The Lord’s Prayer: Second Petition

102. What do we pray for in the second petition? A. In the second petition, which is, Thy kingdom come, we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.

Having established that God is our Father in heaven (in the preface) and that we desire to hallow God’s name (in the first petition), we express a zealous attachment to his kingdom (in the second petition).¹ For “next to the hallowing of the divine name, nothing is more worthy of our desire than the coming of the kingdom of God. In this kingdom all our happiness is placed.”²

Satan’s Kingdom

Satan relentlessly wars against God, his creation, and the church. Satan’s kingdom encompasses everything that is contrary to God’s will.³ Since the fall of Adam, apart from Jesus Christ, all humanity has been placed under Satan’s dominion (cf. Eph. 2:2-3) and under the bondage of sin (Jn 8:34; cf. 2 Tim. 2:26).⁴

God’s work of salvation entails the destruction of Satan’s kingdom (Col. 2:14-15; 1 Jn. 3:8; cf. Mt. 12:29; Jn. 12:27-32) and deliverance from our sins (Rom. 6:6; 8:1-4).⁵ For this reason, when Jesus exercised authority over Satan during his ministry on earth, he declared, “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Lk. 11:20). That is, Jesus regarded deliverance from Satan’s kingdom as a sign of God’s kingdom (1 Jn. 3:8 cf. Heb. 2:14). Jesus has continued his work of deliverance through the church (Lk. 10:19; cf. Acts 10:38; Rom. 16:20). Accordingly, we are called to fight against Satan who “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8-9), to give no place for him (Eph. 4:27), and to resist him (Jam. 4:7). Our warfare against Satan is so intense that we must be clad with “the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:11-17) and to pray always (vv. 18-20).

We can be assured that Satan’s kingdom will indeed be destroyed (Ps. 68:1, 18; Deut. 33:27; 1 Jn. 3:8; Rev. 12:10-12) and that all of God’s elect will be saved (Jn. 6:39; 2 Pet. 3:9; cf. Rev. 6:10-11).⁶ “Worldly, mechanical, or merely human methods cannot accomplish anything toward destroying Satan’s kingdom. Satan’s kingdom is partly destroyed by the work of God’s Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, in the conversion of sinners and sanctification of believers. It will be completely and forever destroyed at the second coming of Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 2:8).”⁷ As Robert Haldane put it, “There were two victories to be obtained over Satan. By the first, his head was to be bruised under the feet of Jesus Christ [Gen. 3:15]; and by the second, the rest of his body will be bruised under the feet of believers [Rom. 16:20].”⁸

We are to diligently pray for Satan’s kingdom to be destroyed (e.g., Psalm 2)⁹ because “the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of Antichrist are so entirely opposed to each other that the destruction of the latter is the increase of the former.”¹⁰ As part of this prayer, we petition God for the salvation of those who are still unbelievers, acknowledging that salvation belongs to the Lord (Rev. 7:10, 12).¹¹ Only Jesus can free those who are trapped under Satan’s captivity (Lk. 11:21-22; cf. Ps. 24:8). Another part of this prayer is looking forward to the day when God’s unrepentant enemies, including Satan and his demons, will be completely cast down in final judgment (Rev. 20:9-10); on that day, God’s people will enter into glory and live in the presence of God forever (1 Jn. 3:2; Rev. 22:4).

Kingdom of Grace

The kingdom of God can be described in a twofold way: universal and special.¹² The universal kingdom refers to God’s dominion over all things (Ps. 103:19).¹³ “This is the kingdom to which the sun with all the stars, the sea with her waves, the winds with all their tempestuous fury, the seasons of the year with their various changes, the alternative returns of day and night, all the empires of the world though engaged in acts of mutual hostility—are subject. The angels in heaven render to it willing obedience. The most rebellious of the devils, and the proudest tyrants, though contrary to their strongest wishes, own and execute its commands. A secret conviction of its existence is unwillingly felt by atheists themselves (as they are called), the teachers of that wisdom which is madness.”¹⁴ This kingdom is acknowledged by the godly and ungodly alike (Ps. 145:10-14; Dan. 4:34-35).

