The Program of Prayer

Welcome to this week's message from the church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

Woo! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! That is what it's all about, church.

It really is.

Aren't you excited you were here on Mother's Day today?

Now, what we're gonna do, I'm gonna get water all over me.

It doesn't matter.

I've already wet.

Now what we're gonna do, we've got two nice uh Bibles to give away with the two families, or the two mothers really, that have the most family members and friends here today.

So, and Rosemary, where are my Bibles?

All right.

She's been taking good care of the preacher today.

Come on up here so we can.

Well, stand right there.

Just stay right there.

All right.

Now, so if you are a mother here today, and you have at least five people with you, at least, minimum of five, raise your hand.

Okay.

All right.

All right, now, all right, seven.

Anybody have seven?

Jen.

Jen?

All right, all right, wait, wait, all right, wait, wait.

Wait.

All right, the three that have, all right, we got three.

This one, two, three.

Well, let me say this.

Jen, how many you have?

I of course you can count that one.

Can you count the baby?

You've got ten, okay?

Anyone has more than ten.

Okay?

How many?

Come on up here, girl.

Happy Mother's Day.

This is one of our mothers.

Ha ha.

From the King's Ranch, let no.

That's yeah, let's give them a hand.

You are the mother.

Absolutely.

Miss Force.

Come on up here.

And that you had Ted, you're second.

So we've got uh we've got 11, and then we've got.

No, you're with, you're with.

Yeah.

Okay.

We got it.

We got it.

Now who had 10?

Erica.

Come on up.

Come on up.

Come on up.

Let's give Erica a hand.

Amen.

Yeah, we did.

That's right.

We had two that had 10.

Let's give them a let's give them a hand.

Amen.

Erica, God bless you.

Thank you.

She has been a blessing, Erica has too.

Not only is she a mother of one of the homes, she's been helping me really head up our praying here in our church.

And what a blessing that has been.

It really has.

I want you to turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

If you're here this morning, you do not have a worship guide.

Would you raise your hand?

We're out.

Okay, good.

Good.

That's a good sign.

But we still have a few.

Anyone needs a worship guide?

Anyone right here.

Anyone needs a worship guide?

Okay.

Anyone else?

Worship guide?

Make sure.

All right.

Got everybody.

Awesome.

Well, you know, we've been looking at in Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Here I go, Sylvester.

And we're on the Lord's Prayer, starting in verse 9.

And it says, Ye shall write them.

Nope, that's Deuteronomy.

See, I did it.

That made you feel good, didn't it, Sylvester?

Amen.

Okay.

But look how quick I got there.

Amen.

I'm telling you, this thing's quick.

I'm getting pretty good at it.

And he said in verse 9, in this manner, therefore, pray.

Our Father in heaven, hallow be your name.

We've looked at, the first week, we looked at God's paternity.

And we've seen that prayer begins with confidence that God is a loving Father who cares for his children.

And not only does he care for his children, but he also has the means by which, being in heaven, he has the power and the resources to meet his children's needs.

Can I get an amen?

And that's why we looked at and why we saw our Father, how caring and loving, and that he's our daddy.

And then last week we looked at God's priority.

Hallow be thy name.

And God's name refers to all, when we said hallow be his name, we said that refers to all that he is, who he is, his attributes, his character, and all that he is, and that he was to be set apart, different from anybody else, any other God, and his name literally means to be set apart, to be exalted, to be glorified, to be honored.

And we saw that when we are constantly, when we are hallowing his name, and the way that we do that, that we are to have a constant awareness and intimate relationship with his divine presence all day long, and that we are to be constantly obeying his word as I directed and charged the parents this morning in baby dedication and children dedication of you shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.

And you shall, and when you do that, you're hallowing his being his name, and he is becoming real in your life, and you are exhibiting all that he is through you as you what?

As you walk in the word of God through the teaching and preaching of the Holy Spirit of God.

That's what it really means to hallow be his name.

You are allowing his characteristics and his attributes to be lived in and through you, and you are a witness of who he is.

Powerful, powerful.

And that brings us now to verse 10.

God's program.

God's program of prayer.

We've seen God's paternity of prayer, God's priority of prayer, our Father, hallowed be thy name.

And now the next phrase is thy kingdom come.

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So, with that said, in this particular passage here, our Lord gives us instructions on how to pray.

He teaches us how to pray.

And prayer is as vital to the Christian's life as our breathing is to us physically.

Can I get an amen?

It is, hey, it's it's all that we are.

In fact, it gives us our life and it brings substance to our Christian life.

