Sermon Brief
Date Written: March 05, 2014
Date Preached: March 05, 2014
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Study on the Lord’s Prayer
Sermon Title: Your Kingdom Come…(Sermon 5)
Sermon Text: Matthew 6:9-13 [HCSB]
Essence of the Text: Jesus wanted His disciples to know how to pray…
Essence of the Sermon: Jesus wants believers today to know how to pray…
Objective of the Sermon: Prayer is vital for the believer, but prayer is not so much in the words as it is in the attitude behind those words. This model prayer lays forth a template that guides the believer in the direction of their prayer and the attitude of their heart.
Introduction:
As we move ahead in looking at this model prayer that Jesus is laying out for His disciples we get to the phrase, “Thy kingdom come…or YOUR kingdom come!”
Jesus’ teaching was focused on the coming Kingdom of God and it only stands to reason that Jesus would include the ‘coming of God’s kingdom’ in this model prayer that He was giving to His disciples.
But in all His teaching, the meaning of the “Kingdom of God” was still unclear to those Jesus was teaching. The Pharisees and John the Baptist were all stumped when Jesus spoke about the Kingdom…asking when it was coming… and Jesus even told the Pharisees that you cannot look at the Kingdom of Heaven and say here it is or there it is…
Even today the phrase, ‘the Kingdom of God’ has a baffling effect on believers. Many believe it to be the church and God’s work and purpose here in this world. There are others who believe it to be some distant place after this life.
However, when Jesus uttered these words, ‘…Thy kingdom come…” he was not only mentioning a Messianic kingdom but he was also implying that He was inviting humanity to receive Him as their ‘king’…as their divine sovereign!
This was God’s gov’t set up in human life (so to speak) What Jesus was teaching was that the Kingdom of God was being revealed and set up in the hearts of those who chose to accept Christ in their personal lives.
Like we mentioned earlier about ‘heaven’ and how it was not a specific permanent place, but it was more about where God is…that is heaven! This is the same approach… the kingdom of God would then be more about how we surrender to Him and not a place on a map!
So what Jesus is envisioning here is His own future kingdom on earth and also the Holy Spirit of God coming into the heart at the time of regeneration… In other words, Christ would be so ‘real’ in their lives… so permeated within their DNA that the kingdom would shine forth…
Now when we receive Christ… that relationship denotes that along with Christ comes some privileges and benefits. It is NO small thing to be a member of this select spiritual community… it is a lofty and noble honor to be counted among the citizens of God’s kingdom… Most believers cannot fully grasp the enormity of what that means.
It means that when we receive Christ into our hearts and lives that we are receiving royalty… the King of Kings… the Lord of lords… the Prince of Peace!! When the H.S. indwells our hearts we are in the presence of the Master of all things… the One who rules the Kingdom of God! And when we realize this… it changes how we think and our outlook on life and what God has called us to do!
What I am trying to say is there is a difference between the distant, disillusioned and defeated believer AND the victorious, vibrant and on fire believer… THAT difference is NOT salvation but it is the awareness of to ‘whom’ we belong… in what Kingdom do we reside…
So as we live and serve here in THIS world we can know that we are residents of what Christ is describing as ‘Thy Kingdom Come’… To live and serve is to know something about and to serve faithfully toward God’s kingdom!
We are the temple OR residence of the King of Kings… we have been made an integral part of the Kingdom by His indwelling within us! We are no longer the ‘king’ of our own castle but we have surrendered to a NEW Sovereign… Jesus!
SO… if the kingdom of God dwells within ME then is it NOT only logical that we desire to see NOTHING happen to our Sovereign… What I do, what I say, what I listen to, who I hang around with, to whom I fellowship with, where I go, what I say, how I live… ALL are subject to submission to the Sovereign we know as Jesus!
We also know that the Kingdom of God is not some physical place or tangible asset, but according to Romans 14:17 it is a place made up of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit!
The kingdom of God is not some outward, external empire of emotion, but rather an inner condition of our spirit, will and mind; thru which God can and does speak. This means that we enter into a state of righteous living based on the examples of Jesus and His disciples!
When we surrender to the Kingdom of God then we are going to be able to know and enjoy God’s presence in our lives. This is a sense of serenity and contentment that only comes when we are residing directly in the midst of the Kingdom of Heaven!
I had a friend who pastored in Hawaii and he was called to come to New Orleans and serve… I asked him why he would leave paradise for a place like New Orleans… the heat was oppressive, the humidity was sky high and Hawaii was tropical paradise!
His answer sticks with me to this very day… He said, “There is NO paradise more sweet than to be in the center of God’s will…” And that advice is true about us as we serve Him here in our community!
Thy Kingdom come… means US living out His kingdom thru our lives!
Thy Kingdom come… meaning we take the witness of Christ with us at all times!
Thy Kingdom come… meaning our position stands from a point of royalty, but this does NOT mean we are entitled, but that we are called to serve!
Thy Kingdom come is a calling from Jesus that we LIVE OUT our faith to reveal the kingdom to ALL around us!
