The
Lord’s Prayer
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“Thy
Kingdom Come”
The kingdom
of God for which we are to pray
includes three distinct ideas:
1.
The kingdom of God on earth, His
visible church, consisting of those
who have willingly enlisted under His
banner. Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9.
2.
The kingdom of God “within
you,” the invisible kingdom,
consisting of all honest believers
anywhere, without regard to church
affiliation. Luke 17:21.
3.
The kingdom of heaven, when “the
kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of His
Christ.” Matthew 8:11; 2 Timothy
4:18; Revelation 11:15.
Christ’s
preaching concerned itself almost
entirely with the “gospel of the
kingdom,” which might mean any
one of the three named, or all three,
as the context indicates.
In the
beginning of His ministry, Christ
“came into Galilee, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God, and
saying, The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand: repent
ye, and believe the gospel.”
Mark 1:14,15. “Jesus went about
all the cities and villages, teaching
in their synagogues, and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom.”
Matthew 9:35; 4:23.the people in a
certain place asked Him to stay with
them, He declined to do so, saying,
“I must preach the kingdom of
God to other cities also.” Luke
4:42,43.
The disciples
followed the lead of their Master.
When He sent out the Twelve He
commanded them “to preach the
kingdom of God, and to heal the
sick.” Luke 9:2. When He sent
out the seventy, they received this
commission: “Say unto them, The
kingdom of God is come nigh unto
you.” Luke 10:9. It is of note
but when Christ said that the gospel
is to be preached in all the world
for a witness to all nations, He
designated it as “this gospel of
the kingdom.” Matthew 24:14.
Christ considered the gospel of the
kingdom so important that He put it
fist on the list of that for which
men shall seek. Said He, “Seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all these things
hall be added unto you.” Matthew
6:31-33.
When Pilate
asked Christ, “Art Thou the King
of the Jews?” He answered,
“My kingdom is not of this
world.” John 18:33,36. When
Pilate pressed Him further,
”Art
Thou a king then? Jesus answered,
“Thou sayest that I am a
king,” an affirmative reply.
Christ was a king, but His kingdom
was not of this world.
In the
beginning, God created the heavens
and the earth. “The heaven, even
the heavens, are the
Lord’s,” says David, but
the earth hath He given to the
children of men.” Psalms 115:16.
When the earth was given to Adam, he
became, under God, its ruler. When
man sinned and came under the
dominion of sin, Satan promptly
claimed the earth as his and felt
emboldened to offer it to Christ on
condition of submission and worship.
Showing Christ “All the kingdoms
of the world, and the glory pf
them,” Satan said, “All
these things will I give Thee if Thou
wilt fall down and worship
me.” Matthew 4:8,9. Satan had
assumed charge of this earth, had
become its prince, and taken men
captive. Christ had come to wrest
this dominion from Satan, liberate
the prisoners, and establish His own
kingdom. Satan understood this, and
his first plan was to win over Christ
and, if this failed, to tempt and
torture Him in an effort to
discourage Him from finishing His
work. Unless in some way he could
overcome Christ, he knew that his own
doom was sealed.
Christ also
knew what was at stake. If He failed,
all would be lost. Satan would then
have undisputed control, and this
world would be his kingdom. Once
before, Satan had claimed control
over the earth when, as a
self-appointed representative from
this world, he met with the sons of
God as recorded in the book of Job.
When God pointed to Job as the true
representative, Satan sneeringly
answered, “Doth Job fear God for
nought? Put forth Thine hand now, and
touch all that he hath, and he will
curse Thee to Thy face.” Job
1:9-11. In the test that ensued, Job
on, and Satan retired defeated.
Once more
Satan tried it, and again he was
defeated. After this he appears no
more in the book. Job stood the test.
Satan was not God’s
representative. Job was. From any
human viewpoint, Christ’s task
was impossible. Having taken on the
nature of man, how could He ever
expect to cope with the powers of
darkness? His plan was to win men
from the army of Satan, deliver them
from the power of darkness, and
translate them into the kingdom of
heaven. See Colossians 1:13. This
would necessitate that Christ attack
the stronghold of Satan, who as a
“strong man fully armed guardeth
his won court.” Luke 11:21.
