Christian Quotes

Text: Matt. 6:5-13

Some time ago I began focusing my devotional talks here on the Lord’s prayer. On the first occasion we looked at the words, “Our Father.” The next time we looked at the larger phrase, “Our Father, which art in Heaven.” Then on the third occasion we looked at the first of the seven petitions found in the prayer: “Hallowed be Thy name.”

Just very briefly to recap:

This is a model prayer—not necessarily to be repeated word for word—a skeleton or outline.

“Our Father” reminds us of our intimacy with God. “Our” reminds us that we are part of a family that is worldwide. “Our Father in Heaven” reminds us that this Father is the creator and supreme Ruler of the universe—all powerful, all knowing. Nothing is too big for Him. But because He’s our Father, nothing is too small.

After the invocation follow the seven requests:

1. Hallowed by Thy name

2. Thy kingdom come

3. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven

4. Give us this day our daily bread

5. Forgive us our trespasses

6. Lead us not into temptation

7. Deliver us from evil (or better, “from the evil one”)

We already looked at the first petition: Hallowed be Thy name. This is a prayer that God’s name will be reverenced and held sacred throughout the world. It is a prayer that men and women, boys and girls will come to know God and that as His children they will honor and obey Him and treat His name with the sacredness that it deserves.

Tonight I want to draw our attention to the second petition:

THY KINGDOM COME

What an interesting petition! Thy Kingdom come. What can it mean? Well, I suppose in order to find out what it means, we need to know what Jesus means here by the word KINGDOM. A kingdom is simply a realm which is ruled by a king. I guess that’s a little difficult for most Americans to grasp, since America rejected monarchy at its very foundation and opted to become a republic. Modern Americans have never been ruled by a king so the idea of a kingdom might be a foreign concept. Often in the past kings have had absolute power, or very nearly so. Look at Nebuchadnezzar in the Old Testament. He could have people thrown into a fiery furnace at a moment’s notice. He threatened to have all his wise men executed and cut into pieces and their houses made into dunghills.

Well, Jesus is a King. He’s the ruler of a Kingdom. The Kingdom is owned by God the Father, but God the Son is the King. When Jesus came to earth, He preached the Kingdom of God.  “Repent,” Jesus said, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand [or near].” “The kingdom of God has arrived.” What did He mean? He meant: “the King is here!”  Turn your lives around. Submit yourselves to God. Repent, for the King is here!

What we have to understand is that God’s Kingdom has not reached and will not reach it’s visible manifestation until Jesus comes back at His second coming. At His first coming He came to set up the Kingdom of God in the hearts of men and women; but at His second coming He will set up a visible Kingdom on earth and reign with absolute authority.

So there is a sense in which the kingdom has two manifestations: the current manifestation can be described as the Kingdom of GRACE. The future manifestation will be a manifestation of GLORY. The current phase of the kingdom is mostly invisible—within the hearts of His people, but there is coming a day when God’s Kingdom will no longer be invisible and inward, but it will be outward and visible. At the present moment, not everyone acknowledges Jesus as Lord and King of their lives; but there is coming a day when EVERY KNEE shall bow and EVERY TONGUE shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Today, Satan is the king, or as the Bible calls him, the prince of this world. The majority of mankind have given their allegiance to satan and thus made him king. But this is only a temporary arrangement. One day, satan’s reign will come to an end and he will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, along with all those who would not surrender their lives to the rightful King, Jesus the Son of God.

So when we pray this prayer, THY KINGDOM COME, we are really praying for the coming of the Kingdom of God in two aspects:

We are praying that the kingdom of grace will advance in the hearts of men and women; that more and more people will surrender their lives to His kingship and enter His Kingdom through the new birth; that the gospel message will continue to be sounded out throughout the world; and that in our own hearts, His kingdom will advance; that we will be more and more given up to Him, more yielded, allowing more and more of His presence and His power to shine through us for His glory and for His honor.

And we are also praying that the kingdom of glory, that day when Jesus will be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords and set up His glorious reign on earth, when the kingdom will be outward and visible, will speedily come.  One of the last prayers in the Bible says, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.”

What about you tonight? Has the Kingdom of God come in YOUR heart? Do you know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is your King, that your life is surrendered to Him, and that your only goal in life is to glorify Him and see others brought into this glorious Kingdom? If not, your prayer tonight should be, “Lord Jesus, come into my heart and set up your kingdom within me. May your Kingdom come in MY LIFE. Come, Lord, and reign and rule in me.”

May the Lord help us to learn from this model prayer how to pray aright. It shows us that we shouldn’t come into God’s presence with an outpouring of petitions for our own needs first, but rather we should seek first God’s interests. The first three petitions here all focus on God: the hallowing of His name, the advancement of His Kingdom, and the accomplishment of His will; it’s only after we have prayed for those things that we should begin to bring our own petitions regarding our own needs.

Prayer is the most important thing we do as Christians. May God help us to be faithful to the task!

Thank you for your kind attention.

Amen.