Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-01-14
The brotherhood ~ Sian upd the
Kingdom Of God.

The Brotherhood ~ Sian mud the
Kingdom Of God.
Text. Matt. G:s-tO. But be not yc
called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even
Christ; and all We are brethren. And call
no man your father upon the earth: for
one is your Father which is in heaven.
Neither be ye called masters: for one is
your Master, even Christ
Omitting for the present the historical
and analytical Interpretation Of the text,
we may here learn that God is the father
Of man, that Christ is our Master, and that
all men are brethren.
We belong to God. and we are His chill
dren by right Of creation, preservation
and eternal benefactions. All laws under
which we nve-natural, moral and spirit
ual-are Gods laws In real and prac-
teal sense all men are children Of God.
The old idea that some men are children
Of God and others, children Of the devil,
must be repudiated. Because all people
are His children. God loves all men; the
good and the bad, the strong and the weak.
the worthy and the unworthy. While
some Of His children are obedient and
others. are disobedient; while some are of
His own spirit and others are ruled by
Son, our Brother, to live teach, suffer,
and die for our redemption. This is the
great lesson Of the parable Of the Prodigsl
Son; this is the mystery of Gods love as
set forth in John 3:16.
Recognizing God as our Father and Jesus
Christ as our elder Brother and teacher
we must recognize each other as brethren.
This throws upon each of us the respon-
sibility Of doing all good we can to all the
people we can. In other words, we. are
under obligations to labor together as
brethren TO establish and advance the
kingdom Of God among men,
The character Of the kingdom Of God
has been largely misunderstood or not
understood at all
One-some have thought the kingdom to
consist in right Battle-Ground theology.
This idea has led in former times to theo-
logical tests, prosecutions, and religious
wars. The very elements of the gospel
love- peace, purity and brotherhood-have
thus been destroyed.
| Theology is the creature of it's age, it Is
man made, and represents our present UNI
lderstanding. With increase of light and a
change In our understanding, must come
restatements and better statements in the
ology.
In the teaching of Jesus Christ there fl
no theological system. but a broad AND
expansive basis Of eternal vital truths. Thi
essential truth never changes, although
our creeds must now and then be modified
Men may believe correctly according tC
the light of their times and yet live Ike
devils, and surely soundness Of opinion
and wickedness In life do not represent tn,
kingdom of God. Said Jesus, THE king
dom of God is within you" And again
Except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the Scribes anC
Pharisees, We shall in no case enter ente
into the kingdom OF heaven" The king
dom OF God, then, does not consist in rigl
beliefs, in sound theological opinions.
Two-some have thought the kingdom {,
consist In belonging to the true church,
Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Angli
cans, and other sects and denomination
have claimed the title, true church! Tn
time has been when such claims and tn
efforts to enforce them have creates
, strifes. prosecutions and shedding Of blood
Such spirit and such deeds are fatal to tn
principles of holiness and brotherliness
love and service The time has come whei
the liberality Of love and brotherhood 1
binding the denominations more closely 10
: gether The kingdom OF God is not foun
in belonging to one particular church. Al
churches when true to their mission ar
contributing agents to the Advancement o
the kingdom.
Three-Some have thought the kingdom t
consist in the universal Christian church
The church, however. does not make tn
kingdom, for we are told in Revelatio
that in heaven there will be no temple