Forever & Amen | Rediscovering the Lord's Prayer | Episode 14

In this final installment of our study of The Lord's Prayer, Pastor Jim Thomas unpacks the beautiful and triumphant conclusion to the prayer Jesus taught us: "forever and amen". Explore the human longing for eternity and why the Bible tells us that God has uniquely placed "eternity in our hearts".

Pastor Jim shares how an eternal perspective infuses our temporal lives with profound significance, purpose, and hope. Discover how closing our prayers with a hearty "Amen" is not just a polite sign-off, but an active, revolutionary alignment with God's truth and a declaration of ultimate trust in His enduring Kingdom.

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So this is the final episode of Timeless Truth where we're focusing in on the Lord's Prayer. And I want to thank all of you who have journeyed with me through this prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray. So before we get into the last line of the Lord's Prayer, let's once again say and pray the Lord's Prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen and amen. So, okay. The Lord's Prayer closes with two of my very favorite words, forever and amen. And by the way, I know that I keep adding that additional and ever in at the end there. But I do hope you'll excuse my enthusiasm in doing so. That said, what might draw anyone to be excited about the words forever and amen? Well, first let me talk about forever for just a second, okay? Maybe we don't think about that enough as we work and play and puddle our bikes around in circles down here on this maze-like little planet we call Earth. But Jesus knows we were made for so much more than we can see, taste, touch, feel, and hear. Jesus is teaching us to pray that God's kingdom, God's power and glory would be experienced now, but also that it would continue on into forever. As the pastor and author Dane Ortland has put it in his book, Gentle and Lowly, and I'll put this in the uh in the show notes for you. The creation of the world was to give vent to the gracious heart of Christ. And the joy of heaven is that we will enjoy that unfettered and undiluted heart forevermore. In other words, the Lord wants you to enjoy this expression of his heart, all of creation, all of the, all of what is true, good, and beautiful. The Lord wants you to enjoy that forever. And I think Ortland is right there. Can you think of anything you wish would last forever? Haven't you wished for like some beach vacation or some trip through Europe or some concert or some meal with good friends that would just go on forever and ever? Not to mention your own, you know, the story of your own life or a relationship with somebody you love. Um, so much so that again, it would just last forever. Um, wouldn't you like to enjoy forever with your family, with your friends, with your parents, your children, or your grandchildren if you have those? If your answer is yes to any of the above, I can tell you, you are not alone. Forever seems to be part and parcel of what it means to be a human person. There are some good things that are just so good, so beautiful, that we don't want them to ever come to an end. And then in the realm of the big questions of life, we've all asked the question, is this life all there is? What happens when a person dies? Does it simply fade to black and then nothingness? Or is there really more than this? Where do we get that question, that set of questions, and why do we even ask them? Well, I think the Bible speaks to our longing for forever in several places. And one of the most obvious is this statement in Ecclesiastes 3.11, where it tells us that God has put eternity in our hearts. Having a capacity for eternity for forever opens life up to real meaning and purpose. The possibility of life forever transforms how we live our life today. Plus, it offers us great hope for tomorrow. In other words, because this life is not all there is, because God has created us for forever, our lives have eternal significance, purpose, hope, and meaning. Yes, this means a human experience is paradoxical. I get it. We long for forever, even as we do so in this ephemeral, temporal world. Philosopher Sorn Kierkegaard wrote about this tension, calling us to live with an eternal consciousness, to orient our lives, our choices, our values, not just toward temporal satisfaction, temporal things and standards, but also toward that which transcends time. Here's the quote: The task is not to find the meaning of life within the finite, but to relate the finite to the infinite, to find oneself in God, the eternal. That from Soren Kierkegaard, again, I'll post that in the show notes for you. Somebody might wonder, how do we do that? How can we find ourselves in God? And I've got to tell you, um, by trusting in Jesus, who came to reconcile sinners such as myself, such as all of us are, to God through Jesus' death on the cross, paying the price once for all our sins. And after three days, Christ rose again. Um, and in so doing, Christ conquered the grave, thereby put an end to the permanence of death. So now he can offer you and me eternal life in his name. I love this. The