WEBVTT 00:00.890 --> 00:03.994 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 00:04.122 --> 00:04.990 Amen. 00:05.970 --> 00:10.926 Notice the crescendo, the way in which the first three petitions of 00:10.948 --> 00:14.174 the Lord's Prayer all build upon one another. 00:14.372 --> 00:19.006 In the first petition, as we heard last week, we ask how is God's name 00:19.108 --> 00:20.218 kept holy? 00:20.394 --> 00:24.734 And the catechism answers God's name is kept holy when the Word of God 00:24.772 --> 00:28.550 is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, 00:28.620 --> 00:34.706 also lead holy lives according to it. When His Word is taught in truth 00:34.738 --> 00:38.194 and purity, and we lead holy lives according to it. 00:38.332 --> 00:41.386 This week we ask, how does God's kingdom come? 00:41.568 --> 00:46.070 God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, 00:46.150 --> 00:52.206 so that by his grace we believe His Word and lead godly lives 00:52.308 --> 00:55.770 according to it here in time and there in eternity. 00:55.930 --> 00:59.360 And the next week we'll ask, how is God's will done? 00:59.730 --> 01:05.522 And we'll answer, God's will is done when he breaks and hinders every 01:05.576 --> 01:09.374 evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world and our sinful flesh, 01:09.422 --> 01:14.740 which do not want us to hallow God's name or let his kingdom come. 01:15.590 --> 01:21.218 It begins with the Word and our holy lives according to it. 01:21.384 --> 01:24.934 And then with a second petition, we acknowledge that the only way we 01:24.972 --> 01:29.146 believe His Word and lead godly lives according to it is that our 01:29.168 --> 01:32.054 heavenly Father would give us His Holy Spirit. 01:32.182 --> 01:36.630 And then in the third petition, we confess our adversaries. 01:36.710 --> 01:41.566 Who don't want those two first petitions of the Lord's Prayer to be 01:41.588 --> 01:45.600 done in the world or done for us also. 01:46.850 --> 01:53.602 So here we are in the middle of this logical progression with a focus 01:53.736 --> 02:00.162 on the kingdom of God. Our prayer, that the kingdom which comes even 02:00.216 --> 02:03.860 without our prayer, would come to us also. 02:04.950 --> 02:08.120 So what does this mean, the Kingdom of God? 02:08.889 --> 02:13.270 In the large catechism, luther says we pray here in the first place 02:13.340 --> 02:15.638 that this may happen with us. 02:15.804 --> 02:20.938 We pray that His name may be so praised through God's holy word and a 02:20.944 --> 02:25.322 Christian life that we who have accepted it may abide and daily grow 02:25.376 --> 02:29.274 in it, and that it may gain approval and acceptance among other 02:29.312 --> 02:29.850 people. 02:30.000 --> 02:33.806 We pray that it may go forth with power throughout the world. 02:33.988 --> 02:38.222 We pray that many may find entrance into the kingdom of grace, be made 02:38.276 --> 02:43.134 partakers of redemption, and be led to it by the Holy Spirit, so that 02:43.172 --> 02:48.750 we all together may remain forever in the one kingdom now begun. 02:49.090 --> 02:53.854 For the coming of God's kingdom to us happens in two ways here in 02:53.892 --> 02:59.654 time, through the Word and faith, and in eternity, forever through 02:59.692 --> 02:59.970 revelation. 03:01.130 --> 03:03.310 Now we pray for both of these things. 03:03.460 --> 03:07.934 We pray that the kingdom may come to those who are not in it and by 03:07.972 --> 03:13.950 daily growth that it may come to us who have received it both now and 03:14.020 --> 03:16.079 hereafter in eternal life. 03:16.530 --> 03:20.862 All this is nothing other than saying dear Father, give us your word 03:20.996 --> 03:24.720 so that the Gospel may be preached properly throughout the world. 03:25.130 --> 03:30.374 Second may the Gospel be received in faith and work and live in us, so 03:30.412 --> 03:34.502 that through the Word and the Holy spirit's power, your kingdom may 03:34.555 --> 03:36.326 triumph among us. 03:36.508 --> 03:41.914 And we pray that the devil's kingdom be put down so that he may have 03:41.952 --> 03:46.214 no right or power over us until at last his power may be utterly 03:46.262 --> 03:46.853 destroyed. 03:46.902 --> 03:51.050 So sin, death and hell shall be exterminated. 03:51.570 --> 03:56.750 Then we may live forever in perfect righteousness and blessedness. 03:59.010 --> 04:02.400 So be careful what you pray for. 04:03.510 --> 04:08.019 To pray this petition is to take sides in a war. 04:09.350 --> 04:14.769 To be in a kingdom is to have a king to live under his reign. 04:15.290 --> 04:19.829 And the entrance into this king's reign is according to his own 04:19.899 --> 04:20.950 announcement 04:21.690 --> 04:28.300 repentance, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 04:29.790 --> 04:35.754 There is no neutral ground, no unaffiliated territory between the 04:35.792 --> 04:39.690 kingdom of God and the kingdom the domain of the devil. 