"FOR YOURS IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY,
FOREVER. AMEN."
The doxology is omitted by the Revisers. It is not in
Luke's version nor in the oldest manuscripts of Matthew, nor in the Vulgate.
Alford says, "It must on every ground of sound criticism be omitted." It is
supposed to have been placed on the margin, and subsequently transferred to
the text, such doxologies being in frequent use. But though excluded by an
exact criticism, a doxology so dear to our associations will long be used as
expressing scriptural truth and an appropriate response to the prayer. It
reminds us of David's thanksgiving, "Yours, O Lord, is the power, and the
glory—Yours is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head above all." The
Apostles Paul, Jude, and John, record similar ascriptions of praise—"For of
Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things; to whom be glory forever.
Amen." "To the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and
power, both now and ever." "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power to Him
who sits upon the throne." The doxology is also implied in this very prayer;
for His must be "the kingdom" who is asked to do kingly acts; and He must
possess adequate "power" who is asked to accomplish what needs Divine
strength; and to God alone must belong the "glory" of all His works. It is
adoration naturally arising from devout hearts, and has been hallowed by
immemorial usage in the Christian Church.
I—THE DOXOLOGY A CONFESSION OF
FAITH.
He who comes to Him must believe that He is the rewarder
of those who diligently seek Him." Here we profess our belief that God is
both able and willing to do what we have asked.
1. The Kingdom—In ascribing to Him the kingdom, we
deny that it is the devil's, from whom we have just asked deliverance. The
"Evil One" who tempted our Lord, and who tempts us by displaying the
allurements of the world, saying, "This is delivered to me, and to whomever
I will I give it," is a usurper, having no true authority; his pretended
kingdom is one of darkness and falsehood, is now overruled by God, and will
soon be overthrown forever. Away with the idea of a malignant spirit sharing
the kingdom forever in conflict. No! the kingdom is God's altogether,
unchangeably, eternally, and this God is our Father in heaven. The kingdom
of Nature is His. Its laws owe their origin to Him, and if He pleases He can
suspend or change them. The kingdom of Humanity is His. Men aspire to
control each other, to mold society, to rule in larger or lesser spheres, to
be kings. History abounds with the follies and crimes of men who persuaded
themselves that theirs was the kingdom for their own selfish ends, claiming
a Divine right to do wrong and serve the devil. Nebuchadnezzar boasted—"Is
not this great Babylon that I have built, by my power, and for the honor of
my majesty?" It cost him seven years of humiliation to learn that "the Most
High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He wills." And
how often have proud aristocracies and turbulent democracies abrogated all
obligations of Divine justice, as if God had vacated His throne, or
delegated His authority to them; as if human might was Divine right. Still
more monstrous has been the claim to personate Deity, as when fallible men
have pretended to be Christ's infallible representatives and vicars,
condemning those who questioned their authority as guilty of rebellion
against God. And not only so; but when, in a less degree, the headship of
Christ in His Church has been claimed by princes, prelates, presbyteries,
congregations, as if their decisions must be accepted as endorsed by His
sign manual; as though the abuses and corruptions incident to every system,
if not from selfishness and pride, yet from ignorance and neglect, could be
Divine; and as if efforts towards reformation must be repressed as
presumptuous interference with the government of God. All such claims need
to be held in check by the avowal that the kingdom is God's; not man's, who
is at the best ignorant, foolish, frail; but God's, the infinitely Wise,
Holy and Good, our Father; to whom, above all the false claims of human
authority, our final appeal is made.
If the kingdom is our Father's, every one of His children
may claim its privileges and service. The poorest peasant with the proudest
peer, the lowest servant with the mightiest monarch, may rejoice in being
fellow-subjects of the one King; there being for each some allotted place,
some work, some honor—for each the watchful care of the loving Father, whose
is the kingdom. "If the words 'Yours is the kingdom' are true words,
priests, kings, saints must say as much as any, yes, more than any—'It is
not ours. We exist only to testify whose it is, only to bring all whom we
can reach within the experience of its blessedness.'…We are bound to affirm
that a Fatherly kingdom is established in the world; that to be members of
it is our highest title, and that the beggars of the land share it with us;
that under Him all may in their respective spheres reign according to this
law; that all offices, the highest and lowest, have hence their
responsibility and dignity—that this kingdom reaches to the most trifling
acts and words; that not one of the suffering myriads in a crowded city is
forgotten by Him who is its Ruler, any more than one of the spirits of just
men made perfect—that when all the subordinate vassals of the kingdom shall
confess their dependence upon Him, and feel towards one another as He feels
towards them, then His kingdom, which is now, will indeed have come in
power" (F. D. Maurice).
