Luke 11:2 And he said to them, When you pray, say, Our Father which are in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done… We shall have still clearer views of this kingdom by specifying some of its great features. It possesses very remarkable characteristics, and is unlike every other kingdom. 1. It is emphatically distinguished by the character and authority of its Great Prince. At all times, under all circumstances, and in its whole procedure and administration, this kingdom is subjected to Him as its great and sole Monarch. Its common law and its positive statutes may be prescribed by no earthly and secular power. In no one particular may His decisions be departed from. 2. Another peculiarity of this kingdom will be found in the principles by which it is administered. "Justice and judgment are the habitation of God's throne"; these are the great principles on which it is built and stands firm. And in this preeminently consists the force and excellence of His claims upon the hearts of His subjects. His very law is clothed with new power by the grace that bringeth salvation. Principles which thus originate with the heart of the Deity, are fitted to address themselves to the hearts of men. Hence one peculiarity of the laws of this kingdom is the fact that they are spiritual, and go beyond the exterior man. They aim at the heart. 3. Another peculiarity of this kingdom is found in the character of its subjects. The subjects of this kingdom are they who are redeemed by the blood of its Prince, and sanctified by His Spirit. They possess a congeniality of mind with the spirit and tenor of God's Word; while their practical compliance with it is the effect of the love of God shed abroad in their hearts. 4. Another peculiarity of this kingdom, therefore, consists in its benevolent and hallowed influence. Depraved as the world is, its great security, under God, is in the practical influence of this Divine kingdom. 5. Another of the distinctions of this kingdom is, that it is a happy kingdom. The kingdom of God has come to them as suffering, perishing men, with the abundance of its light, the plenitude of its pardons, the redundancy of its grace. The malady and the misery which consisted in their departure from God, are healed by their being restored. 6. The only remaining characteristic of this kingdom on which I shall dwell is its perpetuity. It is a kingdom which "shall never be destroyed": it shall "not be left to other people": it shall "stand for ever." "Of this kingdom," said the angel Gabriel to Mary, "there shall be no end." The "gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Parallel Verses KJV: And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. |
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