For our reading, we're going to turn to 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians 11, I'll read the first 16 verses. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying Having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prosophieth with her head uncovered, dishonoreth her head. For that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God. Judge in yourselves. Is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered, Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do churches of God. Thus far the reading of God's sacred word. Dear church family, As you know, we've begun a series of messages recently on the Lord's Prayer, that pattern prayer that Jesus gave to his church, saying, after this manner, ought ye to pray. It doesn't mean, of course, that this is the only prayer to pray. Although it does mean that it is a wonderful prayer to pray. And it's a pattern for our prayers. We learn a lot from the Lord's prayer. Martin Luther said, you should pray it at least once every day. He meant, this is the Lord's own example, so bring it often back in front of him. And we notice in the Lord's Prayer how God-centered it is, especially in the beginning half of the Lord's Prayer. Prayer is not meant to begin with us, but to begin with God. And as we come this morning to the second petition of the Lord's Prayer, thy kingdom come. The importance, the magnitude of this petition ought to be obvious to us all just by thinking about the fact that the kingdom of God was the most repeated theme in the entire ministry of the Lord Jesus himself. In fact, it was this theme with which Jesus began his ministry. Mark 1, verse 15, he announced his first words after he was baptized and commissioned to enter into his official ministry, 30 years old, the kingdom of God is at hand. And so it ought not surprise us that when the disciples asked him to pray, or asked him to teach them to pray, rather, that he said, when you pray, pray, thy kingdom come. So that's our text this morning, Matthew 6, 10a, thy kingdom come, in conjunction with Lord's Day 48, which is a wonderful summary of what we're praying for when we pray this petition. Question 123. What is the second petition? Thy kingdom come, that is, rule us so by thy word and spirit that we may submit ourselves more and more to thee. Preserve and increase thy church. Destroy the works of the devil and all violence that would exalt itself against thee. and also all wicked counsels devised against thy holy word, till the full perfection of thy kingdom take place wherein thou shalt be all in all." So our theme this morning, praying for God's kingdom to come. Three thoughts. First, we're praying, when we pray this petition, we're praying for the rule of the word and the spirit in our hearts. Second, we're praying for the church and the destruction of her enemies. And third, we're praying for the consummation and perfection of God's kingdom. Well, what exactly does the expression mean, the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of Christ, or thy kingdom? These are all, of course, synonyms of each other. Now, it's remarkable that Jesus nowhere precisely defines what the word kingdom means. He does talk a lot about what the kingdom is like and how the kingdom functions. He begins many parables. The kingdom of heaven is like, or the kingdom of God is like, and he tells a story. But he never really defines kingdom, a dictionary definition. And that tells us, of course, that the people understood the word kingdom. It was obvious to them that the kingdom of God referred to the rule of God as well as the realm over which God exercises that rule or that reign. So when you think of the kingdom of God, You've got to think of God ruling over the realm of his creation, first of all, but also over the realm of his people, and in a particular way, the realm of heaven as well. God's kingdom covers earth and heaven, covers the unsaved and the saved. Our forefathers usually divide it into three categories, but it's all one, of course, in God. There's the kingdom of power, they said, that reigns over all of creation. But God also has a kingdom of grace on this earth that reigns over His people. And then He has a kingdom of glory that reigns over the heavens. So this is a very familiar theme in Jesus' teaching. And most of the time when Jesus speaks of the kingdom, the kingdom coming or the kingdom like this or that. He's speaking of the kingdom of grace, the kingdom, his spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom, by which he gains entrance into the hearts of his people, regenerates them, brings them to faith and repentance, and builds them up in the most holy faith in himself. And so God has a kingdom established preeminently by his Son, And God's goal is to honor Himself as the King of His kingdom. We read in Proverbs that a king's honor lies in his many subjects. And so Jesus teaches us that we are called to pray, Thy kingdom, that kingdom of grace in the hearts of the people of God, in the hearts of the elect, in the hearts of those given to Thee, Lord Jesus, Thy kingdom come. Now that means for our child of God that this prayer is actually a prayer of identification. Identification. And what do I mean by that? Well, you see, when I go to pray, I ought to pray something like this. Lord, as thy child, by thy grace, I identify, I identify with thy great and eternal purpose on earth. the glory of Thy kingdom and Thy grace in Thy kingdom. I see the grace of it. I see the glory of it. I see the superiority of the kingdom of grace over the kingdom of power. I see that Thy kingdom alone is desirable. Lord, let this glorious kingdom everlastingly rule and reign in my heart to abolish sin, and to lead me to grow more and more in thy righteousness, so that in my personal life I may be prepared for that consummation on the great day of judgment to enter thy kingdom of glory forever. So this is my prayer, Lord. Thy kingdom come within me. Now that's a solemn prayer. That's a prayer that has God's glory in mind. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You see, when we pray this prayer, we're saying, Lord, bless me, heal me, look after me, help me, let thy kingdom grow in me. May thy kingdom come. Now this theme of God's kingdom really takes us back, first of all, to paradise. God established his kingdom in Adam. God ordained and directed Adam, even before the fall, to rule over his kingdom of creation. He demanded particular and perfect and special obedience from Adam, even before the fall, to rule over his kingdom of creation. Adam, after all, was the crown of that creation. He was the vice-gerent. He had to cultivate the earth. He had to establish God's kingdom, to maintain it, to dress the garden, to keep it. But as you know, boys and girls, Adam failed, right? He broke God's one command, God's forbidding of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And he gave his allegiance to another king, Satan. And we, as we come into the world, you see, We too, naturally, as children of Adam, we naturally choose the allegiance of our hearts to be directed to Satan. Satan who had earlier staged an unsuccessful revolt in heaven. And so, you and I, we need to learn that we are enemies, actually, of the kingdom of God. And that we need God to enter into our lives. We need God to stop us. We need the King of Kings to conquer us, just like he did Adam and Eve. He came to paradise. He said, I will put enmity between you and the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. So God, you see, has to come into our lives and have us be born again and take us out of the kingdom of Satan and put us into the kingdom of God. And so it's this re-established kingdom. reestablished by God's amazing grace working in our hearts that Jesus refers to when he says, I would have, as it were, I would have your prayers be patterned not only after our Father which art in heaven and hell will be thy name, but also that you would beseech the triune God that his reestablished kingdom might come and grow and be perfected. And so when Jesus comes in the flesh and begins his ministry, his very first words naturally are these, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is saying, I'm coming to dethrone Satan and set my captives free. And so He pours out His Gospel, His Spirit, His Word upon the Jews and then upon the Gentile church all throughout the book of Acts. Also after He's risen from the dead and ascended and pours out His Spirit so that page after page Chapter after chapter, his kingdom is coming. Here's one converted. There's two converted. There's 3,000 converted. There's another 2,000 converted. Satan is defeated, you see, with the coming of this king. This is why we don't believe in premillennialism or postmillennialism, but amillennialism. We might say inaugurated millennialism. Optimistic millennialism. Because Jesus brought the Millennium in with His resurrection and the outpouring of His Spirit and the defeat of Satan. Satan is chained, even though he's very active still. Even though you look around and you say, how is he chained? Well, remember In Jesus' days, before He came, the gospel was basically limited, with very few exceptions, to one little pinprick on this earth, what we call today Israel. That little territory that all the rest of the world was in darkness. Today that's very different. The gospels come all around the world. Millions upon millions have been saved and brought into this kingdom. And so Jesus entering into this world, entering then into his public ministry, and then dying and rising again and ascending into heaven and sending his spirit, that's the inauguration. Not that the kingdom didn't exist in the Old Testament times, but that's the inauguration of the fullness of this kingdom being poured out. And we're to pray to the end day, to the final day, Thy kingdom come. May I ask you, Do you pray this? Do you long in your own soul for God's kingdom to come? That you personally would be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven? That's what our instructor says. Rule me, rule us, so by thy word and spirit that we may submit ourselves more and more to thee. That's what I'm praying. You see, this is done, of course, the catechism is written from the perspective of a believer, so obviously we need to be transferred into this kingdom, but he's saying, more and more, this is my desire, that my whole being, my life, my lips, my actions, my words, my thoughts, everything, even the deepest thought of my heart, I want it to be subject to Thy kingdom. that Thy kingdom increase, that Thy rule and Thy reign dominate my life so that I don't belong to myself but only to Jesus Christ. So when you pray this prayer, you're actually asking that your will and your mind and your affections and your heart may be totally subject to the Bible, to the Word of God, and to the Spirit of God, who illuminates that Bible within the believer, so that we become willing servants, you might even say willing slaves, of that kingdom, and