If we confess that the kingdom is God's, how great our
inconsistency if we withhold our personal homage of heart and life! "Yours
is the kingdom" means "We are subjects of Your kingdom, yielding homage not
to worldly opinions and personal interests, but to You our only Lord." He
said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom;" He
"opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers," and will say, "Come, you
blessed children of my Father, inherit the kingdom."
2. The Power—It would be vain to ask favors of a
king in title only, who might be entitled to promise, but would be unable to
perform. Our Father has both the might and the right. The kingdom of nature
is not endowed with independent powers. The King does not sleep on His
throne while impersonal forces work their will. We are not subjected to
unfeeling, irresistible laws; we are not reeds shaken by the wind, pebbles
rounded by the wave, dewdrops exhaled by the sun; whatever the forces of
nature and our feebleness, we affirm our confidence in our Father's
all-controlling power. His Son said—"All power is given to me in heaven and
in earth;" so that power is in the hand of gentleness, of Him who blessed
little children and cleansed the leper.
The power does not belong to man, great as are his
achievements. The steamship plunging forward in the teeth of the wind,
piercing the crests of the mountain-waves, seems to defy the forces of
Nature; but this illustrates not man's resistance to those forces, but his
obedience to the laws which govern them. Steam and machinery avail us only
when in using them we render homage to the power of God. The victories of
modern science are achieved, not by compelling Nature to conform to our
theories, but by building our theories on a reverent study of Nature; so
that in science as well as morals it is true, "Blessed are the meek, for
they shall inherit the earth;" the most docile and obedient making the
resources of the universe their own. All our boasted victories of science
over matter are so many tokens of the truth that "Yours is the power."
So with human life and history. There is power in wealth
and station; much more in genius; more still in goodness; but all comes from
the Divine Mainspring. We are apt to regard the agency and overlook its
Lord. Yet Providence often teaches that calculations based on human
probabilities may be utterly falsified. The wisest have been controlled by
fools, the strongest overthrown by babes. Many a Goliath has fallen by a
stripling's stone. Solomon says—"The race is not to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong, nor favor to men of skill." The power is our Father's;
so that when "we have no might against this great company; neither know we
what to do," we can say—"but our eyes are upon You." Thus, when all seemed
lost in the death of the Founder of the Church, by the power of God He burst
the tomb and ascended to His throne. The powers of the world were enraged,
and sought to destroy the infant Church; but the power of God turned their
plots to foolishness, their force to feebleness. "The kings of the earth
stood up, and the rulers were gathered together" against the fishermen of
Galilee; but they took refuge in prayer, and said, "Lord, You are God, who
made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them." Yours is
the power! "Now, Lord, behold their threatenings—and grant to Your
servants, that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching
forth Your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name
of Your holy servant Jesus." Yours is the power! When thus they
prayed, "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word
of God with boldness." God chose "the weak things of the world to confound
the mighty," and proved that "the weakness of God is stronger than men." The
victory was not with the princes, but with the despised Nazarene. When the
foes of the Church have seemed to prevail it has not been by their own
power, but by Divine permission. When Pilate boasted, "Do you not know that
I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" Jesus replied, "You
could have no power against me, except it were given to you from
above." So, whenever we see power in hands least fit to wield it, and fear
the consequences, let faith look up and say, "Yours is the power."
In all efforts to extend the kingdom, let us remember
that as the work is God's, so is the power to accomplish it. We might well
despair if left to our own resources. Who are we to conquer ignorance,
prejudice, barbarism, wickedness? to convince the careless, soften the
obdurate, purify the corrupt, save the lost? The power belongs to Him who
bids us do the work; and so, conscious that without Him "we can do nothing,"
we believe that "we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us."
Alas for those who offer this ascription, and yet resist the power of truth,
of conscience, of the Spirit! How certain the overthrow of those who strive
against the power of God! But, on the other hand, what consolation is theirs
who embrace the power which is used for their support, and imparted to
themselves! "He gives power to the faint." I may glory in my weakness if the
power of Christ rests upon me. I am safe in my Father's care, for His is the
power; and Jesus said of His sheep, "They shall never perish; no one is able
to pluck them out of my Father's hand."
