In Pastor Steve Hopkins' sermon titled 'Thy Kingdom Come' at Bruna Bible Church, the focus is on understanding the phrase 'thy kingdom come' from the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6. Pastor Hopkins explains that this phrase is a call to pray for the advancement of God's kingdom on earth, emphasizing that while God is sovereign over all, His reign is not recognized by all. The sermon highlights the importance of prayer, arguing that it is through prayer and the preaching of the gospel that God's kingdom advances. Pastor Hopkins stresses the need for believers to become a praying church, and to participate in spreading the gospel, which he describes as the method through which God's kingdom is realized on earth. He uses scriptural examples, such as Peter's transformation into a 'fisher of men,' to illustrate how believers can contribute to this mission. The sermon calls for believers to seek spiritual renewal, participate in prayer, and share their testimonies as ways to honor God's name and further His kingdom.

Welcome back to Bruna Bible Church. This week Pastor Hopkins will continue his series on the Lord's Prayer. Good morning once again. If you would, turn with me in your Bibles once again to the book of Matthew, chapter 6, where we will be reading verses 9 and 10a, only the words, thy kingdom come, from verse 10. And if you would, stand with me for the reading, public reading of the word of the Lord.

Let's read together. After this manner, therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Let's pray. Father, we are all weakness. You are Almighty.

We are all needy. You are all supply. We are all thirsty. And you alone can quench our thirst. Father, we come to you once again asking for a work of the Holy Spirit.

And every one of us gathered here today, in the name of your son, we ask that you would change us, oh God. We ask that you would make us more like Jesus. We ask that you would open up the understanding of our hearts to understand your Word. We ask that you would work in us, a work that no man can work. We ask that you would make us useful tools for the advance of your kingdom and your glory.

For we ask it in the name of your son Jesus amen let's be seated a quick review from our last session when Jesus says when you pray pray our father which art in heaven In our last session I said I want you to understand that when you pray those words, which art in heaven, that's adoration, not location. That is not assigning a confined location to the Father, as if God were confined to a location somewhere called heaven and no place else. No, God is omnipresent. God is everywhere at all times. Second Chronicles chapter 2 and verse 6 says, the heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him." How many remember that from last week?

We're here, okay. So when we pray our Father, which art in heaven, it is an acknowledgement that God is above all, high above all. It is a form of adoration in our prayers. It is an adoring of God's greatness and His sovereignty over all. When we pray, our Father, who art in heaven, we're saying, our Father, high above all, you reign over all things.

And isn't that comforting? It is an acknowledgement that God reigns over all creation, that He is, quote, higher than the whole world, as Calvin says. And we should acknowledge it when we pray. And then in our last session, we came to the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, hallowed be thy name. Hallowed be thy name.

And I said it is the first petition of the Lord's prayer because it is to be in the first place in the minds of every one of us when we approach God in prayer. That the name of God is hallowed should be first in our minds because it was first in Jesus mind. How many got that last week? How many did that just drive through to your heart? The name of God, that His name is hallowed, should be first in our minds because it was first in Jesus' mind.

When Jesus' disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray, Jesus said, okay, when you pray, pray like this. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed, hallowed be thy name. Hallowed be thy name. When you go to pray in secret, because remember he's saying this is how you're to go and pray. When you go every day into that secret place and you go to pray to God in secret, knowing that God rewards those who pray to Him in secret, He rewards them openly.

When you go to get alone with God and pray, and He assumes that every one of us is doing this every day, every one of His disciples is doing this every day, your primary concern when you come to that place where you're pouring out your heart before God in secret and you're making your request before God Should be that his name is set apart as holy That his name is reverenced in all places and set apart from every other name that is named in all the world. The thing that should consume you when you come before God when you pray should be that the name of God is regarded in all places with the reverence that is due His name. Malachi 1-11 says, for from the rising of the sun, even into the going down of the same, my name, my name shall be great among the Gentiles. Amen. Pray that His name might be set apart as holy.

Let that be the thing that consumes you in your prayers when you get alone with God that his name is set apart as holy for he is holy And he his name should be set apart as holy should be regarded with the utmost reverence in all the earth Pray our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That's what I want you to pray, Jesus said, because listen friends, you will not, as I said last week, you will not be concerned about his kingdom come. You won't. You will not be concerned about his kingdom come. You will not be concerned about his will being done on earth as it is in heaven if you are not concerned in the first place with the hallowing of his name.

