Matthew 6:10
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 6:10
Matthew 6:10
God’s Kingdom & God’s Will
We come to these next two petitions in this pattern for prayer and it is obvious that we see a continued importance on putting God at the center of our prayers.
Last week we looked at “Hallowing God’s Name” and what that meant for us. Tonight we will look at “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” as the next two petitions in this pattern for prayer.
Your Kingdom Come
Your Kingdom Come
Let’s think about Kingdom’s for a minute or two here. We know that here we are praying for GOD’S kingdom to come right? But it is very apparent when we look around today that there are two kingdom’s at war in our world today.
It is very apparent in the chaos and the unrest and the division within our world that we are not all on the same team, right?
I mean that’s obvious, but we have to say it because there are some people who think that man is “naturally good”. I hear songs from time to time that talk about how people are “mostly good” or that people are mostly “good natured”.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not “good natured” except by the grace and mercy of God. There is nothing good in me, except what God put there for His own glory.
So we know that man isn’t naturally good. The Bible is clear about that. We have two kingdoms at war in our world today.
It is light vs darkness. Good vs evil. The kingdom of God vs the kingdom of Satan.
The Bible speaks clearly about Satan having a “dominion” over the world.
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.
to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
I show you all of this to make clear that there is a great kingdom at work within our world that is totally opposed to God and His ways. Totally opposed to truth. Totally opposed to true righteousness.
See - until we realize this - we can misunderstand and fight the wrong enemy. Our enemy is the kingdom of Satan and his influence on our culture.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So, it isn’t necessarily the left vs the right, or Democrat vs Republican - it is FIRST the kingdom of God vs the kingdom of Satan. We need to keep in mind that our first and foremost enemy is Satan himself and the plan that he has to disrupt God’s work.
Jesus says very clearly “if you aren’t for me, you are against me.”
Two kingdoms at war. That is the first thing we must remember when we are looking at this petition for “your kingdom come”
What are we asking for when we pray “your kingdom come”?
What are we asking for when we pray “your kingdom come”?
When we think about God’s kingdom coming to Earth there are three different ways to look at it.
In one sense, God’s kingdom has already come.
Jesus came to this Earth and initiated God’s work and God’s plan. He came to this Earth to show the way to God. He came to provide a WAY to the Father. He did all that when He came to Earth.
In one sense, God’s kingdom is here now.
The kingdom of God is alive now in the hearts and lives of God’s people doing His work. The Holy Spirit is alive and well in the hearts of His children.
In the third sense, God’s kingdom is going to come.
We know that Christ will return and that He will establish His rule and reign forever in the new Heaven and the New Earth.
This third sense, Jesus’ second coming is the sense that is most commonly referred to when we hear about “Your kingdom come”.
Listen to these verses that refer to Christ’s second coming:
looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
Oh, doesn’t this prayer ring in your hearts today? Don’t you long for Jesus to return? Don’t you absolutely hate the sin that is in the world and in your own heart? Don’t you long for the day when there is no sin, no death, no conflict, no heartache?
Oh, may this be our hearts deepest longing that God’s kingdom would come on this Earth.
Oh how this is true with this today. All of these things through this virus have strengthened my faith to know that God knows what he's doing.
Philippians 1:21
How does this apply to us?
Evangelism
We must be about telling others about Jesus.
Commitment
I pray that God would make it a daily commitment in our lives to live for kingdom purposes.
Even so come Lord Jesus!