The Essence of the Kingdom

I have believed for some time that the Lord's Prayer (more correctly, the Disciples Prayer--but I will use the more familiar term) is priestly in nature.

Matthew 6:9-13
(9)  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
(10)  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
(11)  Give us this day our daily bread.
(12)  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
(13)  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Jesus was deliberate when instructing his followers to pray Our Father in heaven;..give us this day our daily bread;...lead us not into temptation;... The one who prays the Lord's prayer is praying on behalf of the larger Christian community and not only for his own sake. He is like a priest who is seeking the blessing of God over the community of those in covenant with the Creator.

The Lord's prayer has three petitions on behalf of the Church. They are for provision, peace and protection. (See how I cleverly started all three with the letter "P"?)  The request for daily bread is obviously for provision. The prayer for forgiveness is more than simply asking for our sins to be forgiven--it also regards the conscious release of those who have sinned against us from judgment. Thus, the prayer for forgiveness ultimately becomes a petition for peace in our personal relationships. The final petition to lead us not into temptation is clearly related to divine protection.

I don't believe the Lord intended for this prayer to be quoted. The power of the prayer is in the spirit of intercession that is implicit. When we pray in the spirit the Lord intended, we may use a good variety of terms and sentences to invoke the Divine blessing of provision, peace and protection on the family of God.

I have more recently come to see that there is a parallel between the three petitions in the Lord's Prayer and the priestly benediction given in Numbers 6:23-27. This blessing was to be pronounced by the priesthood over Israel at regular times (although scripture does not specify how often.)

Numbers 6:23-27
(23)  Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
(24)  The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
(25)  The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
(26)  The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
(27)  And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

 Inasmuch as the priestly benediction has three invocations, it is easy to see the parallels to the Lord's prayer. Verse 24 puts the blessing of protection first. Verse 25 speaks of the provision of God in terms of graciousness. And finally, verse 26 invokes the blessing of peace, which was especially meaningful to Israel in their wilderness wanderings when surrounded by potentially hostile nations. The three blessings are not in the same order as they are found in the Lord's Prayer, but they are all present.

Get it now---the Lord's Prayer is the New Testament version of the priestly blessing on the Covenant Community.

This brings us to the closing line of the Lord's Prayer. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever... In light of what I've previously said, we can see that the Lord was indicating that the essence of the Kingdom of God involves the provision, protection and peace of those in covenant with God. Jesus was telling us that the three priestly blessings are the substance of the Kingdom.

This is similar to when Jesus said, Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven (Mar. 10:14.) I could paraphrase Matthew 6:13 like this: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for this is the kingdom you have prepared for us. 

This also sheds light on Matthew 6:33, where we are told to seek first the kingdom of God. We are truly seeking the kingdom of God when we are praying for the provision, protection and peace of the family of God. 

How to Prosper in the Kingdom

In my last blog entry, I contended that much of the Lord's teaching regarded prosperity--not the prosperity of the world, but prosperity in the Kingdom of God. Jesus wanted his followers to have the spiritual resources to conduct His business here on earth. I am not just looking forward to going to heaven someday to inherit a mansion on a street of gold--I am interested in possessing the Kingdom here and now for the glory of my King! I want to be a successful person in the Kingdom of God.

In the parable of the nobleman who went on a journey and left his servants with various sums of money to invest while he was gone, we see that the master returned to reward his servants according to how successfully they had invested and prospered with his money. This tells us that the Lord wants us to conduct successful business transactions in the Kingdom of God here and now--we have been given a great responsibility to multiply his wealth until he returns. The Lord's wealth is not silver and gold, or meat and drink. The wealth of the Kingdom of God is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit  (Ro. 14:17). He will reward those who are faithful and wise to be prosperous with the Kingdom riches.

Fortunately, the servants of the King are not left to their own devices in this great responsibility. Jesus left us with instructions on how to multiply Kingdom wealth. Consider the following passages which are taken from the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 6:1-4, 6, 17-18
(1)  Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
(2)  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
(3)  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
(4)  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

(6)  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

(17)  But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
(18)  That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

In this selection of scripture, Jesus gave three examples of how we can multiply Kingdom wealth. They regard charitable giving, praying and fasting. These three Christian disciplines are the fundamental exercises for the person who wants to succeed in the Kingdom life.

