Thy Kingdom Come

[Music playing] [Speaker 1] Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on. [Speaker 1] Churchism and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God waitly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Music playing] [Speaker 1] Awa re Oluwa, awa n’ore Oluwa. Awa n’ore Oluwa. Awa dupe oore atodunmodun. Awa dupe oore atosudosu. Awa dupe oore yigba gbogbo. Awa n’ore Oluwa. Oluwa, awa n’ore. Awa re Oluwa, awa n’ore Oluwa. Awa n’ore Oluwa. Oluwa, awa n’ore. Awa re Oluwa, awa n’ore Oluwa. Awa n’ore Oluwa. Oluwa, ki la wa se? Awa dupe oore atodunmodun. Awa dupe oore atosudosu. Oluwa, awa dupe oore yigba gbogbo. Awa n’ore Oluwa. [Speaker 2] Our Father, we are grateful unto you. Our God, we thank you. We lift you up, O Lord, we exalt your name, we lift you high. We say we magnify you. We say Lord our God, we lift you high and magnify you in our midst, O God. We say Lord our God be exalted. Lord be lifted high. We thank you for protection, we thank you for provision, we thank you for preservation. We thank you, O God our Lord, for peace, for rest, for quietness. We thank you for life. We thank you, O Lord our God, for your always being there. Lord, we say if it has not been you, what would the story have looked like? We say Lord our God, we bless your name. Accept our thanks in Jesus’ name. Lord God, unto you we gather again this Monday for our discipleship class, to learn at your feet, to fellowship with scriptures, to fellowship in scriptures, to fellowship with one another. We say Father, we are asking you, meet us at the points of our needs in the name of Jesus. Thank you, everlasting Father. Blessed be your holy name. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. We are considering another very important matter today. Please let's have our seat. We are considering another very important subject matter today. We trust that our brethren who are connecting with us online and we who are here, the Lord will meet with all of us in our various areas of need in the name of Jesus Christ. Last week, we considered a very important subject matter. Those of us who were here last week, you remember that we were looking at an issue that borders so much around our walk with God. Today again, we are still going to look at another issue again, another subject matter that borders around our walk with the Lord. It is so important. I want to lay a background for what we want to look at today. Our topic is "Thy Kingdom Come." Thy Kingdom Come. *Ki ijoba re ko de.* Thy Kingdom Come. Where was that statement made? It was made by Jesus in Matthew 6. Let's see that scripture. Matthew 6:9 and 10. Jesus was teaching on the subject matter of prayer, and he said, in this manner, therefore, pray. [Speaker 3] Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. [Speaker 2] The prayer continues. Our concern this evening is Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray, and the first and foremost request, the first thing before any other thing should be requested, the first thing is he said in this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. And what is the first thing? Thy kingdom come. *Ohun akoko niyen.* That is the first thing. *Ki ijoba re ko de.* Thy Kingdom Come. Immediately he said thy kingdom come, what is the next thing that goes with it? Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now, from this prayer point that Jesus raised there, it is obvious that the matter of doing God's will is not about heaven. God's will is already a done matter in heaven. He says thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So the matter of the will of God being done is not an heavenly matter. It is an earthly thing. If we want to know that the Kingdom of God is in a place, it is that the people there are doing the will of God. How will I know that the Kingdom of God has come? His will is being done. And you see, I say we are considering "Thy Kingdom Come." Why are we considering "Thy Kingdom Come"? It is because if the Kingdom of God does not come, the will of God cannot be done. Now, why are we talking about Kingdom coming? It is because let's look at things about Jesus Christ. Let's look at Matthew 4:17. What do we see there? [Speaker 3] From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [Speaker 2] So what was the concern of Jesus? Repent for a kingdom is coming. You find that the matter of the Kingdom, the Kingdom coming, was a crucial matter with Jesus. Look at his conversation that we checked out last week with Nicodemus. John 3. Nicodemus came and he was trying to appraise the work of Jesus Christ. In verse 2, he said, this man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. What was Jesus's answer? [Speaker 3] Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [Speaker 2] Are you seeing something? Is that the response to Nicodemus? Nicodemus was busy appraising his work. He should have been, yes, actually, we thank God for what God is doing. We bless His holy name. *Oluwa lo n sise lowolowo, ko n se eran ara lo n se. Ope ni fun Olorun.* That should have been the response. But you can see the preoccupation of Jesus. What did he say? Nicodemus, put all that you are saying aside. Let's talk about the matter of the Kingdom. Do you know that unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God? How does that relate to what Nicodemus was saying? What I'm trying to make you see is that the matter of the Kingdom was the matter that was in the heart of Jesus. The reason why this matter of the Kingdom is constantly being discussed is because the reason why Jesus came is so that the will of God will be done on earth. We will go to heaven at last, but heaven is not the focus. Heaven is a plan in the focus. The focus of Jesus is not to just come and take us to heaven. The focus of Jesus is that God's will can be done on earth. Let me show you again in another scripture. Let's look at 1 John 3:8. What does the Bible say? He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. Why brought Jesus? For this purpose. Any other translation? It says for this purpose. The reason he came. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. What is the primary thing that brought Jesus? He who sins is of the devil. For this reason, not reasons. For this purpose. Singular. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. What is the primary thing that brought Jesus? He who sins is of the devil. For this reason, the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. So in our life, what actually brought Jesus? The only thing that brought Jesus is so that we will not be sinning again, then the work of the devil has been destroyed. What primarily brought Jesus is so that man can do the will of God. That's all. That is the primary thing that brought Jesus. Once men are doing God's will, the Kingdom of God has come. There is nothing else. The purpose is Lord, thy Kingdom come. Your will be done. So anywhere we see that the will of God is being done in the life of a man, the work of Jesus has been accomplished. But you will be wondering why is it like that? Why is it like that? I want you to think back. I want you to look back at something. If you remember our discussion that we had some four or five months ago, I was asking us: man in the Garden of Eden only lost one thing. What was the one thing that man lost? The relationship with God? That was a consequence. It was the consequence of something. Something happened; man now lost that. What was lost? Dependence on God? That's also a consequence. Something happened; they could no more depend on God. What happened? What is the thing that was lost? What was lost? The life of God! Immediately they lost that life, what happened? They were no more dependent on God. Every other thing began to follow. Every other thing that followed: death, suffering, everything. Now, if you want to solve that problem, what do you need to do? If you want to solve the problem of man, what is the one thing you need to solve? It is to give life back to man. That is why Jesus did not come to do two things. He came to do just one thing. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes should not perish, but have everlasting life. When that life was in man, what was man doing? He was doing the will of God. Am I correct? When that life was in man, what was man doing? He was dependent on God. He was following God. There was a relationship with God. I'm trying to make you see that anywhere the Kingdom of God is present, what is present there is the will of God. The only way to know that the Kingdom of God is in a place: immediately they did not do the will of God, God said don't eat and they ate, what happened? The Kingdom of God left. Life, peace, all those things. The Kingdom left. You'll be wondering what is about this Kingdom? The Kingdom is a kingdom of life and light that is in Christ. Let us go back to that Matthew 4 from verse 11. Look at what the Bible says. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. That was after the temptation. Now what's the next thing? Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying: [Speaker 3] The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. [Speaker 2] Do you see that anywhere the Kingdom is, what comes with it? Light and life. Immediately they sinned, what left them? Light and life. What is the manifestation of life and light in a man? The will of God is being done. Why the whole essence of Christianity and the whole essence of the church and the whole essence of Christian leadership is that the leader is becoming more and more like Jesus and he is making those who are following him to become more and more like him? Anything outside this is not of God's Kingdom. Anything! The matter is about the Kingdom of God. What God wants in man is that the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven. Formerly heaven and earth was one. God would come down to Adam. Adam and Eve, they were doing the will of God. At a point, there was a break between heaven and earth. Man, what was in heaven was no more replicated, it was not done here again. Remember that at the beginning of creation, God was not expecting anything else to be here. Anything here to subdue the earth, to dominate it and fill it. That was what he told man. He says subdue it, rule over it. That thing that was to subdue and rule was the image of God. He made man in His image. So what will be filling the earth and subduing it, that will be everywhere, mashing everything, would have been the image of God. So as it's up in heaven, it will be down here. And I want to tell you, how do you know if you enter a place, how will you know that this place is likely to be my house? If you enter the sitting room, what are you likely to see? You will see the picture of me, my wife, my children. So you say ah, that brother that normally preach in Life Camp, this must be his house. What gave you that information? The image. Now, in the mind of God, as man subdue the earth, dominate it and fill it, it will be a confirmation that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. That was what God wanted to achieve. So when Jesus came, he said when you pray, the first thing in prayer is not what we