Let's read together the Lord's Prayer from Matthew's Gospel.
So that's found in Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 to 13.
And Jesus teaches us to pray like this.
He says,
Pray then like this.
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.
This is God's holy word.
And it's good to see so many of you here tonight.
I'm really excited.
Keep your Bibles open on the Lord's Prayer.
Matthew chapter 6.
We are going through the Lord's Prayer still,
which is almost like a little series in another series.
You know, we're still in the Sermon on the Mount,
but Jesus is now teaching the people the Lord's Prayer.
Lewis was last week preaching on the beginning of the Lord's Prayer,
our Father in heaven,
and the comfort we find in that, that we are praying to our Father.
And this time we're looking at the next verse,
which is about the kingdom of God.
Martin Lloyd-Jones, the famous Welsh preacher in the city of London
in the 20th century,
he writes this about the Lord's Prayer.
Any man who attempts to preach on the Lord's Prayer
must surely find himself in great difficulties.
There is a sense in which it's almost presumptuous to preach on it at all.
One should simply repeat these phrases and meditate upon them
and consider them from the heart.
For they themselves say everything.
And the more I study this prayer,
the more I believe that if only one used these phrases
as our Lord intended them to be used,
there is really nothing more to be said.
But on the other hand, he says,
we're all frail and fallible.
We're all sinful creatures.
And the result is that we need to have these things analyzed and enforced.
So we'll try to do that a little bit today.
We try to analyze and then enforce,
apply to our hearts the words of the Lord's Prayer.
But Martin Lloyd-Jones is giving us the application,
the application in this series, right?
It's a prayer.
We have to pray the Lord's Prayer.
It's something we can preach from,
but if you don't pray it,
then it doesn't really have any value.
Verse 10, the kingdom of God.
It's a fairly short verse.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is on heaven.
This verse talks about the kingdom of God.
And the kingdom of God, I have to tell you,
is one of the biggest themes that we find in all of Scripture.
During the summer,
we had a sermon series called Kingdom Parables.
So today I will try a little bit
to explain what the kingdom of God is.
But if you still want more explanation,
you can go back on Spotify or on YouTube
and listen to this sermon series on the kingdom,
on parables about the kingdom.
Because Jesus gives us pictures
to explain what the kingdom of God is like
because it is not all that easy to say it in words.
My sermon today is two parts, okay?
We will try to figure out what the kingdom of God is,
and then we will try to figure out
why we should pray for the kingdom.
So let's start with the first.
What is the kingdom of God?
Sometimes it is helpful to look at words
and where they come from
because our English words and the biblical words,
they are not always the same principles.
So the word kingdom,
we all know the word kingdom
because if someone asks you,
where do you live?
You say, I live in Scotland
or I live in the United Kingdom.
So we associate the word kingdom with a place.
A kingdom is a place where a king rules.
In the biblical languages, however,
the word kingdom refers not only to a place,
but it also refers to an action.
The word kingdom stuck with us
from the King James Version
and before that from William Tyndale's
translations of the Bible.
But in the biblical languages,
it refers more to the activity of a king
reigning over his people.
So we could say it means,
the kingdom of God means,
it is, or the kingdom of God is
where God's will is done,
where God reigns.
And that is why right after
the first sentence in our verse,
your kingdom come,
we read, your will be done.
It is two sides of the same coin.
The kingdom of God is
where God's will is done.
And you see,
the world had become a place
where God's will hadn't been done.
It wasn't enforced.
Therefore,
Jesus is now announcing
that God's reign has come.
However,
kingdom,
this word kingdom,
still assumes a place
because if you say,
okay,
God's will is done,
God is sovereign,
God is ruling,
then it still assumes
that he's ruling over people
somewhere,
right?
But if we look at the second part
of this word kingdom,
dem,
you know,
the,
what do you say,
suffix,
prefix,
I don't know.
It's like boredom,
you know,
it's a state,
it's a condition,
the condition of being bored.
Now,
kingdom is the condition
of being kinged,
of being ruled,
of being reigned over.
It's quite simple,
the definition,
admittedly,
but maybe it's helpful
to think about it like that.
The second thing I want to say
is that the kingdom
is the gospel.
And what I mean by that
is that in the Bible,
we always talk about
the gospel
as the key message.
But one scholar says
that the kingdom of God
is the idea
that stitches
the whole Bible together.
And that's really helpful
because it's true.
