Open your Bibles, if you will, to Matthew chapter six. Pastor Greg said we’re working our way through the Lord’s Prayer, as it is so called. This is not a prayer that the Lord himself would pray. He would not pray, “forgive us our debts.” But this is a prayer that he gave us as a sample, a model, to learn how to pray.
Matthew six, I’ll begin with verse nine: “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 have also forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
We will focus today on the first part of verse 10, “your kingdom come.” You remember the prayer then has two broad sections. First of all, there’s an opening address: “Our Father in heaven.” And then we have six areas of petition divided two ways. We have three petitions pertaining to God—his glory, his kingdom, his will. And then we have three petitions pertaining to God’s people: “Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our debts, and lead us not into temptation.”
One point I’ve been trying to emphasize through all of this is notice the order of this. It is the petitions that pertain to God that are first in this prayer. Petitions that pertain to us are second. Not saying that that’s the order you must follow in every prayer, but it is to emphasize that prayer is not, first of all, about us. Prayer, first of all, is about God and his interests: his glory—”hallowed be your name”—his kingdom, and his will being done.
Now we saw last time the first petition, “Hallowed be your name.” This is the most important; it’s all-encompassing of all of the rest. He’s praying, he teaches us to pray here, that God would be duly reverenced. “Hallowed be your name”—not “hallowed is your name,” but “let your name be hallowed” on this earth. It looks out on the earth as full of blasphemy and rebellion against God, and this petition says, “Lord, sanctify your name in the earth.” We saw last time that that is exactly what God said he intends to do. This is his purpose in history. He says that to the prophet, “I will sanctify my name in the earth.” And so we are to pray accordingly that God would promote his own glory in the earth. And so again, prayer is not first of all about us, and our first concern in prayer is not even to make us holy. Our first concern in prayer is that God would make his name holy in the earth, that it would be reverenced and duly recognized as holy.
Your Kingdom Come
Now we come to the second petition, and it continues in that same God-centered vein. Verse 10: “Your kingdom come.” Now this, of course, is a major overarching theme in the scriptures. It begins in Genesis chapter one. God, who is king over all, creates man and woman, and he establishes them as vice-regents over the world. “Let them have dominion over the earth.” And so we have humanity created to extend God’s rule over all the earth.
We, of course, remember that in Genesis chapter 3, Adam failed in that miserably. And the rest of the Bible then is an undoing of what Adam did and an establishing of what God had ordered humanity to do, and that is to extend God’s kingdom and his rule over all the earth.
Now, God’s saving reign at this point is—let’s put this back a ways. God’s rule, his reign at this point, has a couple of aspects. One, God is, as always, God over all. He rules over all things without exception. His providence is over all and there’s not a speck of time and not a speck of space that is outside of his control. He’s king over all.
But ever since Genesis chapter 3, this world has been in rebellion against God. He rules, but that rule is contested. Humanity is in rebellion against God, and so from Genesis 3 onward, God’s purpose in history is to restore his rule over the earth and to bring about willing subjects who give him praise.
Now that rule then of God that he is set to reestablish in the earth involves, entails two dimensions. One, the destruction of his enemies. It’s a prominent note through the prophets and the Psalms as well. But also the vindication, the salvation of his people. So God will save his people; he’ll vindicate them and reestablish his rule with willing subjects, and he’ll destroy his enemies. And that’s the prospect that runs through all of the scriptures.
That prospect centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ. He comes; he’s the promised king. He’s the Davidic son that was promised; he’s the seed of Abraham that was promised. He will reassert God’s rule in the world and eventually bring it to its final culmination. In his first coming—the word we use—he inaugurated that kingdom. He died on behalf of his people, he destroyed sin, he destroyed the rule of Satan because sin is taken care of, and so he’s wrested the ruling of the world away from Satan back to himself.
But it hasn’t come in its culminating aspect yet. We see in Matthew chapter 13, probably the most famous passage dealing with this, that God’s kingdom at this point in history has a mystery aspect to it. That is, it comes secretly. It’s like a sower that sows the seed. And people are saved and brought into the kingdom, but as far as the world is concerned, it’s rather missed, not really perceived. This aspect of the kingdom is like wheat growing in a field, and there’s weeds going along with it, and they’re both there, and at the end they’ll be gathered and separated and all of that.
But this aspect of the kingdom, it is inaugurated. The king is the king; he’s ascended to heaven, he rules over all, and his purpose in history—he has sent his spirit to do it—is to extend his kingdom throughout all the earth. And so to pray, “your kingdom come,” is to pray then for the advancement of God’s kingdom, his purpose, in the earth. The kingdom of Satan will be destroyed, and the rule of Christ will be realized in the earth.
So, to our point here, how do we pray that? What does it mean to pray, “your kingdom come”? Well, there are two aspects to it. I think the second is primarily in view, clearly, but there are two aspects to it.
