Thy kingdom come.
The coming of Christ’s kingdom
1. Greater than all the kingdoms of the world is the kingdom of God.
2. Amidst all the breaking up of human kingdoms men seek one that wilt abide.
3. This is a kingdom founded not by external might but by moral goodness.
4. The kingdom of God is God’s first primeval thought.
5. The kingdom of God has made out a history.
6. The way of its coming is an inner, a spiritual, a moral one.
7. His kingdom comes in time till it will one day come gloriously in eternity. (Dr. Luthardt.)
Importance of prayer for the conversion of the world
I. In the fact that Christ directs His disciples to make it.
II. In the good influence it exerts over those who offer it in sincerity and in earnest,
III. In the encouragement it affords those who have consecrated themselves to labour in person for that object.
IV. Prayer is the only means of bringing down God’s blessing upon us. (J. Doolittle.)
Thy kingdom, come
1. This prayer reminds us that there is another kingdom besides God’s kingdom established in the world.
2. It suggests difficulties in the way of the establishment of God’s kingdom.
3. It expresses our acquiescence in all things by which the desired result may be secured.
4. It leads us to anticipate that the ascendancy desired will be gained only slowly.
5. It impregnates the future with hopefulness.
6. It necessitates the cultivation of a missionary spirit. (F. Edwards, B. A.)
Christ’s kingdom
I. Describe this kingdom. This kingdom supposes-
1. A kingdom, and who is the King of this kingdom.
2. The kingdom of Christ is wholly Divine in its rise and progress.
3. This kingdom supposes a sceptre of dominion. It is a sceptre of invincible strength.
4. This kingdom is destined to be universal.
II. What is included in the prayer of the church for its advancement.
1. It is not yet fully come.
2. That this kingdom may come in the world, we ought to pray that this kingdom may come in the Church.
4. We ought to pray that this kingdom may come in our hearts.
III. But if we pray for it, this intimates that we must desire its coming.
1. And can it be otherwise than an object of desire to you, if you love Christ.
2. This prayer intimates that you should labour for its advancement.
3. You should hope for the universal coming of this kingdom. (J. Brown.)
I. The nature of the kingdom.
1. Spiritual in its nature.
2. Tranquil in its government.
3. Abundant in its immunities.
4. Perpetual in its duration.
II. The immediate consequences of its being come.
III. The means to effectuate it. (The Pulpit.)
The arrival of Christ’s reign
I. Revelation favours largeness of views. It unfolds a sphere composed of vast circles. It attempts to extend our contemplations over the whole earth. God’s kingdom is everywhere.
II. We should let our religious contemplations expand to the limits of the earth. What a mortifying diminutiveness in our widest views of the same.
III. There there some consolatory truths to relieve this awful view of the world. What revealed religion has done and is doing. The prophetic vision of its future achievements. The absolute certainty that Christianity is the grand expedient for renovating the state of man.
IV. Considerations to induce the active co-operation of all Christians. The good designed to be diffused is heavenly. Its progress is at present most marvellous, God looks with greatest complacency upon the missionary toil. (The Evangelist.)
Thy kingdom come
I. This kingdom shows the church of Christ. It is always used in the singular number, showing that there is but one Church, wheresoever dispersed through the world.
(1) It reminds us-that we have but one God, one faith, and one baptism;
(2) That the several parts of it, however distant in interests, judgment, or affection, yet are but many members of one body.
II. The kingdom of God is not yet fully come from the narrow extent of Christianity.
(1) It cannot be said to come till all nations have received and submitted to it;
(2) Until it hath been preached to all the world.
III. This kingdom is not yet come, from the want of due obedience in the members.
(1) A government cannot be said to be perfect-where the laws and constitutions of it have not their due force;
(2) Till the power and efficacy of it be more visible in the orderly lives of its subjects.
IV. The kingdom of God cannot be said to come-till the true members of it receive their reward;
(1) Till His faithful servants are made sharers in it;
(2) Till the subjects of it are freed from hardships and oppression.
