Green Baggins

Matthew 6:10

Have you ever dreamed about owning your own kingdom? That you would have the ability and the authority to command people under you, to have money, power and prestige? Maybe some small island country that is nevertheless wealthy. I think there are very few of us who haven’t at some point in time dreamt of that. Of course, many of us want to build our own kingdom right here on earth. We strive with all our might to do so. Well, I want to start out by saying that it is possible for you and for us to be kings, and to rule over a country. We were actually made for that. God said at the very beginning that man should rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the animals that creep along the ground. We were made to rule, and those of us who trust in Christ will rule someday.

We are going to do something a little different with the text today. We are going to start from the end, as it were. That is, we will start with what we can expect at the end of time, and then work our way back.

Imagine yourself in the new heavens and the new earth. Imagine fruit that simply bursts with flavor when you eat it. Imagine a complete lack of weeds. Imagine pure unmixed joy, into which no sadness comes. Imagine seeing all your believing family and friends again. Imagine ruling at the right hand of Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe. Imagine an inheritance that is unimaginably sweet waiting for you. Imagine a crown, and angels at your command, angels who come to your judgment seat to receive judgment. Imagine a body that never ever grows weary. Imagine a body that doesn’t need such primitive transportation as cars and airplanes. Imagine seeing God face to face with your name on his lips, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Remember that kings do give trifles. Remember that the richer a king is, the better gifts He gives. Remember that while most kings have to find their subjects, Christ actually makes His own subjects. Is all that what we pray for when we say, “Thy kingdom come?” It certainly is.

However, our sinful minds will do almost anything to twist that version of the story. Our sinful imagination will say that it really isn’t all that great. Or maybe it says you shouldn’t wait for it. You should have it now. Maybe it says that you should be the sole ruler of that world, not God. After all, you deserve it. Build your own kingdom here on earth, your sinful nature says.

Well, it is that kind of thinking that is ruled out here in this second petition to the Lord’s Prayer. There is only one kingdom that can win out in the end. Do we really think it will be our own kingdom that wins? Some people think so. There was one businessman who built up such a large empire, saying that he was literally trying to build his own kingdom here on earth that would last forever, since he was, after all, going to be immortal. The man is now dead, and his money is scattered. God does not permit other kingdoms to win out against His own.

That should be an encouragement to us also, since Satan’s kingdom cannot win, either. For we must note here that ultimately there are only two kingdoms currently in existence: the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God. So, in praying “Thy kingdom come,” we are taking sides in this. We are not neutral. Furthermore, that makes us all combatants. We are none of us civilians in this battle. That is why the church on earth is called the church militant. As one kingdom goes up in the world, the other goes down. So, to sum up what we have seen so far, what we pray for, negatively speaking, is that no kingdom but God’s kingdom will reign on earth. That means that our own little kingdoms cannot exist, nor can Satan’s kingdom exist, when assaulted by the full force of heaven’s might.

So what do we pray for positively? We pray that God’s kingdom will come. But what does that mean? Well, let’s take a quick look at the context of this petition. After all, the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer are not individual petitions that can be yanked out of their context and understood separately. We must notice particularly what comes before this petition in the Lord’s Prayer. We find that God’s name being hallowed comes before the establishment of the kingdom. Now, isn’t that interesting. We would have thought that it should the other way around. Wouldn’t it be better if God’s kingdom were established first so that then God’s name might be honored? But that is just what the text does not say. It says that God’s name is the most important thing. The honor of God is of paramount importance. What we have to remember here is that if there is a kingdom, then there must be a king. God is King of the universe in his own right. He doesn’t need our shouts of acclamation in order to preserve that right. However, God is honored when we shout the praises of God, when we honor the name of God. It is in the very honoring of God’s name that God brings about His kingdom. God brings in His kingdom in the very shouts of acclamation that He is the King. So you can see a very logical progression from the first petition to the second.

