Saving The Best For The Last

SAVING THE BEST FOR THE LAST

MATTHEW 6:13 (THE DOXOLOGY)

WHEN I WAS A YOUNGSTER THERE WERE CERTAIN UNWRITTEN LAWS THAT CHILDREN LIVED BY. IF YOU HAD CANDY, YOU SHARED IT. YOU NEVER SHOWED UP YOUR BEST FRIEND AND WAS ALWAYS READY TO DEFEND HIM. WHEN IT CAME TO TREATS OF ANY KIND, YOU ALWAYS SAVED THE BEST FOR THE LAST. THIS IS WHAT I INTEND TO DO TODAY AS I PREACH MY FINAL MESSAGE ON THE LORD’S PRAYER.

MY TEXT FOR TODAY IS NOT FOUND IN MANY OF THE MORE MODERN TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURE. I BELIEVE ONLY THE KJV AND THE NKJV INCLUDE IT WITH THE PASSAGE.

MATTHEW 6:13: FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, FOR EVER. AMEN.

SEVERAL DENOMINATIONS DO NOT INCLUDE THIS AS PART OF THE LORD’S PRAYER. SOME THEOLOGIANS FEEL THAT THIS WAS AN ADD ON IN LATER CENTURIES BUT INCLUDED IN KING JAMES TRANSLATION.

THIS IS A FORM OF DOXOLOGY. IT’S A WAY OF ENDING A PRAYER, AND IS THE EQUIVILENT OF SAYING “A-MEN”. NOW A-MEN MEANS “SO BE IT”, AND THEREFORE THE DOXOLOGY MENTIONED AT THE END OF THE LORD’S PRAYER MEANS THAT WE ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH WHAT JESUS WAS TEACHING IN THE MODEL PRAYER.

THE HISTORY OF THIS DOXOLOGY CAN BE TRACED BACK TO DAVID’S DOXOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. THE CENTRAL THOUGHT OF PRAISING THE SOVEREIGN GOD IS IN BOTH.

1 CHRONICLES 29:11-13:

YOURS, LORD, IS THE GREATNESS AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY AND THE MAJESTY AND THE SPLENDOR, FOR EVERYTHING IN HEAVEN AND EARTH IS YOURS. YOURS, LORD, IS THE KINGDOM; YOU ARE EXALTED AS HEAD OVER ALL. 12 WEALTH AND HONOR COME FROM YOU; YOU ARE THE RULER OF ALL THINGS. IN YOUR HANDS ARE STRENGTH AND POWER TO EXALT AND GIVE STRENGTH TO ALL.

13 NOW, OUR GOD, WE GIVE YOU THANKS, AND PRAISE YOUR GLORIOUS NAME.

THE WORD “DOXOLOGY” ACTUALLY COMES FROM TWO GREEK TERMS. “DOX” IS A VARIANT OF THE WORD “DOXA” AND IT MEANS “GLORY”. WHEN WE THINK OF THE “OLOGY” ENDING WE MAY THINK YOF THE MANY SCIENCES ASSOCIATED WITH IT LIKE BIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, OR THEOLOGY, JUST TO NAME A FEW. THE ENDING SO: “OLOGY” MEANS “THE STUDY OF” SO:

PSYCHOLOGY = THE STUDY OF THE PSYCHE

BIOLOGY = THE STUDY OF THE PHYSICAL BODY

THEOLOGY = THE STUDY OF THEOS OR GOD

WHEN WE LOOK AT THE DOXOLOGY APPLIED TO THE LORD’S PRAYER WE ARE IN FACT SAYING “SO BE IT” TO TWO AREAS OF THOUGHT.

1. FIRST, THAT WE ARE LOOKING BACK OVER THE PETITONS OF THE PRAYER AND ARE SAYING “SO BE IT” TO THEM.

WE ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT JESUS IS GOING TO BE LORD OVER ALL THINGS IN OUR LIVES.

WE ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT GOD IS THE ALMIGHTY, ALL-POWERFUL SOVEREIGN CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE AND THAT THERE IS NONE LIKE HIM.

AS WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GOD IS SOVEREIGN, WE ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR DEPENDANCY ON HIM IN OUR DAILY LIVES. ALL THAT WE HAVE IS GIVEN BY HIM AND TO BE USED FOR HIS GLORY.

WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AS GOD HAS FORGIVEN US, THAT WE NEED TO FORGIVE OTHERS, AS DIFFICULT IN SOME CASES AS IT MAY SEEM. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT FORGIVENESS DOES NOT COME IN OUR OWN POWER, BUT IN THE POWER OF GOD.

2. THE DOXOLOGY ALSO REMINDS US OF THE FUTURE GLORY WE HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD TO. WHEN THE LAST DAY OF THIS SINFUL WORLD HAS COME AND GONE, WHEN THE RAPTURE, TRIBULATION, AND MILLENNIUM HAVE RUN THEIR COURSE, THEN WE WILL ENTER INTO THE ETERNAL PARADISE OF GOD.

WE WILL ENTER INTO HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM, BASKING IN HIS POWER AND GIVING GOD ALL THE GLORY IN A WORLD CREATED BY HIM THAT WILL NEVER END.

POINT ONE: THINE IS THE KINGDOM

I THINK MOST IF NOT ALL OF YOU WOULD AGREE WITH ME THAT THE WORLD WE LIVE IN IS IN A TERRIBLE STATE. THE UNPREDICTABLILITY AND SCARINESS OF THE SUPER-POWERS, THE UNITED STATES, RUSSIA, CHINA AND NORTH KOREA, ALONG WITH THE EVER-PRESENT TERROR THREAT, LEAVE US IN AN EVER PRESENT STATE OF FEAR.

THERE IS ALSO THE PRESENCE OF NATURAL CALAMITIES SUCH AS FLOODS, EARTHQUAKESAND WE ARE NOW ENTERING THE HURRICANE SEASON, NOT TO MENTION HERE IN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES, THE CONSTANT THREAT OF WILD FIRES DURING THE SUMMER.

BELIEF SYSTEMS OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS OR SO HAVE ALSO CHANGED. MORE PEOPLE NOW, HAVE NO TYPE OR RELIGIOUS BELIEF, AND THIS MEANS THAT LIFE BEGINS AND ENDS WITH THE WORLD THAT WE LIVE IN NOW.

THERE IS NO AFTERLIFE, NO CHANCE FOR ANYTHING BETTER. THIS WORLD WITH ALL ITS UNCERTAINTY IS ALL THERE IS.

THERE IS ALSO A GREAT STRUGGLE AGAINST CHRISTIAN BASICS FROM BOTH WITHIN AND FROM OUTSIDE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. THIS STRUGGLE BRINGS INTO QUESTION THE VERY BASICS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. HOW DO PEOPLE KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE IN? WHAT DO YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN?