[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this evening, if we could turn back to that portion of scripture that we read in Matthew chapter 6, the Lord's prayer, and if we read again at verse 9.
[0:15] Matthew chapter 6 at verse 9, where Jesus says, After this man are there for preah ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
[0:49] And particularly we are looking at the conclusion as we said, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
[1:02] There should be nothing inevitable about a second lockdown. It would be a sign of government failure, not an act of God. You know, the other words of the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, on the day that our Prime Minister and our First Minister announced that coronavirus restrictions need to be tightened again. As you know, the coronavirus is continuing to spread, and coronavirus cases are continuing to rise. And because of that, in Scotland, we're no longer allowed to visit one another in our homes. And for many of us, for a lot of us, it's very frustrating. But also for those who are on their own, or those who are housebound, it can be quite distressing not being able to see anyone. You know, I even had a planned programme of visitation that I was going to try and start and get through over the next few weeks. But that's now gone out the window. But you know, when we listen to our politicians and the leaders of our country throwing blame at one another for this virus that's affecting our world that no one can see and no one can control, you know, it makes you realise that how helpless they are. Because you know, what Keir Starmer needs to discover, and what our Prime Minister needs to discover, and what our First Minister needs to discover, and what our nation needs to discover is that this is an act of God.
[2:31] This is an act of God. My friend, God is judging us not only as a nation, but as a world, a world that has turned its back upon the God who so loved this world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. And you know, we look back at 2020. 2020 has been the year that God has reminded us that he is sovereign, superior and supreme. 2020 has been the year that God has reminded us that he's omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. 2020 has been the year that God has reminded us that he's good and he's gracious and he's glorious. He's in control. And you know, as I sat and listened to our Prime Minister and our First Minister on Tuesday evening as they addressed our nation, they had all these words of hope and positivity, all these words of telling us to stick together as a nation and look out for one another. And yes, what they said in their speeches was all very good and very eloquent and very polished. But as you know, as Christians, we're taught to pray for them or to pray for those in positions of authority over us. And we do, we ask the Lord to give them strength for their duties.
[3:59] We pray that the Lord would give them wisdom in their decisions. We plead that the Lord would have mercy upon their souls. But you know, in all honesty, what we want more than anything is for our Prime Minister and for our First Minister to address our secular nation and say to us, we've tried everything. We thought we were in control. We thought we could do it our way. We thought we could make a name for ourselves. But we've come to realize that this is an act of God. And as a nation, we now need to go on our knees and we need to ask God to have mercy upon us. As a nation, we need to repent and turn to the Lord. You know, is that what we want our Prime Minister and our First Minister to say more than anything? We want them to tell us as a nation to go on our knees before we are brought to our knees. You know, our nation, my friend, it needs to pray. It needs to pray by asserting the kingdom, affirming the power and ascribing the glory all to God.
[5:21] Our nation needs to pray by asserting the kingdom, affirming the power and ascribing the glory all to God. Because you know, that's what Jesus teaches us here in the conclusion to the Lord's Prayer. He teaches us that when we pray, we're to be asserting the kingdom, affirming the power and ascribing the glory all to God. And there are our headings this evening, asserting the kingdom, affirming the power and ascribing the glory. So first of all, asserting the kingdom, asserting the kingdom for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. And you know, as we've learned over the past number of weeks, the Lord's Prayer, it's not only a prayer with which we're very familiar that we can repeat paroled fashion. But our study of the Lord's Prayer has also taught us that this is a pattern for prayer. Because in the preface to the Lord's Prayer, our Father, which art in heaven, were taught to come to God as little children and were to pray to
[6:29] God the Father through God the Son by the enabling of God the Holy Spirit. And then there are six petitions in the Lord's Prayer, the first three petitions focus upon God's glory. And the last three petitions focus upon God's grace, which means that the whole of the Lord's Prayer, all these petitions, they're all about God's glory and God's grace.
