May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we turn to the last few words in the
Lord's Prayer. And they're contained in the
13th verse of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Remember
that last week, those of you who were here, we spoke on the
first part of verse 13, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. And the final words are, for
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Very full words, aren't
they? To tell us that these things
are the Lord's. For thine is the three things,
the kingdom, the power, and the glory. And that not just for
a short time, but forever. And then it's concluded with
those words, Amen. So let it be. Well, we should
be thankful that we have such words before us, which concludes
this prayer that the Lord set before the disciples. And to
realize how important it is that we have a right recognition and
realization of the truth of these words. And that the kingdom,
the kingdom is the Lord's. The Lord is King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. He rules over all the earth.
People don't like to acknowledge it. They don't like to believe
there is a God. But we're thankful there is a
God who does rule, whether men like it or not. The Lord rules. And of course, not only in this
world, but also, of course, there is that eternal kingdom where
the Lord will reign eternally as the King of Kings for his
people. And that surely is a wonderful
and glorious position to be looking forward to. We see how fallen
the world is, fallen nature, sinful it is. Although the Lord
is in control of everything, we know that many things he allows
and permits to bring down men. But we are thankful to be able
to look ahead to the glorious kingdom which the Lord has prepared
for his church when all the things on this earth, indeed the whole
universe, are completed and finished and no more need for them. for thine is the kingdom. Now that should give us some
peace in our hearts to think that we have such a God who is
the King and no one can fight against this King and win the
battle We see so many occasions even in the history of the Word
of God where there were those battles and the Lord helped.
The Lord reigned. The Lord achieved the victory
for his people. And this of course is not just
in a natural way but it's also in a spiritual way. To have that
blessing to know that the Lord reigns in our heart. The devil tries to creep in.
He often does creep in, but he won't be able to become the king
because he's vanquished. The battle has been fought and
the Saviour has conquered. And so we should be thankful
when we think of the Kingdom of God which is within us. What an amazing thought that
is. Sinful men and women, unworthy of the least favour. And yet
to think this great God dwells within. Thine is the kingdom. How humbling surely this must
be. We should remember the words
of David. that were recorded many years
ago and they're recorded in the Chronicles in the first book
of the Chronicles in the 29th chapter and we read there where
David was extolling the people and he came and he spoke to them
and he said 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. This was, of course, towards
the end of his life, and he witnessed the Lord's mercy and goodness
toward him and to Israel. And therefore we can imagine,
here he is in his old age, Solomon's about to be made king, indeed
made king for the second time. And therefore David extols the
people, to this end, and in this way as he prays to God, and how
true it is, and how good if you and I have a similar desire and
similar prayers. We do come to a great God, and
we are able, may we come in these words, Thine, O Lord, is the
greatness. No one greater than our God,
no one greater. And the power, all power belongeth
unto God. And the glory, all the glory,
all the glory is thine. And the victory, yes the Lord
reigns, the Lord has conquered. The victory is his. And the majesty,
what a majesty there is in this King of Kings and Lord of Lords
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth. Everyone is
thine, all under the hand of this great God. And then he says,
thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head
above all. Well, may God be exalted in our
hearts tonight, as we may think of the greatness of our God in
all that he's done in bringing his kingdom into our hearts,
and to be found ruling there what a wonderful blessing how
humbling to think that the great God takes up residence in our
heart and leads us in the right way the narrow way that leads
to eternal life that day when we shall be with him in that
kingdom of glory and so not only for thine is the kingdom but
also and the power well we see We have seen in our lives the
power of God exerted. We see it exerted in the records
of scripture on so many occasions. The power of God. What a wonderful
thing it is to observe the power of God. Naturally we can observe
it when we see perhaps a thunderstorm and a thunder and lightning.
