Matthew 6, I do want to read, beginning in verse 1, just to set it in the context. Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.

Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly. And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in the secret place. And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him.

In this manner, therefore, pray. 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 forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

But you, When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Amen."

Introduction

Again, the context is one of religious observance or acts of piety, true and false. We see almsgiving is what Jesus deals with initially. He assumes that the people of God will in fact give alms. They will be a charitable people.

They will exercise benevolence to those who are in need. The difference is the false religionist or the man that's only concerned with externals does it to be seen by men. He wants to be looked at as a benevolent person. Jesus says, if that's what they're after, they have their reward.

But when you do charitable deeds, do it in such a way as not to draw attention to yourself so that your father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly. And then he moves on to prayer and then he deals with fasting. Fasting, the very end there, do not be like the hypocrites with the sad countenance. The idea behind fasting is not to walk around all day and have people extol you as a virtuous faster, as somebody that's so holy and so godly.

No, you need to go about your daily task in the same manner you conduct yourself when you're not fasting. You need to do it in an internal way to bring glory to God Most High. Of course, with reference to prayer, he wants the people of God, the Christians, not to be like the hypocrites, those who stand on the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. That's certainly not a good motivation for prayer.

I'm going to pray because I want people to see me pray. If that enters into your mind or head, you've missed the whole point. Prayer is first and foremost an act of worship, a time for us to express our dependence upon the living God, a time certainly to commune with God, to converse with him, and to have that fellowship that he has given us in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He then goes on to say, don't pray like the heathen.

The heathens stand up and they think just because they use a whole lot of words that God is going to bless them. It's in this context that he gives this model prayer, and remember there are six petitions. There's first a preface, Our Father in Heaven. We need to consider who it is that we are praying to.

He is our Father by virtue of God's grace, by virtue of the fact that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. According to Paul in Ephesians 1, it says, In love He has predestined us unto adoption as sons. So we address God as Father because he has adopted us, he has given us the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We need to remember that he is in heaven, he is sovereign, he is omnipotent, he has all power, he has ability.

We don't pray to a God who is hindered. We don't pray to a God who only has sort of a jurisdiction over the mountains, or jurisdiction over the seas, or over one particular area of life. God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases, and it's to Him that we pray.

The first three petitions are concerning God, God's name, God's kingdom, God's will. When we consider the priority here, it is very similar to what we have in the Ten Commandments. We have our duty toward God first, and then our duty toward man. When it comes to prayer, we need to spend time concerned with God and then come to ask for provision, forgiveness, and protection on our behalf.

So Godward petitions precede manward petitions. As I've quoted Ryle, he says, the glory of God is the first thing that God's children should desire. And that is conspicuous in the prayer itself. Remember, these things are not given simply to be recited.

Jesus condemns the use of vain repetition as the heathen did. He didn't give this so we could have a long string of beads and hold one in our finger and just recite the prayer, and then move on to the next bead and recite the prayer, and move on to the next bead and recite the prayer. Most of you have not come from Roman Catholicism. That's what a rosary is.

A rosary, does everybody know what that is? Have you ever seen a rosary? That's okay if you haven't. It's really awesome if you haven't.

But what a rosary is, it's sort of like a necklace and it has a cross, but it's made up of beads. And the beads, the smaller beads in between the bigger beads are Hail Marys, right? And then the big beads are the Our Father, or this particular prayer. And so the idea is that you're in the church, or you're kneeling at the pew, and you just run through these beads.

And you're reciting the prayers. You're just going through the motions. I don't ever remember, in my recitation of the Rosary, contemplating the petitions as I worked through them. I never contemplated the blasphemy that I was offering up in terms of the Hail Mary.

Jesus condemns that sort of an approach to the Lord's Prayer. Certainly, we are able to recite it. Certainly, at the dinner table or together as a church, we can recite it. It's the recitation of Scripture.

That's perfectly acceptable. But Jesus is condemning a recitation wherein we just think that the recitation itself somehow brings the blessing that we secretly desire or want. So when we consider these petitions, it is good for us to isolate them and to take them one by one so that we can tease out some of the implications and hopefully promote in us a way to use this prayer in the manner in which Jesus gave it. They're more like heads or outline so that we can ponder what God is concerned about and what we ought to be concerned about.