[6:52] The first petition, hallowed be thy name. It teaches us that we're to regard the name of God as holy, and that when we pray, we're to seek to glorify God's nature and glorify God's name. The second petition, thy kingdom come. It teaches us that we're to pray that the kingdom of hell will be abolished, the kingdom of heaven will advance, and the kingdom of holiness will appear. The third petition, thy will be done, teaches us to pray that we're to submit and surrender our will to God's sovereign will. The fourth petition, give us this day our daily bread. It teaches us daily dependence upon the Lord for our sustenance and for our salvation. The fifth petition, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, teaches us to practice what we pray by seeking forgiveness and also showing forgiveness. And then last week we saw that the sixth and final petition of the Lord's
[7:54] Prayer is lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And that petition, it teaches us to consider the temptation of the serpent, the temptation of the sinner, and even the temptation of the Savior. But now as we come to the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. In these words, Jesus is teaching us that when we pray, whether in public or in private, we're to be asserting the kingdom, affirming the power and ascribing the glory all to God. Now, if you're reading from the ESV or the NIV or another modern translation, you'll notice that the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer is not written in your Bible. Now, that's not because it's a mistake or a misprint. It's simply because the ESV and the NIV and other modern translations, they're based upon a different Greek New Testament text to the King James version and the New
[9:00] King James version. In fact, that's why there's so many differences between these two, these translations. It's because they're based upon two slightly different Greek texts of the New Testament. But when we're dealing with textual criticism, we have to remember that when the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by the hand of men like it is here in Matthew's Gospel, it was written by Matthew, these original manuscripts were copied and they were copied not with a photocopier or a printer at first, but by hand. And as time went on, the Greek New Testament was copied and copied and copied and copied to the point that there are now 5,800 Greek New Testament manuscripts, which is why there are two Greek texts of the New Testament that are slightly different. One Greek text, which is what the ESV and the NIV and other modern translations used, it's the Alexandrian text or the Minority text. And it's called the Minority text because it's only based upon two Greek manuscripts, which were discovered fairly recently in the middle of the 19th century. But it's said these texts, they're said to be dated earlier than the other Greek text. Because the other Greek text, which is the text that the King James version and the New King James version is based upon, it's called the Textus receptus, which is the Latin for the received text. And the Textus receptus, it's known as the Majority text, not the Minority text, but the Majority text because it was compiled and compared and contrasted with hundreds of Greek New Testament manuscripts, they were all brought together. And in order to produce this Majority text, this Greek New Testament text, and it was done always with the intention of producing the most accurate Bible translation. And it's the Textus receptus that Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, and many of the other reformers in the 16th century used. It was the Textus receptus that William Tyndale used to produce the Tyndale Bible, which was the first English translation. And it was also the Textus receptus that was used when King James the Sixth of Scotland and the First of England, he authorized the King James version in 1611. In fact, John Calvin, he wrote in his commentary on this verse, this conclusion to the Lord's Prayer. He said, it is surprising that this clause, which agrees so well with the rest of the prayer, would be left out. For it was not added merely for the purpose of kindling our hearts to seek the glory of God, but to teach us that our prayers are founded on God alone. You know, the battle between Bible versions has been going on for years, but I don't think that it's something worth falling out over. But my personal preference is that if the Textus receptus, which is what the King
[12:25] James and the New King James version is based upon, if it was good enough for Martin Luther and good enough for John Calvin and good enough for John Knox and good enough for William Tyndale and good enough for all the reformers and all the Puritans, then it should be good enough for me. And the thing is, you know, we've memorized the Lord's Prayer from a young age because of this Greek text, the Textus receptus. In fact, the Puritans, they compiled the shorter Catechism in the 17th century using the same Greek text. And of course, we're all familiar with the first question in the shorter Catechism, what is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. And like the Lord's Prayer, we learned the first question in the shorter Catechism, we learned it as a child and we have it imprinted upon our mind and upon our memory. But as you know, there are 107 questions in the shorter Catechism. And some of us did have the privilege of memorizing 107 Catechisms in our childhood. I'm not one of them. But although I had to do it for a press with three exams in order to enter the ministry. But you know, we're not as familiar with question 107 in the shorter Catechism as we are with question one. And yet it's question 107 in the shorter Catechism, which explains what these concluding words of the
[13:58] Lord's Prayer really mean. Question 107 of the shorter Catechism asks, what does the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us? The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, which is, for Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. It teaches us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only and in our prayers to praise him ascribing Kingdom, power and glory to him. And in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen. My friend, you know, whether you're a new Christian, or you've been a Christian for a long time, you know, I can't stress to you enough the importance of reading and studying the shorter Catechism. Because what Jesus teaches us in the conclusion to the Lord's Prayer is that we're to be asserting the Kingdom. We're to be asserting the Kingdom.
