Matthew 6:13c      The Glory Forever Amen

Rev. David Holwick   S                                Lord's Prayer, #8

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

June 2, 2013

Matthew 6:13c


THE GLORY FOREVER AMEN



  I. You need an old Bible.

      A. Newer versions omit this verse.

          1) (I read verse from the old communion table Bible.)

          2) It is usually mentioned in a footnote that says the earliest

                manuscripts do not include it.

          3) You will find that some Christians don't say it when they

                do the Lord's Prayer.

              a) It is one of the easiest ways to identify Catholics and

                    Protestants at a wedding or funeral - Catholics

                       go silent after "deliver us from evil."

              b) They don't even say "amen" like we do.


      B. You can dispute the verse but not the content.

          1) Several other Bible verses are similar.

          2) Just as the Lord's Prayer begins by addressing God, it is

                appropriate to end it by giving praise to God.

          3) We need to remind ourselves who is really in charge here.


II. Why some verses are missing.

      A. It is a serious issue.

          1) The book of Revelation concludes with a curse - Rev 22:18-29


             "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of

                 this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will

                   add to him the plagues described in this book.

              And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy,

                 God will take away from him his share in the tree of

                    life..."


              a) Many Christians expand this beyond Revelation, to say

                    that you should not add to, or cut from, the Bible.

              b) That is why we reject the Book of Mormon, which Mormons

                    consider an inspired writing.

          2) Most modern Bibles leave out a number of verses.

              a) The usual argument is that the earliest Bibles do not

                    have them.

              b) The scholars who composed them argue they are not

                    cutting verses from the Bible, but that earlier

                       monks ADDED verses to it.

                  1> There goal is to have a Bible that is just like

                        the original.

          3) It helps to understand how the Bible has come to us.


      B. Inspired by God, but copied by hand.

          1) Until the printing press, all Bibles were handwritten.

              a) Each was a little different.

              b) The originals are now lost, so all we have are these

                    copies, plus early translations.

          2) There is a tendency for certain things to creep in.

              a) Slight differences between the gospels disappear in

                    later copies.

              b) Consider the Lord's Prayer in Matthew and Luke.

                  1> Luke's version is much shorter - in modern Bibles.

                      A> Just like the Catholics, there is no doxology

                            or amen.

                  2> In the King James Version, they are about the same.

                      A> Monks deliberately harmonized these passages.

                      B> Handwritten Bibles that are more recent tend to

                            have more harmonization.

                      C> The King James reflects the late consensus.

              c) Passages that were used in worship were embellished

                   to reflect current usage.

                  1> For the ending of the Lord's Prayer, some late

                        manuscripts add "for ever and ever."

                  2> Still others have "for thine is the kingdom and

                        the power and the glory of the Father and the

                           Son and of the Holy Spirit forever.  Amen."


      C. Scholars put more confidence in the earliest Bibles.

          1) We have entire Bibles from the time of Constantine, and

                papyrus portions from the second century.

          2) These few manuscripts from the earliest centuries carry

                the most weight with scholars.


      D. Don't think that the Bible is only a mishmash.

          1) The total number of changes is small.

          2) Scholars can draw upon thousands of ancient manuscripts

                to come to their decisions.

          3) They are confident that the Bible we have now is very

                close to the original writings.


III. How do you end a prayer?

      A. Most experts agree that the Lord's Prayer would have an ending.

          1) Jews almost always did this.

          2) The Lord's Prayer is a model prayer.

              a) You follow the themes when you pray and add your own

                    material.

              b) The ending is something you do yourself.

          3) While the ending we use is probably not original, it fits

               other prayers in the Bible.


      B. David's doxology.                             1 Chronicles 29:11

          1) David wanted to build a temple for God.

              a) He wasn't allow to, but he did compose the blueprints,

                    under inspiration, and gather building materials.

              b) Other leaders spontaneously gave lots of gold and gems

                    for the work.

          2) David responded by praising God in front of everyone.


                "Yours, O 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, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as

                    head over all."


              a) In a nutshell, that is our ending to the Lord's Prayer.

                  1> God is great and powerful.

                  2> God owns everything.

