I've entitled this evening's
message, The Kingdom of God. It was said of the Lord at the
beginning of his public ministry, and Jesus went about all Galilee
teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom of God. That's a name for the gospel,
the gospel of the kingdom of God. In Mark's account, in Mark
chapter 1, verses 14 and 15, we read, Jesus came to Galilee
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the time is
fulfilled and the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. Now, I think it's interesting
that the majority of the parables of our Lord are given to teach
us what the kingdom of God is like. The kingdom of God can
be likened to the kingdom of God is like. When the Lord taught
us to pray, what is our first request that he taught us to
pray? Thy kingdom come. When our Lord taught us to seek
the Lord, he said, seek ye first. This is above everything else. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. and all these things shall be
added to you. So the Lord had a lot to say
about the kingdom of God. And in verse 20 of our text in
Luke chapter 17, and when he was demanded of the Pharisees,
when the kingdom of God should come. Now he was demanded. I think that they were being
sarcastic. I think that they were being
rude. They were saying, we hear all
this talk of a kingdom. I don't see it. You have no army. You have no government backing.
You have no money. And the guys you got with you
are a bunch of ignorant, unlearned fishermen. What kingdom? You speak of the kingdom. Where
is it? We don't see it. When is it going
to come? And I love the way the Lord answered,
the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. It's not something
you guys can see. You see, the flesh can't see
this kingdom. It's a mighty kingdom. But you can't say, there it is,
or there it is, or this is what it looks like. Ah, there it is.
No, not at all. The kingdom of God, this mighty
kingdom, comes not with human observation. The kingdoms of this world are
kingdoms that can be seen. Turn with me to Luke chapter
4 for just a moment. Verse 5, And the devil, taking
him up into a high mountain, this is talking about the temptation
of Christ, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in
a moment of time. And the devil said unto him,
all this power will I give thee and the glory of them for that's
delivered unto me and to whomsoever will I give it. Now he showed
him all the kingdoms of this world. Now that can cover such
a large definition. The Roman government, any kingdom,
the kingdoms of Babylon, And I haven't been in the public
sector as far as working for a long time, and I'm glad, I'm
thankful you're all able to keep me out of that. I have no business,
or I have no desire to be around it, but you know when you work,
everybody's got a kingdom. They got a turf, they got a kingdom
they're trying to promote. And you've all seen that in every
environment, whether it's a huge kingdom or whether it's just
a little small kingdom in our personal life that we're trying
to establish. Every worldly kingdom has these two things in common. Number one, they're under the
control of the devil. That's a sobering thought, isn't
it? But that's what the Lord says. He showed him all the kingdoms
of the world, and he said, I'm in control of them all. Now,
the only reason he's in control of them is because God gave him
that control. We know that. God is in control. But the devil is behind every
human kingdom. That's the first thing. They're
under satanic control. And secondly, they're temporary. Every one of them, they're temporary. They're not going to last. And
right now we live in the most powerful country in the world. And I don't think anyone would
argue with that. We have the most military might. We have
the strongest economy. And if the Lord doesn't come
back first, it's not going to stay that way. It never does. How many kingdoms have risen
and fallen, risen and fallen? They never stay that way. But
the kingdom of God is not something that can be seen with these physical
eyes. We can't say, there it is. That's
what the kingdom of God is, or that's what the kingdom of God
is. Lord says it doesn't come with observation. Why, when the
one who was born king arrived, only a few shepherds knew it.
Nobody could see he was the king. He was born king of the Jews,
but to the world, he was an insignificant Jew born in poverty, nothing
more. When he came into the temple
to be circumcised upon the eighth day, nobody saw who he was. Now, Simeon did, Anna did, but
nobody else did. He was looked upon as just another
baby. being brought in to the temple. You know, the Lord said, my kingdom
is not of this world. I love that statement, don't
you? My kingdom, the kingdom that comes from me, it's not
of this world. If it were, my servants would
fight that I'd not be delivered hence, but now my kingdom is
not of hence. His kingdom is no worldly This
stuff you're looking for, he says, this outward show has nothing
to do with my kingdom. And he says in verse 21, neither
shall they say lo here or lo there. For behold, the kingdom
of God is within you. It's not something on the outside.
