And had they but read it more truly,
and followed it more faithfully, they would never have made war to
abolish what they would never have wished to maintain. And the same
rule it is that is warning us now that it is wrong to fight, wrong to
heap up riches, wrong to live by the labour of others. As we come to
heed the warning we shall cease to do these things. But to change
institutions without changing hearts is idle. For it is but to change
the subjects into the rulers, the poor into the rich, the drudges into
the idle men. And, as a result, we should only have idle men more
frivolous, rich men more hard, rulers more incompetent. It is not by
violence or compulsion, open or disguised, that the kingdom of heaven
comes. It is by simple service on the part of those that know the law,
by their following the right in their own lives, and preaching rather
by their conduct than by their words.

"This would be a hard saying if we had to rely on ourselves. But we
have God to rely on, who gives His help not according to the measure of
our powers. A man cannot by taking thought add a cubit to his stature;
he cannot increase the scope of his mind or the range of his senses; he
cannot, by willing, make himself a philosopher, or a leader of men.
But drawing on the source that is open to the poorest and the weakest
he can become a good man; and then, whatever his powers, he will be
using them for God and man. If men do that, each man for himself, by
the help of God, all else will follow. So true is it that if ye seek
first the kingdom of heaven all these things shall be added unto you.
Yes, that is true. It is eternal truth. It does not change with the
doctrines of Churches nor depend upon them. I would say even it does
not depend on Christianity. For the words would be true, though there
had never been a Christ to speak them. And the proof that they are
true is simply the direct witness of consciousness. We perceive such
truths as we perceive the sun. They carry with them their own
certainty; and on that rests the certainty of God. Therein is the
essence of all religion. I say it because I know. And the rest of
you, so it seems to me, are guessing. Nor is it, as it might seem at
first, a truth irrelevant to your discussion. For it teaches that all
change must proceed from within outward. There is not, there never has
been, a just polity, for there has never been one based on the love of
God and man. All th