3. The glory—In its proper place, honor is a
worthy motive. We admire one who for it spurns the largest bribe and
sacrifices life itself. Yet men often seek false glory, slaying thousands
for fame, and have been the curse of nations. But the glory of God is the
manifestation of perfect wisdom, holiness and love, His glory is inseparable
from the highest happiness of the Universe.
How difficult it is to render all the glory to Him! When
ascribing it to Him, we often try to retain some for ourselves. In
glorifying our country, its wealth, power, fame, do we not unconsciously
glorify ourselves? Is not much of the praise we give to our own Church, its
formularies, usages, successes, a disguised glorification of ourselves as
belonging to it? Are we equally ready to praise whatever is excellent in
other communions? In the spirit of this ascription we should not envy others
their share of praise, but feel that it is God's to give; not our own to
clutch at and be proud of, or to lament if we do not obtain it. Non nobis
Domine, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name be the praise."
True prayer must be in harmony with the character of Him to whom we pray. We
may ask nothing which it would not be for His honor to give. We ask
virtually if not formally, in the name of the Lord Jesus, when we thus, by
His direction, pray to the Father whose glory we seek as our highest end.
"What we thus ask faithfully we shall obtain effectually." We acknowledge
His royal prerogative to give what we ask—Yours is the kingdom—His
capacity to secure the gift—Yours is the power—His honor in
bestowing—Yours is the glory. The doxology is thus a confession of
the faith which is essential to the efficacy of this and every true prayer.
II—THE DOXOLOGY AN ARGUMENT IN
PRAYER
Although prayer is designed partly for the spiritual
benefits derived from its exercise, and although such benefits are often
primary in importance, yet, as shown in the introductory chapter, they are
secondary in order. We are warranted to ask blessings which might otherwise
be withheld, and to obtain which we are encouraged to be importunate. We may
plead with God, employing arguments the strongest of which are drawn from
His own character. When appealing to our fellow-men, we urge their capacity
to do what we ask, their generosity, their past favors, and their own
encouragement for us to apply to them when in need. ed. And our Father
permits us thus to pray.
The Bible is full of illustrations of such pleading.
"Have mercy upon me, O Lord, according to Your loving-kindness. You have
delivered me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my
prayer." So here we plead what God is known to be, as an argument why He
should act in accordance with His own attributes; not what we are,
but what He is; not the smallness of our sins, but the greatness of
His mercy; not the minuteness of our wants, but the magnitude of His power;
not the sincerity of our prayer, but the majesty of His throne, the depth of
His love, the glory of His grace.
We plead first the prerogative of royalty. We have prayed
that His Name may be hallowed, His kingdom come, His will be done. It is for
the King to establish His own rule. We have asked for a kingdom which is His
own and not another's. Therefore, O Lord, establish it, reveal it, extend
it, perfect it, help us in promoting it, plead Your own cause, assert Your
own authority, "Your kingdom come, for Yours is the kingdom."
We also plead for ourselves. The King is the fountain of
grace. He alone can forgive offenses against Himself. Our patience Father is
on the throne, whose "property is always to show mercy and to forgive." "He
delights in mercy." Therefore we plead, "Forgive us our sins, for Yours is
the kingdom." The King is the fountain of honor. None carry titles in a land
but by sanction of its ruler. In appealing to God as Father, we seek
adoption as His children—an honor infinitely surpassing whatever earthly
kings can give. He to whom we pray is able to confer this, for He is
sovereign Lord. Grant us this nobility to call You "Father"—for "Yours is
the kingdom!" No fear of asking more than He has to give need trouble those
who can say, "Yours is the kingdom." It is reported of Alexander, that he
once gave permission to a friend to demand of the royal treasurer any gift
he pleased. The request was for a sum so great that the treasurer appealed
to the monarch, thinking it too much for any subject to receive. The king
replied, "But not too much for Alexander to give." When we consider the boon
we ask—pardon of all sin, victory over all evil, the supply of all need, the
honor of calling God "Father"—we might be discouraged by thinking how
infinitely more is all this than we have any right to ask, were it not for
the assurance that it is not too much for Him to bestow to whom we say,
"Yours is the kingdom."