It's something that's on the inside. It's internal. But my
marginal reading says the kingdom of God is among you. And I believe that's what the
Lord is saying. The Lord is saying, I am the
kingdom of God. He is standing in your midst. You're looking for something
else and you're missing it. I am the kingdom. of God. Turn with me for a moment to
Revelation chapter 17. Verse 13. These have one mind and shall
give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make
war with the lamb and the lamb shall overcome them for he is
Lord of lords. and king of kings. Show me any king. There's nothing
but a pawn in his hand. He's the king. He's the lord
of lords. And he's the king of kings. And I love this description of
his subjects and they that are with him. You know, that's the
only identity I want. He's one of those fellows with
Him. He's with Him. That's the only identity I want
with the Lord Jesus Christ. They that are with Him are called. Called by invincible, irresistible
grace. They're chosen. Chosen by God. Elected by God before time began. And they're faithful. You know
what that means? That means they can be believed.
They're real. They're not phonies. They're
real. Called, chosen, and faithful. Now, the Old Testament has a
lot to say about this kingdom. Would you turn with me to Psalm
145? David says, beginning in verse
11, or verse 10, all thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, and
thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory
of thy kingdom. That's what we're doing right
now, isn't it? and talk of thy power, to make known to the sons
of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. Now
here's what's going on in the kingdom of God. The Lord upholdeth
all that fall. and raiseth up all those that
be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee,
and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thy
hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord
is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. The
Lord is mine to them that call upon him, to all that call upon
him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of
them that fear him. He also will hear their cry and
will save them. The Lord preserveth all them
that love him, but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall
speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy
name forever and ever." What a description of his kingdom.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah says in verse 6, for unto
us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Now that
son was never born. That's the eternal son. He was
given, but he wasn't born. The child was born in time, but
the son is eternal. He always was. Now let's go on
reading. And the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Those names are all given to Jesus Christ. Don't you love
that? What a King we have. He's the
Mighty God. He's the Everlasting Father.
That's what it says. Verse seven, of the increase
of his government and peace, there shall be no end upon the
throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it, to establish
it with judgment and with justice from henceforth and forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Turn to Daniel
chapter four. These are the words of Nebuchadnezzar.
in Daniel chapter four. This is after God taught him
who he was. And at the end of those days,
verse 34, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven,
and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most
High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? Give an account for yourself. Now that's his kingdom. Look
in chapter six of Daniel, verse 26. I make a decree that in every
dominion of my kingdom, said the Iris, men tremble in fear
before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God and steadfast
forever and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed
and his dominion shall be even unto the end. Now, our Lord gives a word that describes his
kingdom. And I think this is the most
important word in his kingdom. It's the word righteousness. We read in Psalm 145, 6, a scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Therefore, God,
even thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows. Remember when the Lord said,
seek ye first the kingdom of God and what? and His righteousness. Now this is what I'm seeking.
I'm seeking His righteousness. Do you know what that means?
That means I want to have His righteousness as my own personal righteousness
before God. I don't have anything else. All I want is to be found
in Him having His righteousness. And everything about His kingdom
is utterly and completely righteous. Paul put it this way in Romans
chapter 14 verse 17, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink.
It's not do's and don'ts. It's not rules and regulations.
It's not go here and stay away from there. The kingdom of God
is righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus Christ,
the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. Now, if you are trusting Christ's
righteousness right now as your personal righteousness before
God, you know what comes with that? Peace. Peace. I've got peace. All that God requires of me,
I have. I'm at peace. You know what else
comes with that? Joy. The joy of knowing that
Jesus Christ is my personal righteousness before God. The kingdom of God. Righteousness. What do you think
about having his righteousness? It's such a glorious thing. Now,
not everybody is in this kingdom we're speaking of, the kingdom
of God. Only those who love his rule. Only those who love his kingship.
Do you love him being king? Do you love him being in absolute
control? Do you need his kingship? Everybody who loves his kingship,
everybody who loves his kingdom, they are in the kingdom. Not
everyone, our Lord said that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall
enter the kingdom of heaven. Turn with me for a moment to
Luke chapter 13. Verse 23. Then said one unto
him, Lord, are there few that be saved? How many times have
you asked yourself that question? Or is there just a few people
that are saved? I don't see a whole lot of people
that seem to be believing the gospel of God's grace. Are there
just a few people to be saved? I bet everybody in this room
has asked that question. I love the way the Lord answered it. He said to them, you strive to
enter in at the straight gate. You don't need to worry whether
there's many or there's few. You need to worry about one person
and only one person. Whether there's few or there's
many, you make sure you're the one that strives to enter in
at the straight gate. If nobody else does, you do it. Let's go on reading. For many,
I say, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once
the master of the house has risen up and has shut the door, and
you begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying,
Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto
you, I know you not whence you are. Then shall you begin to
say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast
taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you,
I know you not whence you are. Depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you
shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets
in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." Now,
when I read something like that, it scares me. I don't want to
be one of these people. I want to be one of these people
that are in, not one of these people that are thrust out. Now,
I want to ask two very simple questions. Who will be in the
kingdom of God? That's the first question. Who
will be in the kingdom of God? And the second question is, how
do they get in? How do they enter the kingdom
of God? I'm gonna be brief. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
five. We're given a complete description of who will be in
the kingdom of God. These are the Beatitudes. And their book ended with this
statement, blessed are the poor in spirit, verse 3, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. And then he says in verse 10,
blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Now everybody described by the
Beatitudes are the subjects, are the people of this glorious
kingdom. And you can listen right now,
and I can listen right now, and I can ascertain as to whether
or not I'm in the kingdom of God by reading these Beatitudes. Now this is what a believer is. And I can't have five of the
eight, I can't have seven of the eight, I must have all eight
of these to ascertain whether or not I'm really in this glorious
kingdom that the Lord speaks of. And I love where he begins.
He says in verse three, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Poor in spirit means you have
nothing to recommend you to God. You are without resources. You are poor. You have nothing,
not one thing to recommend you to God. The only hope that you
have of being recommended to God is Christ dying for your
sins. You don't have any other hope.
It's Christ's righteousness being given to you. You don't have
any other hope because you're poor. You're poor in spirit. Everybody who's in the kingdom
of heaven is poverty stricken in that sense, bankrupt before
God. Now look what he says in verse
four. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Now, let me say this about this verse of scripture. This is in
the present active. What it means is you're mourning
right now. It doesn't mean this is the way
you were before you're saved. It means this is the way you
are right now. You mourn. When's the last time you wept
before God over your sin? When's the last time? Those in
the kingdom of God mourn right now over their sin. And you know
this thing of mourning. When we think of mourning, we
think of what happens when somebody dies. That's when you mourn. When somebody dies and you can't
bring them back. And you mourn over your sin when
you see its power over you. and you can't do anything about
it. You're completely dependent upon
the grace of God to do something for you, and you mourn before
God over your sin. Do you mourn over your sin? Those
in the kingdom of God do. Now, if I have an indifferent
attitude towards sin, if I have a fatalistic attitude towards
sin, if I have a lousy, fair attitude towards sin, I'm not
in the kingdom of God. Those who are in the kingdom
of God or they who mourn. And then it says in verse five,
blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. A meek
person. I love the definition of meekness. Meekness is a genuine belief
that whatever God brings your way is right because he does
it. It's right. You don't have a
sense of entitlement. You don't have a sense of thinking
I'm not being treated fairly. Whatever God brings my way is
right because he does it. That's meekness before God. That's
humility before God. Whatever he does is right. Now look in verse 5. Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Now
here's that key word, righteousness. And once again, hunger and thirst
is in the present tense. It's right now. Not the way you
used to be. The way you are right now. Now hunger and thirst is a conscious
awareness of an absence of something. When you're thirsty and hungry,
it's because you don't have anything in your stomach. Your stomach's
ground. It's empty. You don't have it. When you're
thirsty, it's because you don't have that water as far as your
conscious awareness of it. Right now, you are hungering
and thirsting for righteousness. And you can't satisfy yourself.
You can't satisfy your own hunger. You can't have a dry mouth and
start trying to work up some spit to enable you to satisfy
your thirst. That satisfaction's got to come
from outside of you, doesn't it? Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst for righteousness. Oh, the only righteousness I
know of is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I know for sure
that mine's filthy rags and I need his, for they shall be filled. And then he says in verse seven,
blessed are the merciful. For they shall obtain mercy. Now, anyone who's ever experienced
the mercy of God, you know what they are? They're merciful men
and women. And if I'm not a merciful person,
I don't know anything about His mercy. Blessed are the merciful. for they shall obtain mercy. The people in his kingdom are
the merciful. And then in verse eight, he says,
blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Now this
is the beatitude that just used to kill me. You know, when I'd
come to this one, I'd not even want to read it. I mean, I'd
think, anything but pure in heart. I mean, I could see all kinds
of sin and evil and wicked desires and all that kind of stuff, because
I didn't really understand what is meant by this. This is talking
about the heart given in the new birth, the new heart, the
pure heart. Now, the old heart's still there,
but now I have a new heart, a heart that's pure before God. This
is the heart that believes. It isn't the old man that believes.