will eat or what we will drink. The first thing is, Lord, thy Kingdom come, your will be done. And do you know, anywhere the Kingdom of God comes and his will is done, man cannot lack. It's an unfortunate thing that we have reversed it the other way. When the Kingdom of God, when heaven and earth was connected in Eden, was man lacking anything? No! Why? The will of God was done on earth. And so, as you are looking at this matter, that is why you will notice Jesus is always talking about the Kingdom, the Kingdom, the Kingdom. Nicodemus was talking, he said look, except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom. Again, he said look, except a man be born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. They come to another place, they say Jesus, he said look, the Kingdom of God is come upon you. He said in another place, when is the Kingdom coming? Jesus is always speaking about the Kingdom. He said now, the kingdom of heaven can be likened to a net, which a man throws into the sea. Jesus was constantly talking about a kingdom. What he was trying to talk about is that there is a need again for heaven and earth to be connected. And that is why I took you to that 1 John 3. If a man is sinning, he’s of the devil. For this purpose, no other one, Jesus came that he may destroy that work. Jesus came so that man would no more sin. And once man is not sinning, the will of God is done. Heaven and earth has been restored. What I'm trying to say is that primary what Jesus wants to do in your life is to restore God's Kingdom. That is what he came to do. How will you know that the Kingdom has been restored? The will of God is constantly done. So that in everything, in our character, in our words, in our actions, in everything, what is happening? We are doing God's will. *Ijoba Olorun o ti de.* But anywhere sin is, the Kingdom of God is not there. And that is why I am saying that the primary concern of Jesus is that thy Kingdom come in our lives. How will we know that it has come in my own situation? Is that His will is done. I am showing forth the praises of Him who has called me out of darkness. I am showing forth His praises everywhere I go. I'm stamping the image of God. And I want to tell you this truth as I close this evening. There is a school of thought and that seems to be the more common thing around us today where it looks like when people want to talk, it will be more of we can't be without sin. If God is to mark sin, who can be justified? All of us, we have sin, this and this and that. I'm not saying that we did not become sinners in Adam. But I want to tell you this truth: that if under the Old Testament, God was able to achieve His purpose, Enoch walked with God and he was not. The enemies searched the court of Daniel, they could not find anything. When Daniel was to die, God said look, beloved, you will go your own way and come to be with us. If God have achieved men who glorified Him under the law, you can be sure He will achieve it much more under grace. So I don't know which school you want to stay. I'm only telling you that if you look at under the law, God achieved His purpose. Even when grace had not been released, they were just having mercy drop of grace. That was what was happening. They could not have achieved without grace. But grace as a covenant was not established in the Old Testament. Is that not true? Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And if God could achieve his purpose there, I'm very sure he can do it now. He can do it, and that should be our expectation. And I'm telling you, that is my expectation. That God will find, when God is looking for that to boast with, my name should be mentioned. Let us have a word of prayer. Let us close for this evening. God want to use our life to show forth His glory. He wants to show forth His glory. What is His glory? That holiness, godliness, righteousness is showing forth in our lives. That is His glory. That was why He chose us. Talk to the Lord this evening. Lord, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Lord, in my own life, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Lord, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. *Ki ijoba re ko de, ife tire ni ki a se ni aye bi won ti n se ni orun.* We don't want it to be different from heaven. Like how they do it in heaven is that they do it perfectly. The will of God is done freely, freely, wholly, entirely, when it come to the matter of heaven. We are just supposed to join the saint in heaven to be doing the will. That is what God wants. Can you pray to the Lord this evening? Lord, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Thank you, eternal Father. As we pray this evening that in the name of Jesus, Lord, that with every one of us, Lord, you will teach us your ways that we may walk in your truth in the name of Jesus. Lord, I pray that you will give us an undivided heart so that we can walk in your fear in the name of Jesus. Lord, we pray: make us perfect in every good work to do your will in the name of Jesus, work in us that which is well pleasing in your sight in the name of Jesus. Lord, fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding in the name of Jesus. Thank you, eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name, our God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescents and Singles Club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counsel, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the First Bridge, Ilere Community, Opposite Very Joy Filling Station, along Ijede Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.