Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory

Dearly loved people of God,

Why does the New King James Version include a final expression of praise, that isn’t in the NIV?

Have you ever played telephone?

It’s a party game. I whisper a sentence into someone’s ear on this side of the room and it’s whispered from person to person up and down the pews until we ask the last person on this side of the room to stand up and say the sentence aloud. Do you think it will be the same?

That’s a little like how the Bible is transmitted – OT and NT. Over the years the Bible been copied and copied and copied – by hand. Since this is a human project, errors happen.

Margin notes come into the text.

Copying errors happen.

The oldest copies get lost, destroyed, or retired.

Only a few copies and fragments survive from 200-400 AD.

More copies have survived from the 600s, 800s, 1000s.

Arguing and debating which are the most reliable is a rabbit-hole that some people fall down and never get out of. I’ve seen people so caught up in having the right version of the Bible and defending their choice that they seemed to forget God’s call to love their neighbour. We can talk about versions even debate which is most reliable, but not in sermons. That’s good stuff for Bible studies, Bible classes, and universities.

For today, it’s enough for us to acknowledge that the NKJV is translated from a Greek text based on what the majority of Greek documents have regardless of when they were written. The NIV is based on a Greek text where the earliest documents are considered the most accurate to what the apostle originally wrote. Yet the difference is surprisingly little

Some scholars think that the phrase, “yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever” was borrowed from one of King David’s prayers found I Chronicles.

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

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.”

(NIV)

David had encouraged all his officials and leaders to contribute to the temple-building fund. When they saw the gifts, everyone rejoiced at the willing response from the leaders. And David praise the Lord on behalf of everyone.

Maybe that’s where the doxology in the Lord’s prayer comes from. Maybe not. We won’t know until God’s Kingdom comes in all its glory.

The point of this part of the Lord’s Prayer, the point of David’s prayer in I Chronicles, and the point of the passage we read in the Revelation of John, is that God is victorious. This is a doxology – literally a word or phrase that glorifies God. As we pray, we return to where we started. We remember that God is holy and powerful. The forces of evil did not, will not, and cannot defeat him!

John had this vision while he was on the island of Patmos.

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

(NIV)

It was a time, shortly after Jesus’ ascension into heaven that the church of Jesus was being fiercely persecuted. In some places, all the authority of the emperor of Rome was being exerted against the believers. They were viewed as a threat to the Empire because the Christians persisted in saying that Jesus is Lord – not Caesar.

Among all the amazing things you find in the book of Revelation, there’s this vision of the kingdoms of this world, the opponents and oppressors of the church of Jesus being overthrown.

You know that satisfying ca-chunk sound that big rocks make when you lift them over your head and toss them into Lake Erie? Now multiply that 1000X and picture a boulder the size of a millstone being thrown into the sea. That’s a picture of what’s in store for the City that opposes God’s Kingdom.

Why such violence?

In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people,

of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

(NIV)

In John’s vision, the opponents of the church were caught red-handed. Those who live by the sword, die by the sword. The threat to Jesus’ reign is eliminated. So a celebration breaks out in heaven:

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:

“Hallelujah!

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

for true and just are his judgments.

He has condemned the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.

He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

(NIV)

God said that vengeance is his. In the final reckoning, God will judge his opponents. He doesn’t leave rebellion unpunished. God is just.

Here’s the amazing part of the gospel: all of us deserve to face this kind of punishment. That’s a sobering thought. It’s great to think of God defeating his enemies when you think that God’s on your side, but in the honesty of realizing that – except for God’s grace we deserve that kind of punishment – well, that’s gives pause for thought.

But that’s the reality of our confession. Last week we talked about aiming for the honesty like AA: “My name is Harold and I’m a sinner.” Ever since Adam & Eve’s rebellion, each of us is inclined to hate God and our neighbour. Such sin leads to death and damnation. That’s God’s justice.

But God is also compassionate and loving. He loves the world so much he sent his one and only Son to rescue people who have sinned. God the Son became human, just like you and me except without sin, despite the intense temptations he faced.

Since he is without sin, Jesus didn’t have his own debts to pay, but stepped up to pay our debt. Since Jesus is God, he could endure God the Father’s anger at sin. That’s why Jesus went to the cross. He suffered and died in our place.

On the third day, he rose again, demonstrating that all our enemies have been defeated. Jesus is the victor! That’s the theme of the whole book of Revelation: Jesus wins!

His righteousness and victory have been extended to all who have faith in him. His victory has given us life, hope, and a future with God and for God. We enjoy the benefits of Jesus’ resurrection now and forever.

So with the persecuted Christians of the Roman Empire, so long ago, we celebrate that Jesus is victorious and that the blood of all Jesus’ servants will be avenged. That’s not our job – that’s Jesus’ job as King and Judge.

How do we live then?

We celebrate Jesus’ victory. We praise God for his victory. We praise our rescuer and hallow God’s name!

We tell and retell the gospel story, building up each other’s faith and passing the victory message along to those who are hungry for hope.

We anticipate and prepare for Jesus’ return, when all things will be set straight. Because, God’s Kingdom is not just something that comes in the future. Already now God’s Kingdom is advancing. We’re part of changing the conditions on earth, so that God’s will is done on earth now, the way it is in heaven. Since we know that the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory belong to God, how can we pray?

John deVries, writes in his book Why Pray?, about how interceding for a city can be part of God’s plan so amazing breakthroughs happen. When we work, we work. When we pray, we’re counting on God to work. Not necessarily the way we expect or hope, but according to his wisdom and plan.

deVries writes about Goa, a city in India, where the dominant religion is a “strange mixture of Catholicism and Hinduism.” Generally, very hostile to protestant Christianity.

1995: Indian pastor, 20 y of church planting ~6-7 churches

· Prayer team from Brazil nothing but prayer 1995-96.

Prayer team from Brazil nothing but prayer 1995-96.

After they left, same Indian pastor Sept. –Oct. 1996 = 20 new church plants!

· After they left, same Indian pastor Sept. –Oct. 1996 = 20 new church plants!

Do you think the Kingdom, the power, and the glory belong to God?