Title: Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ
Author: Andre Holtslag

7
“To God be the Glory.  Amen.”      Text – Matthew 6:13       OT Reading – 1 Chron 29:10-20

Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
I am sure that most of you know that the NT was written in Greek.  And this means, of course, that the Bibles we have in front of us are translations from Greek into English.  

Now, as you can imagine, each evangelist, living in a different place, wrote down his gospel, Paul wrote all his epistles and sent them off to the different churches or people he addressed them to, as did John, and so on.  
But all of these original documents were never collected together, bound in one book, and preserved in some New Testament museum so that we would have the original copy of the Greek New Testament.  
In Greek, we call these original documents the autographa; auto – self, and grapha – writings.  
However, once these documents were completed, many many copies were made. 
And so, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, for example, would have been copied and sent to other churches.  And then these copies would have been copied, and so on.  
And in Greek, we call these copies the apographa; apo – from, and grapha – writings.  
They are copies of copies of copies that go all the way back to the original documents.  

The problem, as you can well imagine if you have ever tried to copy something, word for word, is that mistakes can be made.  
And there is a whole field of scientific study given to this area of what are called scribal errors.  
For instance, a fly could land on a page, get squashed, and leave a mark that looks like a letter.  And so, when the next person sees what he thinks is a letter, he copies it down, as do all others after him.  This is called a scribal error of contamination.  
But you could also copy something down, get distracted for a moment, than come back and skip down a line or two because the words are similar.  And so, a couple of lines could be missed.  This is called the scribal error of homoteleuton.  
Thus, you can see that trying to work out what the original documents of the NT were has always been an important task.  

Now, given all of this, and before we start to worry about the accuracy of the Bibles we have in front of us, we need to remember that we are talking here about the Word of God.  And God wants His people to have His Word.  
And so, as the Westminster Confession of Faith helpfully explains, “The Old Testament in Hebrew … and the New Testament in Greek … being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical … But, because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God … they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner.”  
Our great comfort, then, is that God oversees Bible translation work because he wants His people to have His Word.

And one of the ways that He has accomplished this is in the sheer number of copies that exist.
The last of the NT original documents, probably the writings of John, were written as late as A.D. 90 or thereabouts.  
•	And the earliest of the copies that exist today, as far as we can determine, is part of John’s Gospel that has been dated to around A.D. 130.  
•	A more complete assortment of documents, containing most of the NT writings, has been dated to around just the early A.D. 200’s.  
•	All in all, there are over 5000 of these documents, which are kept in museums all around the world. 
•	And in addition to these manuscripts, because people, including even haters of Christianity, immediately started writing things down about the New Testament documents, and quoting them, we are also helped by their books and letters, many of which we still have today, also. 
And so, we have been able to work out, by the sheer weight of agreement on the words, and all under the providence of God, what words were found in the original documents.

Now, for 100’s of years, because the language of the western church was Latin, Greek was largely ignored in terms of the Bible.  But in 1516, Erasmus, a Dutch Roman Catholic scholar, produced the first complete Greek NT.  
And later, by and large, it formed the basis for the Authorized Version, otherwise known as the King James Version, and Martin Luther’s German Bible, as well as many others. 

However, in 1859, something happened, which would have quite an effect on the Greek NT and all other translations.  
With a letter in his hand from Tsar Alexander II of Russia, Count Constantin von Tischendorf arrived at the monastery of St. Catherine on the foot of Mount Sinai.  
And according to him, he discovered a complete NT, and most of the OT lying in a rubbish bin.  
•	Now, this NT, since called Sinaiaticus, can be viewed today at the British Library in London.  
•	It was written around A.D. 350.  
And why it affected Bible translation was because it contained some words that most other Greek NT did not, and did not contain some words that most other Greek NT did.  
And because most Bible scholars believe it, and a few other manuscripts found around that time, to be the oldest available copies of the NT, they have become the basis for Bible translation.  

And this is why the words that Q/A 128 and 129 of the Heidelberg Catechism deal with, the words that are so familiar to us as the last part of the Lord’s Prayer, the words, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.”, are not found in most modern Greek, English, or any other translations, or, are only referred to in a footnote at the bottom of the page, as with the NIV.

