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You may turn in your Bibles to 
Matthew chapter 6 for a bit of extended application from this 
morning's sermon. I realize that we've covered 
the Lord's Prayer, we covered it last year, the beginning of 
2012, but I thought this second petition Weighs in well with 
what we looked at this morning when Jesus says, the harvest 
truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray the Lord 
of the harvest will raise up or send out laborers into his 
harvest. So this evening I want to, again 
by way of some extended application, look or focus on the second petition 
of the Lord's Prayer, which is your kingdom come. But I'll begin 
reading in chapter six at verse five. 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Lord, 
give us grace now as we study again This Lord's Prayer, we 
know it's a great model, it's a great outline for us in our 
own private place, in our own closets, and as well for us as 
a local church. May we indeed see the priority 
laid out in this prayer. May we indeed see the wisdom 
in it, and may you indeed give us the grace to pray it in faith, 
to realize that you are the God who hears, the God who answers, 
and the God who gets glory in the lives of His people. We thank 
you, Father, for supplying and providing your word to us. You've 
not left us to wonder what prayer looks like. You've not left us 
to wonder what we ought to say or how we ought to approach you. 
The word is so clear. Give us grace and give us obedience 
as we apply these things. And we ask in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Remember, just by way of reminder, 
the Lord Jesus in this particular section is dealing with religious 
observance. He deals with almsgiving, with 
prayer, and with fasting. In this particular section that 
I read, He deals with the motivation behind prayer. He says that we 
ought not to be like the hypocrites. We ought not to be like those 
people that simply pray so that they can be seen by men. If that 
is your goal, if that is your desire, then you will have your 
reward. People will see you and they'll say, wow, what a wonderful 
man. He prays. He stands on the street 
corner. No, Jesus says in terms of our 
motivation, it ought to be God's face. It ought to be God's smile. 
It ought to be God's ear that we see. And therefore, we go 
into our secret place, we go into our room, and there we seek 
our Father. He then speaks to the manner 
in which we pray. We're not to use vain repetition 
the way the heathen do. We're not to think that for our 
many words, God is somehow indebted to us. We are not to think that 
prayer is formula or technique or manipulation, but rather we 
are to pray using the model that the Lord Jesus prescribes here. 
Again, the way that we are to take this prayer is not simply 
to rehearse it or to repeat it several times. Mentioned before, 
when I was a young man growing up in the Roman Catholic Church, 
as a penalty, they would tell you, Satan Hail Marys and to 
our fathers, or 15 Hail Marys and five our fathers. It was 
a form of chastisement. It was a form of punishment. 
It was a form of penalty or atonement for your sins. That's certainly 
not the way we ought to pray. Rather, we take this model prayer, 
we look at each of the petitions involved, and there are six of 
them, and we formulate our prayer life according to this particular 
model. In other words, the priority 
is that God comes first. God's name, God's kingdom, God's 
will. That ought to be first and foremost 
in the heart of the believer. We ought to be concerned and 
jealously concerned with the fact that God is glorified and 
honored and praised with the coming of his kingdom as we are 
taught here and with the obedience to his will on earth as it is 
in heaven. After we pray God word, then 
we pray for those things that are fitting for our own life, 
our own place in God's earth. We pray for provision. Give us 
this day our daily bread. Under that heading, we can pray 
for injuries and for illness and temporal challenges and jobs 
and all that sort of thing. We then pray for forgiveness. 
Certainly, as we live in this world, we continue to stand in 
need of the forgiveness of our God Most High. And then we pray 
for His protection. In other words, when we leave 
our closet, when we leave the confines of the church and we 
go out into this world, we pray that the Lord would lead us not 
into temptation, but He would deliver us from the power of 
the evil one, or deliver us from the evil one. And then doxology 
ends the prayer. For yours is the kingdom and 
the power and the glory forever. Amen. So God comes first. God is glorified throughout. 
