Thomas Manton · 17 of 60

Thy kingdom come. · Part 1

Thy kingdom come.

THE first petition concerneth the end, the rest the means. Now, among all the means, none hath such a near and immediate respect to the glory of God as Christ’s kingdom; for here there is more of God discovered, more of his infinite grace, justice, wisdom, and power than possibly can be elsewhere. All other things are for the church, and the church for Christ as head and king, and Christ for God, 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. So that Christ’s kingdom is the primary means of advancing God’s glory; and therefore among all the means it must be sought in the first place. Mat. vi. 33, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God.’ First, not above the glory of God, it doth not come in competition with that, but above all other things whatsoever, before pardon and grace.

In the words observe three things:—

I. We grant a kingdom.

II. By way of distinction and appropriation we say, thy kingdom.

III. By way of supplication, we beg of God that it may come.

The concession, the distinction, the supplication are the three things to be opened.

I. First, The concession of a kingdom, which our heavenly Father hath. A kingdom in the general signifieth the government of a people under one head or governor; and therefore the term may be fitly applied to God, who alone is supreme, and we are all under his dominion.

Now, God’s kingdom is twofold:—

1. Universal.

2. More particular and special.

First, There is a universal kingdom over all things; over angels and devils; over men elect and reprobate; over beasts and living creatures; and over inanimate things, sun, moon, and stars. This is spoken of: 1 Chron. xxix. 11, ‘Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou are exalted as head above all.’ And again: Ps. ciii. 19, ‘The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.’ There is no such monarch as God is, for largeness of empire, for absoluteness of power, and sublimity of his throne. This is not principally understood here, but is implied as a foundation and ground of faith, whereupon we may deal with God about that kingdom, which is specially intended in this request.

Secondly, More particularly and especially, God hath a kingdom over a certain order and estate of men. Of this especial kingdom there are two notable branches and considerations. One is that administration which belongeth to the present life, and is called ‘the kingdom of grace;’ and the other belongeth to the life to come, and is called ‘the kingdom of glory.’

1. The kingdom of grace is spoken of in many places, specially that: Luke xvii. 20, 21, ‘When he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he 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,’ or ‘among you.’ He speaks of a kingdom of God that was already come among them in the dispensation of his grace by Christ. And, then, the other belongeth to the life to come, called the kingdom of glory: Mat. xxv. 34, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;’ 1 Cor. xv. 50, ‘Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.’

Now, the kingdom of grace may be considered two ways,—as externally administered, and as internally received.

[1.] As externally administered in the ordinances and means of grace, as the word and seals, and censures, and the like. In this sense it is said: Mat. xxi. 43, ‘The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.’ The gospel or means of grace administered in the visible face of the church, they are called God’s kingdom upon earth, and a very great privilege they are when they are bestowed upon any people. Surely, when Christ saith, ‘The kingdom of God shall be taken from you,’ he doth not mean it of the inward kingdom,—that they had not, that cannot be lost,—but of the outward and external means.

[2.] As internally received; and then by it is meant the grace of God, which rules in the hearts of the elect, and causeth their souls to submit and subject themselves unto the obedience of Christ, and unto his sceptre, and to his word and Spirit, that this is that kingdom properly which is within us. This is ‘the kingdom of God which consisteth in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,’ Rom. xiv. 17. And this differeth from the kingdom of glory, not so much in nature as in degree.

Well, then, that by the kingdom of God is here meant, not his general empire over all the world, and all the things of the world, though that be not wholly excluded, but his special kingdom, which he doth administer by Christ: and that either as externally managed by ordinances and visible means of grace, or as internally received and administered in the hearts of the elect. This is that kingdom we beg that it may nourish and get ground more and more.

2. Then for the kingdom of glory, it is either begun and inchoate, or else consummate and perfect.

[1.] It is begun and inchoate upon our translation to heaven in the very moment of death, in which Christ reigns in the other world in the spirits of just men made perfect—that is, being perfectly freed from sin, and admitted into the clear and immediate vision and fruition of God, though our bodies abide in the grave, expecting full redemption and deliverance. That there is such a kingdom carried on many scriptures intimate: Phil. i. 23, ‘I desire to depart, and to be with Christ.’ As soon as the saints are loosed from the body, they are with Christ under his government: Luke xxiii. 43. ‘This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.’ As soon as Christ died he was in paradise, and there was the good thief with him. The scriptures do not establish any such drowsy conceit as the sleep of souls, or such an estate wherein they do not enjoy God. We read of ‘the spirits of just men made perfect,’ which make up the congregation which is above, of which Christ is head: Heb. xii. 23. As the spirits of the wicked are in prison, 1 Pet. iii. 19, that is, in hell. This is the kingdom of glory begun.

