
Smyrna United Methodist Church
SERVING CHRIST BY SERVING OTHERS
03.22.20
“Your Kingdom Come”
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10)
Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, the one and only God. The third person of the Trinity, who all things on earth and in heaven was created through (John 1:3). We do belong to the mightiest of all kingdoms, the House of God himself.
In these times, as people around us display their fears and concerns in strange and unusual ways, we begin to understand why our own prayer life has increased. Often when I lay hands on a cherished brother or sister in prayer, we begin by saying the Lord’s prayer together (Matthew 6).
When the disciples wanted to know how they should pray, God Himself taught them this:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…
We all know this seemingly simple prayer is filled with deep and eternal implications. Like the phrase forgive our trespasses, “AS” we forgive others; meaning we are praying to God to pour out his wrath or mercy upon us at the same measure that we poured out our own wrath or mercy upon others. That is one powerful and sobering aspect of God’s Holy prayer.
Today I would like to talk about another powerful and sobering part. One that we say almost in passing without giving it much thought at all. "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
“Your kingdom come” is very straight forward and means the ushering in of God’s Holy rule on earth. It’s the return of the mighty Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ himself! But most of us have not given any thought to what must take place between now and that glorious day… the wrath of God as described in the Book of Daniel and Revelation. The opening of the 7 scrolls. The pouring out of the 7 bowls of wrath. The 7 year tribulation. The anti-christ and false prophet ruling over the world. To mention just a few of the prophecies in scripture.
No, I do not believe we are in the end times. I only mention these things to point out the depth of the words we pray nearly every day; “Your kingdom come”. And how we rarely embrace the full meaning of those 3 simple words.
What about the second part “Your will be done”? How often have Christians prayed those words with jeopardy over the centuries, because of fear going into an unknown future? The sovereignty of God (all knowing and all powerful) plays out in every moment of life. Just as we pray for “Your will be done” we are praying for God’s sovereignty to reign.
You may have heard me talk about how we all are living life together as we ride on one single and glorious train. The sovereignty of God has already laid the one directional rail/tracks, which will carry us all to but one destination. The destination of “Your kingdom come”.
We pray for God’s Holy will (the single path of the train) to bring us to His glorious return (your kingdom come), but when it comes to living our life accordingly, we all seem to fall short. We pray for a future that for many brings fear and trepidation. This is because during hard times we often take our eyes off the promises of God and we forget that we are living within His Holy Will for the kingdom to come. Does not “tomorrow” contain all of our answered prayers?
God promises: To never forsake us during the difficult times. Not one sheep (brother or sister) will ever be lost. A new heaven and earth, no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears. A new and incorruptible body will be given for our new and wonderous life throughout eternity. Darkness will never touch us again, for no evil will ever enter the gates of Heaven! God will dwell among us and He will live within our minds and hearts forever and ever!
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" PRAISE GOD!!!
Blessings in Holy Love,
Rev. Troy White