So also we plead His power. Men may say, "I would, if I
could;" but "is anything too hard for the Lord?" He who said, "Let there be
light," can say, "Your sins are forgiven you." "Lord, if You will, You can
make me clean." His promise to Abraham was joined with the assertion, "I am
the Almighty God;" which title all the children of Abraham by faith may
plead. When we feel the force of unholy influences, the power of evil habit,
our own weakness, and the strength of the foe; when in the cause of truth
and philanthropy we feel discouraged by the opposition of some and the
apathy of others, and are ready to say, "I have labored in vain, and spent
my strength for nothing," we are encouraged to continue to pray, "Your
kingdom come," by the plea, "For Yours is the power!"
So also we plead God's glory. All we ask tends to promote
the glory of Him to whom the glory belongs. "It is Yours already; will You
not act consistently with it. Has it not been Your glory to listen to the
cry of Your children, to supply their need, to forgive their sins, to defend
them from evil, to uphold Your own authority, to secure the performance of
Your Will? Do this still, for Yours, O Lord, is the glory." Thus Moses
pleaded—"Pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of
Your mercy?" and Joshua—"O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns their
backs before their enemies? and what will You do to Your great Name?" and
David—"For Your Name's sake, pardon my iniquity;" and Jeremiah—"O the Hope
of Israel, do it for Your Name's sake;" and Daniel—"O Lord, listen and do
for Your own sake, for Your people are called by Your name." Thus our Divine
Exemplar pleaded—"Father, glorify Your Name." Thus we also plead His own
honor. "We have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told us, what
things You did in their days, and in the old time before them. O Lord,
arise, help us and deliver us, for Your Name's sake! O Lord, arise, help us
and deliver us, for Your honor."
III—THE DOXOLOGY AN ASCRIPTION OF
PRAISE
We praise God for His gifts. "Bless the Lord, O my
soul, and forget not all His benefits." "In everything give thanks." Our
Lord, who revealed the Father, welcomed the expression of praise in the one
leper who returned to give thanks for his cure. He Himself gave thanks at
the miracle of the loaves, when He instituted the Supper, and at Emmaus
after His resurrection. For every blessing of this life we should praise the
Giver; but above all for His "inestimable love in the redemption of the
world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace and for the hope of
glory." "In Him we live and move and have our being." Therefore "it is meet,
right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times and in all places
give thanks to You, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty Everlasting God."
Delight in the giver is a still higher form of praise
than gratitude for the gift. A loving child says not so much "I want a
gift," as "I love my father." A mother is pleased with the recognition of
her tender heart more than of her helping hand. The children of God thus
delight in Himself. The glorious company of heaven unite in the anthem,
"Glory and power be unto our God forever and ever." The Church on earth
responds in adoration of God, not only for His gifts, but for Himself,
saying, "We praise You, we glorify You, we give thanks to You, for Your
great glory." Such praise should ever blend with our prayers. "In
everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God." Without thankfulness it would not be for our good
that fresh favors should be bestowed. On the wings of supplication we soar
to the throne, and while gazing on its glory our petitions are brightened by
the luster, and transfigured into praise. Your kingdom come—we adore You;
Your is the kingdom! Your will be done—we magnify You; Your is the power! we
desire Your glory—Hallelujah; Your is the glory! We know our requests are
already heard. "Before you call I will answer, and while you are yet
speaking I will hear." Therefore, while praying "Your kingdom come," we may
join the Church triumphant in the song, "We give You thanks, O Lord God
Almighty, who was and are and is to come, because You have taken to Yourself
Your great power, and have reigned."
Such praise to God is the best expression and aid of
union among the worshipers. Christians who differ in opinion may agree in
praise. As at a political meeting of loyal citizens who sincerely and
zealously advocate differing methods of promoting the common weal, there may
be many voices so uplifted together in debate that no coherent utterance may
be distinguishable, yet when the national anthem is sung, all those
discordant voices blend in the harmony; so is it in the songs of the Church.
Controversy is hushed when we "praise God from whom all blessings flow."
This also links earth with heaven. Departed saints have ceased to need many
of the prayers we offer, but they still praise as we do, if not for the same
gifts, the same Giver. And angels unite in this Liturgy. They have no higher
employ, or purer joy. "I heard the voice of many angels round about the
throne, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was
slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and
glory, and blessing."
"FOREVER."
"Yours is the kingdom forever! "We rejoice that it must
so remain. "Your dominion endures throughout all generations." "Yours is the
power forever!" Not a reservoir which may be emptied, but an ocean to which
every outflowing stream returns; not a force which may be spent, but an
infinite energy. "Yours is the glory forever!" Not like earthly glory, whose
emblems are the fading flower, the passing wind, the transient meteor. As it
was in the beginning, so is it now, and so ever shall be. The glory of God
is His love, and "His mercy endures forever." Jesus, the brightest
manifestation of the Divine Glory, is "the same yesterday, today, and
forever."