It's that important.

And here in the disciples' prayer, or what is commonly known as the Lord's Prayer, not because the Lord needed to pray it, because the Lord taught it, because he was sinless.

We talked about that.

But the disciples needed it.

So Jesus gives us a skeleton for which all prayers are to find their pattern for praying.

For example, the praise.

We'll start with praise.

Remember last week I said I was going to give you the little acrostic P-R-A-Y, the word prayer.

For me, I use it every time I pray.

The letter P in praise stands for praise.

You start out by praising our Father.

Praising Him for who He is and what He is and what He's doing in your life.

Hey, and in your children's life, in your family's life, in your church life, you begin by praising Him.

The exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ is what prayer is all about.

And we see that.

Look at the phrase, thy kingdom come.

It's expressed to the one who has the right.

It literally means, hey, when you say, hey, thy kingdom come, you are literally saying that God, hey, through his son, the mediation, through his son Jesus Christ, has the right to rule and reign in your life.

That's exactly when you pray, Thy kingdom come.

You're saying, Father, I submit my life, my family, my job, everything that I have, I submit to your lordship.

You're my ruler, you're my master, you're my king, you're my hey, governor, you're everything, and you are the director of my life.

That's exactly what that means when you say, Thy kingdom come.

And then the promise.

We see the promise throughout the Old Testament.

There is a promise of a coming king.

In fact, we see it throughout the scripture: one who would reign and rule in the earth, a savior, a monarch, a king, a messiah.

And one of the greatest verses is Isaiah 9:6.

Isaiah 9:6

Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders.

Hallelujah.

And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

So when we say the kingdom come, we are thinking of the promise that we know that Jesus Christ came as the Messiah, and that Jesus Christ will be coming again to set up a ruling kingdom as king.

And then we see the person.

That God's, when we say, thy kingdom come, we see that God's program centers on a person.

One who will come again to reign as King of kings and Lord of Lords.

And by the way, even at the beginning before Jesus came, that was Israel's hope.

And just as it was Israel's hope, it's the church's hope that Jesus, hey, not only has come, but he's coming again to get his bride.

Amen?

That's our hope.

And it's the world's hope in the person of Jesus Christ.

But God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

That's where you would put John 3.16.

Quote it with me.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should none perish, but have everlasting life.

And then we come to the program.

A true child of God concerns himself not with his plans, but with God's plans for his life.

And that's the key.

If we are to pray right, we are not, hey, see, here's the object of when we start praying the pattern of the Lord's Prayer or the disciples' prayer.

We are not, when we start praying, we are not trying to get God to line up with our plans.

Hello?

Let me repeat that.

You didn't get that.

I said, when we enter into our prayer time, we are not trying to get God to line up with our prayers or our purpose or our plans.

When we enter into prayer time with God, we are what?

Aligning our life to God's plans and God's programs for our life.

That's the difference.

We're not saying, hey, God, I need you to do blank, blank, blank, blank, blank, blank, blank.

No.

We're saying, here, God, I'm your humble, submissive servant.

Do with me what you will.

That's a big difference, folks.

A big difference.

And that is God's program.

And then it brings us to the preoccupation of this program.

Have you ever noticed how that thy kingdom come, God's kingdom, not our kingdom, is hard for us.

Isn't it interesting that most of the time when we go into prayer, we may praise God for a few minutes at the beginning, but then we can't wait to get to our to-do list.

Huh?

What we need God to do for us.

Instead of us submitting and saying, God, we don't have a list.

Hey, we want your list for us.

Big difference.

But why is that?

It's called selfishness, it's called self-centeredness, it's called pride.

You can call it a number of things.

But we see right here that most of the time it's all about the pronouns me, my, and I.

But when God, now what's this?

This is good.

But when God invades our life, when God takes over our life totally and he becomes Lord of our life, that affirmation changes, and it's not I, but Christ.

Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless I live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, folks.

Oh, how beautiful that is.

It really is.

The only issues that the believer should be concerned about is being preoccupied with are those issues that build God's kingdom.

That builds God's kingdom.

That's the key.

It really is.

So let's look this morning at God's program of prayer.

Thy kingdom come.

The Talmud, which is the Jewish commentary on God.

I was reading, looking up some history background the other day on what the Jews believed about the kingdom of God.

And then the Talmud, the Jewish commentary on God, his word and his law, here's what was said.

That prayer in which there is no mention of the kingdom of God is not a prayer at all.

Wow, that's pretty powerful.