From the first page
in the Bible,
Genesis 1,
to the last page
in the Bible,
in the book of Revelations,
we find this idea
of the kingdom of God.
From the garden
to the city,
from Eden
to New Jerusalem.
And Jesus himself
mentions the kingdom
80 times,
I think,
in the gospels.
Which makes you think,
okay,
I thought the gospels,
you know,
the gospel of Jesus Christ,
he lived,
he died,
he was raised again.
That is the main message.
So why do I say
the kingdom of God
is the main message?
Because it's one,
it's the same thing.
Even Jesus himself says,
he uses the phrase,
the gospel of the kingdom
of God.
If you were here
last Sunday morning,
maybe you heard
Corey preach
on the question,
what is the gospel?
And he said something like,
the gospel is good news.
It's an announcement.
It's like a newspaper article
announcing something,
giving you news.
The gospel is news
of the return of the king.
That finally,
in the midst of chaos,
there will be order.
In the midst of violence,
there will be peace.
And in the midst of darkness,
there will be light.
The good news,
the gospel is,
that the kingdom of God
has arrived.
Through the king,
who comes in the middle of history
to put things right again.
The kingdom is the gospel.
The whole Bible
is about God's kingdom.
Thirdly,
kingdom means dominion.
Dominion is not a word
we use often.
in our day-to-day colloquial language.
But it's throughout
the whole Bible.
Again,
it starts on the first page.
Genesis 1,
verse 26.
We read about this word,
dominion.
Interestingly,
it's not about
God having dominion,
but it's about God
giving us dominion.
So what we learn
in that passage
is actually
that God
wanted us
to rule.
So we read,
God said,
let us make man
in our image
after our likeness
and let them have dominion
over the fish
over the sea
and over the birds
of the heavens
and over the livestock
and over all the earth
and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.
So,
we see that
we have this dominion
language
right from the beginning
of the Bible
in the garden,
not for God himself
having dominion
over us,
but actually
for us
to rule
over creation,
intended in a very good way
with responsibilities.
Why?
Because we are
image bearers
of God.
We get this
royal task
of ruling,
of subduing
the creation
and caring for it.
We are all
cultivators.
We bring order
into chaos.
We are all
gardeners in a way.
We cultivate,
we develop,
we are supposed
to reign over creation.
We were given
dominion.
Now,
Richard Dawkins,
the popular
atheist,
in his book
The God Delusion,
he says
a lot of things
about God,
but one of the things
he says is that
God is an unforgiving
control freak.
But in Genesis 1,
we see
God giving
dominion over nature
and over animals
to human beings.
God makes
Adam and Eve
co-rulers
over his kingdom.
He gives them
the ability
to choose
between right
and wrong.
So,
is that a control freak?
Is that what
a control freak does?
I don't think so.
The problem is not
that God is
a control freak.
The problem is
that we as human
beings,
we want to set up
our own kingdom.
We didn't want
to share with God.
We wanted to be
God ourselves.
So,
we had to leave
the kingdom
to set up
our own kingdom.
And now,
the other part
of Dawkins'
claim,
he says,
God is unforgiving.
That is not true.
The rest of the Bible,
after the first
three chapters,
is the story
about how God
is trying to save us
from ourselves,
from our own kingdom
that has gone wrong
again,
and again,
culminating in
Jesus Christ,
the Son of God,
becoming human himself,
leaving his glory,
writing himself
into history,
and dying
for our sin,
dying for our rebellion,
dying for the fact
that we weren't satisfied
with ruling
alongside God.
God wants to say,
come back to the kingdom.
Now,
the problem is
we can't do that.
We have left
the kingdom.
We are sinful.
Sin is not permitting
us to come back
to him.
So what did he do?
He sent his own son.
He sent Jesus Christ.
And what did Jesus do?
He took all the sin
on himself.
He became
the sin
that was keeping us
from entering
the kingdom of God
so that we might enter.
He became
the outsider.
He became
the outcast.
He left the city
so that we
might enter
the kingdom
of God.
That is,
today is Palm Sunday.
A lot of churches
are celebrating
Palm Sunday.
What do we do?
What do we read about
in the Bible
on Palm Sunday?
Jesus entering
Jerusalem.
He's received
like a king.
And a few days later,
he's crucified
with a crown
of thorns.
Outside of the city,
he is left
at becoming the sin
so that we
might enter it.
fourthly,
the kingdom
is already
but not yet.
Maybe you've
heard this before
if you've been
to church
for a while.
If you grew up
in church,
you've heard people
talking about the
already but not
yet.
It's weird,
isn't it,
that we read
in the Gospels
that Jesus says
the kingdom of God
is at hand.
It has arrived,
but in the Lord's prayer,
he tells us
to pray for it.
How can that be?
And honestly,
that can be confusing,
but it just shows you
how the kingdom of God
is a very complex idea,
that it's multi-layered,
that there are
many aspects to it,
and one of those
aspects is time.
Because,
as I said,
we read that the kingdom
of God is here,
but also that there
is so much more
to come.
Theologians,
therefore,
speak about the kingdom
of God having
been inaugurated
already.
It's been established.
It is here,
through Jesus Christ.
However,
it is not yet
fully realized,
not yet fully consummated.
So,
we live in the present,
knowing that we can be
part of this kingdom
if we repent
and believe,
and also,
that there is something
more to come.
A reality
in which Christ
will sit
on the throne,
ruling
over new creation.
Some people have
compared it to
D-Day and
V-Day.
So,
in the Second World War,
you had D-Day,
which is when
the Allies said,
we will free Europe,
and they've sent
their soldiers,
and they landed
on the beaches
in France.
And then,
one year later,
you had V-Day,
when the actual
victory was
accomplished.
It was already
decided the war
was going to end,
but the actual
victory came
a year later.
So,
it's a bit like that.
We live in the
here and now.
We're cleansed
from our sin.
We're able to
choose the right
thing,
yet we still
live in a fallen
world,
and the battle
is still going
on around us,
so we still
fall into sin.
We live in the
understanding that
we have eternal
life in Jesus Christ,
yet we are still
surrounded by death.
We know that one
day all tears
will be wiped
away,
yet we mourn,
and we grieve,
and we shed tears
as this life brings
us suffering and
troubles.
Yet we have the
promise that one
day that will all
be done away with.
And that is
unbelievable and
difficult sometimes
to fully realize,
to wrap our
heads around.
It seems too
good to be true
almost, even so
good that a lot
of people have
struggled to see
it.
Friedrich Nietzsche,
I'm not the only
one who quotes
German thinkers
from this pulpit.
We've heard a lot
of Nietzsche and
other people
lately.
Nietzsche says
this,
the kingdom of
heaven is a
condition of the
heart.
Is that correct?
Would we agree?
I think to a
degree, yes.
The kingdom of
heaven is a
condition of the
heart.
If God rules in
your heart,
that's a good
thing.
Then the kingdom
of heaven is
within you.
And here he goes
wrong, because
what he says next
is, it is not
something that
comes above the
earth or after
death.
And that's where
Nietzsche is
wrong, because it
will be.
It is promised.
God has promised
that we will one
day see him face
to face.
It's the already
but not yet.
Karl Marx says,
religion is the
sigh of the
oppressed creature,
the heart of a
heartless world.
It's the opium of
the people.
Karl Marx said,
it's the opium of
the people.
Why?
Because he sees
that religion, it
helps people.
Somehow it gives
them strength to
keep on in this
cruel world.
For him, of course,
it's just a
distraction of his
cause of social
liberation.
But what he fails
to see is that
actually it's not
just opium.
It's the medicine
that gives you
healing.
It's a true hope.
It is something so
much bigger than
just a nice idea.
It is real.
Secondly, why
should we pray for
the kingdom to
come?
I've tried to
come up with a
list of ideas
and reasons why
we should pray for
the kingdom of
God to come.
And the first
reason is this,
because Jesus
tells us so.
Jesus tells us to
pray for it because
it is for our
good, ultimately.
That's the first
reason.
Second reason,
Sinclair Ferguson,
the great Scottish
theologian, he
says,
out of love for
him and our
concern for his
glory, we pray
that his kingdom
will come out of
love for God and
out of our own
concern for his
glory.
As I said, we
already live in the
kingdom, yet its
final flowing is
still awaited.
We therefore pray
that the kingdom
that has already
been established
will express its
presence more and
more throughout the
earth, he writes,
until the day
comes when the
kingdom of the
world has become
the kingdom of
our Lord and of
his Christ, and he
will reign forever
and ever.
It's about God's
glory, about God's
glory.
Thirdly, we should
pray for the
kingdom so that the
kingdom grows within
our own hearts and so
that we submit to
God's will.