V. This petition should dispose us to unity. We pray not here for this or that particular Church, but for that diffusive universal one that makes up Christ’s kingdom. (Thomas Mangey.)
The second petition
I. The kingdom.
II. The way this kingdom will come.
1. It will come by the mediation of Jesus Christ.
2. It will come through the instrumentality of the cross.
3. It comes by the power of the Spirit.
III. How we should pray for this.
1. Each one of us should pray that the kingdom may come in his own heart.
2. That it may come in the world. (Dr. Stanford.)
The second petition
I. The kingdom of God spiritual. Once this kingdom was undisputed: angels.
II. Essential difference between the kingdom of god and kingdoms of the world.
1. In their ruler.
2. The laws.
3. The subjects.
4. The objects.
5. The methods.
6. The extent.
III. The coming of this kingdom.
IV. The millennial reign.
V. Prayer for the coming of the kingdom.
1. Not unnecessary.
2. What the prayer includes.
3. A test of character.
4. Personal concurrence.
5. Missionary zeal. (Newman, Hall, LL. B.)
The kingdom of grace within us
1. If the kingdom has to come to us, we must be by nature outside it.
2. We cannot go to the kingdom; it must come to us.
3. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bring with them righteousness, peace, and joy.
4. In this kingdom there is dignity and liberty.
5. The extent and comprehensiveness of this kingdom; the whole heart, body, mind.
6. Antagonistic: in opposition to sin within and around us. (Dr. Saphir.)
The Messianic kingdom
I. Who is the King?
1. Christ as Son of man.
2. As the Son of David.
3. By virtue of His sufferings and death.
4. Associated in His reign are glorified saints.
II. When will this kingdom be established.
III. The character of this kingdom.
1. In manifested power on earth.
2. It is spiritual. (Dr. Saphir.)
The second petition
I. The nature of the kingdom spoken of. The Jews always expected a ruling Messiah. Pray for-
1. The reign of grace in the heart.
2. The reign of truth in the world.
3. The reign of holiness and joy in the life of the world to come.
1. We pray against all divided loyalties. (D. Moore, M. A.)
The prophetical spirit of the Lord’s prayer
I. God is a great king.
1. The kingdom of nature is His.
2. The kingdom of providence is His.
3. God’s higher kingdom of grace.
II. The kingdom of Christ in the world.
1. It is spiritual.
2. It is prophetical. (Dr. O. Winslow.)
Thy kingdom come
I. Let us observe the fact that the consummate blessing is To come. There is a better era for men to come. I refer to this prospective attitude of Christianity because it exhibits two characteristics worthy of notice.
1. It is in accordance with the general working of God. Progress is His law. Christianity is not a fixed system.
2. The wise benevolence of such a position. By proclaiming a better era it gives individuals and the race the loftiest inspiration of hope.
II. Consider some indications of that coming.
1. AS its coming is gradual we cannot expect to discover great advancement within any narrow scope of time.
2. That the kingdom of God is coming is indicated by the fact that the most civilized communities of the world are in a far better condition now than before the advent of Jesus, especially in point of morality.
III. The essential nature of this kingdom.
1. Considered externally, it is an historical fact, and has an organized form.
2. This kingdom is also internal, it is spiritual.
3. As to the advancement of that kingdom do not let us cherish conceptions which are calculated to discourage our exertions. (E. H. Chaplin.)
Thy kingdom come
God’s kingdom is a kingdom of many provinces. They are divided by narrow isthmuses; but over the whole there is a unity of system and design, and the same law pervades. There is the kingdom of nature, providence, of grace in the heart of man, in the world, and in the eternal glory.
I. What is the kingdom of the heart for which we pray.
1. It does not consist with the glory and show of this present life-“My kingdom is not of this world.”
2. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink.
