If you are visiting with us, we have been studying the so-called, the Lord's Prayer. And we have come to its doxology, which you can find in Matthew 6, verse 13. Let's read that verse. Matthew 6, verse 13. The last verse. or last part of that verse. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. We also want to read Lord's Day 52. Question and answer 128, which is page 87 in the back of our Psalter. Question 128. How do you conclude your prayer? Answer, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. That is all these we ask of Thee, because Thou, being our King and Almighty, art willing and able to give us all good. And all this we pray for, that thereby not we, but thy holy name may be glorified forever. When we recite the Lord's Prayer, we usually conclude by saying, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. These words do not appear in other versions of the Bible. For example, these words do not appear in the ESV. If you are using your ESV Bible right now, you cannot find this doxology. And by the way, we call it doxology because it is a word of praise. The word doxology comes from two Greek words, doxa, which means praise, and logi or logos means word. So doxology literally means a word of praise. And what we have this at the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer is a doxology. And you cannot find this doxology in other Bible versions like English Standard Version. But this doxology is found here in the King James Version. And you might ask, why? Understand that the King James Version is based on the Textus Receptus, whereas the ESV is based on the Greek New Testament published by the United Bible Societies. And it is also based on Novum Testamentum Graeae, edited by Nestle and Alland. In other words, the translators of the King James Version and ESV Version used different manuscripts as a basis for their translation of the New Testament. Many New Testament scholars believe that this doxology is not found in the best manuscripts and in the earlier versions. One New Testament scholar said, the use of a doxology arose when this prayer began to be used as a liturgy to be recited or to be chanted in public worship. It was not an original part of the model prayer as given by Jesus. Nevertheless, the inclusion of this doxology does not affect the entire teaching of the Bible. In fact, it only confirms the overall teaching of Scripture. This doxology in the Lord's Prayer, for instance, echoes David's doxology in 1 Chronicles 29, verses 11 and 12. We read that in our scripture reading. Let me read it again to your hearing. 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. Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all. We also see a similar doxology in 1 Timothy 1, verse 17. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be glory, be honor, forever and ever. Amen. Now with that in mind, with God's help, what I will do in this message is give you three significant observations about this doxology found in the last verse of Matthew 6, verse 13. Here's my first observation, and this is obvious from the text. belongs to God. Kingdom belongs to God. Again, we read, for thine is the kingdom. And the word kingdom here refers to God's royal right or kingly authority to rule over us. Now, remember the context. It is Jesus who is teaching us this prayer. And this prayer is addressed to His Father, to our Heavenly Father, if you are God's children. And so, this Kingdom belongs to our Heavenly Father. Yours is the Kingdom. Yours is the Kingship, because you are King, King over all the Earth. You have the kingly authority to reign in our lives because you are the king of this kingdom. And this has many beautiful implications. First of all, God has this royal right to rule over us. He alone has this right to rule over us. Royal right, this kingdom exclusively belongs to him. It does not belong to our Prime Minister Trudeau. It does not belong to King Charles III. This kingdom, this kingship, this royal authority belongs to our Heavenly Father alone. I was reading this article about the Top 10 most powerful men in the world in 2024. Your name is not here. Top 10 most powerful men in the world in 2024. First, Xi Jinping, president of China. Second, Vladimir Putin, president of Russia. Third, Elon Musk, CEO of Telsa and the wealthiest person in the world. Fourth, Joe Biden, President of the U.S. Fifth, Warren Buffett, the 10th richest person in the world. Number six, Bill Gates of Microsoft. Number seven, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. Number eight, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. Number nine, Larry Page, co-founder of Google. And number 10, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, the second wealthiest person in the world. Now, interestingly, the writer of this article made this note at the end. He said, The world is run by some of the most powerful men with unbelievable influence, rich and money at their disposal. These people are capable of changing the course of history and society with a few words and phone calls. Imagine that. These people are capable of changing the course of history. Well, I don't agree with this. Yes, I don't deny the fact that they are influential globally. Yes, they are rich, but they cannot change the curse of the world. Only God can do that. Only God has the ability to control the history of this world. For thine is the kingdom. Kingdom does not belong to any one of these men. Even Satan, who is referred to in the Bible as the prince of the power of the air, is under God's kingship. Ephesians 2, verse 2. And yes, Satan is the god of this world, according to 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4. By the way, with a small g. God of this world with a small g. But he too is under God's kingship. and that someday Satan and all his followers, all the demons, all the wicked, the ungodly who right now refuse to acknowledge the kingship and lordship of God will be compelled, forced to bow down before God. Wherefore God has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, all the demons, fallen angels, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You see, kingdom belongs to God. In Mark chapter 1, why don't you go there? This