2nd Petition

February 27, 2002

The 2nd Petition

“Thy Kingdom Come”

INTRODUCTION:  The Kingdom of God.  God’s kingdom is a powerful and yet sometimes a misunderstood phrase. What goes through your mind, what are you thinking about when you mention the words “Thy kingdom come’?  What “kingdom” do we mean when we pray the second petition?

I.        In the 2nd Petition we pray that God would graciously grant us true faith and a godly life.

A.     Jesus, as He began His public ministry began with these words “The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15) True faith and a godly life simply means that we repent of our sins and believe the good news of the gospel.  That we simply cling to the words and promises of Jesus.

B.     A godly life simply means that we remain rooted, grounded and built up in Christ.  St. Paul bears this out in Colossians 2:6 when he writes, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him…”

TRANSITION:  We pray that the Lord would grant us a godly life and true faith. We also pray that the faith would grow as the gospel moves on in our life

II.     When we pray “Thy Kingdom Come” we pray that God would extend His Kingdom of grace on earth.  In a word, we pray that the work of missions would prosper. In this season of Lent you and I as Christians have an excellent opportunity to witness of our faith and to present Jesus to a scared and dying and frightened world.

A.     Jesus prayed: “Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Mathew 9:38) There are people in our world today who do not know Jesus. Jesus came into this world to save sinners. We share with others Jesus Christ who came to suffer and die on the cross to forgive sins and offer to the people of this earth salvation and life.

B.     As we pray this petition “Thy Kingdom Come” we are doing exactly what Paul prayed for two thousand years ago when He wrote in 2 Thessalonians 4 as he said: “Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you”. (v.1) When the gospel message is honored by all then it will spread and God’s Kingdom will be enlarged.

III.   When we pray “Thy Kingdom Come” we pray that He would hasten the coming of His Kingdom of Glory.  In short, we pray “Come Lord Jesus, come even today!”

A.     As we wait for Jesus’ return to this earth in power and glory we realize that even now the Kingdom belongs to Christ already. The kingdom is not something Jesus has to obtain in the future. It’s His already! Jesus says in  Luke, chapter twelve “Do not be afraid, little flock for Your Father has been pleased to give You the kingdom” (v.32)

B.     We have this promise from Jesus that he is coming and will come very soon.  The last verse of His Revelation to the Apostle John gives us these five sure words “He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming soon” (v.20)

CONCLUSION:  What do we need to concern ourselves with when we consider the 2nd Petition?  When we pray “Thy Kingdom Come” all we need to say is this: “Amen, come Lord Jesus”