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Thy Kingdom Come

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 27, 1874

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 44, No. 18.

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Thy Kingdom Come.

By Eli. R. F. Cottrell.

BY ELI. R. F. COTTRELL.
Text: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.” Matt. 6:10.
These are the leading petitions of the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples to pray. These petitions indited by the Son of God, will be fulfilled; they are prophetic of that which God has promised shall take place. The time will come when the kingdom desired will be established and the will of God will be done on the earth as it is now done by the angels of God in Heaven—sin will then have no place on the earth.
It is right to pray this prayer still? If the kingdom is already come, the petitions are fulfilled; and that which is already fulfilled should no longer be prayed for. But as we cannot believe that the will of God is now done perfectly upon earth, we cannot believe that the promised kingdom or reign has been established. Sin seems to reign on earth at present. As long as this is the case, it is evidently still right to pray, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth, as it is in Heaven.
What is the kingdom? It is the one promised in prophecy. Is it a real kingdom, or only a principle reigning and ruling in the heart, which by a figure of speech is called a kingdom? Let us see. A real kingdom has these constituent parts: A king, subjects, territory, and laws. Is such a kingdom promised? Yes. The following scriptures show that Christ the Son of God is to be the king, his saints the subjects and inheritors, and the earth the territory or inheritance.
“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Ps. 2:6–8. Here the Son of God is set forth by his Father as a king, and the kingdoms of the heathen, or nations, are promised to him and the whole earth as his possession.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isa. 9:6, 7. “And thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:31–33.
In these scriptures Jesus the Christ is promised a kingdom—a reign over the house of Jacob, the people of God—which is to be everlasting, or have no end. This is evidently the kingdom promised in Dan. 2:44: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” The “people” who share in this everlasting kingdom and the territory which they are to possess are plainly revealed in Dan. 7:27: “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN [that is, over the whole earth] shall be given to the PEOPLE of the SAINTS of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
We have found that Christ is the king, his people the subjects, and the whole earth the territory which they possess. Has this kingdom come? Does Christ now reign on the earth? do all “under the whole heaven” “serve and obey him”? It seems not. That the coming of this everlasting kingdom is a future event, and that it is not set up before the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the saints, is abundantly proved from the following scriptures. It had not come when Jesus taught his disciples to pray for its coming. Nor had it come when the last passover was eaten by Christ and his disciples; for he said, as he gave the cup to them, “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.” Luke 22:18. The converts to Christianity had not entered into this kingdom when Paul was traveling from church to church, “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22. The kingdom was still a matter of promise when James wrote: “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?” James 2:5.
The kingdom is not established till the second appearing of Christ and the Judgment. “Who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.” 2 Tim. 4:1. It will not come till the saints are changed to immortality at the resurrection of the just. “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Cor. 15:50–52. This change from flesh and blood, from corruption to incorruption, at the last trump and the resurrection of the dead, takes place at the return of Christ: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thess. 4:16. In the parable, Luke 19:11–15, the nobleman goes into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and return. And having received the kingdom he returns and reckons with his servants, rewards his loyal people, and punishes his enemies. Being seated upon the throne, Christ orders his kingdom, welcomes his saints to its possession, and punishes those who are not worthy to have any inheritance in it. See Matt. 25:31–46. The Son of man comes in his glory and is seated on his glorious throne. Then he says to the righteous, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
So when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we pray for the coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the Judgment.
Are you praying for these events? Can you respond to the words of Christ: “Surely, I come quickly,” in the language of the apostle, “Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus”?
Is the coming and kingdom of Christ near? To give a tithe of the evidences from the prophecies and the signs of the times, that it is soon to come, will not be attempted in this discourse. We only refer to the signs as given by Jesus himself in Matt. 24:29–35. The darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars are now matters of history; and on the fulfillment of these signs, Jesus says, “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”