Is it unreasonable to hope that those who praise a God
who lives "forever," will share in that "forever"? Will beings so endowed
perish? The Old Testament says little of immortality in direct terms; but
its records tell of those who worshiped God as the Everlasting. Must not
they whose faith and love thus rose up to the eternal throne, have cherished
some hope of immortality themselves? Our Lord showed that life eternal was
thus revealed to them. They worshiped Jehovah, the Self-existent, the
"forever" God. He proclaimed Himself as "the God of Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob." He was not ashamed to give Himself this title. "I am the God of
those who worshiped, trusted, served, and praised me." If dead and extinct,
God, who could have continued them in being for His service and love,
allowed them to perish; He had permitted and enabled them to adore His
everlastingness, and yet allowed them to sink into nothingness. Would He
boast of being their God? No! "He is not the God of the dead, but of the
living." "He has prepared for them a city;" an endless life with Himself;
"wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God." Their praise of a
"God forever" lifted them into the region of an endless life, and made there
partakers of the nature they adored. "Life and immortality" are clearly
"brought to light" by the Gospel. "We know that we have eternal life;" "Our
life is hidden with Christ in God;" "Because He lives, we live also." We
exult in a kingdom, a power, a glory, which can never cease. We rapturously
repeat the Hallelujah Chorus, "Forever! Forever! Forever!" Can we who are
privileged by God to render such worship, be allowed by the same God to
perish? Can we conceive of Him looking with complacency on such worshipers,
listening to their ascriptions, and then allowing one after another,
thousands after thousands of them, millions after millions, with this word
"Forever" on their lips, to drop into the grave and be themselves dead
"forever"?
No! We are ourselves forever if we really worship a
"forever God." All our interests are thus lifted up into the great future.
It is not for the present merely that we pray. The Kingdom we seek to
promote is forever; the Will we wish to be done is forever; the bread we ask
in the strength it imparts for promoting that kingdom and doing that will,
has a bearing on the "forever;" the forgiveness is pardon forever; the
trials in which we ask support are a discipline for the forever life, and
the deliverance from all evil is a deliverance forever. Thus all things
about which we now pray are linked with the life that is forever. It is "God
our Father forever" who provides our bread, orders our steps, appoints our
trials, for our good and His glory forever. Thus, nothing that happens to us
is trivial when we bring it in prayer to the region of the "forever." When
the writer was in Jerusalem, he visited the ancient quarries beneath the
city, where are seen heaps of chippings, and marks on the rock showing the
size and form of the stones which had been excavated for building the
temple. These were laid in their courses without sound of hammer, axe, or
chisel. Here, in these dark caverns, were prepared the goodly stones which
were to form parts of that majestic structure on Mount Moriah, where the
sacred feasts were celebrated, and the sacrifices were offered, and the
anthems of Hallelujah resounded, and the Shekinah of God was revealed. How
mean in itself the condition of any one stone, hewn and chipped in that dark
cave; but when its purpose was contemplated, what dignity invested every
touch of the shaping tool, and every minutest part of the process that was
preparing it for taking its place in the temple of God! And so with all the
circumstances of our earthly life. Our daily joys, sorrows, trials, and
cares are no longer insignificant when overruled by God, the great Master
Builder, to constitute us temples of the Holy Spirit now, and to prepare us
for a place in the heavenly Jerusalem, the house not made with hands, where
God reveals His unveiled glory, and every stone of the structure is
resplendent with the reflection of Himself; not insignificant when we
consider that these little things of our earthly existence are fashioning us
as living stones for the temple of God, by establishing His kingdom in our
hearts, by molding our will to His, by giving us victory over temptation, by
purifying our hearts from sin, by enabling us to appeal to Him as "Our
Father in heaven," and to ascribe to Him "the kingdom, and the power, and
the glory, FOREVER."
AMEN
Amen is the echo of earth to heaven—it is man's response
to God. This very word was uttered three thousand five hundred years ago,
when the Israelites worshiped in the wilderness, and afterwards when they
responded to the priests in the temple. Our Lord often uttered it, and the
apostles and early Church habitually employed it; martyrs have died with it
on their lips, and at the present day it is used throughout the world by
"all who profess and call themselves Christians." For it has been
transferred without translation into every language, so that Chinese and
African, Greenlander and Hindu, however varied their speech, utter the same
Amen. Thus it is a bond and badge of union among all Christians of every
tribe and kindred. Day by day, among all nations, this response is made to
the one Father, anticipating the day when the kingdom shall fully have come
on earth, and when the whole creation will resound with one harmonious,
all-comprehensive Amen to God.
