Your Kingdom Come
July 21, 2024

Your Kingdom Come

Preacher:
Passage: Matthew 6:10

Introduction: Kingdom Prayer
A couple weeks ago, we started a new series on prayer. Specifically, we’ve been focusing our attention on a prayer that Jesus taught to his followers in Matthew 6, commonly referred to as The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus has already identified a few different ways that we can misuse prayer, or misunderstand its purpose. Some people pray in order to impress a human audience. Other people treat prayer as though it’s some sort of magic spell – if they just say the right words in the right way, than abra cadabra, their prayers will be answered. Or far too often we go into our prayers so obsessed with our own desires and ambitions that we have very little consideration of God and his Holiness. Jesus is pushing back against all these misguided approaches to prayer, and he demonstrates what right prayer looks like for the citizens of God’s kingdom.

So if you have your Bibles with you, please turn with me to Matthew 6. I’ll read verses 9 and 10 of this prayer, but our focus this afternoon will just be on Matthew 6, verse 10. Before I read the text, though, let’s pray:

[PRAY AND READ TEXT]
Do You Want God’s Kingdom to Come?
When you pray, what are the types of things you pray for? You’re probably aware that you pray for a variety of things. You may pray that someone you love will recover from an illness. Or you might pray for a promotion at work, or the salvation of a family member. It could be any variety of things. But there’s something that all these things have in common. You pray for the things you want. You pray for the things you care about – the things that are real priorities.

And when Jesus is teaching his followers to pray, here in verses 9 through 13, we should recognize – he isn’t asking his disciples to stop praying for the things they care about, and to start praying for things that they don’t care about. Instead, in this prayer, Jesus is showing us the things that should weigh most heavily on our hearts and minds. He’s teaching us to love and prioritize the right things, and to be bringing these things to our Father in prayer.

In verse 9, Jesus makes it clear we should love and desire Our Father in heaven, and the glory of his name. And in verse 10, Jesus continues to urge us into worshipful, God-centered prayer, when he teaches us to pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

But in order to pray these words meaningfully, there are two ideas from the text we’ll need to grapple with, and these two things will be my main points. First, the kingship of God, which is where we’ll spend most of our time. And second, the customs of heaven.
The Kingship of God
So first, the kingship of God. Verse 10 here consists of two petitions, which are closely related to one another. The first petition is, “Your kingdom come.” It’s a request for God’s kingdom to be established. And the second is, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” And this is a request that God would be recognized and affirmed in his kingly authority, and that all people on earth would be earnest to do what he has commanded. These two petitions can be distinguished from one another, but they’re closely related. Because both are connected to God’s kingly rule and dominion. And so Jesus is urging his followers, here, to pray for the establishment of God’s kingdom.

But you might find this to be a bit strange. After all, isn’t God already established as the lawgiver and judge, who rewards good and punishes evil, who governs all things, who provides for and protects his people? Isn’t God already the king of the universe?

Psalm 93 affirms, “The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.” And listen to Psalm 47, verses 6 and following: “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm. God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.” It doesn’t make sense that anyone other than God would have this authority. God has demonstrated His almighty power by creating the Universe. And as the Creator, everything belongs to God. It all exists for him. We are ultimately accountable to the Triune God, and under his government. He is King.

So when we pray, “Your Kingdom Come,” we aren’t praying that God will start to become a King. We’re not asking that his power or authority will grow stronger or more complete (because that would suggest that he doesn’t already have infinite power and authority).

Instead, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray “Your Kingdom Come,” it was because this world, by and large, denies God’s kingship. This has been the case ever since Adam rebelled against God back in Genesis, chapter 3. And instead of submitting to the ways of God, man has submitted himself to the ways of that ancient serpent – to the kingdom of Satan. This is why 1 John 5:19 laments that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Though Satan isn’t anywhere close to being on equal footing with God – even though his power is limited, and temporary, his influence over the world is very real.

And you can see what the kingdom of Satan is like – you can see the effects of a world that has turned its back on God every time you turn on the news: lies, bribery, greed, addictions, violence, gossip, affairs, abuse, death. Jesus acknowledges that the world is living according to a different kingdom rather than the kingdom of God. And for our treachery against the rightful king of the world, we deserve Hell, just like the devil does. The human heart has become corrupt. It doesn’t want God to be king. We don’t instinctively want to do what he says. But instead we demand, MY kingdom come, MY will be done.” This is the way of Satan. This is the slogan of his kingdom.

But also in Genesis 3, just before God banished the human race from his utopian paradise, God made a promise. He promised that He would one day raise up a man, from the family line of Adam and Eve, who would destroy that devilish serpent. And later on in the Bible, he clarifies that this long-awaited Savior would be a king, to establish his people, to give them peace, and to give them victory over darkness.

