Chapter 39

‘Blessed Is the One Coming as King’

DO YOU know the Lord’s Prayer?⁠— Let me hear you say it.⁠— If you don’t remember it, we will read it together from the Bible at Matthew chapter six, verses nine to thirteen.

Now, in that prayer it says, “Let your kingdom come.” What is a kingdom? Do you know?⁠—

A kingdom is a government. And you know what that is, don’t you?⁠— The government is a group of persons who rule a country.

In a government there is a head person or ruler. In some countries this person is called the president. But do you know what the ruler of God’s government is called?⁠— He is the king.

For God’s kingdom Jehovah himself has picked the king. Do you know who that king is?⁠— He is Jesus Christ. He is better than any ruler that men choose. Jesus has more power than any of those rulers. And Jesus really loves God, so he always does what is right.

Long ago in Israel new kings would ride into Jerusalem on a colt to show themselves to the people. This is what Jesus did.

Just outside of Jerusalem there was a small village. As Jesus got near to it, he said to two of his disciples: ‘Go into that village, and you  will find a colt. Loose it and bring it to me.’

The disciples did just as Jesus said. And when they brought the colt to Jesus, he sat down upon it. As he got near Jerusalem, a great crowd of people came out to meet him.

As Jesus rode along, most of the crowd began laying their outer garments on the road in front of him. Others cut down branches from the trees and put these on the road. They showed by this that they wanted Jesus as king.

The people were glad to welcome Jesus. They cried out: “Blessed is the One coming as the King in Jehovah’s name!”

But not everyone was happy that Jesus was riding into Jerusalem as king. Some even said to Jesus, ‘Tell your disciples to be quiet.’​—Luke 19:28-40.

How do you feel about having Christ as king?⁠— If you had been living when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, would you have welcomed him  as the one sent by Jehovah to his people?⁠—

Well, Jesus is not on earth today, is he?⁠— He is in heaven. It is from there in heaven that he rules as king. Even though we cannot see him, he can see every one of us here on earth. We can’t fool him. He sees what we do, and he even knows what we are thinking. If we really love Jehovah, he knows that. And if we are trying hard to do what the Bible says, he will help us. Would you like to have him as your king forever?⁠—

Not everyone wants Christ to be king. They may say they believe in God, but they do not want his kingdom. They don’t want God or Christ to be telling them what to do. They want their own governments right here on earth. So do you know what is going to happen to them?⁠—

The Bible gives us the answer at Daniel chapter two, verse forty-four. Let’s get our Bibles and turn there together. This scripture is speaking about our own day when it says: “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”

Did you understand that?⁠— The Bible says that God’s government is going to destroy all these earthly governments. Why?⁠— Because  they don’t obey the one whom God has made king.

The whole earth belongs to God. He made it as well as the whole universe. So he has the right to decide what kind of government should rule. And his government is the best. Soon God’s kingdom will be the only government there is.

Do you want to live forever under God’s kingdom?⁠— I do. But we need to prove that to God. Do you know how?⁠— It is by learning the laws of God and obeying them every day.

Now, God says that his kingdom will destroy the governments of men. But does he tell us that we should do that?⁠— No. The Bible says that we should obey the laws of men, just as long as God lets those governments rule.

But if we really want Christ as king, we have to do more than that. We have to obey all the things that Christ said. He said that we should be “no part of the world.” Would we be obeying him if we tried to be a part of the governments of the world?⁠— Jesus and his apostles stayed away from such things.​—John 17:14.

What did they do instead?⁠— They talked to other people about God’s kingdom. That was the big work in their lives. Can we do that too?⁠— Yes, and we will do it if we mean what we say when we pray for God’s kingdom to come.

(Take a few more minutes now to read these further scriptures that show how we should view the one whom God has made king: Isaiah 9:6, 7; Daniel 7:13, 14; John 18:36; Matthew 6:33.)