Amen is a strong affirmation; so our Lord employed it in
uttering important truth in relation to regeneration, John 3:3; and
immortality, John 8:51. He is Himself the Divine Amen, testifying and
ratifying the truth of God. This is one of His titles, "Thus says the Amen,
the faithful and true witness." "All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and
in Him Amen, to the glory of God." The promises are fulfilled forever by
Him. His life on earth was His Amen to all that God is in heaven. His words
of wisdom, miracles of goodness, life of purity, proclamation of mercy,
death on the Cross, were His Amen to the types and prophecies of the Old
Testament. His resurrection and ascension were His Amen to His own claims
and His people's hopes. His gift of the Spirit was His Amen to His promises
and the need of His Church; and His intercession is a continual Amen to us,
who in His Name "come with boldness to the throne of grace." This gives
special interest to our use of the word. Keeping in mind that Christ is the
great Amen, every Amen we utter is prayer
and praise in His name. It is the expression of confirmed
and earnest desire. The Amen of affirmation says, "So it is;" of
supplication, "So let it be." We utter our petitions, and then, briefly
reconsidering and summing up the whole, we pray Amen. It also means
expectation of receiving what we ask. Our petitions have not exceeded
what it is in God's power and for His glory to bestow, or what He has
encouraged us to ask; and so we utter the Amen of faith. It means
confidence in our Father. Whether He answers us in the way we wish or
not, we trust His wisdom and love. This word is the riveting of a nail to
make it fast, the sealing of a document to render it valid, the endorsing of
a cheque to give it currency, the addition of an oath to confirm a promise.
Suitable in private prayer, it is specially valuable in
united worship as the adoption by the many of the utterances of the one who
speaks. So the tribes solemnly assented to the blessings and curses
pronounced by the Levites on Ebal and Gerizim. So, when David brought up the
ark to Mount Zion, after the doxology, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
forever and ever…all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord." The words
and music were new, and the congregation could not unite with the choir in
the anthem, but at its close they associated themselves with the whole of it
by their own Amen. On the return from captivity, when Ezra "blessed the
Lord, the great God," "all the people stood up and answered, Amen and Amen,
lifting up their hands," indicating not only their concurrence with the
words of homage, but their willingness to hear and obey the word. That such
response was general may be inferred from the words of the Psalmist,
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting; and let
all the people say, Amen." Not the ministers alone, or the choir, but "all
the people:" men, women, children; not mentally merely, but audibly. "Let
all the people say Amen." If, as Archbishop Leighton says, "all
Christians are God's clergy;" if, as Peter says, they are a "royal
priesthood;" if, as the anthem of the Blessed says, they are "kings and
priests to God," let them not leave all worship to the church
officers—priest, presbyter, or pastor—but assert their own priesthood by
this united response. This was the custom of the early Church. Paul asks how
can people "say Amen at the giving of thanks," if the language is unknown?
In heaven the Amen of gathered voices is the most familiar sound. To the
anthem, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain," the four living ones,
representing the highest orders of angelic nature, "said Amen." And after
the Hallelujah anthem, "the four-and-twenty elders, and the four living
ones, fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, Amen,
Hallelujah!"
This impressive response was practiced by the early
Church. Jerome says that at the end of every public utterance of prayer and
praise, the united Amen of the people sounded like the waves of the sea
falling on the shore, or the voice of thunder. "The hollow idols, and their
temples that were empty, did echo and rebound the Church's Amen, so that
their fabrics shook." It was not a merely mental assent, nor a smothered
whisper, but such an outburst of emotion as made it evident that all the
people assented, thus stimulating the devotion of the worshipers, and
testifying to strangers their steadfast faith. Alluding to the early method
of celebrating the Lord's Supper, Dean Stanley says—"The consecration was
not complete until it had been ratified in the most solemn way by the
congregation. For it was at this point that there came, like the peal of
thunder, the one word which has lasted through all changes and all
liturgies—the word which was intended to express the entire, truthful assent
of the people to what was done and said—Amen."
