Matthew chapter 6 and verse 13. Matthew 6 and verse 13. Hear now the word of the living God. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. This is the Word of the Lord, and we say, thanks be to God. Please be seated. Let's pray together. Almighty God, we pray Your blessing upon the Word of Christ preached. May it be the voice of the shepherd to the sheep. We ask that You would guide us, lead us, comfort us, exhort us, convict us, impress us on, and the gospel of grace. You give us the green pastures of your word, upon which to graze. May we feast well this evening. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, as you know, we are just about to end the Heidelberg Catechism for this year. And just about every question and answer we've seen as directly biblical, and I say just about, there's one question with our infant baptizing brothers and sisters that we would disagree with. But all in all, this Catechism has led us this year through some wonderful truths. And it's not that the Catechism is true, and so we look to the Bible. It's that the Catechism draws the doctrines that are crucial from the Scriptures. And as we've seen following the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer. Tonight, however, we're looking at the last question. I know we have a couple more weeks, but we're looking at the last question. and seeing how far we get tonight, and we've been following each of the petitions of the Lord's Prayer, all six of them, then the final statement. The sixth statement, as you see in the Catechism, it's printed for you on the back of the bulletin, is essentially this statement, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil or from the evil one. And the Catechism says, what is this? Well, it says, since we are so weak in ourselves that we cannot stand a moment while our deadly enemies, the devil, the world, and our own flesh assail us without ceasing, be pleased to preserve and strengthen us by the power of the Holy Spirit that we may make firm stand against them and not sink in this spiritual war until we come off at last with complete victory. It's one summary among many at this petition, this final sixth petition. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. But then question number 128 says this, how do you close this prayer? And the answer? For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. That is, all this we ask of Thee, because as our King, having power over all things, Thou art both willing and able to give us all good. and that thereby not we but thy holy name may be glorified forever. Which makes sense, the Lord's Prayer begins, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. And we looked at that several weeks ago. So I want us to look at these two sections, both the sixth petition and then the ending of the Lord's Prayer. So first, lead us not or do not lead us into temptation. Now, when we pray this, it might seem as though what we're saying is, God, you are a God that is full of temptations. You're constantly tempting us, so don't do it. Would you let up a little bit? But that wouldn't square with other parts of Scripture, would it, brothers and sisters? For James 1, verses 13 and 14 tells us that God doesn't tempt. Many have translated, lead us not into temptation, at least in their minds as, do not test us beyond what we can bear. This, of course, would align with 1 Corinthians 10, 13, wherein the Lord is pictured as the God who will not let us be overtaken by our testings. In both of these cases, the prayer, the petition, the asking of God is that God would guide us, navigate us, steer us when we face temptations of the enemy. For God doesn't tempt. When the world around us tempts us, when fear of man sets in and we want to be like the world, God would you guide us through that. But also the idea that Lord when you test us, just like you tested Abraham, would you test us in a way that we may make it through? When we pray, do not lead us into temptation. We're asking the Lord to guide us spiritually. You see, we've prayed several things in this prayer, haven't we? And we've said all along for the last few weeks, the Lord Christ didn't give us this prayer that we literally have to say it every time. It's a model for us. So we begin by acknowledging who God is. He is over all things, rules and reigns over all things, and yet He's near, so much so that we can call Him Father. And then we pray that His name and His renown would be lifted high, that He would make His name hallowed in our hearts, that He would be seen as holy, that His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then we pray for physical sustenance, don't we? Give us this day our daily bread. but we need You to provide physically for us. Then we pray, asking for forgiveness of sins, that which stands between us as father to child, if you remember, not judge to defendant, but as father to child, because we've already called Him Father. Would You clear away all of the clouds of our darkness and sin which still interfere in our relationship? They don't damn us. They don't condemn us. We will not on the final day be judged as outside of Christ in them, but they are relational things that we bring to you, and we also acknowledge that we forgive others. Now we're asking, Lord, just like we've asked for physical sustenance, and just like we've asked for you to provide those things, we're asking that you would provide for us spiritually, both that you would guide us through temptations, and that you would, quote, deliver us from the evil one. Now, the interesting thing about this phrase, evil one, is it could rightly be translated evil or evil one. Either way is a fine and good translation. Now, Matthew 4, 1 through 11, gives us a picture of Jesus overcoming Satan's temptation. He's the one that can do it