{"id":19224,"date":"2018-05-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-044\/"},"modified":"2018-05-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T05:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-044","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-044\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 044"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[85],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19224","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-matthew","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 044","sermon_date":"20180502","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5738,"sermon_slides":5739,"sermon_mp3":5740,"sermon_id":"52181944398","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":85,"chapter_and_verse":"6:9-13","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n5-2-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew 6:9-13\u00a0 \u00a0Lesson 44\n\nLet\u2019s open our Bibles to Matthew 6:9-13. As you know we\u2019ve been continuing to move through, Biblically, the doctrine of the Kingdom. We\u2019re taking a look at what does the Bible say about the kingdom from Genesis to Revelation.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve seen that we are not in the kingdom right now.\u00a0\u00a0 The kingdom has been, not cancelled but postponed; we carefully documented that.\u00a0 And then we\u2019ve looked at number 2, this idea that so many people have that we\u2019re in the spiritual form of the kingdom now, so you hear people saying Jesus is reigning in our hearts and these sorts of things.\u00a0 And I gave you the two major problems with that: number 1, they\u2019re changing the Old Testament definition of the kingdom.\u00a0 And number 2, the kingdom will only come after a time of great tribulation, which has never happened yet so we can\u2019t be in the kingdom now.\n\nNow we\u2019re moving into part three of our study, I think we\u2019re in chapter 16 so of the book that I wrote and we\u2019re trying to ask and answer the question, why do some people believe we\u2019re in the kingdom now.\u00a0 What verses do we use?\u00a0 So we\u2019re starting off with a collection of passages from the ministry of Jesus.\u00a0 And that\u2019s very big because in Kingdom Now theology or what\u2019s called amillennialism (can you all say that?) Ah-mill-en-eal-ism.\u00a0 Very good.\u00a0\u00a0 You just have to kind of get it out of your system a little bit to figure out what we\u2019re talking about.\u00a0\u00a0 But in amillennialism everybody runs to the ministry of Jesus as He apparently (they think) started some kind of spiritual kingdom, not at His first advent.\u00a0 And we don\u2019t believe that; we believe He offered the kingdom and it was rejected and postponed but He\u2019ll establish the kingdom at his what?\u00a0 Not first advent but second advent.\n\nBut they must have passages that they use and we\u2019re trying to look at those and give you really the correct interpretation of them.\u00a0 One of the ones they uses is the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u00a0 And that was what Jesus and John the Baptist and the Twelve preached and I gave you several reasons why when those verses, like Matthew 3:2 say that the kingdom of heaven is at hand it\u2019s not saying that the kingdom is here but the kingdom is near because Jesus was there and had Israel enthroned Christ the kingdom would have come.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not here but it\u2019s in the state of any moment expectation.\u00a0 [Matthew 3:2, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d ]\n\nAnd then the last time we were together we looked at another couple of verses that people use to argue that Jesus set up a spiritual form of the kingdom in His first coming.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a couple of verses in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says \u201ctheirs is the kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 5:3, \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is<\/u> the kingdom of heaven.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew 5:20, \u201c\"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is<\/u> the kingdom of heaven.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 6:20, \u201cAnd turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, \"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is<\/u> the kingdom of God.\u201d]\u00a0 And \u201cis\u201d there is in the present tense.\u00a0 So people use that expression, \u201ctheirs is the kingdom\u201d to argue that the kingdom started with the first coming of Christ.\n\nAnd I gave you some reasons why that present tense verb \u201cis\u201d shouldn\u2019t be controlling.\u00a0 It\u2019s an example of what you call a futuristic present in the Greek, where something is so certain that you talk about it in the present tense.\u00a0 And I believe I gave you the example of 1 John 2:17 where John says, \u201cThe world is passing away\u2026\u201d passing away is a present tense verb and the problem is the world hasn\u2019t passed away for 2,000 years since John said that, right?\u00a0 I mean, the world is still here, right.\u00a0 I can kind of touch the ground and see that the world is here, it hasn\u2019t dissolved.\u00a0 So why would John say the world is passing away in the present tense?\u00a0 He says it that way for the simple reason that he\u2019s communicating certainty; it\u2019s so certain that he can talk about it as if it\u2019s happening now.\u00a0 And that\u2019s sort of common in the Greek language.\u00a0 So \u201ctheirs is the kingdom\u201d is really not saying the kingdom started.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is the kingdom is certain; it\u2019s one day arrival is certain.\n\nAnd also the last time we were together we started the so-called Lord\u2019s Prayer and this prayer, properly understood, communicates very clearly that we could not possibly be in the kingdom now if you understand what Jesus is requiring for us to pray.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why we\u2019re looking at, this evening and we should be able to finish this this evening, the dispensational and kingdom implication of the Lord\u2019s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.\n\nSo let\u2019s go ahead an open up by reading that prayer.\u00a0 Matthew 5:9-13 says, \u201cPray in this way: \u2018Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.\u00a0 [10] Your kingdom come.\u00a0 Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.\u00a0 [11]\u00a0 Give us this day our daily bread.\u00a0 [12] \u2018And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.\u00a0 [13] \u2018And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.\u201d\u00a0 Anybody every prayed that prayer?