The Ever-Expanding Rule Of Christ Through The Gospel
First of all, when we pray, “your kingdom come,” we can learn then to pray for the ever-expanding rule of Christ through the gospel. He has inaugurated the kingdom now; that kingdom expands through the gospel. And so when we pray, “your kingdom come,” we are praying that God will expand his rule through the advancement of the gospel. This entails the initial conversion of his people. It includes their life lived accordingly so that his kingdom interests are deepened in their own experience and their own interests in life. This entails missions, evangelism. This is a prayer that says first—I think the primary focus is later—but it says first, “Establish your kingdom in my heart, in my experience, my life, in our church, in other churches around the world. Establish your rule increasingly in history.”
So we can pray then, “your kingdom come,” with the world at large in view. Lord, bless the work of the gospel, our missionaries that we support, other faithful missionaries around the world, churches around the world, wherever your people are. Expand your interests throughout the world. Advance the gospel. Bless the efforts of missions. Bless the efforts of the gospel wherever it goes.
We can also pray this, not just with regard to the world at large in view, but we can pray this, “your kingdom come,” with regard to our own church as well. This, I think, is what we find primarily in Paul’s prayers. But it is: make your rule increasingly evident in us. Make RBC the people who are RBC. Make this in our relationships, in our treatment of one another, in our individual lives—make it more and more, make us more and more a people marked by kingdom living. So think, for example, of the Beatitudes. Make us a people who mourn over sin. Make us a people who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Make us a people who are pure in heart. Advance your kingdom interests in our church collectively. Make us increasingly faithful. Make us increasingly effective in taking the gospel to the people around us.
So we think of it in terms of the world at large, “your kingdom come.” We think of it in terms of RBC collectively. Make your kingdom work increasingly evident in our experience. Make us a people who are marked more and more as a people who are ruled by Christ—loving, forgiving, patient, godly, and all that that entails. And then, of course, we can pray this, “your kingdom come,” in one way with regards to ourselves, and that is: deepen your rule in my own life. Make it increasingly evident that I am one who has bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus.
The Return Of Christ
So we pray for the kingdom work. I’ve said that that’s one aspect we can pray. Pray for the advance of God’s kingdom in this age through the work of the gospel. I think it’s clear that primarily in view here is the consummation of God’s rule in the return of Christ. We look ahead to a day when the Lord Jesus will return and bring all of God’s purposes in history to the grand culmination, and every knee will bow before the Lord Jesus. And now, God’s name will be hallowed throughout the world. This is the ultimate fulfillment of the first petition in the consummating return of Christ, the consummation of the kingdom. In that day, his enemies will be destroyed. In that day, his people will be vindicated. We have some marvelous descriptions of that in the New Testament. But this is the object of the church’s hope, and this is the object of daily prayer, to pray with an eye to the fulfillment of God’s purpose when His kingdom is brought to its fulfillment in the return of Christ.
They say this will be the day when God’s name is hallowed. This is also the next petition. This will be the day when His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. A wonderful thing to look forward to. In that day, the Lord Jesus will receive the honor that’s been due Him all along. Every knee will bow before Him. Every tongue will confess Him as Lord. And so pray with that in view. One of my favorite descriptions of this day is what we find in 2 Thessalonians 1. It says Christ will return and He’ll be marveled at by his people. Wonderful thing just to sit and think about that. What will that be like? Finally, he’s here. Well, pray for that.
When I was a kid, very young, in our devotions at home—this goes back to when we were very young; I think my sister was still unable to even participate, it goes back that far—Dad instructed my brother and me, when we pray, he says, “I want you to pray. Every time when you pray, I want you to ask God, ‘Help Jesus to come soon.'”
That was wonderful instruction, and that has stuck with me to this day. It’s a regular feature of my prayer. Keep your eye to that day when the Lord Jesus will return and vindicate his people. We’ll marvel at him in his return. He’ll destroy his enemies. He’ll be vindicated. All of his enemies destroyed, no more rebellion. God’s name will be hallowed in all the earth. God’s will will be done everywhere on earth, just like it is already in heaven. A marvelous thing to look forward to.
And that was the hope of the early church. This is what marked them. In fact, I’m sure you’re familiar with it. We see it in 1 Corinthians 16, one of the traits, one of the practices of the early church, when they would greet one another or when they would part from one another. They would say the Aramaic word, Maranatha. The Lord comes. The Lord comes. The Lord comes. What a wonderful reminder.
Looking ahead to that day, and Jesus instructs us that ought to mark our prayers always. The Apostle John does that in the book of Revelation. Toward the very end: “Even so come, Lord Jesus.” There’s an interesting verse in 2 Peter that speaks to this, where the apostle says, through our godly living and whatnot in our prayers, we are hastening the day, hastening the day of the coming, hastening the coming of the day of the Lord. That’s interesting language. How do you hasten the day? That day is set, you would think. I’m sure it is. It’s this idea of an eager anticipation.
And at the very least, we can be praying for the advance of God’s kingdom through the gospel in this age, with an eye to the end when the Lord Jesus will come. And that ought to be in our prayers always. Lord, make that day soon. Send your son who will finish here the work that he has done and to bring his kingdom to fulfillment. Amen.