Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Old Testament references to the throne of God declare the holiness, glory, and sovereignty of God. In Christ, the throne of God is a fountain of grace and mercy. Yet it remains a throne. It is a seat of divine authority. It is the place from which God reigns over heaven and earth. Jesus says: Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.” 

In the invocation of The Lord’s Prayer, we pray as children who trust the provision and protection of our heavenly Father. In the first petition, we pray as worshipers with wet eyes, covered mouths, broken hearts, captivated minds, and bent knees before the holy presence of God. In the second petition, we pray as lobbyists dissatisfied with the present order of things, appealing to God to make things right in the world.

• “Our Father in heaven” teaches us to pray with confidence in the love of God.
• “Hallowed be your name” teaches us to pray with reverence for the holiness of God.
• “Your kingdom come” teaches us to pray with submission to the authority of God.

The kingdom is not a nation-state with ethnic-based citizenship that lives within a geographic territory. It is the sovereign authority of God over the created world. It is God’s kingdom because he created it, sustains it, and rules it.

The United States has three branches of government.

• The Congress and Senate are the legislative branch that establishes the law.
• The courts and judges are the judicial branch that interpret and enforces the law.
• The President and the White House are the executive branch that administrates the law.

In the kingdom, God is the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. Psalm 103:19 says, “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” Yet we live in a fallen world. The flesh, the world, and the devil rebel against God. Sin is treason and transgression against the government of God. Immorality, sickness, poverty, injustice, racism, war, and death are consequences of a world in revolt against God. Christians reject the status quo. We long for God to manifest his authority over all things. We pray for the day the angels sing about in Revelation 11:15: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Prayer involves talking to God. It also involves talking to yourself. “Our Father in heaven” is to ask, “Am I a child of God?” “Hallowed be your name” is to ask, “Who is most important in my life?” “Your kingdom come,” is to ask, “Whose side am I on?” “Your kingdom come” is the shortest petition in The Lord’s Prayer. It is the biggest petition you can pray. Christianity is about more than your health, wealth, success, blessing, or salvation.

• Christianity is political
• The church is in the business of revolution.
• The gospel is kingdom propaganda.
• Discipleship is civil disobedience.
• Prayer is a subversive activity.

What does it mean to pray, “Your kingdom come”?

Submit to the Authority of the King.

The kingdom of God is the dominating theme of the Old Testament. It repeatedly refers to God as “King” over and over again. It records the authority of God over the nations through his dealings with Israel. It announces the coming of the Anointed One, who will fulfill God’s kingdom promises. Matthew 4:17 says, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” The preaching of Jesus was the person of Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah-King. Jesus is the Christ of God. Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament promises, prophecies, and predictions.

After the birth of Jesus, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem. Matthew 2:2 says they asked, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:3 reports: “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” What troubled Herod? It was not the breaking news of a rival king marching on Jerusalem with his armed forces. It was the announcement of one who was “born king.” Herod and Jerusalem were bothered by a baby. It was not the birth of any baby. It was the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The incarnation of Christ is the inauguration of the kingdom.  

• The kingdom was inaugurated in the birth, life, and ministry of Christ.
• The kingdom was established in the death and resurrection of Christ.

In the Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom has come. Jesus is no longer on earth physically. Yet his presence in the world is real. Christ and his kingdom are present through those who believe in him. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people, once you have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

A Christian college student was invited to a lecture on the existence of God by his atheist roommate. “The lecturer addressed the basis of Christianity,” the atheist said after the talk. “I guess that just about does it for your God.” “Nope,” replied the Christian. “He still has not explained the faith of my grandmother, who lives in Mississippi.”

 It is understandable that unbelievers reject the biblical claims of the kingdom. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” But unbelievers should find it difficult to explain away the faith of believers. Philippians 3:20-31: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

• We worship heaven’s King.
• We seek heaven’s pleasure.
• We pursue heaven’s agenda. 
• We declare heaven’s message.
• We submit to heaven’s authority.

To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to pray, “Your kingdom come.” Douglas Sean O’Donnell wrote: “Of all the petitions in the Lord’s prayer, this one is the hardest for most of us to pray. It is hard because we fail to understand it or its full implications, but also hard because we are so concerned with ourselves and our little kingdoms.”

