“Thy Kingdom Come”
In our last message for this series, we talked about the invocation and the first petition of the Lords’ Prayer. And if you missed the last one, don’t worry because each sermon in this series will be totally “self-contained” and understood easily by itself. Anyway, last week we learned that there is more to this prayer that Jesus taught us to pray than first meets the eye. And this morning, we will study yet another example of how we sometimes fail to realize the full extent of what we are praying for. The title of this week’s sermon is “Thy Kingdom Come.”
Today we are going to actually be looking at the next two petitions of the Lord’s Prayer; Thy kingdom come.....and Thy will be done. Now these two petitions, or appeals, are very similar to one another and I hope you will be able to see just how similar they are by the time we are finished.
Now, to even begin to understand this petition, we obviously have to know what kind of “Kingdom” Jesus is talking about here.
When we pray; “Thy Kingdom come...” what are we really asking for?
In the Gospel of Matthew we find the phrase; “kingdom of heaven” for the first time in the New Testament. In chapter 3:1,2 we read: “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying; ‘Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
Many times we read this and, in the back of our minds, think that John is talking about the Day of Judgment. But he’s not is he? After all, it’s been almost 2,000 years since these words were first proclaimed and we’ve not seen Jesus coming in the clouds of glory yet. No, John wasn’t talking about the day of Judgment or the end of the world....So that leaves us with the question; what was he talking about? What exactly did he mean
when he said; “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”?
Well, to answer this we need to do a little research. You see, it wasn’t very long after John began proclaiming the soon coming of the “kingdom of heaven”, that Jesus was baptized and began His ministry. And in chapter 4:17 of Matthew, Jesus Himself proclaims this same message; “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Now, when we hear “kingdom of heaven,” we automatically think of the place that we will go when Jesus comes back for us.
But, it’s interesting to note that what is really meant by this phrase is; “kingdom of God”. Now, I know what you are thinking; if that’s what was meant, why isn’t it what they said?
Well, in Jesus’ day it was customary to refrain from speaking God’s holy name, so they would often substitute the word “heaven” for it. Just like they would say “fear of heaven” for “fear of God”; and “name of heaven” instead of “name of God.” It’s not that unusual, in fact people still do it even today. How many times have you heard someone say; “for heaven’s sakes”; or “my heavens!” So again, both John the Baptist and Jesus Himself are really saying; “Repent, for the kingdom of God is as hand.”
You see, along with the incarnation of Jesus came also the Kingdom of God to earth. And Jesus says that He is King of this kingdom. In John 18:37 He tells Pilate; “You are right in saying that I am a King. In fact, for this reason I was born and for this I came into the world...”
But still, why would Jesus instruct us to pray; “Thy kingdom come...” if it’s already here? It’s simple you say; Jesus is talking about the second coming! Sure, I think that is part of it--we should look forward to the day when Jesus comes to take us home--after all, it will be a most glorious day indeed.
But before we go any further, let me tell you that there are two kinds of kingdoms that we will be discussing; the kingdom of Grace that came with the ministry of Jesus. And the kingdom of Glory that He will bring back with Him. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus is telling us to pray that the kingdom of Grace would come even more so than the kingdom of Glory. Why? Well, we can pray for Jesus to come back constantly but the bible makes it clear that He will come back only when it’s time and not a minute sooner. On the other hand, if we sincerely pray for the kingdom of grace to come, then something very significant happens....
When we pray; “Thy kingdom come,” we’re actually accepting the offer that Jesus makes to us in Revelation 3:20 when He says; “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
then I will come in...”
You see, our walk with the Lord is not a once and for all kind of thing--it’s a DAILY relationship. We need to regularly recommit our lives to God by yielding ourselves to Him as subjects in His Kingdom--the Kingdom of Grace.
And who is the King of this kingdom?? Jesus. You know, from the time that Jesus was baptized until he ascended into heaven, there were many who thought that since He proclaimed kingship that He was going to overthrow the Romans that had oppressed them for so long and that He was going to restore power to Israel once more.........And, when that didn’t happen they were very disappointed and some no longer believed that
Jesus was the King of anything.
Let’s take a look at what’s recorded in the Gospel of Luke 17:20
“20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’
because the kingdom of God is within you.”
Sometimes we can become so focused how good it’s going to be when we all get to heaven that we fail to realize that the Kingdom of God starts right here! Before we ever enter into the kingdom of Glory, we will have to become citizens of the Kingdom of Grace---and that kingdom is where? It is within us.
Again, when we pray; “Thy Kingdom come..” we are answering the door that Jesus is knocking on. We are not talking to Him through a little crack in the door with the chain still on--we swing it wide open
and invite Him in!