So let's look at this second petition in the Lord's Prayer, 
specifically, Your Kingdom Come. And I want to consider three 
particulars this evening. Actually, two particulars. First 
of all, the meaning of His kingdom, and then secondly, some particulars 
involved, some suggestions on how to employ this petition in 
our prayer life with reference to the individual, the church, 
and the world. But first of all, with reference 
to the meaning of his kingdom. Have you ever stopped and asked 
yourself that? In Matthew 4, when Jesus embarks 
on his public ministry, he says, repent for the kingdom of God 
or the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Remember that when John 
the Baptist preaches, he says the very same thing. Repent for 
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Have you ever asked the question, 
what is the kingdom of heaven? What is the kingdom of God? If 
you've asked that question, then you're in good company. Certainly 
all students of the Bible ought to ask, what does this mean with 
reference to your kingdom come? Well, there's three ways that 
kingdom is referred to in the Scripture. Three ways that kingdom, 
or the kingdom of God, is referred to in the Scripture. And the 
first refers to God's universal kingdom. God's universal kingdom, 
His comprehensive rule, His comprehensive reign over all things. He made 
this world and everything in it, and He governs it. He is 
the regent, He is the king of kings, He is the Lord of lords. The Lord God rules over all things 
in a comprehensive manner. The Puritan Watson refers to 
this as the providential kingdom. God's rule in providence. God's 
government over all things. And there are various passages 
in the scripture that flesh out this meaning of God's universal 
ruler reign. Psalm 95 verse 3. It says, for 
the Lord is the great God and the great King above all gods. So you see, it is right to ascribe 
to the Lord Most High rule and kingdom and kingship. Psalm 103, 
verse 19. You remember that Psalm of David 
where he starts off and he says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
all that is within me. Bless His holy name. He then 
repeats, bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of his 
benefits. So having committed himself to 
blessing God, he then rehearses or recalls the benefits of God. Those serve as arguments or as 
reasons why he ought to bless the Lord. or he ought to speak 
well of the Lord. And he crowns that psalm with 
this statement. In Psalm 103, verse 19, it says, 
The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom 
rules over all. His comprehensive, sovereign 
rule over all His creatures and over all their actions. The prophet 
Jeremiah chapter 10 verse 7 asks this question, Who would not 
fear you, O king of the nations? For indeed it is your rightful 
due. For among all the wise men of 
the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like 
you. This is picked up in Revelation 
chapter 15, verse 4. Again, the question comes, 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. So it is right to 
ascribe to the Lord God Most High universal, comprehensive 
rule and reign, sovereignly administered from His throne in heaven. And 
of course, this must be the view of the kingdom that Nebuchadnezzar 
had in mind when he spoke these words. He says, and at the end 
of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, 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. He said, 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 statement from Nebuchadnezzar 
there in Daniel 4, verses 34 and 35. A recognition, the absolute 
sovereignty and the comprehensive glory of God Most High in His 
function as the King over all things. But secondly, the scripture 
recognizes the Kingdom of Heaven in an already present sense. in an already-having-arrived 
sense. Theologians refer to this as 
the already. Watson, again, calls it the kingdom 
of grace. Again, Matthew 4, 17, Jesus says, 
repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And the idea here 
is not so much one of place, but rather of reign, God's rule. God's reign over His people in 
this kingdom of grace. It's not specifically geography 
that's in view. It's not specifically palaces 
that are in view. It's not specifically drawbridges 
or moats or armed guards or anything like that. But it is the rule 
and the reign of God Most High in this already present sense 
that His kingdom has erupted into this particular age. George 
Eldon Labb describes it this way. He says, the majority of 
exegetes have recognized that the central meaning of kingdom, 
as of the Hebrew word, is the abstract or dynamic idea of reign, 
rule, or dominion, rather than the concrete idea of realm. So it's not realm, it's not location, 
it's not geography. It is the reign of God Most High 
in the lives of His people. You see this fleshed out in Matthew 
chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12 at verse 28. Jesus says, if I cast out demons 
by the Spirit of God, which He had, He didn't do it by the Beelzebub 
as he was being accused of having doing. But he says, if I cast 
out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has 
come upon you. In other words, it is broken 
into this age. With the advent of Christ, with 
the first coming of the Lord Jesus, the kingdom of God has 
come. It is already present. In other 
words, when we pray, Thy kingdom come, probably partially we're 
praying for the increase of this aspect. That through the preaching 
of the gospel, through the salvation of sinners, through the edification 
of saints, that kingdom that is already present would be more 
felt, would be more realized, and would be more recognized 
among the people of God. France says the time of God's 
effective sovereignty has arrived and now is the time for decisive 
action in response. We are not praying for the kingdom 
to start in this petition, but to grow in its increase, to grow 
in its influence, to grow in its power, to grow in its comprehensive 
application in all of the earth. So thy kingdom come, means that 
we pray for the successful preaching of the gospel, the conversion 
of sinners, the edification of saints, and the increasing rule 
of Christ to be seen and known in this world. And then there 
is a third way that the kingdom is referred to in the scripture. 
