open in the back of this same book to the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 52, page 896. I also have conveniently printed it for you in your worship order. Question 128, we're attempting to conclude the Lord's Prayer, but it's difficult to fly right by these different aspects of this last Lord's Day. So we're gonna look at just question 128 We'll read responsively. It says there in question 128, page 896, how do you conclude this prayer? For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. This means we have made all these petitions of you because as our all-powerful king, you're both willing and able to give us all that is good. and because your holy name and not we ourselves should receive all the praise forever. This is our confession of faith. Very useful and straightforward teaching that we've been following here for quite some time. But now I'd like you to turn with me to the Gospel of John in the New Testament, chapter 14. I suspect familiar to many of you in such a way, you know, certain aspects of this reading, you'll say, well, maybe I memorized that. John 14 verse 1, listen carefully to the word of our God. It says, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the father and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." So far from God's holy word. Dear congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, God intends for us to live a constantly prayerful life. This is the direct testimony of the scripture. This is how Jesus taught with this emphasis on prayer and his apostles followed suit. That prayer is this constant activity of the spiritual man, the spiritual woman, they will live a prayerful life. and we're nearing the conclusion of a series on prayer, and it's a tragedy. It's a tragedy if we're learning about prayer week after week, but all of it gets put on the shelf instead of put to work. All of it gets put on the shelf instead of put to practice. I've been trained in the Lord's Prayer line by line, petition by petition, but we have to practice what we preach and apply what we've learned, and it's kind of a weird thing to think about. that our faith is a matter of talk, not only talk but action. And so now we talk about talking, we talk about the Lord's Prayer and then not even say it, not even act on it. We have to put this prayer into action and that's something important about the faith that we haven't been shy to talk about over and over. No matter your age, no matter your education, no matter your eloquence or whatever it may be, if you are sitting here then you should pray, young or old, you should pray every day. Talk to your creator, talk to your heavenly father, to the one that provides for you, to the one that cares for you. We have to pray this prayer and still more besides. and ask God to increase our faith, and He will do it. Ask God to provide for us, and He will provide, and ask God to show His care, and He will care for us. And this is a great gift and a blessing from God. Well now, specifically as we come to the end of this prayer, we have this so-called doxological ending, that is an ending that gives glory to God, one that praises Him, one that honors Him, one that's fitting. for such a prayer. And so Jesus is our savior. He reveals the kingdom of God to us with the greatest clarity. And his teachings and his miracles and his parables and all the way that he demonstrates his mission, it's always revealing, showing the kingdom of God. Even now as he reasons with his disciples, saying, you have seen through me things that should be all the more clear to you, clearer than they've ever been. He is the one that brings clarity to the work of God and his kingdom, the power of God for salvation, the near presence of God to know his glory and the riches of his majesty. It is through Jesus. It could only be through him. He is the way and the truth and the life. So these closing words of praise, this ending of praise and glory to God, in it we see God alone has the power. and the willingness to deliver our full salvation for the sake of his own glorious name. That's our confession and that's, you know, that's what we see here, you know, sort of in summary in the catechism, willing and able, that's a critical thought. He has the power, the ability, as it were, and he has the willingness to deliver our full salvation for the sake of his own glorious name. So we want to talk about God's kingly power, his caring goodness, and his glorious purpose. We'll start with his kingly power. Huge challenges to the faith in our day, they center around the question of God's power. Does he have the power to do what he promises, especially in the face of sufferings and trials and difficulties? Can God actually come through? Some of the most typical challenges to God's power also come, they come in the clothing, the dressing of human choice. We make salvation so much a matter of man's choices and our own sort of will and our own way in spirituality. And we want to bring as much as possible of our spiritual life under our direct control. But this is, according to the scripture, a very sinful