Your Kingdom Come (Matt. 6:10)
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Introduction
Introduction
· Let’s open up to Matthew 6
· Tonight I want to draw your attention back to the passage we call “The Lord’s Prayer.” In our last time together a couple months ago, we looked at the opening, verse 9. Matthew 6:9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. We learned that our approach to God in prayer should be one of both intimacy and worship. Intimacy, because you have been adopted into his family, and call him “Abba, Father.” He is near and is deeply interested in your life. Nevertheless, you pray with awe and reverence, because this Father is infinitely perfect, and his throne is in heaven.
· Well, there are six basic requests in the Lord’s prayer, and tonight we move to the second one, “let your kingdom come.”
· The fact that we are to pray for this kingdom indicates that the kingdom is not here yet, at least the full expression of the kingdom. Christ rules in our hearts. Jesus is head of the church. These give us glimpses into his kingdom, a kind of “preview of coming attractions,” But we still await the full manifestation of his kingdom glory.
· The “Kingdom of heaven” or the divine rule of Messiah is a major theme in the Gospel of Matthew. The book begins with a family tree in Mt. 1:1-20 giving us the royal family line of the king, from Abraham, to David, all the way to Jesus of Nazareth. Ch. 2 describes wise men traveling from other nations to pay homage to this heavenly king. Ch. 3:1-2 John the Baptist preaches in the wilderness, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Jesus preaches the same message in 4:17). 4:23 “he went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease.” Mt. 5:2-12 the citizens of the kingdom “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
· What will this kingdom be like? Matthew starts with the assumption that his readers already have a good amount of information about this kingdom. So to answer that question, we need to dig back into our Old Testaments. Please turn to Isaiah 11.
Features of the Kingdom
Features of the Kingdom
· Let’s look together at three key features of the kingdom.
· The Messiah will be present! This is by far the most important one. See Isaiah 11:1-9. God’s judgment on Israel will be severe, like chopping down a tree. But there will be a righteous remnant. The Messiah will spring up from the nation like a tender shoot.
· Suppose you take a drive down to Newport Beach. You walk out to the pier, and as far as the eye can see, all the way to the horizon, there is nothing but water. Look at the Pacific Ocean on a globe, and almost your entire view is blue water. The Pacific Ocean is 60 million square miles of water. This one ocean basin is larger than the landmass of all seven continents combined. 1 Peter 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Right now, we see Jesus with the eyes of faith. But one day, we will see with our eyes, and touch with our hands, and be with him for all eternity!
· The world will be at peace. Isaiah 2:4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Weapons will be melted down and reshaped into farm tools. There will be peace and prosperity in the land. Oh how we need peace today! Jesus said the last days will be full of wars and rumors of wars (Mt. 24:6). Watching the news can be depressing. Nations plot against nations. Politicians play constant tug of war. But our hearts long for peace. I think one of the reasons we enjoy Christmas is because we get a sample of peace. We get this brief moment to catch our breath, see our family, gather round the fire, share gifts with one another, maybe sip a cup of hot cocoa, and enjoy a moment of … peace. Jer. 31:25 “I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish. Do you want peace? Jesus is the prince of peace, and his kingdom will be characterized by peace. That cannot be said of any other kingdom in all human history.
· Review: Messiah will be present, the world will be at peace, and a third detail is revealed in the Book of Revelation…
· Satan will be bound. Revelation 20:3 “Revelation 20:2–3 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. (v. 7 says he will be released for a short time, will stage one final revolt, and then will be cast into lake of fire forever.).
· Ever since he first fell out of heaven like lightning (cf. Lk. 10:18), Satan has been working overtime to oppose God and his people. But in the coming kingdom, he will be bound and gagged, hauled off to high security prison where he will spend 1,000 years in solitary confinement. Imagine! No devil! No thief! No accuser! The prince of the power of the air will be silenced. Only Jesus the prince of peace will reign.
Praying for the Kingdom
Praying for the Kingdom
· Now, what does Jesus say to do here in Matthew 6 concerning this kingdom? He says to pray for it. “Your kingdom come.”
· Three requests in vv. 9-10, all in a kind of poetic parallel. It reads like this in the Greek:
· Our Father in heaven, Let it be holy, your name.
Let it come, your kingdom.
Let it be done, your will.
· Every believer should yearn for the return of Jesus, and pray for his kingdom to be established.
· We should pray for Isaiah 11 to become a reality.
· We should long for the return of the king, and to hear the words of Matthew 25:34, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
· Praying this prayer has several implications…
· When I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I am setting my mind on things above, not on the things of this earth (Col. 3:2)
· When I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I am acknowledging this present world is not my home. I am telling my heart to be content, but also letting it grow homesick for heaven.
· When I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I am recognizing that all kingdoms on this earth will severely disappoint, and that I was made for something more. When things get too comfortable, it’s easy to grow complacent and think this is the kingdom. But it’s not hard to pray when this world leaves so much to be desired.
· When I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I remember that I am not the point. Jesus is the point.
· When I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I’m much more likely to give up earthly possessions to lay up treasure in heaven.
· When I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I will feel burdened to tell others about Christ, so that they may experience his kingdom blessings also.
· When I pray, “Your kingdom come,” I challenge myself to live consistentwith that kingdom, and to be ready for the king’s return at any moment.
Conclusion
Conclusion
· As we did last time, I want to leave you tonight with three Application Questions:
1. Have you repented of my sin and trusted in Christ so you may one day inherit his eternal kingdom? Matthew 5 tells us. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
2. Are your prayers self-centered, or are they pre-occupied with God, his glory, and his kingdom?
3. Is there anything in your life right now you would be ashamed to be found doing at the moment Jesus returns?
· In Matthew 4 we have the story of the temptation of Christ. Vv. 8–10 The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
· Satan was offering Jesus a shortcut. A shortcut that would allow him to inherit and instantly rule all the kingdoms of the earth. It had only one “small string” attached. Bow down and worship Satan. “Confess me as lord, and the world can be yours,” Satan says. The irony is that all these kingdoms already belonged to Christ. He was only allowing Satan to rule them for a season. And Jesus was unwilling to take this shortcut because it would bypass the cross and it would elevate Satan to a position of God. That was something Jesus could not do. Instead, he was willing to suffer and die on our behalf, obeying the father, and fulfilling the mission that he was sent to accomplish. And now that he has ascended into heaven, he promises to return and establish his righteous kingdom.
· To Jesus Christ, the king of kings and lord of lords, we pray tonight, “Thy kingdom come.” Amen.