3. Neither does the kingdom of God come with observation.
But it is-
1. Spiritual.
2. It is free. No one knows liberty who does not know the kingdom.
3. It is comprehensive. It gathers up the whole range of things into a system.
4. It is exclusive. The heart grows so full of God that it can hold nothing else.
II. Have you considered what you really mean when you offer this prayer. God hears and answers, perhaps by loss, bereavement, isolation: thus the kingdom comes into the heart. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The Divine kingdom
I. The kingdom itself. We should have known nothing of it but for revelation.
1. It is not a worldly kingdom.
2. It is constituted in the Person of the King Himself.
3. It is a peaceable kingdom.
4. The subsidiary and collateral blessings which flow from this kingdom.
5. It admits of unlimited extension.
6. It will be of long duration.
7. Its brightness is perpetually increasing.
II. Some grounds on which the pious may pray and expect the diffusion of this kingdom.
1. We may expect it from analogy.
2. We may expect it from the symbolical events of Jewish history. Moses was victorious over Egypt; Elijah over the priests of Baal; Dagon over the ark.
3. The figures and representations of the New Testament.
4. The moral properties require that the kingdom of God should become glorious. Providence produces great results by small means. So large an agency as are involved in the cross and Christianity requires the result to be vast.
5. When we think of the energy employed in the diffusion of the kingdom our hopes arise.
III. Point out some of the encouraging intimations which we have of the coming of this kingdom.
1. The facilities which there are for it.
2. The union of effort.
3. The success of effort. (Dr. Beaumont.)
Nature, a prophecy of the unlimited diffusion of the gospel
We are warranted in such an expectation, I may say, almost from analogy. Why does the moon spread her horns? Why, it is to fill them. Why does the sun rise above the horizon? It is that he may go on his march upward and onward, till he gains his meridian altitude, and pours his vertical glory on the world below. Why is the corn deposited in the soil? It is that it may unwrap, that it may unfold itself-that, of that single seed there may come a tree, the branches of which are for a lodgment of the birds, and a shadow for the beasts of the earth. Why does the rill steal silently from under the sod, wend its way among the grass and the pebbles, following its course onward and onward, enlarging its channel, rendering the fissure wider and wider for itself-till at last that little rill becomes a mighty river, bearing on its bosom the riches of a nation and feeding a nation’s agriculture. (Dr. Beaumont.)
The missionary prayer
I. The import of this petition.
1. What kingdom is this? It cannot refer to God’s natural kingdom; all such are His already. It refers to His spiritual.
2. What we are to understand by the coming of it?
(1) Its advancement in the hearts of its subjects.
(2) Its extension in the world over the hearts of the ungodly.
(3) It includes the final consummation of the kingdom of grace in glory.
II. The need that exists for still offering this prayer.
1. It is lamentably far from being fully come.
2. Look at the professing Church.
III. Some of the encouragements we have to continue presenting this petition,
1. Past success.
2. The character of our weapons of warfare. Truth has power over the conscience.
3. The predictions of the Bible. (J. Morgan.)
Men generally feel more interested in the earthly than the heavenly kingdom
It is very sad to see how excited and absorbed men can be about the politics of this world; how, on any subject of national interest, such as the progress of a war or the annexation of a territory, the pulse of the nation will beat fast with excitement; how, not only in the council-chambers of kings and the legislative assemblies of nations, but at every street-corner and in every little tavern, men will discuss the matter with eager interest; while it is almost impossible to gather a roomful of people to listen to the records of the gospel difficulties, or of the triumphs of the kingdom of Christ. (F. C. Blythe, M. A.)
Subjects made by voluntary submission, not by geographical limitation
Earthly kingdoms claim all who dwell within territorial limits. A river, a chain of hills, an imaginary line, may determine the question who are the subjects of its rule. But in this kingdom all are enrolled as subjects who voluntarily submit to it, and none else. (Newman Hall, LL. B.)
Tile gradual progress of the Divine kingdom
If it had seemed good in His sight, He could have overturned the power of Satan in a short period; but His wisdom saw fit to accomplish it by degrees. Like the commander of an invading army, He first takes possession of one post, then of another, then of a third, and so on, till by and by the whole country falls into His hands. And as the progress of a conqueror would be more rapid after a few of the strongest fortresses had surrendered (inasmuch as things would then approach fast to a crisis, to a breaking up, as it were, of the powers of the enemy), so it has been with the kingdom of Christ, and such will be its progress before the end of time. (A. Fuller.)