• When self is on the throne, Christ is on the cross.
• When Christ is on the throne, self is on the cross.

To pray, “Your kingdom come,” is to pray, “My kingdom go!” To make this petition is to submit to the authority of the King. To pray the first petition of Matthew 6:10 is to pray the second petition of the verse: “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Proclaim the Message of the King.

Matthew 28:18-20 records the Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is the mission of the church. It is the primary, central, and definitive function of the church. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors of Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Many churches are consumed with political involvement, social justice, and economic development. The most politically charged thing the church can do is be the church. Matthew 16:18 says, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Victory assumes conflict. We will be the church triumphant. We are the church militant. Whether we like it or not, we are involved in politics. We may not boycott, protest, sit in, or do news conferences. But we are politically involved.

• We proclaim Jesus is Lord, no matter who is in the White House, state capitol, or city hall.
• We demand that everyone who joins us declare allegiance to Christ by the public humiliation of being dunked in a pool of water.
• We come together and have some tasteless crackers and a shot glass of grape juice in remembrance of the body and blood of Christ.
• We believe what we share in Christ is greater than whatever differences we have. 
• We give when we lose our jobs. We sing though our families are in trouble. We pray for healing when we get sick. We forgive when we are wronged. We come to church on Sundays rather than going to the beach.
• We pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.”

A senior saint lectured her young pastor about the way he did funerals. She told him he had better make the gospel clear at her funeral because she would have family and friends who might never hear the gospel if they did not hear it at her funeral. He responded, “Mrs. Jones, don’t blame me for that.”

It is the mission of the church to proclaim the message of the King. It is also the mission of every Christian to proclaim the message of the King. After the resurrection, the disciples asked, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” In Acts 1:7-8, Jesus answered, “It is not for you to know times and seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Every Christian is a witness of Christ. You don’t have to be a legal expert to be a witness. You only have to see, hear, or know something. Then you tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The authorities ordered Paul and John not to speak in the name of Jesus. In Acts 4:19-20, they answered, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

Anticipate the Return of the king.

After the crucifixion and resurrection, the disciples still did not understand what the kingdom was all about. They asked Jesus about restoring the kingdom to Israel. Jesus told them not to worry about the Father’s sovereign timetable. Jesus commissioned them to be witnesses of his bloody cross and empty tomb to the ends of the earth. As he was speaking, Jesus was lifted up in the clouds into heaven. In Acts 1:11, angels declared, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Ultimately, to pray “Your kingdom come” is to anticipate the return of the king.

• The Second Coming is not a reference to his resurrection from the dead on Easter.
• The Second Coming is not a reference to the Holy Spirit coming on the day of Pentecost.
• The Second Coming is not a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 64 A.D.
• The Second Coming is not a reference to his coming into the hearts of those who believe.
• The Second Coming is not a reference to Christians going to be with him in death.

When we speak of the Second Coming, we mean Jesus is coming again definitely, imminently, bodily, visibly, gloriously, triumphantly, and unexpectantly. Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”

 If Jesus is coming again, why has he not come yet? 2 Peter 3:8-9 explains: “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” How are things between you and the Lord Jesus Christ? I have bad news and good news for you. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

• The offer of grace is available today. It is not available forever.
• The God of the second chance is the God of the last chance.
• Come to Jesus before he comes again!

John 3:16-18 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

The Lord is coming again! Revelation 22:20 says, “He who testifies to these things, says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

• He came as a little baby; he will come as a conquering King.
• He came in swaddling clothes; he will come robed in majesty.
• He came in humility; he will come in honor.
• He came despised and rejected; he will come as the fairest of 10,000.
• He came meek and lowly; he will come high and lifted up.
• He came wearing a crown of thorns; He will come crowned in glory.
• He came to die on a cross; He will come to sit on a throne.
• He came to redeem the saints; he will come to rapture the saints.
• He came as Savior; He will come as Judge.
• He came to seek and to save; He will come to rule and reign.
• He came as a lowly servant; he is coming as exalted Lord.

Will you be ready?