And in the early pages of the New Testament, we’re introduced to the King of God’s kingdom, who is both truly God, and truly a man, as a descendant from Adam. This king is Jesus Christ. And 1 John 3:8 confirms that Jesus came “to destroy the devil’s work.” We who were born into the kingdom of Satan, who were by nature children of wrath and enemies of God, who were once spiritually dead and blind – God has had mercy on us. Colossians 1[:13] says, that God “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.”

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come,” many of them probably didn’t realize that their long-awaited King was right there, right in front of them. Yet their prayers were being answered, right in front of their eyes!

But even though we live at a point in history in which Jesus has come, and the King of God’s Kingdom has been enthroned, that doesn’t mean that this petition is now obsolete. There are still two more reasons why it’s important for God’s people to pray Your Kingdom Come.

First, [it’s important] because we want the world to receive her King. Many people in the world today are still living according to the devil’s kingdom, without even realizing it! Some people are just plain hostile toward God. They hate him. But for other people, it’s more subtle. They dishonor God by ignoring him – by treating him like he’s worthless, irrelevant. They simply don’t care; they refuse to care. And there are yet other people who pretend to follow God, but all the while they don’t have any real allegiance or respect for him. And all three of these are acts of rebellion against God. All three are ways that people despise his kingly authority, and instead serve the kingdom of Satan.

And so we pray, “Your Kingdom Come,” so that all these people, who’s hearts have been blinded by the ruler of this world, would be set free! That these people would recognize the emptiness and ugliness of an arrogant, self-absorbed life without God, and that they would turn to King Jesus. We pray,
“Your Kingdom come,” for the people on your street, for the people in line with you at the grocery store, for the people in India, Ecuador, Germany, and Japan – so that all kinds of people would receive God as their King, and live according to his rule and reign.

But second, we’re also praying “Your kingdom come,” with the awareness that there is a final day, in which King Jesus will come in glory. His kingdom has already been inaugurated in the past. His kingdom is continuing to advance in the present. But on that day, His kingdom will be consummated and completed in every regard. King Jesus will publicly exercise his authority. The dead will be raised. All flesh will be brought before His throne. And King Jesus will bring justice. The wicked will be delivered over to the second death and the torments of the Lake of Fire. But the redeemed sinners, who have trusted in him, will be rewarded. Jesus will usher them into his everlasting kingdom – the new heavens and the new earth. The dwelling place of God will be with man. There will be no more tears, no more car accidents, no more cancer, no more death. Everyone who has Jesus as their King, has a place in this kingdom.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism has a helpful summary of what we’re aiming for when we pray the words here in verse 10: “In the second petition, which is Thy Kingdom Come, we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed, and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and that that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.”
The Customs of Heaven
But I want to consider now, for a moment, what Jesus means when he says we should pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This brings us to my second point, “The Customs of Heaven.”

Now I just want to clarify, when Jesus talks about “God’s will” here, He seems to be talking about the things God has told us to do – the ways he wants us to obey. So when we say, “Your will be done,” we’re asking God to bring about widespread obedience to His Word – on earth as it is in heaven.

If you’re anything like me, when you see this phrase, “on earth as it is in heaven,” you’re probably inclined to pay the most attention to the first part of the phrase: “on earth.” Things that come first in sentences normally grab our attention. And on top of this, earth is what we’re familiar with.

But if you go to the Greek text, the words are in a different order. In the Greek, the text reads, “Your will be done, as it is in heaven, also on earth.” The emphasis is shifted. The focus is placed on first contemplating heavenly obedience.

Because right now, as we speak, the triumphant saints and innumerable hosts of shining angels are perfectly executing the will of God – every last one of them. No one is stubbornly resisting. There’s no complaining. No grumbling. No bitterness toward God, for his commands. And I expect the reason why is because the beings of heaven are no longer infected by the poison of sin, and they are able to see the glory and worth and beauty of God. They are giddy with happiness that they have the privilege of knowing this God, and representing him. Every command of God is simply another opportunity to prove their love for him, and to affirm the wisdom of His Word, and to enjoy the pleasantness of His smile.

Without fail, God’s Word is carried out in heaven. And Jesus yearns that this would be the case on earth. He wants us to yearn for it, too! Otherwise, it would be easy for us to set our sights too low! So often we simply pray that our lives will be afflicted by evil just a little less. That we’ll be relieved from some minor inconveniences or body aches. But do you really want heaven? Does it grieve you when people aren’t embracing the rule and reign of Jesus, or you have become indifferent to it? Are you content to have a heart toward God that’s non-committal or careless? Or do you long for something more?

Jesus has taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” BECAUSE these are the things that he wants his disciples to love, to prioritize. God is calling all people out of their darkness, to come to His King by faith, and to long for His kingdom. And he wants us to pray that the kingdom of God would more and more be advanced, in our own affections and actions, and to the ends of the earth, until Jesus comes again. So let’s have these things on our hearts as we pray. And let’s pray for these things together now: