Sermon Idea: Praying, “Your kingdom come,” is to pray for the destruction of Satan’s kingdom, the advancement of God’s kingdom of grace, the bringing and keeping of saints in it, and the Kingdom of glory to come.
Introduction: The Gospel of Mark tells a remarkable story in which a desperate father comes to Jesus’ disciples, hoping they can heal his son, who is oppressed by an unclean spirit. The description of the suffering is devastating and traumatic.
17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” (Mk 9:17–18)
As you can imagine, this initial disappointment leads the father, in desperation, to plead with Jesus to have compassion on him and heal the boy, which Jesus does. The Lord Jesus’ command exorcises and defeats the unclean spirit.
I bring this story to your attention because it shows what Jesus teaches his disciples about their failure. They asked him, “Why could we not cast it out?”
29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mk 9:29)
The nature of the fight required more than intellect, gifting, and resources. It required more than grit, willpower, and determination. It was a battle of spiritual proportion, and so it required the chief means of spiritual work–prayer.
All that we want to see happen in our midst, all that we hope to experience–salvation, disciple-making, church health, holiness, gospel advancement–requires prayer.
Jesus told us in John 18:36 that his kingdom is spiritual.
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (Jn 18:36)
Wilhelmus A Brakel is certainly right when he wrote, “It originates in heaven, is of a heavenly nature, functions in a heavenly manner, and culminates in heaven. It is therefore called the kingdom of heaven.”
The second petition in the Lord’s prayer is, “Your kingdom come.”
This is appropriate if we pray for the hallowing of God’s name as Jesus taught us, because the coming of God’s kingdom is the primary way that God’s name is hallowed.
What does it mean to pray for God’s kingdom to come? Does it mean that we pray for the rising of an empire, a castle, and an army? Does it mean we pray for the future coming of the kingdom or the present coming of the kingdom?
It is really difficult to improve upon the older understandings of this petition as found in the Baptist Catechism. Listen to how the saints who’ve gone before us reflected on this passage.
Q 109: What do we pray for in the second petition?
A: In the second petition, which is, “Thy kingdom come,” we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed, and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.
Since this cannot be improved upon, these four ways will serve as the outline for the rest of our time.
I.) We pray for Satan’s kingdom to be destroyed
The Bible often speaks of the fallen world as Satan’s kingdom through a variety of images. For example, Paul in 2 Cor. 4:4 refers to Satan as “the god of this world,” who has blinded unbelievers. In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air.” Multiple times Jesus refers to Satan as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:27-32; 14:30).
These descriptions do not mean that Satan had or has ultimate power. His kingdom is not equal to the kingdom of God. It does mean that he exercises authority and dominion over sinners. Those who are dead in sin are held captive and under the influence of Satan’s kingdom.
We can pray for Satan’s kingdom to be destroyed because Christ has already laid a fatal blow to his rule through his death, resurrection, and ascension. The first gospel promise in the Bible is found in Genesis 3:15, where God promises that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (Jn 12:27–32)
The cross presses Jesus’ foot firmly on Satan’s head, and when he returns, Jesus will crush Satan’s head and destroy his kingdom.
Meanwhile, God’s people are responsible for praying for the destruction of Satan’s kingdom. We pray for the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to pierce through the darkness of unbelief, so that blind sinners get a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:5-6).
We pray for any continuing influence of Satan’s kingdom in the world to over governments, authorities, or powers to be undone. We pray that the influence of Satan and his demons would lose influence over people’s lives, and that the power of God would extinguish at last.
Now, do you see why I began where we did? We cannot do ministry armed with nothing but our gifts, resources, and willpower. We’ll need more than our intellect. We need to pray and stand in Christ’s strength (Eph. 6:10).
We pray, “Your kingdom come,” because it is by the power of God and the coming of Christ’s kingdom that the devil and his works will be destroyed.
We need to ask a question at this point. Whose kingdom do you serve? No neutral ground exists between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. To reject Christ and his Lordship is to declare your citizenship in the domain of darkness.
This brings us to the second element of this petition: we pray for God’s kingdom of grace to be advanced.
II.) We pray for God’s kingdom of grace to be advanced
This is the positive side of the first element. If we pray for the destruction of Satan’s kingdom, we are also praying for the advancement of God’s kingdom of grace.
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he announced that the kingdom of God was at hand, “…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mk 1:15)
Note the declaration of the kingdom and the necessary response: repentance and belief in the gospel. God’s kingdom of grace advances, as people come to acknowledge and then submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Prayer is the means through which God works to advance the gospel around the globe and that is vital, because it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16)
We should learn and seek to be like Paul, who, while in prison, was overjoyed that the gospel was advancing and becoming more widely known.
12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. (Php 1:12–13)
To pray, “your kingdom come,” is to pray that the gospel not only advances, but is embraced. As sinners come to trust Christ, they are brought into the kingdom of God under the Lordship of Christ. We need to pray toward this end.
This brings us to the third element of the petition: we pray that we and others be brought into it and kept in it.
III.) We pray for ourselves and others to be brought and kept in it
Entrance into the kingdom of God is not like admission into an earthly organization or club. You don’t simply put in an application or commit to paying dues. Entrance into the kingdom of God comes only by God’s grace and the gift of the new birth. Listen to what Jesus told Nicodemus.
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:3)
In salvation, God gives a new heart through our faith in the Lord Jesus. With that new heart we turn from Satan, sin, and darkness to the Kingdom of God.
Listen to how Paul describes salvation in Colossians 1:13-14.
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:13–14)
Prayer is the means God uses not only to spread the gospel, but to draw sinners through it. If people will be saved, it will be in response to our prayers. To pray, “your kingdom come,” is to pray that the gospel finds reception in hearts ready to respond in repentance and faith. It is to pray that the Spirit calls, regenerates, and indwells sinners as they hear the gospel.
Notice this as well. We are to pray that God keeps us in his kingdom by his grace. Make no mistake: every true believer who has entered the kingdom of God will remain there, but not because they kept themselves there. They will remain there because God faithfully keeps them.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Pe 1:3–5)
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ (Jud 1)
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Th 5:23–24)
God keeps us by the use of means! The Word of God, prayer, the fellowship in the local church, and the administration of the ordinances. These are not lifeless rituals, but means of grace by which we are built up by the grace of God, conformed to Christ, and kept by the power of God.
As we are being kept by God, we look forward in hope to Christ’s return and the consummation of Christ’s kingdom.
IV.) We pray for the kingdom of glory to come
To pray, “your kingdom come,” is to pray for God’s kingdom and power to be fully known on earth as it is in heaven. It is to pray that God would be with us and we would be in his divine presence without limitation, separation, or restriction.
It is to pray 1 John 3:2, 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 Jn 3:2)
With God’s presence in the kingdom of glory comes the astonishing promise that sin, sickness, and death will no longer exist. The pains and heartaches of this fallen world and the suffering that ravages our fallen bodies will be undone. God himself will wipe the tears from our eyes.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Re 21:3–5)
