "Thy king
dom come"' Is not the kingdom
here either in the visible Catholic
Church, of which our Anglican
Communion is branch, or in
those many divine influences which
have been ever active in regener-
ating mans heart, in ameliorating
his moral and social condition, and
in developing all life into the per-
fection of divine holiness and love
What can be the meaning of our
continuous use of this prayer9,
If we examine carefully the
parallels of our Lord which were
designed to illustrate the kingdom
of heaven, or the kingdom of God,
we shall discover it is to be grow
ing and a permeating thing. The
growth of the mustard seed and the
per1neating influence of the leaven
teach us how very gradual is to be
the progress of the kingdom.
The prayer must then mean, that
we On earth shall have fuller re-
of Gods kingdom, that it
shall exercise complete dominion
over the human heart, that itshallex-
pand into all departments of human
life. Aye, it must furnish the law
Of development for the doctrine
Of Christ. II must apply that doc
trine to the culture of the indivi-
dual, the publication of society and
the building up of the divine struc-
ture of the State.
Now. that we have described the
prayer for the coming of Gods
and have anticipated it's
full realization in the Apocalypse,
we must carefully study some of it's
manifold attributes and their rela-
to the SONS of men. What
is its life? What is its identity?
What is its law7
I. The life of the Kingdom. To
be a growing thing the kingdom
must have life. To be an eternal
thing it must have eternal life. Has
the kingdom of God this enduring
and immortal lifei Will it outwear
the corroding influence of time!
Will it come forth from all of it's
clothed with the glory of
IN everlasting triumpha If life
eternal is to know the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom he has sent,
then the knowledge of God and
Jesus Christ must be the life of the
This brings us TO a practical con-
Of the Incarnation. The
Incarnation should not be regarded
Is the isolated life Of a personality.
It is the full grown divine flower in
full grown in Christ, and
through his life growing to maturity
n us. 1t is a perennial influence in
he world. It is the one quicking
power which gives vitality and
growth to all that the kingdom Of
God stands for in our earthly
affairs. With this life incarnate,
;he sons of men need not despair
If appropriating on this earth a
arge measure of that perfect ethical
development which has been so
beautifully portrayed in the vision
# the Apocalypse.
II. The Identity Of the Kingdom.
What is the kingdom Of God and
where is iti We know it is the
'ighteous government Of the King.
ali that was ever dreamed of by
Plato in his "Republic" all that
Sir Thomas More conceived of in
lis "Utopia, all that is meant by
hat combination Of ethnic and
spiritual forces which is called
christian socialism-aye, these and
more must make up the
magma charta Of the kingdom Of
Tod! But where is this kingdomi
Jan we find for it q localityi Some
magine it is too good a thing for
his earth. To them it must surely
,e in heaven. Is it not sometimes
allied the kingdom Of heaven'
Aye, verify, but because it proposes
o establish on this earth such a
zingdom Of absolute justice, that it
hall resemble the government Of
No, the children Of God
ire not to 60 through some process
i ssbenevolent assimilation" They