Your Kingdom Come (Matthew 6:10)

One feature stands out in this petition and it is that the Father has a kingdom. A kingdom implies subjects, locations and laws. Since we have seen in the previous petition a claim to the perfection and glory of the Father, we might assume that his kingdom would be marked by perfection and glory. Yet when we read the Bible, we will discover that his kingdom is marked by imperfection and weakness. Apart from two aspects of it, that is, and one of those aspects is his kingdom in Eden before the Fall and the other is his kingdom in eternity. Both of them have no imperfection.

 

God’s kingdom in the Bible

As we look at this petition, we need to ask what is meant by kingdom. After all, there is an obvious fact that God is king because he is the sovereign God. We are told about that fact in many places in the Bible. He rules through his providence and display many aspects of his rule. He alone decides the weather, and the effects of his decision are not limited to planet earth. Job was given a tour of the creation by God, a tour in which God revealed his control over sub-human creatures on land, air and sea. The Lord controls the empires of the world, as he revealed to Daniel when he gave to him information about their futures. But kingdom in that sense is always there because God will even be in charge of the lost after the Day of Judgement.

 

What other kind of divine kingdom is there? When we read the Old Testament, we will discover that Israel was a kingdom over which God ruled. But when Jesus gave this instruction to pray about the coming kingdom, Israel had already ceased in most ways to be God’s kingdom. It was in bondage to the Roman Empire. While there were individuals within Israel who feared God, the nation as a whole no longer did, and showed their opposition to him by refusing to acknowledge that Jesus was the Messiah when he came. So Jesus is not suggesting that we pray for Israel to be restored to God as a specific, privileged kingdom, although there are descriptions by Paul in Romans 11 of the race of Israel being restored in another way through the gospel. Indeed, Jesus had told the Pharisees that the kingdom would be taken from them and given to others.

 

The Old Testament does say a great deal about another kingdom. Its prophets describe a kingdom over which the Messiah would rule. This kingdom would be global in extent, it would bring about peace, and it would be devout in character and behaviour. When John the forerunner mentioned what Jesus would do, he explained it in terms of the kingdom of God being near. Jesus also used the same detail to describe the message that he preached. So it is very likely that the instruction in the prayer is connected to this prophesied kingdom. 

 

But even although we realise that he is referring to the prophesied kingdom, we still need to consider other verses. Jesus said to Nicodemus that unless a person is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. We do not find those details surprising, that the kingdom of God is composed of converted people. Yet we have to balance that sentence with what Jesus says in Matthew 13 about there being wheat and tares in the kingdom. Jesus also says that instead of removing the tares he will leave them there until the Day of Judgement. In that chapter, he also says that the kingdom is like a net in which there are good and bad fish, and again says that the separation between them will not occur until his second coming. So that must mean that there are different expressions of the kingdom.

 

So far, we have seen that the word kingdom can refer to the whole of creation. Or it could refer to Israel. Or it could refer to the prophesied kingdom of the Messiah. Or it could refer to a kingdom composed of converted people. Or it could refer to a temporary form of the kingdom in which both converted and unconverted people are found.

 

There is another use of the word kingdom that may either help us or confuse us. Paul reminds the Colossians that the Father ‘has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.’ They had gone from one kingdom to another. He also told the Ephesians that ‘everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God’ (Eph. 5:5). So in that verse from Ephesians, he says that the kingdom is the inheritance of believers and that this kingdom belongs to both the Father and the Son. Obviously, this kingdom is future.

 

There are some verses that refer specifically to the kingdom of the Father and here are three of them. The first is a statement by Jesus in Matthew 13:43: ‘Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.’ That verse occurs in the parable of the weeds. In that parable, Jesus says that the contents of that verse will be fulfilled at the second coming. The second verse is found in Matthew 26:29 as part of the description of the first Lord’s Supper: ‘I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.’ Again, we can see from that reference that there is a connection between the second coming and the Father’s kingdom. And in Matthew 25:34, when describing what will happen on the Day of Judgement, Jesus mentions the Father’s kingdom: ‘Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”’ So, again, there is a reference to the second coming.

 

So we can repeat what we have noticed about how the Bible uses the word ‘kingdom’ in different ways. It can refer to God’s sovereign rule over the whole of creation. Or it could refer to God’s rule in Old Testament times over the people of Israel. Or it could refer to the kingdom of the Messiah that was prophesied in the Old Testament. Or it could refer to the kingdom that John the Baptist and Jesus both said would soon be present. Or it could refer to a kingdom composed of converted people as Jesus explained to Nicodemus. Or it could refer to a temporary form of the kingdom in which both converted and unconverted people are found as mentioned by Jesus in his parables. Or it could refer to the current kingdom over which Jesus reigns. Or it could refer to the kingdom of the Father, which seems to be in the future. Which of them does Jesus have in mind when he asks his disciples to pray that the Father’s kingdom will come?

