00:00:00.000 - 00:00:26.440

[ Silence ] [ Music ] There is room for all, for what is glory to share. Bliss there awaits, harm can never be poor, those who are anchored there.

00:00:26.440 - 00:00:49.440

♪ Kneel at the cross, kneel at the cross ♪ ♪ Kneel and repent, kneel and repent ♪ ♪ Kneel at the cross, kneel at the cross ♪ ♪ Jesus will lead you where you need to go ♪

00:00:49.440 - 00:01:06.040

♪ Kneel at the cross, give your idols up ♪ ♪ Brought unto realms above ♪ ♪ Turn not away ♪ ♪ To thy sparkling love ♪

00:01:06.040 - 00:01:19.160

♪ Trust only in his love ♪ ♪ Here on the rock ♪ ♪ Here on the cross ♪ ♪ He there began ♪

00:01:19.160 - 00:01:31.280

♪ He there began ♪ ♪ He there began ♪ ♪ The middle and the cross ♪ ♪ Jesus will lead you there ♪

00:01:31.280 - 00:01:40.920

♪ Lead you there ♪ ♪ The middle and the cross ♪ ♪ The middle and the cross ♪ ♪ Lead and prepare ♪

00:01:40.920 - 00:01:54.060

♪ Lead and prepare ♪ ♪ The middle and the cross ♪ ♪ The middle and the cross ♪ ♪ Jesus will lead you there ♪

00:01:54.060 - 00:02:35.740

Amen. As we continue in our sermon series on the Lord's Prayer, we come to the words in the prayer, "For thine is the kingdom, thine is the kingdom." the sixth chapter and part of the 13th verse, "For thine is the kingdom." These are

00:02:35.740 - 00:03:08.420

the first words of what may be called the doxology in the Lord's Prayer, the beginning of the end. Bible scholars question whether the doxology in this prayer was originally part of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. We know that the form of the prayer in Matthew's account and the manner in which it has

00:03:08.420 - 00:03:49.940

been used through the centuries contains these words. After addressing God and offering up seven petitions, the closing words of the prayer constitute a melody of gratitude for thine is the kingdom. We can relax, we can rest secure in what we ask of the Heavenly Father because the kingdom

00:03:49.940 - 00:04:26.100

belongs to him. God is in charge. God's name is to be hallowed, though there are those who choose to take it in vain. God ushers in his kingdom, though the kingdoms of this world appear to be in opposition to his rule. His will ultimately will prevail here and hereafter. His kingdom will come on earth

00:04:26.100 - 00:05:09.800

as it is in heaven. Concern for the hungry does not go unattended because God is in charge. Forgiveness is available for the repentant because God is in charge. The tempter is ever present to lead us astray, but deliverance is assured because God is in charge for thine is the kingdom. God rules his

00:05:09.800 - 00:05:48.460

creation, he's in charge. In his State of the Union message delivered a short time ago, President Reagan took up one of his favorite topics, the school prayer amendment. In the course of his address he said as he mentioned the prayer God should never have been expelled from America's classrooms in the first place.

00:05:48.460 - 00:06:18.580

It's to interpret the Supreme Court decision concerning prayer in the schools as a situation in which God has been expelled from the classrooms. But God has not been expelled from the classroom. God has a perfect attendance record. He never has been absent. He hasn't even been tardy. Anyway, who has

00:06:18.580 - 00:06:53.860

the power to expel God from the classroom. The God who created heaven and earth, our Heavenly Father, is in charge. He cannot be expelled by Supreme Court decisions or legislative action. God is in charge. Our God is not subject to human manipulation, our capricious whims, our Heavenly Father, the God revealed to us

00:06:53.860 - 00:07:27.140

through Jesus Christ is in charge of this world. And that is why we are to pray, "For thine is the kingdom." So all of the petitions, the seven petitions that precede these words, the doxology, "For thine is the kingdom," that word, "Thine is the kingdom," that "for," you see, it has

00:07:27.140 - 00:08:00.760

to do with the reason we can ask God to do all of these things is that He's in charge. So whatever we need, whatever we must have in order to make our life worth living, God is able to provide it because he is in complete charge of this world. For thine is the kingdom.

00:08:00.760 - 00:08:18.360

This is the reason. This is the foundation upon which we ask all of these things. We ask that his name be hallowed. We ask that his will be done in the world through us.

