Sermon: Jesus Christ-The King of Glory Psalm 24
Jesus Christ-The King of Glory
Psalm 24
Truth Taught: In David’s presentation of the Gospel, we see the King of Glory coming, again and again, to defeat His enemies.
Our culture loves the sequel. Whether in book or movie form, we can’t wait until the next installment comes out. Today, though, we really take it to extremes, so much so that Arnold has been back 4 or 5 times now, Stars Wars is the longest battle since the beginning of time, and Rocky is still in the ring at the age of 73.
Yet, the Spirit of God seems to be the originator of this idea of the sequel. It seems as if He has pieced together these last 3 psalms to form a trilogy in this song book of praises to our God. In Psalm 22, we looked at the Redeemer who suffered, in Psalm 23, we saw the Shepherd who sanctifies, and today in Ps. 24, we see the King who is full of Glory. In Ps. 22, we experience sorrow and brokenness. In Ps. 23, we experience peace and rest. In Ps. 24, we experience power and victory. In Ps. 22, we see the Lamb, in Ps. 23 we see the Shepherd, and in Ps. 24, we see the Lion!
We’re going to see our Jesus today in a way we don’t often look at Him. In this day and age where we are bombarded with the false notion that God is ONLY love, we’ll see the other side of Him. We see Him as He is. We see Him as God’s own Words describes Him.
Last week, Pastor Brian’s title was “Jesus, the Good Shepherd and the Great Host.” Today, we’re going to see a Host of a completely different kind, and how awesome the Spirit is to group these songs for us the way He does!!
Scholars disagree on the reasons behind this song. There are various opinions concerning the national event that might have precipitated the occasion of this writing. To me, this could be the answer to every personal struggle we face. It could be the answer to that inner struggle we all grapple with; that struggle we must wrestle with when everything in our life falls apart; when everything we do seems to fail; when we come to the conclusion; the Truth; that we are nothing and just can’t cut it anymore. This psalm gives to us the outline of the Gospel!! It’s as if the Spirit of God has pulled back the curtain to show us our insufficiencies, our inadequacies, our inabilities, and we’re left standing with nothing, with no one to help, with nothing we can depend on. Then David steps in, LONG after he’s dead, and shares the Gospel with us! He starts with the only thing there is to begin with; the only thing there is that we can legitimately depend on:
- The Fulness of God’s Creation-v. 1-2
He starts at the very beginning as Julie Andrews would later sing. He begins with creation! He shows us that God is the Supreme Being. God is the One who spoke into existence all that we see. God is the Originator of all we know and experience. It is He who planned–and carried out that plan–in EVERY SINGLE detail, and He is STILL sustaining and controlling every bit of it. This Truth alone immediately brings all things into perspective.
Now, for a long time, there have been 2 serious misconceptions about our world–one we reject and one we accept:
Book: Genesis Chapter 4
Book: Genesis Chapter 4
Genesis 4:16-26
1) Isolation from others
2) Separation from God
3) A Covenant from God
Sermon: Jesus the Good Shepherd and the Great Host Psalm 23
Jesus the Good Shepherd and the Great Host
Psalm 23
Truth Taught- Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23 meeting all our needs by His presence and care.
Introduction
Psalm 23 is a highly personal Psalm for David. David understood what it was to be a shepherd and David knew a lot about sheep and what sheep need. He writes this Psalm from the perspective of sheep. This is the sheep’s eye view of the Shepherd. The sheep’s Psalm.
Within the Book of Psalms we have many lofty names given for God. We have names like God is my King, God is the Most High, My Strength, God is the King of Glory and so on. Here, in Psalm 23 David writes that while God is all those high and lifted up titles He is also David’s shepherd.
David is a prophet and he points us to the covenant God as he recounts the times Yahweh cared, saved, and kept him through dangers. He points us forward to Jesus the Good Shepherd.
Psalm 23 at first reading seems to present a life of tranquility. Life is good, right? It says things like these sheep lack nothing and fear no evil and goodness follows them forever.
David’s life was far from safe and not as good as this Psalm sounds. He was under attack, Saul on multiple occasions sought to kill David. The Philistines wanted him dead. His best friend Jonathan was killed, his son Absalom tried to kill him and he was killed, his baby died. This life is a far cry from the tranquility presented in Psalm 23. There has to be more to it than what is on the surface.
What David understood through toils and snares is that life is good as a Christian but life is not easy. To equate ease with goodness is to miss what this Psalm teaches. Life is good if that life is in Christ. Life is peaceful if that life rests in Christ.
This is a Psalm of David, which points us to not only his Good Shepherd but to our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. This Psalm is prophetic and points us straight to Jesus.
David shows us many things that the Good Shepherd does for His sheep.
The ending of the Psalm shifts focus from the our Lord as Shepherd to our Lord as the gracious Host.
Prayer
Psalm 23:1–6 (ESV)
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
Sermon: An Old Testament Gaze at the Cross Psalm 22
An Old Testament Gaze at the Cross
Psalm 22
Truth Taught- Jesus suffered and died to bring people from every nation and every generation to the Father
Introduction
As we turn our attention this morning to Psalm 22 there are a few things we must see by way of introduction in order to capture the full meaning and intention of this Psalm. This is the supreme example of David serving as God’s prophet. David had times in his life when he suffered and no doubt felt like God had forsaken him but nothing in King David’s life could compare to the suffering he describes here in this lament. As Charles Spurgeon wrote, This is beyond all others the Psalm of the cross.
