Thine Is The Kingdom

Transcription

1 Thine Is The Kingdom Matt 6: For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. There is a term, doxology, that I am sure we have all heard many times. The term refers to a hymn or statement of praise directed toward God. I bring that up because if you look at what the scholars and commentaries have to say on this closing remark found in the prayer Christ taught, you will see that many of them speak of this doxology as not being included in the earliest manuscripts. Jamieson, Fausset, Brown says it this way, on the other hand, it is found in a majority of manuscripts, though not the oldest; it is found in all the Syriac versions, even the Peshito, dating probably as early as the second century-although this version wants the "Amen," which the doxology, if genuine, could hardly have wanted; it is found in the Sahidic or Thebaic version made for the Christians of Upper Egypt, possibly as early as the Old Latin; and it is found in perhaps most of the later versions. That said, there are a couple f points that I think we need to look at. 2 1) Ready acceptance of the early Church. One of the ways that passages are canonized, accepted by believers as being a part of the Holy Scriptures. Pardon me for saying that that sounds absolutely ludicrous. Who does man think he is that he gets to decide what is and or isn t God s Word. To me, that flies in the face of 2 Tim. 3. All scripture is given by God. Man has nothing to do with it. The danger in setting the precedent that what man chooses to believe defines what is God s standard, means that if man chooses to accept a latter day revelation as God s word then it is. I am sorry, but that isn t how God works regardless of man s best intentions. So then, just because the early Church accepted something as inspired speaks only to their belief that it was. 1 Cor 13: For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. God tells us that when the perfect comes, the partial of the spiritual gifts will be done away. The question then is, what is that which is perfect. James 1: But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. 1

2 Scripture teaches that when the perfect Law of Liberty, the scriptures come, then the partial gifts of the spirit will cease. The spiritual gifts will cease because the Law is complete and is able to make man complete. There are a couple of passages we want to look at in reference to the statement 1 Chron 29: Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. KJV 1 Chron 29: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. NASU There is no doubt this doxology is appropriate as a conclusion, and it serves to give a tone of completeness. Whether or not the statement is part of the manuscripts or not isn t the question. The question is whether or not we trust 2 Tim 3: All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, 8 2) All scripture comes from God Now, we either believe that or we don t. If we believe that God has the power and the glory as the statement says, then to believe that the scriptures we have are exactly what He wants us to have, negates any discussion about what is in the early manuscripts or the later manuscripts or even what anyone else believes or has ever believed. I believe that God has given me exactly what I need to make me perfect and complete as a child of His. As we have discussed in our series of lessons, the prayer that Christ taught speaks to the divine love of God, 9 Our Father, it speaks to His glory, Hallowed be thy name, and it speaks to His majesty, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The petitions we have looked at following this address, show our subjection to the glory of God. That is what we see in this closing of the prayer. I see in it: 10 Our devout contemplation of God If we include the elements of the prayer Christ taught with the recognition of what God has done for us and his great glory and majesty, then in our prayer and communion with we both show and strengthen our full acceptance of Him as our only God, able to complete us and save us to a home in heaven. 2

3 We have two points of discussion that I want to look at in this lesson 11 1) What is the meaning of the doxology. Compare the address of the prayer; Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, with the closing, For thine is the kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever and ever. The order may not be the same, but these statements are substantially identical. The prayer begins with the acknowledgment of the majesty of God and end with the majesty of God. Thine is the kingdom. This statement speaks to the omnipotence of God and even more importantly it speaks to our recognition of His omnipotence. All things, in Heaven and on Earth are ruled by God. Ps 95: For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods, 4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth,the peaks of the mountains are His also. 5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. 6 Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7 For He is our God, He establishes the powers and principalities and He removes them as He sees fit. Col 1: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created through Him and for Him. He holds the universe in His hand and keeps it from spinning out of control, He vreated the stars, moons, and suns. Ps 33: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. Some would even have you to believe that He holds the fate of each of us in His hand. That isn t true. We hold our own fate, we determine our own eternal destiny, we, get to decide who we are in this life and where we will be in the next. In the prayer Christ teaches us to recognize that it is God who is the source of our salvation and that it is His power that fuels that salvation manifested through His Son, Jesus Christ, and revealed by His Spirit in the Word He gave to us. Christ teaches us in the prayer to accept the authority of God and to willingly place ourselves into subjection to it. The kingdom is God s as well as is the authority. Note here the contrast, in 3