A Puritan writer says—"When we set our seal to the truth
of God and say Amen, it is a word that fills earth and heaven—there is not a
more joyful word in the world than when whole congregations say and shout
Amen" (Sibbes). Another says—"The united breath of God's people sends a
blast upon their enemies; the trumpet blew, and the people shouted, and
Jericho fell down to the ground. If any single soul who prays in faith,
shall be heard; how much more when the whole congregation is in harmony, and
unanimously cries 'Amen'! God will say 'Amen' to such Amens" (Woodcock).
Such a collective response to prayer, whether liturgical or "free," is
grander than any music of organ and choir; and more impressive than any
sermon is the confession thus given by all to the reality of worship and the
truth of God. But let it be the soul's response. "The word 'Amen,'
unaccompanied with the feeling which it is intended to call forth, loses its
power from familiarity, and, though constantly on our lips, lies bedridden
in the dormitory of our soul. But it is a great word this word Amen! and
Luther has said truly, 'As your Amen is, so has been your prayer'" (Saphir).
While many are prompt in practice, if not by speech, to
say Amen to the world's fashions, opinions, and favor; Amen to the
allurements of self-indulgence and sin, to the flesh and to the devil, let
our heart ever respond with its Amen to God. He says, "Seek my face:" let us
reply, "Amen! Your face, Lord, will I seek." He calls, "Return, you
backsliding children:" "Amen! behold, we come to You." Jesus stands at the
door and knocks—our opening the door is the soul's Amen. He commands—Amen,
we obey. He promises—Amen, we believe. He leads Amen, we follow. Amen is the
answer of a good conscience towards God. Amen accepts the Divine
covenant—"Come out from among them, and I will be a Father to you, and you
shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord God Almighty." What
condescension, that He should ask our concurrence What honor and joy for us
to respond to all His appointments, even unto death; as Cyprian, when
condemned to be slain by the sword, exclaimed "Amen!" When the heavenly
Bridegroom says, "Surely I come quickly," the Bride replies, "Amen, even so
come, Lord Jesus." "If we say Amen to God's invitation, He says Amen to our
salvation."
Amen is an emphatic and comprehensive summary of the
Lord's Prayer; responding to it as a whole, omitting no one petition. "Our
Father in heaven." Amen! Creator and Preserver of all men, Redeemer from sin
and death, help us with filial confidence to say, "Abba, Father." Amen! We
bless You for thus revealing Yourself. You are more than our largest
conceptions of a word so dear. May we rejoice in Your sustenance,
protection, culture, discipline, comfort, and all we need to fit us for the
inheritance You have provided for Your children. May the word "Our" reprove
selfishness. May we recognize the brotherhood of man in the one Fatherhood
that links all classes and nations together. Amen! You "are in heaven,"
glorious, mighty, mysterious, unchangeable; pure as the blue ether and ever
near as the surrounding atmosphere. May we reverence Your majesty while
rejoicing in Your love. May obedient homage blend with filial confidence.
Trusting You fully, yielding ourselves to You absolutely, delighting in
habitual, reverential and familiar communion with You as children, may we
more and more respond to this title —"Our Father in heaven." Amen.
"Hallowed be Your Name." Amen! Let this very designation
be universally known and honored. May God, as revealed in His Son, be
worshiped, loved and reverenced. May the Name of Jesus, who is "the Image of
the invisible God," be dear to the hearts of all! May we have true
conceptions of this Name, cherish appropriate emotions, manifest suitable
reverence, fail not in worship and service; and by thus hallowing it
ourselves, impress others with its majesty and goodness. Amen! May Your
glory take precedence in our desires and aims, and Your Name be more to us
than worldly good. "God is LOVE." Let all mankind know and honor You; by the
whole earth "Hallowed be Your Name!" Amen!
"Your kingdom come!" Amen! Let Your rule of holiness and
love universally triumph over all that is false, wicked and cruel,
overcoming infidelity, idolatry, superstition, ignorance and sin. And may we
who pray for it strive diligently to promote it. Amen! Let Your kingdom come
in every church by its increasing purity and usefulness; let it come in our
hearts by more absolute self-surrender to the King! O for the time when
Christ shall come again to claim this world as His; when tyranny, war,
greed, lust, pride, poverty, sickness, sorrow, death, shall be known no
more! We love Your appearing! We are looking for this blessed hope! Let the
whole earth be filled with Your glory Amen, and Amen!