We now come to the second part of the text: “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.” The will of the Father is the law of the kingdom; and it will be perfectly obeyed. The Father gives the kingdom to the Son; and the will of the Father is the will of the Son; for says the latter, “I and my Father are one.” We have found that the kingdom is to be real; that Christ is the king; that his people made immortal are the subjects; that the territory of their inheritance is the whole earth which will be made new; and, to complete the component parts of a kingdom, we now find that the will of God is to be the law of the kingdom.
Has the will of the Father been already revealed to men? It certainly has; and the doing of it is a condition of entering into the kingdom. None but loyal, law-abiding subjects will be admitted there. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,” says Jesus, “shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven.” Matt. 7:21. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Chap. 19:17. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14. This city is the New Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom.
What code of commandments reveals to us the will of God? This is an important question; since it will not only be the law of the future kingdom, but is made the condition of entering it. It must be the moral law of God. And we are happy to agree with all orthodox denominations of Christians, that the moral law is summarily contained in the ten commandments, the only code coming directly from God to the people, spoken with his own voice and written with his own finger in tables of stone. We quote two texts, one from the Old Testament, and one from the New, to prove that the will of God and this moral law are identical. In Ps. 40:7, 8, the first coming of Christ into the world is prophesied of in these words: “Then said I, Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” See Heb. 10:5–7. The law that is in the heart of the Son of God is the same law which the new covenant puts into the hearts of all the heirs of the kingdom. It is the law that he came not to destroy, nor to remove from it a jot or tittle. Matt. 5:17–20. But Paul makes it plain that this law is the ten commandments. Rom. 2:17, 18. “Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest HIS WILL, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of THE LAW.” “What law is referred to? Let the apostle answer. “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery?” Verses 21, 22. According to this language of the apostle, the ten commandments are the law which reveals the will of God. Therefore, when we pray, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven,” we pray that these commandments may be kept by all the inhabitants of the earth; and this petition will surely be fulfilled. The time will come. But while we pray for the will of God to be done, to be consistent, we should do his will now. This we have seen is a condition of sharing in the kingdom in the world to come.
But it is objected that we do not see these commandments alike. Whose fault is it? All Christians agree in nine of them. There is no disagreement in any one but the Sabbath commandment; and this is more explicit than any other one of the ten; it explains itself and gives the reason. This no other one does.
Let me call your attention to some of the peculiarities of this commandment, which was placed by the finger of God in the midst of his moral law. 1. It is the only one of the ten that traces itself back to the creation, when man in his innocence was placed in the possession of Eden. 2. It was the chosen test, when God would prove his people, whether they would walk in his law, or no. Ex. 16:4–30. 3. Passing by the emphasis placed upon the Sabbath in the Old Testament, it is more frequently mentioned in the New than any other of the ten, and is always called by the sacred title, “the Sabbath;” as far as revelation extends, from the beginning to the end, it is the same. 4. But it is the only one which we are expressly informed will be kept in the world to come, the Eden restored, the kingdom of God upon earth. Here is the clear evidence: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.”
It is self-evident that this prediction has never been fulfilled. But it will be. When? When the kingdom of God shall have come, and the will of God is done in earth, as it is done in Heaven. It will then be demonstrated that a universal Sabbath can be kept on the round and rolling world; and none will circumnavigate the globe, either east or west, to find an objection against it. They will all be agreed in the particular day. None will object against the Sabbath, which Jesus said “was made for man,” that it is a Jewish institution, and not binding upon the whole race. But the Sabbath shall gloriously stand as the grand memorial that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh; and the ceaseless ages of eternity shall not see it obliterated. It is “the holy of the Lord,” and will forever be kept holy.
In conclusion we say, When we pray, Thy kingdom come, we pray for the second advent of the Saviour as the King of kings and Lord of lords. None can pray this in sincerity and in truth but those who love his appearing, and would be glad to know that the petition will soon be fulfilled. When we pray, Thy will be done, we pray that the commandments of God may be kept, the Sabbath, as well as the rest.Should we not then keep them? No other course is consistent. Let us remember that it is not every one that calls Jesus Lord, that shall enter into the kingdom for which we pray, but that he that doeth the will of the Father, keeping his commandments, shall enter through the gates into the city of God. While we pray, let us also do; and so we shall share in the glorious, soon-coming kingdom.