Additionally, God rules over his people in his special kingdom. This is referred to as the kingdom of grace in this world, and the kingdom of glory in the world to come.¹⁵ The kingdom of grace, in particular, is the focus of the Lord’s prayer.¹⁶ This kingdom can be distinguished according to the economies of the Old and New Testaments. For much of the Old Testament, God was pleased to rule over his people by way of theocracy, that is, according to the political government established by God (cf. Jdg. 8:23). God’s kingdom was not merely civil, but had ceremonial and spiritual significance.¹⁷ The exodus of God’s people out of Egypt was to teach them about their deliverance from sin and Satan (cf. 1 Cor. 10:11); the law given on tablets of stone pointed to the need for the law to be written on the heart (2 Cor. 3:3); the ceremonies and sacrifices anticipated the work of the Messiah (Heb. 10:1, 4, 10, 12); access to God by way of the physical tabernacle or temple prefigured God’s promise that he “will be as a sanctuary” to his people (Isa. 8:14); and the possession of the land of Canaan was a pledge that God’s people would inherit a permanent place in heaven (Heb. 11:10, 16).

“In short, the kingdom of God over Israel was not merely civil, so far as they had a commonwealth in the land of Canaan; but was likewise ceremonial, figuratively representing higher and better things, so far as they constituted the church of the Old Testament. But we must not stop even here. God had likewise a spiritual kingdom over them, so far as the dispensation of that period allowed. We must not imagine that the Jewish ceremonies were solely intended to prefigure those blessings which other believers were to enjoy at a distant period. They were the sacraments and signs of those blessings which all the pious Israelites at that time enjoyed. The people of God were actually delivered from the kingdom of Satan… They had righteousness, both as justified and as sanctified persons.”¹⁸

Unfortunately, this spiritual aspect of God’s kingdom was misunderstood by many of the leaders of ancient Israel to their own detriment.¹⁹

The kingdom of grace is revealed in greater splendor in the New Testament where it is interchangeably called the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 3:2; 4:17) and the kingdom of God (Lk. 17:20; 23:51). In contrast to the previous age, in the New Testament, the kingdom of grace is no longer restricted to the civil rule of a single nation, nor to the temporary ceremonial aspects of the law, nor confined to an earthly sanctuary. Now, the kingdom of grace is marked by Christ ruling in the hearts of his people (Eph. 3:14-20) and principally manifested by the New Testament church.²⁰ The outward form consists in the preaching of the gospel, administration of the sacraments, and church discipline.²¹ As such, there is a sense in which all those who make an outward profession of faith (whether true or false) within the church belong to the kingdom of grace (cf. Mt. 8:12). The inward aspect of the kingdom, however, is strictly comprised by the elect. True believers, being regenerated, justified, and sanctified, are kept by God’s power as they war against sin and Satan (Rom. 14:17; 1 Pet. 1:5).

“In the visible professing church, all things outwardly seemed to be equal. There are the same ordinances administered unto all, the same profession of faith is made by all, the same outward duties are attended unto, and scandalous offenses are by all avoided. But yet things are not internally equal. In a great house, there are vessels of wood and stone, as well as of gold and silver. All that eat outwardly of the bread of life, do not feed on the hidden manna. All that have their names enrolled in the church’s book, may yet not have them written in the Lamb’s book.”²²

Recognizing this, in promotion of the spiritual health of God’s people, we are to pray that the church may be furnished with capable officers (Mt. 9:38; 2 Thess. 3:1),²³ and that the gospel ordinances may be purely dispensed and made effectual for their intended purposes (2 Thess. 1:11; 2:16-17; 1 Cor. 3:6).²⁴ This means that we should pray that the church be purified from corruption because there is a tendency towards decline in doctrine, worship, church government, and Christian living without God’s gracious intervention (Mal. 1:11; cf. Zeph. 3:9),²⁵ and that true religion would be protected by civil government (1 Tim. 2:1-2; cf. Isa. 49:23).²⁶