mindset, self-dependence, independence from God. It's God who has all the authority. It's God who has all the power, the one who rules his kingdom with wisdom. And we have to learn to lay down our resistance against submission, against dependence, so that we can have proper humility before God, find our joy and our comfort truly in that thought, that all the praise goes to Him, that all the honor goes to Him, that like the Apostle says in 2 Corinthians, the treasure is His treasure and we are at best the clay pots that are holding these things. And that gives all the glory to God. It puts us in a proper perspective. So we have a natural and sinful fleshly desire to bring more control to ourselves, and this prayer does everything possible to divest of that attitude, to put off that attitude so that we're not troubled anymore, but we can put our trust in God to fully deliver everything that he's promised. Unbelievers see us as in tyranny, with, you know, to think of God this way. You know, we're brainwashed and we're locked, you know, in the tyranny of religion. We're forced to do these things that God commands and their spiritual blindness and their lack of trust in God, it makes it impossible for them to see freedom in submission to God, freedom in putting aside our own will to have his will. And this is a big part of the discussion that we had, as CJ and I were talking about earlier, the idea of the appearance of the grace of God, of the salvation of Jesus Christ, when God has finally pulled back the curtain. and demonstrated that it's Jesus and him as the supreme center that has now opened up for us a new kind of life. We see him and we can't go back to the way things were. All kingdom power and glory, every cord, you know, and sort of reaching out tendril of his promise, it all has its core and its center in Jesus. And so we're to renounce earthly passions, we're to renounce everything so that we can live truly a pure, holy, self-controlled, godly life. It's God's leadership of our lives in Jesus that send us down the proper way into the truth, into the life of God, and not when we are steering. And this is another aspect of this prayer, and a powerful one, the kingdom and the power and the glory, they are his, and they belong to no one else, and they don't belong to me, they're not in my grip, but I give all submission and honor to him. It's his leadership in Jesus. and believing his words and seeing him rightly the way that he urges his disciples. When you look at me, you have everything that you need when you see me. Know that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. This is his exhortation to us, confirmed by his miracles, finally by his resurrection from the dead, all showing that God's power and authority, they're beyond doubt and they are vested in his king who sits in his right hand. Jesus makes very clear that he can deliver all the favor of God to those who put their trust in him. And Jesus himself is the one that will go on to prepare everything that's needful for us, and there is space enough in heaven, and he is preparing the way so that we can be there with him. Who else has the power Who else has this kingly authority to open the way but Jesus? Jesus is the one. And who's gonna trek to heaven on our behalf and make us a space? And where can we sign up to rent a nice two-bedroom with a view in heaven? No one can do it but him. No one has the authority, no one has the power, no one has the glory, but he is able. and we're not to doubt Him, we're to honor Him as such. There's no request we can make that's too great for Him. Everything that we ask in His name, He is able to give, and He promises. Ask anything and I will do it. Nothing in this world is beyond His power. That's a matter of ability, right, as we said. Power and ability, they are there in the hand of Jesus to do. Nothing in the world intimidates Him, He is the King of kings. We're to live hopefully in this life with trust in Jesus, and that can be very difficult. It's bad news, you know, it's troubling news. It's wars and rumors of wars. Very, you know, that's very apropos. It's unrest and threats of violence. And, you know, protests that say no kings, but we, you know, we have one that we're interested in. You know, the true king, Jesus. Can God protect us? And can God deliver us to glory in the name of Jesus? We see the breakdown of society in many ways, hyper-sexualized, destructive towards marriage, even destructive towards the most basic things about gender and our life in this world. And very often I hear older people say, it's bad enough for me, I worry about my children, I worry about my grandchildren, I worry about what the next generation will face. We're seeing threats of all kinds, and the question is, you know, that's one of power. It's one of ability. Can God overcome? And it's the great anchor. And it's meant to be the daily feature of our prayer that we say, yes, although I see darkness all around, Jesus is the light of my life. Jesus is the focus of my vision. Yes, God is able to do what no one else can do for me. And, you know, the second humbling and beautiful