Thy Kingdom Come

Let’s read beginning in verse 9, “After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.”

John Bunyan, the man who penned the famous Pilgrims Progress, said these words about prayer. He said, “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” I concur. I think how often we pray, and we have words without heart. It’s better that we have our heart and mind engaged and not have words, because God knows our hearts. Amen? And the Bible says, “Your Father who is in heaven knows what you need before you even ask Him.” So we don’t really need to have words, so to speak. We just have to have a heart that is engaged and share with God as our Father in heaven. However, we commonly use words when we pray, so Jesus gives to us what we call the Lord’s Prayer.

Now in praying this Lord’s Prayer, there are a couple dangers He warned us of. And I want to remind you of them. He first warned us that we don’t pray hypocritically, in verses 5 and 6. Back up with me. Let’s read those verses. I’ll show you what Jesus was talking about. In Matthew 6:5, Jesus says, “When you pray…”—and notice He didn’t say “if you pray,” but He assumed we would be praying—He said, “…you should not be as the hypocrites are…”—There’s the warning. Then He tells us why—“…because they love to pray standing in the synagogue and in the corners of the streets…”—Why do they love praying in the synagogue and in the streets? Verse 5—“…that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward,” which is what? Being seen of men. They’re hypocrites; they’re only doing it to show off. Don’t pray that way.

But how should you pray? In verse 6, “When you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut the door, pray to thy Father which sees in secret, and thy Father, which sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.” So I want you to take note of this: The warning is that we pray not hypocritically.

But there’s a second warning before He gives us this prayer we should pray. And that is don’t pray mechanically; saying words but no heart. And the warning is in verses 7 and 8. Look at it with me. He says again, “When you pray…”—assuming we will pray—“…use not vain repetition…”—so don’t be “…as the hypocrites and don’t be as the heathen.” Verse 7, “They think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” This is how we should pray, verse 8, “But be not ye like unto them, for your Father knows that you have need of these things before you even ask Him.”
So two warnings: Don’t pray hypocritically. Don’t pray mechanically. Don’t pray hypocritically, but pray sincerely. Don’t pray mechanically, but pray thoughtfully. So we should be sincere and thoughtful.

So when we come to this prayer we commonly call the Lord’s Prayer, it’s really Jesus giving us a pattern and the priorities of prayer. After we go through this series, you’re going to be so familiar with each one of these phrases and petitions that you can pray. You can say, “Father,” and you can take a moment and talk about “God, You’re my Father, and I thank You that You know me and You love me and You care for me and You provide for me.” And then you say, “Lord, I want Your Name to be hallowed. I want everyone to reverence. Lord, help me to hallow Your Name. In my thoughts and my words and my deeds, may You be glorified.” And then you pray, “Lord, I want Your kingdom to come. I want Your will to be done.” And you pray that prayer not with just words but with heart as well as words. And you’ll see your prayer life completely transformed.

So in verse 9, He told us prayer starts with God’s person. “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.” Then it moves in verse 10 to God’s program. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.” Prayer is about God’s kingdom and God’s will. So as I pointed out, notice the first three petitions. God’s Name hallowed, God’s kingdom coming and God’s will being done. The first three of six petitions focus on God.

Now we come to the second petition in this prayer, and I want you to notice it with me in verse 10. The entire sermon is going to be based on these three words, so you gotta pay attention. Notice in verse 10, “Thy kingdom come.” Three words, but an ocean of truth. So much so that I was tempted, only slightly, but tempted to make this a two-part series, “Thy kingdom come.” There is a wealth of theology and doctrine and truth in this little phrase, “Thy kingdom come.”

Now, when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” it is not because God does not reign in the heavens. Now notice too, by the way, it’s God’s kingdom, not man’s. It’s not “My kingdom”—no personal pronouns in the Lord’s Prayer. And we’re speaking here of God’s kingdom. Now I want to point out something. What does it mean when we say the “kingdom of heaven” or the “kingdom of God”? First of all, I want to go on record that the “kingdom of heaven” and the “kingdom of God” are the same thing.