\u00a0 I was praying that prayer before I even got saved, as an unsaved Episcopalian.\u00a0 And one of the things to really understand right at the beginning is although we call this \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Prayer\u201d this is not the Lord\u2019s prayer.\u00a0 This is not a prayer that Jesus ever prayed, nor was it a prayer that Jesus could ever pray.\n\nWhy do I say that?\u00a0 Because of that clause there in verse 12, \u201cforgive us our debts,\u201d another way of saying it is forgive us our sins.\u00a0 I mean, could Jesus have ever prayed, Father, forgive My sins?\u00a0 Obviously not, Jesus was the only sinless human being that\u2019s ever walked the face of this earth.\n\nHarry Ironside, one of the greats from the past, says: \u201cJesus Himself could not pray for it for it includes a request for the forgiveness of sins and He was forever the sinless one.\u201d\u00a0 So this has really been misnamed throughout the eons of time as \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Prayer.\u201d\u00a0 This is not \u201cThe Lord\u2019s Prayer,\u201d this is better named The Disciple\u2019s Prayer, He\u2019s teaching His disciples how to pray.\u00a0 And if you want to study The Lord\u2019s Prayer you would not study Matthew 6,\u00a0 you\u2019d study which section of the Bible?\u00a0 John 17, that\u2019s the prayer that Jesus prayed that we really ought to call the Lord\u2019s prayer.\u00a0 It goes on for a whole chapter where He prays for Himself, He prays for His disciples and He prays for the church.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of the last magnificent prayers He ever prayed prior to His crucifixion and then His ascension.\n\nThe second thing to understand about the so-called Lord\u2019s Prayer, which I\u2019m going to call The Disciple\u2019s Prayer, is most people pray it and they have absolutely no idea what they\u2019re praying.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost like a ritual that we go through and I know this to be true because I prayed this for years and years and years\u00a0 not having the foggiest idea what I was praying.\u00a0 And you remember what the Sermon on the Mount says, that our prayers aren\u2019t to be empty ritual; we\u2019re not to go on babbling Jesus says like the pagans but worship is intelligent, we need to intellectually grasp what it is we\u2019re doing.\u00a0 The heart cannot rejoice in what the mind can\u2019t comprehend.\u00a0 Christianity never bypasses the intellect; the intellect is a gift from God and you can\u2019t worship God the way we\u2019re expected to if we don\u2019t understand what we\u2019re doing.\n\nSo the false model that people use for this prayer is the so-called ACTS model which is not the Book of Acts, it\u2019s the pneumonic device, A-C-T-s.\u00a0 The A stands for Adore, so we come before the Lord and we start to adore Him, and that\u2019s what people think is being communicated in verses 9 and 10, \u201cOur Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be\u00a0 Your name, Your kingdom come,\u00a0 Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 So you kind of get into the presence of the Lord and you adore Him. \u00a0The \u201cC\u201d in the ACTS model is Confess your sins, and people use verse 12 for that, \u201cForgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.\u201d\u00a0 So you adore God and then\u00a0 you confess your sins.\u00a0 The \u201cT\u201d in the ACTS model stands for thanks giving.\u00a0 So you\u2019re coming to the Lord and you\u2019re giving Him thanks. And not that these things are bad to do in and of themselves, it\u2019s just not what Jesus is communicating here when He\u2019s instructing His disciples how to pray.\u00a0 So people think thanks giving is in verses thanks giving is in verses 9 and 10, you\u2019re hallowing the name of the Lord and those sorts of things.\u00a0 And the \u201cS\u201d in the ACTS model stands for supplication where you\u2019re asking God to meet your needs.\u00a0 And so people locate the supplication or supply of needs in verse 11, \u201cGive us this day, our daily bread.\u201d\n\nSo for years and\u00a0 years and years that\u2019s the way I prayed it because that\u2019s basically the way I was taught, A<\/u>dore, C<\/u>onfess, T<\/u>hanksgiving, S<\/u>upplication.\u00a0 And it really wasn\u2019t I got to Dallas Seminary and I got under a very good teacher who is now with the Lord, named Dr. Toussaint, where he completely reoriented my thinking on what this prayer is actually saying.\u00a0 And so I\u2019m going to share with you this evening some of the insights he gave me because it\u2019s going to revolutionize the way you pray.\n\nToussaint\u2019s basic point in his commentary on Matthew, called Behold the King<\/em>, is the whole Gospel of Matthew, including the so-called Lord\u2019s prayer, or the disciple\u2019s prayer, is about the kingdom.\u00a0 Everything in Matthew\u2019s Gospel relates to three purposes, and you can\u2019t really understand Matthew\u2019s Gospel nor can you understand the disciple\u2019s prayer in Matthew\u2019s Gospel until you think like a Jewish Christian.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to get your mind out of 21st<\/sup> century America and\u00a0 you\u2019ve got to start to think the way a Hebrews Christian would have thought because remember, the entire early church was Jewish. Right?\u00a0\u00a0 You have no Gentile converts in early Christianity until a man named who was converted?\u00a0 Cornelius, Acts 10 and 11.\u00a0 And it\u2019s really not until Paul goes on his first missionary journey into Southern Galatia, outside of the borders of Israel, Acts 13 and 14, that the demographics of the church start to change away from Jewish only, or primarily, to Gentile.\n\nSo the seminaries today will try to teach you, and they\u2019ll try to teach you this on the History Channel and on Mysteries of the Bible, they\u2019ll try to tell you that Mark was the first Gospel written.\u00a0 I would say that\u2019s not true; Mark was not the first gospel written, Matthew was the first gospel written.\u00a0 Matthew was written first; how do we know that?\u00a0 Because this is what the church unanimously agreed on for two thousand years.\u00a0 Every single church father believed that Matthew wrote first.\u00a0 It\u2019s not until you get into higher criticism that started in Europe that people started to think Mark was the first written gospel.\n\nNow why did they start to say Mark was the first gospel written?\u00a0 Because Mark is shorter, right?\u00a0 And according to the theory of evolution, and here\u2019s part of the problem, they bought into the theory of evolution, they bought into the theory of evolution, right, things go from simple to what? complicated.