If there's a prayer that's issued up without acknowledging the kingdom of God, the Talmud said it can't be a real prayer.

Because all prayer ought to be centered in on the kingdom of God.

I thought, wow, how powerful.

Which brings us, it really does.

That the kingdom.

The kingdom is that for which God has planned history.

Think about this.

In fact, in this prayer, God has planned out his rule, reign, and his supreme authority.

And that's why he comes first in prayer.

Now let's look at it.

Let's look at it.

First of all, the petitions.

Look at the petitions of this prayer.

There's a beautiful progression to the petitions here.

Watch what it says.

Hallow be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Now watch.

His will cannot be done in our lives until we acknowledge him as king.

His will cannot be done in our lives until we submit to his lordship.

Amen?

Is that not good?

Is that not true?

No one will submit to his will until he submits to his lordship.

And until he is acknowledged as king and lord, you have no power or capacity.

Now watch.

To hallow be his name.

In other words, if you're not submitting to his authority, there being no example being lived out in you and through you of his attributes and, hey, of his character traits, if you're doing your own thing.

Oh me.

So it's a beautiful progression.

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallow be thy name.

We can't hallow be his name until we submit to his lordship.

And until we submit to his lordship, we can't do his will.

So when we submit to his lordship, we do his will.

When we're doing his will, we are hallowed being his name.

Because we're living out what his plan is for our life.

Can I get an amen?

Man, that's beautiful.

Man, that's beautiful.

That's powerful.

So, his kingdom.

Thy kingdom come.

Apart from saying, Thy will be done.

His kingdom is the right to rule, which gives him also the expressive will to tell us what we ought to do.

That's good.

Now second thing.

Let's look at the phrase.

The petitions, thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

But now look at the phrase.

Thy is a Greek simple word, and it's pronounced Sioux.

Sioux.

The word kingdom, now this is a great word, is Basiliah.

Basiali.

And here's what it means: it means to rule or reign, it means the authority to rule over a kingdom.

It's it's and I love this synonym, it's royal power.

So when we see this word kingdom, it's royal power.

In fact, it is the Messiah's power.

That's what it means.

Now, I kind of wish that this word reign, which kingdom means, was used throughout the New Testament when we see the word kingdom.

And let me tell you why.

Because we understand rule and reign.

We understand what it means for someone to rule over us.

We understand what it means for Christ to reign in our lives.

In other words, he's controller, he's comptroller of our life.

Okay?

He's the director.

But in a lot of places, especially with the Jewish nation, when they would use the word kingdom, it you know what we usually think of?

I thought about this.

Usually when we think of a kingdom, we think of Henry VIII, his castles, his forts, his walls, his moats, his maidens, his knights.

And we can't think of kingdom in any other terms, and that is the earthly thinking.

We don't like to think about, okay, rule and reign in my life.

In other words, we don't want anybody ruling and reigning in our life but us.

Am I the only one that's guilty of that?

I kind of like to control my life.

Anyone with me?

Can I get an O me or amen or something?

I really think I know what's best for me.

Sometimes Susan knows better.

Hi, honey.

Love you.

You and David and Christy.

A bit of hush.

But we see it.

We see it right here.

Thy kingdom come.

Should be, hey, everywhere thy kingdom come, if it was translated, thy reign be done, boy, that would bring a whole new picture.

Thy rule be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And that's exactly what it really means.

Which brings me to the word come.

It's the Greek word echomai.

And it's in a heiress, what we call an air's active imperative.

I know I'm giving you a little, I'm just trying to impress you with my Greek skills.

No, not really.

But but what that means is, eris, hey, imperative means when you get that command.

Do it quickly, suddenly, immediately, now.

Don't wait and get around to it.

But do it now.

In other words, come now.

Thy kingdom come.

Come now.

That's what it means.

Don't wait.

Don't wait for a certain time or a better time, but come now.

Come now.

Same way with salvation.

Same thing.

When God deals with your heart and he's prodding you and probing you to come to him, you do it now.

You don't progressively get saved.

You get saved instantly.

Bam.

Now.

Now is the day of salvation.

Behold, now is the time.

2 Corinthians 6 2.

Now.

And that's what he's talking about.

Right here.

But now, as we probe this word, thy kingdom, come, let's look at it.

There's three questions.

This is so good.

Three essential questions.

Number one, who's it?

The kingdom.

Whose is this kingdom?

Well, there's two answers here.

A, it's God's kingdom.

No doubt about it.

Hey, we're not involved in a human kingdom.

Amen.

That's not our priority.