Theologians argue, and they wrestle, and books have been written on it. And I for a long time kind of struggled, trying to figure out, you know, which is the which, and how they differ. And then I concluded they don’t. A lot of time wasted; right? Let me save you some time; they’re both the same thing. Just because you see the phrase—you see the phrase “kingdom of heaven” and then another time “kingdom of God,” they’re synonyms, they’re synonymous. They’re the same thing. So the question we need to ask before we understand this petition is, “What do we mean when we say the ‘kingdom of God’ or the ‘kingdom of heaven’?” Again, I had to boil it down to a simple statement. Basically what we mean is the sovereign reign of God. The sovereign reign of God. Now it can be broken up into different areas or categories or relationships to people or nations and so forth. But basically the overarching concept in the “kingdom of heaven” and the “kingdom of God” is that God sovereignly reigns.
Now an interesting thought we pray, “Thy kingdom come”—does that mean God’s kingdom hasn’t come yet? No and yes. “Well, what do you mean ‘no and yes’?” No; God is the King. Amen? And God reigns in the heavens. Amen? And God does whatever He wants to do. Amen? I could go on and on and on and on. The Bible is very clear; God reigns in the heavens. Let me just give you two verses from the Psalms that support what I’m saying. Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein.” You got that? It’s basically saying in poetic Hebrew language, everything belongs to God. Do you know that? You know, that includes what you think is yours is really God’s? “My house.” No; it’s God’s house. “My money, my kids, or my dog”—maybe you don’t want to claim your dog. It all belongs to God. It’s not yours. We don’t own anything. We’re just stewards; we’re just entrusted with it. Even planet earth isn’t ours. It’s God’s and He entrusts it to us. We sing, “This is my Father’s world.” Yes and no.

Satan is also called the “god of this world.” I’ll talk more about that in a moment. But I want to make it perfectly clear before we begin to break down what it means, “Thy kingdom come.” This does not diminish the sovereignty of God. God sits on the throne in the heavens. Psalm 135:6, “Whatsoever the Lord pleased did He in the heavens and in the earth, in the seas, and in all the deep places.” Again, the Psalms are Hebrew poetry. And in poetic language, it’s the psalmist’s way of saying, “God is in control.” God is ruling in the heavens. Whenever I watch the news on TV, and it seems like the whole world is out of control, I remind myself of this truth; that God is still on the throne. Every time in the book of Revelation John saw a throne in heaven, there was someone sitting on it. Good news; right? And guess who it was? God. Can you imagine John saying, “I was caught up into heaven and I saw a throne, and I looked at the throne and no one was there.” And he went, “Ahhhhh!” Freak out. God sits upon the throne. And He rules in the heavens.

Here’s the problem. The problem is there is a rival kingdom to God’s. It is the kingdom of Satan. You might say you also have “your kingdom.” “My kingdom come.” My little world, my little dominion. I’m master of my fate, I’m captain of my ship. And I won’t let God in. I won’t let God control me. I won’t let God tell me what to do.

But basically in the spiritual realm there are two kingdoms: God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom. And because of Adam’s sin and fall in the Garden of Eden, many do not submit to God’s rule. Sinful men or unregenerated men live in Satan’s kingdom of darkness, and they resist God’s reign over their lives. Now you won’t understand this petition if you don’t understand that Satan, being created by God, not equal with God—he’s not eternal, he’s not divine, he’s a creature, he was made as an angel originally, called “Lucifer,” that in his beauty and majesty, he wanted to rebel against God, he wanted to be greater than God, he wanted to usurp his authority over God. And so God kicked him out of heaven. And God actually threw him down to the earth. This is what we call the “fall of Satan.” And then Satan, in the Garden of Eden, tempted Eve, tempted Adam. They obeyed Satan and disobeyed—who?—God. So they pledged their allegiance to Satan and his kingdom, and they were driven out of the Garden. They were physically separated from God. They would physically die, and they would spiritually die. They’d be separated from God.

