Thy kingdom come.

What is meant by this Petition?

The kingdom of God comes indeed of itself without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also.

When is this effected?

When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word, and live a godly life here on earth and in heaven forever.

In this Petition we pray that the Kingdom of God may come to us[8] and to all men; that is, that we all by true faith and a godly life may become members of the Church on earth and in heaven.[Footnote 8: Since the Kingdom of God comes to us through the Gospel, there is a close relation between this Petition and the Third Commandment, which commands us to "deem God's Word holy and willingly hear and learn it."]

THE KINGDOM OF GOD is the Kingdom which Christ has founded, and to which all who believe in Him belong. It is the Kingdom of Grace in this world and the Kingdom of Glory in the next. [Mark 1:15, Matt. 25:34]

COMES INDEED OF ITSELF WITHOUT OUR PRAYER. Christ has established His kingdom and will continue to extend it, whether we pray for it or not. [Isa. 9:7]

BUT WE PRAY IN THIS PETITION THAT IT MAY COME TO US ALSO; that is, into our hearts. In other words, we pray that we may become true Christians; [Matt. 7:21] and if we are Christians, we pray that we may become better Christians.

Missions. This petition is also a prayer for missions. [Matt. 9:37, 38+, Mark 16:15] We here pray that God's kingdom may come to all men. If our prayer is sincere, then we must be willing also to give liberally, so that the Gospel may be preached to the heathen (Foreign Missions) and to the spiritually destitute in our own land (Home Missions and Inner Missions).

WHEN OUR HEAVENLY FATHER GIVES US HIS HOLY SPIRIT. Since only believers belong to God's kingdom, and we "cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ our Lord," we pray in this petition that God would give His Holy Spirit to us,

SO THAT BY HIS GRACE WE BELIEVE HIS WORD, [I Cor. 12:3] AND LIVE A GODLY LIFE [Tit. 2:11-13+] HERE ON EARTH AND IN HEAVEN FOREVER. The Holy Spirit must teach us to repent of sin and to believe in Christ, and preserve us in a life of daily repentance and faith. Then God's kingdom will come to as more and more in this world, and in the next world we shall belong to it for ever.

QUESTIONS.—1. What do we pray in this petition? 2. What is meant by the kingdom of God? 3. How does God's kingdom come without our prayer? 4. What do we mean when we pray that it may come to us? 5. What is to be said about this petition and missions? 6. How does God's kingdom come to us? 7. Why do we need the Holy Spirit?

SCRIPTURE VERSES.—Matt. 9:37, 38. Then saith he onto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Mark 16:15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Tit. 2:11-13. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

READING.—The Harvest and the Laborers, Matt. 9:35-38.