00:08:18.360 - 00:08:54.940

We ask that bread be provided. we ask that deliverance will be assured from evil forces because God is in charge. So God's kingdom is not under the dominion of men. His kingdom is not subject to our vote. He's king whether we want him to be or not. We must come to

00:08:54.940 - 00:09:24.680

grips with the fact that there is a vast difference between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of God. The disciples of Jesus in the first century had great difficulty understanding what Jesus was talking about when he referred to the kingdom of God. They thought he was talking about a political kingdom.

00:09:24.680 - 00:09:57.320

Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate the governor of Judea by his enemies and accused of posing a threat to the Roman Empire. They said to the governor this man claims to be king. He claims to be in charge. He is in opposition to your rule. In fact he is in opposition to Rome. He is against Caesar. He's guilty of treason

00:09:57.320 - 00:10:44.020

and worthy of death. Pilate proceeds to examine the charges. He asks Jesus are you a king? Where is your kingdom? Jesus answers, "My kingdom is not of this world." My kingdom is at a higher level. My kingdom is in the realm beyond. For thine is the kingdom. This denotes faith in divine rule. There is an attempt on the

00:10:44.020 - 00:11:17.100

part of humankind to to build a kingdom around self. We have so many people who are self-centered and whenever a person is self-centered and tries to establish a kingdom around himself or herself, he or she shuts out more than is shut in. The kingdom of God is not under man's control.

00:11:17.100 - 00:11:47.820

It is not dependent upon the sovereignty of man. kingdom, no matter how powerful and how glorious, the kingdom of man is limited. Its days are numbered. We may say at a particular point in time, "Thine is the kingdom," when we speak of the kingdoms of this world and the rulers of this world.

00:11:47.820 - 00:12:23.780

We look at King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta assuring his constituents of basic human rights and we remember that and that document is treasured but the kingdom you see did not belong to him. We look at Caesar, Nero, Diocletian, and Hitler, all of those rulers, Stalin, Idi Amin, and all

00:12:23.780 - 00:12:53.580

of those who seem to have had such power under their thumbs and seem to rule with a great iron hand. And we remember even recently Father Jones who was going to establish the kingdom of God on earth and we see all of those kingdoms have passed away. Well what we do recognize in these words for thine is the kingdom is

00:12:53.580 - 00:13:19.320

the fact that God is in the historical process. He has not made a world and and thrown it out into celestial space, so to speak, and he does not stand aside with the arms folded looking on like an idle spectator. God has wrapped himself in human flesh,

00:13:19.320 - 00:13:48.220

and he is involved in the historical process. God is involved in what is going on in this world. believe it or not God is involved in what is going on in your life and in my life. God is involved, God is concerned, God cares about every one of us. He

00:13:48.220 - 00:14:11.900

visits and redeems his people through Jesus Christ. God comes to see about us. And so this is the faith that is expressed in the language of the prayer, "For thine is the kingdom." We can say that, and we can say it with all of our hearts because somehow we have committed

00:14:11.900 - 00:14:43.660

ourselves to God. The next place that these words express concrete expression of the invisible kingdom. Concrete expression you say of the invisible kingdom, yes. Pilate asked the question, "If you're a king, where is your kingdom?"

00:14:43.660 - 00:15:10.940

like so many people today had in mind something that he could see some territory with some subjects of a kingdom yes and I can sort of go to the map and locate and point to it and said yes this is the kingdom here are the boundaries of that kingdom where is your kingdom Jesus answers my kingdom is not

00:15:10.940 - 00:15:47.400

of this world. For the kingdoms of this world are kingdoms that depend upon force. They are kingdoms that are dependent upon coercion and violence. My kingdom is a kingdom of the Spirit, kingdom of truth, kingdom of faith, Kingdom of hope, kingdom of love. My kingdom is a higher realm. Kingdom of love, kingdom of light.

00:15:47.400 - 00:16:16.840

See, Pilate was familiar with the kingdoms that were established and maintained by force because Rome had her legions and her soldiers were stationed wherever there was Roman occupied territory in order that they might maintain their rule. You see here was a kingdom that was established up by the sword. It was established and maintained

00:16:16.840 - 00:16:51.560

by the sword but Jesus says my kingdom is not of this world because if my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight?" Peter was in the garden of Gethsemane with the master and the Roman soldiers came to arrest him. The chief priests sent their temple guards and the like into that garden and Peter

00:16:51.560 - 00:17:23.660

took his sword and cut off the ear of one of them, a servant of the high priest. And Jesus said to him, "Peter, put up your sword. Put it back into the sheath because you see my kingdom is not of this world. Put your weapons aside, your weapons of violence, your instruments of force, coercion, for that

