Word of Salvation – Vol. 13 No.24 – June 1967
Thy Kingdom Come
Sermon by Rev. G. I. Williamson on Matthew 6:10a
Scripture Reading: 1Chron. 29:9-20
Psalter Hymnal: 264; 251; 3; 277:3-5
Beloved Congregation,
Only true believes can pray the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, for only those who accept Jesus Christ receive the power to become the sons of God. “As many as received him,” says John, “to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” And make no mistake about it, nothing but the new birth, by God’s power, from above will enable a man to pray this way. For the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray is radically different from the kind of prayer that is natural to the sinful heart of man. The kind of prayer that is natural to the sinful heart of man is man-centred: whereas the kind of prayer that is taught by our Lord is God-centred! “Hallowed by Thy name. Thy Kingdom come…!”
True prayer begins with a supreme concern for the glory and honour of God. And the whole structure of true prayer is orientated to this! It is because we are concerned for God above all, that we are concerned for God’s kingdom over all! And so the second petition – which is ‘thy kingdom come’ – inevitably follows the first. If we truly desire God’s honour above all, then we will always ask that his kingdom might come, before we ask for anything else.
However, there is a great deal of confusion concerning the Kingdom of God in our day. And so, in order to get at the meaning of our text, let us first say that our text:
I. DOES NOT REFER TO GOD’S ABSOLUTE SOVERIGNTY
There are some who take the words of this petition to mean that God does not exercise complete sovereignty in the world as we now see it. They believe that God has somehow lost – or given up – complete control of everything that happens in this world. And so they take this petition to mean that we are to pray that God will regain control so that he again rules over all the works of his hand!
(1) But if there is anything that is made perfectly clear in the Bible, it is that God has never lost control of the things of this world. Rather does the scripture teach us that even the most insignificant things are ruled by his absolute control. As Job once said, “Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out. For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour there- of: which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly… by the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud: and it is turned about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy. Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.” We do not ordinarily think of the laws of nature as the personal activity of God. But the scripture says that none of these things just ‘happens’, but that it is all ruled by his sovereign power and will.
(2) And the same may be said for those things that are commonly thought to be ‘accidents’ in this world. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?” asked Jesus, “and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.” Perhaps you remember the strange story of the Syrian soldier who shot an arrow into the sky, with no particular aim in mind. That was the day in which Ahab and Jehoshaphat had gone into battle against the warning of the prophet of the Lord. Ahab had defied that warning, putting on a disguise, so that no one would be able to recognize that he was a King. And yet, according to God’s word spoken through the prophet, the arrow’ shot at a venture’ – with no particular purpose found its mark between the joints of the harness, and Ahab died that day as God had said he would. It was a ‘purely’ accidental thing, so far as human wisdom can see, and yet it was ordained by the Lord.
(3) But even more important is the fact that almighty God exercises a like complete sovereignty within the very hearts of those who are rebellious against him. It is commonly imagined, even by Evangelical Christians, that this cannot be so. They say that in order for man to have a completely free will it is not possible for God to continue to exercise complete control over everything that they think, or say, or do. They believe that there can be no real human freedom unless that freedom is such that God himself has no control over that person or so that God cannot pre-determine what that person will think, or say, or do! And yet, nothing could possibly be clearer in the teaching of scripture, than the fact that God does pre-determine everything that every person ever will think, or say, or do – and yet without destroying the reality of the freedom with which they do it! (a) Take for example, the thoughts of the heart of an evil man who does not know God. Proverbs 19:21 says that “there are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” Yes, as Proverbs 21:1, says, “The King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (b) Or take again, the matter of the evil words that come out of the mouths of those who are the enemies of God. Here is what we read in 1Kings 22, concerning the false prophets who persuaded Ahab to go up to Ramoth-gilead to be killed by the Syrian’s arrow. “And the Lord said, ‘Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ and one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, ‘Wherewith?’ And he said, ‘I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.’” (c) And when it comes to the actual deeds of wicked men, what could be clearer than the verdict of the Apostle Peter, as he speaks on the day of Pentecost, concerning the wicked men who had crucified the Lord. “For a truth against thy holy child Jesus, who thou has anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,” says Peter, “for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” And again, in another place, Peter says that Jesus was – on the one hand – delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God – and on the other hand – taken and by wicked hands …crucified and slain!
So, if we are to understand this petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we must first understand that God already exercises absolute sovereignty over all things. “The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens,” says the Psalmist, “and his kingdom ruleth over all.” Or, as Daniel records it, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation, to generation.” And if it were not so, there would be no use to pray, “thy kingdom come!” It is only because God is a great King above all gods that we can pray, “thy Kingdom come.” For “he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the in habitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” We do not pray this petition because we desire that God shall be God, but only because we know that he is God, and because we desire that he will therefore cause his Kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven!
II. DOES NOT REFER TO CHRIST’S MEDIATORIAL REIGN
There are still others who take the words of this petition to mean that the Kingdom of Christ is yet in the future. They believe that when we say ‘thy Kingdom come’ we are really praying that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ might come. And it will come, they say, only when Christ returns to the world to begin his thousand-year reign! In that Kingdom, we are told, Christ will rule the whole earth with a rod of iron, sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem.
But the Bible again makes it quite plain that there never will be such a Kingdom as this in all the history of the world.
(1) Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” And to his disciples he said, “the Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” The Kingdom of Christ is not something in the future. It is something in the present. And it is not a Kingdom that can be seen with the physical eye, because it is spiritual. For, as Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
(2) There was a time, of course, when one could have prayed ‘thy kingdom come’ with respect to the reign of Jesus Christ. Do we not read these words in the 72nd psalm? “In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth… yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.” And in Zechariah we read, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
(3) But when Jesus was about to manifest himself to Israel, the Prophet John the Baptist said, “Repent ye, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And our Lord himself shortly afterwards said, “If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you.” According to the New Testament, this coming of the Kingdom of God was evident in two distinct ways. (a) On the one hand, it was evident in those who were given the power to believe that Jesus was the Christ. By an inward operation of the Holy Spirit of God, they were able to see that Jesus was the long awaited King. By faith in Christ they themselves became citizens of the promised Kingdom. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink,” says the Apostle, “but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (b) And on the other hand, it was evident to the demons that the Kingdom of God had come. “If I with the finger of God cast out devils,” said Jesus, “no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.” And “the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.”
According to the scriptures, there is an alien kingdom in this world. It is the Kingdom of Satan – “The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” It is a Kingdom that has repudiated the authority of God. This does not mean that this Kingdom has escaped the authority of God. For God has never permitted any of his creatures to do that. But in spite of the fact that God still controls Satan – and the entire Kingdom of Satan – it is still true that there is no acknowledgement of God’s authority on the part of Satan or his servants, whether they be angels of men. They refuse to admit that God rules over all even over themselves. But remember: the Kingdom of Satan is also a Kingdom of lies. Satan lies when he says that men are really free of God’s control! He lies when he says that men have the power to do things that God has not already determined before to be done.
And so the coming of Christ, to take up the conflict with Satan does not change anything as respects God’s absolute sovereignty. Rather does it change only the heart of man, so that man will acknowledge the sovereignty of God. Christ has come in order to set men free from the bondage to sin and to satan which they call freedom. It is to make them free indeed by means of the truth. For “ye shall know the truth” said Jesus, “and the truth shall set you free.’ And the truth which sets men free is that God is supreme, and that he is Lord of all. It is only when men turn again to God in voluntary acquiescence as respects his absolute sovereignty, that they have genuine freedom. And this is the Kingdom of God – it is the inward acknowledgement of the sovereignty of God, which is the mark of every true believer!
III. DOES NOT REFER TO ANY EVOLUTION WITHIN HISTORY
However, there is yet another mistaken view of this petition of the Lord’s Prayer, and we must now give it our attention. It is the view of those who believe that God’s Kingdom will gradually come as a result of the present work of Christ going on in the world! We find this view among those who believe that the moral principles of Christianity are destined to leaven the whole world, until at last there will be a universal reign of peace. When we pray “thy kingdom come” we are, by this view, only praying that the whole human race will one day enjoy the benefits of the gospel of Christ which now belong to a relative few. We may well call this the social-gospel’ concept of Christianity, and it is this philosophy of history which we find so prominent in the modern ecumenical movement. According to the popular theme of many in the modern ecumenical movement, Christ has already saved all men. The only trouble is that men are not aware of this wonderful fact. So they are advocating a new approach to Christian missions. They say that we should stop sending out missionaries who believe that people are lost – because that just offends people, and makes them stop listening to the gospel. What we now need they say is for people to go out and tell them that they are already saved, no matter what their religion may be. And we are being told that this will not offend anybody, but that everyone will be glad to hear this kind of witness.
