The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-06-02

The International Sunday SchOOI
Lesson for June 7th Is, The Coming
Of the kingdOn."-Luke f7:20-27.

Lesson for June 7th Is, The Coming
OG the kinSdonl."-Luke f7:2o-27.
(By William T.. Ellis.
Ii a far-Sighted man could sit on
the ~earthward side Of the Planet
Mars and view current events here,
he surely would perceive that the
biggest news in sight, and the news
worthiest to be cried through all the
worlds Of the universe, is that the
Kingdom of God is coming.
For that statement is the only
adequate explanation of the new or
der that is now coming to pass in
this old world. The present cfamor
N weeping in Mexico: the groan-
inss and turnings in ancient China;
the harsh shoutings and debates in
Great Britain; the means that re
sound over the Balkans and Turkey
and Russian-all these sights
and sounds which. beheld too
war. are foreshadowings of the
era of fundamental peace which
is coming. They are heralds of the
dawn of social justice. brotherhood
and neighborliness- The really sig
nificant phenomena of our genera
coeauests of that kingdom which
Jesus inaugurated.. and whose ulti-
mate triumph he declared.
The Kingdom Idea.
Ideas about why Jesus came and
he said are commonly very
vague. There are current almost as
many misconceptions on this subject
as in the days OF his flesh. Then
everybody who cherished the Mes
sianiC hope expected a temporal
kingdom. Thier idea of the glorious
reign was patterned upOn Rome. the
Meccabean kingdom and the giories
OF David: for they could not think
ov, ro0 nnl
emoluments and pomp OF state. Even
intimate disciples of Jesus held this
conception until the resurrection.
Certainly Jesus proclaimed a
Kingdom as coming. That was the
message Offences on his lips. The
basic laws of the kingdom were laid
down in the Sermon IN the Mount
his Kingdom was spiritual. In
this lesson he makes clear that II
is a kingdom of character, Of ideals
Of spirituality. Whether the bFoae
phrase in this lesson. 1.-The kingdom
of God is within YOU" means that i
is lin your midst or 'in you
hearts, the truth is clear that Jesu:
procIaims the sovereignty of soul. Ii
the Did lines Of Milton:
1.-The mind is in it's own place, ant
in itself
Can make a heaven OF hell, a hell o
HcdNtu.
One commentator puts it tersely
"F,vermore the kingdom of God mus
be within-within, for within is tn
moral evil; within, for within is tn
power Of love: within, for within
ia the will md the hope which mus
reach forth to the higher ideal o
character"
The Blindness OF Critics.
Sneering. spying, suspicious, tn
Pharisees watched Jesus within a cen
serious attitude. They thought t
confoupd him in his favorite messag
Of the kingdom by saying. when
il coming?" Disbelief was infplie
in the question. They could not Sc
any kingdom coming. Theirs wa
the familiar type Of mind whic
seeks only to find fault. With til
snobbishness of IT assume
that hostile criticism is a token c
mental superiority. We all kno'
the type. It is incapable of er
on the sun, rather than the glory {
the sun itself.
The report of Jesus was. "Th
Kingdom Of God cometh not wit
~SeFvati That is to say. e:
pionage does not reveal this wonde
Heresy hunters do not find trut'
Criticisms is euriously blind. The
learned doctors of the law, WI
should best have been able to appr'
Ciate the significance of Jesus ar
his kingdom-mesSage, were most i.
noFant OF that which was directly b
fore them.
Thc DowieS and RuSseHs.
So fond are men OF predicting Il
hour Of the Kingdoms coming tn
in every generation for ceuturi
past there seem to have been one
more self-deiuded leaders to rise a,
cry himself the prophet of the la
DAYS. Poor. misguided Dowdie W
one such. Elijah Sanford"
Maine. now in the clutches Of I.
law, is another. Pastor" Russo
who predicts the end of things ne
&c o,p~r. is still another. The "A
lers Of n generation ago were uotal
examples of this ability Of laan
distort the Scriptures to find a f
lowing among the crcduleus. Sns
of them have been sincere and PIC
and Scld -Sacrificing, others lfa