This is the not yet. See, we've already entered into 
the kingdom, but it's not yet fully consummated. Obviously, 
we are not in heaven. Last week, there was a bombing 
at a marathon. Last week, there was murders 
all over the place. Obviously, we're not in that 
final glory. And so this consummated glory, 
this consummated kingdom is referred to by Watson as the kingdom of 
glory. This is the one spoken of by 
Paul, or this is the aspect rather, spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians 
15. You may turn there. 1 Corinthians 
15 verses 20. to 28. Again, just establishing 
the meaning of God's kingdom in this second petition. Because 
if we don't know what that means, we'll certainly not pray accordingly. 
But if we understand what it means, then hopefully we will 
pray accordingly and we will apply ourselves to that model 
prayer when we remember our Lord's word, pray, that the Lord of 
the harvest would raise up or would send out laborers into 
his harvest. Notice in 1 Corinthians 15-20. 
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 when he delivers 
the kingdom to God the Father. When, or we might translate after, 
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? Just by 
way of a brief observation. Death is going to be destroyed. I had the privilege of ministering 
at the old folks' home on Wednesday, and they like that. Maybe it's 
because they're closer to that concept of death. But, you know, 
we live in a world filled with death. We live in a world filled 
with sorrow. We live in a world filled with 
pain and suffering. I mean, unless you've been living, 
you know, on the moon for the last week, you've certainly been 
confronted with the reality of wickedness. You've certainly 
been confronted with the carnage of man. You've been confronted 
with this reality of total depravity. And what we find the Apostle 
Paul saying is that when Jesus comes, he's going to destroy 
death itself. Isn't that beautiful? That final 
enemy is going to be destroyed. Please do not forget that. Please make that a part of your 
happy life. Make that something that gives 
you encouragement. Death is going to be destroyed. 
There's going to come a day when Jesus ushers in this new heavens 
and this new earth where there will be no more death. There'll 
be no more madmen bombing people. There'll be no more abortion. 
There'll be no more euthanasia. There'll be no more drive-by 
shootings. There'll be no more death of 
loved ones. It's not going to be the case 
in the New Jerusalem that people die. God Himself will wipe away 
every tear from their eyes. God Himself will feed His people. 
God will give drink to His people. God will comfort His people. 
God will be with His people. Did you hear the prophet Isaiah 
in chapter 25 tonight? He's indicating those things. 