 

We can omit the meanings of God’s rule over everything, his rule over Israel, and the combined kingdom in which good and bad co-exist. They would not be the focus of this petition for obvious reasons. God’s rule over everything is a fact, the limited kingdom of Israel is no more, and the kingdom in which good and bad are found is only a description of what we call the visible church, and it is not always a positively spiritual reality. So we have two forms of the kingdom left: one is the current kingdom over which Jesus reigns from heaven and the other is the eternal kingdom. I think there is probably a combination of both meanings, but I would say that the main focus is the eternal fulfilment of it. Of course, we should remember that Jesus reigns in heaven on behalf of the Father. It was the Father who invited Jesus to sit on his right hand on the throne in heaven.

 

The apostles and the kingdom

Since Jesus instructed his disciples to pray for the coming of the kingdom, we can safely assume that he was and is very interested in it. We have already seen that his message while on earth was about the imminent appearing of the kingdom and in the Sermon on the Mount we have what can be described as his Kingdom Manifesto as he describes the blessings that his subjects will receive from him and the requirements he makes of them as his followers.

 

After he rose from the dead, he was with his disciples for forty days. Luke says that during that time he taught them ‘about the kingdom of God’ (Acts 1:3). The message that his followers took to others was the ‘good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ’ (Acts 8:12). Paul and Barnabas informed their hearers that it would be ‘through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God’ (Acts 14:22), a statement that indicates the kingdom is experienced after this life. In Ephesus, Paul taught for three months ‘reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God’ (Acts 19:9), and he continued doing so for two years. When he reached Rome, Paul ‘testified to the kingdom of God’ to many Jews who came to hear him (Acts 28:23). Luke sums up Paul’s message to all who heard him in Rome as him ‘proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 28:31).

 

Paul also taught that subjects of the kingdom live uprightly (1 Cor. 6:9-10), which points to the present state of the kingdom of God. The future experience of the kingdom requires a different type of body (1 Cor. 15:50). He reminded the Thessalonians that God the Father had called them into his kingdom (1 Thess. 2:13), which says clearly that the present state of the kingdom belongs to the Father as well as to Jesus (Col. 1:13). When writing 2 Timothy, Paul expected that he would die soon, but he was sure that the Lord would bring him ‘safely into his heavenly kingdom’ (2 Tim. 4:18), a description that says the period between death and resurrection for believers also belongs to God’s kingdom.

 

James says that believers are ‘heirs of the kingdom’ which God has promised to those who love him (Jas. 2:5), which points to it coming in the future. Peter anticipates ‘an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 Pet. 1:11), which tells us that the kingdom is everlasting and that it belongs to Jesus. John says that a day will come when the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of Jesus and he will reign forever over it (Rev. 11:16).

 

So we can see from these references that the kingdom of God has two phases. One occurs before Jesus returns and the other will begin after his second coming. Moreover, the references indicate that each phase can be applied to both the Father and the Son, which means that this petition in the Lord’s Prayer about the coming of the kingdom includes both phases. We can say that the first phase is preparation for the second.

 

Praying for the preparation of the eternal kingdom

The preparation of the eternal kingdom involves sinners being saved. They are going to be the ones who will inherit that kingdom, so while we should pray for their sanctification after their coming to faith, and their gradual change into Christlikeness, we must pray for the conversion of sinners. 

 

This involves asking Father to send the Holy Spirit to convict people of their sins. The fact of doing so is obvious, but in what ways do they pray? They pray earnestly for this blessing to be given by God to sinners. They pray persistently for God to send the Holy Spirit to such people. They pray particularly when asking God to send the Holy Spirit to individuals and they pray generally that he would bless communities and countries through the gospel. They pray intelligently for specific events that may be held for sinners to hear the good news of salvation. 

 

Why do they pray that sinners will be brought into the kingdom? They do so because the grace of love for other people has been implanted in their hearts by God himself. They pray this way because sooner or later they will discover that many people had prayed for them before they entered the kingdom. They pray in this way because they know that Jesus wants to save sinners, that the Holy Spirit wants to save sinners, and that the Father wants to save sinners.

 

What is the benefit of such praying? One benefit is that praying in this way leads to the assurance that they themselves are in the kingdom. Love to one’s neighbour is evidence of a changed heart. It is not the only evidence, but it is a clear evidence. There are many ways to show love to neighbours, but none are better for the neighbours than praying for them. By neighbour, we mean men and women, whoever they happen to be.