And then we spend some time under each of those heads and we pray for things that affect us, that affect our families, that affect our church, that affect society. So that's how we're sort of approaching this.

The Meaning of His Kingdom

So tonight we're going to look at first the meaning of his kingdom. What does Jesus mean when he says, your kingdom come? And then secondly, some particulars involved. And again, Again, this is suggestive.

It isn't, you must pray these things, because that would go contrary to what Jesus is telling us to do here. Just giving some suggested thoughts on how best to use this prayer, one of the ways to use this prayer. I just want to read Westminster Larger Catechism before we begin. I think it's a great overall statement concerning this.

What do we pray for in the second petition? In the second petition, which is thy kingdom come, acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in, the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate, that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted. that Christ would rule in our hearts here and hasten the time of his second coming and are reigning with him forever and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world as may best conduce to these ends. That's great. I mean, get yourself a larger catechism and take that into your prayer closet and consider these things.

It ought to promote or it ought to produce some good thoughts in terms of how we ought to pray to God. A couple of things that are interesting here, the way that it starts. We pray that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed. So I think it's good to sing the Psalms.

We don't sing only the Psalms in our church, but singing the Psalms you'll see an emphasis on this. You'll see an emphasis on the destruction of Satan and his kingdom. The destruction of the enemies of God Most High. Modern hymns and even the not so modern hymns that we sing have traces and elements of that, but they certainly do not contain Psalm 94 ethics or Psalm 58.

They certainly don't contain that sort of a call or a cry to God to come and to destroy the enemies of the kingdom. Certainly if we lived in a kingdom, if we were under a monarchy and we were patriots of that particular land in which we live, we would want the destruction of those who threaten our way of life. If there was a group that continued to come to our kingdom and continued to try to get over the wall so that they could kill us and kill our children and do nasty and horrible things, we would want our king to take action to oppose those enemies so that they would not be a threat to the people of that particular kingdom. The same ethic or the same reality is in view in this particular statement that sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called the fullness of the Gentiles brought in, probably a reference to Romans chapter 11.

It speaks about the hardening in part of Jews until the fullness of the Gentiles come in and then all Israel will be saved. Many of the Puritans saw in Romans 11 a mass conversion of ethnic Jews after the Gentiles had come into the church. So that's the Westminster larger catechism.

The Universal Providential Kingdom

What is meant by the kingdom? There are a few different ways we can understand kingdom in the scripture. Obviously there is the reference to the universal kingdom. God rules over all.

We could say that the universe is God's kingdom, and several psalms establish this, or several passages in scripture. Psalm 103, 19, the Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. There is a sense where everybody in one degree or other is comprehended in God's overarching rule over all things. Psalm 95.3, for the Lord is the great God and the great king above all gods.

He's a king above all gods. The Bible's not saying there really are other gods. This is highlighting the supremacy and the glory and the majesty of Israel's God. Jeremiah 10.7.

Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For indeed it is your rightful due." Remember, in Jeremiah's context, there's a certain empire that's closing in and going to destroy Judah. That kingdom is Babylon. And look at what Jeremiah says.

Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For indeed it is your rightful due. So even over Babylon, God is king. In Revelation chapter 1, when John introduces the book, he greets the seven churches of Asia Minor, and he does so in the name of the Father, and of the Spirit, and of the Son.

And he describes the Son as prophet, priest, and king. He says that Jesus is the ruler over the kings of the earth. So there is a universal kingdom. God's sovereignty is manifested over all things.

A parallel to Jeremiah 10.7 is found in Revelation 15.4. Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy, for all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested." And, of course, Daniel 4, 34 and 35. And at the end of the time, my nephew Keneser lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever.

For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done?

Great definition or a great description or caricature of what God's kingdom, in terms of its universal aspect, is concerned about. So that is a reality that the Bible speaks of.

The Kingdom of Grace

But probably, when he says, your kingdom come, he's talking about what Watson calls the kingdom of grace. The kingdom of grace. Watson refers to the universal kingdom as the providential kingdom. God's comprehensive sovereignty over all in his providence.