The coming of the kingdom of grace can also be described in a twofold manner, as it pertains to the universal church and to individual believers. With respect to the universal church, the kingdom of grace is advanced with the unfolding of redemptive history. This is chiefly centered on the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Mt. 16:28; Acts 2:30-36) with the subsequent propagation of the gospel to the nations (Isa. 49:6; Ps. 96:3, 7, 8) and the deliverance of the church from her enemies (Rev. 12:9-10; Mt. 16:17-19).²⁷ We must be careful, however, not to equate numerical growth of the church with advancement of the kingdom.²⁸ Moreover, the coming of the kingdom can also be described in terms of the lives of individual believers. When a person is regenerated by the Spirit of God through the gospel, he is immediately delivered from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son (Col. 1:13). Upon death, believers are freed from their bodies of sin, and received into God’s presence (Heb. 12:23; 2 Cor. 5:6; Rev. 14:13; cf. Phil. 1:23). At the final resurrection, the souls of believers will be united with their glorified bodies to the perfect enjoyment of God to all eternity (1 Cor. 15:52-54; 1 Thess. 4:17).²⁹

In view of this, it is our duty to pray that this work would be brought to its conclusion:

“We must put away everything that is displeasing to our Most Holy King. We must labor zealously to advance his kingdom in ourselves, and in others, in those especially who have been entrusted to our care. If we have any abilities, or eloquence, or reputation, let all be devoted to the service of the king. Let us conduct ourselves, in our various conditions, as faithful and active servants—prepared, where the glory of the king and of his kingdom is concerned, to lay down life itself—convinced that those men lead the happiest lives who, after doing all that is in their power for enlarging the kingdom of God, suffer for the sake of that kingdom a glorious death.”³⁰

Acknowledging the world’s general opposition to Christ, it is necessary to call upon God in prayer so that doors will be opened to the gospel (2 Thess. 3:1; Rev. 3:7-8) and that the full number of God’s elect will be saved through the preached Word of God (Rom. 10:13-15).³¹ Specifically, we pray that “the fullness of the Gentiles” will be brought in (Rom. 11:25; cf. Jn. 17:9, 20; Rom. 11:25-26; Ps. 67:1-7; Mt. 28:18-20), indicating that the God will bring in his elect from every nation, and that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26; cf. 10:1), meaning that a great company of Jews will turn to Christ (Rom. 11:13-27; cf. Isa. 19:24-25).³² Collectively, the sooner that all of God’s elect (Jews and Gentles) are saved, the sooner Christ will come to deliver his people and to bring them into glory.³³

Kingdom of Glory

We pray that Christ would exercise his power so that the kingdom of grace would be advanced and the kingdom of glory hastened (Is. 64:1-2; Rev. 4:8-11). The kingdom of glory will be ushered in with the second coming of Jesus Christ when the church is finally delivered from all her enemies, sin has been definitively removed, and all of God’s people are safe resting in heaven (1 Cor. 15:24-28).³⁴ The kingdom of glory will be a kingdom of perfect righteousness (Pss. 45:6; 89:14; Isa. 16:5), immeasurable blessing (Jam. 2:5; Pss. 36:8; 119:72; Pr. 3:14-15; cf. Job. 28:15), and uninterrupted peace (Isa. 60:18; Rev. 21:4).³⁵ Correspondingly, the Scriptures describe the kingdom of glory in the most superlative way. Take for example the imagery from Jeremiah 31, verses 12 and 14:

Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion,
Streaming to the goodness of the Lord—
For wheat and new wine and oil,
For the young of the flock and the herd;
Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden,
And they shall sorrow no more at all.
I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance,
And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.

