[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.
[0:11] And if we read again at verse 9. Matthew chapter 6 at verse 9, where Jesus says, After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[0:25] 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.
[0:35] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
[0:48] And particularly we're looking at the conclusion as we said, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. There should be nothing inevitable about a second lockdown.
[1:06] It would be a sign of government failure, not an act of God. You know, they're the 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.
[1:25] 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.
[1:39] 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.
[1:50] 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 how helpless they are.
[2:17] 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.
[2:54] 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.
[3:11] 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.
[3:32] 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.
[3:46] But as you know, as Christians, we're taught to pray for them. We're to pray for those in positions of authority over us. And we do. We ask the Lord to give them strength for their duties.
[3:58] 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.
[4:24] 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 realise that this is an act of God.
[4:37] 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.
[4:51] You know, is that not 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.
[5:07] 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.
[5:34] 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.
[5:47] 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.
[6:03] 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, appareled fashion.
[6:13] 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, we're taught to come to God as little children, and we're to pray to God the Father, through God the Son, by the enabling of God the Holy Spirit.
[6:36] 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.
[7:06] 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.
[7:18] 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.
[7:32] 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.
[7:49] And then last week, we saw that the sixth and final petition of the Lord's Prayer is, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[8:00] And that petition, it teaches us to consider the temptation of the serpent, the temptation of the sinner, and even the temptation of the Saviour. But now as we come to the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, and the glory forever.
[8:18] 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.
[8:34] 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.
[8:46] 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 King James Version.
[9:02] 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.
[9:14] 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.
[9:32] 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.
[9:49] 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.
[10:07] 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.
[10:19] 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.
[10:40] 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.
[10:55] They were all brought together 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.
[11:10] 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.
[11:27] And it was also the Textus Receptus that was used when King James VI of Scotland and the First of England, he authorised the King James Version in 1611.
[11:39] 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.
[11:56] 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.
[12:09] 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 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.
[12:42] 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.
[12:58] 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.
[13:11] And like the Lord's Prayer, we learnt the first question in the Shorter Catechism, we learnt it as a child and we have it imprinted upon our mind and upon our memory.
[13:22] But as you know, there are 107 questions in the Shorter Catechism. And some of us did have the privilege of memorising 107 catechisms in our childhood.
[13:35] I'm not one of them. But, although I had to do it for presbytery 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 1.
[13:50] And yet, it's question 107 in the Shorter Catechism which explains what these concluding words of the Lord's Prayer really mean.
[14:02] 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.
[14:15] 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.
[14:28] 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.
[14:48] 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. 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.
[15:06] And you know, when you think about it, is that not what the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, came to discover in a dream. You remember in Daniel chapter 2 how Daniel interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar's dream where he saw this little stone roll into a statue and destroy it.
[15:28] And we're told in Daniel 2 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.
[15:44] 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.
[16:05] But from history we know that the Persian empire was the chest and arms and arms of silver. Then the Byzantine empire was you could say the middle and the thighs of bronze.
[16:18] 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.
[16:35] 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.
[16:49] 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.
[17:02] Councils and councillors 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.
[17:17] But you know the king in the kingdom of God we're 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.
[17:31] No, he rules and he reigns in the hearts and lives of his people. my friend the kingdom of God was established in the person of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God was extended through the proclamation of Jesus Christ.
[17:48] 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.
[18:00] My friend the message of the gospel is that we must assert that there's no other king except King Jesus and there's no other kingdom except the kingdom of God.
[18:13] 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.
[18:26] 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.
[18:37] 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.
[18:54] 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.
[19:07] We need to turn again to the Lord. We need to be asserting that there's no other king except King Jesus and there's no other kingdom except the kingdom of God.
[19:19] 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.
[19:32] 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. Affirming the power for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
[19:52] Amen. 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 Christmas time and yet it was originally written to celebrate Easter and the resurrection 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.
[20:46] 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 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 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
[22:08] Hallelujah the Lord God omnipotent reigns 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 my friend nothing is too hard for the Lord because his word is powerful his way is perfect and his wisdom is pure 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 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 ears of the deaf 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 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
[24:57] 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 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
[26:05] Amen 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 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 but as we've said on numerous times before and as we said earlier we have been created to glorify
[27:10] God that's our chief end man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever 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 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 the word doxology it comes from two Greek words doxa meaning glory and logos meaning word therefore a doxology is a word of glory they're words which seek to ascribe glory honour 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 unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through all ages world without end amen do you remember do you remember when Paul wrote to young
[29:17] 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 honour and eternal dominion forever amen 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 saviour be glory majesty dominion and power both now and forever amen 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 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 is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour 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 and the word amen it's actually another Greek word which literally means truly or verily
[31:31] 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
[32:48] Jesus doesn't teach us to pray in Jesus name you know we always or we usually conclude our prayers by saying in Jesus name or 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 our study and may the Lord bless these thoughts to us let us pray together 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 lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
[34:42] 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 the Psalter 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 greater than 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 wondrous works in glory 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 thus like the sun it shall men shall be blessed in him I'm blessed all nations all nations shall all nations shall him call now blessed be the Lord the Lord the God the God of Israel for he alone doth wondrous works in glory in glory in glory
[37:09] God exer and blessed be his glorious name to all eternity the whole earth the whole earth his glory amen so let it be almighty��