[14:57] We're to be asserting that there's no other King except King Jesus, and that there's no other Kingdom except the Kingdom of God. And you know, when you think about it, is that not what the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar came to discover in Adreem? You remember in Daniel chapter two, how Daniel interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, where he saw this little stone roll into a statue and destroy it. And we're told in Daniel two that the head of the statue was made of gold, and the chest and the arms of the statue were made of silver. The middle and the thighs of the statue were made of bronze, and then the legs were made of iron and the feet were clay. And Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar that there will be four empires that will rise and then fall before the arrival of the Kingdom of God. And Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, who was the King of Babylon, he said that the Babylonian Empire is the head of gold. But from history, we know that the Persian
[16:07] Empire was the chest and arms of silver. Then the Byzantine Empire was, you could say, the middle and the thighs of bronze. And then the legs and legs of iron and feet of clay was the Roman Empire. But as Daniel prophesied, he said, in those days, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. And of course, that kingdom was the kingdom of God. Because as we've witnessed from history, kings and kingdoms of this world, they rise and fall. Empires and emperors rise and fall. Governments and governors, they rise and they fall. Councils and counsellors, they rise and they fall. Even the British Empire, which was the largest empire in the world that has ever been known. It's an empire that rose and yet fell. But you know, the King and the Kingdom of God were told he will stand forever. And that's because the King in the Kingdom of God, he doesn't rule and reign in one place or in one province. No, he rules and he reigns in the hearts and lives of his people. My friend, the Kingdom of God was established in the Persian of Jesus Christ, and the Kingdom of
[17:42] God was extended through the proclamation of Jesus Christ. And you know, the message of the Gospel, the message of the gospel is that we must assert that there's no other King except King Jesus, and that there's no other Kingdom, except the kingdom of God.
[18:01] My friend, the message of the Gospel is that we must assert that there is no other King except King Jesus, and there's no other Kingdom, except the Kingdom of God. And the thing is my friend, we must submit to this King and we must enter his kingdom because being close to the kingdom is not close enough. Being close to the kingdom is not close enough. Therefore the only way to submit to King Jesus and the only way to enter the kingdom of God is to repent. Is that not what Jesus said, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. The only way to submit to the King, to King Jesus and to enter the kingdom of God is to repent. And you know that's what we need to do as kingdoms, as empires, as governments, as councils, as churches and as Christians. We need to repent. We need to turn to the Lord. We need to turn again to the Lord. We need to be asserting that there's no other
[19:12] King except King Jesus and there's no other kingdom except the kingdom of God. My friend, the Lord's prayer is teaching us that we need to be asserting the kingdom. We need to be asserting the kingdom of God. But he also says that we're to be affirming the power of God. That's what we see secondly. The Lord's prayer is teaching us that we need to be asserting the kingdom but also affirming the power.
[19:42] Affirming the power for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
[19:55] Do you know I'm sure that most of us, if not all of us, we've all heard of Handel's Messiah. It's a song which was written in 1741 by the German composer George Frederick Handel. And we hear it often around Christmastime and yet it was originally written to celebrate Easter and the resurrection.
[20:18] But you know when you read the lyrics of the song, it's a song that's beautifully woven together using verses of scripture, verses that recount for us the humiliation and the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
[20:34] But you know the section of Handel's Messiah which we're most familiar with is the section at the end of part two where there's the repeated phrase hallelujah. And as you know the music and the singing of the choir, it's so arousing and so uplifting and so moving in many ways because along with this repeated phrase of hallelujah which is the Hebrew word for praise the Lord, there are all these words that are quoted from the book of Revelation. Words that remind us that the God we worship is sovereign, superior and supreme. He's omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.
