THY KINGDOM COME | AdventAI

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 22, 1859

THY KINGDOM COME.

Under this heading a correspondent of the Examiner not long since penned the following language:

"Will not this prayer prevail? It was presented by our Lord for the encouragement of his people. They are to pray after this manner. It is a prescribed manner. Prescribed by the Lord Jesus Christ; and in accordance with the promise given in the second psalm: 'Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.' Glorious promise! Radiant with light from the celestial throne! Christ, the Messiah, is instructed by his Father and our Father to ask this great extension of his kingdom; and Christ, as a Son over his own house, instructs his people to ask that our heavenly Father's kingdom may come, and his will be done on earth as in heaven. How certain we are that this prayer will be fulfilled—answered, though trials attend Zion! Though the fulfillment tarry, wait for it. Let us therefore rejoice that neither divisions, opposition or poverty shall defeat the promise. Then let us still labor in faith, and still pray, 'Thy kingdom come.'"

The above gives a good idea of the general belief on this subject, and shows how radical a departure has been made in this respect from the teachings of the sacred word, as well as in regard to the subjects of the Sabbath and nature and destiny of man.

The prayer is certainly right enough, and will be so until that time comes when prayer shall be lost in praise. The kingdom was not set up by Christ nor his apostles; it is not set up yet; and the instruction of our Lord to pray, "Thy kingdom come," is still of force.

And this prayer will certainly be answered. It was presented for the encouragement of God's people, and will not be in vain: the kingdom will come; but how different from the general expectation!

"Glorious promise!" says the above writer, referring to the promise which says, "Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession." Why glorious? Because he regards it as a promise that all the heathen shall be converted, and the uttermost parts of the earth filled with righteousness; and then Christ's kingdom will have come. But when people read the above psalm, why do they not, before drawing their conclusion, read the whole of the declaration? Why do they take that text alone, and discard the context? To be sure, God has promised to give to his Son the heathen for an inheritance; but what will he do with them? Convert them, and append a millennium of glory to the scenes of time? Not a syllable of it; but—"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." This declaration ought to be sufficient to dispel some of that cloud of imaginary glory which popular theology throws over the heathen and the uttermost parts of the earth.

But the dream is too pleasing to be disturbed or broken by any motive naturally found in the heart of man. The prophets see visions of peace, and the people love to have it so. But ere the peace there must be war. When the wheat is gathered into the garner, the winnowing floor is to be thoroughly purged. A thousand years of desolation, and not a thousand years of prosperity and glory, are pronounced upon the earth, ere its final restoration. And when the time comes for that prayer to be answered, which men now so misunderstandingly pray, Thy kingdom come, the heathen and their hopes, together, will be dashed in pieces with a rod of iron.