My sister sent me a modern-day parable that I’d like to share with you. It was about this wealthy young man that lived in an immaculate house with winding staircases, crystal chandeliers, rare paintings
hanging on the wall, I mean this house was fit for a king! Anyway, one day this fellow decides to invite the Lord to his beautiful home and and let him stay there.....So when the Lord arrives, the young man quickly escorts Him up one of the winding staircases to a room at the end of the hall. He opens the door to this room. Now this was by far the best room in the house with everything anyone would ever need right there inside.
It was getting late and the young man again thanked Jesus for blessing his house with His presence. He said goodnight to the Lord and as he closed the door, he reminded Him that this room was His and He could do anything he wanted there. Then he closed the door and went downstairs to his bedroom and drifted off to sleep.
He didn’t sleep long though because he was awakened in the middle of the night by a knocking at the door. He rushed to the door and opened it to find a demon there that desperately wanted into his house. The man fought the demon for all he was worth just knowing that Jesus would hear the struggle and be down any minute to save him. But Jesus never came and the man was up most of the night fighting this demon until he was finally able to shut the door on him.
Well, the next day the man was exhausted and sore from his struggle with the intruder and wondered why in the world Jesus didn’t come to his rescue. He thought surely that Jesus must have been tired and
slept especially well in that nice big bed that He just didn’t hear the commotion. So, that night he went to bed early hoping to make up for his lost sleep. He had only been in bed for a few minutes when again there was a banging on his front door. The man went to the door and this time asked who it was, and then he heard the voice of an old friend outside. So he opened the door and to his horror, he came head to head with, not one but two demons this time! The man again struggled and fought all night trying to get the demons out of his house. He battled until the break of dawn until finally the door was once more closed.... He again wondered why Jesus didn’t come to his rescue--after all, he had given him the best room in his house! He could no longer stand it. Exhausted, he climbed the stairs to Jesus room and knocked on the door. When Jesus opened the door the man said; “Lord, I thought you loved me. I invited you here to stay with me, I give you the best room in the house but yet when I need you......you are never there! Why didn’t you help me?!”
With a loving, gentle voice the Lord answered him; “My precious child, I do love you and care for you more than you could ever know, but when you invited me here to stay with you, you brought me up to this lovely room and shut the door. And in doing so you shut the door to the rest of your house to me. I am the Lord of this room--no demon may enter here--but you haven’t allowed me to be Master of the house.
How many rooms of your house have you given to the Lord? Every aspect of our lives should be given over to our King. But so many times we decide just as the wealthy young man to give Him only a room
or two. We say; “OK Lord, you can live here in this room but stay out of that one.” We have certain things in our lives that we know are wrong-- that we know are un-Christlike, but we lock the doors to these rooms airtight so that no one -- not even Jesus can gain access to them.
Brothers and sisters, when we pray; “thy kingdom come...,” we are asking Jesus to be “Master of our House”---we are putting our entire lives into His care--under his domain. But in order to do this, we have to humble ourselves--we have to yield our will to His will. And because of our human nature, that is very difficult--especially if we don’t grow up knowing the Lord. When we raise our children, we are preparing them to be able to make it on their own. We want them to be self sufficient---not having to rely on anyone else. But being a Christian is the exact opposite of that isn’t it?
Jesus tells Nicodemous in John 3:3 ; “....Verily , verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Another scripture that compliments John 3:3 is Matthew 18:3 where Jesus says; “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Now, how independent are little children? Not at all independent are they? They depend on their parents or guardian for their every need don’t they? When we become Christians, we too need to look to the
Lord our King for our every need.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says this about the importance of the kingdom of God; “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
According to Jesus, the most important thing we can do is to “seek the kingdom of God.” And again; where is this kingdom....? Well, if it is not already within you, It is even now at your heart’s door... knocking. Because dear friends, the kingdom of God is Jesus Christ. And when we pray; “thy kingdom come” we are asking Jesus to come in and be Master of our House.
Jesus also taught us to pray; “thy will be done...”
Look with me at Matthew 26:36-42
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body
is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
Friends, this is a very vital part of our prayer life. You see, along with being citizens in this Kingdom of Grace, we need to have enough faith in our King to know that He above all else knows what is best. Sometimes that means that we don’t get what we really want--that means that sometimes a sick loved one will die instead of being healed. But no matter what our prayer request to God may be, we must have faith enough to end it with “thy will be done.”
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus gave His entire life into the hands of His Father’s will. And by doing so, He gained victory over death. Brothers and sisters, if you and I follow Jesus’ example and submit our will to His will, then we will be free. Because, as John tells us in John 8:36; “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His word.