I said I hope we have become a praying church. I hope we've become a praying church. I hope these words, I hope these messages have not been preached in vain. I hope we have become a praying church. What a wonderful thing it is when a church begins to get on her knees before God.

Because you know what? Most of the churches in the world are not. And that's why there's very little work that is done in the world before God, because you cannot do anything in your own strength and your own power. To trust in the arm of man is foolishness and vanity. Arm of the Lord awake.

We pray thy kingdom come, O God, but we pray, O Lord, that your name would be set apart as holy. We hallow your name. O that we would become a praying church. Oh that we would get on our knees before God. Are you on your knees before God every day?

Has the message settled in yet? Has there been a change or is it just the status quo? It's just the status quo. It's the same as it was last week, and the week before that, and the week before that, and the month before that, and the year before that, nothing has changed. Oh, I just, we listen to the sermons and we get a Little bit excited one week, but nothing has changed I'm the same as I was last week and the week before that and the week before that nothing has ever changed Or has God begun to do a work and change your prayer life has God done a work in your life Oh, I pray.

Oh, I pray. Oh, I pray that he has we should be praying We should be a praying church. We should be a church that is getting on its knees before God every day and praying, oh Father, may your name be hallowed. May your name be hallowed in all the earth, but not only that, may your name be hallowed in my life in every way. O Father, may your name be hallowed in my life in every way.

May your name be hallowed in my marriage in every way. May your name, O God, be hallowed in my home in every way. O God, let everything that happens under the roof of my house bring glory to your name as your name is hallowed in this place, reverenced in this place, regarded as holy in this place, and not only in my life and in my marriage and in my home, but in our church, O God, and in our community and in all the world. Amen? Hallowed be thy name.

Hallowed be thy name. And may thy kingdom come. And may thy kingdom come. And may thy kingdom come. Brothers and sisters, I want you to listen to what I'm about to say because we live in a nation, we live in a nation where there is this idea of government, where there is no sovereign, where there is no king.

And the people of this nation tend to be repulsed by the notion of a monarch. And we like to say that we are a government of the people by the people. And that's fine, but we need to understand something. There is no kingdom where there is no king. There is no kingdom where there is no king.

But Jesus speaks of a kingdom when he instructs his people how to pray. And where there is a kingdom, there is a king, capital K. And when he speaks of that kingdom, he is not talking about a mere kingdom of men or an earthly political monarchy that may rise or wane or appear for a time and then vanish from the pages of history but he speaks of an everlasting kingdom that rules over all and a king that rules the entire world and all its inhabitants. There is a kingdom and there is a king in all the world and in America. We understand that.

Psalm 47 in verse 7 says, God is the King of all the earth. And Psalm 147 verse 13 tells us, thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. Amen? Amen. Aren't you glad that it does?

Psalm 103 verse 19 says, the Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all." Amen? And you might be thinking, well, if God is King of all the earth and His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His kingdom rules over all, then why does Jesus tell us that we need to pray, thy kingdom come? And the short answer is that we are praying that God's kingdom, which rules over all, might be submitted to by all. You got that? We're praying that God's kingdom which rules over all, He's the sovereign King over all the universe, over all the world, might be submitted to by all.

When we pray, thy kingdom come, we're praying for the advancement of the kingdom of God on earth. God as as King sovereignly rules over all, but his reign is not recognized and acknowledged by all. But we pray that it will be. God's kingdom has come with the coming of Jesus, but there are those who are not yet his willing subjects, and so we pray and so we preach. In Luke chapter 11 in verse 20 Jesus told the Jewish leaders, if I with the finger of God cast out devils, then the kingdom of God is come upon you.

You know that freaked them out. If I with the finger of God cast out devils, you know the kingdom of God has come upon you. You better believe it. The kingdom has come with Jesus and in the early stages of advance. And then what happens?

Jesus' kingdom is advancing. Jesus is casting out demons. He's showing his deity in the earth for those 40 days after his resurrection before his ascension. And then 40 days after Jesus' resurrection from the dead, just before his ascension to heaven, Jesus told his remaining 11 disciples, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." That word power there, when you look it up in the Greek, it means power in the sense of authority.

