Communion Message
Thy Kingdom Come
January 25, 2004
Pastor Leighton Sheley

Our pastor now begins a series of messages on the kingdom of God, and as we were taught to pray by Jesus we begin by identifying God as both our heavenly Father and the intimacy of that relationship to which we are invited, and also the respect and admiration that He is due because He is in heaven. And then the very first item after addressing our prayer is 'Thy Kingdom come.'

As I was reading through this commentary this week I thought it best to bring it to you concerning this phrase 'Thy Kingdom come' from the Lord's Prayer. The commentary writer says, our greatest desire should be to see the Lord reigning as King in His Kingdom, to have the honor and authority that have always been His, but that He has not yet come to claim. The King is inseparable from His Kingdom.

To pray 'Thy Kingdom come' is to pray for the program of the eternal deity to be fulfill, for Christ to come and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. His program and His plan should be the preoccupation of our lives and of our prayers. But how self-centered our prayers usually are; focused on our needs, our plans, our aspirations, our understandings. We are often like tiny infants who know no world but the world of their own feelings and wants. One of the greatest struggles of the Christian life is to fight the old sinful habits with their constant and unrelenting focus on self.

Even problems and issues outside of ourselves can cloud our supreme concern for God's kingdom. It is our responsibility to pray for our families, pastors, missionaries, national and other leaders, and for many other people and things, but our prayers in every case should be that God's will be done in and through those people, that they would think and speak and act in accordance with God's will.

The best that we can pray for in any person or for any cause is that God's kingdom be advanced in that person or that cause. The holy purpose of the divine Father is to exalt Christ in the consummation of history when the Son rules and reigns in His kingdom. The greatest opposition to Christ's kingdom and the greatest opposition to Christian living is the kingdom of this present world which Satan rules. The essence of Satan's kingdom is opposition to God's kingdom and God's people. The number one priority on the devil's agenda is to disturb as best he can God's plans.

Basileia, kingdom, does not refer to a geographical territory, but to a sovereignty or a dominion. One of my children's books I think said it best, it said, God's kingdom is wherever God is King. Jesus is coming back to establish His earthly kingdom, but until such time He has chosen to establish His kingdom in the hearts and the minds of men, women, and children. We become the kingdom of God.

Now the next phrase in the prayer after that request, 'Thy kingdom come', is 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven'. And I can remember many years ago when I was in college when our professor asked us as students, what does that phrase mean? How is God's will done in heaven?

I can remember growing up and knowing the Lord's Prayer and reciting it and not really thinking about the words that I was reciting. And to this day I can remember that professor saying, stop, think about these words. What do those words mean? Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. We as students discussed what it must be like when God's will is accomplished in heaven, and we determined that there were at least three characteristics. God's will in heaven is done immediately, God's will in heaven is done completely, and God's will in heaven is done perfectly; immediately, completely, and perfectly.

This phrase says Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. God has made us from earth. And some scholars believe that is really a reference to us as well as individuals that God's will be done in us as individuals. But how often we miss the mark of fulfilling the will of God immediately, completely, and perfectly.

Thanks be to God for His holy word that says if we confess our sin He is a faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'd like to invite you, if you are physically able, to join with me now as we kneel in the presence of our Lord and Savior. The Scriptures say at times like this we should examine our self.

Lord we so often miss the desire of our prayer. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We desire that Your will be done in this earthen vessel as it is in heaven. But there is within our members the residual of the old rebellious sinful nature, and very often that nature struggles and wins against the new nature that You have given us that desires to be obedient and bring honor and glory to You.

Each and every one of us each and every day sin against You Lord, either in thought or word or deed, and we need Your forgiveness and Your cleansing every day. Thank you Lord for Your word that says if we confess our sin You are faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lord, today we ask for Your forgiveness and Your cleansing as we now partake of these elements in remembrance of Jesus. Let's partake of the bread and also the cup.

Thank you Lord that we don't have to carry from this place our sin, shame, and guilt. Thank you Lord for Your forgiveness and Your cleansing. In Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said...amen.