If you are hesitant to believe that the Lord was teaching about how to multiple Kingdom wealth, consider the scriptures that immediately follow and give context to the sayings about giving, prayer and fasting. Jesus was teaching about how to lay up treasure in heaven.

Matthew 6:19-20
(19)  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
(20)  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Jesus taught a simple principle that applies to all three disciplines. Jesus taught that when we give, pray and fast, it should be done in secret. When seen against the contrast of the hypocrites that love to give, pray and fast for the applause of others, it is clear that doing these things in secret involves our motives. We are not to exercise the Christian disciplines for the sake of human applause. Our offerings are to be for an audience of One--the Lord himself. When our motives are pure and we are exercising the Christian disciplines for the sake of the Lord and His Kingdom--and not for the sake of human applause--then Jesus promised that the Father would reward us openly.

Do you understand what that means? Jesus was not talking about a reward that would be given in the hereafter. He was talking about being rewarded here and now in the sight of others. When you give, pray and fast with the right motives, the Lord promises that your Kingdom capital will increase so that others will be able to perceive it. Others will see your prosperity.

Kingdom prosperity was on display when Peter said Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk! (Acts 3:6). The Lord rewarded the charity, prayers and fastings of the early Church with regular and open acts of healing and deliverance. Thus were the servants of the nobleman investing his talents and increasing his wealth.

Treasure in Heaven

What would you say if I told you that the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5-7) was about prosperity? Or if I told you Jesus was a prosperity preacher?
In fact, these statements are true--they're just not true in the common definition of prosperity. The Sermon on the Mount, and indeed much of the Lord's teaching concerns how we can become wealthy in heaven's economy. Jesus was absolutely a prosperity preacher if you understand what prosperity really is in God's economy. In contrast, what passes for prosperity in the eyes of men holds very little value in the Kingdom of God.
Most Christians tend to read the passages where Jesus spoke about "treasure in heaven", and picture a heavenly reward after this life is over that consists of things that are valued in this world. Come on now, admit it--you have enjoyed singing songs about your heavenly mansion and the streets of gold. I'm not here to pick an argument over what our eternal reward in the next world will be, but I do want to suggest that much of what Christ was speaking about was meant to be apprehended and used here and now. Jesus meant for his followers to be spiritually rich--in the sense that they had the spiritual capital to conduct heaven's business here in this world.
Jesus left great promises to his Church--promises that whatsoever we asked in his name would be done (Jn 14:13). Some have thought of these promises as a blank check that has been signed by Christ himself. In other words, (according to the thought), all we have to do is fill in the check and cash it.
But consider two instances in the early Church. In Acts 19:13-16, the seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were attempting to cast out a demon "in the name of Jesus whom Paul preacheth." The demon's response exposed their spiritual lack of capital.

Acts 19:15-16
(15)  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
(16)  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Now compare this to Acts 3:1-8, where Peter and John were going to the temple to pray and were confronted with a cripple who was begging for money.

Acts 3:6-7
(6)  Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
(7)  And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

The contrast is clear: The seven sons of the priest were trying to cash a check they didn't have the spiritual capital to write. Their heritage as sons of a leading priest may have given them credibility in the eyes of men, but in the eyes of the spirit world they were unknown and without resources. The evil spirit asked them, Who are you?
On the other hand, Peter and John were wealthy men in the Spirit. They were walking in the teachings of Jesus Christ and prospering because of it. It is out of their spiritual capital that they can speak and heaven and earth must comply. Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee:... Freely they had received, and freely they gave.
In light of what you have just read, consider now the parable of the nobleman who went on a journey, and left behind his servants to do business with his money (Lu 19:12-27).

Luke 19:13 (NLT)
(13)  Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, 'Invest this for me while I am gone.'

Jesus is of course the nobleman who has temporarily left his servants in charge of his fortunes. We are the servants who have been given varied measures of the Lord's own capital. "...According as God hath dealt to each man the measure of faith" (Ro 12:3). We have been instructed to put the Lord's resources to work and make a profit for him while he is gone. The Lord wants us to prosper with his resources while he is away. When he returns, he will reward and judge according to how we have handled his finances.
Remember that the currency of heaven is not silver and gold. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Ro 14:17).
My next blog will discuss the ways in which Jesus taught us to prosper. I think you will be surprised at how much of a prosperity teacher Jesus really was!