Sixth sermon on the Lord’s Prayer

“Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever. Amen” (Matt. 6:13.)

In the early part of the Lord’s prayer, it is said, “Thy Kingdom come,” – when all things of the lord’s prayer have been fulfilled, this prayer is answered in the words of our text, “Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory, for over.” This is the end to which all things of the Lord’s prayer look, and when fulfilled in man, the Lord’s Kingdom is instaurated. A few of things which must be fulfilled before this instauration can take place have been presented in this series of sermons .m the Lord’s prayer. The Lord’s Kingdom on earth is the Lord’s Church, both the Church specific and the Church universal; with us it is particularly the instauration of the Church specific that we are to pray for, – an instauration in common and with each individual. The word Kingdom comes from the word king. The Lord, as the Divine True, is the King; where the Divine True is received and rules, there is His Kingdom. When the Divine True is received and lived, so that it becomes the very vessels of the mind, then the Lord dwells in His Own with man, and the Lord is the all in all things of His Kingdom.

Until the Church is instaurated fully in the natural, – instaurated in common and with the individuals, – it cannot be said in application to the state, that “Thine is the Kingdom,” in the full sense of the Word. We indeed say “Thine is the Kingdom” because the Word is eternal, and not bound by time or state, but in relation to the state of the Church, we are still, or should be still in the prayer “Thy Kingdom come.” That is, we should be in a longing for His Kingdom. Because the Church, as yet, in a full sense, has not been instaurated, the words of the prayer cannot be illustrated out of experience. Nevertheless we can have some vision concerning them; that is, we can see that they are to be fulfilled.

When the Divine true things have become the Lard’s living receptacles in the Church, and in the man of the Church, then the Lord’s Power manifests itself; power refers to the Divine Love, for all power is from love. Power is of the will, and the will is the love as to its activities.

When the vessels of the mind, represented by the Lord’s Kingdom, have become the Lord’s, – when they are living vessels of truth, – then the Lord’s Power appears, – the power of Infinite Love, which manifests Itself in Church and the man of the Church. From this love there is a glorification of the Lord in the Church, and In the man of the Church, or, said in another way, the Lord is glorified in the Church.

The word “Glory” refers to the Divine True manifesting Itself. The Internal sense of the Word Is called glory. When the internal sense is seen as the Lord, the Son of man, in the midst of the Church, then are fulfilled the words, “Thine is the Glory”. May the time soon approach in the Church when the prayer is fulfilled. “Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory.”

Read the full sixth sermon on the Lord’s Prayer by Rev. Theodore Pitcairn