"Your will be done on earth even as it is done in
heaven." Amen! We rejoice that Your will rules the universe; not fate, or
force, or chance. As You are our Father, that Will must be wise, kind, for
our good; O let it be done! Amen. Let it be done by men as by angels, not
from compulsion but from love; cheerfully, promptly, unstintedly, freely,
intelligently, prayerfully, always. Let it all be done, and as in Your
presence. Let me do it; let us do it; let all do it, in passive submission
as in active service. Help us to imitate Him who said, "Father, not my will
but Yours be done." In the blending of our own will with Your may we enjoy
"the peace of God that passes all understanding." So let it be done here on
earth and now, even "as it is done in heaven." Amen!
"Give us this day our daily bread." Amen! You who have
made us to hallow Your Name and long for Your kingdom and do Your will, will
not permit us to lack any good thing. You who fed Israel with manna and
performed the miracle of the loaves, do by that same word "give and preserve
for our use the kindly fruits of the earth." Give us seasonable food; enough
for our need; give it from day to day; and help us to trust You for
tomorrow. We ask for one another, for the family, the nation, the world; for
our friends, for our foes, Give us! May we feel our dependence on You for
it; cherish gratitude; be diligent in the use of means, and not waste Your
gifts. May the bread we eat be our own by industry and honesty, and as Your
gift; and may we be willing to share with those for whom we ask it. And
while we ask food for the body, give us the living Bread to strengthen the
soul. Amen!
"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors." Amen! Against You, You only have we sinned. All wrongs done to
ourselves and our neighbors are sins against our Father. Our debts are
written in Your book. They increase and cannot be discharged nor
transferred. O cancel them! "If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves." But You have sent Your Son to discharge the mighty debt by His
life given for us all. We ask for pardon in His Name—Amen! May we be truly
contrite because of sin, confess it and forsake it. Pardon as well as feed
us, day by day. Pardon also our neighbors, our enemies, mankind! We do not
ask mercy which we ourselves refuse to show. We cannot ask pardon for those
to whom we deny it. We have forgiven, we do forgive! O help us to forgive
others more generously, more fully, and do You forgive both them and us.
Amen!
"And lead us not into temptation." Amen. Past sin is our
grief and shame—guard us from the repetition of it. It has shown us our
weakness—be our strength. So direct the circumstances of life that the
temptations we cannot avoid may not be beyond our strength to resist through
Your help. Break the force of hostile influences in the world, in our
companions, in our condition, in ourselves. Set a hedge around us to keep us
from going astray. Let us not be tempted above that we are able, but with
every temptation make a way of escape, that we may be able to bear it. Amen!
You who Yourself have suffered, being tempted, are able to help us the
tempted. Let us not go into the perils into which we ask You not to bring
us. May we watch and pray that we enter not into temptation. Preserve others
also from the danger which we dread for ourselves; and let us not by
carelessness or selfish indulgence encourage them in dangerous paths from
which we ask You to preserve both ourselves and them Amen!
"But deliver us from the evil." Amen! Save us from the
Adversary who tempts us to destroy us. May we be watchful against his
devices, and brave to resist his assaults. You who came to destroy the works
of the devil, destroy his works in us. Deliver us from the evil in ourselves
which affords him such advantage. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts. May we
be filled with the Spirit, and so have no vacant space for the Evil One to
enter. "Deliver us from the evil, whatever it is, that lurks even in the
best of good things—from the idleness that grows out of youth and fullness
of bread—from the party-spirit that grows out of our political enthusiasm or
our nobler ambition—from the fanatical narrowness which goes hand in hand
with our religious earnestness—from the harshness which clings to our love
of truth—from the indifference which results from our wide toleration—from
the indecision which intrudes itself into our careful discrimination—from
the folly of the good, and from the selfishness of the wise, good Lord
deliver us" (Stanley). Deliver us from all the evil tendencies of our own
hearts; from all the evil consequences of sin; let sin itself be soon
destroyed, and may we be perfectly conformed to the image of our Father.
Amen.
"Our Father in heaven!" Hear, we beseech You, these Your
children's prayers, responding to the teaching of Your Son. Will You not
grant what You have instructed us to ask? Earth echoes back the voice of
heaven. We ratify with rejoicing hearts the Divine word. Yours is already
the kingdom for which we pray! Yours is the power to secure obedience to
Your will! Yours is the glory which in all our prayers we seek! We bless You
for Your gifts! We adore You for Yourself! King forever; Mighty forever;
Glorious forever! OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, YOURS IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER,
AND THE GLORY, FOREVER. AMEN.