372 THE KINGDOM THAT IS WITHIN
Abd-ul-Wahab meant to reform Islam by digging for the original foundations. The result was that they now must prop up the house! In India they are apologizing for Mohammed's morals and subjecting the Koran to higher criticism. In Egypt prominent Moslems advocate abolishing the veil. In Persia the Babi movement has undermined Islam everywhere. In Con- stantinople they are trying to put new wine into the old skins by carefully diluting the wine; the New Turkish party is making the rent of the old garment worse by its patchwork politics. In addition to all this, the Bible now speaks the languages of Islam, and is everywhere preparing the way for the conquest of the Cross. Even in the Moslem world, and in spite of all hindrances, " It is daybreak everywhere." ^
II.
In the Heart.
1 1. The Kingdom of God comes " without observation " because I it is not outward or material but spiritual and of the heart. The j heart of man is God's domain ; not the only place where He would ' rule, but the first and essential. Here is the seat of His empire —
in the heart. God's throne must be set up and His authority
recognized.
I ^ What is the Kingdom of God ? It is the place where the
I King is, where He reigns — whether in heaven or in our hearts.
j Wherever anyone does a kind deed, or speaks a kind word — there
; is the Kingdom of God. Wherever anyone gives up his own way
to please another, for Jesus' sake, there is the Kingdom of God.
Wherever anyone lets Jesus have His holy will, wherever anyone
tries to think what Jesus would do, there is the Kingdom of God.
To come into the Kingdom is just to take Jesus for our Master,
to let Jesus take us and make us what He wants us to be.^
The heaven is here for which we wait,
The life eternal now ! — Who is this lord of time and fate ?
Thou, brother, sister, thou.
The power, the kingdom, is thine own:
Arise, O royal heart! Press onward past the doubting-zone
And prove the God thou art!
* S. M. Zwemer, Eaymimd Lull, 161. ' R. W. Barbour, Thoughts, 87.
ST. LUKE XVII. 20, 21 373
2. Hence at the outset certain fundamental truths about this Kingdom are brought home to us which it is all-important for us not to lose sight of.
(1) If the Kingdom of God begins within the man, then this Kingdom is not merely a visible organization. It is that ; it must be, if it is to fulfil the end for which God has founded it ; but it is more than that. For if it were all organization, and yet had no organic life, a body made in perfect proportion, but no vitality, it would be only a beautiful piece of machinery but without any inherent force.
(2) The Kingdom of God does not consist merely in numbers, nor is it measured only by size. In our day, especially, there is a tendency among men, like David numbering the people, to place reliance on statistics and to find in figures arguments for or against the progress of the Kingdom of God among men. And even earnest Christians are apt to forget, as they speak of or pray for the growth of this Kingdom, that there can be true growth only where there is inner life and vitality.
(3) The evidence of the Kingdom of God is not merely out- ward profession. True, the form of godliness is all-important. Yet, if there be no living spirit within, the form is dead and useless. No, the first requirement of the Kingdom is that it must be a personal thing. God begins His reign by claiming sovereignty over the inner being of each. He must reign within the man. We can understand why this must be so when we call to mind what the heart of the man is. It is the citadel of the man's being ; it is the centre of existence in spiritual as in physical life. " Keep thy heart above all that thou guardest ; for out of it are the issues of life."
^ If you do not wish for His kingdom, don't pray for it. But if you do, you must do more than pray for it ; you must work for it. And, to work for it, you must know what it is ; we have all prayed for it many a day without thinking. Observe, it is a kingdom that is to come to us ; we are not to go to it. Also, it is not to be a kingdom of the dead, but of the living. Also, it is not to come all at once, but quietly ; nobody knows how. " The kingdom of God Cometh not with observation." Also, it is not to come outside of us, but in our heart : ** the kingdom of God is within us." And, being within us, it is not a thing to be seen, but to be felt ; and though it brings all substance of good with it, it does not
374 THE KINGDOM THAT IS \VITHIN
consist in that: "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost " — ^joy, that is to say, in the holy, healthful, and helpful Spirit. Now, if we want to work for this kingdom, and to bring it, and enter into it, there's one curious condition to be first accepted. You must enter it as children, or not at all : " Whosoever will not receive it as a little child shall not enter therein." And again, " Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." ^