For our Scripture reading tonight, turn with me to Luke 17. Luke 17, where we read together the verses 20 through 37. And also we give consideration tonight to Lord's Day 48. The Lord's Day 48 of the second petition, Thy kingdom come. Here now as we read together the Word of God, beginning at verse 20 of Luke chapter 17. Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, Nor will people say, here it is, or there it is, because the kingdom of God is within you. Then He said to His disciples, the time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, there He is, or here He is. Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in His day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, no one who was on the roof of his house with his goods inside should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night, two people will be in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other left. Where, Lord? they asked. He replied, where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather. And turn to the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 61. Page 61, Lord's Day 48. Question and answer 123. 123 as we confess together this answer. Page 61. Question 123 asks, What does the second request mean? Thy kingdom come means, rule us by Your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to You. Keep Your church strong and add to it. Destroy the devil's work. Destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your word. Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all. Beloved of the Lord Jesus Christ, we begin the Lord's Prayer by God's grace as believers who claim God as our Father, as our Heavenly Father, and as we considered with the first petition, as our Holy Heavenly Father. But then the second petition reminds us right away that God is not only our Father, but He is also our King. He has a kingdom over which He rules, A kingdom which has faithful subjects. A kingdom which also has enemies. Now when we speak of God's kingdom in this petition, we're not talking about a specific physical territory such as a nation on this earth with a physical king ruling over it. The Pharisees who had been questioning Jesus in Luke chapter 17 thought that the Messiah would set up a physical kingdom on this earth and they thought that He would conquer and destroy their physical enemies. Indeed, God's kingdom of power is over all things. There is nothing that is separated from God's kingdom of power. No one, not one thing, not even Satan and his followers can escape God's power. Psalm 103.19 says, The Lord has established His throne in heaven and His kingdom rules over all. But when God's people pray, Thy kingdom come, we are praying for God's kingdom of grace. This kingdom is where God's will is being done. Where the rules of the kingdom are being honored and obeyed. And where God is recognized as the great King. And this began in the paradise of Eden. It was disrupted by sin when a rebel kingdom was set up under the rule of Satan. Yet because of God's almighty power and because of His sovereign plan, His kingdom of grace is being restored among men. The kingdom of God is based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ who has been established on the heavenly throne as king and ruler over His kingdom, as Psalm 2 makes clear. And by His work of redemption, Christ the King is in the process of establishing His rule over the hearts and in the hearts of all the elect of God. God's kingdom of grace is a spiritual kingdom. And that's why Jesus could say to Pilate in John chapter 18, My kingdom is not of this world. You see, beloved, God's kingdom is the rule of God over the will and heart and conscience, yea, the rule of God over the life of man. And by the grace of God, we enjoy this kingdom already today. Jesus said in Luke 17, 21, For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. And John the Baptist preached, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Yet we know that this kingdom is not yet complete. Its fullness will be in the future. It will not be complete until, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, Jesus has put all His enemies under His feet and He has delivered the kingdom to God the Father. But until that day, as God's people, we continue to pray the prayer for the advancement of God's kingdom. Advancement by means of sanctification. By means of preservation. By means of elimination. And fourthly, by means of glorification. Congregation, this spiritual kingdom of God, involves the heart of man. The catechism answer rightly explains that the prayer for the advancing of God's kingdom begins in the believer's heart. In the heart that has already been converted. in your heart, and in my heart as believers. You see, this is the believer's prayer. This is the prayer of the kingdom citizen. Jesus taught this prayer to His disciples, those who believed on Him. And therefore, the catechism answer is completely correct when it begins, Rule us by Your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to You. Now, this may seem a bit backwards to us. You see, if we had to rewrite, or if we were given the opportunity to rewrite this answer, we might begin something like, So rule the heathen so that they might be converted. Because that's what's truly needed. But no. You see, this prayer for God's kingdom does not begin out there. But it begins in here. It begins at home. It begins in my heart. And it begins in your heart. As Christians, we often think we're doing okay. It's our neighbor who needs improvement. Often we forget to remove the beam out of our own eye while we busy ourselves pointing to the speck in our brother's eye. But this catechism answer is humbling. It reminds us that even as God's people, we have a long way to go. In Psalm 143, David prays, Teach me to do Your will. Lead me in the land of uprightness. Revive me, O Lord, for Your name's sake. Teach me. Lead me. Revive me. David was the anointed of God. He's described as the man after God's own heart. So why did he have to pray in this way? Because he knew that he had not yet arrived, spiritually speaking. And