4 Matt 4: Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." When we understand that the kingdom is everlasting this conviction becomes inseparable from our profession of Christianity. All the hope of the Christian is founded on the fact that the kingdom is eternal and we seek to gain the reward that is promised to the faithful child of God, eternal life. The temptation is to think that the kingdom is men's, or belongs to blind fate, or chance, and our own evil hearts even suggests that the kingdom is our own. Isn t that what Satan said, All is mine, and I will give it Thee, just bow down and worship me. Thine is the Glory. John 1: And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. God's glory is seen in Christ as the greatest expression of Love that He could give, His only begotten Son. We see His glory in the Love, Grace, Mercy, and Truth that Christ represents to the whole of mankind. We can bask in the Glory of God when we abide in Him and He in us. The praise which comes from the doing of His purpose and will is our manifestation of His Glory in us.. The thought of Scripture is that all things are for the glory of God. We are to be for the Glory of God. Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory : whatever we may have lost and suffered in the past; whatever fiery trials we may yet have to go through; whatever shocks of loss and sorrow may lay upon our own hearts; God abides, and He remains ours and is ever with us. Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory. When we accept and submit to that doxology, then we shall be guided by His righteousness. God is King; God is mighty; God's name speaks of glory; then for us there is Hope that cannot be taken from us. Courage to stand by His truth and His will, patience and charity become fitting garments. Because He is our Father, He will deliver us from all evil, and by His Love He has founded His universal kingdom and invites us to come to Him through Christ and become a part of that kingdom. That brings us to our next discussion point. 17 2) The impact of the doxology here and now. It reminds us that the basis of our confidence is to be found in God's own character. We believe and trust because we have placed our faith in God as our creator, as our savior, as our hope. God cannot lie and God keeps His promises. Remember our prayer isn t an attempt to bend His will, but it is a sign of total subjection to His will. That is seen in the foundation we build for ourselves, where we choose to take our stand. The manifestation of our trust and confidence is seen in how we 4

5 build on the rock of Jesus the Christ the Son of the ever-living God, whose is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. 1 Cor 3: According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. When we ground our prayers on Him, then we are building on the foundation of Christ and we can stand firm. The Amen which closes the doxology is not the empty form which all too often it has now become. It means not only, So be it! but also, So it will be! It is not only the last expression of our desire, but also the expression of trusting and assured expectancy and confidence; not just a be it so, but our confident expression of assurance that it will be so. We have seen how the prayer begins with contemplation, and then passes into supplication. It has a circular motion, starting with the majesty of God, Hallowed be His name, and coming down to Earth, and then returning to rest at the throne of God, where it set out, acknowledging that His authority is over all the Earth and Heaven. Amen. The last word of our prayers. Do we understand the full impact of what that is saying? Do we see within it the complete submission to God? Do we see witin it the understanding of His Love and also His wrath? Rev 6: and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" There is everything in this prayer God's relations to man, man's relationship to God and his fellow man, the foundation stones of Christianity, of Christian morals, and of Christian society. There is help for the smallest wants and comfort for daily duties; there is strength for the hour of death and the day of judgment. There is the revelation of the eternal Love of our Father's heart; there is the prophecy of the furthest future for ourselves and our brethren. Thank God, we do not need to exhaust the meaning of it in order to use it righteously. Jesus interprets our prayers, and stands as our mediator between us and God. He inspires, presents and answers every prayer offered through Him to the Father in heaven. Through Jesus Christ our Savior we can cry Abba, Father. 5