This means, then, that for nearly 1900 years, the words, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.”, were believed to be a part of the Bible, and a part of this prayer.  
That’s why they are contained in the Catechism, which was written in 1563.  

However, since then, they have been understood as being a likely scribal error, a deliberate addition.  
It is believed by scholars that in the early church, almost all prayers ended with these words, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.”  
And so, as scholars discovered manuscripts that did not contain these words, which they believed to be the oldest manuscripts, their explanation as to why they appeared in other manuscripts was that they were added because they were so commonly used.  
The problem is, of course, that it could be equally argued that because they were so commonly used, someone decided to remove them, knowing that they would be used anyway.

Now, trying to guess why and when will always be just a guess.  What we can say with certainty, is that the church will continue to pray the Lord’s Prayer with these words included.  
•	Without them, the prayer seems to end quite abruptly. 
•	Secondly, even though we are going to skip over the words of the sixth request, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one,” given that we have spoken at length about this subject in our Ephesians’ studies, these doxology words are intimately connected with the sixth request and provide the grounds for making it: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one FOR yours is the kingdom,” or “BECAUSE yours is the kingdom,” etc.
o	They are very closely connected, and may even be considered a part of the sixth request
•	Thirdly, just as they are intimately connected with the sixth request, so they are with the rest of the whole prayer.
o	We ask that God’s name be hallowed, we ask that His kingdom come, that His will be done, for our daily bread, for forgiveness, and for deliverance from temptation, again, For kingdom, power, and glory belong to God.  Amen.  
o	The whole prayer has its completion in what we pray in this closing doxology.
o	As answer 129 says, “We have made all these requests of you because “you are our King, you are able to give us all these things, and because you “should receive all the praise, forever.”
•	And lastly, the words themselves are wholly Scriptural.  Doxologies like this are very common in the Bible.  
o	Earlier, we read from 1 Chronicles 29:11, where David prayed, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.  Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” 
o	In Philippians 4:20, we read, “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.”  

And so, at the end of this very extended introduction, we consider the Word of the Lord, this evening, as it comes to us from a footnote in our pew Bibles!  We are going to focus on the words “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.”  

And perhaps the points of a sermon have never been more obvious from the text than they are today!  Three points: God’s kingdom, God’s power, and God’s glory.

Firstly then, “For yours is the kingdom.”

1.	Congregation, in the prayer or the pattern for prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ gives here to believers, He teaches us to make six requests of our Father in heaven.  And these six requests encapsulate, which means sum up or summarize, everything that is most to His glory, and for our good.  
a.	And just in case we are tempted to wonder whether God can truly do all of these things, we are told that He most definitely can!  And in addition, because of these words, because of what we read later in chapter 6 about God promising to give us all that we need if we seek first His kingdom, and because of what we read in chapter 7 about asking and receiving from a Father who loves to “give good gifts to those who ask Him,” not only can God do all of these things, but he wants to!  
i.	He wants His name to be gloried, and He wants us to enjoy all of His many blessings!  

b.	And to help us see why this is so, we are reminded of what the first request of the Lord’s Prayer spoke of.  God is a King.  And His kingdom, in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, has come down to earth.  
i.	Perhaps you remember this Bible reference from when we looked at the first request: Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”  
1.	Does that sound like a king to you, boys and girls?  “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”  
2.	Don’t we often think about kings as able to do whatever they want?  

ii.	Well, how does the Bible begin?  Does it begin by telling us who God is and why He is about to do what He will do?  No.  It just announces God.  He is the creator King.  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  

iii.	We often are fearful, aren’t we, about this dictator or that government.  And some of them, from time to time, make pretty lofty plans about ruling the world.  
1.	But what does the Bible say?  
a.	Psalm 22:27, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.”  
b.	Psalm 66:7, “He rules forever by His power, His eyes watch the nations-- let not the rebellious rise up against Him.”  
c.	When God looks down at these men who think they are so important, Psalm 2:4 says, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.  Then He rebukes them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath.”  

iv.	But if we bring this down to the very personal level, praying, “For yours is the kingdom,” means confessing that this King, who has created the vastness of this whole universe and holds it, as it were in the palm of His kingly hand; this king who rules over the affairs of earth, has also “numbered the very hairs of your head,” as Matthew 10:29 tells us.  

v.	Dear believer, your life is not in the hands of a blind fate, or random chance, or natural selection.  Your life is in the hand of God, your Father.  
1.	And as the King who rules His kingdom, you may know for certain, as Romans 8:29 reveals, “that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Secondly though, “For yours is the kingdom, and the power.”