neither have I. And neither have you. Beloved Christians are citizens of the Kingdom of God and subjects of King Jesus. Yet we are poor subjects, we must confess, with defective obedience. We are those who have just a small beginning of new obedience. We like to say and think that we are willing to live and fight and even die if necessary for the King and His kingdom, even as our King did for us. But if we are faced with it, are we really willing? Do we really have an earnest love for heaven over this earth? Think about that. Do you really have an earnest desire for heaven over this earth? Do we really seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God? You see, congregation, our prayer here is that before we ask God to bring new subjects or new soldiers into His kingdom, which this is also a prayer for, but before we do that, we ask that He would make us better subjects. That He would make us more faithful, more useful. and more submissive subjects without reservation that I might submit more and more to You. You see, my prayer is to be, Lord, cause me to grow in grace, in wisdom, and in obedience. Cause me to walk closer with You. Work in my heart and soul and mind so that every thought is captive to the obedience of Christ. I am to pray with David, Lord, teach me. Lead me. Revive Me. Yes, rule Me in such a way that I would submit more and more to You until I am willing to lose My life for You, as Luke 17.33 says. Beloved, this is a prayer for the sanctification of God's kingdom citizens. Those of whom the baptism form says that they cannot enter into the kingdom of God except they are born again. You see, kingdom citizens know who they are because by the grace of the Almighty King, they speak a different language than the world speaks. They follow different customs and obey different rules than the world follows and obeys. And they serve a different King than the world serves. Yet the growth of God's people is sometimes slow, isn't it? The fruit isn't ready in one day. Sanctification is a daily process. That's why we are called periodically to self-examination, to examine our hearts. Do we truly understand our sin and misery? Are we truly humbled and sorry because of our sin and misery? Indeed, do we truly understand that we have a need for a Savior and that Jesus Christ is that only Savior? And finally, do we desire to live in a way that expresses thanksgiving for that salvation through everything we do? Self-examination is an important part of that sanctification process in the power of the Spirit. And then as well, we are invited to the Lord's table so that our faith might be nourished and strengthened by the body and blood of Christ. And the result of that sanctification is to be that kingdom citizens willingly submit with joy in heart and soul and mind and strength, giving themselves for the King's use. Now it's no secret that none of us has reached this yet. We confess that we want to live for the Lord, but evidence often shows that we want to live for ourselves at least just a little bit. But complete surrender to the King takes much more than just good intentions. And that's why we need to be ruled. That's why we need to be governed and directed. The Heavenly King governs and rules His subjects by His Word and His Spirit. Christians must be controlled by God and possessed by His will. Are you possessed by His will? You see, the Word reveals to us the will of the King. That Word which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And we must not only listen to the preaching of the Word of God, which is one of the keys of the Kingdom, as we mentioned this morning, But we are called to place ourselves under the discipline of the Word of God. Yes, to be disciplined by the Word of God. You see, congregation, the best sermon is not the one that flies right over your head or right to your side and hits the person beside you or behind you. But the best sermon is the one that goes right to your heart and right to my heart. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. It's possible to be obedient, to go through the motions, to give lip service like a slave, but not be obedient from the heart with joy and gladness like a son. But being ruled by the Spirit gets to the heart of the matter. He makes my heart willing. By the power of the Spirit, you see, believers obey not because they cannot or dare not do otherwise, but because they do not want to do otherwise. It is their new desire to be obedient to God. Beloved, the Spirit and the Word cannot be separated. This morning we talked a little bit about the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. You cannot separate the two. The Spirit does not give leading without or outside of the Word, but only through the Word. And likewise, the Word of God cannot be comprehended or applied without the work of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God gives us a clear message of our duty, and the Spirit makes our hearts willing with new obedience to strive to carry out that duty. And this new obedience, as the baptism form also says, is that we cleave to this one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That we trust in Him and love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength that we forsake the world, crucify our old nature, and walk in a godly life. Through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, God's kingdom is advanced through kingdom obedience, which is characterized by cleaving to, trusting in, and loving the King. And then in the second place in this petition, we pray that God will advance His kingdom also through preservation. The catechism says, keep your church strong and add to it. Whereas the older version of the catechism says, preserve and increase thy church. Now we must understand that the church and the kingdom are not identical. They are not one and the same. The kingdom of God is much broader than the church, but the church is a part of the kingdom. And wherever you find the church of Jesus Christ, wherever you find a true church in a specific location, you find a manifestation of the kingdom of God. The