Your Kingdom Come
Notes
Transcript
Invite everyone to stand and read Matthew 6:9-13- Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Recap
What will hallow the name of God? What, in the believers of Jesus Christ, and in the surrounding world, will make known the greatness of the entirety of our God and Father?
Read Matthew 6:10- Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Pray.
Basileia- Greek for kingdom, appears 162 times in the NT.
Clearly an important concept.
Here refers to the Kingdom of God, also referred to in the NT as the kingdom of heaven.
Most basic understanding- God’s reign and rule. God’s presence coming from heaven to earth- being made manifest in our own reality.
Consider this from the OT to the NT
God’s Kingdom has in some ways been known since early in Genesis, even after the fall.
Genesis 5:24- Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Genesis 49:18- I wait for your salvation, O LORD.
Lord and Savior.
With the arrival of the messiah, God’s Kingdom came near, or was at hand. Was seen in new ways.
Mark 1:14-15- Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Next came the Church, the representation of Christ, known as Christ’s body.
The church is an outpost, or embassy, of the kingdom of God.
Redemptive, or saving, presence of God is experienced in the church.
The values, direction, morals, character of the Kingdom are meant to be found in the local body of the church family.
Now, we ask for God’s Kingdom to come, to break into our world in new and fantastic ways. So what exactly are we asking?
Let’s begin with the baseline- As God’s Kingdom increases in us and in the world, another kingdom is diminished. It is here that we begin.
1. The kingdom of darkness.
1. The kingdom of darkness.
Though we may not at times see it, the world in which we live is a kingdom of darkness- a kingdom of sin.
This kingdom is to be found both within a person and throughout our entire world around us.
Should we find ourselves a part of this kingdom, we likely have never even considered it to be so.
Dealing with conviction- Thomas Watson- “The sinner does what he can to stifle them; he drowns them in wine and mirth; he labours to get rid of them. As the deer when shot runs and shakes out the arrow, so does he the arrow of conviction; or as the prisoner files off his fetters, and breaks loose, so he breaks loose from convictions. His corruptions are stronger than his convictions.”
Seems to be a theme throughout Scripture- those who believe themselves to be spiritually alive are completely unaware that they are spiritually dead.
Let this be a warning to us all. Reminder that our battles is not one with intelligence, but instead our battle is spiritual.
Let’s read a bit of this kingdom.
Colossians 1:13-14- He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The reality in which we live, both internally and externally, is a domain of darkness.
Ephesians 2:1-3- And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
The world is a sinful place, but also our hearts are havens of sin.
Notice how Paul speaks of salvation, and what occurs when we are saved.
Romans 13:12- The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Kingdom of darkness defined by works of darkness.
Romans 6:12- Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Notice that in the kingdom of darkness, sin reigns supreme.
Those rejecting Christ- children of Satan, workshop of Satan, house of Satan
When we pray that God’s Kingdom would come, we begin by recognizing the ever present kingdom of darkness that surrounds us.
What is it that replaces this kingdom of darkness?
2. The Kingdom of Grace.
2. The Kingdom of Grace.
When we pray that God’s Kingdom would come, we are asking for grace to be received, both in us and around us.
We ask that God’s reign and rule, His saving and redemptive presence, would break into the darkened hearts of those who do not know and love Him.
John Calvin- “The commencement of the reign of God in us is the destruction of the old man, and the denial of ourselves, that we may be renewed to another life.”
All of this happens according to the grace of God. God’s grace is what puts to death the old man of the kingdom of darkness, God’s grace gives new life.
Martyn Lloyd Jones- “When we pray, ‘Thy kingdom come,’ we are praying for the success of the gospel, its sway and power; we are praying for the conversion of men and women; we are praying that the kingdom of God may come today in Britain, in Europe, in America, in Australia, everywhere in the world. ‘Thy kingdom come’ is an all inclusive missionary prayer.”
How do we pray for those who do not yet know Jesus? Do you ever feel as though you are at a loss for words?
There are a lot of things to pray over our children, our unbelieving spouses, friends, neighbors, etc. This ought to be at the top of the list.
But there is more- we do not pray merely for the existence of the Kingdom, but for the coming of the Kingdom.
Coming is a motion word, it gives direction.
The Kingdom is meant to be more and more evident in the lives of believers.
We are asking for God’s Kingdom to grow in our lives.
Consider the warnings given to a couple of churches in Revelation.
Church at Ephesus- Revelation 2:4- “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Church at Sardis- Revelation 3:2- “Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.”
Thomas Watson- “If the kingdom of grace does not increase, it will decay.”
Our lives are evident of this very point.
Nothing remains without proper attention given to it. We do not naturally grow in any attribute or ability without the necessary work.
3. The Kingdom of Glory.
3. The Kingdom of Glory.
We pray that God’s Kingdom, His reign and rule, would break into the world around us, and that the church would play an integral role.
This world, led by the church, would look more and more like God’s rule.
Ultimately we pray for the return of Jesus.
Revelation 22:20- “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
We seek the return of Christ as a bride awaits her groom.
Pondering this- So excited to receive my bride, to have her given to me, not for that one moment. But for the presence of my bride in every day life together.
That one day pales in comparison to what we have had over the past 11 years.
In the same way, we seek the return of Christ for what it means for our eternity. God’s presence forever. God’s perfected rule and reign forever.
Why ask? Consider the Kingdom
Holy Holy Holy- Holy, holy, holy; Though the darkness hide Thee; Though the eyes of sinful man Thy glory may not see; Only Thou art holy and there is none beside Thee; Perfect in power, in love and purity.
God alone is perfect in His power, in His love, and in His purity.
As God is perfect in these attributes as King, His Kingdom will be so as well.
Perfectly powerful.
No threats to be made against this kingdom.
Eden will not be repeated because God will have dealt with sin and evil.
1 Peter 1:3-5- “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
God’s power is perfect, unending and unchanging.
If the King is this way, we should expect the same of the Kingdom.
Perfectly loving.
While God is perfectly loving, never feeling toward us something other than love, this is an unknown feeling to many of us.
All earthly love falls short.
Telling my kids that I love them before I put them to bed. How are they hearing those words, based on what they experienced the last few hours of the evening?
Jonathan Edwards- “Most of the love that there is in this world is of an unhallowed nature. But the love that has place in heaven is not carnal but spiritual. It does not proceed from corrupt principles or selfish motives, nor is it directed to mean and vile purposes and ends. As opposed to all this, it is a pure flame, directed by holy motives, and aiming at no ends inconsistent with God’s glory and the happiness of the universe.”
Perfectly pure.
We can never fully enjoy any good thing.
Our marriages are not quite what we would like them to be. Our relationship with the children is the same. There is always something that is not quite perfect, or not even anywhere close.
Thomas Watson- “Dissatisfaction arises from some defect, but God is an infinite good, and there can be no defect in that which is infinite...There is ease without pain, honor without disgrace, life without death.”
Conclusion- The difficulty of the Lord’s Prayer.
We pray these things with ourselves in view. This is a prayer of responsibility.
Hallowed be your name- May I hallow your name.
Thy Kingdom come- May your Kingdom be here in my life, increasing, growing.
May the Kingdom of Grace and the Kingdom of glory be made clear through my life, rather than a kingdom of darkness.
May your Kingdom come, and spread, and may my life and testimony, and my church family, be integral in what you are accomplishing.
This is no small prayer. May we not rush over these words too quickly in our own prayer life.