You know why?

Listen, this gets exciting.

I've given you the verses there.

John 15, 9 says, watch this.

Hey, we're not of this world.

Amen.

Because if we are the world, by the way, this would tell you right here, it'll separate a true Christian from a professing Christian.

It'll separate a possessing Christian from a professing Christian.

Did you get that?

How do you know that?

Watch this.

You were of the world, the world would love his own.

In other words, if you are the world, you're going to be all about the worldly things.

You're going to be involved in everything in the world and very little things of God.

And he says, hey, but because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

In other words, hey, people of the world are not going to like what you stand for because you bring conviction to their life.

Because they're living, hey, they're living for the world.

You're living for the word, God.

There's a, hey, there's a total opposite, folks.

Total opposite.

People that love the world don't go around wearing Jesus' awesome bracelets.

I can tell you that right now.

They don't go around with a belt that says Jesus is awesome.

Hello?

Amen.

Said the preacher's moon in me.

No.

Jesus is awesome.

Amen?

It's a whole difference there.

We're not of this world.

Look what else.

Not only are we not of this world, but we've been translated out of this world.

Colossians 1.13.

He's delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into his, hey, dear son's kingdom.

Ladies and gentlemen, you've been delivered.

You have the power over darkness and over Satan.

That's right.

Amen.

Amen.

And that's the authority we have and we're taking over Satan.

But not only that, hey, our citizenship's in heaven.

Philippians 3.20.

And not only that, are you ready for this?

We are sojourners and pilgrims on this earth.

Hebrews 11, 13 and 1 Peter 2.11.

And we look, don't you love?

Don't you love Hebrews 11, 10 and 16?

And we're looking for a city whose builders not been, hey, the city's not been built with man's hand, but God Himself.

We're looking for that city.

So, hey, we're we are to be totally committed to the cause of God and His kingdom.

Now, when you understand that, now you understand what Matthew 6.33 says.

When you understand that you are totally, radically, hey, hey, submissive to his lordship, his kingship, then you are ready to do his will.

And when you do his will, here's what you're doing.

Matthew 6.33, you know it.

Seek ye, say it with me, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And all these other things should be added unto you.

He will take care of your clothing, housing, food, everything if you seek his kingdom.

My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4.19.

Now, so whose is it the kingdom?

Say it with me.

It's God's kingdom.

Say that with me.

It's God's kingdom.

Alright?

Secondly, it is not a human kingdom.

Man-made kingdoms come and go.

Now, this is gonna have something to do with America.

What's this?

The kingdom of Egypt, Syria, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Rome, Greece, all came and went.

In fact, I was doing a little historical studying while I was sitting there in the hospital, and there has been at least, are you ready for this, 21 great civilizations, 21 of which are now extinct.

Twenty-one.

Guess what?

America may be the next.

And here's why.

No kingdom has ever lasted that did not build the kingdom on the foundation of God's word.

Of God's kingdom.

Amen.

And here it is.

You know why they were doomed?

They did, hey, they sowed the seeds of their own doom and damnation.

And you know what they were?

Sin, ungodliness, unrighteousness.

Because remember, Proverbs 14, 34, what does it say?

Righteousness exalts a nation to what?

To greatness.

But sin is a reproach to all people.

All those Rome fell overnight because of its immorality and ungodliness and all the garbage that was going.

I'm talking about it was the greatest kingdom and rule of its time, and they thought it would be for thousands of years to come.

And overnight Rome fell because of their ungodliness.

And all the other kingdoms.

The Bible says righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach.

I like Proverbs 29, 2.

When the righteous in authority, the people rejoice.

But when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

Wow.

So we see right here, this country will only exist and be tolerated in God's heart as long as it is in accord with God's will.

And you know what that is?

Bringing God's kingdom to earth.

That's it.

And boy, how powerful that is.

No man can serve two masters.

Either he will hate the one, love the other, hold to the one, despise the other.

Can't do it, Matthew 6, 24.

So, whose is the kingdom?

It's God's kingdom.

It's not a human kingdom.

Let's look at the second question.

What is the kingdom?

Thy kingdom come is a phrase that fills the New Testament more than any other phrase.

I didn't realize that.

Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 4 43.

I must preach the kingdom of God, for therefore I am sent.

In fact, I started, when I saw that, I started looking at Jesus' preaching.

He was preaching it as the whole time he was with the disciples for three years.

Hey, you know what he taught them and preached the whole time?

The kingdom of God.

And then after he died and he was resurrected, he was here 40 days.

