Reformed Church, Bellville: Sunday 13 April 2003, Evening Service

Our help is in the Name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.  Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.


Psalm of praise: 68:15
Prayer
Psalm: 46:3

Scripture reading: Matthew 6:5-13 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Text:Heidelberg Catechism: Sunday 48

There are four areas in which the Kingdom of God is especially important to us:

1.The Kingdom and us.
2.The Kingdom and the church.
3.The Kingdom and the world.
4.The Kingdom and its final destiny.

In this sermon we examine the Kingdom and the Church.

Have you noted that in our articles of faith (the Heidelberg Catechism) it is simply accepted that we are subjects of the Kingdom of God - but such bad subjects!

• Subjects who are obliged to improve!
• This is where this part of the prayer which the Lord taught us fits in - "thy kingdom come".
• With this prayer we pray that the Lord shall rule us in such a manner that we shall subject us to Him more and more because any right-thinking person knows that this is the only way in which we can move away from sin.

Prayer, that is praying, demands responsibility.

• God rules in your heart and the heart is where the principles of your life are - so the Bible teaches us.
• Therefore your life must show clearly that you are a child of God.
• This is not something you can be in secret.
• Your prayer must be supported by your daily life - you can not pray and supplicate one way and live another way.
• Every inch of our life is claimed by the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God also comes through those who confess God.

• The Kingdom of God comes through His almighty working and the implementation of His plan.
• But He also lets it come through our obedience as the people of His church.
• Through our witness and because we live it the Kingdom of God is already present on this earth.

Our confession and our faith determine the power that we will show in the coming of the Kingdom of the Lord.

When we look around us today there is one thing that is clear - very little of the Kingdom of God is visible in this world.

• There is little respect for the authority of the Lord.
• There is increasingly little respect for and acceptance of the authority of the Bible.
• There is an increasing number of people who leave the faith in God and follow heathen religion or simply become atheists.
• The pews in churches grow empty and in the area in which our church is eight congregations were last year compelled to form one only because of loss of membership.
• That is why it is so important that we continue to pray that the Kingdom of God may come.

How many people today still acknowledge God as the true King of the universe?

• Many theologians deny that Jesus is God and that God the Holy Spirit is God.
• How many members of our Reformed Church confess a faith that goes no more than skin deep?
• Many have a superficial confession, for example, the statement:
• "I do not really attend church, but my attitude is correct. That is what really counts."
• Such words testify to a total absence of any living relationship between God and such a person.

We cannot even keep God's commandments! If I then in my weakness pray that the Kingdom of God shall come, then I confess as it is written in Philippians 2:12-14:

• "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (12)
• "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose" (13)
• "do everything without complaining or arguing" (14)

This prayer which the Lord Jesus teaches us, namely that we must pray "let they kingdom come" is not a selfish prayer.

• It teaches us that it is not about myself only.
• Everybody who prays this prayer finds that his heart expands until it encompasses all of the church of our Lord.
• He who understands what he is praying for sees all God's chosen when he prays these words - and then he puts them all before the Lord.

It cannot be otherwise, because the one who prays, prays "Our Father"!

• God has more children than only me.
• The church is the assembly of all these believers.

The church is more than this.

• The church is the fighting army of the Lord.
• It is the church that must:
• put on the complete armour of God
• and which must on all fronts carry the fight to Satan

That is why we pray that the Lord should protect the church because the church lives among many dangers.

• This is especially the case in our modern day because the whole structure of the world's history shows us that the true struggle is between the light and darkness.
• The forces of hell are marching against the church - against every person who believes in the Triune God.
• These days these forces carry many flags:
• in some cases the flag of the false gospel
• in other cases the flag of politics.

In the midst of all these things we pray that the Lord may protect His church.

We do not only pray for protection - we also pray for growth in breadth as well as depth.

When we pray "let thy Kingdom come":
-we pray that the Lord will let His church in its full armour move out into the world;
-and proclaim the Name of the Lord to all who do not yet know the Lord.
We pray that the church may break through all obstacles and as victor eventually arrive at the New Earth.

This is not an empty prayer.

• It is possible for this to happen because Jesus saves and protects and keeps the church from the beginning of the world unto the last day.
• It is the will of the Lord Jesus that we pray this prayer, because after Peter's confession in Matthew 16:16 the Lord Jesus Christ said that He would build His church on this rock.

We often fail because many of us do not pray for the church.

• Others do pray for the church but not often enough.
• May we know that what we pray for is that our Father who is in heaven will let His kingdom come, so that we who have been sanctified in the blood of the Lord Jesus may move onwards as a victorious army until He stops time and lets us stand before His throne.

Let us read Sunday 48 together.

Amen

Closing prayer

Closing Psalm: 145:1+8

The Lord will bless you and keep you. The Lord will make His face shine on you and be merciful to you. The Lord will lift his countenance to you and give you peace.

Amen

Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
13 April 2003
Quotations from NIV