But with reference to the kingdom of grace, this is the manifestation of God's redemptive plan through the means he has ordained. And so this idea of your kingdom come means that we want more of the presence of this grace to affect people for good, just the way the Catechism speaks in 191. Pray that God's kingdom would be manifest through the preaching of the gospel, that as the Word of God is proclaimed, these things would be manifested, all the things described in this particular thing. Remember, Jesus embarked on his public ministry by making this declaration, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

George Eldon Lads describes that what's in view in this statement and in this particular use of kingdom is not so much realm, but reign. Not so much realm or a particular locale, but reign, God's rule, God's reign, God's government over all things. Ladd says the majority of exegetes have recognized that the central meaning of kingdom in the New Testament, as of the Hebrew word kingdom in the Old Testament, is the abstract or dynamic idea of reign, rule, or dominion rather than the concrete idea of realm. So when we pray, thy kingdom come, that can occur in our church when someone is converted.

They are translated or transferred from the kingdom of darkness, Colossians 1.13, and translated into the kingdom of the son of Islam. Again, Colossians 1.13. In Matthew 12, 28, the Lord Jesus makes this statement, But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. France says, with reference to this statement, the time of God's effective sovereignty has arrived, and now is the time for decisive action in response.

So as we consider this idea of the kingdom of grace, we pray, thy kingdom come. Bless the Word. Bless missionaries. Bless evangelists.

Bless those who read Scripture and cause them to see the glory of Christ. Cause them to see their own sinfulness and depravity. Cause them to flee to the Savior for so great a salvation. Lord, manifest this grace.

Pour out this mercy. Do the work of converting sinners and may your kingdom come.

The Kingdom of Glory

But as well, we can also pray for the kingdom of glory, the not yet. Some theologians or people in the history of the church and in interpretation define eschatology or the kingdom this way, there is an already aspect and there's a not yet aspect. We've already entered into the kingdom of grace. By reality or by the fact that God has saved us, we already have possession of the kingdom.

We have grace, we have salvation, we have an eternal inheritance laid up for us. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of those realities, but it's not yet been fully Realized, right? There is a longing in the hearts of God's people. We just said, we just sang 675.

That is a yearning and a crying out for thy kingdom come in terms of the final act, the final act of redemption. When the Lord Jesus comes, as Thessalonians describes, in the glory of his father with all of his holy angels, taking vengeance on those who know not God and on those who do not obey the gospel. We long for the consummation. We look forward to that great day when the Lord Jesus Christ will come again in glory.

And we ought not to pray this only when we're having a bad day. Right? We're having a bad day. Oh, Lord, Jesus, come.

Get me out of this bad day. Get me out of this bad week. I've got a difficult meeting tomorrow that I'd really not want to go to. So Jesus, could you hasten the day.

Those are the times when we sing those hymns. Lord, hasten the day of your coming. No, but this is the sentiment that God's people have. This is the longing that the people of Jesus Christ have.

Our citizenship is not unearthed. We are here temporarily. Our citizenship is in heaven. And the child of God longs for that.

He yearns for that. He wants that. He says with John at the end of Revelation, even so, come Lord Jesus. The kingdom of glory is described for us in 1 Corinthians 15, 20 to 28.

I know that sometimes this can be counter to the way that we typically think. Well, I've got a lot of work to do here on earth. I've got children. I've got grandchildren.

I want to see them converted. So how could I pray, Lord Jesus, hasten the day? You can still pray it. There can still be the longing.

You can labor diligently and do what you're supposed to do and have this longing desire for the coming of Jesus Christ and the consummation of all things.

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15

Look at 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

But each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's it is coming. Then comes the end. Notice the connection, Christ comes, then comes the end. There's not a thousand years between the end of verse 23 and verse 24, is there?

You have to take that millennium and you have to insert it there because it isn't there. In fact, a Baptist pastor one time told me, yes, that's where we put the millennium. My idea is we don't put millenniums anywhere. We let God tell us where millenniums are and aren't.

