Living Hope

Pastor Philip Miller: Kingdom, power, glory forever. Of course, it will not fully come until Jesus returns, but we are meaningful emissaries of this kingdom right here and right now. As the gospel goes forth, the kingdom of darkness is robbed of people as they are transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son of God.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Welcome to Living Hope with Pastor Philip Miller. I'm Pastor Larry McCarthy. We're so glad you've joined us today through our series on the Sermon on the Mount. It's amazing, Pastor Miller. Who would have thought that God would include people like us in His glorious mission in this world? It's amazing.

Pastor Philip Miller: It is amazing. I mean, who would have thought? Little old us, right? That God would bring us into the work that He's doing to reconcile lost people to Himself. What a privilege.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Amen.

Pastor Philip Miller: I love this. So the prayer at the end, "Yours is the kingdom, power, and glory forever. Amen." That's not just a prayer request that we're praying that God would do. Of course, He's going to do that. He's going to bring about kingdom, power, and glory for the sake of His name for all eternity.

But it's also a prayer request that we get to be a part of actually answering a little bit. We are the answer to our own prayers. We are the people of God sent out on mission to herald the name of Jesus before a lost world to see people reconciled to the Lord Jesus Christ, right?

And what a privilege. We get to pursue the kingdom, power, and glory of God with our lives, the way we live every day. We're on mission with Jesus in the world. And so this is not just a prayer in abstract that we hope, "Oh God, maybe You'll get around to it one day."

When we finish this prayer and we get up off of our knees, we get to work. And we join God on mission in our world where we live, work, learn, and play. We are the ambassadors of Christ and witnesses to His name wherever we go. So it's a huge privilege, and we get to be a part of answering this prayer with our lives.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Amen. Now, stay tuned after the message because we're going to have a discussion. Pastor Philip is going to speak directly to those who say that they don't feel they have the gift of evangelism. But now, let's go to the pulpit of The Moody Church as we celebrate God's glory. This is part three of the sermon "Kingdom, Power, Glory." Grab your Bibles. We're in Matthew chapter six, verses nine through 13.

Pastor Philip Miller: When we pray, "Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever," we're praying for all things to be made new. Revelation 21, verses one to five. John says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people. And God Himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And He who is seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'" Kingdom, power, glory forever. Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen? Amen.

So this prayer, "Yours is the kingdom, the power, the glory forever," is the frame of our prayers. It's the scope of our prayers. And then finally, it's the goal of our prayers. This benediction provides the goal of our prayers. Notice that first little word, "for." "For yours is the kingdom, the power, the glory forever. Amen."

For. It's purpose, result. Every other prayer in the Lord's Prayer is offered to this end, with this aim, this purpose, this goal: that the sovereign King would come into His kingdom, that the omnipotent Lord would wield His power, that the resplendent one would receive the glory due His name.

When we pray for "Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever," we're praying with the goal that the cosmos is set to rights with the King in His rightful place. The cosmos set to rights with the King in His rightful place. Because when the King is in His rightful place, friends, the cosmos is set to rights.

When the King is in His rightful place, the cosmos is set to rights. Think about it. "Give us this day our daily bread." When glory comes and kingdom comes, this prayer will be answered with the marriage supper of the Lamb forever. "Forgive us our debts." It will be answered with a sinless eternity.

"Deliver us from evil." Satan will be cast in the lake of fire forever. Everything broken will be mended. Everything marred will be beautiful. Everything wounded will be healed. Everything wrong shall be righted. Everything lost shall be found, and everything sad will come untrue. There will be peace on earth, goodwill toward men, righteousness, truth, justice, shalom forever. Can you not wait for this?

I love C.S. Lewis's *The Chronicles of Narnia*. We've read them recently with the kids, and there's a poem about Aslan, the great lion, the Christ figure in the book. It says this: "Wrong will be right when Aslan comes in sight. At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more. And when he bares his teeth, winter meets its death. And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."

Or if we want to go back to Tolkien: "All that is gold does not glitter, not all who wander are lost. The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring. Renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king."

Can't you see it? The white star twinkling in the shadows, reminding us of what is true and good and real and beautiful. That no matter how dark things get down here, in the end, the shadow is only a small and passing thing. There is light and high beauty forever beyond its reach. Kingdom, power, glory forever. Amen.

Because one day, friends, the King will return and He will take His rightful place. And the cosmos will be set to rights, and everything will be as it ought to be on earth as it is in heaven. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. It's the goal of our prayers.

Now, here's the amazing thing. God invites us, you and me, to join Him in the work of answering our own prayers. This is amazing. Not only is God's kingdom, power, and glory our greatest hope and longing, it is our greatest calling as well. That's what the "Amen" means.