On this passage, Herman Witsius explains:

“On Zion, we all know, the temple was built. The temple itself was higher than the other parts of Zion. In the temple the holy place was higher than the courts. But the Holy of Holies was the highest of all. The ordinary Israelites were allowed to go no farther than the courts. None but the priests could enter into the holy place, and the high priest alone could set foot within the Holy of Holies… But here it is predicted that, in the spiritual kingdom of God, all the true Israelites, that is, the sincere subjects, will enjoy the distinguished privilege of the priests—will be permitted to ascend, not only to Zion, but to the Height of Zion, to its loftiest height—will there enjoy richly those good things which God, out of his inexhaustible goodness, bestows on his intimate friends.”³⁶ We can eagerly pray for the second coming of Jesus Christ. When that time comes, the work of redemption will be completed and his people will reign with him in glory forever. With all the saints, we heartily say, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).³⁷

Footnotes

1
This is elaborated on in the Westminster Larger Catechism, Q191: What do we pray for in the second petition?

A: In the second petition (which is, Thy kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate: that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.
2
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 242.
3
Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 551.
4
Scripture teaches that our sinfulness is not merely the product of bad habits or the environment around us, but a part of our very nature (Ps. 51:5; Rom. 3:10-18; 23; cf. Gen. 6:5; 8:21). As such, we are unable to any good in ourselves (Is. 64:6; Col. 2:13). Ibid, p. 550.
5
“There are only two great empires in the world. The one is the empire of God; the other is that of the Devil… Whoever does not belong to the kingdom of God, in which nothing but happiness is to be found, must belong to the kingdom of the Devil, which contains only unmixed misery.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 239.
6
“The Christian cannot rightly view his adversary [Satan] unless the triumph of Christ is given its proper place. If our faith does not see Christ as all-victorious, we shall know little of victory. Even in the face of demonic power the Christian is to rejoice in the words of Paul, ‘But thanks be unto God who always leadeth us in triumph’ (2 Cor. 2:14).” Leahy, Frederick. Satan Cast out: A Study in Biblical Demonology. Banner of Truth Trust, 1990, p. 32.
7
“Many people are deceived into thinking that the general progress of human civilization, general education and culture, science and invention, and economic and social progress and organization can restrain or destroy Satan’s kingdom. All these can fit in with Satan’s kingdom as much as with God’s kingdom. Only the gospel of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, really destroys Satan’s kingdom.” Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 551.
8
Haldane, Robert. Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. New York: R. Carter, 1847, p. 645. The second victory will be as complete as the first. “There seems to be a gap between the victory of Christ over Satan and the final disposal of the defeated foe in the victory of the Church. To human eyes the victory of Calvary seems almost unreal in view of the tragedy and turmoil of our modern world. Frequently the illustration of sentence passed and judgment yet to be executed is used. But this does not agree with Scripture, which, tells us very plainly that the sentence passed in Eden was executed in Calvary. A better illustration would be that of thunder and lightning. In objective reality these are virtually one, but from our standpoint, owing to the fact that light travels much more quickly than sound, there is usually a time-lag between seeing the flash and hearing the thunder. With God the victory and the judgment are all in the cross. ‘Now shall the prince of this world be cast out’ (Jn. 12:31). ‘The prince of this world is judged’ (Jn. 16:11). But to the believer who lives in time, there is a time-lag between the lightening and the thunder, between Satan being cast down and the hearing of the crash of his fall. With God there is no such gap and at the final judgment, when time will have ended, we shall see for ourselves that the cross stood at the heart of history and that there Satan was in fact cast out.” Leahy, Frederick. Satan Cast out: A Study in Biblical Demonology. Banner of Truth Trust, 1990, p. 30.
9
More controversially, perhaps this is how we should regard the so-called imprecatory Psalms that involve calling down judgment, calamity, and curses upon God’s enemies (e.g., Pss. 69, 109, etc.).
10
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 230. Also: “Where Satan’s tyranny is destroyed, there of necessity the kingdom of God begins.” Leahy, Frederick. Satan Cast out: A Study in Biblical Demonology. Banner of Truth Trust, 1990, p. 97.
11