But look at the way biblical eschatology, we hear that word, it's a big word, it means the last things. It's really very simple. Jesus is going to come again and consummate everything. That's it.

That's what the Apostle says. Each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's that is coming, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father. Notice, the kingdom is present before the end because Jesus delivers it in its completed state to the Father. There's a kingdom of grace or the already, and there's a kingdom of glory or not yet.

And 1 Corinthians 15, 20 to 28 highlights both aspects of that kingdom. Now notice, let me just read that again because it's awesome. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death." Isn't that beautiful? That last enemy that is destroyed is death. So every other enemy, the planned parenthood. I read another story today about some counsel that a planned parenthood counselor gave a 15-year-old about base wicked carnality in terms of just evil.

Planned Parenthood is going to die. They're going to be judged. They're going to be put down. We have the promise of that in this passage.

He must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. It may not happen in our lifetime, though I certainly hope and pray that it does but Christ will subdue every single enemy notice in verse 26 the last enemy that will be destroyed is death for he has put all things under his feet but when he says all things are put under him it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted now when all things are made subject to him then the son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him that God may be all in all. So Christ as the mediator, Christ as the surety of a better covenant, takes that posture so that God the Father is all in all. He brings glory to him in his life, death, and resurrection.

So certainly when we pray, thy kingdom come, come in the preaching of the gospel, come in my evangelistic witness and testimony, to my work, pals, or whatever, But come, Lord Jesus. Hasten the day. Let the sky be rolled back as a scroll. I mean, when we sing 580, there ought to be something of a reality and a longing for that blessing.

Remember, we are passing through in this lower world. So that's the meaning of His kingdom.

Particulars: Praying for the Kingdom

Some particulars involve, as individuals, what should we pray in our closets? Or what should we pray for with reference to this idea of thy kingdom come? I've already covered it briefly.

Pray for Gospel Proclamation

Pray for the preaching of the gospel in order that God's name would be hallowed. Pray for the preaching of the gospel. This is the means that the Lord God uses to call sinners out of darkness into marvelous light. There are several passages in the Bible that connect the word of God, the gospel, with the saving of sinners.

Romans 10 is a very good place. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In Ephesians 1, it tells us that it's because of the gospel of our salvation. 1 Peter 1, James 1, of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. So if we desire to see sinners saved, if we have a longing that other people participate in the already kingdom of grace and the not yet kingdom of glory, we will be a people who pray for the increase in the spread of the gospel.

We will pray what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians, that the word of God would run swiftly and be glorified. We will pray that God's gospel would be proclaimed. And Isaiah says, give him no rest. Give God no rest till he establishes and till he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

A view of earnest prayer there. We come to God and we give him no rest. Don't you love that? Obviously the prophet's speaking in the manner of men.

It's not as if God is needing rest. It's not as if we could actually tire God out. But the idea is to communicate to the people of God, give him no rest. Continue to implore.

There are sinners to be saved. You have family members. You have friends. You have acquaintances.

You have people that you want. to see come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We can also pray in terms of thy kingdom come.

Pray for a Kingdom Mindset

As individuals, God, help me to have a kingdom mindset and a mentality. In Matthew 6, as we continue on in this chapter, Jesus highlights the fundamental governing principle for kingdom citizens. Matthew 6, 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. I'm going to step out on a limb here and say that probably not every Christian lives this way.

I know it might be puzzling and perplexing and surprising, but I suspect that not every Christian has this kingdom mindset 24-7. And so for those of us who don't always have this mindset, we ought to pray that God would grant it to us. God, keep me from being fretful, keep me from carnal anxiety, keep me from worry, keep me from panic, keep me from mammon, keep me from anything that would get between me and the proper kingdom mindset that I'm supposed to have. I am supposed to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

That is my primary calling as a kingdom citizen in the Lord Jesus Christ's realm or reign. And so when we pray, thy kingdom come, we pray God help me to align myself with that kingdom and to function in a manner that is consistent with those kingdom citizens. We pray as well for the peace of God to rule in that kingdom of grace. God brings sinners out of darkness into marvelous light.