Would you note in my Reformation Heritage Bible says, He has already demonstrated, which Jesus has already demonstrated to them, that is authority, in His teaching, in His miracles, in the forgiveness of sins, and in the casting out of demons, remember, by the finger of God. And then Jesus instructs them, go ye therefore, that is for this reason, go ye therefore, because all authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth, that is, in his glorified exaltation, now I'm commissioning you. Now I'm commissioning you. Now your authority to go rests on my authority. Now go and teach all nations, That is, go and make disciples of every nation on earth.

When we pray, when we pray, thy kingdom come, we are praying that God will bring about, will bless that work which he commands his disciples to carry out in all the world. That he will bless it, that he will bless that work which he's commanding us to carry out in all the world. Brothers and sisters, the kingdom of God comes through the preaching of the gospel. Do you understand that? The advance of the kingdom of God comes through the preaching of the gospel.

You understand that? The advance of the kingdom of God comes through the preaching of the gospel. When we pray, thy kingdom come, When we pray, thy kingdom come, when we pray thy kingdom come, we are praying in accord with the expressed will of God that disciples be made in every nation on Earth. It's exciting. When we pray, thy kingdom come, we are praying that God might bring all men everywhere to repentance and faith in Christ.

You like that? I like it. When we pray, thy kingdom come, we are praying for the demolishing of satanic strongholds and the bringing down of every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. John Calvin comments here, Jesus, quote, commands them to promise eternal life in His name to reduce the whole world under His sway and to publish a doctrine which subdues all pride and lays prostrate the whole of the human race." Now we're talking. And quote, by constraining men to obey him in the preaching of the gospel, he establishes his throne on the earth, and by regenerating his people to a new life and inviting them to the hope of salvation, he opens heaven to a blessed immortality with angels, those who had not only crawled on the earth, but had been plunged into the abyss of death.

You ever seen the bumper stickers that say, God bless John Wayne? Well, I want one that says, God bless John Calvin. When we pray, thy kingdom come, we're praying for worldwide revival and that the reign of Christ will be realized at every nation on earth through the preaching of the gospel. When we pray, thy kingdom come, we are praying that The name of God will be hallowed in every place, revered in all the earth, set apart as holy in every nation and kingdom, and by every people on earth. In short, that every enemy of the gospel will be subdued, Satan's dominion destroyed, and Christ exalted as both Lord and Savior over all.

Amen? We need to be a praying people. You ever heard that the gates of hell should not prevail against the church? The gates are on that side, not this side. It's the church breaking through the gates, not the other way around.

And we need to get the positive thinking on our side. That Wesley Hymn that we sang earlier says, he sits at God's right hand till all his foes submit. Did you notice that the Psalm today fell on that very Psalm? How about that? How is that for providence, divine providence?

Jesus is exalted to the right hand of God until what? Until all his foes submit. Wesley knew it. George Whitfield knew it. All those of the Great Awakening during the time of the Great Awakening knew it, he sits at God's right hand till all his foes submit, until the Father makes all of the enemies of Christ a footstool for his feet.

That's what Psalm 110 says. Until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. I know we don't like that. It's not the modern-day eschatology of destruction and loss. He sits at God's right hand till all his foes submit and bow to his command and fall beneath his feet.

I like the old hymns. Rejoice the Lord is what? King now. He's King now. He's not just the coming King, he's King now.

Pray thy kingdom come. And we sang arm of the Lord awake. What about that one? Let adverse powers before thee fall. Look at the things that they were singing in the 17 and 1800s, which we're trying to revive today.

Let adverse powers before thee fall and crown the Savior, Lord of all. You don't crown someone that's not a king. All hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him, Lord of all.

Amen? Pray that God will receive the glory to His name in all places of His dominion, And that's everywhere. Pray that wherever His name is not known, it will be known. Wherever His name is not reverenced, it will be reverenced. Wherever His kingdom is not come, His kingdom may come with power.

But again, How is that done? How does the kingdom of God come? How is the kingdom of God advanced in the earth? Through political action? No.

Though we don't want to ignore political action, we still engage in it. We don't set our hopes in political action. Before the institutions of men are changed, the hearts of men must be changed. And that takes the work of God. We long for political renewal, but before political renewal there must first be spiritual renewal.