It would be hard to tell, in this modernist view of things, whether we should even pray this petition at all! For if all men are already saved, then we may well be tempted to think that God’s kingdom has truly come. But the least that can be said is that this view hardly makes it difficult to believe that the Kingdom of God is very near! For, on this view, at the very worst, it is only a matter of informing people that they are saved, and then the goal will be realized. As soon as everyone acknowledges that God is King, the whole world will be one great Kingdom belonging to Him.
But of course the Bible gives us a very different view of the matter. For if there is one thing that stands out in the teaching of our Lord, it is the unmistakeable fact that there will never be any such universal acknowledgment as this in the history of the world. Remember Christ’s parable of the wheat and the tares? “Let them both grow together until the harvest,” said Jesus, “and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. And in his own explanation of the parable he also said, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
The devil is not going to fold up his tent and silently steal away. In fact, the scripture says that he is the more infuriated and dangerous because he knows that his time is short. He is “wroth with the woman,” says John, “and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” And the teaching of the Bible is that he will not be destroyed until that last great day when “fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are.” And so the Kingdom of God will not be come until the second coming of Christ. For Paul says, “then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death…and when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”
IV. DOES REFER TO THE REALIZATION OF THE SUPREMACY OF GOD
And this brings us back to the historic faith of our fathers, which is, after all, the only Biblical interpretation of these words: ‘thy kingdom come’.
(1) The Apostle Paul instructs us to give “thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son,” And when we pray ‘thy kingdom come’ it is this, first of all, for which we must pray. We pray that the God who already exercises complete sovereignty over all men, will also bring many to recognize and acknowledge that sovereignty with humble and thankful hearts! It is to pray that God would convert men so that they will be able to see that he is Lord of all! And so that they will be able to praise him as King and Lord of their life even before they knew him! When the Apostle Paul came to realize the truth of the sovereignty of God, this is what he said: “It pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me.” You see, he came to recognize God as the one who had always ruled in every detail of his life! The difference was not in the rule of God, but only in the recognition of that rule when Paul was translated from darkness to God’s own marvellous light. So when we pray “thy kingdom come” we do not pray that men will become the absolute subjects of God, but that they will come to acknowledge that they are such, and will do so with joy and gladness of heart!
(2) And then, it is also a prayer that God would increase this sense of his own divine sovereignty within our hearts! Even the most sanctified of the Lord’s people fail to realize as they ought the Kingly authority of God. They do not yield to him that humble obedience, and awesome recognition which is rightful due. For it is ever true, in this life, that the evil that we would not do, we do, and the good that we would do, we do not do. If Christ could say to Peter, “get thee behind me Satan,” then there is surely in every one of us yet a portion of the heart – and of thought, word, and deed – that has not been completely subdued by the grace of our God. “Evil is present with me,” says the Apostle, and evil is but another name for the Kingdom of Satan himself.
And so, when we pray this petition, we are not only asking God to bring unbelievers to conversion and under the power of Christ, but we are also beseeching Him to bring those who believe, more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness!
(3) But we are also, in the last place, praying that the Lord will bring even the residue of the Devil’s Kingdom to bow before his sovereign power. And this brings us to briefly consider a part of the Bible that many Christians today seem to feel to be alien to their hearts! We read these words in Psalm 69. “Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. These are, indeed terrible words. And it is without a doubt a difficult problem in Christian theology to understand how these words can harmonize with the New Testament precept which teaches us to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” But we must not make the mistake of thinking that this is a contradiction between the Old and New Testament. For the truth is that we also find such sentiments in the New Testament also. Does not the Apostle Paul say, in his epistle to Corinthians, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema?” And does he not say to the Galatians, “If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed?”
We are, by all means, to pray that sinners might be converted unto Christ. “I exhort therefore,” says the Apostle, “first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men… for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” But we are also plainly told in scripture that it is not the will of God that all men without exception shall actually be saved. In fact, we are told that there are some who “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved… for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” So that, when all is said and done, we cannot really pray for the supremacy of God and that his kingdom might come unless we also pray that God will come “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.”
Can you pray this petition? Do you sincerely desire that every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father? May God grant that we may all be able to say, sincerely, ‘thy kingdom come.’
Amen.