04:40.130 --> 04:44.750 To pray this petition is to renounce allegiance to any other kingdom. 04:45.409 --> 04:50.494 To give up all self trust and the vain pursuit of pleasure or 04:50.532 --> 04:51.194 happiness. 04:51.322 --> 04:56.050 To pray this petition is repentance. 04:57.110 --> 05:00.580 Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. 05:01.110 --> 05:05.720 That is, the King is here at hand 05:06.170 --> 05:13.186 with hands for the moment he reigns from the cross hands outstretched 05:13.217 --> 05:19.138 in welcoming love and absolution. At the moment he reigns from the fount 05:19.324 --> 05:24.741 with a share in his death and resurrection. A full share in his divine 05:24.806 --> 05:30.406 inheritance with each of you. For the moment he reigns from his altar 05:30.598 --> 05:35.390 with nourishment for each day of life in his kingdom with a food more 05:35.460 --> 05:40.714 durable than death, a bread which endures to eternal life and a wine 05:40.762 --> 05:43.310 to quench forever the parch of death. 05:43.730 --> 05:48.542 For the moment, he reins in his church daily and richly forgiving your 05:48.596 --> 05:51.710 sins and the sins of all his subjects. 05:52.850 --> 05:56.200 Again, be careful what what you pray for. 05:56.730 --> 05:59.409 The kingdom of God comes even without your prayers. 06:00.000 --> 06:04.000 But you pray in this petition that it may come to you also. 06:04.770 --> 06:10.478 That the spirit would work repentance in you, turning you day by day, 06:10.564 --> 06:15.246 moment by moment, from the kingdom of satan, from the kingdom of the 06:15.268 --> 06:18.858 world, from the kingdom of your own sinful flesh. 06:19.034 --> 06:23.870 That he would give you faith in the crucified King and bring you under 06:23.940 --> 06:28.550 his reign now and forever. 06:29.530 --> 06:33.334 That he would order your life according to his word. 06:33.532 --> 06:37.818 That he would give you delight and pleasure in his word and his will. 06:37.904 --> 06:43.306 That he would align your will with his own and that this reign would 06:43.328 --> 06:47.659 extend not just over you, but over the whole world. 06:48.670 --> 06:54.894 This kingdom, says the King, is like a man who scatters seed and has 06:54.932 --> 06:58.430 no idea how it sprouts or yields fruit. 06:58.770 --> 07:04.354 It is like the tiniest seed that grows into a plant. No, a tree that 07:04.392 --> 07:08.813 takes over the whole garden, shades out the other plants and invites 07:08.861 --> 07:11.490 the birds to nest in its branches. 07:12.470 --> 07:18.760 It's a kingdom that seems chaotic and uncontrolled, imprecise at best, 07:19.210 --> 07:23.190 until unseen, until the day of the harvest. 07:23.530 --> 07:28.874 The kingdom is like a farmer who leaves for an extended vacation right 07:28.912 --> 07:32.409 after planting and stays away for the whole growing season. 07:32.750 --> 07:38.361 The kingdom is like a sower who sows without cultivating the ground or 07:38.416 --> 07:40.970 taking care not to waste any seed. 07:41.330 --> 07:44.670 The kingdom is like an investment banker who invests without 07:44.740 --> 07:49.806 researching and trusts that unseen future generations will cash in for 07:49.828 --> 07:51.018 a big payday. 07:51.194 --> 07:54.994 The kingdom is like an imprecise surgeon, cutting and stitching with 07:55.032 --> 07:56.190 reckless abandon. 07:56.270 --> 08:00.146 The kingdom is like preachers who proclaim week after week to people 08:00.248 --> 08:05.618 with blank stares, troubles at home and distracting kids who seem 08:05.714 --> 08:09.030 distracted, uninterested, unconverted. 08:10.650 --> 08:16.120 But the harvest is growing, unseen though it is. 08:16.730 --> 08:22.134 The tiniest seed is growing into a tree of life to make the sequoias 08:22.182 --> 08:23.690 look like twigs. 08:24.430 --> 08:27.419 The word always works. 08:28.430 --> 08:30.922 The Spirit never stops advancing 08:30.986 --> 08:32.319 the Kingdom of God. 08:33.569 --> 08:38.669 This is a big prayer, an audacious ask, a potent petition. 08:39.330 --> 08:45.214 What you pray is more than you can imagine, and what the Father gives 08:45.412 --> 08:48.720 is far, far more than you can see. 08:49.410 --> 08:53.386 The kingdom of God comes even without our prayers. 08:53.578 --> 08:58.982 But we pray in this petition that it may come among us also, that we 08:59.116 --> 08:59.890 may be counted 09:00.250 --> 09:05.450 in the harvest. And that our humble scattering of seed will bear fruit 09:05.610 --> 09:08.330 here in time and there in eternity. 09:08.490 --> 09:11.914 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 09:12.042 --> 09:12.410 Amen.