If Christ was
“to bring out the prisoners from
the prison, and them that sit in
darkness out of the prison
house” (Isaiah 42:7), He would
have to enter the prison house
Himself and become subject to death;
but having in His possession the keys
of hell and of death (Revelation
1:18), He would open the prison door,
walk out, and take with Him those who
wished to be liberated.
This is the
very thing He did. At the time of His
death “the graves were opened;
and many bodies of the saints which
slept arose, and came out of the
graves after His resurrection, and
went into the Holy City, and appeared
unto many.” Matthew 27:52,53.
Thus, it was possible for Christ
through death to “destroy him
that had the power of death, that is,
the devil; and deliver them who
through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage.”
Hebrews 2:14,15.
As stated
above, it was Satan’s plan to
get Christ to sin, if that were
possible, for He would thus come
under Satan’s control. Satan did
his best in the temptation in the
wilderness, but did not succeed. He
did his best all through the time of
the ministry of Christ, but again he
failed. He tried it again in
Gethsemane, but found no foothold
whatsoever. Said Christ, “The
prince of this world cometh, and hath
nothing in Me.” John 14:30.
Christ repelled every dart thrown at
Him, resisted every temptation.
Successfully He challenged the Jews,
“Which of you convinceth Me of
sin?” and there was no answer.
John 8:46.
As the climax
in the life of Christ approached, the
time which Jesus called “your
hour, and the power of
darkness,” (Luke 22:53), when He
single-handed and alone, should enter
the domain of death and wrest from
Satan “the captives of the
mighty” (Isaiah 49:25), His
humanity shrank from the magnitude
and apparent impossibility of the
task. John gives us a glimpse of the
inner struggle of Jesus when he
quoted Him as saying, “Now is My
soul troubled; and what shall I say?
Father, save Me from this hour; but
for this cause came I unto this
hour.” John 12:27.
These are
pathetic words as coming from the
Savior. The hour had come, and His
human nature quailed before the
horror of terror of torture and
death. A call to His Father for help
would bring Him more than twelve
legions of angels. Matthew 26:53.
However, was it not for this very
purpose that He had come to the
world? No, He could not ask to be
saved from the agonizing test. But
the very fact that He thought of it,
reveals His humanity.
Only for a
moment did Christ hesitate.
Resolutely His faith asserted itself.
He would go forward. He would glorify
God. In addition, souls would be
saved. He looked to heaven and said,
“Father, glorify Thy name. Then
came there a voice from heaven,
saying, I have glorified it, and will
glorify it again.” John 12; 28.
God had glorified Him in His work on
earth, which was to culminate in His
death, and would glorify Him again in
raising Him from the dead.
Christ’s
decision was made. He would willingly
fulfill His part of the covenant made
in heaven. God would not fail Him,
but stand by Him. He had just
received confirmation that God had
glorified and would glorify Him. The
prophet of old had asked the
question, “Shall the prey be
taken from the mighty, , or the
lawful captive delivered?”
Isaiah 49:24. In addition, the answer
had come: “The captives of the
mighty shall be taken away, and the
prey of the terrible shall be
delivered.” Verse 25. God’s
promise was sure: “
The Lord God
will help me; therefore shall I not
be confounded: therefore have I set
my face like a flint, and I know that
I shall not be ashamed.” Isaiah
50:7. With these promises in mind,
Christ confidently announced,
“Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out.” John 12:31.
When Christ
said this, He knew what the cost
would be. He would have to enter the
prison house of death. However, He
was ready. He had the keys that would
free him and the captives. Some think
that it was no struggle for Christ to
engage Satan in battle, even to the
death. Did not Christ know that He
would come out victorious? Had He not
in heaven measured the cost? Why was
not all, then, clear?
We have
mentioned before that in heaven He
and the Father had counted every step
and knew the cost. However, it was
necessary for Christ to go over the
ground again and as man decide what
He would do. Even if He were willing
to go on with the plan, was He
assured of success? Could human
nature endure the trial? Should He
ask the Father to spare Him from the
approaching hour? The fact that He
mentioned it at all reveals His inner
struggle. He need not have revealed
to man that there was any struggle at
all. When He does reveal it, He does
it for, giving us an insight into the
deepest recesses of His mind, that we
might understand that the cost made
Him tremble, that He knew the
tremendous battle He must wage, and
that in full knowledge of the cost He
made His decision. Let no one think
that Christ was not tempted.