Sounds like John the Apostle in Revelation 21, when he sees 
that new Jerusalem coming down from heaven. You see, the biblical 
authors, the biblical men and women of God, have always wanted 
that blessed eschaton. that state, that consummated 
glory, that kingdom of God Most High to so affect and so overrule 
this world. It is a blessed truth that we 
are coming to a day when Jesus Christ is going to destroy death. Verse 27, 4, 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. This is that not yet aspect. This is that kingdom of glory. This is that reality that we 
are waiting for. So when we bring this back to 
our closets and we bring this back to our church prayer meetings, 
how ought we to pray? Well, that brings us secondly 
to some particulars. First, for the individual. How 
should we pray? Thy kingdom come. Now, I'm not 
suggesting that I have a corner on this. I have some Puritans 
that helped me in this area quite a bit, Watson and Manton, those 
brothers that had these thoughts. But I think they're pretty evident 
just in terms of this petition, the second petition of the Lord's 
Prayer, and us as individuals, you in your closet, me in my 
closet. First of all, pray for the preaching of the gospel in 
order that God's name would be hallowed. Right? The first petition is this, Hallowed 
be thy name. Well, how is that going to happen? How is God's name going to be 
glorified unless the kingdom increase? Unless the kingdom 
expand? Unless more and more blasphemers 
are entered in to that blessed Zion through the gospel of Jesus 
Christ? We are to pray for the preaching 
of the gospel in order that God's name would be glorified. In the 
language of the prophet Isaiah, we are to give him no rest till 
he establishes and till he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Isaiah 62 verse 7. Isn't that 
a great way to approach prayer? Give him no rest. Be the importunate 
widow. Be that Luke 18 woman that continues 
to come to that judge, that judge who does not fear God, that judge 
who does not regard men, but then ultimately answers the widow's 
petition, lest she weary me with her constant asking. What does 
Jesus draw from that by implication? He says, hear the unjust judge. He goes on to say, shall not 
God avenge his own elect who cry to him day and night? We 
ought to give him no rest till he establishes and till he makes 
Jerusalem a praise in the earth. So pray for the preaching of 
the gospel in order that God's name may be glorified. That's first. Secondly, pray 
for the preaching of the gospel in order that God may save more 
sinners. Notice the specific order. God's 
glory and then sinners. God's glorified by the salvation 
of sinners, to be sure, but we want to be God-centered in our 
prayer lives. Brethren, pray. I don't know 
if you have to write it down on a piece of paper. That's okay. 
If you have to keep a journal or a notebook, that's okay. If 
you have to write it in some of the blank spots in your Bible, 
that's okay. But give him no rest with reference 
to individual sinners that you would like to see converted and 
added to the kingdom. That's legit. That's what we 
ought to be praying. If Jesus says, pray the Lord 
of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest, certainly we 
can pray God, may it be the case that this person is saved. Thirdly, Pray in your own individual 
lives for a kingdom-oriented mindset. If we're praying, thy 
kingdom come, then we are expressing something of a desire to live 
in light of, to live consistent with that kingdom. What is the 
fundamental or one of the fundamental principles or governing principles 
of kingdom life that we saw when we were in Matthew chapter 6? 
Let me just refresh your memory. It's found in verse 33. Jesus 
says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 
and all these things will be added to you. In other words, 
be conspicuously, be jealously, and be earnestly God-centered 
in your life. If we are going to pray, Thy 
kingdom come, then we ought to be those who imbibe the principles 
of that blessed kingdom And so we need to pray. It's not going 
to happen normally or naturally. We're not going to just walk 
out and be holy. Wouldn't that be great? Just walk out and be 
holy. We sing the hymn, take time to be holy. Notice it's 
not walk out and be holy. You've got to take time to be 
holy. You've got to inculcate holiness. You've got to pray 
specifically. You have to ask the Father to create these things 
in your heart. You've got to pray for the presence of the 
Spirit so that you will indeed seek first His kingdom and His 
righteousness. You won't be focused primarily 
on food and shelter and clothing. Those things are secondary. Those 
things will be added to the kingdom citizen who puts God first. We 
need to pray this way. Fourthly, we need to pray for 
the peace of God to rule in Zion. And Zion is an interesting term 
in the scripture. It is the city of David. It is 
where God's rule was located presently in Israel of old. Zion in the Psalter, Zion applied 
in the New Testament comes to be used of the church. And what 
I mean by that is as individuals pray for peace in your church. 
pray that we would all endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace according to Ephesians 4.1. In other words, 
the gospel, preaching, sinners saved, saints edified, all of 
that will flourish in a context of peace, of unity, of harmony. You know, we are told not to 
grieve the Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 4. What is it that grieves 
the Holy Spirit? If I were to ask you, write down 
five things that grieve the Holy Spirit. Maybe you're like me. 