Earlier we talked about the kingdom of heaven as it will exist in the future. That is the goal that is to be always in front of our eyes. The question then becomes, “How do we get there?” Well we get there by grace. We become a part of the kingdom of God, when God regenerates our heart. Dead people cannot rule. We need to become alive first. That is something that God does. What God does when He gives us a new heart is that He sets up a throne right in our very hearts. God rules there by His Holy Spirit. That is what the hymn says, “Take my will and make it thine; it shall be no longer mine. Take my heart-it is thine own; it shall be thy royal throne, it shall be thy royal throne.” Is our heart the very throneroom of God? Does He reign in our hearts? The only way to reign with Christ is if Christ reigns in us first. The only way to the kingdom of glory that will be revealed at the last day is by means of the kingdom of grace.

Now, we must clear up one potential problem. When we pray “Thy kingdom come,” are we saying that God does not rule over all things now? Obviously, what we are praying for in that petition has not fully happened yet. Does that mean that God does not rule now? The answer is no. God does rule over all creation. But God’s rule over all creation is not the kind of rule about which this petition speaks. The rule of which this petition speaks is the saving rule, the Gospel rule, the rule of the church. What we pray for in the second petition then, is that God’s church militant may be transformed into the church triumphant. That God’s church will win, by God’s grace. That all enemies of the cross of Christ will be put under Christ’s feet. Do we realize that this petition is militaristic? That it is a battle cry? We are asking for Armageddon, the final battle, when Christ will put all His enemies under His feet. Again, looking at our doctrinal standard, the Heidelberg Catechism, question 123: What does the second request mean? A. Your kingdom come means, Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Keep your church strong, and add to it. Destory the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspircy against your Word. Do this until your kindgom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all. And again, the Westminster Larger Catechism, question 191: What do we pray for in the second petition? A. 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 fulness 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 our 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.” In other words, it is a prayer for the Gospel to go forth, for the church to have proper government, for the church to be purified; that those who are believers be strengthened in their faith, and those who do not believe may be converted; that Christ would come back soon, and that He would exercise His power so that all these ends might be achieved.

So how are we to think of ourselves? That depends on the state of your soul. Princes of one kingdom are not to be mastered by the laws and people of another kingdom. We are to our independence from the other kingdom, from Satan’s kingdom. For we are princes and princesses. We are to inherit the throne of the world, being coheirs with Christ. This is the Bible’s language, not mine. Are you a prince or princess? Then act like it! You may be a prince or princess in disguise. No one might look at you right now and say, “There is obvious royalty.” However, if you are a prince, then you should act like one. That is, you should be generous with your Father’s wealth. Spread it around. Royalty prides itself on generosity. There is even a name for it. It is called “largesse.” Those who are rich and powerful give money to the poor and those less fortunate. Those like us, who have such enormous spiritual riches, should spread our riches abroad. That is of the very nature of royalty. Again, we are not bound by the law of Satan’s kingdom. You who trust in Christ have been set free from that kingdom, to which you once belonged. Now you belong to God’s kingdom. He does not suffer rival sets of laws to reign in His people. It had better be the law of Christ that reigns in your hearts, or Christ will say, “I never knew you.” That isn’t to say that we obey God’s law all the time. Even the stoutest prince among us still falls into sin, which is Satan’s law. However, that is not what rules him. That is not the general rule. What masters a Christian’s heart is grace that enables him to obey the law, however imperfect the performance which may result.

We pray for the coming of God’s kingdom in the future. We are asking for faith to be made sight, for hope to become realization, for love to be made perfect. We are asking to see face to face. We are asking that the consummation of all things to occur.

Now, at this point, some of us might be saying to ourselves, “I wouldn’t mind if Christ came back. But I still have so much I want to do and see before He does.” This is a groundless fear on our part, since the consummation of all things does involve the lessening of our priviledges, but the tremendous expansion of them. The future age holds so much more fulfillment than the present, that we will laugh at such thoughts when that time finally comes. We will say then, “Why did I ever want Christ to delay His coming? What a thought!” You see, the reality is that this life is the shadow, this life is the copy, and but a dim one at that. The real thing is coming. The real deal. What we really long for is yet to come. We cast about in this life, looking for things that try to fulfill our lives, and we can’t ever find it. But those things are not what we really want. What we really want is God Himself. What we really want is the tearing away of the veil between heaven and earth so that we can see the living God. That is the real life. This life of shadows is but a poor damaged image of the real thing. Let’s pray for the real thing.