It has taken mankind a long time to find out what conditions are best adapted to advance the race, but it is now very generally admitted that ideas are of greater importance than men, and that right ideas must govern rations and individuals alike if we are to have progress and prosperity. It was the recognition of the idea of freedom which led the Hebrews out of Egypt under the direction of Moses, and it was the same idea which led to the founding of this great nation. It is true that the human concept of freedom and of how it should be realized has differed as widely as did the people who in all ages have sought to realize it, but none the less has the idea persisted and remained unchanged through all the varying fortunes of men and nations, for it springs from eternal Truth, whose throne rests upon judgment and justice and whose scepter is unchanging right.
From earliest times men have recognized the need of government, but too often they have bowed down before the merest shadow of real power. The prophet Isaiah gives a vivid picture of the unending struggle of humanity in the darkness, then he tells of the coming of a great light in which the Christ-idea appears, and we read, "The government shall he upon his shoulder." The world waited long for the coming of the ideal king and kingdom, and when at length one appeared to whom the hopes of Israel went out, human thought failed to recognize its deliverer or to grasp its opportunity. John tells us that Nathanael said to Jesus, at their first meeting, "Thou art the King of Israel;" and doubtless many others believed as Nathanael did, but little did they understand what true kingship meant.
In after days Jesus himself said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world,"—that is, not a material kingdom. He had never ceased his efforts to show the people that God's kingdom was already established and that it was their business to understand and obey its laws. His chief concern seemed to lie that they should gain freedom, yet he was most grievously misunderstood, and while they were in bondage to sin, sickness, and death, as well as to the Roman power, they indignantly rejected the truth which would have made them free indeed, saying, "We... were never in bondage to any man."