Thy will be done in earth.-
Doing God’s will
I. What is the petition. There is the secret will of God; the providential will of God; the revealed will of God-our sanctification.
II. The measure. How do they do the will of God.
1. From love to God.
2. Cheerful alacrity.
3. With zeal and energy.
4. With humility and reverence.
5. With perseverance. (J. Hambleton, M. A.)
Thy will be done
1. We are here taught to pray that God’s will may become the standard and rule of our actions.
2. That God’s will may become the regulator of our wishes and pleasures.
3. That God’s will may become ours, and not that it may destroy ours.
4. That God’s will may be ours, not fitfully and in part, but constantly and perfectly. (F. Edwards, B. A.)
The reign of grace viewed in relation to the work of righteousness
I. A fact assumed, that the will of God is done by all the inhabitants of heaven as he himself requires. The place, the parties, the practice, must receive consideration.
1. To determine the locality of heaven will for ever exceed the ability of man on earth.
2. We can, however, describe its inhabitants.
3. We have to consider how they act.
II. Establish the doctrine implied. God has, and will exercise, the same authority over men on earth and angels in heaven.
1. Our first proof is from the dictates of conscience.
2. Confirmed from the deductions of reason.
3. Clear from scripture.
III. Enforce the duty.
1. That obedience to the will of the Creator is essential to the welfare of every intelligent creature.
2. It is obvious if there had been no sin there would have been no suffering.
3. It is therefore evident that in order to be happy we must be in a state of acceptance with God. (Congregational Pulpit.)
Thy will be done
God’s will is to be the guide and measure of ours. These two standards of God’s will-reason and revelation-however they may promote the same end, yet they are very different in their extent.
I. The laws of Nature seem to regard only
(1) outward order and decency;
(2) strict justice in our dealings.
(3) They allow us to return like for like;
(4) oblige us to no more temperance than can keep the faculties in good order.
II. The laws of the gospel require
(1) inward purity and holiness;
(2) extensive charity, whereby we are to rejoice with them that do rejoice, and mourn with them that weep.
(3) To do good for evil.
(4) To mortify our corrupt affections, and take up our cross and follow our Saviour. By this short view of these two rules of God’s will, it appears that one is more extensive than the other, and that we cannot be said to fulfil the whole of that will without making the gospel the immediate rule of it. (Thomas Mangey.)
The necessity of a cheerful obedience to the Divine will
I. Humility, which corrects every arrogant thought,
(1) reminds us of our demerits,
(2) convinces us that the least blessings we receive are greater than the best of us deserve.
II. Contentment.
(1) An easy satisfaction with our present share of the bounties of providence,
(2) neither envying the more liberal allotments of other men, nor
(3) repines at its own.
III. Patience.
1. Cheerful submission to whatever pains and afflictions we are at any time called upon to suffer.
2. Any troubles and trials we may be called upon to endure.
IV. Quiet subjection to the
(1) authority,
(2) full trust in the goodness, the
(3) wisdom, and the
(4) promises of God.
These are virtues of so close an affinity and connection, that one of them can hardly subsist without the other. All of them are necessary to form and perfect that resignation to the will of God, for which we are taught here to pray. (John Rogers, D. D.)
Our Father’s will
1. The Divine will is more than mere power,-it is righteousness, wisdom, tenderness. It does not fulfil itself by simple force.
2. We should ascribe the sweet as well as the bitter experiences of life to the will of God.
3. We shall find in the Father’s will being as well as doing. It will be in all our doings and desires.
4. In doing the Father’s will it is manifest that many things we have loved will have to be laid aside.
5. The day when this prayer has its answer will be the day of God’s revenge and victory, the revenge and victory of righteousness and love. (W. Hubbard.)
The obedience of angels
1. An angel, by his very nature, is a servant doing God’s behest. It is a law of his being; with us it is an occasional thing.