00:17:23.660 - 00:17:56.360

is not the way. Put up your sword because my kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is the kingdom of the Spirit. In all that the world would hear that today, For thine is the kingdom so that the Spirit of God would rule in the hearts of men. What a different world this would be. My kingdom is not of this world for

00:17:56.360 - 00:18:34.980

thine is the kingdom. Next thing we need to observe here is the reality of the Kingdom. Pilate as well as many others could not see the reality of the kingdom of God. All they could see was was Rome and a political kingdom. The Jewish people looked to have the return of the theocracy. They wanted to see a return of

00:18:34.980 - 00:19:11.100

glorious days of David and Solomon, glorious days of the united monarchy, and when Jesus comes among them talking about the kingdom of God it seems to be something that is in divine disguise. But you see God uses foolishness, the foolishness of this world many times to confound the wise but his kingdom is

00:19:11.100 - 00:19:40.260

real the kingdom of God is real the kingdom of God you see that is established upon the freedom of the spirit the kingdom of God is real the kingdoms of this world are temporary where is the kingdom of Rome where is the kingdom of Greece with all of its glory all of that is past. Persia, Babylonian

00:19:40.260 - 00:20:10.320

rule, all of that's passed away. But the kingdom of God is still here today. For the kingdoms of this world are temporary but the kingdom of God is eternal. Kingdoms of this world are victimized by strife but the kingdom of God is the kingdom of peace and order. Kingdoms of this world are plagued by darkness but

00:20:10.320 - 00:20:53.960

the kingdom of God is a kingdom of light. Yes God is in charge. That's good news. That's good news. That's not just something that we can relate to as far as just hearing the words proclaimed from the pulpit that's real God is in charge. Thine is the kingdom. This is a prayer this particular potion

00:20:53.960 - 00:21:32.080

of the Lord's Prayer, words in that doxology, they express confidence in God. Confidence. We can relax, we can rest in the fact that God is in charge. There have been times when I've been wondering about whether or not the flight was going

00:21:32.080 - 00:21:59.200

to leave, and then I've seen the pilot come and I could relax because I knew the pilot was in charge and the plane was not going to leave without the pilot. Well God's in charge, he's the pilot. Nothing happens in the world that he's not aware of and somehow in the midst of all that's happening as strange and as confusing as

00:21:59.200 - 00:22:33.480

it may be, God's still in charge. And many times these things happen to us and we wonder how is it that God's in charge? We look at dark Good Friday and we say now where is God? And we have these moments in our lives and we cry out in the night, Lord where are you? But he's in charge. You see the passengers on the flight must rely on the pilot. So we're just

00:22:33.480 - 00:23:05.480

passengers in his world we need to rely on him things get rough and the sailing somehow is buffeting us all about remember that God's the pilot. He's in charge. For thine is the kingdom Lord it's in your hands I've seen so many people in in the midst of all that was happening around them

00:23:05.480 - 00:23:12.280

that should have gotten them all disturbed and people would come around and they'd say, "Why, aren't you gonna do this?" And they said, "No, child,

00:23:12.280 - 00:23:20.620

"I'll just leave that up to the Lord. "He'll work it out." And he does work it out. Some people think that this is rather foolish

00:23:20.620 - 00:23:30.520

and they wanna take it into their own hands, but that's not being foolish, that's just having confidence in the eternal, that's putting your trust in God

00:23:30.520 - 00:23:36.800

because he's in charge. He's in charge. I've had people that threaten me about what's gonna happen.

00:23:36.800 - 00:23:48.960

This is gonna have my, if I know I'm right, I don't worry about that because I know God will handle that. But if somehow you're right, God will fight your battle

00:23:48.960 - 00:23:57.000

because he's in charge. For thine is the kingdom. And you know what a wonderful thing is? You know, it doesn't always happen

00:23:57.000 - 00:24:08.160

the way you want it to happen and when you want it to happen. See God isn't on our timetable. You know we don't make the schedule for him.