be wholly devoted to the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. That's the desire of every believer. If that's not your desire, you're not a believer. If you don't want to be ruled and reigned over by Jesus Christ, well, the Lord has not begun in you. That's for sure. Because when you are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to His kingdom of light, you want to be a willing and faithful subject of His kingdom. And you want to belong to His church. You want to come under subjection to His church, as His church comes under subjection to the Word and the Spirit of God. And that's what happens. Also, when we join a church in the right way with our heart, you see, then we submit. We submit to the Word of God. We submit to the Spirit of God. We submit to the elders of the church, so long as they do not contradict the Scriptures. And we long, not just ourselves, but we long for all the people also to come into this kingdom and be subject to this kingdom. We want to be word-centered people. We want to be spirit-endowed people. We want to be ruled by the word of God, which is the manuscript, it's the, the rule book for the rule of this kingdom. And we want the Spirit to pervade us and to animate us and to drive away all resistance within us from total allegiance to the Word of God. We want a simple faith, a life of faith in subjection to this King. Let me more and more submit myself to Thee, O Lord, Thy Word, Thy Spirit." In other words, I want to be sanctified. I want to be holy. I want to be prepared to be with Christ forever in glory. So give me the strength to say no to this dark and hostile world and to say yes to Thy Spirit and to Thy Word, O God. Become too strong for me. Rule my heart. Is that your prayer? Thy kingdom come in me, but thy kingdom come also in the church. It's a corporate prayer. Let us pray. Thy kingdom come. So our instructor says, rule us, rule us, rule the whole church by thy word and spirit. A corporate prayer. Are you praying for the church? Are you praying, preserve and increase thy church? As he goes on to say, destroy the works of the devil and all violence that would exalt itself against thee. So point one of this sermon naturally flows into point two, because when we pray for ourselves, we also have a heart for the larger church. So we don't only pray for the rule of word and spirit in our hearts, Which means, by the way, we're reading scripture every day. We're using scripture. It's not a dusty book in our homes. Because to know the rule of that word in our hearts, we've got to be searching it, studying it, meditating on it, living by it. But then it naturally flows out of that, you see, that you pray for the church and the destruction of our enemies. So what is inward goes upward to God, but also goes outward to my fellow believer, and especially to the church family to which I belong. So when you say, thy kingdom come in truth, you're actually saying, I've got a big heart for the church. I've got a big heart for the rulers, the leaders of the church. And like Hebrews 13 says, I want to subject myself to them and to their wisdom and to their biblical understanding of the word of God, so long as that is true to the mind of the spirit. So I want the church of God to grow, preserve, and increase thy church. And so, not only the local church, but by extension the church all over the world. One of the most exciting things for a true Christian is to hear that God is working in Latin America today, as he is, in a remarkable way, bringing many people to saving faith and to the Reformed faith and to a right understanding of the Bible. It's so exciting, moving to see this. People coming out of Roman Catholicism and Pentecostalism in Brazil and many places in Africa. It's just glorious. It ought to move us. Thy kingdom come. ought to be our earnest prayer all over the world, Lord. So we pray for persecuted churches. We pray that God would preserve and increase His church everywhere in quantity, in quality, in godliness of life, and let Satan and all the enemies be destroyed. That's our prayer. And so it's important to understand, you see, when we pray this, What really are the marks of a healthy, growing church? A healthy, growing church. Well, let me explain it this way. When you have a healthy, growing church where God's kingdom is coming, you have a church that wants to live out the definition God's purpose for the church. He wants to live out the definition for God's purpose for the church. That's number one. And what does that mean? Well, it simply means you want the church to worship God the way God designs it in the New Testament. A healthy church a worshiping church, a God-centered church that wants to follow in all its principles what the Bible says the church ought to be and how the church ought to worship. And it is called to be a praying church, to pray for the outpouring of God's kingdom and a believing church, to believe in the Triune God alone as the total object of our faith in Christ. That's critical. You can be an outward member of the church, but if you're not a worshiper, if you're not a petitioner, if you're not believing in Christ alone for salvation, you're not really belonging to the essence of that church. You're not living out the definition of God's purpose for her. to be worshipers in spirit and in truth, through prayer, through faith. That's number one. Number two, a healthy church not only defines God's purposes in terms of worship, but it communicates God's purposes through