WEBVTT
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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Amen.
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Notice the crescendo, the way in which the first three petitions of
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the Lord's Prayer all build upon one another.
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In the first petition, as we heard last week, we ask how is God's name
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kept holy?
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And the catechism answers God's name is kept holy when the Word of God
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is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God,
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also lead holy lives according to it. When His Word is taught in truth
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and purity, and we lead holy lives according to it.
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This week we ask, how does God's kingdom come?
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God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit,
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so that by his grace we believe His Word and lead godly lives
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according to it here in time and there in eternity.
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And the next week we'll ask, how is God's will done?
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And we'll answer, God's will is done when he breaks and hinders every
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evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world and our sinful flesh,
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which do not want us to hallow God's name or let his kingdom come.
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It begins with the Word and our holy lives according to it.
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And then with a second petition, we acknowledge that the only way we
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believe His Word and lead godly lives according to it is that our
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heavenly Father would give us His Holy Spirit.
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And then in the third petition, we confess our adversaries.
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Who don't want those two first petitions of the Lord's Prayer to be
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done in the world or done for us also.
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So here we are in the middle of this logical progression with a focus
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on the kingdom of God. Our prayer, that the kingdom which comes even
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without our prayer, would come to us also.
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So what does this mean, the Kingdom of God?
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In the large catechism, luther says we pray here in the first place
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that this may happen with us.
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We pray that His name may be so praised through God's holy word and a
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Christian life that we who have accepted it may abide and daily grow
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in it, and that it may gain approval and acceptance among other
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people.
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We pray that it may go forth with power throughout the world.
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We pray that many may find entrance into the kingdom of grace, be made
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partakers of redemption, and be led to it by the Holy Spirit, so that
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we all together may remain forever in the one kingdom now begun.
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For the coming of God's kingdom to us happens in two ways here in
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time, through the Word and faith, and in eternity, forever through
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revelation.
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Now we pray for both of these things.
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We pray that the kingdom may come to those who are not in it and by
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daily growth that it may come to us who have received it both now and
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hereafter in eternal life.
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All this is nothing other than saying dear Father, give us your word
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so that the Gospel may be preached properly throughout the world.
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Second may the Gospel be received in faith and work and live in us, so
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that through the Word and the Holy spirit's power, your kingdom may
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triumph among us.
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And we pray that the devil's kingdom be put down so that he may have
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no right or power over us until at last his power may be utterly
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destroyed.
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So sin, death and hell shall be exterminated.
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Then we may live forever in perfect righteousness and blessedness.
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So be careful what you pray for.
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To pray this petition is to take sides in a war.
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To be in a kingdom is to have a king to live under his reign.
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And the entrance into this king's reign is according to his own
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announcement
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repentance, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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There is no neutral ground, no unaffiliated territory between the
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kingdom of God and the kingdom the domain of the devil.
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To pray this petition is to renounce allegiance to any other kingdom.
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To give up all self trust and the vain pursuit of pleasure or
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happiness.
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To pray this petition is repentance.
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Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.
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That is, the King is here at hand
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with hands for the moment he reigns from the cross hands outstretched
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in welcoming love and absolution. At the moment he reigns from the fount
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with a share in his death and resurrection. A full share in his divine
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inheritance with each of you. For the moment he reigns from his altar
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with nourishment for each day of life in his kingdom with a food more
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durable than death, a bread which endures to eternal life and a wine
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to quench forever the parch of death.
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For the moment, he reins in his church daily and richly forgiving your
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sins and the sins of all his subjects.
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Again, be careful what what you pray for.
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The kingdom of God comes even without your prayers.
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But you pray in this petition that it may come to you also.
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That the spirit would work repentance in you, turning you day by day,
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moment by moment, from the kingdom of satan, from the kingdom of the
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world, from the kingdom of your own sinful flesh.
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That he would give you faith in the crucified King and bring you under
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his reign now and forever.
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That he would order your life according to his word.
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That he would give you delight and pleasure in his word and his will.
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That he would align your will with his own and that this reign would
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extend not just over you, but over the whole world.
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This kingdom, says the King, is like a man who scatters seed and has
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no idea how it sprouts or yields fruit.
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It is like the tiniest seed that grows into a plant. No, a tree that
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takes over the whole garden, shades out the other plants and invites
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the birds to nest in its branches.
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It's a kingdom that seems chaotic and uncontrolled, imprecise at best,
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until unseen, until the day of the harvest.
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The kingdom is like a farmer who leaves for an extended vacation right
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after planting and stays away for the whole growing season.
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The kingdom is like a sower who sows without cultivating the ground or
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taking care not to waste any seed.
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The kingdom is like an investment banker who invests without
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researching and trusts that unseen future generations will cash in for
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a big payday.
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The kingdom is like an imprecise surgeon, cutting and stitching with
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reckless abandon.
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The kingdom is like preachers who proclaim week after week to people
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with blank stares, troubles at home and distracting kids who seem
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distracted, uninterested, unconverted.
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But the harvest is growing, unseen though it is.
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The tiniest seed is growing into a tree of life to make the sequoias
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look like twigs.
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The word always works.
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The Spirit never stops advancing
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the Kingdom of God.
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This is a big prayer, an audacious ask, a potent petition.
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What you pray is more than you can imagine, and what the Father gives
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is far, far more than you can see.
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The kingdom of God comes even without our prayers.
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But we pray in this petition that it may come among us also, that we
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may be counted
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in the harvest. And that our humble scattering of seed will bear fruit
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here in time and there in eternity.
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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Amen.