righteousness. What Paul means at Romans 14:17 is that possessing righteousness, peace and joy with holy spirit is a requisite to our gaining a place with Christ in God’s kingdom, just as taking in knowledge of God and his Son is a requisite for our gaining everlasting life.—John 17:3.

Then, what is that kingdom? It is the mighty agency God will use to sanctify his name and to prove to all creation that he is the Supreme Sovereign. It is the kingdom concerning which God made a covenant with David, and which covenant Christ Jesus inherited as the offspring of David. And just as David’s typical kingdom was an actual territory and not merely a spiritual state of morality, so will be God’s kingdom.—Dan. 7:13, 14, 18, AS.

Instead of that kingdom’s reforming and converting all the governments of this old world, note what it will do to them: “In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, . . . but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Dan. 2:44, AS) So when we are praying for God’s kingdom to come we are praying for God’s kingdom in Christ’s hands to break in pieces and obliterate all the political systems of this world at Armageddon.

The year 1914 marked the beginning of this kingdom, for then the “seven times” of the nations, the 2,520 years of beastly rule, which began with the overthrow of Judah’s last king in 607 B.C., ended. An expression of this fact was the war in heaven resulting in Satan and his demons’ being cast down to the earth.—Rev. 12:1-12.

If the Kingdom has been established, does that mean that we are no longer to pray “Let your kingdom come”? Not at all. In the prophetic picture of Nebuchadnezzar’s image, the cutting of the stone out of the mountain without hands foreshadowed the Kingdom’s coming into existence or being established in 1914; while its coming against the image and grinding it into powder would constitute the complete expression of the Kingdom’s coming at Armageddon.—Dan. 2:31-45.

And as the stone then grew until it filled the whole earth, so Christ’s kingdom will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. In fact, of its increase there will be no end. (Ps. 72:8; Isa. 9:6, 7; Dan. 2:35) All those today who pray with understanding and sincerity “Let your kingdom come” will show their faith in that prayer by having a part in making that kingdom known in all the inhabited earth.—Matt. 24:14, NW.

Distributing French Awake! in Quebec

“A DARK rainy night, just after supper, found us at St. Jerome busy putting ‘raincoats’ on folded Réveillez-vous! [French Awake!] After some 550 of them had been carefully tucked inside of waxed paper held by elastics we went out into the stormy night and distributed them. With what result? A few days later we received word from the Society that someone had sent in a coupon from one of those rain-coated copies of Awake!

“We immediately followed up this interest, and to our surprise found three brothers living together who had on their own left the Roman Catholic Church some eleven years previously, and since then had roamed from church to church in search of the truth. All they had was a firm conviction that the Bible was true, even though they did not clearly understand it. They had some five different translations of the Bible. With what little they understood they had interested others to put faith in the Bible. For over an hour the most learned of the brothers tried to explain the Bible, only to be corrected repeatedly by our quoting other texts to prove that our conclusions were right.

“After thus continuing for more than an hour this meek and teachable man threw up his hands in a gesture of surrender and said: ‘Your knowledge is far ahead of mine, you take over and tell us about salvation.’ This we gladly did. One of the three brothers declared: ‘Before, when we found people interested, we, due to lack of knowledge, had to send them to other churches, but now we are going to send all of them to you.’ The following week a Bible study was started and after two hours of study, when it was suggested that it was quitting time, they did not want to quit even though it was midnight. The following Sunday found two of them at the Kingdom Hall and the following week one began to take part in the study by giving comments, which comments gave evidence of his having well studied his Watchtower; much to the delight of all of us.

“The result of the Awake! tossed that rainy night is: two Bible studies started, five subscriptions taken, fourteen bound books placed along with several booklets and magazines, three persons are already speaking the truth to their neighbors, two are anxious to send their resignations to the Catholic Church (the three brothers had already sent their resignations even before hearing of the truth). They realize that to be in the new world they must preach, and they are eager to do so.”

Questions From Readers

● The June 15 Watchtower on “The Marriage Ceremony”, arranges for the man getting married to repeat after the minister that he will love and cherish his wife “for as long as we both shall live or until the divine termination of the marital arrangement”. What is meant by the words “until the divine termination of the marital arrangement”?—L. K., New York.

Some have speculated on that phrase, saying that it means until the marriage is Scripturally terminated by a divorce on the grounds of adultery. But no such unhappy conclusion of the marriage would be envisioned at the happy time of the marriage ceremony. That is not a termination initiated by God, but is a tragic one brought about by the uncleanness of the adulterous one. Others have interpreted the expression to mean when an anointed mate of one of the earthly class is finally taken to heaven to reign with Christ. The physical death of the anointed partner terminates such marriage. So that is not the thought intended. Nor should it be taken, as still others have taken it, to definitely mean that the marriage will end when the divine mandate to fill the earth will have been accomplished.

The expression is used merely to cover a possibility, to allow for any future termination that may come about through the divine providence. When the mandate to fill the earth is fulfilled, when childbearing ceases, the marriage partners may continue their association together as life companions, or they may not, depending upon the divine will at that future, distant time. We cannot say at this time what divine providence will arrange in the distant future in the new world. So this expression merely allows for some future action on the part of God that may terminate the marital arrangement, but it does not mean that such a divine termination will actually take place. We leave that entirely with the Lord for his future action, and the expression is included to show that if such future action is ever taken then all couples will gladly comply with the divine will as it is revealed at that distant time.