discipleship. That's why it's in the model of this church. We want to evangelize unbelievers and disciple believers for the glory of God. That's exactly who we want to be. And what comes under that category? Well, not only, of course, are we called to be a worshiping church, a praying church, a believing church, but we're called to be a sanctified church. If you're going to make disciples by God's grace, you've got to have godly people among you who live differently than the world. And you need to be a reforming church, always reforming according to the Word of God. And of course, a discipling church that reaches out in various ministries to reach people, like the Sunday School ministry of this church. And you need to be a separated church, separate from the world. If you look like the world, you think like the world, you act like the world, dress like the world, speak like the world. You don't have a discipleship to offer other people. You're just part of the world. So we need to communicate God's purposes for the church. and for individual believers through discipleship, through talking to your neighbors, your work associates and other people, and showing them a lifestyle, sanctified lifestyle, so that your life, your words, your actions, what you do, what you don't do, all these things can impact people through discipleship, through counseling, through helping, through Christian witnessing. But then a third category. A healthy church not only defines God's purposes and communicates God's purposes, but also is organized around God's purposes. Organized around God's purposes. That is to say, though a church is first and ultimately and primarily something that has a vertical relationship with God, that church, through its vertical relationship with God, when it's healthy, also has fellowship that flows out of that relationship with God. Fellowship with one another. The vertical flows out into the horizontal. So what does that mean? Well, a healthy church is a relational, loving church. It's a Christian community in which people really care about each other and really pray about each other and for each other and reach out to each other and get to know each other. And it's a covenantal church that believes that God works from generation to generation, that the church has a future. And that when we baptize also infants, we are testifying God is a faithful covenant-keeping God. And we want that covenant to grow. We want that church to grow quantitatively, qualitatively. And if the church exercises fellowship out of its vertical relationship with God, she will be a sacrificial church. She will give financially to the causes of God. And it will be a servant-led church. The elders and deacons and ministers won't be people that just, in a hard-nosed way, try to rule and run the church, running roughshod over people and adding to Scripture all kinds of man-made rules. No. There will be a conscientious servant leadership that the elders and deacons and ministers strive to exercise to love the church, but also to guide the church in all biblical principles. Now, that means, of course, that When there's real fellowship, there's not only relational love, there's not only a covenantal principle, sacrificial church, a servant-led church, but also an obedient church, a church that wants to obey God, a church that wants to obey the leaders that God has set over the church. And so there's a great responsibility on the side of the leaders to guide the church only in the principles of Scripture, and there's a great responsibility on the side of the people to follow those principles. Those are the questions we answer when we make confession of faith. Now, in most areas that becomes very, what must I say, easy to do when it's obviously scriptural and your heart's in the right place and you know that this is what the church must be like based on the Word of God. Sometimes, though, it's not so easy. And when? Well, what about when other churches around you begin to forego the basic understandings of what the Scriptures are saying on different issues. I'm just going to mention one this morning. I just want to develop it a few minutes so that you understand what I'm getting at. Let's look just for a moment at the principle of head covering. That's why I read 1 Corinthians 11. obedient church is a church that says when the elders of this church and of course as you know the elders of this church believe just like the church has believed for about 1980 years after Christ it's only the last 30 40 years that the church in general many churches at least have abandoned the head covering principle of first Corinthians 11 so The church now around us often is not obeying what we think is the exegesis of 1 Corinthians 11, proper exegesis. We do believe that this is what 1 Corinthians 11 is saying, so there's always a temptation that The church then departs from the biblical, conscientious, loving, exegetical conclusions of its leaders in order to be more like other churches or more like the world, whatever. So there can be temptations to go in that direction. So let me explain then just a little bit about 1 Corinthians 11. I'm borrowing a little bit here from Dr. Baird. He's got a very clear exposition of this, and I found it very helpful. The Word of God is the only rule for faith and practice, and everyone agrees on that. And the principle is applicable to every area of Christian life, and in a particular way, to worship. because worship is the most sacred thing we do on the face of