The prayer,
“Thy kingdom come,” has
been called a glorious prayer of
infinite scope. The Jews were much
interested in the coming of the
kingdom and incorporated petitions
for its coming into their common
prayers. Some of the rabbis held that
any prayer that did not mention the
kingdom was no prayer at all.
For the
Christian this prayer for the kingdom
is of the deepest significance,
particularly for those living at this
time in the history of this world.
The prayer for the establishment of
the kingdom of God embraces the
incarnation of Christ and His life in
humanity, the temptation un the
wilderness, Gethsemane and Golgotha,
the resurrection and judgment, the
destruction of Satan and his kingdom,
and the new creation. It is a prayer
that God’s plan of salvation may
come to fruition that there might be
an end of sin, and that righteousness
might reign.
The prayer
also contemplates the preparation of
the saints for participation in the
kingdom to come. In coming to this
world, Christ did His part of the
work in destroying the power of the
devil. He is now preparing a place
for His redeemed in the world to
come. However, He left a wok for us
to do in preparing men for
citizenship in the new kingdom. He
will help us in this, but we have a
definite responsibility and important
decisions to make. No one can do this
for us.
On one
occasion, the Pharisees asked Christ
when the kingdom of God should come.
Luke 17:20. The question was probably
prompted by the fact that while Jesus
preached much about the kingdom, He
made no practical provision for its
organization. The first requirements
would be a reasonably large following
and the selection of a few capable
men of experience to compose the
nucleus of the governing body. Christ
had none of these. The few that
followed Him were of the common
people, and the disciples were
unlearned, inexperienced men. No
kingdom could ever be established on
such a foundation. In contempt the
Pharisees had asked, “Have any
of the rulers or of the Pharisees
believed on Him?” John 7:48.
They were certain that Christ could
not establish a kingdom without them,
but thus far, He had not made any
approach to them or asked them for
help. Evidently, they were to be left
out. Therefore, to confuse Him they
asked when the kingdom should come.
Christ answered them and said,
“The kingdom of God cometh not
with observation: neither shall they
say, Lo here! or, lo there! For,
behold, the kingdom of God is within
you.” Luke 17:20,21.
Christ here emphasized the truth that
numbers alone are not a safe
criterion of success. Mohammed
quickly recruited millions of
followers. So did Buddha, and so have
apostate churches. The time will come
when the entire world will wonder
after the beast. See Revelation 13:3.
Numbers are no evidence of success.
In contrast with this, Christ spoke
of His church as the little flock.
“Fear not, little flock,”
He said, “for it is your
Father’s good pleasure to give
you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32.
It is not
safe to count outward prosperity as a
sign of God’s approval or
blessing. We rightly rejoice when we
see God’s cause prosper and read
of the many accessions to the church.
However, God is not impressed by
statistics. We should be careful lest
we number Israel and prove by means
of arithmetic that God is with us.
“There is no restraint to the
Lord to save by many or by few.”
1 Samuel 14:6. If Christ were on
earth now and His work were evaluated
by the converts He had at the time of
His death, some question might be
raised about His success.
Figures
measure outward growth, but God looks
to the heart. The visible church can
be numbered, but the figures do not
correspond with the books of heaven.
There are many on the church roll
that God does not include in His
church, and there are many that God
includes whose names are not on our
books. However, it will not always be
thus. Jesus said, “Other sheep I
have, which are not of this fold:
unto them also I must bring, and they
shall hear My voice; and there shall
be one fold, and one shepherd.”
John 10:16. At that time, the books
in heaven and the books on earth will
agree. Happy day! We shall see
eternal values as God sees them.
“The
kingdom of God is within you.”
“The Lord seeth not as a man
seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on
the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7. It is
not numbers, riches, fame, learning,
or worldly attainments that interest
God. “Heaven is My throne, and
the earth is My footstool,” He
said. Isaiah 66:1. Material things do
not count with God, “for all
those things Mine hand made.”
Verse 2.
He then
raised the question, “Where is
the place of My rest?” and
answered it: “To this man will I
look, even to him that is poor and of
a contrite spirit, and trembleth at
My word.” Verses 1,2. God
inhabits eternity; He dwells “in
the high and holy place, with him
also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit.” Isaiah 57:15.
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