2. They go from the immediate presence of God, hence their power and joy.
3. An angel’s obedience is the obedience of a happy being. Obedience is the fruit of happiness.
4. It matters nothing to an angel what the work is which is given him to do.
5. The response to an order is always instant.
6. It is always primarily to Christ. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Angelic obedience universal
You would do well to notice that it matters nothing to an angel what the work is which is given him to do. It may be for a babe, or it may be for a king; it may be for a prophet, or it may be for a country; it may be for one, or it may be for multitudes; it may be for the holiest, or it may be for the vilest; it may be to comfort, or it may be to reprove; it may be to carry a promise, or it may be to execute a judgment; it may be to deliver, or it may be to smite; it may be to restrain, or it may be to lead on. It is just the same to him. It cannot be too menial or too lofty; it cannot be too little or too much. His-Who has given him to do it. It is simple obedience. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The third petition
I. The will of God.
II. God’s potential will.
III. God’s perceptive will in relation to the human will.
IV. Why should God’s will be done? Because it is God’s. Besides the benefits resulting, there is the joy in the very act of performing His will. It dignifies the humblest lot.
V. Angelic nature. The resemblance of obedience suggests resemblance of nature; angels only a higher species of man.
VI. Angelic obedience.
1. Angels do the will of God lovingly.
2. They do it intelligently.
3. They do it prayerfully.
4. They do all God’s will.
5. They do it always.
6. They all do it, and do it altogether.
7. They do it in the presence of God.
VII. Passive obedience. (Newman Hall, LL. D.)
The third petition
I. What do we mean by this petition?
1. That the will of God may be done by the will of man.
2. This is the prayer of a renovated will.
3. In this prayer to our Father we say with emphasis, Thy will be done.
II. How shall we use this petition?
1. Thy will be done in obedience to orders.
2. Thy will be done in submission under trials.
3. Thy will be done by surrender to Thy guidance.
4. Thy will be done in the use of means for Thy reign to come. (Dr. Stanford.)
Let us pray this prayer
1. Not in a spirit of indolent acquiescense.
2. God has a will concerning our actions.
3. God looks on the heart.
4. Three points revealed concerning the life of angels.
(1) Their holiness;
(2) the vitality of their service;
(3) the love.
Their angelic obedience is distinguished by holiness, diligence, love.
(1) We must cast away everything that defileth.
(2) We must stir up the gift that is in us to a lovelier, a brighter, a more kindling glow.
(3) Above all, by setting ourselves to that which is the very work of heaven-sympathy and love. In heaven there is no disobedience, no indolence, no selfishness. (Dr. C. J. Vaughan.)
The submissive spirit of the Lord’s prayer
I. Look at God’s will, in two or three of its essential properties.
1. It is universal.
2. It is wise.
3. It is supreme.
II. Three things contained in this petition.
1. God’s will done in the fulfilment of duty.
2. In the endurance of trial.
3. In the universal prevalence of holiness.
III. How is God’s will done in heaven?
1. Harmoniously.
2. Cheerfully.
3. Promptly.
IV. The blessings that flow from acquiescence with the mill of God are innumerable.
1. It secures our happiness.
2. It secures our safety.
3. It secures our satisfaction. (Dr. O. Winslow.)
The third petition
I. As it illustrates the great rule of moral obligation. The fitness of taking the will of God as the great rule of human conduct; this was brought out in the first sin.
II. Its application to the circumstances of our Christian life and character.
1. AS the will of God embraces all beings, we as a unit-world in this moral system, must have our allotted part to sustain.
2. We are to say “ Thy will,” as opposed to the will of any other master.
3. The revealed will of God is to be the paramount, exclusive, all-determining law of human conduct. This conformity to the will of God will be exhibited
(1) in an attitude of pious submission, under all that is hard to bear in His providential appointments;
(2) in relation to our spiritual experiences.
III. The pattern of all acceptable obedience.
1. In the way of probation our compliance with the will of God is limited to the present state.
2. How are we to do the will of God?
(1) In its integrity;
(2) with delighted complacency in our obedience;
(3) unwearedly. This shows us with what meek acquiescence we should pray. We have made mistakes enough by following our own will. Let there be no striving to get away from our providential lot. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Thy will be done on earth
The same principle which renders an angel a willing servant in glory would make him a willing servant in this wicked state. He who gets his copy most into his eye, and takes it into his mind, will draw the straightest lines. In material things it is the glory of heaven, where God looks He sees Himself. The crystal sea, sheets of gold, gates of pearl, are made to reflect the glory that shines upon them. As we pass from the material to the intelligent inhabitants, the pattern becomes higher.