[2.] There is a kingdom of glory consummate, when sin and death is utterly abolished, and the elect perfectly separated from the reprobate, and conducted into heaven, and there remain with the Lord for ever. This is a kingdom: Mat. xxv. 34, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.’ The full and final estate we enjoy after the general judgment and resurrection, that is called a kingdom. Well, now, you see what is meant by the kingdom we pray for.

II. Secondly, Here is a note of distinction, thy kingdom, by which the kingdom here spoken of is limited by particular reference to God, not only to difference it from the kingdoms of men, which are subordinate to it, but those adverse kingdoms which are set up against God; as the kingdom of sin, Satan, antichrist, the destruction of which we intend when we pray for the advancement of God’s kingdom, as I shall show you.

III. Thirdly, Here is the supplication or the request which we make to God about this kingdom, ἐλθέτω, let it come. What do we mean by that? This word must be applied to the several acceptations of Christ’s kingdom.

1. If you apply it to the external kingdom of grace, then when we say, Thy kingdom come, the meaning is, let the gospel be published, let churches be set up everywhere, let them be continued and maintained against all the malignity of the world, and opposition of the devil: and in the publication of the gospel, where the sound of it hath not been heard, that God would come there in the power of his Spirit, and draw people into communion with himself: Mat. xii. 28, ‘If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you,’ —meaning in the public tenders thereof. Saith he, if this miracle doth clearly, as it doth in your consciences, evidence my mission, then you may know the kingdom of God is come—that is, that there is a publication of the gospel of grace. Then we pray for the continuance of this privilege, notwithstanding opposition, that Christ may stand his ground. This is that we seek of God, that he may maintain his interest among the nations of the world, that the gates of hell may not prevail against his kingdom.

2. If you refer to the internal part of this kingdom, then we beg the beginning, the progress, and the final consummation of it. First, The beginning or the erection of a throne for Christ in our hearts, and the hearts of others, that he may fully exercise regal power. Secondly, The increase of this kingdom by holiness and obedience, and sincere subjection to him; for the kingdom of grace is so come already, that it will still be coming yet more and more. So long as we need to pray, so long shall we have cause to say, ‘Thy kingdom come.’ Thirdly, The consummation of it, when the fulness of glory in the second coming of Christ shall be revealed; when our head shall be glorious, and his day shall come, ἡμέρα κυρίου. For the present it is man’s day, so the scripture seems to call it; but then it is the day of the Lord, when all the devils shall stoop, and enemies receive their final doom, and the saints shall have the crown of glory put upon their heads in the sight of all the world.

Well, the sum of all is this, that though this petition do mainly concern the special kingdom, which God administereth by Christ, yet God’s universal kingdom, the kingdom of his power and providence, is a mighty support and prop to our faith in making this request to God. When we consider what an unlimited power God hath over all creatures, even devils themselves, to dispose of them for his own glory, and his church’s good; we need not be discouraged though Christ’s kingdom be opposed in the world, but should with the more confidence deal with God about it.

That which I shall handle upon this petition will fall under these two points:—

1. That God hath a kingdom, which he will administer and manage for his own glory.

2. All those which are well affected to God’s glory should desire the coming of this kingdom, and seriously deal with God about it.

For the first, namely—

Doct. 1. That God hath a kingdom, which he will administer and manage for his own glory.

I speak not of the kingdom of his power and providence, but of the dispensation of grace by Christ. The evangelical gospel state is compared to a kingdom; as, Mat. iii. 2, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ So to the disciples, Mat. x. 7, ‘And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ And so Christ himself.

It may be called so with very good reason, for in this kingdom there is a monarch, Jesus Christ, to whom all power and authority is given. God the Father calls him ‘my king:’ Ps. ii. 6, ‘I have set my king upon my holy hill.’ And this king hath his throne in the consciences of men, where thoughts are brought into captivity to him: 2 Cor. x. 5. And he hath his royal sceptre, Ps. ex. 3, which is called ‘the rod of his strength.’ And he hath his subjects, and they are the saints: Rev. xv. 3, ‘king of saints.’ And he hath his laws and constitutions; we read of ‘the law of faith,’ and ‘the law of liberty.’ And in this kingdom there are privileges, and royal immunities; there is freedom from the curse of the law, and from the power of sin, and from the destructive influence of Satan and the world. And here are punishments and rewards both for body and soul; there is hell and heaven. Now, because all these things do so fitly suit, therefore is the gospel called a kingdom. It will not be amiss to insist upon some of these.