And the visible expression of the kingdom is the church. I don't think they're coextensive. I think they are very closely coextensive, but not absolutely synonymous. Again, the way we define kingdom would be crucial here.

But the church is the visible manifestation or expression of the kingdom of God. Right? So we pray that there would be peace in that kingdom. God help me to get along with the brothers and sisters in the kingdom.

God help me to be kind and gracious to other brethren in the kingdom. God help me to be one who endeavors to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace so that thy kingdom come will be manifest in our local body. and as well for individuals, thy kingdom come. God helped me to be loyal in my subjection to the king and his laws. I want that principle, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

If I have that principle and I'm pursuing that particularly, then it will be reflected in the way that I submit to the rule of the king. We need to be loyal subjects. It would be very, very disingenuous to pray, your kingdom come, when we're living with, you know, complete opposite ideals and complete rebellion against that kingdom. It's the last thing we want that God's kingdom come when we're not living consistently with that kingdom.

So it would be fake to pray thy kingdom come and to knowingly continue in rebellion against the laws of that kingdom. Right? We don't pray, God help me to go out and work hard today so I can make money and buy food and then go lay on the couch. That just doesn't make sense.

We'd say, you can't do that. If you pray, God, make me a hard worker, you have to go outside of your door, you have to go knock at, you know, the door at McDonald's, and you gotta say, get me a job so I can work and make money and provide for my family. You don't pray, God, help me to be a hard worker and then go back to bed. Well, imagine praying, thy kingdom come when we're living contrary to the laws of the kingdom.

That's disingenuous. That's not legit. That's not righteous. 1 Thessalonians 2, 11 and 12. This is the way Paul instructs the people of God.

As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. You see, there is a worthy walk, there is a consistency, there is something that is identifiable with this kingdom we are praying comes. So as individuals, We really need to take this seriously. James 2.8, if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

You do well. So those are some suggestions with reference to individuals praying for themselves or the kingdom relative to themselves.

Praying for the Church

What about in the church? What are some things we could pray for? With reference to thy kingdom come, what is the kingdom's document? The kingdom's document is the Old and the New Testament.

The kingdom's constitution is the scripture. And so if that visible manifestation of the kingdom, the church, is going to function the way she ought, if we are going to pray thy kingdom come, That must mean we want the church to be committed to this Constitution. We want the church committed to scripture. We want to see commitment and exposition in ordinances, in discipline, in worship.

Those things that mark or identify the true church ought to be those things evident in the churches of Christ in concert with this petition.

Purity of Doctrine and Faithful Officers

Secondly, purity and doctrine. Yes, the church must be regulated by the word, but there are churches out there that probably say they are regulated by the word. This one fellow that James White was talking to said, well, I don't believe any of the five points of Calvinism. At some point, you've got to take stock of your place in life if you're going to disagree with those five things.

I mean, everywhere in scripture, you're confronted with those five things. You're going to tell me the Bible doesn't teach total depravity? Are you actually, for a moment, going to suggest that this book tells us that you're not that bad? See, when I read this book, I hear, you are that bad.

You're badder than you could ever imagine, and that's why Christ is so glorious. That's what this book describes. It's not, there is in you a little bit that can choose for Jesus. You're going to disregard the doctrine of election?

How does an Arminian deal with Ephesians 1? How? It's right there. You don't have to know Greek.

I mean, you don't have to know anything. You just have to know he chose us, right? Limited atonement. If Jesus died for everyone, then everyone should be in heaven. because his blood is powerful, it's efficacious, it cleanses from sin.

To deny limited atonement is to tamper with the cross and the very gospel itself. Irresistible grace? Are you going to suggest that you have the power to overcome the Holy Spirit? Do you think that in this universe you are able to withstand the Holy Spirit?

Nebuchadnezzar says nobody can withstand God. Nobody can say to him, what doest thou? Nebuchadnezzar affirmed the fourth point. And are you going to suggest that the God who enters into saving covenant, the God who pacted with, the Father who pacted with His Son and the Spirit and the covenant of redemption and purpose to save a people, who created the world to express His glory in the salvation of sinners?