That's the history of the world, friends. The American War for Independence, we're about to do some celebrating, right? Manana? The American War for independence was preceded by a great awakening in the colonies. Right?

Before they got their act together politically in the 60s and the 70s, there was a great awakening in the 30s and the 40s and the 50s. There was George Whitefield preaching to crowds of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 000 without any electronic amplification. They had more than the population of cities, many times, gathered in cities like Philadelphia, listening to the preaching of the gospel. It was an amazing time. You had Jonathan Edwards preaching sinners in the hands of an angry God.

This is what preceded the American war for independence and the new Constitution, and the separating of the colonies from England. This is what preceded it. Before there was political renewal, there was spiritual renewal. That's what took place first. The preaching of the gospel went forth.

We pray for spiritual renewal for revival. That's what we need. That's what this country needs We're being flushed Right now We're going down And we're going down fast and we're going down hard. And we need to turn around. We need to be praying for God to turn this thing around no matter what it takes.

If it takes economic collapse, so be it. If it takes millions being thrown out of work, so be it. If it takes famine, So be it. Whatever it takes, God, for there to be a turnaround in this country, bring it upon this country that the gospel might go forth, the evil strongholds might be brought down, and the gospel might go forth. Now I didn't take those things during the time of the Great Awakening.

God just blessed this country with the bringing down of satanic strongholds, and the gospel went forth, and it was just amazing. He could do that again. Oh, pray that he will just grant us a spiritual awakening and a great awakening once again. But you realize that the Continental Congress of the Colonies invited Christian ministers to preach the gospel to them assembled. They were having, I've got, I've got, there's a site on the Internet that you could go to and you can read these sermons where they invited Christian ministers to come in and preach to Congress assembled and they preach the gospel to them and this went on into past the colonial into The constitutional era it went on for for decades and decades and decades That's what we need again For a long time it happened but first there had to be George Whitefield's preaching outdoor to the masses and Jonathan Edwards' sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, being the most published article in print.

The kingdom of God comes through the preaching of the gospel, and nations change when people change, and only God can change people. The kingdom comes as a prayer for the Lord to reign as king, and the Lord reigns as king only where the gospel is preached and the hearts of men are regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. But of course, everyone isn't called to full-time ministry, right? Everyone's not going to be a George Whitfield or a Jonathan Edwards or whatever. And we need to be praying that God will raise up preachers from this little assembly.

We need to be praying that God will raise up elders, he'll raise up pastors, he'll raise up street preachers, he'll raise up evangelists, he'll raise up publishers. The Lord knows America needs preachers, but only the Lord can make preachers. In Luke chapter 5, Peter and the other disciples are on a lake fishing. And you'll remember the story, and they caught nothing, remember? They're out all night, they catch nothing, and they're ready to call it quits.

And Jesus is out on the land, and he says, let the nets back down. Peter says, but Lord, he's always arguing with Jesus, but Lord we've been fishing all night and we've caught nothing in our own strength and our own power. But at your word we'll do it. And they let their nets back down and they caught so many fish that the nets were breaking, right? And they had to call for help from another ship.

And they came, the other ship comes and they filled both ships so that the ships began to sink. And when they get to the land, Peter sees Jesus and he falls down at Jesus' knees. Remember what he says? And he says, depart from me, Lord, for I'm a sinful man. Peter's broken.

And he's ready to serve the Lord in whatever capacity Jesus wants him to serve. Now he's ready. Now he's in the place where he's ready to serve. And Jesus says to Peter, fear not, for henceforth, from this time forward, I'm going to do something different with you, Peter. Anyone Remember what he does, what he says he's going to do with them from now on?

From now on, you're going to catch men. I'm going to make you, all of you, he's telling the disciples that I've chosen fishers of men to bring in the souls of men. You know what it says next? The disciples got their ships to land and they forsook all. They forsook everything and they followed Jesus.

That's what men do when God calls them into full-time ministry. The other guys in the ships apparently got all the fish that were caught and they sold them, but the disciples left everything and followed Jesus and became fishers of men. Now we need fishers of men, but only Jesus can make them, And we're not all called by Jesus to full-time ministry. Every one of us in here is not called by Jesus to full-time ministry. But everyone can do something, right?