1. The state of the gospel, or evangelical state, it is God’s kingdom, in regard of the monarch whom God hath set up, that is, Jesus Christ, the great Lord of all things. There is no king like him: God hath made him ‘higher than the kings of the earth.’ Ps. lxxxix. 27. How doth he exceed all other monarchs and potentates in the world? Partly for largeness of command and territory. All kings and monarchs have certain bounds and limits by which their empire is terminated; but Christ is the true catholic king, his government runs throughout the whole circuit of nature and providence; he hath power over all flesh, John xvii. 2, yea, devils themselves are to stoop to him: Phil. ii. 10, every thing under the earth is to bow the knee to Christ. Partly for the excellency of his throne. This king hath a double throne, one in heaven, the other in the heart of a humble sinner, which is his second heaven: Isa. lvii. 15. And in both these respects there is no monarch like Christ. ‘He hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all,’ Ps. ciii. 19. Earthly kings, that their majesty may appear to their subjects, have their thrones usually exalted; there were six steps to Solomon’s throne; a description of it you have in 1 Kings x. 18, 19. But what is this to the throne of Christ, which God hath fixed above in the heavens? The whole globe of sea and earth is but as one point, and there are ten thousand times ten thousands of angels about his throne. The supporters of this throne are justice and mercy. And in regard of his other throne also in the hearts of men: the power of outward potentates reacheth but to the bodies of men, they can take cognisance of nothing but of external conformity to their laws: but Christ gives laws to the thoughts: 2 Cor. x. 5. So for his royal furniture: other princes, they have their chariots, and coaches, and horses, &c.; but ‘he makes the clouds his chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind,’ Ps. civ. 3. Riding up and down in the world, dispensing mercies and judgments. So for troops and armies to support his dignity, all the hosts of heaven are obedient to him; one angel in one night destroyed in Sennacherib’s army an hundred fourscore and five thousand. Hostility against him must needs be deadly. He is above in heaven, and can rain down fire and brimstone upon us, and cannot be resisted. He is higher than the kings of the earth too, because none hath so good a right and title to rule as this king hath, whom God hath set upon his holy hill of Sion. God’s dominion over the creatures is founded in creation. Other kings find their subjects; he makes them. He hath the first and chief right, there is nothing we have but he made. We depend upon him every moment for his providential assistance, therefore he hath the highest right and title. No creature can be sui juris, at his own dispose. And he hath a right by conquest and by purchase; he hath bought us, and ‘given his life a ransom for many,’ Mat. xx. 28. Christ is opposed there to worldly potentates; they must be served, but he came to minister. Subjects, their blood and lives must go to preserve the rights of the prince; but he gave his life. And he hath a right too by contract and covenant. All that are subjects of his kingdom have sworn allegiance. He hath such an absolute right that thou canst call nothing thy own. We think, indeed, our lips are our own, Ps. xii. 4: and our estates our own; as Nabal, 1 Sam. xxv. 11, ‘Shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh?’ &c. All you have it belongeth to this king by right of creation and providence. Therefore in all these respects he is higher than the kings of the earth.

2. The gospel state is set forth as a kingdom, in regard of the subjects and their privileges. . The gospel doth not only reveal a king, but maketh all kings: ‘He hath made us to be kings and priests,’ &c., Rev. i. 5. All those that submit to him. So that, indeed, Christ may properly be styled Rex regum, King of kings. As the king of Assyria made his boast, Isa. x. 8, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings?’ A vaunting speech of his, that his princes and favourites were, for power and authority, as good as kings. But Christ may say so. Are not my subjects altogether kings? Not only kings in regard of their spiritual power and command they have over them selves, ruling their own spirits in the fear of God, while others are slaves to their base affections; but in point of their privileges. They have kingly privileges, they are made kings; they are royally attended by angels, they are sent forth to be as guardians to the heirs of promise: Heb. i. 14. They have royal immunities, from the curse of the law, from the damnable influence of sin; they may as well pluck Christ from the throne, as pluck the elect out of that state wherein they are. As David said, ‘Is it a small thing to be the king’s son-in-law?’ so, is it a small thing to be the sons of God, co-heirs with Christ? This honour and glory doth God put upon his saints. And there is the greatest pleasure and contentment in this state; for this kingdom, which all the saints are interested in, it consisteth in ‘righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost:’ Rom. xiv. 17. And surely these consolations of God should not be small to us. It is a state of most absolute freedom and sovereignty: John viii. 36, ‘If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free indeed.’ Many a monarch which ruleth over men may be a captive to his own lusts; but these are free. There are the richest revenues and increase which belong to Christ’s subjects. ‘All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos,’ &c.: 1 Cor. iii. 21. They are ours by covenant, and when they come into our possession, by the fair allowance of God’s providence, we have them with a blessing, and may use them with a great deal of comfort.