It isn't the old man enabled by grace to believe. It's the
new man that he's placed there, the pure in heart. Everybody's got a pure heart,
and if you're a believer, you've got one. He's giving you a new
heart. You've been born of the Spirit.
You've been born again. David said, creating me a clean
heart, O God. That's the heart that's being
spoken of. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God, and only they shall see God. And then he says in verse
9, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the
children of God. Now, every child of God is a
peacemaker. Now, there are some people who are
contentious, it seems like. Conflict doesn't bother them.
And all kinds of things we could say about that. But if I'm looking
for a fight, I'm not in the kingdom of heaven. I'm just not. Every believer
wants peace. Peace with God. Peace with our
brethren. We don't want conflict. We want
unity. I want everyone in the world
to see me as a peacemaker. Not as a contentious person.
Not as a battler. But a peacemaker. Blessed are
the peacemakers. And every believer is a peacemaker. I realize that our personalities
make some more obvious this way than others, but still, every
believer is a peacemaker. And look in verse 10, blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake. For theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Now, blessed are they who are
persecuted for, there's that word again, righteousness sake.
Now here's one thing that every believer is. Every believer is
a fanatic, a fanatic about the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Amen? We make such an issue of
the only righteousness there is is the righteousness of Christ. This is not talking about people
who are persecuted because they do good. No, you get your picture
in the paper, big check, donation you made. We're not talking about
that. We're talking about people who are persecuted for the stand
they take for the righteousness of Jesus Christ being the only
righteousness there is. And all other righteousnesses
are nothing more than filthy rags in God's sight. Now, you
stand for that, you preach that, you'll be persecuted for righteousness
sake. But this is the description of
everybody that's in his kingdom. Don't you love the Beatitudes?
That is who is in the kingdom. That's a scriptural answer. He
says theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, how can it be entered? That's what I want to close with.
How can I enter this kingdom? I want to be in this kingdom,
don't you? Oh my, I want to be in this kingdom. I don't want
to be in the kingdoms of this world. I want to be in that kingdom
which is not of this world. I love the way the Lord said
concerning his people. He said they are not of the world
even as I am not of the world. I want to be one of these people,
don't you? I don't want to be a member of this world. I want
to be a member of this heavenly kingdom. Now how in the world
does somebody get into this kingdom? Well first, you have to be an
heir. You have to be an heir. There's
nothing you can do to make yourself an heir. You have to be an heir. Do you remember when the Lord
said, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. You have to be an
heir. Now, what am I going to do? See what I'm going to do. Lord,
make me an heir. I can't make myself an heir.
I can only be made an heir by your grace, but make me thine
heir. In Matthew 5, verse 20, the Lord
said, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom
of heaven. For me to enter the kingdom of heaven, I'm gonna
have to have a righteousness that goes way beyond that righteousness
the scribes and Pharisees had. I'm gonna have to have nothing
less than the very righteousness of Jesus Christ as my personal
righteousness before God. That's that righteousness that
gives us such peace and joy. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, His faith is counted
for righteousness, even as David described the blessedness of
the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without their works,
saying, Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven, whose iniquities
are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Now, for me to get into heaven,
I'm going to have to have the righteousness of Christ. And
so, you know what I say? I say with Paul, when he said in Philippians
chapter 3 verse 9, Oh, that I may win Christ. and be found in him."
Not having my own righteousness. I don't have anything to do with
that. I know what it is. But that which is through the
faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. In John chapter 3, verses 3 and
verse 5, the Lord said, except ye be born again. You cannot
see or you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. I'm going to have
to be birthed by God. I'm going to have to be given
life. Life from the dead. He's going to have to birth me
and give me life for me to enter this glorious kingdom and how
I need life. Lord, give me this life. Give
me this life. That's all I know to say. Lord,
give it to me. If you don't give it to me, I won't have it. Oh,
birth me into your kingdom. Cause me to be born from above. And then in Matthew chapter 7,
verse 21, the Lord said, not everyone that sayeth to me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Now let me give
you a hint. That's not talking about doing
all kinds of religious things. Because he goes on to say, Many
shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached
in your name? In your name have we not cast out devils? In your
name have we not done many wonderful works? Then shall I say unto
them, Depart from me ye that work iniquity. I never knew you.