Praying for the
kingdom will bring
the idea of the
kingdom into our
minds.
It will make us
kingdom-minded
people.
Praying for the
kingdom will make
you see the world
around you with
different eyes,
through a different
lens.
Why?
One of the main
purposes of prayer
is not to ask God
the Father to change
his will, but
actually to submit
to his will.
It's a warming up
to the promises he
has given us.
It's an act of
accepting and
submitting to God,
to the hard things
that we are walking
through, in the
knowledge that in
all things God
works for the good
of those who love
him.
Tim Keller writes
about this.
He says,
Jesus submitted to
the Father's will,
under circumstances
far more crushing
than any of us
will ever face.
Jesus admitted to
his Father's will
rather than
following his own
desires, and it
saved us.
That's why we
can trust him.
Jesus is not
asking us to do
anything for him
that he hasn't
already done for us.
Under conditions
of difficulty,
beyond our
comprehension.
You see, we
can trust Jesus
when he says,
pray for the
kingdom, submit
to his will.
Without this
trust, what
happens?
We will try to
take God's
place, and we
will pray, my
kingdom come, my
will be done, on
earth as it is in
my imagination.
You know?
But if you see,
if we pray for the
kingdom to come, we
are aware that if
God would have
given us what we
deserved, then none
of us would be part
of his kingdom.
We submit to his
will.
And actually, we
want to love his
will.
Submission is not
going far enough.
I know some of
you here submit to
his will and do
his will.
We all try to do
that as a Christian
family together, but
not all of us love
his will.
And that's
difficult.
It's difficult to
love God's will.
But that is the
idea of this
prayer, to warm up
to that.
Your will be
done.
Jesus praying in
the garden, kneeling
down.
If you can, let
this cup pass.
But if not, then
your will be
done.
Your will be
done.
Why else?
Why should we pray
for the kingdom
of God?
As an encouragement
for us, it reminds
us of our identity
in Christ, that we
are adopted, that we
are accepted, and
that we are loved.
It helps our
assurance.
It frees us from
our doubts.
If we pray this
prayer and preach
to ourself that the
kingdom will come,
that God's will be
done on earth as it
is in heaven.
C.S. Lewis says
that often we are
satisfied with playing
in mud puddles because
we can't imagine what
a holiday at the beach
would look like.
Sometimes this idea
of heaven to come,
the kingdom of God
seems too good to be
true.
But if we pray for the
kingdom to come, we
remind ourselves and
we preach to ourselves
the reality of God's
will to come even
more and even better
than what it is now.
In Lord of the Rings,
in the third book or
third movie, depending
on whether you read
or watch it, I mean
all of us have read or
watched it, I hope,
we get this illustration.
We get Aragorn and he
is the king of Gondor
and the book is giving
us him as an illustration
of what a just king
looks like, a humble
king, a kind king,
powerful, wise, worthy.
And all of that is just
a mere glimpse of what
the true king Jesus is
like.
Now the difference
between Aragorn and
Jesus is this.
Aragorn is fictional.
Jesus Christ isn't.
Jesus Christ is the
king who will return
and then the world
will see and know.
And when we pray for
the kingdom to come,
we are praying for
God's upside down
kingdom to come.
Remember, the kingdom
is good news.
It's the gospel.
I say upside down
kingdom because in
God's kingdom, the
king is the servant.
In God's kingdom,
tears are wiped away.
In God's kingdom,
the judge becomes the
one who is judged.
The sad will be happy.
The desperate will be
joyful.
Anger will become
kindness.
Sin will be done
away with.
Selfishness will not
exist and love will
rule.
And it's already here.
The prince of peace
will sit on his throne
of mercy and he will
wipe away our tears.
We should pray for the
kingdom of God, for our
own sanctification as
well.
We are promised in the
Bible that we will be
co-heirs with Christ.
We are, if we believe,
if we repent and believe
in Jesus Christ, we are
his brothers, which means
we are adopted.
We are part of God's
family.
We are sons and
daughters of the king.
When I was a child, my
mom used to read stories
to me before I go to bed.
And this is one story.
And I tried to translate
the title.
It's a bit wooden.
But it's something like
Not Like With Robbers.
Okay.
Now, it is a story about
two children, Tom and
Jenny.
And they live with
robbers in a den.
And it's dirty there.
It's not nice.