In Acts 1, 3, the hey, when we saw that he appeared and it was obvious that he had resurrected himself and that he was alive.

But you know his last thing, what he said to him?

He said, We must preach the kingdom of God.

Hey, the kingdom, the kingdom, the kingdom.

That was his whole message.

That's what he was preaching.

Why?

Because it is the heart and the plan of God is his kingdom.

And we see that.

Then we also see that was the centrality of the kingdom of God chronology.

But look at the chronology.

You know what his kingdom is?

His kingdom is past, present, and future.

Remember the past when he was speaking to Abraham?

Hey, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Matthew 8, 11.

Hey, he goes on and he says, he says, Many will come from east and west and will be, hey, with you in the kingdom of heaven.

What about presence?

Luke 17, 21, listen to what Jesus said.

The kingdom of God is in your midst.

When Jesus came, the kingdom was present right then in the midst of the disciples.

Jesus brought the kingdom of God.

He was the kingdom of God.

He brought it.

He was in their midst.

And then future, Jesus saw right here in Matthew 6, 10, thy kingdom come.

In other words, when is the king?

Hey, hey, the kingdom's coming.

You know what he's saying?

He's actually saying that the universal kingdom of God one day will combine with the earthly kingdom.

And that brings me to the next point.

Oh, this is so good.

By the way, a lot of this we're going to be reinforcing this fall when we study the book of Revelation.

It's coming.

Oh, it's going to be good.

Now, what's this?

Now let me try to explain it to you.

Let me give you the classifications.

Here it is.

There are two elements to the kingdom of God.

One, the universal kingdom.

In other words, God, thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

God is the king of the whole universe.

He made it, he runs it, and he will bring it to its consummation.

No doubt about it.

He made it, he runs it, and one day he will bring it to its consummation.

He is the universal king.

Amen.

You believe that?

He is the universal king.

Before anything was, he was, and after everything will be, he still will be.

He's the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the end, the first, the last.

He's the universal king.

He's the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.

And he immediates everything through his Son Jesus.

The Lord ruleth over all.

In fact, here's one.

Look at 1 Chronicles 29, 11, 12.

This will make a Presbyterian get excited.

Notice what he says: Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in heaven and in the earth is thine.

Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all, and thou reignest, hey, over all.

In other words, he's everything.

I like what Paul said in Colossians 1.17.

He is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Wow.

Wow, that's good.

Which brings us to that part.

Paul calls God's kingdom the king eternal in 1 Timothy 1.17.

God is the universal king, but he mediates university.

Hey, the universal kingdom, he mediates, hey, that universal kingdom through his son Jesus Christ.

There's one God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2.5.

So what he does, the kingdom of heaven has been brought to earth through the Son of Jesus Christ.

You with me?

I don't want to go any further because I don't want you to get it confused.

Are you with me?

The universal kingdom is mediated through Jesus the Son when He came to this earth.

That's why He had to come.

He had to bring the kingdom.

Amen.

He had to bring it.

And so we see, oh man, that watch how beautiful this is.

He brought the earthly kingdom.

That's the second thing.

You have the universal kingdom, God, the creator of it, maker of it.

He's still in heaven.

The universal kingdom's everywhere, all over the world.

It's in heaven.

But it everybody thinks of God and his kingdom.

We don't think of God and his kingdom being here on earth.

But it came to earth through Jesus Christ, his son, because I am a father of one.

John 14, 15.

So when he brought the kingdom, it was now.

Hey, hey, it was past.

It's in heaven right now with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

It was present with Jesus when he came.

And it's going to be future again when Jesus comes back and rules for a thousand years.

But right now it's present.

You say, but wait a minute.

Jesus has gone back to heaven.

Ah, yes.

But he did not leave us what?

Comfortless.

Are you seeing where I'm going with this?

This is good.

Now watch.

Now watch.

So now the earthly kingdom comes.

Look at verse 10.

On earth as it is in heaven.

So how do we have the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven?

Well, Jesus brought it, but Jesus left.

So how do we pray?

Hey, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Oh my soul.

So how do we do that?

Here's the meaning: God's name is hallowed in heaven, God's kingdom is come in heaven, and God's will is done in heaven, but we seek those elements right here on earth.

We want to see God come and do away with sin, rebellion, ungodliness, and all that.

And we are to be what?

Taking a stand against that until he comes to set up his rule, when all that will be vanished, when the universal kingdom comes to earth to unite with the earthly kingdom.

But right now, what is the earthly kingdom?

The earthly kingdom has a lot to do with me and you.