Everyone can do something. I've stacked a bunch of tracks on the back table there for people who want to take tracks and hand them out. But everybody can do something. Every one of us can do something to advance the kingdom of Jesus as we pray for the advance of Jesus' kingdom. And in just a second I'm going to give you an example how every one of us can do something, and it's from Scripture.

But every one of us can do something. And the first thing that we need to be doing is we need to be praying for the advance of Jesus' Kingdom. Everyone can be praying. Everyone should be praying every day. Jesus said, he assumes we're all praying and when we pray this is the way we're supposed to be praying, oh God that your name would be set apart as holy everywhere and that your kingdom would come with power.

Everyone should be praying that. Every one of us can be and should be praying, thy kingdom come every day. Are we the kind of church that can do that and will do that? Will you do that? Will you commit?

Will you resolve to pray daily, thy kingdom come, oh God, thy kingdom come, thy kingdom come. We just want to see the advance of your kingdom, O God. The kingdom in all the earth, right here in Bernadette, Texas, let there be revival, O God. Let your spirit fall upon this place from heaven and let us see the advance of your kingdom, O God, and help us to participate in it. Will you resolve to pray, thy kingdom come?

Oh, I hope you will. Let us be a praying church. But everyone can also do something, and I'll give you an example. In Mark chapter five, there is a wild man in the country of the Gatarenes, and he's running around naked in the countryside. And he's terrorizing the people of the country.

He's running around naked, covered in his own blood, howling at the moon, cutting himself with the stones, and he sleeps in the cemetery, running through the tombs, and all the people are terrorized by him. And the scripture says he's possessed with a legion of demons. He is a frightening man. And the townspeople put him in chains. And he breaks the chains.

This is how fierce he is. He breaks metal chains that he's chained with. He's so fierce and demon possessed. And Jesus appears and the man sees Jesus. He's naked, he's covered in his own blood, he's possessed with demons, and he sees Jesus and he runs up to Jesus and worships Him.

Jesus and worships Him. And the demons start talking to Jesus out of this man. And Jesus casts out the devils and puts the man in his right mind. And the townspeople hear about it and they come to see what's going on and they see and they and when they get there they find this man all cleaned up and he's sitting at the feet of Jesus in his right mind he's all peaceable, he's peacefully sitting at the feet of Jesus. And the man begs Jesus, let me stay with you.

I just want to stay with you. I just want to stay with you. I just want to be where you're at. That's what happens when you really have salvation, regeneration, and a change of heart when God really has changed you from the inside out. You just want to be where Jesus is because He has made you a new creature in Him.

He just wants to be where Jesus is, but Jesus says, no, that's not what I want you to do. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to go back to your people. I want you to go back into your community. I want you to go back into the townspeople where you came from.

I want you to go back to the people who once knew you, to your old friends, and I want you to tell them what great things the Lord has done for you. Everyone can do that. Everyone in this building can do that. Everyone in this church house can do that. Has Jesus saved you from your sins?

Has he delivered you from the wrath to come? Have your chains of sin slavery come off? Has God taken your filthy garments off of you and clothed you in the righteousness of his son? Has he put you in your right mind? When is the last time you told someone?

God may not have called you to full-time ministry, But if His amazing grace has saved a wretch like you, you can tell someone about it. You can look up your old friends. You can talk to your lost family members. You can go back into your old community. You can tell that guy on the job that takes the Lord's name in vain and wonders why you don't.

You can tell them what great things the Lord has done for you. I know some of the modern hymnals have taken that word out of the hymnal, Amazing Grace. One of the United Methodist hymnals says that saved a soul like me. It doesn't sound very amazing to me. Legion was a wretch.

I was a wretch. It's hard for proud men to see ourselves as we should, but I'm a wretch, are you? Were you a wretch? Jesus saved a wretched sinner when he saved me. Peter said, depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.

Same thing. We can't all go into full-time ministry, but we can all humble ourselves and go to our lost family members and old friends and people God brings us into contact with on a daily basis so we can tell the wonderful things God has done for us in saving our souls and delivering us from the wrath to come. Praying all the while, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy kingdom come, thy kingdom come, thy kingdom come, Thy kingdom come. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you would help us to see that the fields are truly ripe under the harvest.

They're white under harvest. Please help us to humble ourselves. Please help us to go to our lost friends and family members and neighbors and tell them what great things you