the earth. So, the moment we reinterpret 1 Corinthians 11 differently than the church has in almost all of its history, we ought to stop and think, what are we doing? Am I just following another church? Or am I, are the people groups, or the world, or am I really coming to this conclusion based on the Word of God? Well, Paul begins this chapter by praising the Corinthian Christians for keeping the ordinances that he had delivered to them. And one of them was that the woman should have her head covered in worship. And he begins to develop that. That was something very unusual in Paul's day. But Paul explains that he's not talking about a man-made tradition. He's talking about a God-given command. And so in verse 3, he says, I'm talking about a hierarchy of order here. that means that the woman must have her head covered and the man must have his head uncovered. Because, he says, we're talking about a threefold hierarchy. The imagery of the head, the headship principle, represents the threefold hierarchy of, number one, man to Christ. Number two, woman to man. And number three, Christ to God. You see that in verse three, don't you? Very plainly put, but I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. So when it comes to the head covering that Paul is asking or not asking, commanding women to follow, He's saying this has to do with the function of what a woman is and what a man is and the principles of headship, and it peculiarly has a bearing upon our worship. So the head is the governing organ. It is to that to which all else is subordinate. So man and woman are both subordinate to Christ, but the woman is subordinate to the man in God's order of function. Man has a position of authority over the woman. This is just one of the arguments Paul uses from creation and from the constitution of man and woman, why he's so clear that a woman may not hold an authoritative church office in the church of Jesus Christ. Same principle, really. because the man is the head of the woman. And so then Paul begins to go on from here in verses 4 through 6 to explain the implications for worship. The implications for worship. He said the difference between man and woman must be reflected in public worship. If men exercise their right to worship with any covering upon their heads, they disgrace their head, he says. Jesus Christ. And conversely, if women exercise their right to worship without a covering upon their heads, they disgrace their head, which is man. So, in the church of Jesus Christ, particularly in worship, Paul is saying that Although the requirements for man and woman are stated with equal clarity and equal authority, they have not received equal obedience in that few men would be so irreverent to wear a hat during worship. I think all of us men would know you take your hat off. But at the same time, there are women today who are demonstrating irreverence, Paul is saying, when you worship with uncovered heads. So the uncovered head for men and the covered head for women becomes a symbol for Paul of the divinely established order of headship under the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Paul goes on to say something even stronger, maybe a bit more surprising. He says, indeed, failure to comply with this requirement constitutes a kind of apparent rebellion against the order of God, as well as degrading the woman herself. Because if she participates in worship with uncovered head, she is one in the same as if she had been shaven, he says. And then Paul goes from there, after he's established what needs to be done, and he gives arguments why both the man should obey his side and come with uncovered head, and the woman should obey her side and come with covered head. Arguments for obedience to what he's asking. And he argues from two principles. First of all, from creation, and then from nature. Creation, he says, means that women are given to the man for the man, not men given to the women for the women. You might say, whoa, our society says, wait a minute, wait a minute. But see, we're not talking about what our society says. We're talking about what God says. God is not saying that the woman has an inferior position, but just she has a different function. than the man. And the man is of different function than the woman. And God has designed that for marriage to work in harmony. Every family needs a head. Every family needs a woman alongside the man to have that family function well. But that family connection also, remember, is to be a reflection of Christ and the church. So as women are to be subject to their husbands, so long as their husbands don't contradict the Bible, so men are to lovingly guide their wives. Same principles in the church. See, this is the way God made man, and this is the way God made woman. And because of the fall, Paul is saying, also elsewhere, it's all the more reason to keep these principles clear. Paul is saying that it's important in worship, the most sacred thing we do, that the difference between man and woman is indicated by the head uncovered and the head covered for the very confirmation of the created order of God and the hierarchy that God has established in that created order. And then Paul's final argument is from nature. appeals to the Corinthians, that even nature itself will teach you that there is an essential difference in appearance between a man and a woman, and the glory of a woman is her hair. I think that's true today still, that a woman's hair draws more attention than a man's hair. And so