So be it. Make it so. Hear, hear. What are we doing? We're casting our vote in alignment, in allegiance with the coming King. We're co-conspirators in the takeover of the sovereign God to reclaim His throne and all of creation that it might be His forever.

When we say "Amen," we're stacking hands on His agenda. We are co-conspirators in the redemption, reconciliation, and renewal of His kingdom come so that His power and glory would fill all the earth. That's what "Amen" means. Jesus says in John 20:21, "As the Father sent Me, so I am sending you."

Second Corinthians 5:19-20, "In Christ, God is reconciling the world to Himself and He has entrusted us, us, with the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors of Christ, as if God is making His own appeal through us." Friends, we are emissaries of the kingdom, power, and glory, which are even now spreading throughout the entire world as people everywhere come to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord, and King.

Kingdom, power, glory forever. Of course, it will not fully come until Jesus returns, but we are meaningful emissaries of this kingdom right here and right now. As the gospel goes forth, the kingdom of darkness is robbed of people as they are transferred into the kingdom of the beloved Son of God. Colossians 1:13.

Who are then filled with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead as the Spirit comes to live in them. Romans 8:11. Who are even now beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 4:6. Do you see it? Kingdom, power, glory right here, right now, in the people of God to the ends of the earth.

Wherever the gospel goes forth to the nations, to the ends of the earth, there the kingdom, power, and glory of God go as well. So when we pray, "For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, amen," it is a Great Commission prayer. You see that? These are our marching orders. This is why we get up every morning. This is who we are.

Here's the takeaway straight from the lips of Jesus. "All authority"—that's kingdom language, that's power language, that's glory language—"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Friends, there is light and high beauty no darkness can touch. This is the end of all of our prayers, all of our hopes, all of our commission. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Amen? Amen.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: This is Living Hope with Pastor Philip Miller. I'm Pastor Larry McCarthy, and before we start our discussion today, I wanted to let you know that this program is a team effort fueled by supporters just like you. And as our way of saying thank you for partnering with us today, we have a special resource we want to make available to you.

To get it, simply go to livinghopeoffer.com or call us at 1-800-215-5001. We're so glad you've joined us today as we consider how we might participate with God in His work. Now, Pastor Philip, we've just heard that God wants to use us and so we can preach or share a testimony or witness. Some of our listeners are saying, "Come on, put me in, coach. But I need some pointers here." Do we have any pointers we can give them?

Pastor Philip Miller: Yeah, okay. So the idea of representing Christ in a lost world, that can feel like a lot of pressure, right? So let's break it down. The first thing is to recognize we all have a sphere of influence. It's already there. It's the places we live, work, learn, and play.

There are people far from Jesus but near to us. And they're right there. They're already on the front burner of our lives. And the question is, do we know them? Are we building relationships with them? Are we praying for them? Are we thinking about those as people that we're meant to actually represent Christ to?

Here's what's amazing. The world won't come to church, but the church goes to the world, right? And so if we start to begin to realize that we are supernaturally and strategically placed where we live, work, learn, and play by Jesus on mission, that we might be the closest thing to Jesus some people actually ever see.

And so what does it mean to represent Christ well in my workplace, in my neighborhood, in my gym, as I gather with my friends at the PTA meeting, or whatever, right? The bakery, wherever, the candlestick factory, whatever. So in other words, we're already there. We're already in position. The question is, are we good witnesses for Jesus or not?

And so I think first just consciously recognizing our mission field is right between our two feet. It's right where we already are. And some people are going to get up and go to the ends of the earth, but a lot of us are going to go to our neighborhoods, and that's where it's going to start.

So let's begin with that. That's our mission field. And then secondly, I think then having a list, like going thinking through those spheres of your influence and say, "Okay, who is far from Jesus but near to me? Who are they? What are their names? What are their stories? What do I know about them really?

Not just that they like this kind of a car or something, but what's their actual life story? Do I know them? How do I pray for them?" Jesus is already on the job. The Holy Spirit is in the world convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgment. So we don't bring Jesus to anybody.

He's already there. The question is will we join Him in partnership as He is drawing all people to Himself, wooing them through the gospel? So am I going to join up and partner with Him? And so do I actually know them? And so I would say start praying every day for them by name.

That would be a great first step. And then as you pray, as your heart starts to tether to them, you say, "You know what? I really need to get to know them. What's their journey? Where are they from? What is the baggage they're carrying in life? Do they have any spiritual connection at all?

What does it look like? What are their hopes and fears and dreams? And where are they stuck?" And to know them enough to be able to then offer some spiritual insight. I like to always ask for people to share their story first. And then having shared their story, they'll naturally want to hear your story.