Amen.

The life we live.

Amen.

Hello.

Now, you fixing to see what it means to be saved.

Well, bless God, I got dumped, I've got washed, I'm clean.

I'm just gonna live my life.

No, you got responsibility.

Now you are part of bringing God's kingdom to this earth.

Hello.

Now I had to give all that to you to set the plate, but now I'm getting ready.

Here's the message.

Question number three.

How does the kingdom come?

How do we bring the universal kingdom to the earth?

Here it is, number one.

A, through conversion.

That's why this prayer, are you getting ready?

Man, this is so good.

That's why this prayer is an evangelistic prayer.

When we become Christians, Christ reigns in and rules our lives, and in that sense, he has brought his rule to this earth.

When you and I become Christians, he has just brought part of God's kingdom to this earth.

Look at what Jesus said.

Luke 17, 21.

Woo! He said, Don't look for the kingdom here and there.

The kingdom is right here among you.

He's talking about himself.

But he's also talking about something else.

What he's saying, here's what he means when he says, don't look, it's right here.

Christ ruling and reigning in the lives of believers brings his rule and reign to the earth.

Do you see that?

I'm not moving any further to you.

Do you see that?

In other words, he says, Hey, I, through the person of the Holy Spirit, I am in you, and you submitting to me, thy kingdom come, means you have brought my ruling and reigning to earth.

What a responsibility.

Paul said, You are our letter written in our hearts, known and read by all men.

A light set on a hill cannot be hid.

In other words, God's, hey, kingdom come is in you and me on this earth right now.

We are the earthly ruling and reigning of Christ.

Woo! That's good, preacher.

Or you know what that's sobering.

That's who we are.

That's what he means.

That's what he means right here.

God literally mediates his kingdom through the believer, reigning in their lives.

So to pray, thy kingdom come is to pray that he may take up his reign and residence in the hearts and lives of those who are still in rebellion.

It's a prayer of evangelism, praying, God, use me to bring your kingdom.

When you, woo, man, when you are praying, thy kingdom come, you are literally saying, God, you are going to use me to bring your kingdom through sharing the good news and the gospel, getting people saved, and each and time, each and every time someone gets saved, it's another part of his kingdom coming to this earth.

Amen.

Wow.

Folks.

You were a little, you thought I was getting a little dry at the beginning.

I knew I was coming to the takeoff place.

Are you with me?

Do you see it?

But you gotta have the facts.

You gotta have the foundation.

Oh, it's through conversion.

Now, now what's this?

How does that happen?

The kingdom begins with an invitation.

Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest.

It starts with invitation.

Come, come, come, come to Christ.

Behold, he stands at the door and knocks.

Any man opens the door, he'll come into him.

Revelation 3.20.

But not only that, look what else.

To enter the kingdom is to accept the invitation.

Matthew 22, 1 through 14.

Oh, the king had a great wedding banquet.

He went out and invited hundreds of people, and they had a choice to come or not to come.

When you get the invitation, you have a choice.

To receive him or reject him.

On the cross, there were two thieves.

They had the same invitation to come to Christ.

One received, one rejected.

You with me?

The kingdom, hey, includes repentance.

Listen to what Jesus said in Mark 4, 17.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mark 1, 14 and 15, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel.

You know what repent means?

You're going in one direction.

Repent is a total 180-degree turnaround.

Now I'm going the other way.

I'm walking in the wrong direction.

I get saved.

Now I'm walking in the right direction.

That's what repentance means.

Wow.

The kingdom demands an act of the will.

Oh yes.

Listen what Jesus said in Mark 12, 34.

He told a wise scribe and Pharisee, he says, You're not far from the kingdom of God.

You know what he meant by that?

He says, Hey, you know it.

You know all about the kingdom.

You know all about the Messiah.

Isaiah 53, you know it by heart, but you've not made that commitment.

You've had the, you've, in other words, you've been given the invitation, but you've not accepted it.

He said, you're close.

But close, the only thing close counts for is horseshoes.

Doesn't have anything to do about going to heaven.

Amen.

That's what he said.

In fact, I love what he said in Luke 9.

Listen.

Lord, I will follow you, but.

Uh-oh, there's that Billy Goat Christian.

Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.

Oh, Lord, I'm going to follow you, but I need to go do this first.

I want to get my this.

I want to go here.

I want to do this.

But Lord, when I get a little older, I'll follow you.

Lord, I really love you and I want to follow you, but that's what's wrong with the church today.

We got a lot of billy goat Christians butting instead of accepting.