[21:13] He's good, gracious and glorious. We're told in that section of Handel's Messiah, we're told that the Lord God omnipotent reigns. The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. And we're also told that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. In fact it's said that in 1743 when King George II heard Handel's Messiah for the first time, he was so moved by the beauty of the music and the voice of the choir that he rose to his feet. And of course when the king stood everyone had to stand.
[21:58] And you know apparently it's now become a tradition that everyone is to stand for that section of Handel's Messiah. The section where they sing hallelujah the Lord God omnipotent reigns.
[22:13] Hallelujah the Lord God omnipotent reigns. And you know that's what Jesus is teaching us here that when we pray we're not only to be asserting the kingdom of God but we're also to be affirming the power of God. We're to be affirming that the Lord God omnipotent reigns because he's all powerful. He's omnipotent. He's the creator of this world. He's the sustainer of our lives. He's the sovereign in our salvation. He's the one who reigns and rules and overrules in every area and every sphere of our lives. And he does all things well. He does what he pleases. The Bible assures us that he's working all things together for good and ultimately for his own glory. May I find nothing is too hard for the Lord because his word is powerful, his way is perfect and his wisdom is pure.
[23:09] He's supreme, superior and sovereign over all the small things in this world that not even a baby can be knit together in the womb of its mother or a sparrow fall to the ground without him knowing.
[23:25] He's supreme, superior and sovereign. He's omnipotent over not only the small things of this world but also the big things. The things that are out of our control. The things that we can't keep in our own hands. He is supreme. He's sovereign. He's superior over all the kingdoms, all the empires, all the governments, all the councils, all the churches. There's nothing out with his power and his control my friend. But more than that, our great God, he's sovereign, superior and supreme in salvation. This is the wonder because he has the power. He has the power to forgive sin. He has the power to open the eyes of the blind, to unstop the years of the death, to heal the sick, to raise the dead and to bring this world into judgment at the last day. He's omnipotent. The Lord God omnipotent reigns. And my friend, we're to be affirming the power of
[24:30] God in our lives, not only by the preaching of the gospel or by praising or even by prayer, but also in our practice. In the way we live our lives, we're to live acknowledging that the Lord God omnipotent reigns. My friend, we're to be affirming the power of God just like Paul did in his letter to the Romans. Do you remember at the end of Romans chapter 11, Paul has these beautiful words where he says, Oh, the depth, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. And Paul says that from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever and ever.
[25:23] Amen. My friend, the Lord God omnipotent reigns. And you know, the conclusion of the Lord's prayer is teaching us that we are to be asserting the kingdom and we're to be affirming the power and we're to be ascribing the glory all to God. We're to be asserting the kingdom, affirming the power and ascribing the glory all to God. And that's what we see. Lastly, ascribing the glory, ascribing the glory for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
[26:08] You know, when we considered the first petition of the Lord's prayer a number of weeks ago, the first petition was hallowed be thy name. And we said, then when we considered the first petition that it teaches us that we're to glorify God's nature and glorify God's name.
[26:26] And that when it comes to the glory of God, there's God's intrinsic glory and there's God's ascribed glory. God's intrinsic glory, as we said before, it's the sum and substance of all that God is because God is altogether glorious. Therefore, there's nothing that we as finite sinners can do or say to add to God's intrinsic glory because he's already fully and completely glorious. He's altogether glorious. All that God is constitutes his intrinsic glory.
[27:01] But as we've said on numerous times before, and as we said earlier, we have been created to glorify God. That's our chief end. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
[27:16] Our chief end is to ascribe glory to God. And as we said before, we glorify God. We ascribe glory to God by praising, preaching, practicing and praying God's word. We glorify God. We ascribe glory to God by praising, preaching, practicing and praying God's word. And that's what Jesus is reaffirming to us here in the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, that when we pray, we're not just to acknowledge God's grace towards us. We're also to ascribe God's glory towards him.
[27:58] We're not only to acknowledge God's grace towards us, but we're also to ascribe God's glory towards him. Because, you know, our prayers, our prayers must not just be petitions to gratify our greed. Our prayers must be petitions to glorify our God. We're to be ascribing glory to God. We're to be ascribing glory to God. And you know, that's what the word doxology means.