00:24:08.160 - 00:24:36.980

I was going through a cave here the other day and the cave had a huge stone and there were drops of water coming down on that stone. In the inner cave just up the road here and They call it the flow of time because those drops of water on that stone

00:24:36.980 - 00:24:55.360

Had turned to stone And it says it takes about a hundred years For an inch to be added to that stone long long time

00:24:55.360 - 00:25:25.760

But God has all that time. It's his. He has all the time in the world to wait on us. No matter how big a fool we may act. You have to come around to him. He has the time to wait because it's his world and we are his creatures. Whether we acknowledge it or not, God is in control. We're not praying to some cruel monarch who sits on a throne. We are praying to a loving

00:25:25.760 - 00:25:58.800

heavenly father. And that's why whatever, whatever we need, whatever, whatever we may need in the midst of all of the circumstances that we face in life that are adverse, we have a heavenly father to whom we can go and we can say, "Lord, here it is, for thine is the kingdom you're in charge you rule and I'm just leaving it in your hands well

00:25:58.800 - 00:26:32.160

that's the doxology that's the doxology so the prayer you see sort of after saying all of the things in a way of a petition to God the seventh petition it sort of begins to close on the doxology, the hymn of praise. That's where we ought to always close our prayers, praise in God. And you see you you can do that when you

00:26:32.160 - 00:26:57.200

have the right perspective. Some people don't are able to do that they're not possessed with the right perspective. You see these windows here they're beautiful because we're on the inside and we can see all of the beautiful artwork, we can see all of the lovely colors only because they show up because we're on the inside. But you go outside, you don't see all of that.

00:26:57.200 - 00:27:17.600

They look dull and drab when you go outside. You can't see all of it. You see when you're on the inside with God. When God is on the inside of you and you give way to him, you have a different perspective about life. Because you know how it's going to turn out.

00:27:17.600 - 00:27:36.380

Because he's the king. He rules. He's in charge. You can rest assured that everything that ought to be, that somehow it will be, because God will work it out.

00:27:36.380 - 00:27:50.920

But thine is the kingdom. God is king. And I love that about God, that he's king. And I'm so glad that ruthless, brutal, evil men

00:27:50.920 - 00:28:06.760

are not the rulers of the world that can determine my ultimate destiny, that my ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. He's in charge, he's king, I tell you, he's king.

00:28:06.760 - 00:28:19.480

He's king. Mountains may be pushed into the sea, but he's king. - Waters may roar and be troubled. - But he's king.

00:28:19.480 - 00:28:37.600

- The earth may be shaken and the kingdoms of his world may be pushed aside, they may crumble, but God is king, he is the king. is the king so praise his name no matter how heavy that burden is when you get

00:28:37.600 - 00:29:11.500

through with expressing your agony to God praise God the Lord I want to thank you that you in charge thank you that you are the king praise God praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here below God is king he's in charge. Praise him above, ye heavenly hosts! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Praise God, he's king!

00:29:11.500 - 00:29:45.040

Thanks be to God, he's in control. And the wonderful thing about it is this is not just a word that we utter, that somehow it's faith that we express and we are aware of the reality of his eternal kingdom because we belong to him and we acknowledge it so we can say in the language of faith I am thine O Lord and as we sing that hymn we express the

00:29:45.040 - 00:30:10.920

invitation, the blessed privilege to honor the King of kings in your life. Recommit yourself to his way. I am thine, O Lord. Doors of the church are open. I am thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice, and in hope I long to be.

00:30:10.920 - 00:30:34.320

But I long to rise to the arms of thee, and in love shall I vow to be. ♪ From an era of evil blessings born ♪ ♪ To a cross where all have died ♪ ♪ From an era of evil blessings born ♪

00:30:34.320 - 00:30:49.320

♪ To a strength of peace divine ♪ ♪ And to strength even more ♪ ♪ To my servant's heart ♪ ♪ And upon our friends' divine ♪

00:30:49.320 - 00:31:07.440

♪ Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope ♪ ♪ That my will be not denied ♪ ♪ For me there, a hero, blessed is he ♪ ♪ Who across battle and strife ♪

00:31:07.440 - 00:31:26.700

♪ For me there, a hero, with a blessed soul ♪ ♪ To my nation he is high ♪ ♪ Oh, the purity of a sea-flower ♪ ♪ Is more than love I know ♪

00:31:26.700 - 00:31:44.060

♪ When I hear a breeze where everything I want ♪ ♪ I can feel my flesh with it ♪ ♪ There are miracles, good Lord ♪ ♪ In my friendship, in my heart ♪

00:31:44.060 - 00:32:03.440

♪ Only then can I confess his love ♪ ♪ To the man she's been in love ♪ ♪ There are some moments that I never know ♪ ♪ 'Til I cross the level of the sea ♪

00:32:03.440 - 00:32:43.700

♪ There are high moments that I wait and see ♪ ♪ 'Til my rest is easy to see ♪ [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]