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THY KINGDOM COME

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 25, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 52.

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“THY KINGDOM COME.”

THIS is one of the great petitions of the prayer Jesus taught His disciples. Supplementary to it are the words following: “Thy will be done ‘in earth, as it is in heaven.” For Christ’s kingdom will come only when and where God’s will is done. In His kingdom, the prophet tells us, His “people ‘also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the ‘land forever.” Isa. 60:21. When His kingdom comes, then “the kingdom and dominion, and the ‘greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, ‘shall be given to the people of the saints [holy ‘ones] of the Most High, whose kingdom is an ‘everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve ‘and obey Him.” Dan. 7:27. Then “the meek ‘shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves ‘in the abundance of peace.” Ps. 37:11. Where abundance of peace dwells, where the meek inherit, where the saints reign, there God’s will is done. This is the ultimate of the petition, “Thy kingdom ‘come.”
But this is not the primary petition. No one will reign in Christ’s kingdom, no one will inherit that kingdom, who is not doing the will of God; and only those will do God’s will whose hearts have been wholly yielded to Him. Christ’s kingdom must be established in the heart before the soul can enter the kingdom. His Spirit must rule there. His life must be the animus. His character must be the standard. His law must be the rule of government, dominating all other laws and traditions.
Therefore the great petition of the prayer Jesus taught,—“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in ‘earth, as it is in heaven,”—is primarily personal, and when truly prayed applies, first of all, to the heart and life of him who prays. If it is not thus prayed, it is never truly prayed. We never truly ask for God’s kingdom to come unless we first ask it to come into the heart and life. So pray it, then, and Jesus will bring in His reign of peace. So continue to pray till every imagination of the heart is made subject to Him forever.