3. In regard of the laws and manner of administration. I shall not speak of the external political government of the church, which questionless is monarchical, I mean in regard of Christ the Head; though it be aristocratical in regard of officers, and, in some respect, democratical, with reference to the consent of the people in all church acts. But there are laws and sanctions by which this body of men and this kingdom is governed: James ii. 8, ‘If ye fulfil the royal law.’ It is called the royal law, not only as it requires noble work, but in regard of the dignity of the author, and firmness of the obligation. All the precepts of faith, repentance, and gospel-walking, are as so many royal edicts, which Christ hath set forth to signify his pleasure to his people. How slightly soever we think of these gospel injunctions, they are the laws and instructions of the great king.

4. In regard of punishments and rewards. Christ, who is a king by nature, might rule us with a rod of iron; yet he is pleased to govern us as a father and prince, that he might cast the bands of a man upon us. Christ, as a king, punisheth, and, as a king, rewardeth: Prov. xvi. 14, ‘The wrath of a king is as messengers of death.’ When a king is angry it is as if a messenger should come and tell us we must die. How great is the wrath of the king of kings! He cannot endure to be slighted in his regal power: Luke xix. 27, ‘But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither, and slay them before me.’ Christ himself will see execution done, in his own sight and presence, upon those rebels that will not submit to his rule and government. How should the hearts of wicked men tremble, which have violated the laws of Christ, and affronted his authority, when they consider how odious this is, how certainly Christ will see execution done upon them! When Adonijah and his guests heard of Solomon sitting upon his throne, and the shouts and acclamations of joy and applause, they were stricken with fear, and fled every one several ways: 1 Kings i. 49. You that cherish your lusts, which stand out against the sovereignty of Christ, that will not let him rule over you, whose hearts say (though their tongues dare not), ‘We will not have this man to reign over us;’ you that seem to put him by his kingdom, he is furnished with absolute and irresistible power to destroy you, and will one day come and say, Bring forth these drunkards, worldlings, voluptuous, that would not I should reign over them; those that durst venture upon known sin against the checks of their own conscience: how will their hearts tremble in the last day at the shouts and acclamations of the saints, when they shall welcome this great king, when he shall come forth in all his royalty and sovereignty! And as for punishment Christ will show himself as a king, so for rewards. Kings do not give trifles. Araunah ‘gave like a king to a king:’ 2 Sam. xxiv. 23. He was of the blood-royal of the Jebusites, and he gave worthy of his extraction. And so Christ will give like a king. God propounds nothing that was cheap and unworthy, but he ‘gives you a kingdom:’ Luke xii. 32. The poor of this world are ‘heirs of a kingdom,’ the fairest kingdom that ever was, or ever will be; as poor and as despicable as now they are, yet they shall have a kingdom. What can you wish for and desire more than a kingdom? All shall reign with Christ for evermore; which shows the folly of carnal men that will hazard so great and so blessed hopes. Thus I have shown you why the gospel state is compared to a kingdom.