1. When we look upon ourselves, what a very disobedient thing obedience is. How men struggle to obey, and often to escape obedience. But turn to the angels.
1. Mark the entire submission of their intellect.
2. The absorption of their will.
3. The pliability with which they adapt themselves exactly to God’s varying purposes.
4. Or pass from the act to the spirit-“They are beholding the Father’s face.”
5. God’s will must be done in the way God wills it. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Angelic obedience the model for ours
1. It is worthy of remark that our Lord teaches us to think a good deal about the angels.
2. Proposing the angels as a model of obedience gives us a most exalted notion of them and their performance of God’s will.
3. In what way are they our models?
(1) As pure and holy creatures. We must therefore imitate their purity.
(2) As continually occupied in offices of praise and adoration of God. We must imitate their praises in our prayers. (G. Moberley, D. C. L.)
Resignation to the Divine will
I. Devotion to God’s will the true principle of human life. Subjection to the Divine will has made the heroes of the past great.
1. Obedience to God takes its rise in God’s revelation of Himself.
2. It is through acquaintance with the revelation of God we grow into knowledge of His will, and are guided in our desire for its accomplishment.
3. The revelation of God supplies the means for the accomplishment of the Divine will. It gives the power of obedience.
II. The example. (J. Pillars.)
Constant obedience to God
Let our obedience resemble theirs; let it not be characterized by fits and starts, with intervening relapses into indolence; not needing revivals out of apathy; not dependent on novelty which must soon lose its charm, but patient and persevering under all changes and circumstances; not as a mountain torrent, whose rocky channel is bare and sunburnt when snows are not melting and rains do not fall, but as a deep, broad river, ever flowing with fertilizing tide. (Newman Hall, LL. B.)
The will of God
1. The secret will of God.
2. The revealed will of God.
3. The determining will of God.
4. The prescribing will of God.
5. The providential will of God. (F. C. Blythe, M. A.)
Thy will
1. Not Satan’s.
2. Not my will. (F. C. Blythe, M. A.)
In earth as in heaven
1. Thankful that we are not yet under the earth, but permitted to toil at the work God has given us.
2. We should deem it a great privilege to be allowed to do God’s will, inasmuch that we are not only on the earth, but “ of the earth earthy.”
3. We are not to wait till we get to heaven to do God’s will.
4. We are not to take any earthly standard as our aim.
5. The angels do God’s will zealously, perfectly, orderly, constantly, cheerfully. (F. C. Blythe, M. A.)
Imitating angels
I. Some characteristics of the obedience rendered to God in heaven.
1. Angelic obedience is thorough.
2. It is continuous.
3. Prompt and lively.
4. Cheerful and loving.
5. Universal.
II. Reasons why we should seek to imitate the obedience of angels.
1. It will be a positive self-injury not to submit to Him.
2. God ever wills our present and everlasting welfare.
3. Perfect submission to the will of God is essential to our present happiness.
4. It is right.
III. What must be done before the prayer of the text can be fully answered.
1. The Scriptures must be circulated over the entire globe.
2. We also need an unction from the Holy One. (J. Morgan.)
As it is in heaven
1. The will of God is perfectly done in heaven because it is done with the unbroken, uninterrupted sense of the presence of God. We must try to took on things as God looks at them.
2. There is in the celestial world a wide diversity of gifts and operations. The seraph’s fire is combined with the cherub’s strength.
3. There is war even in heaven to carry out the will of God in casting out evil from the world. “Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.” Courage, self-denial, discipline, are the gifts by which victories are won.
4. It is a world of spirits-the spiritual unites and vivifies the whole. The hosts which really govern the world are the thoughts and consciences of men.
5. It is beneficial. (Dean Stanley.)