when you come in the presence of God, Paul is saying, Women should have their hair covered, because their head covered, so that they can give all the honor, all the glory goes to God, not to the woman. And the men have their head uncovered as a symbol that they are subject to God as well. So that's the argument of Paul. And then he says at the end, I want to say to you this is not just a tradition or a custom, but this is something that God himself has commanded me to teach the church. Now what happens if a church member, for example, Understanding this headship principle, understanding, as we speak to you every year in Confession of Faith class when you join this church, basically I gave you these same kinds of arguments and told you that the elders request that you bow under this interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11 as the standard one of all the Reformers, all the Puritans without any exception, and we believe that their exegesis is correct. So lovingly we ask the church to follow this custom and men to see to it that their wives follow it and also wives and women and single women follow it as well. What happens if you happen to disagree with that exegesis? And you agree with a more modern exegesis that suddenly the hair itself is given for the covering which really would make in our view, very little sense of the whole passage. But if that's what you believe, then what? Well, the spirit of our day is to say, well, then I just go my own way. And I disregard the whole body. I disregard the authority of the elders. I go ahead and create confusion in the church, and disharmony, and division, and differences of opinions. No, no, Paul says. We bow under the Word of God. And if you honestly, sincerely study this question, you come to a different conclusion. You say, wearing a head covering in subjection to the guidance and the leadership of the elders' authority It's not going to make you sin in any way. You're just creating a sense of unity that you're called to. But going against the elders by neglecting this command of Paul, as we call it, and we believe it is a command, neglecting it, you're making a public statement that you're not submitting to the elder's direction concerning this passage of scripture. And that's not edifying for the rest of the congregation, nor is it appropriate behavior in the public worship And certainly not at the Lord's Supper, where it becomes probably even more offensive because certain people, you can't help but notice it. And there's a disharmony then that Paul is trying to avoid. So here is an example of a healthy church. A healthy church is willing to submit to the direction of the elders, so long as it's not something that blatantly contradicts the Word of God. Now finally, a healthy church is also a church that exercises evangelism. It goes and makes disciples. It's an evangelistic, mission-minded church. It's got to be a working church, a visionary church, a church that doesn't only want to receive, but a church that also wants to give. That's why, again, when you come to become a full member of this church, we ask you in front of the elders, what ministry of the church do you want to join? So you're not just and we don't make any hard and fast rules, but you're not just receiving from the church, but you're also giving, because this is part of what it means to belong to a church. It's a working church, a dependent church that longs to work and evangelize in dependency upon the Holy Spirit. And so that's why this church, has, I think it's 19 or 20 different ministries, from GCA to PRTS to Sunday school to outreach in various printed forms, working now on establishing another ministry in town that you'll hear more about later. Because everyone needs to hear this precious gospel that's been entrusted to us. biblical, reformed, experiential, practical gospel through the preaching of the Word, through the spread of sound literature, through discipling, through various ministries. So this is what we're praying for when we're praying, Thy kingdom come. We pray, preserve and increase Thy church in unity, destroying the works of the devil thereby and all violence that would exalt itself against Thee. And then comes the last statement. Till, and this is beautiful, till the full perfection of thy kingdom takes place wherein thou shalt be all and in all. So we pray all of this so that we might reach this grand goal of the consummation and perfection of God's kingdom. When we pray thy kingdom come, We pray finally for the consummation, the perfection of this kingdom, for God will be all in all. This is the beauty. This is the beauty of the gospel. It leads to this triumphant conclusion. This is the beauty of God's kingdom. The kingdom of grace will be translated into the kingdom of glory. When Jesus comes, he'll consummate his kingdom on the great judgment day, and every mansion shall be filled, and heaven itself shall be filled with the praises of the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. Surely, as we pray, thy kingdom come. At the beginning of the Lord's Prayer, So surely the end of the Lord's Prayer will be realized for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Jesus is on his way, always on his way for the last 2,000 years as the Son of Man and the Son of God to establish and grow and perfect his kingdom. looking to the consummation of the great and the last day. And so through all of this world's problems, through the wars, the earthquakes, the pestilences, and through all