PRESIDENTIAL QUOTES: Harry S. Truman:

 Preambles to the Constitutions of U.S. States: HAWAII

 THE FAMILY ALTAR

May 22.

"Thy kingdom come". Matt. 6:
10.

The kingdom of God for which the old patriarchs and prophets

hoped and prayed so longingly in their day, was established by

our blessed Lord and Savior when He came into the world and per-

formed His glorious work of redemption. From Him we know

what manner of kingdom it is: not a kingdom of this world,

but a heavenly, spiritual kingdom, where He rules in the hearts

of men with His saving Gospel. It comes not with outward show,

consists not in n\eat or drink, but in righteousness, and peace,

and joy in the Holy Ghost. It is a universal kingdom that

stretches from pole to pole, over all lands and isles and peoples.

And it is an everlasting kingdom against which even the gates

of hell shall not prevail. Through this kingdom all its faithful

subjects enter into the kingdom of glory, there "to be free from pain

and sorrow, and the anxious, dread to-morrow, to rest in light and

sunshine in the presence of the King." Blessed are all they who

are the children of grace, the sure heirs of glory in this kingdom

of God. Natural man knows nothing of it, nor cares for it, but

despises and rejects it when told about it. It is alone God's Holy

Spirit who brings sinful men into this blessed kingdom by means

of Christ's saving Gospel and Sacraments. "Except a man be

born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom

of God." We all were brought into this kingdom when we were

baptized. Are we still in it, and is God's kingdom still in us?

If so, oh, then we know what bliss it is to be loving and obedient

children of our heavenly Father; then nothing is so dear to our

hearts as His blessed kingdom. Then we shall be glad to spread

His kingdom among all the inhabitants of this sin-ruined earth;

we shall know no greater and holier joy than to support God's mis-

sion cause with our prayers, our gifts, our very lives. Let us pray : —

Dear heavenly Father, we praise and glorify Thy holy name for

delivering us from the power of darkness and translating us into the

kingdom of Thy dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His

blood, even the forgiveness of sins, and are made children of Thy saving

grace and heirs of Thy everlasting glory. 0 we pray Thee, as Thy kingdom has come to us, let it come also to all our perishing fellow-men who still sit in the darkness of unbelief and sin and death. Make us ever

willing to spread Thy saving Gospel at home and abroad, and grant to all them that labor in Thy harvest-fields, especially to all our dear missionaries, Thy Holy Spirit's aid and comfort that they may never weary of telling dying sinners of Thy saving love and mercy in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

FAMILY ALTAR