Now this is what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that in Adam and Eve, acting as federal heads of all humanity—everyone born from Adam and Eve, which is everyone, is born in sin, born separated and born in rebellion against God. You’ll never understand the Bible or the message of the Gospel unless you understand that; that apart from regeneration, being born again, we’re first born in Satan’s kingdom of darkness, and we are basically at war with God. The Bible says the carnal mind is at enmity with God. It’s not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So whether you knew it or not, before you were born again, you were at war with God. You were running from God, you were fighting God, you were resisting God, and you were living in a kingdom, but it wasn’t God’s kingdom. It’s the kingdom of darkness, and if you’re here this morning, and you’re not born again and you’re not a Christian and you’re not a child of God—I know this might be hard for you to accept, but I believe it’s true—you are a child of the Devil. That doesn’t mean you’re practicing witchcraft or you’re a horribly bad person, but it means you are not God’s child. You haven’t been born into His family. You need to trust Jesus Christ and be saved. So you’re living in a kingdom of darkness, which is in opposition to God’s kingdom. So when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we are praying for all of creation to submit and to live under God’s sovereign rule.

Now, I’d like to take this petition, three words, “Thy kingdom come” and I want to make three points, or put it into three categories. So very simple. If you’re taking notes, write them down. What are we praying when we pray, “Thy kingdom come”? Number one, we are praying for the coming of the Savior. Write that down. When we say, “Thy kingdom come,” we’re thinking of a future event when Christ returns in power and glory and sets up His kingdom and reigns on earth for a thousand years, and then that flows into the eternal stay.

The word “come” in that phrase, “Thy kingdom come”—in the Greek it literally means a decisive, dramatic coming in the future. It doesn’t mean a gradual transition coming. It means a future, decisive coming. I believe it’s a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ. That to pray, “Thy kingdom come” is to pray for the second advent of Jesus Christ. You know what the last words of Jesus recorded in the Bible are? They’re found in Revelation 22:20. The Bible ends at Revelation 22:21, so it’s the second-to-the-last verse of the whole Bible. You know what that verse says? “I come quickly”—Jesus is speaking—“I come quickly. Amen”—or so be it. And then a prayer, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” Isn’t that great? So when you come to the very conclusion of the entire Bible, Jesus speaks and He says, “I am coming quickly.” Now that word “quickly” means “rapidly.” So when He comes, it will be a decisive moment, it’ll be a glorious moment, it’ll be a marvelous coming of His kingdom. I believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ is the greatest event that will ever take place in human history. Because if you had the first coming, he was crucified, buried, rose, ascended—that’s all cool. I can dig that. Got that from the Hebrew, by the way. But what good is it if the world just goes on and on and on and lying and killing and murder and rape and deceit and war and famine and pestilence and darkness? And you know why John the Apostle, when he was in heaven in the book of Revelation, and he saw a scroll in the right hand of Him Who was sitting on the throne, sealed with seven seals, and all of heaven and earth was searched for someone worthy to take the scroll and loose the seal thereof, and the Bible says, “No one was found worthy to take the scroll and to loose the seals.” This is why John broke out and sobbed convulsively. John said, “I started sobbing convulsively.” Let me tell you why. Because John believed that without redeeming the earth, without redeeming man, without being able to take the scroll and loose the seals, humanity would go on forever and ever and ever with pain and sorrow and suffering and death and heartache. And he sobbed convulsively. He just couldn’t fathom a world with never-ending misery and sorrow. And then one of the elders in heaven said, “John, don’t weep. Don’t be sobbing. Don’t sob, John. For the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. To take the scroll and to loose the seals, thereof.” And all of heaven breaks forth in the praise, because Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, Who suffered and died for our sin—He is the Redeemer. He’s going to reverse the curse. He’s coming again. Amen?

And I don’t know about you, but the only ray of hope I have is Jesus Christ. Is Jesus Christ. That’s why the Bible says that we’re looking for the blessed hope of the glorious appearing of—who?—of our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our only hope. And that’ll take place in the second coming.

Do you know that politically the world isn’t going to be saved? Now don’t raise your hand, but how many of you have faith that in the next presidential election, America will be saved? I said, “Don’t raise your hand” but I didn’t say “laugh,” so that’s okay. You can laugh. I don’t think we’re going to elect a “savior.” As I listen to the debates, both Republican and Democratic, I just [covering his face with his hands], “Oh, Lord. Thy kingdom come! Please! Right away! Let’s fix this thing, Lord!” All the vain promises! God’s the only one that can keep His promises, because He didn’t have to answer to a Senate or to the Congress. He’s not bound by any restrictions; He sovereignly reigns in the heavens, and He’s bringing a kingdom, and it’s going to be killer. Amen? Can’t wait until Jesus Christ returns.