perfectly. This prayer then is a humble reliance on God's work in our lives. And so if we look at the idea of deliver us from Satan, the tempter, or Satan, the world, our own flesh, the broader evil. Either way, what are we doing? Lord, we rely on you for our physical sustenance and for our spiritual. direction. See, this prayer is a prayer of depending on God. This keeps us relying on God's power and grace. You see, it reminds us that we shouldn't get too prideful about our own spiritual accomplishments. If Jesus can say to his disciples, I want to teach you how to pray. And one of the things that you need to pray for is that you are guided through temptation and that you are protected from evil and or the evil one. It reminds us of just how needy we are. And remember, we are praying to our Father. This isn't a prayer of the outsider. This is a family prayer. We are asking the Lord to guide us. We could render it this way then. When I am facing trial or even temptation, when Satan's attacks are all around me, I'm relying on you. It is every much, it is just as much a statement of faith as it is a request. You ever thought about that, when you ask the Lord for something? in the right way, in a way that aligns with Scripture. It's not just asking the Lord for something, but it is actually attesting to the faith. Lord, I realize that I need You so much that I'm going to ask You to guide me daily through temptations. That You are the one that has to deliver me. I can't eat without You. And I can't do the spiritual Christian life without You. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Now, scholars, of course, will debate whether we should rightly translate it evil one or evil. We had a class on prayer a while back, and one of our other elders dealt specifically with this phrase, and I want to encourage you, it's online. Tonight my desire is not to make a case. If I'm showing you my cards, I think either translation encompasses the full-orbed prayer, Satan and all that is evil, all that is a trial, all that is a temptation. Or would you deliver us? Would you bring us through? But then the prayer says this, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Now question 128 of the Lord's Prayer in the Heidelberg Catechism asks, how do you close this prayer? And the end of verse 13 is listed. The Heidelberg Catechism was written in 1563. Since 1563, there has been increasingly a number of textual realities that have caused many to question whether Matthew 6 13 for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen is actually a part of Holy Scripture or whether it was added by a scribe at a later date So we can look at the catechism and say let's move on because it doesn't appear in certain manuscripts and or we can dig in and ask ourselves the question, well, not just because it's in the catechism, but because it's in certain manuscripts, is this the word of God or not? Now, I promised my wife that tonight I would not geek out on text criticism out loud in front of you. It's something that I'm interested in, very interested in. And let me just put my cards on the table. Matthew 6.13, the latter part, is the Word of God. Is that clear? Now why do I think that? And then if it is, and I think it is, why does it matter? Well, without getting into a long discussion, let me just say this. Good and godly brothers and sisters disagree with this. But some of you have notes in your Bible which say, this isn't in our oldest manuscripts, or this passage was added later, or whatever your version has. You have the New King James, it just puts a number, it doesn't touch it, it just says, and it gives you some letters. We are living in a day where when these kinds of things happen, some of you will listen to Good and Godly Brothers online, passages like this I actually have to explain. So let me do that. Why do I think that this is the Word of God? Because I'm going to preach it as such. Well, quickly, the phrase, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, or some semblance of it, is in 98.5% of the Greek manuscripts that have Matthew 6.13. That's around 1,500 manuscripts. And there are some variations. Topic for another day, but there are two basic schools to this. Do we look for certain manuscripts and weigh them based on a series of facts? Or do we look at the majority of the readings? How often do we see it in the early fathers? How often do we see it in the manuscripts? How often do we see it in the liturgies of, say, the Greek Orthodox Church? How often does it appear? Because the Lord preserves his word, and so if it appears often all over the place in a variety of regions, you can tell where I'm leaning, then it's likely a sign that the Lord has preserved his word. And I will just say, Oldest manuscript does not mean oldest reading. You hear that all the time. In fact, some of our Bibles say it. The oldest manuscripts, sometimes they neglect to tell you what they mean is one or two. Oldest manuscripts don't necessarily mean oldest readings. Let me give you an example. It's in the majority, overwhelmingly, of the manuscripts that we have. John Chrysostom quoted it and commented on the entire phrase about 400 AD. It also appears in an earlier work in 380 called the Apostolic Constitutions. And it's very likely mentioned in one of my favorite early church works, the Didache, which is older than any Greek manuscript that we have. So I'm not the brightest cookie in the cookie box. but you're gonna have to convince me to take it out. And so far, I ain't been convinced. But aside from that, it's in other kinds of manuscripts, and this is the geeky stuff, so see me if this kind of stuff interests you, but all these other language manuscripts. Irenaeus, in his work against Heresies, says something interesting. He says, we ourselves, when at the Eucharist, pronounce the words, And then he quotes what they say at the Lord's Supper. To eons of eons. In other words, he's saying, when we gather for the Lord's Supper, the congregation says, to eons of eons. What does that mean? Forever and ever. Leading many scholars to say, what part of the scripture could Irenaeus say they might be quoting but this ending of the Lord's Prayer. I'm gathering a lot of this information from thetextofthegospels.com. Good website for you. I say all that to say, I want to preach the Word of God. But there are a few passages that good and godly brothers and sisters might disagree with. And so if I'm telling you it's the Word of God, I want to tell you why I think it is the Word of God. It's everywhere in our tradition. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the keepers of the Greek text, keep it. So for me, I don't think the writers of the Heidelberg Catechism just hadn't discovered certain manuscripts yet. I think the Lord preserved His Word. So when Jesus teaches us to pray, I think He also teaches us to pray, Yours is the kingdom, power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Now, I've mentioned several times Willemus Abrakel. I'm actually going to do something that I don't normally do. I'm going to read you his description about the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer. Normally, I read a sentence or two, but I'm actually going to read several paragraphs. because he does such an excellent job of teaching us what are we to think when we pray these words. Here's what he writes in his work, The Christian's Reasonable Service. The third division of this prayer is its conclusion. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. This next phrase that I'm gonna read, I promise you I didn't pay Abrakel to put it in here. I promise. This was written in 1700. The papists and some others omit this and contest it. However, the sacred text itself, the practice of the first church and of generations following as well as similar expressions and other texts of the divine scriptures ought to convince them and confirm us in our usage of them. We can view this conclusion as the basis upon which the person praying has received liberty and upon which he leans. For God, his Father, has command over all creatures, is omnipotent to give the supplicant what he desires, and is glorious and majestic in his being, it being the supplicant's objective to magnify him. We can view this conclusion as a motive toward prayer. It is common with prayers recorded in Scripture that the motives are used whereby the supplicant quickens and spiritualizes his desires. He is thus supplicating, boys and girls, that's asking for something. He is supplicating God to grant him the matters which he desires, since he is ruler over all and can do everything by his power. And that the recipient of the desired matters would be to the glorification of his name, he being worthy of this. Third, can also be viewed as an enlargement of and an urgent plea related to the last petition, that God would not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for he has all authority and power over both the tempters and the ones being tempted. He is thus able to sustain the latter by his omnipotence, to restrain the tempters and to grant the tempted one a steadfast and holy heart. And then he breaks the phrases apart even more. Let's do that together. For yours, this is God, is the kingdom. All governing, sovereign authority. The kingdom is yours. We're in the kingdom. It belongs to you. Our temptations must come through you. Our successes must come through you. Our spiritual provision must come through you. You are king of kings and lord of lords. You are not a governor. You are not a lackey. You are not a servant. You are king, and it's through your kingdom that all of our spiritual goodness, successes, and failures must come, and you, our king, will bring us home. Yours is the kingdom. but yours is also the power. It's not just to your domain. It's not just to your rule that these things belong, but you are the power to accomplish these things. We don't pray to you, our God, asking for daily bread, asking for forgiveness, asking for guidance and temptation as if you are a God who might be able to do it. If you could muster up enough energy. No, in our prayer we are saying the domain is yours. and the power to accomplish it. But not only does the kingdom belong to you and all of the power to do all of the work of the kingdom, but the glory belongs to you. So that when we pray, give us our bread, it's ultimately for your glory. When we pray, forgive us our debts, it's ultimately for your glory. When we pray, your will be done. It's for your glory. And when we say, Lord, would you deliver us from the evil one? It's for your glory. There is not a single prayer that we pray in our purest moments on this side of heaven that isn't tainted with some kind of sin. And yet, when we pray, the Lord Christ points us ever more into this reminder that it's the kingdom of God, it's the power of God, and it's the glory of God that is in view. And then we get potentially to Irenaeus' phrase, forever. Forever. Now notice, we end the prayer with a statement regarding time. And yet our God is timeless. We, the creature, must say forever, God, the omnipotent, boundless one, who is not in time, is just simply existent. But we say to Him, from our finite perspective, forever. The kingdom is yours forever. The power is yours forever. The glory is yours forever. And so, I would submit to you brothers and sisters, to not only receive this verse as the Word of God, and not just because it makes the powerful ending to a wonderful song that is often sung in classical style, Because I think there's enough evidence to say that we begin the prayer by recognizing who God is and that his will would be done. And we end the prayer by recognizing who God is and that it's for him. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. And then this prayer ends with one final word. It's a word that we often hear. Amen. Amen. There is a pattern throughout the pages of Scripture of the word, Amen. It could variously be translated. It's rightly literally translated, Amen, here. But it could rightly be translated, It is true. Let it be so. In fact, sometimes if you, perhaps you're reading the old King James and it says, Verily, verily, I say unto you. Jesus is actually saying, Amen, Amen. Or, It's true, it's true, I say to you. So when we end this prayer, it is if we're coming to the Lord and saying, Lord, make these things true. We ask these things true in your name. Amen, however, is not speaking things into existence. In other words, we're not saying, Lord, we've given you our petitions, now let them be, because our words have power. Whose power have we just? Recognized whose kingdom whose glory have we just recognized? We can't even get through one day Lord without asking that you would guide us from temptation and the evil one No, the word amen is a way that we see ending prayers in the Bible in various ways Just a couple of examples as we close 1st Corinthians 14 1st Corinthians 14 and verse 16. 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 16. And this discussion of speaking in tongues, and no we're not going to go on that discussion tonight. But in the middle of it all, talking about proper worship, Paul writes this. What is the conclusion then, verse 15? I will pray with the spirit and I will also pray with understanding. I will sing with the spirit and I will also sing with understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say, amen? Paul is not speaking hypothetically here. This is evidence within the early church that often And not just when the preacher got excited. The word Amen would be used in corporate worship. We could see this word or a derivative of it in Jeremiah 11 verse 5. Or how about over in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 20. For all the promises of God in Him, that is Christ, are yes, and in Him, Amen. All the promises of God in Christ are Amen to the glory of God through us. And then who can forget the very last word of the Bible? Revelation 22, 20. Amen. If we had more time tonight, turn the sermon into a plea to us that we don't lose this biblical word in our worship. We sing it sometimes, but I would just submit to you that perhaps in the church of Jesus Christ today, we need to recover the corporate amen. The use of this biblical word So all of these things, together with various other passages, help us to see that when we get to the end of Matthew 6 verse 13, and Jesus says, For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. That this Word is not just pulled out of nowhere. We are bringing to God, just like we bring to all other truth, the desire which says, Lord, make this so. Make this so. We're depending on you. Let it be. Your truth is truth." And on and on it goes. The Heidelberg Catechism, question 129. What is the meaning of the word Amen? Amen means, so shall it truly and surely be. For my prayer is much more certainly heard of God than I feel in my heart. And there is the pastoral catechism shining through. For my prayer is much more certainly heard of God than I feel in my heart that I desire these things of Him. So brothers and sisters, perhaps it's at a ball game and you hear a prayer, or you go to a swearing in of police officers, or you go to church and you hear prayers and you hear the word Amen. Sometimes these things might be said by believers, and sometimes they may not. But for everyone who is in Christ, and we hear that word, it should mean more for us than just, I can open my eyes now and move on. It is throughout the pages of Scripture, the way of saying, Lord, in all these things, we are looking to you. Let it be, Lord, according to your will. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. And we say to our dying breath, all of our asking and all of our needing are amen in Christ. So we bring to you our plate. daily bread, forgiveness of sins, spiritual blessing, spiritual guidance, and we bring it to you, and we look to you, and in truth, we are saying, Lord, if it be your will, let it be. Let it be. So the Lord's Prayer is a beautiful model, and it ends with a beautiful word. So perhaps the next time you hear the Amen, you can think of these verses, or you can go to the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 27, 15, Numbers 8, 6, it's everywhere, and say, we're ending our prayers in Jesus' name, and we're leaving them at the Father's feet, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that He hears us, that He bids us come and to borrow the language of this morning's sermon, the cherubim are gone. We're not at the gate. We come entering in and lay what we have at His feet. Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, teach us to pray. And in all of our praying, help us to see that we are making theological statements, that we are expressing our faith. Because coming to you, believing that you hear us through Christ, that by the aid of the Spirit, our prayers ascend to you. They don't hit the top of the ceiling in the room where we might be standing. We're able to come to You, but You bid us come through Christ. Help us to be people who pray. Lord, help us to regularly ask for Your namesake, the hallowing of You in our hearts, for daily bread, for spiritual nourishment, forgiveness of sins, and through it all, Help us to keep a singular focus on the kingdom and the power and the glory of the God who draws us to Himself. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.