Won't work, folks.

No man can serve two masters.

No man.

The kingdom is in.

Hey, the kingdom is internal.

Listen to what Jesus said.

My kingdom is not of this world.

John 18 36.

The Jews, look, the Jews saw the kingdom.

In terms of material prosperity.

And that's why they had the ideology: if you were sick and didn't have anything, there was sin in your life.

Because if you were, if you were a child of Jehovah, the Messiah, which they didn't believe the Messiah had come yet, but if you were in good standings with Jehovah, you were prospering.

They saw it as a material prosperity.

Yes.

Well, amen.

But now watch.

They saw it as material prosperity, national greatness, and are you ready?

Political power.

But Jesus clearly brought an internal reign ruling the heart and the light.

Don't you love 1 Samuel 16, 7?

Thank you, Lord.

The Lord sees not as man sees.

Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

Isn't that good?

My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe my ways.

Proverbs 23, 26.

Powerful.

And then the kingdom solicits a response.

Now such a kingdom demanded repentance, a choice, and an internal change.

Ladies and gentlemen, just because you've made a profession of faith, you've even been under the baptismal waters, but if you have not changed and submitted your life to Christ, you did not get saved.

If any man be in Christ Jesus, he's a new creation, old things have passed away.

Behold, all things have become new.

So some of you were like Sarah.

You've been baptized, but you really hadn't been saved.

You haven't been changed.

Well, what are people going to think?

I wouldn't care what people think.

I don't want to go to hell.

You want to let people's thinking send you to hell?

Oh my goodness.

I don't care what you say.

Well, who does it?

I don't care.

I just want Jesus.

I want my life to be right.

And I want to change.

So, hey, are you ready for this solicited response?

Look at it.

Look at let's go back.

This makes Matthew 6, 33 so beautiful.

Look at it.

Here's what it means to really get saved.

Are you ready?

First of all, you got to seek it.

Jesus says, seek ye first the kingdom of God.

You got to seek it.

You gotta want it.

Listen what he said.

And he said it in uh Luke 16, 16.

Listen.

Listen to what he says.

The kingdom of God is preached and every man presses into it.

I had never seen this before until this week, David.

I'd never seen this verse in this context.

In Luke 16, 16, the word presseth there.

It's the beazo.

It's the Greek word beazo, and it means to use force.

It means to apply force.

It means to enter into something violently.

And I thought to myself, how does that work?

When people whose hearts are right, they see the value of the kingdom, then they are in a hurry to rush into it.

Now here's what I God taught me there.

You ever been in a crowd?

I'm in a big crowd and you're almost pushing to get through.

I mean, it's in a line waiting on some big ride or concert or whatever, or graduation, and you're pushing, and you know, here's what that, here's the concept God gave me.

When you're seeking salvation, and you really get salvation, and the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart, and you know you need to be saved.

You're in that group and you don't care who's in front of you, who's beside you, who's behind you, you're just like this.

Please move.

I gotta get to the front.

Move, I gotta get to Jesus, I gotta get to Jesus.

That's exactly what that means.

Press us in.

Nothing's gonna keep me from getting to Jesus.

Now that's salvation.

Nothing's gonna keep me from getting to Jesus.

And then that brings me to the second part about it.

Hey, you value it.

Not only do you seek it, but you value it.

Look at Matthew 13, 44 through 46.

Jesus says that the kingdom is like a treasure.

In verse 44, the guy found this treasure on the land.

You know what he did?

He went and sold everything he had to buy that piece of land because he knew that's where the treasure was.

In other words, I don't care what it takes, what it costs, you get to Jesus.

Can I get an amen?

I'm about to have a spell.

You get to Jesus.

You get to Jesus.

And then verse 45, you got the merchant.

He sold all he has because he found the pearl.

A pearl like he had never seen a pearl before.

Well, there's nothing like Jesus.

Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved.

Jesus is that pearl.

Yes.

Amen.

The merchant saw all he had.

Gave everything to get to Jesus.

You seek it, you value it, and then you receive it.

Oh, you receive it.

See, we're to take hold of it by faith.

For by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourself.

Can I get an amen?

Folks, listen.

I wrote this down real quick.

Hey, lip service won't get it.

Lip service won't get it.

Oh, I'm a Christian.

I'm so sick and tired of hearing that.

Oh, I'm a Christian.

Hey, your life ought to speak for itself.

You know, if you're a Christian, you'll, hey, it's obvious.

Let me tell you, I was in that hospital all week, and I'll be back there another week.