The Bible tells us in Acts 1 that when Jesus left planet earth that He ascended into heaven. Visibly, physically and gloriously. And the Apostles were standing there on Mount Olivet, and they’re looking up in the sky, and then an angel appeared on the mountain with them. And the angel said—and I love this—“You men of Galilee, why do you stand here staring into the heaven?” I always chuckle when I read that. I thought, “Dude, if you saw a guy just float up into the heavens, you’d be looking up too! What do you expect us to do?” Jesus just went right up into heaven, man. You’d be staring up there too. But this is what the angel went on to say. “The same Jesus…”—not another Jesus, not an ambassador—“…same Jesus that you saw go…”—who, by the way, was the same Jesus born of the virgin, lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death, rose bodily from the grave—same Jesus Who ascended into heaven visibly and gloriously—“is going to come in the same way.” I love it. It’s a promise. And we can trust God to keep His promises; amen? Jesus Christ is going to come physically, personally and gloriously. He said about His coming the second time, “As the lightning shines from the east to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”

Now what will happen when Jesus comes? I told you each one of these points could be a separate sermon, so it just frustrates me to kind of restrict my comments here. But read Revelation 19 to 21. Write that down. Read Revelation 19 to 21. This is what happens when Jesus comes. You know the first thing He does? You know what the first thing He does? He puts an end to war. He puts an end to war. That’s pretty good; right? He puts an end to the Antichrist, the False Prophet.

Let me tell you the second thing He does. I can’t comment on it, but here goes. The second thing He does is bind Satan, and He throws him into the “abyssos,” the abyss. For 1,000 years. Can you dig that? No more Devil. Now those that say we’re in the Millennium right now and say it’s spiritual, Satan will be chained—and he’s got an awful long chain, because he’s wreaking some havoc right now.

I believe in a pre-Millennial second coming of Jesus Christ. At the end of seven years of tribulation—three and a half being the Great Tribulation—Christ returns, and He sets up a Millennial kingdom, one thousand years. Literally, on earth. It’s the fulfillment of God’s promise to David. It’s called the “Davidic Covenant,” where through his seed, his greater Son, the Messiah, would sit on his throne and reign in Jerusalem. So Jesus comes back, He lands on the Mount of Olives, He comes down the Kidron Valley, up through the Eastern Gate, and He sits on the throne in Jerusalem, and He reigns over the whole earth for a thousand years. You know, “Why a thousand years? That’s not enough.” “Hang on; we’re not done yet.” At the end of that thousand years, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. There’ll be a great white throne, and Jesus will sit on that throne, He’ll judge all the wicked dead, and along with Satan, they’ll be thrown into hell for all eternity.

And John says, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” And it was coming like a bride, adorned for her Bridegroom. And he describes the pearly gates, and he describes the streets and the clear crystals and the rainbows and the colors. And I believe heaven is going to be amazing, beyond your wildest dreams. When we get to heaven, there won’t be any graffiti there, by the way. Can you imagine going through the pearly gates, stepping back and somebody had tagged the gates? “Ahhh, man. I thought I left that in San Bernardino. What’s up?” There won’t be any bars on any windows in heaven. Jesus said, “I’m building you a mansion.” You won’t have any bars on your mansion’s windows. No hospitals. No prisons. No police departments. No asylums. No rest homes for the aged, elderly or affirmed. There will be no ambulances. For Jesus Christ, King of kings, will reign on the earth. Righteousness, peace and joy will be the theme of that thousand years. It will be a righteous reign. Now again, you can read about the Millennium in the Old Testament where the lion lays down with the lamb and nations beat their swords into plowshares and the spears to pruning hooks and all of the fruitfulness and blessings that will come. And people live for the whole thousand years, and it will be a glorious, glorious time.

