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 LORD’S PRAYER: YOUR’S IS THE KINGDOM, POWER AND GLORY

by Ps Don Krause

INTRODUCTION
We should not worry about why we don’t see this phrase actually included in Matthew rendition of The Lord’s Prayer.
The expression of “Your’s is the kingdom, the power and the glory,” bursts out of the realization, that God, the Father is extraordinarily wonderful; that He stands way above any celebrity ever to live on this planet; highest jumper, the richest, the most beautiful, the greatest boxer, the best tennis player; No, He stands far above all the celebrities all  put together. This last sentence of the PRAYER directs our eyes to three supreme descriptions of God. God give us this morning the ability to grasp at least some of Your magnificence.We look at all of these briefly today.
     Please tune in with your best mind this morning, with an open heart, with a receptive spirit..Eenter into a search with me, for our Father’s magnificence this morning, and then give voice through song to what you want to say to Him. We will sing, and praise and worship after each. (PRAYER)

I   YOUR’S IS THE KINGDOM (WORHIP THE KING OF KINGS)
Who is our Father? He is king of kings. Consider the difference between our King and another king.
     The dominant king on earth when Jesus was born was Augustus Caesar. He grew up in an aristocratic, rich, proud family. Because of the assassination of Julius Caesar, the ruler of Rome, who deeded the position to 18 year old Octavius, later called Augustus (the revered one) he came into power. He showed unusual ability to gather followers and developed a formidable army. He began to conquer surrounding kings. No one could stop him. All around the Med. Sea he swallowed up kingdom, and country after kingdom and country. The Roman army resembled a harvesting machine sweeping through the then-known world, devouring all opposition. When we were in Koln, Germany a few years ago……People in Rome worshipped Caesar Augustus. But blood ran wherever Augustus Caesar went, his methods were hard and brutal. He thought of himself as a god.
     During his reign, he had also conquered Palestine, where an obscure couple had to go to Bethlehem to be taxed. While they were there, a little baby boy made them parents. Almost no one on earth knew of this birth; in fact, his first bedroom was a stable which he shared with animals. This baby grew and without the help of anyone, without an army, without weapons, without thousands and thousands of slaves, he began to influence the people around him. He launched his work at the age of thirty and  brought a new kind of Kingdom into being, unheard of before, a Kingdom within the inner man, a Kingdom not to make people pay taxes and become slaves, but to set them free. Jesus is His name. He brought in the Kingdom if heaven – a Kingdom that lifts up and sets free and removes evil, and wipes out poverty, and heals. This King, Jesus, the King of Kings, reigns forever. All the other kings aspire to be honoured by the people, to make a name, and take advantage of them, but always, always have their throne for a short period of time. Jesus’Kingdom started humbly, but now has more citizens than any Kingdom and it last forever.
    And we? We have a nature that wants to be king, and to receive honour for itself. “I’m the king of the castle.” But what the Word of God teaches us is that it is not about us. It is about God, the Father, about Jesus and about the Holy Spirit. Will we give the King of Kings His rightful place?

II  ACKNOWLEDGE HIS POWER (YOURS IS THE POWER) (Acts 2:1-17)
Where should we start with the testimony of God’s power? We could begin with the mere matter of Him creating the universe, the galaxies, our earth. We could tell of how Abraham is miraculously guided by God to the promised land? Or about Moses and the plagues in Egypt that finally forced Pharaoh to set Israel free? Or how about Elisha lying on the dead son of a widow and God raised up the boy? Or Gideon winning a battle against thousands with 300 men? Or Jesus stilling a vicious storm with a few words? (May as well have been a tsunami). Or the power that Jesus used to drive out demons? Or, the power that Jesus exerted when He called Lazarus up from the tomb? Or the power that raised Jesus from the dead? There is almost enough there to convince us that His is the power, don’t you think?
     In our world once again, like over a century ago, optimism of man’s ability is ballooning. Popular belief is that man can do anything. I thought of that as we walked around and drove around Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where the tallest building, the 7star hotels, and indoor ski hills are built. I could not help but think of the tower of Babel. And I thought of the rubble left in Haiti and Peru and China after the earthquakes. Of course, I don’t wish that on these places. But man has a limitless greed for self-deification, but man’s measly power is like a louse beside an elephant,
     Know this, when God’s time is complete, nothing can stand in the way of his power.
One summer while vacationing on Vancouver Isl., I watched the tide come in……nothing, absolutely nothing would stop that tide.
     Let’s look at one incident in the NT to see God’s power. His is the power
ACTS 12:1-17 (Make comments as reading)
     My dear believing friends, do not forget and neglect the power of the Almighty Father. His power does not grow smaller with time, like a motor that wears out. It is the same today.

III PROCLAIM HIS GLORY (YOURS IS THE GLORY)
Don’t you wish we could do something to get these words, (King, Power, Glory) out of our automatic recitation? When you think of God the Father and Jesus’glory, what comes to mind?
John writes: We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

• Glory that shines: like when Peter, James and John joined Jesus up the mountain, and Jesus’ face shone. Glory here is seen with the disciples eyes.
• Glory came into the temple: Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter it because the cloud settled upon it. Here the cloud is visible evidence of the presence of God. We seldom see God’s glory, but we can certainly sense it. One person experiencing revival, says it was like walking knee deep in love.
• Jesus’ glory becomes evident in what he does: His astounding miracles-ex’s?
• Jesus’ glory further is evident in what he says: His authoritative words-ex’s?
• John 13:31  READ  Right after Judas is identified, Jesus says “What you are about to do do quickly.”  Jesus speaks about his glorification and He means His death on the cross glorified him. When he is gone, Jesus said: Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him.
• Rev. 7:9-17    And all will worship the Lamb, the glorious One.

CONCLUSION
Who will bow before the Lamb and the King ofKings?

All the most powerful people, the most popular people, the ones who themselves have many times been on television and spoken to the United Nations, and have won gold metals: Oprah, and Heffner, Hitler, and Augustus Caesar, Indonesian leaders, Pilate, Herod, Solomon, Judas, atheists who have mocked, scientists who think they outsmart God, and others will be gnashing their teeth with rage and yet have to bow. Because
this Jesus, this Lamb who was innocently slain, this One whose Kingdom is forever, is the King of Kings. And we will be there worshipping and our eyes will see clearly then exactly what glory is, the brightness, the purity, the richness of it that we have so hard a time putting into words.

From sermon of Rev. Don & Anne Krause (Canada) at Kuta International Christian Church in Bali on 3 October 2010. Ps Don Krause is a Volunteer In Mission Pastor at Kuta International Christian Church.