\u00a0 And people look at the Gospels and say well that\u2019s obviously what happened, things started off\u00a0 simple, sixteen simple chapters in Mark\u2019s Gospel and that evolved into a more complicated gospel, Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\n\nSo what you have to understand is nobody believed Mark wrote first and it wasn\u2019t until German higher criticism in Europe that they started to second guess 2,000 years of church history.\u00a0 And beyond that we know that Matthew wrote first because Matthew is a very Jewish gospel.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give you some evidence for that a little bit later.\u00a0 So obviously it was written during a time period when the church was still Jewish; the church was Jewish early on so it stands to reason that the Book of Matthew would be written first to address a Jewish question.\n\nSo what is the Jewish question that these early Christians are wrestling with?\u00a0 If Jesus is the King (this is their question) then where is His kingdom?\u00a0\u00a0 Because according to the Old Testament the King comes and what follows immediately?\u00a0 The kingdom, Isaiah 9:6-7 says that and many other passages.\u00a0 [Isaiah 9:6-7, \u201cFor a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.\u00a0 [7] There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.\u201d]\n\nSo they believed in Jesus, that they called Yeshua, and they\u2019re sitting there looking around and saying the kingdom isn\u2019t here so maybe this Jesus that we have believed in is the wrong Jesus; maybe He\u2019s the wrong Messiah.\u00a0 So therefore God uses Matthew to explain to this Hebrew Christian audience that He\u2019s the right guy, you believed in the right guy, it\u2019s just His kingdom hasn\u2019t been cancelled but it\u2019s been what?\u00a0 Postponed!\u00a0 And everything in Matthew\u2019s Gospel is going to relate to that issue.\n\nSo Matthew wrote to explain that the Jesus in whom they had believed was the long awaited Messiah.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the book opens up with what?\u00a0 Matthew 1 opens up with the genealogy connecting Jesus, genealogically back to David and then back to Abraham.\u00a0 Now the genealogy in Luke 3 doesn\u2019t do that; it connects Jesus genealogically back to Adam.\u00a0 So why would Matthew\u2019s Gospel connect Him back to Abraham and David and Luke\u2019s Gospel connects Jesus back to Adam?\u00a0 Because Luke is answering a Gentile question written later; Matthew is answering a Jewish question written earlier.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 So he\u2019s explaining to them that yeah, He\u2019s the right guy, you believed\u00a0 in the right guy, that\u2019s why it has all those prophecies that He fulfilled.\u00a0 He fulfilled the virgin birth prophecy, His miracles are documented and so forth.\n\nAnd then the gospel is also written as to why the kingdom had been postponed despite the fact that the King had arrived.\u00a0 Why had the kingdom been postponed?\u00a0 Because God\u2019s covenanted nation, the nation of Israel, did what with the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 They turned it down. And then Matthew\u2019s Gospel goes on and it explains the interim program of God, which includes us as the church during the kingdom\u2019s absence.\u00a0 So every word, every paragraph, every verse, every jot and tittle in Matthew\u2019s Gospel is related to that threefold purpose, including the prayer that we just read.\u00a0 The pray has to relate to the kingdom because that\u2019s what Matthew\u2019s Gospel is all about.\n\nSo Dr. Toussaint summarizes the so-called Lord\u2019s Prayer this way:\u00a0 \u201c\u201cThe sample prayer, it can be concluded, is given in the context of the coming kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 There are in the prayer six requests.\u00a0 \u201cThe first three requests<\/u> are petitions for the coming of the kingdom. The last three<\/u>\u201d \u00a0that would be petitions four, five and six, \u201care for the needs of the disciples in the interim preceding the establishment of the kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 [Behold the King: A Study of Matthew (Grand Rapids, Kregel, 2005), 112.]\n\nSo requests one, two and three are different ways of praying for the kingdom to come.\u00a0 The last three petitions, petitions four, five and six are needs that I have right now that I won\u2019t have once the kingdom comes.\u00a0 Once the kingdom comes I won\u2019t have those needs anymore because the presence of the kingdom will fix those problems.\u00a0 But until the kingdom comes I have three needs and so we\u2019re not only told to pray for the kingdom to come, petitions one, two and three, but we\u2019re told to pray for our needs that we have as God\u2019s people, that we will always have while the kingdom is not present.\u00a0 Does that make sense?\n\nSo what you see here is this is not the Acts model, this is requests concerning the kingdom of God, which shouldn\u2019t surprise us because that\u2019s what all of Matthew\u2019s Gospel is about.\u00a0 So verses 9 and 10 are requests one, two and three, synonyms, different words, same meaning, different roundabout ways of saying and requesting for the kingdom to come.\u00a0 And then verses 11, 12 and 13 are three needs we have that we\u2019re to pray for while the kingdom is not here.\u00a0 The first need is physical, the last two are spiritual.\n\nSo here we go; requests for the kingdom to come, verses 9 and 10.\u00a0 The first request, and I think we went through this last time, didn\u2019t we?\u00a0 The first thing we\u2019re to pray for as God\u2019s people, as disciples, is \u201cHallowed be Your name,\u201d \u201cname\u201d is the person of God, \u201challowed\u201d is reverence. So we are to pray for the time in history to come when the name of God will once again be revered and respected.\n\nNow does God care about His name? Apparently He does; one of the Ten Commandments is \u201cThou shalt not take the name of the Lord Thy God in vain.\u201d Right?\u00a0 So the name of God is very important!\u00a0 And would you guys say that the name of God is being respected today?\u00a0 Just turn on the TV or even watch\u2026 even the Super Bowl commercials. I mean, the name of God is dragged through the mud everywhere you go.\u00a0 And Paul, over in the Book of Romans, chapter 2, verse 24 says, \u201cFor the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,\u201d speaking of the rebellious Jews, because of what you\u2019ve done \u201cthe name of God is blasphemed\u201d everywhere in this world.\n\nAnd so what are we to pray for? We are to pray for the arrival of the time in history when the name of God will be respected all over the earth.\u00a0 Now prophetically when will that happen?\u00a0 With the manifestation of the kingdom, because the prophet Isaiah, chapter 29, verse 23, when he makes a prediction about the kingdom says, \u201cThey will sanctify My name<\/u>;\u201d when the kingdom comes the name of God is respected again.\n\nAnd the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 36 and verse 23 makes a similar prediction; when the kingdom comes God says, \u201cI will\u00a0vindicate the holiness of My great name<\/u> which has been profaned among the nations, [which you have profaned in their midst. Then the\u00a0nations will know that I am the\u00a0Lord,\u201d declares the Lord\u00a0God, \u201cwhen I prove Myself holy among you in their sight.]\u201d\n\nSo as citizens of the coming kingdom we should be people that honor the name of God, right?\u00a0 I mean, we shouldn\u2019t be involved in profanity and the different cuss words that so easily roll off our tongues, because the time in history is going to come where the name of God is going to be exalted, the name of God is going to be praised all over the earth.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not going to happen until the kingdom comes.\u00a0 So petition number one, pray for the time in history to arrive when the name of God will be respected.\u00a0 Jesus is speaking to Jews in the Sermon on the Mount, they would be thinking of Ezekiel 36:23.\u00a0 They would be thinking of Isaiah 29:23.\n\nNow as Gentile Christians who don\u2019t know the Old Testament that well we don\u2019t think like a Jewish person and so we miss the meaning of what He\u2019s saying; we fall for different models trying to explain this, like the Acts model.\u00a0 But if you were speaking to a Jewish person\u2026 I remember, I went to high school with a very devout Jewish person and we were having to read a story in a high school class, each student took a turn reading a different section of this story from the book.\u00a0 I can\u2019t even remember what book it was, but it was something out of classical literature. But we had to read a paragraph where the character in the story was using God\u2019s name in terms of profanity.\u00a0 And I remember when he got to that part he just said to the teacher I\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t read that, because in Judaism you can\u2019t do that,\u00a0 you can\u2019t just go around using the name of the Lord in vain.\n\nIn fact, Melanie Stafford, a Hebrew Christian,\u00a0 used to be our secretary here, and when she would use the name God in e-mails and things she would leave out a vowel in the middle because she felt that if she just used the name God in just common speech, to her that would be misusing the name of the Lord.\u00a0 So what I\u2019m saying is a Jewish person would understand what he\u2019s saying here.\u00a0 So pray for the time in history where the name of God will be respected and exulted again all over the world and the only time that\u2019s going to happen is the kingdom, the coming of the kingdom.\n\nThe second clause is we are to pray \u201cThy kingdom come,\u201d that\u2019s in verse 10.\u00a0 Not only are we to pray \u201cHallowed be Your name\u201d but we are to pray \u201cThy kingdom come.\u201d\u00a0 Now the word \u201ckingdom\u201d here is the Greek word basileia<\/em>.\u00a0 Does Jesus define what he means by the kingdom here?\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t define it at all?\u00a0 So how do you think we ought to define it?\u00a0 By the Old Testament.\u00a0 It\u2019s a term that makes sense if\u00a0 you pour into it everything that\u2019s preceded in biblical revelation.\n\nAnd we spent a lot of time going through the Bible defining the kingdom, haven\u2019t we?\u00a0 The kingdom is a time period when Jerusalem will be the center of worldwide authority, politically and spiritually.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be a time of perfect justice, world peace, peace in the animal kingdom, universal spiritual knowledge.\u00a0 It\u2019s that stone cut without human hands that destroys that ten king confederacy.\u00a0 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom, Daniel 2:44.\u00a0 [Daniel 2:44, \u201cIn the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.\u201d]\n\nAnd because we define the kingdom the way the Old Testament defines it and we\u2019re not experiencing kingdom conditions now, the kingdom must be future.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the doctrinal statements of our schools reflect that idea.\u00a0 The College of Biblical Studies that I was a professor at for seven years has a doctrinal statement and it says, concerning the end times, \u201cThe imminent return of the Lord, which is the blessed hope of the church, is to be followed in order by the tribulation, the establishment of the reign of Christ on earth for one thousand years, the eternal state of punishment for the unsaved and the eternal state of blessing for the saved.\u201d\n\nSee the order there?\u00a0 First Christ comes back for His church. That\u2019s the rapture.\u00a0 Then you have the seven year tribulation period and then only after that period has come and gone, then\u00a0 you have the second advent of Christ where\u00a0 you have the kingdom.\u00a0 How do you get that?\u00a0 You get that from coming to the word kingdom with the definition that the Old Testament has already set up for us.\n\nSugar Land Bible Church has a clause in one of our position statements concerning the dispensations and these are the different ages of time yet future, present and yet future.\u00a0 And this comes word for word right out of Dallas Seminary\u2019s doctrinal statement.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAt least three of these dispensations<\/u><\/em> are mentioned in the Bible and are the subject of extended revelation, viz.: the Dispensation of the Mosaic Law,<\/u><\/em>\u201d that\u2019s the Old Testament, \u201cthe present Dispensation of Grace<\/u><\/em>\u201d that\u2019s the church age that we\u2019re living in now, and notice this, \u201cand the future<\/u><\/em>\u201d see that,\u201d the future Dispensation of the Millennial Kingdom<\/u><\/em>. In interpreting the Bible, we believe that these are distinct and should not be intermingled or confused.<\/u><\/em>\u201d\n\nThe moment someone comes into this church and starts to authoritatively teach that Jesus is reigning on David\u2019s throne now and we are in a spiritual form of the kingdom now is the moment they\u2019re violating our doctrinal statement because we\u2019re very clear about it that the kingdom is yet future. We\u2019re in the present age of the church, not the kingdom.\u00a0 And to drag kingdom concepts yet future into the present age is to intermingle and confuse those three dispensations.\n\nWe don\u2019t even teach seven dispensations here, I mean I do personally because I believe in them, but we basically believe in three, the present age of the church, the Old Testament Law, and the coming age of the kingdom.\u00a0 And with the advent of progressive dispensationalism Jesus is reigning on David\u2019s throne now, which is now being taught very aggressively at Dallas Seminary, they believe\u00a0\u00a0 in an already not yet form of the kingdom, we\u2019re in it spiritually but we\u2019ll be in it to a greater extent later in the millennium.\u00a0 They\u2019ve violating their own doctrinal statement.\u00a0 Now they get real mad when you point this out.\u00a0 And when I was going to school there I used to try to bring these things up and I was sort of dismissed as a fanatics that actually wanted to follow the doctrinal statement the school was based on.\u00a0 That was held out to me as this is what will be taught here when they asked for my tuition money, so yeah, the doctrinal statement is kind of important.\u00a0 If you can violate one section of the doctrinal statement how hard is it to violate another one?\u00a0 And another one?\u00a0 And another one?\u00a0 And people say oh, it\u2019s just a minor issue.\u00a0 Well, if I can damage it here and ignore it here I can ignore it basically anywhere.\u00a0 That\u2019s why doctrinal statements, at least to my way of thinking, our way of thinking, matter.\u00a0 But they were confusing and intermingling the dispensations, that\u2019s what they were doing, by making today phase A of the millennial kingdom, or spiritual form of the kingdom.\n\nSo whether it\u2019s Dallas Seminary, whether it\u2019s Sugar Land Bible Church, whether it\u2019s the College of Biblical Studies, all of those schools when they started acknowledge that the kingdom was yet future because they poured into the Word what the Old Testament said, not their own personal meaning.\u00a0 Toussaint criticizes those who with platonic concepts,\u00a0 you know what platonic is, non-physical spiritual ideas, \u201cwho with platonic concepts subjectively spiritualize the future aspect of the kingdom of God in Christ\u2019s teachings.\u201d\n\nEd Glasscock, in his commentary on Matthew, says, \u201c\u201cIt should be remembered that Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray, and the petitioning for God to bring about His kingdom certainly indicates that the world in which we live is not yet under His rule. Jesus introduced the kingdom at His appearing (cf. Matthew 4:17) but was rejected by His own people who chose to have Caesar as their king (John 19:15). He was not declaring that the kingdom would come in the hearts of His servants but that it would exercise dominion over the whole earth (g\u0113<\/em>). Thus, even though He was the Messiah and brought the promise of the kingdom to the nation, the kingdom is still expressed in eschatological terms,\u201d that means future terms, \u201c\u2018let it come,\u2019 because it is not yet realized in human history since the Messiah was rejected and killed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Matthew<\/em>, Moody Gospel Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1997), 147]\n\nI mean, how could the kingdom be here when Christ\u2019s own nation turned Him down and ushered in to fast tracked through the system to get Him executed.\u00a0 So clause number one, pray for the time in history for the kingdom to come when God\u2019s name will be respected.\u00a0 Clause number two, pray for the manifestation of the kingdom to come one day.\n\nWhat\u2019s the third clause or petition: \u201con earth as it is in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 \u201cPray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.\u201d\u2019 And I think we understand that one.\u00a0 \u201cYour kingdom come,\u201d I think we understand that one but what does this one mean?\u00a0 \u201cYour will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 Now let me ask you a question.\u00a0 Is God\u2019s will ever challenged in heaven?\u00a0\u00a0 It is never challenged.\u00a0 Can God get outvoted by a board in heaven?\u00a0 Sorry God,\u00a0 You didn\u2019t have the majority on your side, you lose this one?\u00a0 Can the American people ever vote against God in heaven?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 We can vote all kinds of people in and out, we do that all the time;\u00a0 you can\u2019t vote God out in heaven. What He says goes; it\u2019s unchallenged authority, it\u2019s unchallenged rule.\n\nSo what are we to pray for?\u00a0 We are to pray for the time in history to come when God\u2019s unchallenged rule that already exists in heaven will come to the earth\u2026\u201dYour will be done\u201d where? on earth as it\u2019s already being done in heaven.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 That\u2019s just another way of praying for the kingdom to come.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus showed up and He said to Israel, \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven,\u201d the rule that already exists in heaven has now come near.\u00a0 \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 The rule of God in heaven has drawn near in the person of Jesus Christ; the unchallenged rule of God in heaven can come to the earth in a nanosecond if Israel will enthrone her king.\u00a0 See that? \u00a0So we are to pray for the time to come when God\u2019s unchallenged rule in heaven will come to the earth.\n\nDr. Toussaint says, \u201cIn other words, Matthew 6:10b \u2018is an appeal for God\u2019s sovereignty to be absolutely manifested on earth.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 [Behold the King: A Study of Matthew (Grand Rapids, Kregel, 2005), 110]\u00a0 Is that part or your prayer life?\u00a0 Do you pray for that?\u00a0 That\u2019s what we ought to be praying for.\u00a0 When is that going to happen?\u00a0 The Book of Revelation, that\u2019s when it\u2019s going to happen because in The Book of Revelation, about halfway through the book there\u2019s a little clause there in Revelation 11:15 that says, \u201c\u2018\u2026The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 What is happening in the Book of Revelation is the kingdom of God is coming to the earth as Satan is being evicted.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nThe Book of Revelation is an answer to the prayer request in Matthew 6:10, \u201cYour will be done on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d\u00a0 The sovereignty of God which already exists in heaven we\u2019re to pray will come to the earth.\u00a0 The Book of Revelation is an answer to that prayer request.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nSo what do you have here in these first three partitions?\u00a0 They are just different ways of praying for the kingdom to come.\u00a0 \u201cHallowed be Your name,\u201d pray for the time in history when God\u2019s name will be manifested and respected on the earth.\u00a0 Number 2, pray for the kingdom to come the way it\u2019s defined in the Old Testament.\u00a0 And then number 3, pray for the sovereignty of God which, already exists in heaven, to come to the earth.\u00a0 These are just different expressions for praying for the manifestation of the kingdom.\n\nWhat about the rest of the prayer?\u00a0 Well, I\u2019ve got three needs and so do you; three needs I won\u2019t\u00a0 have when the kingdom comes but three needs I do have right now while the kingdom is postponed.\u00a0\u00a0 The first need is physical, the latter two needs are spiritual.\u00a0 John Walvoord, in his Matthew commentary, and I recommend his Matthew commentary as well.\u00a0 He says, \u201c\u201c<\/em>In verse 11, [Matthew 6:11] the petitions are changed to the first person\u201d I\u2019m no longer praying about God, I\u2019m praying about myself, \u00a0\u201crelating to human need.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cGive us<\/u> this day our<\/u> daily bread.\u00a0 [21] And forgive us<\/u> our debts, as we<\/u> also have forgiven our<\/u> debtors.\u00a0 [13] And do not lead us<\/u> into temptation, but deliver us <\/u>from evil.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 6:9-13]\u00a0 See how it all changes there from God to myself?\n\nSo what\u2019s the first need that I have?\u00a0 The first need I have is toward daily bread.\u00a0 Pray this way until the kingdom finally comes.\u00a0 \u201cGive us<\/u> this day our <\/u>daily bread.\u201d\u00a0 Now I enjoy eating other things besides bread; I enjoy meat, I enjoy hamburgers, French fries, milkshakes and all that stuff.\u00a0 So why does it only tell me to ray for my \u201cdaily bread\u201d?\u00a0 Bread is a figure of speech called a synecdoche; a synecdoche is a figure of speech where the part represents the whole.\u00a0 It\u2019s like saying today the White House did such and such.\u00a0 Well, did the White House do anything?\u00a0 Not really, it\u2019s just sort of considered a part for the whole.\u00a0 The White House is sort of a part representing the whole Presidential administration.\u00a0 So when he says pray for \u201cour daily bread\u201d what he\u2019s saying is pray for food, pray for physical necessities, things that you need to have that will be a done deal once the kingdom arrives.\n\nEd Glasscock, in his Matthew commentary says bread was most likely used figuratively for food in general.\u00a0 Now guess what folks?\u00a0 Once the kingdom comes you won\u2019t have to pray that prayer any more. Why is that?\u00a0 Because there will be agricultural prosperity all over the earth.\u00a0 You won\u2019t even have to walk by faith any more for your daily needs.\u00a0 Amos 9:13, of the kingdom, says, \u201c\u2018Behold, the days are coming,\u2019 declares the LORD \u2018When the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; when the mountains will drip with sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved.\u201d\n\nIsaiah 65:21-22 of the future kingdom says, \u201cThey will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.\u00a0 [22] They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.\u201d\u00a0 Prosperity.\n\nZechariah\u00a0 8:12 says, \u201cFor there will be peace for the seed: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things.\u201d\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t that sound great, because in the meantime as you look at this planet, although in America we are very blessed materially, as you look at this planet starvation and famine are ravaging planet earth.\u00a0 Right?\n\nHere\u2019s some verses to look up on these if\u00a0 you want to.\u00a0 Acts 11:28 talks about a famine in the days of Agabus.\u00a0 [Acts 11:28, \u201cOne of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.\u201d]\n\n2 Corinthians 8:2 talks about the poverty of the Macedonians.\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 8:2, \u201cthat in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.\u201d]\n\nPaul, in Philippians 4:12 says I know how to abound in much and I know how to abound in scarcity..\u00a0 [Philippians 4:12, \u201cI know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.\u201d]\n\nRevelation 2:9 the letters of the seven churches, in one of those churches, I think it\u2019s Smyrna, he acknowledges the poverty that those in Smyrna were experiencing.\u00a0 [Revelation 2:8-9,\u00a0 \u201cAnd to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:\u00a0 [9] 'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.\u201d]\n\nSo all this stuff you see on so-called Christian television about prosperity and the Christian life is a life of prosperity, and it\u2019s some sort of guarantee, there\u2019s not a shred of proof for any of that.\u00a0 If\u00a0 you\u2019re experiencing wealth today, and I define wealth as you\u2019ve got more than what you need, then you\u2019re maxed out in terms of material blessings because that\u2019s not what\u2019s normative.\n\nSo in a world where there\u2019s scarcity and want and famine, which will exist before the kingdom comes, the basic prayer that we\u2019re to pray is for the basic necessities of life to be met, whether it\u2019s bread, food, shelter.\u00a0 And I like what it says, I believe it\u2019s over in 1 Timothy, it talks about well, if we have food and clothing, food and shelter we ought to be content with that.\u00a0 [1 Timothy 6:8, \u201cIf we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.\u201d]\u00a0 In America we\u2019re trying to get rich and the Bible says we ought to be content if\u00a0 we\u2019ve got the basics of life covered.\u00a0\u00a0 So that becomes part of our prayer life, right?\n\nNow Matthew\u2019s Gospel, was it written to a Gentile audience or a Jewish audience?\u00a0 Very Jewish.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Tons of Old Testament citations, a very Jewish vocabulary, a very Jewish subject matter, a genealogy that traces Christ\u2019s lineage into Judaism, a focus on Peter, Peter was the apostle to the Jews, unexplained Jewish customs.\u00a0 Mark explains one of the Jewish customs, Matthew leaves it unexplained.\u00a0 Why would Mark explain it and Matthew leave it unexplained?\u00a0 Because Matthew was written to people that already understood the custom.\u00a0 The earliest church fathers believed, whether it\u2019s Eusebius or Origen, that Matthew\u2019s Gospel was written to Hebrew Christians.\n\nAnd Matthew\u2019s Gospel has a five-fold division.\u00a0 There are five great sermons in the Gospel of Matthew.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because every sermon ends with this phrase, \u201cwhen Jesus had finished saying these things.\u201d\u00a0 That happens five times, meaning there\u2019s five great sermons.\u00a0 The Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-7; the missions discourse, chapter 10; the kingdom parables, chapter 13; the discourse on humility, chapter 18, the Olivet discourse, chapters 24 and 25.\n\nLet me tell you something, that five-fold structure, you talk to a Jewish person, a Hebrew person, they know exactly what you\u2019re talking about because they\u2019re used to five-fold structures, aren\u2019t they?\u00a0 What do we call Torah, or the Law?\u00a0 The first five books of Hebrew Bible, Genesis Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, isn\u2019t that five?\u00a0 You look at the Psalter, 150 Psalms divided into how man books?\u00a0 Five!\u00a0 By the way, when David went to slay Goliath how many stones did he have in his backpack?\u00a0 Five.\u00a0 I mean, five is a big deal in Judaism; it shows up all the time.\n\nSo Matthew\u2019s Gospel is very Jewish because of its five-fold division.\u00a0 And let me tell\u00a0 you something, the Jews already understood this idea of provision until you enter your destination because when they came out of Egypt and they were\u00a0 in route to the Promised Land, it took them forty years to get there, because of disobedience.\u00a0 What was on the ground every single morning except for Saturday?\u00a0 Manna. Do you know what \u201cmanna\u201d means?\u00a0 It\u2019s a Hebrew word that says \u201cwhat is it?\u201d\u00a0 Every morning they looked out and there was this strange thing on the ground, and God said okay, you can eat it, and they said \u201cwhat is it?\u201d\u00a0 And so it got the name \u201cmanna,\u201d \u201cwhat is it?\u201d\n\nWhat was that?\u00a0 It was the physical provision of God.\u00a0 And every single day, even as they\u2019re murmuring and complaining against God and building a golden calf, every single day it was there.\u00a0 And the only exception to that rule was the Sabbath, and I think more was given to them prior to the Sabbath so they wouldn\u2019t have to work on the Sabbath.\u00a0 And what was God teaching them?\u00a0 Every single day---I\u2019m going to provide your needs!\u00a0 But Lord, what about next month and next\u00a0 year?\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry about that, today it\u2019s there, today provision is there.\u00a0 But Lord, what about my 501K plan or 401K plan, which is now a 201K plan?\u00a0 What about my retirement, and my retirement home?\u00a0 What happens if I get sick and old and can\u2019t pay my bills?\u00a0 And what about this and what about that?\u00a0 God says don\u2019t worry about it, there\u2019s a provision for today; every day it\u2019ll be there.\u00a0 And sometimes they went and they tried to horde, Americans don\u2019t do that do they?\u00a0 And they took more than what was needed for the day and what happened to the manna?\u00a0 It rotted. Every day the provision is going to be there, for forty days, forty years,\u00a0 you can read all about this in Exodus 16:14-36 and that manna was there every single day for forty years, until they finally entered Canaan forty years later.\u00a0 And the moment they entered Canaan and they were in the land of milk and honey, which was capable of sustaining its inhabitants, the manna stopped because it was no longer needed.\u00a0 See that pattern?\u00a0 The provision is always going to be there until you arrive at your destination.\n\nSo Jesus is teaching the same truth; while we are living in the devil\u2019s world and kingdom prosperity is not here the provision will be there every day until the day comes when you will enter the kingdom then the provision won\u2019t be necessary anymore, then the manna will cease.\u00a0 So it\u2019s an analogy that the Jewish mind could completely wrap its head around.\n\nSo we are to pray for our daily bread, physical needs.\u00a0 Then we have a spiritual need; we need to pray for forgiveness and we ought to forgive other people. Amen!\u00a0 Verse 12 says, \u201cAnd forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.\u201d\u00a0 Now here come the evangelists, they use that as an altar call.\u00a0 How do you come to Jesus?\u00a0 Well,\u00a0 you\u2019ve got to forgive, you\u2019ve got to forgive as you\u2019ve been forgiven.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to ask Him to forgive you and then\u00a0 you\u2019ve got to forgive other people and if you don\u2019t do that you\u2019re not a Christian.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 How does the Bible always condition justification before God?\u00a0 Based on what?\u00a0 Faith by itself.\u00a0\u00a0 Whether you ask God to forgive you is irrelevant; whether you forgive somebody else is irrelevant.\n\nThe only thing you have to do to get right with God is to believe in Jesus.\u00a0 I have all the verses there that define that.\u00a0 Genesis 15:6, John 3:16, Acts 16:30-31.\u00a0 And according to Lewis Sperry Chafer the Bible teaches this 150 times; 150 time the Bible says to get right with God as a sinner that\u2019s unsaved\u00a0 you trust in Christ, end of story.\n\nSo if that\u2019s true then why are we supposed to pray \u201cforgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0 This is a provision, not for justification but for sanctification.\u00a0 This prayer is not given to an unsaved person.\u00a0 This prayer is given to people who already are in a relationship with God because how does the prayer begin?\u00a0 \u201cOur Father,\u201d an unsaved person doesn\u2019t have God as a Father.\n\nToussaint explains, \u201cJudicial forgiveness is not in view [Acts 10:43] but fellowship [1 John 1:5\u20139]. It is impossible for one to be in fellowship with God as long as he harbors ill will in his heart.\u201d\u00a0 [Behold the King: A Study of Matthew (Grand Rapids, Kregel, 2005), 111.]\n\nJohn Walvoord says, \u201c\u201c<\/em>The Christian already forgiven judicially should not expect restoration in the family unless he, himself, is forgiving.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come<\/em> (Chicago: Moody, 1974), 53]\n\nEd Glasscock says: \u201c\u201cIt is not likely here that the issue of forgiveness is referring to initial redemptive forgiveness (for salvation) but the forgiveness for offense against the Father in the perpetual daily life situation (for fellowship). There is no salvific passage that requires the one being saved to perform any act, such as forgiving others, in order to gain forgiveness. The overwhelming testimony of Scripture is that salvation from eternal torment is a free gift not granted on the basis of any act (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Rom. 4:5; etc.).\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew<\/em>, Moody Gospel Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1997), 148-49.]\n\nWhat is he saying here in Matthew 6?\u00a0 He\u2019s not telling unsaved people how to get saved; he\u2019s telling saved people how to stay in fellowship with God.\u00a0 Just like in a marriage, you can upset your spouse by doing something self-centered of sinful against your spouse but the two you are still married positionally.