We understand the decree and we understand anything of biblical covenants, we have to appreciate that God made this world with an express purpose in mind. His glory through the salvation of sinners. Is he going to be gypped? Is he going to be robbed?

Is he going to be out that glory because we all decide in unison that we don't want to be saved? I mean, a man who says, I can't affirm any of the five points is not a good indication of a healthy soul. So when we pray, and that man would say, our church is committed to the Bible. Our church is regulated by the Bible.

No, purity in doctrine. 1 Timothy 3.2, what must the elder be able to do? Have coffee. write New York Times bestsellers, work on his golf game, really inspire a group of people? No, he needs to be able to teach the Bible. What happened to... that.

Now, we want so much more. Just teach the Bible. That's what you're supposed to do. 1 Timothy 3.15, so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of what? Truth.

Right? Purity and doctrine. 1 Timothy 4.6. 2 Timothy 1.13 and 14. 2 Timothy 2.15. Study to show yourself approved. A workman who need not be ashamed.

Rightly dividing the word of truth. Timothy, that's your job. That's what you're supposed to do. That's what it's all about. 2 Timothy 4.

Preach The Word be ready in season and out of season. I mean, anybody with just a degree of familiarity with 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus would have to conclude that God really wants purity in doctrine. We ought to pray as well, thy kingdom come. The confession or the catechism mentions faithful officers, faithful preachers, faithful teachers.

After speaking about the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in, the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances. We should pray that God would give us pastors after his own heart. Matthew 9.38, pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. This is a quote from Manta.

Men that will discharge their duty with all faithfulness. Men who are more committed to being a John Gill than a Mother Teresa. Pastor Kim made that statement recently in an email to me and it really struck home. Mother Teresa is looked at as far more heroic than John Gill.

I mean, probably 95% of people out there wouldn't know what John Gill was if it fell on their toe. Everybody knows who Mother Teresa is. There's something glamorous, and there's something exciting, and there's something very amazing about going out and doing the things that she did. It's not so glamorous to pore over books and Hebrew texts and Greek texts and study and pray and feed sheep, right?

And many in the church today want more of that Mother Teresa ethic than they want the John Gill ethic. I mean, we shouldn't want to be John Gill. I mean, have you ever seen his picture? Yeah, that's true.

I would too. He just looked so unhappy in that one picture. He was like, man, dude, you gotta have some joy in there. Maybe they got him in a bad pose or he had some stomach issues going on or something.

But this is what it's about. So Manton says, Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest, men that will discharge their duty with all faithfulness, men whose hearts are set to building up of Christ's kingdom. It's not about the pastor's kingdom. It's not about this website.

It's not about this coalition. It's not about this group. It's not about this guy. It's about the Lord Christ and his kingdom, and each of his servants are simply to be faithful and to preach the word, to teach the word, to pray it in, and to do that until they die.

That's it. and then we ought to pray with reference to thy kingdom come not only for faithful officers but faithful churchmen faithful churchmen people who take church seriously people who value and prize the bride of christ can you imagine that's how the bible refers to the church she is the bride of christ how do you think christ looks upon his bride He loves his bride. Do any of us men not love our brides? Of course we love them. They're our brides.

We value them. We prize them. We defend them. We protect them.

We care for them. We nurture them. That's what Jesus does. And so for us to be like Jesus, what would Jesus do?

He'd prize the church. We ought to be faithful churchmen. We ought to be those who take seriously the reality that we are a blood-bought possession of the Lord Christ himself. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 12 to 22, there is very helpful instruction there on being churchmen.

And when I say churchmen, I'm including women. Churchmen inclusive. Notice 1 Thessalonians 5 12 and we urge you brethren to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their work sake be at peace among yourselves. I'm just reading in the context I'm not saying.

You know what, brethren, you really need to do that. I think he's talking about ecclesiastical officers here. He's not talking about civil government. I'm just reading that to get to this.

Verse 14. Here's what churchmanship looks like. We exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly. Comfort the fainthearted.

Uphold the weak. Be patient with all. That's churchmanship. That's what it means to function together in the context of the local church.