 

A second benefit of praying in this way is that it means we have the kingdom of God as our highest interest and want the various expressions of the kingdom of darkness to be weakened. We know that in some ways the kingdom of the enemy will be in existence right until the end, but the most effective way of weakening it is to pray for conversions.

 

There are practical ways of doing this. When we thought about McCheyne a couple of days ago, we noted that he thought it would be good idea to use a map of the world or an atlas when praying for the nations. There are books that give us details about the spiritual conditions in every country. We could pray for a couple of countries every day – there are one hundred and ninety-five countries in the world, and so participate in global mission.

 

There is a sense here that we are invited to participate in the greatest ongoing activity of human history, which is the ingathering of the people of God. One of the things that each of us will discover on the great day is who prayed for us. It may be the case that we never met them or even heard about them. Perhaps your mother belonged to a prayer group who met regularly for prayer, and one of the people that they prayed for was you. It will be wonderful to meet those who so prayed for us, and for us to meet people that we prayed for.

 

Praying for the eternal kingdom to come

One of the closing prayers of the Bible is found in Revelation 22: ‘Even so come, Lord Jesus!’ That statement is an expression of strong desire caused by love to the Saviour. But it is also a statement that reveals a longing to experience what will known by God’s people at that time. We can consider what will happen by noting the three verses cited already in which Jesus spoke about the kingdom of the Father.

 

The first of them is found in Matthew 13:43: ‘Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.’ This description points to the fact that they will be glorified. While it will be an individual experience, it will also be a shared experience. Here in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tells his disciples to pray for glorification. In John 17, Jesus himself prays for us to be glorified when he prays that we should see his glory. In that chapter of John, we can see how strong his desire for glorification was.

 

The time of glorification will be the second coming of Jesus. Glorification is not limited to our spirits, but it will include our bodies. There will be no trace of sin in our bodies, but they will be transformed, made beautiful, and we will become as like God as it is possible for a creature to become. Glorification is the final act in the process of salvation that will be experienced by all believers.

 

The second verse is from Matthew 26:9: ‘I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.’ As we know, Jesus made this prediction at the first Lord’s Supper. In his prediction, he says that the Father’s kingdom will be a place of fellowship with Jesus and the experience will be like ongoing celebration. The author of Hebrews mentions that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before him, and we can see he was thinking of the Father’s kingdom as he prepared to go to the cross a few hours later. He was looking forward to being with his disciples, so it is not surprising that he asked them to pray to the Father and say, ‘Your kingdom come.’

 

The third verse is from Matthew 25:34: ‘Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”’ This statement will be proclaimed on Judgement Day and it will be the most astonishing announcement we will ever hear. It says that we are blessed by the Father, that he planned the experience from before creation, and the experience is described as enjoying our inheritance. All of us have received numerous invitations and welcomes from people, but nothing will compare to this astonishing welcome. After all, says Jesus, ‘It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’

 

Application

Thomas Watson urged believers to ‘often take a prospect of this heavenly kingdom’. He said to them: ‘Climb up the celestial mount; take a turn, as it were, in heaven every day by holy meditation. “Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels” (Psalm 48:12, 13). See what a glorious kingdom heaven is! Christian, show your heart the gates of pearl, the beds of spices, the clusters of grapes which grow in the paradise of God. Say, “O my soul, all this glory is yours! It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you this kingdom.” The thoughts of heaven are very delightful and ravishing. Can men of the world so delight in viewing their bags of gold, and fields of corn – and shall not the heirs of promise take more delight in contemplating the celestial kingdom?’

 

When we pray, ‘Your kingdom come,’ we are praying in line with God’s revealed purpose. We have seen that it involves praying for people to enter the kingdom and it involves all who enter experiencing the glory that all of them will share. This is what the Father wants, and it is what we want as well.

 

When we pray, ‘Your kingdom come,’ we are praying for God’s final victory. The history of time can be summarised under the title ‘Battles Between Kingdoms.’ Battle began in Eden when Adam and Eve commenced the human race’s war with God. That is the battle that has occurred down the centuries as God rescued his people from the domain of darkness. But Victory Day is coming when God’s kingdom will be here in perfection. 

 

Since that day is coming, how appropriate it is for us to pray for it, not because it needs our prayers in order to happen, but because our prayers reveal whose side we are on. ‘Who is on the Lord’s side?’ was an ancient cry that demanded an answer. The question still is asked, and one way by which an appropriate answer is given occurs when we cry with great spiritual energy, ‘Your kingdom come!’