THE PRESENT DUTY. ONE day Jesus," being asked by the Pharisees, When cometh the Kingdom of God?' answered them and said, The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or There! For lo! the Kingdom of God is in your midst.' '' 18 We have talked of it on these Friday noons, as the Pharisees thought of it, as if its coming were a far-off event, which, when it transpires, will revolutionize society, and make demands upon the consciences of men then living such as will sensibly modify the conduct of their lives. We feel it to be a duty to desire its coming; we cheerfully offer our prayer for it. Some of us, in serious moments, grow earnest in wishing for it; impressed by the shortcomings of the prevailing order, seeing the chance and injustice and cruel indifference to suffering which mark it, there are few of us who do not, in our better moods, long for the consummation of the Kingdom. There is abroad a widespread, if on the part of some a gentle and unaggressive, hope for a coming better day, and a pretty general feeling that quietly, gradually, the old order changing, is giving place to the new. In the meantime, pleased and contented by the vision of the Earthly Paradise, Dreamer of dreams, born out of my due time, Why should I strive to set the crooked straight? To those who in the sleepy region stay, So we find comfort in assuming that the commands of Christ are intended to come into effect only when the Kingdom of Heaven has fully come. Then most certainly we shall be prepared to turn the other cheek, lend to every borrower, offer the coat to him who robs us of the cloak. In this present world, we do assure you, we shall do nothing so absurd. Those are millennial precepts. They are lofty and beautiful, but their impracticability at present is so manifest that we are absolved from the duty of their obedience. We hope and pray the day will come when we may obey them, but-Christ never intended His people to starve. Were some of us disposed to accept them as intended for immediate practice, to renounce the accumulation of money, withdraw from competition, refuse to accept incomes from the labour of others, or to take advantage of rises in land-values brought about by movements of others—were we to consider such a course, our duty to our families and those dependent on us would prevent our entering upon it. The literal obedience of Christ's words is a conceivable duty under other circumstances; under existing ones it would be a palpable absurdity. This is an objection much better founded than the cheap evasion which we considered two weeks ago, based on the assumption that Jesus was an enthusiast and a poet whose extravagances of speech can under no circumstances be entitled to regard. We are face to face to-day with the position which admits the authority of Christ's commands, but holds that they are intended to apply to those only who will be members of. perfected society, while we, who have our parts still in a society incomplete and imperfect, are, on account of practical considerations and practical duties therefrom arising, released from the obligation of present obedience. Against this objection also, I am constrained nevertheless to maintain the authority of Jesus's words as directions for conduct to-day. In the first place, I challenge the assumption that the ethical standard of Christthat the commercial morality, say, of the Sermon on the Mount-is impracticable. What right have we to conclude that a man who, submitting to Christ's code, gives to every one that asks and turns not away from the borrower,-what right have we to assert that he will not succeed in business? Maybe not, but let the rule be tried before it is condemned. It happens that I know of one man who practises this rule. A few years ago, he had not a dollar of his own; to-day he says not a dollar he has is his own; he calls it God's, and holds it as God's trustee, but he has thousands, this poor |