the good things that happen on this earth in terms of gospel spread and trials being used for conversions, Jesus' footsteps are coming closer and closer in these last times. Like the Belgian Confession of Faith says in the very last paragraph, we expect that great day, that great day with an ardent desire to the end that we may fully enjoy the promises of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. So when we pray thy kingdom come, Yes, we know there will be many ups and downs in the process, but we're expressing a desire to come into the fullness of the promises of God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Into the fullness of the freedom of that last day, and the privileges of that last day, and the joys of that last day. Let me just say a word about those three things as I close. The freedom of that last day. There will be freedom from the necessities of nature. Freedom from our own imperfections. Freedom from our original corruption. Freedom from the temptation to sin. Freedom from all sorrow, for sorrow and signs shall flee away, Isaiah 35 says. Freedom from vexing cares and toilsome labors. Freedom from doubts and unbelief. Freedom from the enticing world. Freedom from all signs of divine displeasure and divine distance. Freedom from all divisions in the church. Freedom from every inclination. to even be tempted to sin. Freedom from the temptation to be tempted. No more sin. No more enemies. No more old man nature to contend with. Freedom! When this kingdom will be consummated on the day of our Lord's return. But oh, what are the unspeakable privileges We can only stammer them in limitations of human words. Direct and perfect and knowledgeable and loving communion with the Triune God Himself. Walking with God in the cool of the heavenly garden, communing with Him seeing the glorified Jesus Christ in our flesh, face to face, laying in his bosom, as it were, to enjoy the company of angels and the redeemed made perfect, and there to be filled with an unspeakable peace that passes all understanding in this perfect world of heavenly love. Oh, what privileges will be yours, dear child of God, in that day. And you'll be able to worship Christ perfectly. No one will be out of tune in heaven. No one will ever say a wrong word in heaven. No one will ever disagree with another Christian in heaven. Perfect unity, perfect love, perfect worship. Your mind will never wander there. It will be focused. All our focus will be on this glorious, glorious, beautiful Savior. And all the while, you'll be wearing a never-fading crown and a never-fading robe of Christ's righteousness. And you'll be sitting on thrones with Christ, doing we don't know exactly what, but as kings and priests forever, there to bathe in the water of life, there to rest in the King of Kings in perfect peace. Oh, happy day when this mortality puts on immortality and this corruption, incorruption, and I will ever be with the Lord. A full perfection. These are just great words. These words summarize so much of the book of Revelation, don't they? The full perfection of thy kingdom will take place, wherein thou shalt be all and in all. You see, I will receive all these freedoms and all these privileges, but also, and lastly, profound joy, unspeakable. And the joy of all my joys in that day be that God is all and in all. I'll never have a selfish thought again. I'll never put myself in the way of God's work again. My joy will be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit And that golden Savior with His golden love in the golden heaven will be like a golden banner over us. And our joy, He says to us, will be full. I will never weary him with my sins anymore. I'll never have to hear him say to me anymore, foolish generation, how long must I bear you? Know our hearts. Our harps will never have to hang on the willows anymore. We'll never have to sing the sad songs of a deserted Jerusalem. Full perfection. Really, Lord? I'll be perfect. My cup will run over. For Thee, my joy will be Thee. Thou wilt be all and in all. O Thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom come, Lord. Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Amen. Oh Lord God, what a future awaits Thy people. What a future. Thy kingdom come. Deliver us from this poor perishing world. Let us set our affection on the things above and Christ Lord Jesus, do thou more and more and more be our all and in all. Help us to long more for heaven. Let it be our ardent desire to be with Jesus forever. And Lord, for those who never long for heaven, Please show them the awfulness of hell and the sweetness of communion with thee and the necessity of being born again and being prepared to be brought to glory forever. Come and bless us. Bless us as a church. And Lord, as we've tried to give this morning, also at the request of the elders, a few minutes of summary on a delicate issue. I pray that thou would bless it and that thou would incline the hearts of everyone to cooperate with the understanding of 1 Corinthians 11, that this unity in our church would be only strengthened by our togetherness on issues like these. So please bless the words meant in love, and please grant appropriate actions on the part of one and all, and give that the elders may rejoice with this kind of harmony that a healthy church displays. Please be near to us now and go with us further today and bless us abundantly. And be with Dr. Neely tonight as he brings thy word to us again. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.