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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." 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 
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.