Now, let me tell you it is a spiritual kingdom, not such as comes with observation. Jesus Christ, when he was inaugurated into the throne, when he was to sit down at God’s right hand, how doth he manifest it? He gives gifts, as princes use to do at their coronation, but they are spiritual gifts: Eph. iv. 8. And he sent abroad ambassadors, poor fishermen, they and their successors, to go and treat with the world: 2 Cor. v. 19. Indeed, they had a mighty power with them, as becoming such a great king, as was under the vail of meanness and weakness; it was carried on in a spiritual manner. And still he doth administer his kingdom, not by force; he rules not by the power of the sword, but by his word and Spirit, so he governeth his people. The publication of the gospel is a ‘sending forth the rod of his strength:’ Ps. ex. 2. And the Holy Ghost, as Christ’s viceroy, he governeth them, and administereth all things that are necessary to his kingdom; he doth it by the Holy Ghost, as his deputy. The Father chooseth a sort of men, gives them to Christ; the Son dieth for them, that they may be subjects of his kingdom, and he commits them to be governed and ruled by the Holy Ghost: he useth the ministry of men, and so unites them to Christ; and Christ brings them to the Father by his intercession, committing them to his care and love; and by a final tradition at last, which is the last act of Christ’s mediatorial kingdom, 1 Cor. xv. 24, he shall deliver them up to the Father. The Spirit, blessing the ministry of men, works faith, by which we are united to Christ; and Christ intercedes for us, and will bring us to God again. And in this spiritual manner is this kingdom carried on. So that if we would enter into this kingdom, we must go to God the Father, and confess we are rebels and traitors, but desire he would not enter into judgment with us, but seek to be reconciled to God the Father. Now, as God bade the friends of Job to go to Job, chap. xlii. 8, so God sends us to Christ, in whom alone he is well pleased with the creature. If we go to the Son, he refers us to the Spirit, to be reclaimed from our impurity and rebellion. If we go to the Spirit, he refers us to Moses and the prophets, pastors and teachers; there we shall hear of him in Christ’s way, and there we feel the rod of Christ’s strength, the efficacy of his grace put into our hearts.

Thus are we brought into his kingdom, and made to be a mystical body and spiritual society, in whom Christ rules; and there we come to enjoy those freedoms I spake of; and our obedience to this kingdom is carried on in a spiritual manner. In worship, we give our homage to God; in the word, we come to learn his laws; in the sacraments, we renew our oath of allegiance to this king; in alms and charity, we pay him tribute; in prayer, we ask his leave, acknowledging his dominion; and praise, it is our rent to the great Lord, from whom we hold all things. And thus is Christ’s kingdom carried on in a spiritual manner.

Use 1. The use is to press you to come under this kingdom. Consider what God hath proffered to draw you off from your carnal delights and sinful pleasures: no less than a kingdom to bear you out, to call you off from your sins. Oh, do not answer, as the olive-tree and the vine in Jotham’s parable: Judges ix. 9, ‘Shall I leave my fatness, and go to be promoted over the trees?’ God comes to a worldling, and makes him a proffer of this blessed state, which is represented by a kingdom Shall I leave all my sports and worldly hopes? (according as the man is affected) . Shall I renounce my pleasures, live a strict and austere life? Must I leave off projects, saith a worldling, and depend upon the reversion of heaven? Oh, consider it is for a glorious kingdom. Men will do much for an earthly crown, though lined with cares,—for this golden ball, which all hunt after, and doth occasion so many stirs in the world. Turn your ambition this way. You may aspire to a crown, to the kingdom of heaven, without the crime of treason. This is a faithful ambition: it is indeed treason against the kingdom of heaven, not to look after this crown, and plot, contrive, and act, and offer violence for the obtaining of it. And, therefore, come under this kingdom; if you do not, you will be left under the power of a worse: 2 Chron. xii. 8, God saith, he would give them up to the king of Egypt; why?’ They shall be his servants, that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries:’ that they might see what difference there is between serving God and serving others. If you refuse God’s government, you are under a worse, under sin, and the power of darkness; you are under your own lusts; nay, and by a just judgment God may give you over to live in bondage to unmerciful men. How many kings and lords doth he serve that will not serve one Lord? Oh, therefore, renounce those other lords that have dominion over you, and come under this kingdom which God hath set up.

Use 2. To press the children of God:—

1. To walk worthy of the gospel: it is a kingdom. The apostle hath an exhortation and charge to this purpose: 1 Thes. ii. 11, 12, ‘That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.’ Walk in obedience to Christ, that is one thing. Christ is a king by a natural right; God hath chosen him, God hath set him upon his holy hill: ‘The Lord hath made him to be head over all things,’ Eph. i. 22. Nay, the church chooseth Christ: ‘They shall appoint to themselves one head,’ Hosea i. 11. And, therefore, for you that are called to his kingdom and glory, that have entered into covenant with Christ, that have subscribed to him as head and king; for you to be disobedient, give way to sin, it is worse in you. ‘Will ye go away also?’ saith Christ to his disciples. Christ hath a right to reign over wicked men; but you have actually chosen him. Treason is less culpable, in those which have not submitted to a power and prince, and owned him for their king, than in those that have sworn faith and allegiance. You have passed under the bond of the holy oath; ‘God hath called you to his kingdom and glory;’ therefore you should be more obedient than to allow a disloyal thought or rebellious lust against Christ.