author Philip Yancy speaks to this. He says, It is good news that we are not the random byproducts of a meaningless universe, but rather creations of a loving God who wants to live with us forever. That God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son in order to reconcile with his rebellious creation, that by entering our world the Son took on our sufferings and temptations, demonstrating in person that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God. That's from Philip Yancy, also borrowing a little bit from the Apostle Paul, there, isn't he? Yeah. Now I don't want to forget to say something about that other last word, the second of the two favorite words that I have in this particular episode of Timeless Truth. And that word is this one. Amen. Or some of you say amen, depending on where you're from. And maybe even in your English Bible, it might even be different. It might, it might say truly, or it might say verily. We find this a lot in the couplets that where Jesus says it twice. Um, truly, truly, I say to you, or verily, verily I say to you. You could also say, you could also translate that amen, amen. Um, so which is it in the original language? Well, it depends on which of the original languages you go back to. Uh, a lot of our English Bibles will use Amen or Amen. Um, it's got Hebrew roots. Uh, verily, verily is connected to the Latin. Uh there, there we find the word veritas, which is the same thing as truly, truly. So you can kind of see how they're all kind of wrapped up together. Um, I like all three of them, and I use them uh interchangeably. Amen is used adverbally to express exclamatory agreement or hearty assent. It's kind of like saying at the end of the Lord's Prayer, truly or of a certainty, this I really believe. Um I really want this to happen. Lord, I want your kingdom to come, your glory, your power. I want that to last forever and ever. Amen. Yes and truly. And uh, as I say, in some of the some of your older English Bibles, it might say it a little bit differently, but that's the sentiment, that's the expression from our heart's cry that Jesus teaches us to have, actually, as we pray this prayer we call the Lord's Prayer. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, as I like to say. Amen. Oh, yeah. One of my favorite books this past year was written by a UK author named Justin Briarley, and he asks this question in his book. He says, This What if the 2,000-year-old story is only able to reconnect with our deepest desires for meaning, purpose, and identity? Because it is the true story to which all other stories point. I think that's a great question. I'm gonna read it again. What if the 2,000-year-old story is only able to reconnect with our deepest desires for meaning, purpose, and identity because it is the true story to which all other stories point? That's from Justin Browley's book called The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God. A good question, Justin. Thank you for that. And it leads me to ask: do we give hearty assent to having, knowing, and loving God as our Father? Does our heart overflow with a desire to honor his name? Hallow would be thy name. Do we seriously desire his kingdom to come, his will to be done in our hearts, in our lives, just as it is in heaven? That significant theologian named Carl Bart once said this to clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world. I like that. And I like it especially about the Lord's Prayer. Saying forever and amen is like saying, We really want this, God. Please make it so. Um, I really want your kingdom to come. I want your glory and your power to be shown in my in through my life. So let's remember the pattern Jesus set in the most well-known prayer of all time. Begin with God. Remind yourself that God is your Father, that He is holy and almighty, and His name really matters. Let's seek to honor God, to walk in His will and His ways, so that His invisible kingdom becomes visible in all we think, say, and do, especially in our prayers. Amen. Amen. Let me close this this episode in prayer. Father, thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for each person who is communed with you through this amazing prayer that the Lord Jesus taught his disciples to pray. I think of of all the saints of old, um, all throughout church history. And I think even of all the folks around the world today, even as um as this episode is airing, uh, who might be using or saying and praying the Lord's Prayer today. We come before you, glad to be your children, glad to call you our Father. And we pray all of this in Jesus' name for his sake. Amen and amen. God bless you.

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Thank you for listening to today's episode of Timeless Truth. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. Wherever you are in your walk of faith, we're glad you joined us today. And we hope this conversation encouraged, challenged, or inspired you. At the Village Chapel, we believe God's word is unique in its source, timeless in its truth, broad in its reach, and transforming in its power. To find more resources or support our ministry, visit the Villagechapel.com.