                  3> God rules over everyone.

              b) We should start our prayers by focusing on God, and we

                    should end them the same way.


IV. Things you should remember when you pray.

      A. God is in charge.

          1) All kingdoms belong to him, including America.

              a) He rules the governments of the world.

              b) The sober example of the Soviet Union.


              About 100 years ago, a philosophy known as Marxism spread

                 across Russia.

              Marx thought religion was the opium of the masses.

                 Faith kept everyone happy but stupid and enslaved.

              The way to free people was to put them in communes where

                 they would share everything alike.


              When the communists took over, they did everything they

                 could to stamp out religion.

              Tens of thousands of monks and priests were killed.

                 Churches were converted into warehouses and factories.

              Baptists were a small group, but most of the pastors were

                 put in prison.


              Twenty years ago, the communists were thrown out of power.

                 The church there is stronger than ever.

              You can fight God, but you cannot win.

                                                           Sermon #64031


          2) God has a better government in mind, his perfect kingdom.

              a) We don't see it yet, but Jesus has promised it.

              b) When it comes, it will be ruled perfectly by God.


      B. God has the power.

          1) He is not limited, and he is not weak.

          2) He can give us our daily bread, or anything else we need.

              a) When we doubt or worry, we are saying God's power

                    is not enough for me.

              b) If you believe that God does have the power, you

                    will have a different attitude.

              c) When we don't get what we want, we must understand that

                    God gives us what we really need, when we need it.

          3) God is not just the "God of the Good Times."


             Some of us have constructed a God of the good times.

             When our prayers are answered and life is going our way, we

                say, "God is good."

             Does that mean when our prayers are unanswered and the job

                doesn't come through, or the disease doesn't go away,

                   does this mean God is no longer good?

             If your God is only good during the good times, then your

                God is not the God of the Bible.


             A few years ago Rev. Ray Pritchard's oldest son and a few

                friends survived a terrible crash in the family's van.

             All of them ended up in the hospital and they could easily

                have been killed.

             During a Thanksgiving morning worship service Ray's wife

                stood and said something like this:


             "We are very grateful that God spared our son and his

                 friends.

              Many people have said, 'God was certainly good to you.'

                 Ray and I believe that with all our hearts.

              But I want to say that even if our son and his friends

                had died, God would still have been good whether we

                  understood it or not."


             Pastor Pritchard says he believes every word of that is

                true, but he was unnerved when she said it.

             As he gave it more thought, he concluded that faith is

                not a feeling based on our circumstances.

             True biblical faith chooses to believe that God is who he

                said he is and that he will do what he said he will do.


             Sometimes you choose to believe because of what you see,

                often you believe in spite of what you can see.

             Many things in life remain mysterious and unanswerable.

             But if there is no God, and if he is not good, then nothing

                at all makes sense.


             Ray concluded:

             "I have chosen to believe because I must believe.

                 I truly have no other choice.

              Along with millions of believers across the centuries I

                have learned through my tears that my only confidence

                  is in God and God alone."

                                                                  #64122


          4) He can give us forgiveness.

              a) Only God can forgive sins.

              b) When we forgive, we are really asking God to do the

                    forgiving.


      C. God deserves our praise.

          1) Glory is God's essential attribute - he glows.

              a) Of course, it is about more than being radiant.

              b) God's glory involves his purity and majesty and

          2) He is to be hallowed by us.


  V. God is forever.

      A. Forever is a long time.

          1) It is popular to think God is something people made up a

                few thousand years ago, and no longer needed.

          2) We believe he has always existed, and always will.

          3) Our planet will one day be reduced to dust, but God will

                remain.


      B. Amen.

          1) Amen is Hebrew for "so be it."

          2) We cannot make our prayers come true, but we desire them

                to come true.

          3) We must leave it in God's hands, for him to decide.



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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:


  I am indebted to Rev. Dr. Ray Pritchards sermon Praying From the

  Footnotes (March 1, 2009; Kerux Sermon #64031) for several areas of

  my message.  Rays website is http://www.keepbelieving.com.


#64122  Not Just The God of The Good Times, Rev. Dr. Ray Pritchard,

           from his sermon Praying From the Footnotes, March 1, 2009.


These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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