The robbers aren't really
nice to them.
They're just being brought
up there.
They don't really have
nice clothes.
When there is food, they
just have to get as much
as they can, stuff it in
their pockets, run into
the corn and eat it there
so nobody steals it away
from them.
And one day this man comes
and he goes to the robbers
and says, I want these
two children and I want
them to come with me to
my house.
I will care for them.
And the robbers say, ah,
they're not good for
anything.
But yeah, they take his
money and the children
go with him.
And the next day they
wake up and they are in
a palace.
And it turns out the king
came and bought them and
redeemed them.
And what happens?
Tom wakes up and he goes
into the kitchen.
There's a big table and
there are other children
sitting there and eating.
And he runs to the table
and it's full with good
food and he steals the
food and he runs away
into his corner and eats
it, kind of like trying to
make sure nobody steals
his food.
And nobody, nobody's even
trying to.
The kids, they come over to
him and they say, what are
you doing?
You can come sit at the
table with us.
It's okay.
And all of them are kind
and loving and Tom doesn't
understand why that is.
But the reason why that is
is because there's enough
food.
There's enough of
everything.
They live in a palace and
they're the children of the
king.
And that shows in how they
act and how they behave.
So what I'm saying is that
we are princes and
princesses in a way.
We are children of the
highest king.
Therefore, the Bible says
we should behave like that
as well.
God bought us with a
price.
He clothed us with the
robe of righteousness.
He sees you and he says,
my son died for you.
You are adopted.
It's a huge privilege.
Praying for the kingdom
should remind us that we
are co-heirs, co-heirs,
it's hard to say for me,
co-heirs with Christ.
We are his children.
Lastly, we should pray
because it will be
heaven on earth.
It's for our
consolation.
I know that many of us
are struggling with
difficult situations
in life, with the loss
of loved ones, with
sickness, with
suffering that is
unexpected, with a lot
of different things.
Listen to what John
writes in the book of
Revelation.
He says,
then I saw a new
heaven and a new
earth.
For the first heaven
and the first earth
had passed away and
there was no longer
any sea.
I saw the holy city,
the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of
heaven from God,
prepared as a bride
beautifully dressed for
her husband.
And I heard a loud
voice from the throne
saying, look,
God's dwelling place
is now among the
people and he will
dwell with them.
They will be his
people and God
himself will be with
them and be their
God.
He will wipe away
every tear from
their eyes.
there will be no
more death or
mourning or crying
or pain for the
old order of things
has passed away.
We should pray for
the kingdom of God.
We should look at
the king on the
cross with the
crown of thorns
on his head,
becoming the
outsider, the
outcast, so that
we may enter.
Have you been
struggling lately to
pray?
Have you been
struggling to think
about the kingdom
of God?
Have you been
struggling to pray
for the kingdom
of God?
I hope that I'm
able to help you a
little bit with
this, to be excited
for the kingdom of
God.
The only reason I
see not to be
excited about the
kingdom of God is
if you're not sure
if you're in it,
if you're not sure
if you can enter.
So my question to
you is tonight,
would you consider
what I've just
talked about?
Would you consider
the kingdom of God
not out of fear,
not because you
need some sort of
opium to distract
you from your
pain, but because
God is actually
offering you to
become part of his
family and part of
his kingdom?
Do you feel like
you're not in the
kingdom?
Then listen to the
king as he says,
come to me all you
who are weary and
heavy laden and I
will give you rest.
Do you feel bored?
Do you feel without
purpose?
Then look to Jesus
Christ who offers
you his hand so
you can help expand
his kingdom.
We are to pray for
the kingdom because
it's the gospel.
It's the good news
that things are
being made right
again by the
servant king who
in the middle of
history became a
human being just
like us to
fulfill what we
as image bearers
couldn't fulfill.
And he will reign
forever and ever.
We are praying for
the king to return.
That's the good
news today.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, it's
like Martin Lloyd
Jones says that we
are overwhelmed with
the truths and the
depth that we find
in scripture and
even in the Lord's
prayer, even in just
one verse.
So we ask, would
you with your Holy
Spirit move in our
hearts?
Would you help us to
understand what it
means to pray for you?
the kingdom?
Would you help us to
become kingdom-minded
people, to be
peacemakers and to
seek justice and to
love our neighbors
well, just like
Jesus did?
Would you help us to
become more like him
every day?
In Jesus' name we
ask.
Amen.