church is called to make the invisible kingdom visible through faithful Christian living and witness. And the Lord's table makes visible the communion of kingdom citizens with their king. And the church on earth, beloved, is the fighting army of the kingdom with both an offensive and a defensive function. You see, defensively, the church is to defend against the kingdom of Satan and offensively, she is to conquer for Christ. The church, the body of King Jesus, is the instrument or agency which most effectively promotes the welfare and the extension of the kingdom of God. In other words, the way into the kingdom of God is through His church. The church doesn't save you. But apart from the church, apart from the body of Christ, there is no salvation. Boys and girls and young people, you must understand this. The church is the body of Christ. And apart from the true church, and the true church as it is made visible through Christ's local true churches, apart from that true church, there is no salvation. Because to be disconnected from the true church is to be disconnected from the body, and that body is connected to the head. But if you're not a part of that body, if you're not a part of the head, Jesus Christ. It is through the proclamation of the Gospel by the church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that citizens are added to the kingdom. It is through the church that we are instructed in the way and in the will of God. It is through the church that we learn of our glorious riches that we now possess in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through the church that the gifts of God's Spirit are distributed and exercised for the edification of the citizens of the kingdom. And it is through the church that the kingdom of God penetrates the world. You see, the Word proclaimed in the church must not only point believers to heaven, But kingdom citizens are called to carry the Word of the King to all spheres and all situations of life. You see, the church needs preserving, beloved, because she faces many dangers in this world. Dangers that threaten from within and from without as we considered a bit this morning. In dark days, there's danger of persecution. In days of prosperity, there's danger of conforming to the standards of the world because we are a little bit less dependent upon God. but when we pray thy kingdom come we pray that the church may be kept strong and preserved from unfaithfulness from proclaiming an incomplete gospel in her preaching and witness to be preserved from discord disunity, decline, error, apathy unbelief, self-righteousness to be preserved from being visible only on Sunday but not found the other six days of the week to preserve from the youth. Losing sight of the boundary between the church and the world is a very clear boundary. We pray that God will always provide faithful watchmen who see danger in the distance and give timely warning. For example, the church has been fighting against liberalism. Many have fallen. Liberalism, they say, is the way to go. It's the way to grow the church. It's the way to fill the parking lot and the pews. But the truth is, beloved, liberalism doesn't strengthen the churches. It weakens them and in fact, it empties them. Because conforming to the world does not bring them in here, but it causes us to stay out there. Yet this prayer is for more than the preservation of the church, but also for increase. In fact, the two go hand in hand, don't they? Without increase in the visible church, the visible church will not be preserved, humanly speaking. When we pray, Thy kingdom come, we are also praying for conversions. We are praying that God's kingdom may come into the hearts of men. You see, it's not wrong to pray for more church members. Our prayer is to be twofold. It is to be for growth in depth, that is, in wisdom and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. but also for growth, for increase in breadth, that the pews would be packed full. Jesus said, Go ye into all the world and preach My Gospel and make disciples. Our prayer must be, beloved, that God would increase His church through His covenant faithfulness in the generations, that our children might carry on the banner of the cross when it is time for us as parents to leave this life. Parents, do you pray for your children? Do you pray specifically that God would be faithful to His covenant promises given to them in their baptism? Young people, you must understand that you are not saved because your parents believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, it's a tremendous benefit to you that your parents believe and seek to teach you. But you are not saved based upon your parents' faith. God comes to you with His Word. with the Gospel of Jesus Christ that salvation is only in Him, that there's no other way to the Father except through Him. He calls you to receive it, to believe it, and to confess it. But this is a petition that God would also increase His church through missions to the heathen of the world and evangelizing the wayward who are among us, that God would bring them into the kingdom. Beloved, one of the means that God uses is the witness of His people. And therefore, we must look at those outside as the missing part of the church. And before the last of the elect is brought in, until that time, the church is not complete and Christ cannot and will not return. His banquet table must be filled. The congregation in this petition is also a prayer for victory. For the elimination of Satan's kingdom. The catechism says, destroy the devil's work. Destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your word. Satan's kingdom is absolutely directly opposed to the kingdom of God. There are irreconcilable differences between the two. There is no and there can never be harmony between the two. They have nothing in common. Just like fire and water or light and dark. And it is impossible, beloved, to be nourished by the bread of life and to dine with the devil at the same time. As we look through Bible history, we can see clearly that the devil has been working hard. In