Use 1. For reproof to those that Avould be glad iu their hearts if Christ's kingdom woidd never come. As to the kingdom of grace, in the external administration, they ' hate the light, and will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved :' John iii. 20. A wicked man is loth to be troubled. God's witnesses are the world's torment : Rev. xi. 10, ' They tormented them that dwelt on the earth.' A man that is bodily blind would have a fit guide ; but these wretchedly blind sinners, nothing so troublesome and hateful to them as one that would lead them to the kingdom of God. And then as to internal grace, when this kingdom of heaven breaks in upon their hearts, when any light and power darts in, they seek to put it out ; they ' resist the Holy Ghost,' Acts vii. 51, and refuse his call. And for the kingdom of glory, they say, ' It is good to be here,' and would not change their portion here for their portion in paradise.
Use 2. To exhort us to desire the coming of Christ's kingdom to ourselves. If you have any love to the Lord's glory, or your own good, you should do it : Eev. iii. 20, ' Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.' Will you not open to God that hath the best right ? Will you not set open the doors to the King of glory, when Christ comes to bring entertainment to you, to sup with you ? Again, all men (will the}^, nill they) are subject to Christ : either they must come and touch his golden sceptre, or feel the bruises of his iron mace ; they must own him as king : ' Every knee shall bow,' Phil. ii. 10. Therefore be more Avilling to have the kingdom of glory come. Again, if God be not your king, you will have a worse master, every sin, every lust : Titus iii. 3, ' Serv- ing divers lusts and pleasures.' You will be at the beck of every lust and carnal motion, and the devil will be your master to purpose ; for upon the refusal of Christ's government, there is a judicial tradition,
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you are given up to your own heart's lusts : Ps. Ixxxi. 12, ' Israel would none of me ; so I gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, and they walked in their own counsels.' And to Satan, to he ensnared by him : 2 Tim. ii. 26, ' Taken captive by him at his will and pleasure.' Not to buffet them, as Paul was, but to ensnare and harden their hearts. Again, if you be not subject to God, you go about to make God subject to you in effect. You would have the kingdom of glory, and yet continue in your lusts : Isa. xliii. 24, ' Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities/ When you would have God patient, hold his hand, and be merciful to you, and yet would continue in your lusts, then you make God serve with your sins. Again, many temporal inconveniences will follow, if we do not give way to the kingdom of Christ to seize upon us. When we make no difference between God's service and the service of other lords, then he gives us up to the service of men, to a foreign enemy, to an oppressive magistrate, or breaks the staff of government among men, that we might know what it is to be under his service and government. Therefore give willing entertainment to the kingdom of Christ.
So much for the private consideration of this request, ' Thy king- dom come ; ' that is, to us and our persons, both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory.
Secondly, Having spoken of the kingdom of Christ in a private, now I come to speak of it in a public, consideration. And that is twofold : —
1. The public visible administration of the kingdom of grace.
2. The public and solemn administration of the kingdom of glory at the day of judgment, when enemies shall have their final doom, and saints have their crowns set upon their heads in the sight of all the world.
I shall speak of both, but (because the discourse may be more fresh and lively) upon other texts.
1. The public visible administration of the kingdom of grace, on Ps. li. 18, ' Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion : build thou the walls of thy Jerusalem.'
2. The kingdom of glory, on Kev. xxii. 20, ' Surely I come quickly : Amen. Even so, come. Lord Jesus.'
For the first. Though the church be never so afflicted, Ps. cii. 14, when all is defaced, as to external appearance, lying in a ruinous heap, yet it is beloved and pitied by God's servants : ' Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.' There is nothing God's people desire so much as Zion's welfare : Ps. cvi. 5, ' That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.' And David in this psalm, Ps. li. 18, having prayed for himself, prayeth for mercy to the church and state : ' Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion ; build thou the walls of thy Jerusalem.' But how cometh David, who was in the dej)th of private humiliation, so suddenly to fall upon the case of the church ? There was a special reason for annexing this request to his own private complaints and confessions. The reasons will occasion so many observations.