\u00a0 Right!\u00a0 Well, then, what happened to\u00a0 you?\u00a0 You legal relationship never changed but your intimacy that you enjoy with each other has been altered, until you apologize for what you\u2019ve done.\u00a0 See that? So what we do as Christians is we commit sins\u2026 has anybody in here ever sinned?\u00a0 Some of\u00a0 you are committing a sin right now, you\u2019re lying. As Christians we can go back to the old nature and we can sin.\u00a0 Now does that make you unsaved?\u00a0 No!\u00a0 What got cut or damaged is not your position before God; that\u2019s already been resolved.\u00a0 It\u2019s your moment by moment fellowship, intimacy and enjoyment with God.\u00a0 That\u2019s damaged the moment you (we) move into unconfessed sin, which we don\u2019t confess to God.\n\nNow once the kingdom comes can you ever move out of fellowship with God?\u00a0 You won\u2019t be able to. Won\u2019t that be nice?\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because the Bible says that at the beginning of the kingdom age there\u2019ll be a resurrection, you\u2019ll be in a body that won\u2019t even have a propensity for sin.\u00a0 That\u2019s called glorification.\u00a0 But in the interim we have the new nature inside of us but the old nature is still there, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 It\u2019s been rendered inoperative but I can return to it at will.\u00a0 So what happens when I do that?\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t get unsaved, I don\u2019t get unjustified, I don\u2019t get unborn again, that\u2019s an impossibility.\u00a0 God is still my Father but my intimacy with Him, my enjoyment with Him is damaged until I confess my sins to Him.\u00a0 For us that\u2019s 1 John 1:9, written to Christians. \u201cIf we confess our sins He is faithful and just\u00a0 to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d\u00a0 And what else should I do in this prayer?\u00a0 Not only confess my sins but as I have been forgiven I should do what to others who have wronged me?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I should forgive them.\u00a0\u00a0 I should forgive as I\u2019ve been forgiven.\n\nNow do we realize this, that when you forgive somebody it\u2019s helping you, not the person that upset\u00a0 you?\u00a0 Do we get that right?\u00a0 See, we\u2019re going to hold a grudge against somebody thinking it\u2019s going to hurt the other person; it injured us, when in reality the person that injured us probably didn\u2019t even know they injured us.\u00a0 I mean, they\u2019re out enjoying their life, they don\u2019t have the foggiest idea what they did to you; if they know they\u2019ve forgotten it a long time ago and here we are holding all this bitterness inside of us.\u00a0 Well, we\u2019re damaging ourselves, not that other person.\u00a0 That\u2019s what unforgiveness does; it\u2019s like drinking poison, thinking it\u2019s going to hurt the person that hurt you.\u00a0\u00a0 See that.\n\nSo when we ask God to forgive us of daily sin and then we forgive others as we have been forgiven by God, what just got restored?\u00a0\u00a0 Not position but what?\u00a0 Fellowship!\u00a0 And as long as I\u2019m living in this fallen body I\u2019ll always have that need.\u00a0 Once the kingdom starts and I\u2019m in my resurrected body I won\u2019t have to pray this ever again. See that?\n\nAnd the mike started me two minutes late so I\u2019m going to reclaim two minutes here.\u00a0 The last request that we should pray is \u201cdeliver us from evil.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cEvil\u201d is better translated deliverance \u201cfrom the evil one, \u201cand do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.\u00a0 Ed Glasscock says, \u201c\u201c...and the object from which we are to seek deliverance is evil. More literally it should be understood as 'the Evil One.'...The petition of the model prayer, then, is for God to allow us to undergo the testing but to be rescued from the snare of the Evil One, the Devil.\u201d\u00a0 [Ed Glasscock Matthew<\/em>, Moody Gospel Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1997), 150]\n\nSo we are to be praying for protection from \u201cthe Evil One,\u201d and don\u2019t waste your time binding Satan in your prayer life. Satan will not be bound until the millennial kingdom. In the interim we are living in his world; he is unbound.\u00a0 He is not bound until Revelation 20:2-3.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:2-3, \u201cAnd he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3<\/strong><\/a>and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it<\/em> and sealed it<\/em> over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.\u201d]\u00a0 He won\u2019t be bound until when?\u00a0\u00a0 The kingdom.\u00a0 Now we\u2019re not in the kingdom\u00a0 yet, right? So Satan today is unbound; wouldn\u2019t you say that?\n\nNow the amillennialist will tell you that Satan is bound today in which case I say well, he must be on a very long leash.\u00a0 He is the prince of this world, the god of this age, the prince and power of the air, the one we wrestle with, a roaring lion, the one in whom the whole world lies within his power.\u00a0 So he\u2019s running loose on the earth, so since that is true I\u2019m to pray that God would protect me and my family, and my church, and my loved ones, from his ambitions to sift me like wheat.\n\nNow once the kingdom comes will I have to pray that anymore? No, because he\u2019ll be in the abyss.\u00a0 So do you see what these three requests are?\u00a0 They\u2019re requests that we have now that we should pray for that we won\u2019t have once the kingdom comes.\u00a0 They are physical, meeting our physical needs, we\u2019re to forgive others as we have been forgiven, and we\u2019re to pray for protection from the evil one.\n\nSo you look at this whole prayer and what are you seeing in it?\u00a0 You\u2019re seeing verses 9 and 10, three requests for the kingdom to come, different ways of saying the kingdom should come.\u00a0\u00a0 And then we\u2019re praying for three needs that we have while the kingdom is not here.\u00a0 The first is physical and the last two are spiritual.\u00a0 So since this is the form of the prayer it makes no sense to say that we\u2019re in the kingdom now, does it?\u00a0 I mean, the whole structure of this prayer is denied when people come along and say Jesus started a spiritual form of the kingdom.\n\nAnyway, I hope that helps you and I hope you pray that in your prayer life because that\u2019s how the Lord taught us to pray.\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0 So I\u2019ll stop talking at this point and we\u2019ll let adults get their kids.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t