“The prayer implies a confession that we cannot of ourselves break the chains of the most cruel slavery [to sin and Satan], or rise to the liberty of the kingdom of God. They [unbelievers] are wretched mortals kept bound in the chains of tyranny by the god of this world. He [Satan] hath blinded their eyes that they may not see true liberty or the path that leads to it [2 Cor. 4:4]. He keeps so strict a guard over their will and affections, that they do not even apply their mind, or devote any serious thought, to throwing off the yoke of the most debasing slavery. He deprives them so completely of all wisdom, that, like madmen, they regard their fetters as tokens of freedom and instruments of pleasure.” Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 239-240.
12
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 210ff.
13
This is also referred to as the kingdom of nature (by Witsius, Ibid, p. 212) or the kingdom of power (in the Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 191).
14
Ibid, p. 211.
15
Ibid, p. 212.
16
“The prayer implies a confession that we are by nature out of the kingdom of God, and destitute of its privileges, ‘without Christ, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world’ [Eph. 2:12]. By sin man withdrew himself from the government of God.” Ibid, p. 237.
17
Ibid, pp. 213-214. See the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 7, paragraph 5, and chapter 8, paragraph 6.
18
Ibid, p. 215.
19
For example, they took the commandment to bind God’s Word on their foreheads and to write it on their doorposts quite literally (Deut. 6:7-9; Mt. 23:5), whereas the intention of the commandment was simply to have God’s Word permeate every sphere of life (Prov. 3:3). They thought that mere outward form (moralism) could substitute for a right inward condition (regeneration). In so doing, observance of the law became a stumbling block to them. Ibid, pp. 216-217, fn. 2.
20
Ibid, pp. 220-221.
21
It is through these means, according to the blessing of the Holy Spirit, that God builds up his kingdom. Belgic Confession of Faith, article 29.
22
Owen, John. John Owen’s Exposition of Hebrews: Hebrews 6 (emphasis mine); cf. Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 4.15.9; Ursinus, Zacharias. Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism. Eerdmans, 1956, pp. 360-361.
23
“These gospel officers and ordinances, so far as they are genuine and truly spiritual and beneficial, rather than merely mechanical and formal, are gifts of God and are dependent for their effectiveness on the special work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that calls men to be ministers of the gospel; it is the Holy Spirit that provides and equips pastors, elders, and deacons for the church; it is the Holy Spirit that provides and makes effective such church ordinances as the preaching of the gospel, the administration of the sacraments, [and] the exercise of church discipline. If we are really sincere in praying that the church may be furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, we will not be content to pray and do nothing more; we will be inclined to do what we can about it. For example, we will encourage young men to enter the gospel ministry; we will contribute liberally to the support of Christian education and church ordinances; we will attend upon the ordinances of the gospel, and will encourage and support those church officers who are charged with the administration and work of the church.” Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 554.
24
“These ordinances are purely dispensed when they are dispensed according to Christ’s appointment in his Word, the Holy Bible, without human corruptions, additions, or subtractions. This pure dispensing of Christ’s ordinances depends on the church’s membership really wanting it, which in turn depends on the special work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Therefore should pray that the Holy Spirit will so work in people’s hearts that they will love, adhere to, preserve, and defend the pure dispensation of Christ’s ordinances. When this special work of the Holy Spirit is partly or wholly withdrawn, the membership and leadership of the churches will soon introduce changes in Christ’s ordinances, not according to Scripture, but according to the whims and fancies of their own hearts and the changing demands of ‘popularity.’” Ibid, p. 556.
25
“The reformation of the church is not to be regarded as a once-for-all act; it must be a continuous process. We should both pray and work for it. In this connection, the letters to the seven churches, in Revelation 2 and 3, are most instructive. Nothing is more dangerously insidious than the comfortable belief that our own branch of the visible church is safe and secure from all inroads of corruption. ‘Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall’ (1 Cor. 10:12)… We should always be on our guard against the leaven of corruption; we should always pray that the church may be kept from it, and purified of it.” Ibid, p. 555.
26