And so ask them first. Give them the honor of sharing their story first, and then there'll be this imbalance in the relationship and they'll feel the need to correct it and it'll open the opportunity for you to have permission to share your story. And then as you share your story, I think the key is to tell your story.

You say, "This is who I was before Jesus. Here's the problems I had in my life. Here's where I was stuck. Here's where I was hung up. And then here's how Jesus met me. Here's how it started to really impact my life. And here's how I've actually become a changed person because Jesus is in my life, and I couldn't do life without Jesus."

And what that does is that makes Jesus the hero of your story. We're all trophies of grace. And so we then get to show the power of the gospel in the texture of our own life and story. I think that's really powerful. Pepper it in with some verses along the way, and all of a sudden you've got a pretty compelling witness of who we are and what Christ is all about and what the gospel can do in a person's life.

Another strategy I like to do is I'll ask people what their favorite movie is. And then they'll say, "It's this movie." And then I'll say, "Okay, is there a character you really identify with in that story?" And usually there is. That's why the movie's their favorite movie, because there's somebody that took a journey of transformation in that movie and it resonates with their own story.

And so as you draw that up, that's a great way to backchannel and figure out what's going on in their life. And the gospel is always the answer to every one of our plotlines. We were made for God and the plotline of our story will resolve in the gospel. And so we're helping people begin to put the pieces together.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Those are some great practical pointers, coach. Thank you. Authentic curiosity, prayer, and then share your testimony, and then the movie. What's your favorite movie? Did you get those? You can write those down. I think that was good. Now, some of our listeners though, they may be saying, "Well, I don't have the gift of evangelism, and so I don't really need to do any of that, right?"

Pastor Philip Miller: Yeah, well, that's an excuse we can kind of make, right? And the reality is evangelism is a gift. There are people that are exceptionally gifted as evangelists, and Christ gives those gifts to the body. But we are all of us called to be witnesses.

Jesus said to every one of us, "You will be My witnesses." So you may not have all the gifts. Nobody has all the gifts, right? But we're all called to represent Christ, to bear witness to His name, to give an answer when anyone asks for the hope that we have. Those are global commands.

So you wouldn't want to apply that test like, "I don't have the gift of giving so I don't have to give," or "I don't have the gift of encouragement so I can be a jerk." You would never make those sorts of distinctions. We're all called to Christlikeness, to bear witness to Him even though we don't all get every single gift that's handed out. So we're all called. The question is we are witnesses. Are we a good witness or not? And that's really the question.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: And there are believers though that, as you say, that have a special calling on their lives in proclaiming the truth of the gospel around the world, like the missionaries. So how can we pray for them as we think about these people who do go to remote and sometimes hostile places to bring the truth of the word of God?

Pastor Philip Miller: Yeah, so Paul talks about this. He talks about the Philippians when they gave gifts to him to help him pay his bills while he was doing evangelistic work in other countries, other regions. He called them, he said, "I thank God for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now."

And I think that's really important for us to remember. When we are praying and when we are giving and supporting other people who are on the front lines doing the work of evangelism and bringing the mission forward and letting the world know about the lordship of Jesus Christ and His saving work on our behalf.

When we're partnering with those people, we are partners in that gospel work. We're holding the ropes and they're down the pit doing the work, right? But if we don't hang on to the ropes, they're in trouble, right? And so the reality is partnering in the gospel is a very normative practice and it's what a lot of us are going to end up doing.

The majority of what we're going to do is pray and support those who are doing that full-time work and it is gospel work and we're all part of it when we support our missionaries, those who are doing evangelistic work, pastors. When you give to your church, you're enabling all kinds of good gospel work to go forth week in and week out to impact your community in ways that none of us could do maybe on our own, but collectively we get to be a part of what God's doing in our community and in nations and all around the world.

What a privilege it is. And so this really is a call for all of us to really consider what does it mean to be deeply invested in the mission of God to see His kingdom, power, and glory increasingly evident in this world through the church as the church goes out? The church is for the glory of God and we get to be a part of seeing this prayer request answered in our days by our partnership in the gospel.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: And you can do that right now, beloved. You can pray for the missionaries that you know and pray for those you don't know, but pray for them who are out in the fields, in the trenches, on the front line for the glory of God. And remember, you have been placed where you are by God Almighty Himself. You have a sphere of influence.

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You could also write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Stepping into God's mission means we have to slow down and focus on what really matters. And next time, we'll look at the history and background of the spiritual discipline of fasting. Thanks for joining us for Living Hope, where you'll always find gospel truth for the journey of a lifetime. Living Hope is a production of Moody Church Media and is sponsored by The Moody Church.