•	“And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.”  Genesis 1:3.  
•	“For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.”  Psalm 33:9.  
•	One day, a prophet stood before King Ahab and said, By God’s power “there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”  
o	Three years later, “the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."”  
•	Another time, three young men were sentenced to die in a fiery furnace in Babylon.  But they said, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.”  
•	Soon after, another man was fed to ravenous lions.  The next day, however, he said, “My God sent His angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions.  They have not hurt me.”  
•	But in perhaps the greatest description of His power ever, we read also of the greatest demonstration of His power, ever.  Ephesians 1:19 tells us that His “power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.”

1.	Congregation, one of the most sought after qualities in the world is power; power to do this, or power over that, or power just for the sake of power.  But in the Lord’s Prayer, we confess that God possesses the power!  
a.	When we face problems, challenges, sorrow, loss, difficulty, disappointment, hardship, hurdles, in our own lives or the lives of others, when we face the fear of the unknown, when we face persecution, when we face unbelief in loved ones, in the Lord’s Prayer, we confess that God has the power; power to heal, power to give us strength, to help us cope, to bring change where needed, to give wisdom and peace, to bring contentment, to answer our prayers, to remove our doubts, to give us what He knows we need, and to conquer sin and unbelief.  
i.	We confess that the God of resurrection power can do all things.

Finally then, “For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.”

1.	The Greek word translated as “glory” is the word doxa.  
a.	Thus, when we sing a doxology, we are singing a ‘glory-word’ or a song of glory.  
b.	Very narrowly, the Greek word, doxa, has to do with a formed opinion about someone, whether good or bad.  But when it is used in the Bible, it always means a good opinion that results in praise glory.  
i.	Jesus once talked about humility, and how, in His kingdom, it is the least that are considered the greatest.  And to explain this, He spoke about a banquet.  
1.	He said, “When you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.'  Then you will be honoured in the presence of all your fellow guests.”  
ii.	And He used the same word, doxa, for “honoured.”  
1.	People would see your humble choice and form an opinion about you that results in honour.

c.	Now, ultimately, because of what the Bible reveals, glory belongs to God not because we have decided it to be so, but because of who He is and what He has done.  
i.	When the people were crying out to Jesus, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest,” the Pharisees told Jesus to make them be quiet.  But He replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” 
1.	Isaiah 6:9 says, “The whole earth is full of His glory.”  
2.	Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God.”  
3.	In Acts 7, He is called the “God of glory.”  

d.	But this prayer is the prayer of the believer.  And when we pray it, we are doing two things.  
i.	Firstly, by the gracious work of His Holy Spirit, we have come to the right opinion about God.  We are acknowledging the truth concerning God; “Yours … is the glory.”  
1.	With this prayer, we agree with the words of Revelation 4:11, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
ii.	But secondly, having called upon OUR Father, as individuals, together with the church of God, we are making a commitment.  We are proclaiming our desire to give God the glory.  
1.	Lord, may every word that our tongues produce give you the glory.  
2.	And when we choose not to speak, may that give you glory also.  
3.	Lord, may every choice we make give you the glory.  
a.	May we always ask ourselves, in line with 1 Corinthians 10:31, whether the things we eat or drink or watch or smoke or listen to or attend or download or post or tweet give you the glory.  
4.	Lord, may our relationships give you the glory; may we live evangelistically.

e.	Because of the work of Jesus Christ, God is our Father.  And He has revealed Himself, through Jesus, in His Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  
i.	And because He knows what we need even before we ask, because He sovereignly ordains all things for the good of His people, and because He delights to hear and answer the prayers of His children, we believers joyfully, worshipfully, and thankfully cry out, Amen!  Amen!  And Amen!  This is sure to be!  

Congregation, let’s close, then, by praying the Lord’s Prayer together:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.  AMEN.