part of this is that he cares, that he's not only able, but that he's willing to do this for us. Jesus has the kingdom and the power and the glory, and while some bitterly accuse him of withholding, of always taking, of not caring, not listening, of having all of that power, but sort of, you know, like brushing off our concerns and ignoring them. We know that Jesus will use every ounce, every bit of that strength to bring our full salvation to bear. He will come quickly, he says, and not let the wicked go unpunished, not call good evil and evil good, not forget his mercy or fail in justice, but bring all of the full inheritance that he has already given in the spirit as a down payment. Every benefit and advantage he will apply to his people, to his church with caring goodness. And that gives us great hope and confidence. How tragic if we don't rehearse it in prayer daily. How tragic if we forget even for a little while that this is where things are leading so that we're not grinded down by the difficulties of this life. The devil constantly works to sow the lie, you know, that God has forgotten us, that God has abandoned us, that the world offers something better. If God is powerful, you know, why does he let you struggle with your health? If God is powerful, why doesn't he, you know, why doesn't he reach out to take away all of your problems, financial problems, other difficulties? You know, he has no ear for your prayer, he's busy. If he has the resources but he doesn't provide for you, you know, there's the lie always whispering in the back of our mind. And the failure to pray is, for us, a devastating blow, because that is the daily and loud and direct rehearsal of what we very much need, the corrective truth of Christ, who reminds us, you know, I love you, and I'm preparing a place for you, and where I am, you will be also, and it's but a short time. This is how He encourages us, and there's no if in His message. This is what I will do. This is what I have promised, that those who believe in me, they will see the power of God at work now, and they will certainly have everything that they need for eternal life. God is willing to help us. You know, we found ourselves in that position, believing lies of our own creation. We don't necessarily, you know, doubt God's power, but we question it as we struggle. We need to repent and think on the cross. Jesus shouted out on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And the answer to that question is so that we can know with certainty that he is forsaken so that all the care of God, all the love of God, all the attention of God would never be snatched from us. He draws attention to something that we need to remember all the time. that He is willing to help us even at the cost of His very life, His own body and His own blood delivered so that we can be nourished, so that we can be strengthened for eternal life. He pays the cost. He sheds His blood and secures our place with Him forever. We don't wonder anymore, you know, is God on my team? You know, I felt like it yesterday, I don't feel like it today, does that mean that God has withdrawn from me? That's not appropriate for us. When Jesus has shed his blood, this is the confirmation, this is the seal, this is the finished work of God in Jesus Christ. Not an if for those who belong to Jesus, but a surety, a certainty, so that we may have assurance in his name. and He promises then He will do whatever we ask in His name. We've worked hard on this prayer. We've worked hard to show the character of it, not a proud character, but one of dependence, not a self-important character, but one that is feeding daily on what God provides, one that is forgiving as God has forgiven. When we have worked through this prayer, then those who pray and carry out the Christian life with the spirit and mind of Jesus can understand when Jesus makes this promise, whatever you ask in my name, I will do it. And do we have to go do damage control for Jesus? Well, he really doesn't keep this, because sometimes, like, what if I pray right now, I wish I had a pair, I wish I had, and it doesn't happen, and therefore, does Jesus lie, or is this just sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't? How can he say it with such certainty, such confidence? We aren't interested in the foolish and proud and self-important application of this prayer. God isn't, you know, subject to our absurd ideas. We don't pray out of one side of our mouth. He has all power and glory and authority. He is the Father in heaven. He is the one who is able to provide all things. And then pray absurd or greedy or twisted prayers. Because Jesus said, whatever I say, you know, whatever I say, he will do. That's foolish to us, it's immaturity at its worst. Why isn't God willing to feed my greed? That's double-mindedness. Why isn't God willing to feed my luxury and my pleasures that are rooted in this world? A foolish and immature prayer. Why doesn't God feed my laziness? Why isn't God willing to grant the things that I want that I think will make me happy or the friends and associations that I want or