Now this doing of the will of God, you know what it is? It's
believing the gospel. That's what it is. It's believing
the gospel. This is the work of him that
sent me, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. What's God's will for you right
now? to believe the gospel. Like that song we heard at the
first of the sermon, have faith in God. I was thinking, yeah,
have faith in God. When your prayers aren't answered,
when everything seems to be going wrong, yeah, have faith in God.
Is there ever a time not to have faith in God? No. Believe the
gospel. Faith is the evidence. Now, faith
is the evidence of being in the kingdom. Do you believe the gospel?
You're in the kingdom. And then I think of when the
disciples were arguing over who's going to be the greatest in the
kingdom. The Lord said, except you be converted and become as
little children, you won't even be there. A childlike disposition and faith
that simply believes the Heavenly Father, like a little child. What he says, you believe. You
rely on, you're not seeking to be better than your brother.
You know you're the chief of sinners. You're not seeking a
higher position. You're taking the lowest seat
as a little child, except you be converted and becomes little
children, you won't even enter the kingdom of heaven. Oh Lord,
convert me, turn me, give me this childlike disposition, not
this harsh, cynical, Critical? No, let me be a little child
hearing the gospel. Now, I want to close by reading
a passage from Luke chapter 23 that I think is the greatest
instance of what the kingdom of heaven is all about. You know,
Paul said the kingdom of heaven is not in word, but it's in power. And here we have an example of
the kingdom of heaven being in power. Luke chapter 23, verse
39. And one of the malfactors which
were hanged railed on him saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other, he had been railing
before, but he's not now. Something happened to this man. Something miraculous happened. He's not railing now. But the
other answering rebuked him, saying, Does not thou fear God?
And listen, beloved. He's talking about that one hanging
on the cross. That's God hanging on the cross. Don't you fear
God? Now, I think this is interesting
about this fellow. If you want to, you know, people say, Well,
how much You've got to believe to be saved. Well, I know you've
got to believe what this thief believed. I know that. And I know as far
as that goes, well, you've got to believe to be saved, everything
God says. Is there anything God says that you say, well, I don't
believe that? No, no. You believe everything God says.
That's what believers are. They believe, don't they? They
believe. They believe. He says, he rebuked his buddy,
it says, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. Now, everybody that the
Lord saves, they say the same things about themselves. I deserve
to be sent to hell. That's what I believe about myself.
I deserve through my unbelief, through my sinfulness, through
my, I'm getting exactly what I got coming. I don't want to
go to hell. Oh my, I don't want to go to
hell. But if God sent me to hell, that would be what I deserve.
You believe that? This fella did. Let's go on reading. We indeed justly, for we receive
the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. He believed in the absolute perfection
and sinlessness of Jesus Christ. He never sinned. He's the lamb without blemish
and without spot. He has done nothing amiss. Verse 42, and I think John Calvin
called this the most amazing instance of faith in all the
Word of God. And he said unto Jesus, Lord. No one else saw he was Lord while
he was hanging there, seemingly so helpless, blood flowing from
his wounds, the crown of thorns on his head, people making fun
of him. I bet when he called him Lord,
somebody said, can you believe he said that? He called him Lord.
But he knew who he was. And isn't that what faith is?
Knowing who Jesus Christ is. He knew he was the Lord. And
he said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. You
see, he understood that Jesus Christ would not stay on that
cross. He understood because of who he was, he was gonna be
raised from the dead, and he was gonna come back as a mighty,
reigning, victorious king. He knew it was not possible for
Christ to fail. He knew that. He said, oh, when
you come back in your kingdom, would you remember me? You know, that's the only hope
I have, is that the Lord would remember me. He's one of mine. I died for him. I paid for his
sins. He's mine. Verse 43, and I don't know where anyone
was given such assurance as this. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. What a king, what a kingdom. Doesn't come with observation,
does it? It's not a flashlight kingdom. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in our king's name. the King of Kings, thy blessed
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, we thank you for thy
kingdom. And Lord, we ask that we might
be heirs of thy kingdom. We ask that we might be given
the righteousness to be in thy kingdom. We ask that we might
be born of thee, that we might be in thy kingdom. Lord, Your
kingdom is lovely to us, it's glorious to us. And Lord, we
say from our heart, by your grace, thy kingdom come. In Christ's blessed name we pray,
amen.