Warn those who are unruly. That doesn't mean we scream at them. It doesn't mean we grab them by the shirt and shake them and put fear into them that way. But if we see a brother or a sister that is departing from the path, we come to that brother, we come to that sister, and we say, brother, sister, we want the best for you.

Warn them. Comfort the faint-hearted. There's going to be weak brethren in the church. What do we do?

We comfort them. We help them. We're kind to them. We uphold the weak.

You know, we ought to adopt, we ought to imbibe that ethic where we really look after young people, we look after older folks, we're kind, we're gracious. The Lord God Almighty takes a great interest in widows and orphans and the Church of Jesus Christ ought to be that way. And then be patient with all. This is what churchmanship looks like.

See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good, both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. What is the will of God for my life? To rejoice, to pray, give thanks.

That's enough to keep you busy every day. You have enough to do doing the will of God from 1 Thessalonians 5. Do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, test all things, hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. So that is just a brief explanation with reference to the church.

Commitment to scripture, purity and doctrine, faithful officers, faithful churchmen.

Praying for the Civil Order

And then finally, with reference to the world itself, how do we pray thy kingdom come? In Westminster, larger catechism, what we read, that the true church ought to be countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate. Now, there would be some that might disagree with that. Well, I think that it The bare minimum, thy kingdom come, means that the government is not actively opposed to the church.

If they don't come and countenance us and maintain us and protect us with the sword, I can handle that as long as they don't turn the sword against us. And this is what increasingly is happening. I don't think it just happens overnight. Hitler's rise to power took some time.

The rise of different men who have been bad for our nation doesn't just happen overnight. And we are seeing increasingly secularization. So when we pray, thy kingdom come, God, protect your kingdom from wayward magistrates. Subdue them and make them such that if they're not going to countenance us, if they're not going to rule and protect us, then at least cause them not to harass us.

We can certainly pray this for. for Canada, for the US, but of course, for the persecuted church. And this is an application of why we read those things from voices of martyrs. It's an expression of the Second Great Commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself.

We should love our brothers and sisters that are suffering. We are told specifically in the book of Hebrews to remember the prisoners. But isn't this in accordance with thy kingdom come, when we pray that God bless Pastor Abedini, the government, is not only not countenancing him, they are actively opposing him and aggressively seeking to destroy him. God protect him.

He's a member of your kingdom. Please watch over him. Calvin said, the substance of this prayer is that God would enlighten the world by the light of his word, would form the hearts of men by the influences of his spirit to obey his justice, and would restore to order by the gracious exercise of his power all the disorder that exists in the world. Beautiful.

That's a, you know, we've been looking at it in smaller bites, but there is a comprehensiveness about that particular petition. Thy kingdom come. Oppose, destroy, and get rid of anything that would stand in the way and cause righteousness and godliness and holiness to prevail. So that is the second petition, Thy Kingdom Come.

God willing, next week we'll look at Your Will Be Done. Well, let us close in prayer.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your grace. We thank you for calling us to be participants in this kingdom. We pray that it would continue to flourish and thrive.

We pray that many more people would come under the rule of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do long for that day when he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. We pray that everyone who attends this church would be ready for that day. We pray for children.

We pray for young people. God, we pray for adults that come in here that are outside of Christ. We want them to know the joy of being found in Him, that they may be ready to stand on the day of judgment. We ask God that you would bless the preaching of the gospel in this church to the salvation of sinners so that they may indeed know safety and refuge in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.

We ask that you would go with us now. We pray that you would continue with us in the remainder of this week. Bring us together on the Sabbath day that we may worship you in spirit and in truth. And we pray through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Psalm 95:3; 103:19
• Isaiah 62:6-7
• Jeremiah 10:7
• Daniel 4:34-35
• Matthew 6:1-18; 6:33; 9:38; 12:28
• Romans 10:17; 11:25-26
• 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
• Ephesians 1:4-5; 1:13
• Colossians 1:13
• 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12; 3:1; 5:12-22
• 1 Timothy 3:2; 3:15; 4:6
• 2 Timothy 1:13-14; 2:15; 4:2
• James 1:18; 2:8
• 1 Peter 1:23
• Hebrews 13:3
• Revelation 1:4-5; 15:4