[28:28] The word doxology, it comes from two Greek words, doxa meaning glory and logos meaning word. Therefore, doxology is a word of glory. They're words which seek to ascribe glory, honor and praise to God. And as you know, there are many doxologies which appear throughout the New Testament. When Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, he said, now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or even think according to the power that works in us, and to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through all ages, world without end. Amen.
[29:15] Do you remember when Paul wrote to young Timothy? He said, he who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal dominion forever. Amen.
[29:38] When Jude wrote to the churches, that little letter just before the book of Revelation, he concluded his letter with that great doxology, I just love it. He says, now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory, majesty, dominion and power both now and forever. Amen.
[30:07] But you know, there's one more doxology which I want to highlight to you. And it's a doxology which the Christian is not yet part of. And that's the doxology of the saints in glory. They are glorified saints that are giving a doxology. They're giving glory to God. And you know, when the apostle John received that vision in the book of Revelation, he received it on the Lord's day and he saw though those all those people around the throne of God, the multitudes which no man can number and he heard them singing. They were singing this doxology worthy as the lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and to him who sits upon the throne and unto the lamb forever and ever. Amen. What a doxology. And you know, we can identify these beautiful verses of scripture as doxologies because they not only ascribe glory to God, but they also conclude just like the Lord's prayer concludes. They conclude with the word amen. Amen.
[31:23] And the word amen, it's actually another Greek word which literally means truly or verily. It's a word that was used in order to assert and affirm the truth. In fact, it's the word that Jesus would often use as a prefix when he made would make a statement of truth. Jesus would say that truly or verily, except in John's gospel, all of Jesus's statements were prefixed with a double amen. Amen. Amen. Or truly, truly, or verily, verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. My friend, the word amen is an assertion and affirmation of the truth. The word amen is an assertion and an affirmation of the truth. And it's the word that the Israelites were to respond with to God's covenant conditions in Deuteronomy 27. All the people were to respond in agreement to God's word and to God's will. And all the people were to say amen. They were all to say amen. But you know, there's one thing that you may notice as we come to the conclusion of the Lord's prayer. And it's that Jesus doesn't teach us to pray in Jesus' name.
[32:52] You know, we always, or we usually conclude our prayers by saying in Jesus' name more, for Jesus' sake, amen. But you know, as our mediator, as our intercessor, as our advocate with the Father, Jesus, he is teaching us in the Lord's prayer that everything we say, everything we say in prayer, we're to say it through him. It's always to be through him. We're always to pray in Jesus' name and for Jesus' sake. It's all through him. Therefore, my friend, what Jesus is teaching us tonight in the conclusion of the Lord's prayer is that when we pray, when we turn to the Lord, when we pray, we're to be asserting the kingdom, affirming the power, and ascribing the glory all to God. When we pray, we're to be asserting the kingdom, affirming the power, and ascribing the glory all to God. Well, may the Lord bless, I'll study, and may the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray together. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[34:19] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Well, we're going to bring our service to a conclusion this evening by singing the words of Psalm 72. Psalm 72, it's the concluding words of the Psalm verses 17 to 19. And these words, they're very familiar to us. In fact, these words are a doxology, an Old Testament doxology, because it's not in this altar itself, but verse 20 says that the prayers of David, the son of Jesse, have ended. And David concluded his prayers in Psalm 72 with this great doxology, because, you know, having considered the king and his kingship and his kingdom in Psalm 72, David had considered who the greatest in Solomon was going to be. And then he says in verse 17, he says about the greater than Solomon, Jesus. He says about him, his name forever shall endure. Last like the sun it shall. Men shall be blessed in him, and blessed all nations shall him call. Now, blessed be the Lord our God, the God of Israel, for he alone doth wonder his works in glory that excel. And blessed be his glorious name, to all eternity, the whole earth let his glory fill. Amen. So let it be. Well, we'll sing these words in conclusion to God's praise. His name forever shall endure. Last like the sun it shall.
[36:29] Men shall be blessed in him, and blessed all nations shall him call. Now, blessed be the Lord our God, the God of Israel, for he alone doth wonder his works in glory that excel.
[37:13] And blessed be his glorious name, to all eternity, the whole earth let his glory fill. Amen. So let it be.
[37:43] Amen.