SERMON III.
"Thy kingdom come."—Matthew vi. 10.
We have now to consider the meaning of the second petition in the Lord's Prayer,—" Thy kingdom come."
The terms king and kingdom, in Scripture, have always reference to truth. For as it is the province of a king to direct, rule and govern, so it is truth that teaches what to do and whither to go, and it is truth, either genuine or seeming, by which power is exercised over the minds of men: as the proverb expresses it—"knowledge is power." The understanding is the faculty in man, given him as the guide of his life and actions, to teach and direct him what course to pursue, in all things, whether natural or spiritual: and to this faculty and its teachings the whole mind and man should be subjected. Thus, the understanding is the proper ruler and governor in the little world or kingdom of man's mind: it should be king there. But what is the understanding without truth? truth is its all; the understanding itself is a mere receptacle, intended to receive and contain the truth that flows into it either directly from the Lord himself, who is the original Source of all truth, or indirectly through the medium of the Divine Word or of other human