Such power, poor man, can't match that at all. And yet you see,
our God reigns. But also, when we think of the
power of God, when He comes and converts a sinner, it's His power. You and I can't produce that
power. You and I can't produce that influence. But God does,
and it's through His power. And that power is performed very
often just by a spoken word. The Lord speaks and it is done. There is power in the word. There is power in the blood,
isn't there? There's power in the cleansing
blood of Christ. And it's that blood that cleanses.
And that's why there is power in it. What a blessing for us
if we have some little indication of the wonderful blessing of
forgiveness. And that forgiveness only comes
about through the power of the shed blood. The power that was
there when Christ died upon the cross at Calvary. When he gave
up the ghost, it is finished. Yes, he finished the work his
father gave him to do. He conquered sin, death, hell
and the grave. And there demonstrated on that
cross was that divine power which Satan could not match and Satan
could not touch. But what a great and blessed
thing it is to have a realisation of the wonderful power of our
God in our own hearts that has changed us. changed us from walking
in the ways of Satan, changed us to desire to walk in the ways
of God. And it is the power of God. And so thine is the power. And how remarkable and how wonderful
when you and I have experienced it and are able to testify that
it is of God and it is his power. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory." I suppose how little we really
appreciate the glory of God. And yet how good it is to have
a view like the apostle did when he wrote to the Corinthians,
and he quoted those beautiful words, for God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, what was that? The power of God. Hath shined in our hearts, what
is that? The power of God. to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. That's a tremendous expression,
isn't it? The glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. That means the glory of God is
revealed in the Saviour, revealed in that great work of salvation,
revealed in that work the Father gave His Son to do, and revealed
in the fact that His Son did not fail. He carried out that
work, however hard it was, and therefore what glory there is
in the Saviour. How worthy He is of all our praise
and all our thanksgiving for all that He has done. Do we then,
should we not, constantly desire to glorify his name. As I so
often say, and how important it is, our lives, if we are the
children of God, are for one purpose, and that is for the
glory of God. It is to show forth his glory,
to show forth what he has done in redeeming our souls, in saving
us, delivering us from a lost eternity and bringing us to that
good hope through his grace that is well with our souls. And so we read, These are wonderful words. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory for ever. And it's good to realise that
these things are continual. Yes, they are those that are
past and they are those that are present. and there's that
which is forever. The psalmist gives some good
words in the 71st psalm and he speaks these words when he says,
but I will hope continually and yet will I praise thee more and
more. My mouth shall show forth thy
righteousness and thy salvation all the day, for I know not the
numbers thereof." And he goes on to say, I will go in the strength
of the Lord God. What a blessed path that is,
not our strength. the strength of the Lord God,
with a desire. And what's the desire? I will
make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. Oh God, thou hast taught me from
my youth, what a blessing if we can say that, to the glory
of God, and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now you see the psalmist, he
was now an old man. And he said, now also when I
am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have
showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to
every one that is to come. For thine is the kingdom, and
the power, and the glory, and let us not forget, it will not
cease, it is forever. The things of time, will wear
out. The things of time fade away. The things of time will perish. The things of time, there will
be an end. But the things of God are forever. And what a consolation that should
be for us. If God has blessed us with faith
to believe his word, to realise that we can rest in the eternal
promises of God, and here is one. Thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever." And then he says, Amen. We should
not forget that. So let it be. It's good to conclude
with Amen. You know, the Apostle Paul, when
he wrote to the Corinthians, he spoke of the need for this. Often we seem to ignore it and
yet you know the apostle was concerned about it and he spoke
and he said in the 15th verse of the 14th chapter, what is
it then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the
understanding also. I will sing with the spirit and
I will sing with the understanding also. Else When thou shalt bless
with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the
unlearned say Amen? So quite clearly, all those of
the learned who were gathered together would say Amen. Clear disciples said Amen. And so it's important really
for us to follow the Word of God and to say Amen. When there
are those prayers, when there are those statements which are
in accordance of God's will and for his honour and glory to say
Amen. Well this prayer the Lord sets
before us concludes with Amen. It's here surely an example for
us all to join together and so the Lord says for thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.