HIS IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER! (Mt. 6:13) I Chron. 29:10 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. 11 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. 12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. Dan. 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. 11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Ps. 93:1 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. 2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. Mt. 6:13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Unfortunately, this verse is not included in what is known as the eclectic texts, from which many modern contemporary versions are translated and interpreted, - it is instead relegated to the footnote. Nevertheless, there are many worthy commentators who accept these words as the inspired Word of God; one of them, J.C. Ryle, described this statement as an ascription of praise. He wrote, We declare in these words our belief that the kingdoms of this world are the rightful property of our Father; that to Him alone belongs all power ; and that He alone deserves to receive all glory. And we conclude by offering to Him the profession of our hearts, that we give Him all honour and praise, and rejoice that He is King of kings, and Lord of lords. Matthew Henry wrote along a similar theme, A true saint never thinks he can speak honourably enough of God. This most important doctrine we own as ours has its foundation in the Bible s teaching concerning the sovereignty of God. It relates to how He searched us out and saved us, how He will never leave us or forsake us, and one day He will bring us home to Heaven, where we will abide with Him for ever.
As a consequence, the confidence with which we pray is due to Who He is and the only perfect place to which we can go for the description of Him is to His infallible Word. His Word tells me there is none like Him. No matter how powerful or influential others may claim to be, they are not on a par with God. Paul taught his readers to bless the Lord, for He has blessed them, Eph. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. In these final words of the Lord s Prayer, we are being taught concerning His Adoration For thine is the kingdom The prayer begins with the glory of God and also ends with the glory of God, - He is the Alpha and the Omega. Our focus in praying is upon Him. It is idolatry to focus elsewhere. Prayer will not be answered and it is useless. Prayer is only real and true prayer when He is its Subject. The prayers of the saints in the Word of God adore His majesty. We can never over-emphasise it, or estimate it too highly. John, in the Book of Revelation, could not find the sufficient words and terms to describe the glory of what he saw. Job looked forward to that day, - even in the midst of his pain and anxiety, 19:26 yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold. He is not just the King of His own people, He is the King of all creation, - all He has created is under His control and management. The world could not survive without God s care and attention. There is coming a day, - which will be as a thief in the night no-one expecting it, - when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (II Pet. 3:10). John spoke about it too, Rev. 21:1 the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. It will not be nuclear explosions that destroy this earth, or pollution or anything else that could be attributed to humanity, - this world will come to its conclusion by the express will and word of God because He is King and this is His Kingdom! We must adore Him! Yes, of course, men usurp authority. They deny Him as Creator and Owner but the Lord Jesus teaches us here that to Him belongs the exclusive glory of being the Holy One Who answers the prayers of His people, Ps. 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. And notice that little word for, - it is the same word that begins Mt. 6:13. It means He is able to answer all our requests when we pray in accordance with His will. 2
3 Lord, You are able to give me my daily bread for thine is the kingdom. You can forgive my debts and my sins for thine is the kingdom. You can lead me through the darkest trials and temptations in my life, and I can come out victorious on the other side for thine is the kingdom. Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Rom. 8:37 in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Yes, when God s people work in accordance with His will they have the privilege of all the pleasures of the Kingdom. Adoration for thine is the kingdom Authority and the power In the Song of Moses, - after the children of Israel had been led by God out of four hundred years in captivity, - the people heard their leader sing, Ex. 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? In the Messianic Psalm that points to the Saviour on the cross, we hear the psalmist praising in the midst of tears, 35:10 All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him. In the days of uncertainty and fear, the psalmist again cried, Ps. 71:17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth 18 Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. 19 Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee! 113:5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high. He is the God of all authority, - at His Name, every knee will bow. He spoke through Isaiah, 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. In those last of the last days, - when the world will have tried every trick in the book to deny Him and remove Him, - we read, I Cor. 15:24 when he [the Lord Jesus] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. not just He will reign but he must reign!! Such is the authority that He shares with none. Attraction and the glory John wrote, 1:14 we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. What attracts me to Jesus is how He has opened my eyes to see His glory.
4 Before we were saved, we were blind to Him, - we could neither see or understand the claims of the Gospel. It was a purpose He came to fulfil in the spiritual realm, as well as the physical, recovering of sight to the blind (Lk. 4:18). Through Isaiah He told His people, Is. 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Why should I be attracted to God to give Him the glory? What has He done for me? These two tremendous questions will take all eternity to answer! They will be the substance of the everlasting songs of Heaven s Redeemed choir. For all the Lord has done for me, I never will cease to love Him; And for His grace so rich and free, I never will cease to praise Him. His Son is the guarantee of our salvation. He sent Him to Calvary, and upon the Lord Jesus He laid all our sins. The Saviour took the full punishment of the eternal wrath of God upon Himself so that our sins would never be held against us. All glory is due unto Him because He is my Guarantee for eternity. To God be the glory, great things He hath done! And along with supplying my eternal needs, He supplies everything I need today also. He gives me my daily bread, and leads me round every corner and safely along every lane laden with various pitfalls and ditches and in acknowledging Him, He directs my paths (Prov. 3:6) and all glory to Him! His glory He does not share with another. And how long am I His and He is mine? For thine is the kingdom [Adoration], and the power [Authority], and the glory [Attraction], for ever AGELESS For How long will God be my Saviour? forever! For How long will He keep me? forever! The moment I leave this scene of time, I shall be immediately in the presence of God forever! What a non-human concept! They talk about billions of years, and yet they sneer when we talk about eternity. They have no understanding of agelessness. In his foolishness, man s irrational mind creates billions and billions of years but such a concept he has no understanding of. We are able to grasp what a decade is and a century. We can understand a thousand years, and we can even relate to the concept of several thousand years but millions and billions of years is beyond anything even the most sceptical scientist can conceive, - whether he would confess it or not!
But God is timeless, He is ageless and so is our salvation. He is the Author of eternal salvation (Heb. 5:9). He was at its inception and He was there when it was fully achieved at Calvary. He planted earth s first seed, and He has watered every seed since. After this earth will be finished, He has prepared Heaven s garden for us, with the tree and its leaves, and its twelve manner of fruits (Rev. 22). He fashioned the river, along which the water of life flows. And to His own redeemed people, - those for whom He paid the ultimate purchase price, - He declared, Jn. 10:28 I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish 11:26 whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Our God Who is from everlasting to everlasting (Ps. 90:2) is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), - He never changes (Mal. 3:6)! He is ageless, - His Kingdom, power and glory. The psalmist praised Him, 102:27 thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The prophet declared, Is. 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. The angel told Mary, Lk. 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Ageless! CONCLUSION. And so, Heaven is the place of endless worship. It is therefore fitting the final word in the Lord s Prayer is, Amen. This is the Lord s Prayer s application. This is how I ask Him to apply His will to my life. It is my simple utterance being joined with all the voices throughout this world and throughout Glory that I am accepting His will is best for me, - not grudgingly, but gloriously, for Ps. 72:19 blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen 89:52 Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen. What God has for me can never be wrong, - sometimes He may lead me through the valleys and the wilderness, but there are also those times when He blesses me with the green pastures and the still waters, as He leads me along the paths of righteousness (Ps. 23). This was how the Lord taught His disciples to pray, and it is the way He teaches us also. We ll praise Him for all that is past, and trust Him for all that s to come For [His] is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 5