And here’s a point I want to make. It was on earth that Jesus came, in humility, suffered and died, so it’s only fitting that on earth—that the whole earth should see His glory. You ever thought about that? God came down from heaven, and He took on humanity, and He was rejected and despised, He was crucified, beaten, whipped, spit on, crucified and buried. So it’s only fitting that in the same sphere on earth that this rejected, humble Messiah, Who came as the Lamb of God to atone for the sins of the world, should come back as King of kings and Lord of lords, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, for every eye to see. Only once in His earthly ministry did they see His real glory on the Mount of Transfiguration when He pulled back the veil of His humanity and allowed His deity to shine. And that was only Peter, James and John that saw Him on the mountain. But guess what? When Jesus Christ comes back in His second coming, every eye will see Him; amen? Everyone. That’s going to go on the evening news for sure. Hopefully the liberal media will cover it. They can’t but cover that. “Quite an event happened today. Jesus Christ came back.” Wow! A lot of people who rejected Him will mourn and wail and weep, because they rejected the King of all the universe. What a glorious, glorious event that will be, and that is why we pray, “Thy kingdom come.”

Let me give you my second point. My second point is not only pray for the King to come, the Savior, but we pray for the consecration of the saints. And what do I mean by that? We’re not only praying for the Savior to come, but we’re praying for the saints to live in the kingdom now. And I gotta briefen this up from the first service for you for just a bit, because the whole Sermon on the Mount is about that. Kingdom living now. If you are a Christian—listen to me very carefully—you are a King’s kid. If you are a Christian, you’ve been taken out of Satan’s kingdom of darkness, and you’ve been transferred into God’s kingdom of light. Live like it. For you to say, “Thy kingdom come” and still be living like you’re in Satan’s kingdom is hypocrisy.

Every one of these petitions, “Hallowed by Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done”—if you’re going to pray those with your heart, they’ll change your life. They’ll change your life. I can’t say, “Our Father which art in heaven” and live like I’m a child of Satan. I can’t say, “Thy kingdom come” and not live like I’m in the kingdom or for the kingdom. I can’t say, “Thy will be done” and then determine I’m going to live my life the way I want to live it in resistance to God’s will. The first three petitions will change your life if you pray them from your heart, and I urge you to do that. “God, I want Your Name to be glorified. I want your kingdom to come, and I want Your will to be done.”

Now, how do we live in the kingdom? How do we live a consecrated life? Well, just a quick survey. Turn back to chapter five. Matthew 5, Matthew 6, and Matthew 7 comprise the longest sermon Jesus gave recorded in the Bible. It’s called the Sermon on the Mount. You ever hear of that? Sermon on the Mount. Why is it called the Sermon on the Mount? Because He preached it on the mount. Isn’t that profound? He went to a high mountain, He sat down, He opened His mouth, and He taught them saying. Sermon on the Mount as opposed to sermon on the lake or sermon in the valley. He’s on the mountain top. When we go to Israel we get up on the mount, and we teach from the Sermon on the Mount, right where Jesus sat and taught His disciples. It’s a beautiful, panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee. Really awesome. And the first thing He does is give us the character of those who live in the kingdom.

Now I just want to outline this for you. You can go back and study it. Chapter 5, verses 3 to 12 are the Beatitudes. How do we get into the kingdom? “Poor in spirit,” verse 3; “mourning” over our sin, verse 4; “meekness” before God, verse 5. Verse 6, we “hunger and thirst after righteousness”; and then in verse 7, we’re “merciful”; and then in verse 8, we become “pure of heart.” “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” And then we become “peacemakers,” verse 9. And then as a result of these character traits being in those who live in the kingdom, guess what happens? Verse 10, you get persecuted. Why? Because you’re living among people who are in the kingdom of darkness, and you’re living as a kingdom-of-God’s child. And so you’re persecuted. Look at it with me in verse 10 of Matthew 5. “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

So then He moves from the Christian’s character to the Christian’s influence. Verses 13 and 15, He tells them, “You are the salt of the earth.” And then verse 14, “You are the light of the world.”

You know what? If you’re living in the kingdom, then you’re going to be salt, a preservative, you’re going to be light, a Gospel preacher. “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” So as Christians, we act as salt, a preservative to moral corruption, and we act as light, we preach the Gospel of the kingdom. So we need to live in the kingdom. Our influence.