You'd say, well, murdering people, committing adultery with people, 
stealing from people, slandering people. All those things, those 
things that we might consider are big sins, big crimes. Those 
are what really grieves the Spirit. If you look there for just a 
moment at Ephesians 4.30, the apostle tells us what grieves 
the spirit. Ephesians 4.30, I'm not suggesting 
murder and adultery don't grieve the spirit. They do. But that's 
not what's in view in Ephesians 4. Verse 30, Do not grieve the 
Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, 
clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. In other words, within the context 
and the life of the covenant community, in the context and 
the life of the Church of Jesus Christ, Zion, we are not to speak 
ill of one another, we are not to engage in bitterness, wrath, 
anger, clamor, evil speaking. We are to put away malice. We 
are to inculcate. We are to develop. We are to 
put on. We are to practice what is found 
in verse 32. It is in this context that gospel 
preaching is to go forth. So that if a sinner wanders in, 
or if somebody unconverted is here, it's not like the Spirit 
is grieved because the people of God can't get along with each 
other. Verse 32. Be kind to one another, 
tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ 
forgave you." So pray for the peace of God to rule in Zion. And then fifthly and finally, 
with reference to our own closets, pray for loyalty in your subjection 
to the King. Pray for loyalty in your subjection 
to the King. God, help me to obey. Help me 
to honor you. Help me to serve you. Help me 
to glorify you. Again, it's not the case that 
we just wander around doing those things which are pleasing to 
God. Do we? Maybe you do. I don't know. Maybe 
you're that godly. You just got the Midas touch. 
Everything you touch turns to gold. Everything you do is holy. 
And God just smiles down upon it. But for the rest of us, slobs, 
we need to pray and ask God to help us. Help me obey, help me 
to long for, help me to honor my King. 1 Thessalonians 2.11 
and 12, 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. In other words, if we're going 
to pray, Thy kingdom come, Lord help me to walk worthy of that 
kingdom. 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 in sum, we pray 
for the kingdom's increase, influence, protection, and peace as individuals. Secondly, with reference to the 
church, when we take this petition by Kingdom Come, what ought we 
to think in terms of the corporate prayer meeting? We ought to pray 
our church would be committed to the scripture. Please pray 
that. Please pray that we will be doctrinally 
faithful in exposition of the word, in the administration of 
the ordinances, in discipline, in worship. God in heaven, you 
have spoken. God in heaven, you have given 
your word. God in heaven, you have given your marching orders 
for Zion, and we don't have the right to depart. We don't have 
the right to be creative. We don't have the right to be 
innovators. We don't have the right to substitute 
the things that you've decreed for your worship. God defines 
what acceptable worship is. God prescribes the manner of 
it with reverence and godly fear. Lord in heaven, give us grace 
to be committed to Scripture. Help us not to just pay lip service 
to this Word, but rather let us be committed to Scripture. 
Secondly, let us maintain faithfulness and purity in doctrine. If Jesus 
felt compassion for those multitudes because they were like sheep 
having no shepherd, as I mentioned this morning, the onus fell, 
or the emphasis lie, on the fact that the religious teachers were 
not preaching truth. Those men could not be expected 
to cast out demons. Those men could not be expected 
to cast out sickness. Those men could not be expected 
to heal disease. They were demanded to preach 
the truth, and when they neglected that, Jesus saw the sheep as 
harassed and beaten down. So God and heaven give us purity 
in doctrine. 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3.2, the 
elder, the bishop, must be apt to teach. 1 Timothy 3.15, the 
church is the pillar and ground of the truth. 
1 Timothy 4, 6, he says, continue in them, by doing this you will 
save both yourself and those who hear you. Throughout the 
pastoral epistles, the emphasis falls upon the purity of doctrine. So pray for a commitment to scripture, 
pray for purity in doctrine, pray thirdly for faithful officers, 
faithful officers. Here's Manton in his comment. He says, we should pray that 
God would give us pastors after his own heart. We don't need 
more buffoons. We don't need more CEOs. We don't need managers. We need 
preachers. We've missed this. I saw something 
the other day. Someone said, you know, most 
pastors are called to lead and they've never taken classes on 
leading, or something like that. Now, I'm not saying that everybody 
who ever takes a class on leading is wicked and horrible, but I 
think the pastor would be better served reading Mantine, expounding the Lord's Prayer. 