is very fascinating, this passage. Mark chapter 1, verses 14 and 15. Jesus came into Galilee. Mark chapter 1 verse 14. So Jesus came into Galilee and what did he do there? He was preaching what? He was preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. We don't usually use that expression we would just say preach the gospel but Jesus is preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and then he said in verse 15 Jesus said the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent ye and believe the gospel The kingdom of God is at hand. And because of this, we need to repent and believe the gospel and be saved. Now, of course, we know that there is a sense that God's kingdom has come already. When you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, at that very moment, you were translated from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of the Most High God. So in that sense, God's kingdom has come to you. God is reigning in your heart if you are a believer. And we know too that God's kingdom is coming right now. And that's why in this very petition, Jesus says, or in this very prayer, there is a petition that says, this is how you pray. Thy kingdom come. In other words, let's pray for the conversion of many souls. And how true it is that even as I am speaking to you, souls are being converted to Christ. And that one day, God's kingdom will come, will find its realization, its culmination when Jesus returns. And that's the context of this, when Jesus says, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. King Jesus is coming again. And therefore we need to repent of our sins and believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. For thine is the kingdom. Now second observation here. Power belongs to God. Power belongs to God. For Thine is the kingdom and the power." And this power is kingly. It's a kingly power because it is the power of the King of the universe. And this power is not just an ordinary power. It is supernatural. This power is able to perform miracles. it is able to make impossible possible. This power is great as prophet Nahum says in chapter 1 verse 3, the Lord is great in power. God's power is far far greater than the power of Satan. Yes, Satan is powerful, he is mighty, but he is not all-powerful, he is not all-mighty. That title exclusively belongs to our God, for thine is the kingdom and the power. And this power is incompatible. You cannot compare it to your power and my power and to the power of these ten influential people in the world. Job says, but the thunder of His power, who can understand? Psalm 89 verse 8, O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? No one, nobody is stronger than the Lord. This power is infinite. It is eternal. It is without beginning and end. This power is absolute. Deuteronomy 32 verse 39, Now see that I, God says, even I am He, and there is no God besides Me. I kill and I make alive. Think about that. Now this is God speaking here. God is saying to us, I kill and I make alive. Do you know what it means? When your loved one died, when your spouse died, It was God who took the life of your spouse. When your child died, when you had a miscarriage, it was God who took the life of that child. When your niece died or nephew died, it was God who took the life of your niece or nephew. God says, I kill and I make alive. He's also the one who gives life to us. Parents, let us not forget this, that it is God who has given us our children. That conception that took place in your belly, it was a miraculous work of our Almighty God. Only God and God alone can make that kind of life. And then God says, I wound and I heal. Who gave you that cancer? Who gave you that affliction that you have in your body, that mental illness, if you are suffering with depression, panic attack, it was the Lord who gave it to you. And let us not forget that the same God who gives us illness is the same God who also heals. I wound and I heal. The point is that God's power is absolute. He can do whatever He wants. There's no limit to His power. Now, of course, when I say that, I remember when I was teaching theology, when I was in the Philippines, someone asked me, OK, if God is so powerful, can He make a big rock that He cannot carry? Nonsense! Nonsense! Because God's power is limited to His other attributes, to His holiness. In other words, God will not do anything that will contradict His other attributes. God is holy and therefore God cannot sin. Well, some philosophers would say, well, if God cannot sin, that makes God's power limited. No! Because His power is within His other attributes. That He only does that which pleases Him. And this is our comfort too, by the way, that whatever the Lord does to us, He does it for His own glory. Take comfort in this reality, Josh and Annika, that when God gave sickness to your son George. He did it for his glory. And you may not understand why. Maybe now you can somewhat understand why. That George is becoming a blessing to you. We cannot question God's omnipotence. For thine is the kingdom and the power. And the power. This power belongs to God, our Heavenly Father. Now, it also has many beautiful implications. It means God has the power to do what He has promised to do. He is capable of fulfilling all His promises. And therefore, when He says in His Word, Believe! Believe in My Son! Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. That promise is accompanied with His power. He can save you if you believe. That if you confess your sin, no matter how big your sin is in your sight, God can cleanse you because He is all-powerful. He has the ability, He has the power to forgive sinners. In Matthew 19 verse 24, Jesus tells His disciples, And again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And here's the point of Jesus here. Apart from God, it is literally, utterly impossible for a sinner to be saved, to be delivered from Satan's kingdom and be brought under God's kingdom. Now in Matthew 19 verse 25, when His disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Wow! Praise the Lord! You look at your son right now and you say to yourself, I don't think there is hope for my son. Can God save my son, my prodigal son? You look at your daughter, you say to yourself, there is no way that my daughter will be saved. She is so wicked right now. She is a prodigal daughter. Well, don't say that. Let us not underestimate God's power to save. Yes, with men this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. And this is our hope, even in evangelism. As we go out and spread the Gospel, we meet people. And I don't know about you, and sometimes when you look at the outward appearance of that person with tattoos all over his body, and the way he's dressed up, and the way he talks, and you say, let's admit that sometimes we think this way. Well, I don't think I'm going to share the gospel with that person. I don't think that person is one of God's elect. Who can save that person? Yes, God can. God can. For thine is the kingdom and the power. Power belongs to God. Jeremiah 32 verse 27 says, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? God says, you answered the question. God is asking you right now, is there anything too hard for me? What is it that you doubt God? That you doubt that God can do for you? Do you keep doubting God, doubting that He can save you? Do you keep questioning His power to transform your life, to forgive all your sins? How big is your sin? Think of God's power. Nothing is too hard for Him. And I love this combination. In fact, even in our catechism, I like how they word it here. Remember the question? How do you conclude your prayer? Answer, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. That is all these we ask of Thee, because Thou, being our King and Almighty, art willing and able to give us all good. I like the combination of willingness and ability. God is willing to save us, but He's also able to save us. And why is that important to have both? Well, let me illustrate my point here. Boys and girls, I have an announcement for you. Listen carefully, you don't want to miss this. Next year, spring break, I am willing to take all of you to the sea world. We will all go to Florida. I am willing to take you to Florida. And you can take your parents. For 10 days we will be there during your spring break. I'm willing to do that. Unfortunately, I have no power. I have no ability to do it. Don't question my willingness. I am really willing to do it. I am willing, trust me. But unfortunately, I have no ability because I don't have enough money to take you with me. But you see, God is not just willing to save us. He's not just willing to forgive us. He's also able Because that power, that absolute infinite power belongs to Him. He has the power to sustain us. He is able to preserve us until the end. And this is our source of assurance in this world. How do I know, you ask me, that I will be able to finish the race, to reach the finish line? How do I know that no one can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? How do I know that? Well, because of my God who is able to keep me. Jude 1 verses 24 and 25. Now unto Him. that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling. Remember the message this morning? We're like that rider seated on the back of the horse. And yes, Satan is there to move us away from the gospel, but we have this assurance that our God is able to keep us from falling. To keep us from falling into the lake of fire. I was reading this story, boys and girls, There were two brethren who differed on the question of the believer's safety in Christ. They were discussing the question, and one said to the other, I will tell you, a child of God is safe only so long as he stays in the lifeboat. He may jump out, and if he jumps out, he's lost. To this, the other replied, saying, you remind me of an incident in my own life. I took my little son out with me in a boat. I realized, as he did not, the danger of his falling or even jumping into the water. So I sat with him all the time. And all the time, I held him fast. So he could neither fall out nor jump out of the boat. But said the first speaker, he could have wrinkled out of his coat and got away in spite of you. Oh, said the other, you misunderstood me. If you supposed I was holding his coat, I was holding him. I was holding him so that he would not be away from me." So that he could not fall into the water. That's what Asaph said to in Psalm 73. I am continually with you because you hold my hand. God is holding my hand and His hand is so powerful that even Satan cannot snatch us away from the Father's hand and from the hand of Jesus Christ. What a comfort, what a blessing we have here. For thine is the kingdom and the power. God has the ability, the power also to grant our prayer requests. Ephesians 3 verse 20, Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think according to the power that work in us. How do you actually explain this? To Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we ask or think. But isn't it true? Now again, Josh and Annika, I'm thinking now of George, who would imagine that today we're going to baptize your son? He was so sick. I thought he was going to die. I thought he wasn't going to make it. But we serve this God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. God is so powerful. And as parents, take this too as your comfort. You have children. You have five now, right? Aaron and Hannah? Five? Three? You look at your children before you go to bed. You think of their future. Who can save them? Who can change them? Well, this God. Power belongs to Him. He can save, transform our children. And then final observation. So kingdom belongs to God. Second, power belongs to Him. Third and the last, glory belongs to Him. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Do you know what it means? It means God does all things for His glory. Now, children, what is man's chief end? In other words, what is our ultimate Purpose in life goal. Why why did God create us? What is man's chief and Answer to glorify God and to enjoy him forever Now if I'm going to ask you this question, what is God's chief end? What is God's chief end? we can say God's chief end is to glorify himself and and to enjoy Himself forever. What? That means God is selfish? That He exists to glorify Himself? He exists for His own glory? No, He's not selfish. Because that glory belongs to Him. It does not belong to you, nor does it belong to me. And even in our petition here, if you notice, whenever we pray, give us this day our daily bread. And when God grants us our petition, God takes the glory. We say thank you to Him. Don't we pray? Don't we say, Lord, thank You for this food? Because we are acknowledging that He deserves this glory. This glory belongs to Him. Now, I remember when I was in Australia, my wife and I dined with an atheist. So he prepared a meal for us. And I said to that person who prepared this meal for us, would you mind if I pray before we eat? to which he said, well, why pray to this invisible, unknown being? If only you should pray to me, you should thank me because I was the one who prepared this meal. And I respectfully said to him, and I thank you. I thank you for this food, I believe that ultimately it was God who prepared this food for us. And I want to acknowledge that. I want to say thank you to Him. Glory belongs to Him. You see, Jesus is teaching us to pray, give us this day our daily bread. And when the Lord gives us bread, He does it for His glory. When we pray, forgive us our trespasses. When God forgives us, we say thank you to God. We give Him praise, honor, and glory. We pray and lead us not into temptation. If by the grace of God we are still standing right now, let us not forget that it is because of God's preserving grace. I mentioned this morning about this pastor, whom I respect so deeply. He fell into immorality, sexual immorality. So scary, so scary. And yet the Bible says, take heed lest you fall. Don't think that, well, I'm better than he is. If you are here right now, it is only because of God's sustaining, preserving grace upon you. Lead us not into temptation. And when God answers this, we thank Him, we praise Him. Deliver us from evil. When God delivers us from evil, we give praise to Him. And so really we pray for God's glory. And again, what's also interesting in this petition, it begins with God's glory and it ends with God's glory. Because what is the petition here? In verse 9, the very first petition, hallowed be thy name. To put it Simply, may you be glorified. That's the first petition. And then it ends with God's glory. So prayer from beginning to end is all about God's glory. Prayer is for God's glory. We open our prayer with God's glory, and we end our prayer with God's glory. And if we again look at the immediate context of this, this is about our Heavenly Father's glory. And you might say, well, where is Christ here? This is so Father-centered. There's nothing wrong about that. This is how Jesus wants us to pray. He wants us to glorify His Father. Because when we glorify His Father, the Son is also glorified. Because even Jesus in His priestly prayer in John chapter 17, He said, These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. And verse 4, I have glorified Thee on the earth. Even Jesus, He lived on earth for the glory of His Father. And we should do the same. We, children of God, we who are in Christ, should strive to glorify God in all that we do. And in doing so, the Son of our Father, of our Heavenly Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, will also be glorified. In other words, you cannot bring glory to the Son without glorifying His Father. You can't. You glorify the Father, then you bring praise and honor to His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, as I conclude this message, I want to read what the Westminster Shorter Catechism says concerning this doxology. Question 107, what does the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us? Answer, the conclusion of the Lord's prayer, teach us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only. And in our prayers to praise Him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to Him. And in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen. Amen. This is for our encouragement. That doxology attached to that prayer, the Lord's Prayer, is there for our encouragement. That whenever we pray, think That He is our King. God is our King. That He is Almighty. Nothing is impossible with Him. That He can provide for our needs. Nothing is too hard for Him. And that glory belongs to Him. Glory belongs to Him. You know, in Revelation 1, verses 5 and 6, here we read that we actually share the kingship of God in Christ. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings, and priests unto God and His Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Think about that. That in Christ we have also become kings. God is pleased to share His kingship with His children. He has made us kings to reign, to rule with Him. Thus we read in Exodus 15 verse 18, the Lord shall reign forever and ever, and we too, and we shall reign forever and ever and ever. Hallelujah, hallelujah with King Jesus in the new heaven and new earth. And that we are also given the privilege of experiencing His power, that power that belongs to Him. has also been shared with us. I will end with this story about Niccolo Paganini. You may have heard of his name if you love violin, well-known violinist. Niccolo Paganini began to play his violin and one string popped. The people giggled a bit. Then he began to play again and the second string broke. The same thing happened and the third string broke. Then all was silent as Paganini raised his hand to speak. He spoke and said, just one string and Paganini. And on that one string, he played some of the most beautiful music ever to be heard. Yes, just you and God. You may think, well, I'm alone. I'm weak. I'm nobody. I'm nothing. Well, in Christ, you have God's power. You are not alone. Your life is accompanied by God's power. Thank God for that. Let us pray. Lord, we thank You for this beautiful doxology. Indeed, yours is the kingdom, for you are our King. And we thank you for sharing your kingship with us, that someday we will reign with you. Yours is the power. We thank you for sharing the power too with us. And yours is the glory. We thank you that someday when Jesus appears and when we see Him, we will be like Him. as glorious as Jesus. For we have His perfect righteousness, and we will have our glorified bodies. Lord, thank You for everything. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.