"Thy Kingdom Come.."
By Jim Murriner
Mt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
We looked a few weeks ago at the first statement in the Lord's model prayer,
"Our Father which art in Heaven,," and in doing so we noted that no one can pray untill they have a heavenly Father.
No lost sinner, can pray, not even for salvation. They do not as those who are still dead in sins, have the ability, to do so.
Then we looked last Lord's day at the fact that when we pray, the Name of God must be Hallowed , or "Sanctified" or set apart to us.
We can only pray unto God because He is Greater, and Mightier than we could even consider becoming. We must pray unto Him, not as our equal , but as one who is far above us, and one who truly is able to grant the request which we make,
Now today, we want to look at the next statement in the Lord's model prayer.
"Thy Kingdom Come"
These words imply that God is a King. He who has a kingdom, can be no less than a king.
God is King of the earth.
Ps 47:7 "For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding."
He is King upon His throne.
Ps 47:8 "God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness."
He is A Great King.
Ps 95:3 "For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods."
We see Him as so Great a King by the immensity of His being.
Jer 23:24" Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."
He is so immensely Great that Heaven cannot contain Him.
1Ki 8:27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?"
Since God is so great a King, and sits King for ever, it is no
Small thing for us to serve Him.
It is an honor to serve a King,
Seeing that God is so glorious a King, full of power and majesty, let us
trust in Him.
Ps 9:10 "And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."
What then do we mean when we pray, Thy Kingdom Come.
Two things are meant here.
There is the Kingdom of Grace.
Then there the Kingdom of Glory, the eternal home of the Save.
We as saved people pray for the Kingdom of Grace to come in the hearts of those who have not yet been saved.
Placing the Kingdom within our hearts, and us within His Kingdom, is totally the Work of God.
Ps 37:39 "But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble."
Php 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"
It is essential, that we have this Kingdom, within us, and that those about us be brought into this Kingdom, because, until we had been brought into His kingdom, we were in a Kingdom of darkness where sin reigned.
Ro 6:12 "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."
Col 1:13" Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"
How may we know that this Kingdom of Grace has been set up within us, and that we have been brought from the kingdom of darkness unto the kingdom of Grace?
It concerns us to examine this, for our salvation depends upon it, and we had need be cautious in the search, because there is something that looks like grace, which is not.
Ga 6:3 "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself."
Men have had convictions and stirrings of conscience for sin, they have seen the evil of their ways, and now hope the kingdom of grace is come; but convictions are not grace. Did Pharaoh not have convictions?
Ex 10:16 "Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you."
Men have had some kind of humiliation, and have shed tears for their sins, and
therefore hope the kingdom of grace is come into their hearts. But this is no true sign of grace. Saul wept, and Ahab humbled himself.
Why is not humiliation a grace? Wherein does it come short of it?
Tears in the wicked do not spring from love to God, but are forced by affliction,
Ge 4:13 " And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear."
The tears of sinners are forced by God's fiery judgements. They are deceitful tears;
Men weep, yet go on in sin; they do not drown their sins in their
tears.
Reformation is not the same as salvation, or as being in the Kingdom of Grace.
Men have begun some reformation, therefore surely now they think the kingdom of grace is come; but there may be deceit in this. A man may leave his oaths and
drunkenness, and still be in love with sin. He may leave his sin, out of fear of hell, or because it brings shame, but still his heart goes after it,
Ho 4:8 "They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity."
Lot's wife left Sodom, but still her heart was in Sodom.
Hypocrites are like the snake which sheds her coat, but keeps her poison.
How then can we know without a doubt that this Kingdom of Grace has come upon us, and that we have been translated from the kingdom of darkness unto the Kingdom of Grace?
How then may we know without a doubt that we are saved, or that the Kingdom of Grace is set up in us?
There will be a change wrought in the soul.
2Co 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
This will produce
1. A genuine hunger after God.
Ne 1:11 "O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer."
Here we have a true desire to serve God in fear.
Nu 23:10 "Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! "
This shows desire to continue in the service of the Lord unto death.
2. We may know that the Kingdom of Grace has come into our hearts, and that we are saved if we have faith in the Lord Jesus as our personal saviour.
Heb 10:38 "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him"
Ac 16:30 "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
This faith is only sound faith if it is faith which has been given unto us by God.
Ro 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
The lost sinner does not one day all alone, without ever hearing the gospel, receive faith.
Faith is the gift of God.
Eph 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"