How do pastors lead the church? Is it because they've got the 
seven principles? They've read Stephen Covey? They've 
read all the latest leadership manuals? No, they lead through 
the exposition of God's Word. That's the way the Bible envisions 
it. Manton says 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. Manton says men that will discharge 
their duty with all faithfulness, men whose hearts are set to building 
up Christ's kingdom. We need men of God, qualified 
by God, measured by the church, thrust out into the harvest to 
preach the word, to pray for the flock, and to do the tasks 
that the Lord God Almighty has given unto them. So as individuals, 
pray this way. As churches, pray this way. For 
the world, we ought to pray. Westminster Larger Catechism 
says that the true religion be countenanced and maintained by 
the civil magistrate. I think we're far away from that, 
but we might certainly pray, let the magistrate leave us alone. 
They may not countenance us, they might not maintain us at 
this particular point in time, but certainly we can pray, let 
them leave us alone. We ought not to be afraid to 
preach against homosexuality. We ought not to be afraid to 
preach against abortion. We ought not to be afraid to 
preach against fractional reserve banking. We ought not to be afraid 
to preach against poor fiscal policy, because that is theft. We shouldn't be threatened by 
the magistrate of going to jail because we preach the truth. 
Pray to the Lord God Most High. According to the Apostle Paul 
in 1st Timothy 2, we are to pray for kings and for authorities, 
for those who have rule over us, that we might lead peaceable 
and quiet lives. We ought to pray that God would 
protect his kingdom on earth through his sovereign power even 
in spite of encroaching influences. Calvin says 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. You see, when we pray, thy kingdom 
come, we are praying that this world stands in need of more 
of God. Well, brethren, that is a brief 
exposition of the Second Petition, Thy Kingdom Come. Probably the 
best way to conclude is just to read the larger catechism. I already mentioned a portion 
of 191. It says, what do we pray for in the second petition? If 
you don't remember what I'm about to read, you can just type Westminster 
Larger, just WLC. You don't have to type Westminster 
Larger Catechism anymore. Isn't Google and, well, Bing, 
isn't that good? Just WLC191. That's all you got 
to do. Just get that in your head. I'm 
going to read it because I want you to hear it, but just get 
WLC191. This is a great exposition or 
explanation of the second petition. 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. Isn't that 
what we're praying? Thy Kingdom Come? Destroy! Satan, destroy sin. The gospel 
propagated throughout the world. The Jews called, Romans 11, after 
the fullness of the Gentiles, then all Israel will be saved. Many of the divines at Westminster 
were post-millennial and they had a view of a future ethnic 
conversion of Jews based on Romans chapter 11. That's why it says 
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. Christ would rule 
in our hearts here, that already kingdom, and hasten the time 
of his second coming, that not yet kingdom, 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. It's a great statement, a great 
explanation. Some great things to consider 
as we approach the second petition in the Lord's Prayer. Thy kingdom 
come. When the Lord of glory in Matthew 
9 tells us we ought to pray, Let us come back to this prayer, 
this model prayer, that sets forth God first and then our 
particular needs. Let us be conspicuously prioritized 
according to the mind of Jesus Christ and see that the Father's 
name, the Father's kingdom, the Father's will is first and foremost 
in our prayer lives. And if you are here tonight and 
you do not know the Lord Jesus, again, look at the great lengths 
He has gone to to explain his concern for and his ultimate 
desire to save sinners. All of this should conduce, to 
use that word we just appealed to or saw in Westminster, larger 
catechism, to show his heart and his way towards sinners. 
So believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Well, let us pray. Father in 
heaven, we do pray that your kingdom would come. We pray that 
its influence, its increase in our own hearts, Our own lives 
would be felt, would be seen, would be manifest. And God, we 
do long for that eschatological coming. We long for the second 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He comes in the glory of 
His Father with all of His holy angels. taking vengeance on those 
who do not know God, and bringing His church, bringing His believers 
into that New Jerusalem wherein righteousness dwells, wherein 
death is no more, and sorrow, and pain, and suffering are gone. 
Lord, all of these things should promote in us great joy, great 
encouragement, and a great longing for that day when we will see 
our King in the fullness of His glory, in the fullness of His 
majesty. And we pray that you would go 
with us now, watch over us in this coming week, grant us grace, 
grant us help, and grant us strength to truly live in light of your 
kingdom. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.