And then our righteousness is described in chapter 5, verses 17 to 48. It deals with murder and anger and adultery. If you have anger in your heart toward somebody, you’re a murderer. Jesus said, “The Law says, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’” but if you have anger, you’ve murdered somebody. Try driving the freeways in southern California and not killing somebody. Jesus says the Law tells us don’t commit adultery, but Jesus said you who are living in the kingdom, I’m looking at your heart. If you lust after someone, you look longing after someone, you’ve already committed adultery in your heart. God wants our hearts to be right with Him. You know the Bible says we shouldn’t lust, we shouldn’t have murderous, angry thoughts. It deals with our character.

And He deals with the law of nonretaliation; “Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” “But I say unto you, resist not evil. Pray for those which persecute you. And bless those who despitefully use you.” And He’s not saying there that we can’t defend ourselves, but He’s saying we shouldn’t take vengeance into our own hands. And then in chapter 5, verses 43 to 44, He tells us to “love our enemies.”

What does it look like when you’re living in God’s kingdom when you pray? Okay, here’s the scenario. “Thy kingdom come”—“oh, I hate that guy!”—“Thy kingdom come.”—“I hate that guy over there too! The guy really bugs me, man! I’d like to punch him out!”—“Thy kingdom come.” How does that work? How can I be praying for God’s kingdom to come and then hate somebody? “Well, you know, they don’t like me and they mistreated me.” So what makes you different than anyone else? I love that section in the Sermon on the Mount, and the King James Bible says, “What thank have ye?” What makes you different? “Did not even the heathen love those who love them?” The Mafia loves the Mafia. Big whoopee. What makes you different? You’re a King’s kid. What makes you different? You’re living in the kingdom. What makes you different is you actually love your enemies. And you pray for those who persecute you. And you bless those who despitefully use you. It makes you different. You’re not living in Satan’s kingdom; you’re living in God’s.

The whole point I’m trying to make is, based on this whole Sermon on the Mount—if you are living in the kingdom, you’re going to be different. This is what we call—you know what I call the Sermon on the Mount? I call it “Christian counter-culture.” I call it the “Christian counter-culture.” God turns all of it on its head and flips it around from the worldly view. We are to be obeying heaven’s Lord and following heaven’s laws.

And in chapter six, He warns them about their prayer life, about their ambition, chapter six, verse 19, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust corrupt, where thieves break through and steal, but lay up…”—verse 20 of chapter 6—“…treasures for yourself in heaven where neither moth or rust corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal.” Guess what? If you’re living in the kingdom, then you otta be laying up your treasures in the kingdom. Again, here you are, “Thy kingdom come,” and the offering plate goes by Sunday morning, and you go, “No, no, no, no, no. It goes in the bank for me.” I’m not saying you don’t keep some for yourself, you don’t provide for your family, take care of yourself. But I’m saying, how can you pray “Thy kingdom come,” and you never give to advance His kingdom. How do you pray, “Thy kingdom come,” and we say, “Hey, we got some missionaries, we want to build a new house, or we want to support some missionaries, and just pray about giving to this mission outreach.” “No, no, no; I can’t do that.” Then you need to stop praying, “Thy kingdom come.” If you’re not willing to pray, if you’re not willing to give, you’re not willing to sacrifice, you’re not willing to go, how can you pray, “Thy kingdom come” if you don’t do anything to advance the kingdom? That’s hypocrisy.

That’s what I mean by this prayer will change your life. So He said, “Don’t lay up treasures on earth, moth and rust corrupt, thieves break in and steal.” Lay them where? In heaven. Why? Because that’s where your home is. That’s where you’re going to spend eternity. That’s what’s most important. That’s the priority. Be eternally minded. Then He says, “Don’t be worried about what you’re going to eat, what you’re going to drink, what you’re going to wear, what you’re going to put on.” This is what the heathen worry about. Verse 33, “But…”—you know it—chapter six, verse 33—“…seek ye first…”—what?—“…seek first the kingdom of God.” That’s what you do first if you’re living in the kingdom. You’re consecrated, you’re dedicated to living in the kingdom and living for the kingdom. That’s so very important.