And it's amazing.

Life and death, every situation there.

It's all, let me tell you, you know who's saved and who's not, real quick in that hospital.

And most everybody's excited.

I mean, we were going down to Hi Fi to God, God's doing miracles.

Yes, I mean, it was awesome.

And David, bless David's heart, every nurse.

Are you a believer?

Are you a believer?

I'm saying, preach it, man.

He said, I'm preaching to preacher.

I said, I know and I'm shouting it.

Jesus is awesome.

Here's the band.

Hey, hey.

In fact, I'm taking a bunch with me because several won't one.

Amen.

Jesus said you shall know it three but fruits that it bears.

So, and then you receive it.

Hey, hey, lip service won't do.

Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 7, 21.

What the old lady says, churches does.

God wants 100% and he wants you and you and you.

That won't do.

Hey, riches can't bite.

You remember what he said in Matthew 19, 23 and 24?

It's hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

He says it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into heaven.

Wow.

Can't bite, can't lip service, can't say you are and think you got it.

And self-righteousness doesn't qualify either.

Remember what he said in Matthew 5.20, unless your righteousness shall succeed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter in.

Wow.

And that brings me to the second thing, commitment.

Commitment.

Conversion, then commitment, almost through.

Even if Christ is already Lord and ruling in our lives, we must daily affirm that Lordship.

You know what?

I wish, you know what?

There's a few denominations, and I've got some good friends in them.

And they they believe in that you can come to the altar and and and work, kind of work through something, and once you get it, you got it, and you don't have to worry about it anymore.

I wish it was like that.

But I have to fight Satan every day.

I have to die daily, Paul says.

I have to reaffirm that lordship every day of my life.

I get up in the morning, you know who wants to take charge immediately?

Danny Lovett.

Yep.

Hey, you don't have to memorize all those verses today.

Just take a day off.

You don't have to, you don't, you don't, you don't.

My first attacks at 5:30 when my alarm clock goes off.

I want to just throw it out the window.

Amen.

I mean, I have to die daily.

It's a daily, hey, renewal.

Constant submission to the Lordship of Christ.

It's that responding to the royal residing in us.

Listen to what Paul said.

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

In other words, if the kingdom is to come in our lives, we must give ourselves over to the virtues and the leading of the Holy Spirit who's dwelling in us.

And when we are filled with the Spirit, there'll be, hey, hey, for the fruit of the Spirit's love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance.

Against such, there's nothing to compare with it.

And then lastly, there's the consummation.

I believe, I wrote this down, folks, don't miss this, and I'm through.

I believe that one day, I believe it's soon, the heavens will split wide open.

Jesus Christ will descend to earth, plant his feet on the Mount of Olives, establish his kingdom.

It will last for 1,000 years, and during which time we will set, he will set things right and rule with a rod of iron and righteousness, justice, truth, and peace, and the end, hey, hey, of the thousand, hey, and then at the end of that thousand years' reign, the earthly kingdom and the universal kingdom will merge, and there will never be a distinction again.

And it is the destiny of this earth that Jesus rule on the earth, on the throne of David, in the city of Jerusalem, and set right the curses that come from sin.

It's gonna happen.

That's right out of the book of Revelation.

Amen.

He's coming.

He's coming.

Thy kingdom come.

When we pray, thy kingdom come.

We're praying that his rule and reign, now listen, and I'm through, will come to those who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior.

That's what we're praying.

We're also praying when we pray thy kingdom come, that his reign and rule will come into our hearts to the fullness of the worthiness that he so rightly deserves.

That he takes full control of our life.

Can I get an amen?

Is that not good?

And then we pray that one day he'll come back and break the tyranny of sin and set the evil, ugly, cursed world right.

The glorious day is coming.

But till then, thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

Is you and me allowing Christ to rule and reign in our lives, so that we'll be writing a gospel, a chapter each day by the deeds that we do and the words that we say.

Men will read what we write distorted a truth.

What is the gospel according to you?

Folks, that was good stuff this morning.

I was telling somebody today, if I could be any other denomination, and I'm really a Christian.

I'm not, I mean, we are some Baptists, but I'm a Christian.

But if I could be any other denomination, you know what I probably want to be?

Hey, Pentecost.

You know why?

So I can get saved again, again, again, again, again.

It's so good.

But I believe once saved, always saved.

Always have, always will.

Because you know what I've realized?

If you get the real thing, it turns you inside out.

You become that new creation.

Amen.

You really do.

And then you have to die daily.

Amen.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day, and again, God bless you.