The Westminster Larger Catechism, Q191 speaks of how the church ought to be maintained by civil government. How this should appear in contemporary times is subject to some disagreement. Johannes G. Vos offers the following opinion: “When the catechism was written, 350 years ago, the prevailing idea on this question was that there was to be an official or established church, which would not only be recognized by the civil government as the true visible church of Jesus Christ, but also be supported financially from the national treasury. We no longer accept this view of the relation between church and state [i.e., the Establishment Principle]. Neither do we accept the extreme view sometimes called Voluntaryism, to the effect that the state has nothing to do with religion and need not recognize or countenance the church in any way… The church should be countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate, by being protected in the security and enjoyment of its rights and freedom.” Ibid, pp. 555-556.
27
There is also a sense in which the coming of the kingdom occurred when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in AD 70 (Mt. 26:64), thus overturning the expectations of a carnal kingdom. Disobedient Jews were rejected and the Gentles brought in (cf. Lk. 29:27). Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, pp. 225-226.
28
For example, it is commonly asserted that the rapid expansion of the Christian church under Constantine the Great’s Roman commonwealth in the fourth century was a positive growth. But Rev. William Pringle interprets it differently. Rather he asserts that “Christianization” of Europe was damaging to true religion—which is discerned by spiritual growth, not according to physical signs! “Our leading ecclesiastical historians lay it down as indisputable, that the exertions of Constantine the Great [on] behalf of the Christian religion rank among the prosperous events of the Church. Yet some of those very historians have made such large and candid admissions as must lead their readers to inquire how far the prosperity which has been ascribed to that age of the Church was particularly desirable. Did those events promote or retard the progress of real godliness? This is the true state of the question. How many thousands of heathens might instantly assume the Christian name, while their hearts remained unchanged, is wholly immaterial… To one whose heart burned with the love of the Redeemer, the spectacle of widely spread hypocrisy, pervading the services of religion and the employments of civil life, must have been truly distressing… We again look around this Christianized Roman empire, and ask, where are the people of God? Are they more numerous than before, or do they ‘grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?’ History gives a distinct but painful answer. A decay of religion—visible, rapid, and ultimately leading to the worst evils of Popery—dates from the hour when Constantine threw a deceitful splendour around the Church of Christ. Irreligion, the seeds of which had been sown during the third century, now ripened into all the fruits of unrighteousness. While the domains of Christendom extended greatly beyond the continent of Europe, the appellation of a little flock, as applied to the disciples of Christ, became increasingly inappropriate.” Ibid, pp. 227-228, fn. 3.
29
Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q37: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? A: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection. Q38: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection? A: At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
30
Witsius, Herman. Sacred Dissertations on the Lord’s Prayer. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010, p. 249.
31
Vos, Johannes Geerhardus. The Westminster Larger Catechism: A Commentary. P&R Publishing, 2002, p. 552.
32
While there are some Jews that are converted to Christ at this time, we should pray for the hastening of the time when many of them will turn to Christ. A further note is made by G.I. Williamson in this regard: “It is very important that a clear distinction be made between the return of many Jews to the land of Palestine and the return of many Jews to the God of the Bible. It is true, of course, that in God’s providence there is again—after nearly 2,000 years—a Jewish state in Palestine. It is for this reason that many Fundamental Christians refer to the Jews as ‘God’s people’ and their return to the land as a fulfillment of Bible prophecies. But it is not true that Jews who still reject Jesus as the promised Messiah are God’s people. No, the true Israel of God is the Christian church. It is that people who believe in Jesus as the Christ of God. In the early days of the church’s history it was predominantly Jewish (as the book of Acts shows). Into that Jewish church the Gentiles were engrafted, becoming ‘fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God’ (Eph. 2:19). It is only when the Jews—whether individually or en masse—return to the Messiah of God that we can rightly speak of them as ‘the people of God.’” Ibid, p. 552.
33
Ibid, p. 553.
34
“All the elect of all ages from the beginning to the end of the world [will be] collected into one—all things shall be subject to God, and shall produce the most perfect enjoyment of everlasting happiness.” Ibid, p. 223.
35
Ibid, pp. 242-249.
36
Ibid, p. 244.
37
See also the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 33, paragraph 3.

Footnotes

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