Now, we move to my third and last point. Number one, when I pray, “Thy kingdom come,” I’m praying for the coming of the Savior; number two, I’m praying for the consecration of the saints; and number three, I’m praying for the conversion of sinners. The conversion of sinners. When we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we’re asking that those who are living outside of His kingdom, in Satan’s kingdom, would repent and submit to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Again, it has a missionary emphasis. Again, we must go into all the world and do what? Preach the Gospel. Now we can go into all the world and give them medical treatment, and Christians do that. As a matter of fact, this world would be a very dark world, a very, very dark world if it were not for Christianity and if it were not for the coming of Christ. It would be a dark world. That’s why the Bible says Christians are “salt” and “light.” I’ve got a whole book on the subject in my library. It’s called How Christianity Changed the World.” “How Christianity Changed the World.” It’s amazing. The influence Christ had when He came the first time and how the world changed. But that’s nothing in comparison to how the world is going to change when He comes the second time.

But here’s the deal. If I’m going to pray, “Thy kingdom come”—and I know people who aren’t living in the kingdom, and I don’t tell them about Jesus Christ, then my prayer is hypocritical and mechanical. If I say, “Oh, Lord, Thy kingdom come”—how many Christians week after week pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come” and never take one step out to go to someone and say, “Do you know Jesus Christ the King? Have you repented of your sins? Have you believed in Him? Are you living in His kingdom? Would you like to know that God can forgive your sins, that He can give you a new life?” How can I pray, “Thy kingdom come” and not evangelize, or at least pray or give or do what I can to seek to win people into God’s kingdom? So it has missionary overtones. We must “go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” I’m praying for the conversion of sinners. Jesus preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” John the Baptist preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Apostles all preached, “Repent.” In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, they said, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” And they were cut to the heart by the Holy Spirit. And what did Peter say? Did he say, “Go to church, get a haircut, put a bumper sticker on your car”? He said, “Repent.” First words out of his mouth, “Repent.” “Metanoia.” It means change your mind. Change your mind. You’re living for the kingdom of darkness. Change your mind and turn around and repent and walk toward the kingdom of light. Go toward God. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Repent and trust in Jesus Christ. Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ. And then you will enter into His kingdom. The gateway to the kingdom is repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

That’s why in Matthew 5:3, the first Beatitude, the entrance to the kingdom is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Theirs” and theirs alone; it’s emphatic in the Greek. Theirs and theirs alone is the kingdom of heaven. Do you know that we are born in sin, separated from God, that we must be born again, and at conversion we pass from death to life, from darkness to light, from Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom? In Romans 14:17, it says, “For the kingdom of God is not food or drink, but it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” And when a sinner repents and believes in Jesus Christ, they become a citizen of His kingdom and a child of the King. Their sins are forgiven, they have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, and then Jesus becomes the King of their life.

When you and I pray, “Thy kingdom come,” I’m praying, “Jesus come back and set up Your kingdom on earth.” I’m praying, “May the saints, and myself included, live a consecrated life.” And thirdly, I’m praying, “May sinners be converted, may sinners repent and trust in You.”

Now you may be here this morning and in church but not converted, not born again. You know, you get into the kingdom not because you go to church, not because you’ve been baptized, not even because you believe in Jesus Christ. You must repent of your sin, and you must trust Jesus Christ as your Savior and then live for Him as your Lord. Not to be saved do you live for Him as Lord, but to be sanctified. You trust Him as your Savior to be translated into His kingdom, and then you go on to live for Him as your Lord. You don’t make Him Lord; He is Lord. But I believe that you need to pray, “Lord, consecrate my life. Help me to live for You.” I love those words of Frances Havergal and her famous hymn, “Take my life and let it be.” She said in that one stanza, “Take my will and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart; it is thy throne. It is thy own. It shall be thy royal throne.”

Have you prayed that prayer? Have you said to God, “Have your way in me. Sit on the throne of my heart. I surrender to you.”? If you’re here this morning and you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, I want to give you an opportunity before we dismiss you. I don’t want anyone to leave this service without knowing for sure that you’re a child of God and without knowing that your sins are forgiven and knowing that if you were to die you would go to heaven. Do you know your sins are forgiven? Do you know you’re a child of God? Do you know that if you died right now that you’d go to heaven? The only way to go to heaven is to reach out and take the hand of Jesus, the Savior. And I want to give you that opportunity, by faith, to receive Him as your Savior. And then surrender to Him as Lord of your life. So I ask you to bow your heads with me in a word of prayer.