the fame that I want that will actually choke my spirit and is toxic to his purpose in my life? It's not a head-scratcher, but the answer is self-evident. Instead, we think on how worthy God is, the glory forever, Not for a time, but for eternity is His. And based on what Jesus says here, we should think of Him as saying, I will do whatever you ask that brings true glory to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I will do whatever you ask that is going down the true path of faith and hope and love in Christ, in dependence on the Father. There is nothing that God will not supply that we should come further into Christ, that we should go deeper in faith, that we should grow in our love for Him and for others. Those who want nothing more than to do the will of the Father and glorify Him, they will find that every prayer of theirs is answered by God and powerfully and joyfully. The good news for us is that God is glorified whenever we bear fruit in the Holy Spirit. And Jesus taught us to pray like children who depend on the father for everything that's truly good and for every pathway that truly leads to his kingdom. and for the kind of direction that has us on the narrow way, not the broad path to destruction, but the path of life, a life that is full of the reverence and the holy character that God has in mind. A hallowed prayer is answered by God. He taught us to pray for kingdom obedience and to have that obedience, which is done instantly in heaven, to be done as readily and as willingly now. He taught us to pray for a change of mind, to will God's will after him. This we desperately need and this God is ready to give. He loves when we pray for that kind of wisdom and he is ready to provide. He taught us to make requests in a way that balances our needs with contentment and joy. He taught us to forgive our neighbor in a way that reflects his mercy and his generosity towards us, which is a mountain by comparison. He taught us to run to him for protection and to stand in him against the devil's schemes. Everything that Jesus taught us to pray brings glory to God. And that's how we understand this promise, that the kingdom and the power and the glory of God that they are reflected, they're meant to be reflected in every prayer of ours. Everything that we ask helps us to accomplish this very purpose. And there'll be times where we don't fully follow or understand what the next move should be, and there God helps us in our prayers. So that even where our prayers are not You know, we don't have the wisdom. God gives the spirit of wisdom to help us. And we know at those times not to fear, but to defer to him in authority and wisdom and charity and the glory which he revealed in Christ. So I hope it's plain that the Lord's Prayer is cut from that fabric, the fabric of honor to Jesus, of his righteousness, of his humility and obedience. The whole prayer reveals his glory. And, you know, we think on those themes that were such a critical fuel for the Protestant Reformation, you know, solely deo gloria, to God alone be the glory. And you see that here, you know, in this conclusion of the prayer, that wherever all of this prayer is leading, it has to find its pinnacle in that God receives all the praise, that Jesus is the one that's in front of our eyes and honored in our eyes. Our prayers and our lives reflect that Christ-centered, cross-centered attitude. We know where our help comes from. We know where our life has its foundation. We know where our lives are headed, to his kingdom. Now Jesus is our advocate before God. Now we have his spirit who will help us to glorify God in all things. It's a prayer of great joy. It's a work that's done by God, ultimately, the one who possesses everything, the one who gives every good gift, the only one worthy to receive glory forever. Amen, let's pray. Our Father in heaven, We have a firm confidence as we see Jesus teaching his disciples that his disciples struggled to grasp all of the depth of his teaching and of his promises and of the life that you were revealing in Jesus. And Lord, now as we look on his death and resurrection, you have given us the greatest position. You've given us the vantage point of history that puts us in such a favored place. that we see your purpose unfolding and the way that your disciples came to know truly and understand how you sent your only begotten son to reveal your full glory. And together with him, you sent your spirit or that we should not lack in any of these things, but grow in them. We're so thankful to you for the blessings and for the truth that this prayer reveals. We're thankful that Jesus, according to your love and faithfulness, has become our chief prophet and teacher in such a way that there is nothing good that we need that he has withheld. There is nothing good that we need now that he will not provide. We have total confidence, not in ourselves, but certainly in him. And we thank you, Lord, that even now you hear our prayers as they come in the name of Jesus. Lord, now we conclude, even as he taught us to pray, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.