effect, he killed Abel. He deported Joseph to Egypt. He killed the Hebrew boys in Egypt. He had Daniel thrown into the lion's den. He attacked the Jews through that wicked Haman. He murdered the young boys of Bethlehem. He persecuted through Nero. He populated concentration camps. And the list goes on and on. He's still at work today in the form of a young boy holding a gun and shooting classmates unconsciously, meaning without a conscience. The world of which Satan is the chief hates Christ. It wishes Him away because that world knows that her very existence is threatened by Him. The world thought that they got rid of Jesus by way of the cross. So now Christians are her target. That's no surprise. Jesus said, if they hated Me, they will also hate you. Satan raises up powers that challenge God. Human pride, for example, exalts itself against God. The Tower of Babel was an example of that. And Psalm 2 speaks of the nations raging and the people plotting in vain against the Lord and His anointed saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. Luke 17, as we read, talks about those who would try to influence God's people by predicting the signs of Christ's return. Look, He's over here. No, He's over there. And we live in a world, and in particular a nation, that is trying to exercise dominion without taking God's dominion into account. God is neutralized. He's thrown out. And anti-biblical and anti-Christian laws and rights are in place promoting disobedience to God. Of course, as Christians, we take some hope recently, don't we? In the fact that we now have a president of this country who has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we ought to pray for Him. But Satan's entire kingdom is aimed at destroying God's Word. He knows that God's Word is the very foundation of Christ's church and the kingdom. He knows that the Word of God is the handbook of the kingdom. And he knows, beloved, that the church that abandons the Word of God will disappear. He's working hard to make God's Word powerless. Sometimes in our own way, we can see and feel this effect, can't we? For example, when someone is convicted by God's Word, but not in the way that we would think, Instead of bowing before the Word of God in humility, they get mad. They try to justify whatever it was that they were convicted of and basically tear that commandment and tear that page out of Scripture. And also in ages past, Satan has attempted to work to keep the Bible out of the language of the people, out of their hands. He's also worked through biblical criticism like the Jesus Seminar to eliminate sections of the Bible if you're not familiar with the Jesus Seminar. It's a bunch of so-called biblical scholars who get together to vote by the use of colored beads as to what the Bible says Jesus said. Either, yes, for sure He said it. Or, well, most likely He said it. Or, no, He might not have said it. Or, definitely, no way, Jesus could not have said that. And they cut up the Bible into Swiss cheese. And we must confess, too, that sometimes we lay parts of the Bible aside, don't we? Whatever happened to following Matthew 18 to solve problems between fellow believers? Well, you know, it's a whole lot easier just to ignore that person, to ignore the situation. But that's not what God calls us to do. How many of us truly forgive 70 times 7 times? In other words, we forgive unsparingly. And we do not bring it up again to stick it in their face. Do we really consider others' interests before our own, as Paul commands the Philippian church to do? You see, we conveniently skip over certain passages of Scripture. And sometimes we even plot evilly against God's Word. For example, when listening to a sermon, Satan works to make some say, well, that was nice, I hope so-and-so heard it, but there was nothing new there for me. I knew it already. Beloved, Satan's kingdom is trying hard to eliminate God's kingdom, but that will never happen. The gates of hell shall not prevail. And just look at the table. That's visible proof that Satan cannot overpower God's kingdom. By the grace of God, Jesus taught us to pray for the elimination of Satan's kingdom. We are to pray that God's righteous His anger will burn against Satan and that He will fulfill His Word. Romans 16.20 says, And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. And John says in 1 John 3, He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil. And then the Catechism explains that we pray for this elimination until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all you see praying this petition thy kingdom come is also praying for glorification and the comfort here is i hope you notice is that we don't pray in order that god's kingdom may be perfect and complete and that he might be all in all that's not up to us we pray until until that happens because congregation either with us or without us, God's kingdom shall be perfect. It shall be complete. And He shall be all in all. The kingdom of darkness will be put to shame. Every knee shall bow before the King. Every tongue shall confess Christ. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of Christ. There will be harmony between heaven and earth. All the godless shall have been removed. There will be eternal peace governed by God's Word and Spirit and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah. Beloved, Thy kingdom come is ultimately a prayer for Christ's return. Is that your prayer? Is that your earnest desire? If it's not, then you have no part of His kingdom, which is the only enduring kingdom. Those who are a part of Satan's kingdom will be cast aside into the burning lake of fire forever and ever. But those who confess, who repent of their sins and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ by the grace of God and believe on Him, they will enjoy that eternal kingdom of peace from this time forth and forevermore. Dear child of God, pray for the advancement of God's kingdom. Pray that it will come in you. Pray that it will come in the world. And pray that it will come completely. Beloved, if that is your prayer, then come to the Lord's table.