Jesus Christ connects His suffering and death to the words of this Psalm. So, we should understand His death in light of Psalm 22. Jesus’ suffering would be the suffering not only of physical pain and torture but the suffering of being forsaken by His Heavenly Father. As Jesus bore the sins of His people on the cross the Father would in fact turn His head away. He would be far off and God would abandon Jesus. But then in a miracle of reconciliation Jesus’ death would be the event to reverse sin and the curse for all of God’s people. Because of His atoning death, the nations will turn to God and the Abrahamic Covenant would be fulfilled by Jesus’ death.
1 Peter 1:10–12 (ESV)
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
This Psalm is so Christocentric that the writer of Hebrews actually quotes from Psalm 22 in Hebrews 2:12 attributing the words not to David but to Jesus, Himself.
The division of this Psalm is very straight forward the first half is Jesus’ cry for help and the second half in Jesus’ song of praise.
Jewish and Hebrew scholars tell us that there was an ancient practice of quoting the first verse of a Psalm as a way of intending that the entire Psalm be in focus. Whether Jesus does this because He was too fatigued to quote the whole or died before He could quote the whole we are to take the entire Psalm as picturing in prophetic language the cross event.
Prayer
- Jesus’ Lament: God, Why are You So Far From Saving Me?
22 To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
Sermon: The Joyful Victory of King Jesus Psalm 21
The Joyful Victory of King Jesus
Psalm 21
Truth Taught- King Jesus has Defeated His Enemies Through God’s Great Power and His People are Joyful
Introduction
When we pray we often pray that the Lord would do something that we cannot do ourselves. In dependence upon Him and His power we pray. We pray for spiritual victory, we pray for victory over perhaps a certain sin, we pray for healing or care in some area where we need care. No matter what we pray there is a common denominator and that is that God in His great power can do what we ask.
Psalm 21 is a Psalm of King David as he has gained victory over his enemies. The historical context of Psalm 21 is the general history of war during David’s reign as King of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. God’s people during the time of King David lived in a very dangerous era. David was a warrior king and war was part of the beginning of his kingdom.
When King David was victorious there was great celebration as the people would come and greet their great king as he returned from battle. They praised God for saving their king because as the king goes so goes the people.
David rejoices in the Lord’s power and further acknowledges his trust in Him. As David knows, his victories have not been gained through military might and superior strength of arms but through faith in God and dependence on Him. God has the power to defeat all David’s enemies not David.
This Psalm is God’s response to King David’s prayer in Psalm 2. While David prayed that God would give him the nations there would be a future fulfillment that would be much greater than anything that God would give King David. So, this Psalm points forward to the Greater Future King, namely, Jesus Christ also a Warrior King. Who also was victorious over His enemies and will be ultimately victorious as the Warrior King at His second coming. David’s Kingdom had a beginning but God promised David that it would not have an ending. The Davidic Throne would endure forever. This is why the Psalms are shadows in David’s day and realities in Jesus’ day.
2 Samuel 7:12–13 (ESV)
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
While David is the author and the one who prayed, his kingdom is but a shadow of the True King and His future eternal kingdom.
We know that ultimately Psalm 2 is focused upon God’s eternal King because all the earthly kings fight against Him, plotting in vain and setting themselves up against God’s anointed eternal King. In Psalm 2 the other thing we notice is that this anointed eternal King is also God’s Son in a very real sense. So, the King in the Psalms is ultimately Jesus Christ with David as the lesser king or the shadow of the One to come. David is truly writing not about himself but about another King greater than he. Many ancient Jewish commentaries went along with the Hebrew original when they spoke of the King in Psalm 2 as King Messiah and so also pointed forward to the True King whom we know as Jesus Himself.
Sermon: God Will Surely Do It 1 Thessalonians 5:22-28
God Will Surely Do It
1 Thessalonians 5:22-28
Truth Taught- God Himself will sanctify all His people. He will surely do it!
Introduction
In this final section, often called a benediction of peace, we see the Apostle highlighting three of his main themes throughout the letter. This benediction is classic Paul in the sense of reminding his readers of what he has already taught them, telling them that he is praying for them, and asking that they pray for him as well. Paul was a man of prayer, he prayed without ceasing. He was a man of prayer like our Lord because he knew if anything was going to be accomplished through his ministry it had to be empowered by God. God’s power is available to us by prayer acknowledging our complete dependence upon Him.
Paul knew by experience that the Christian life is a life lived in complete and utter dependence on God and His grace. That’s exactly why we pray so much. We learned last time that we are to pray without ceasing, living in dependence on God 24/7. When we pray we are showing our dependence on God and asking Him to do for us what we cannot do ourselves.
The emphasis in this closing section is Paul’s prayer to God for the saints in Thessalonica that He would do something in them that they could never do for themselves. Paul prays that God would sanctify them completely.
Now the word “sanctify” here, the verb, is a common one, hagiazo. It is used a number of times in the New Testament because this is a very common and basic principle of Christian life. Noun forms of it appear also. The noun form hagios translated usually by the word “holy”. The verb means “to separate,” to separate, to set apart from. And in this case to set apart from sin to holiness. So when we see sanctify or sanctification or holy or holiness, all of those come from the same root. They all have the idea of being separated, set apart. Sanctification then is the process of being set apart from sin unto holiness.[1]
God’s ultimate priority for His people is that we are being set apart from sin and are becoming more and more like Jesus. It is His desire and will that we be sanctified.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 (ESV)
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
Here is a wonderful example of God’s sovereignty and man’s prayers at work. Often times people will say, questioning God’s sovereignty, if God is sovereign then why do we pray? If God is going to do what He’s going to do then our prayers are pointless. To that I respond that God’s sovereignty and our prayers work together in an amazing way. It’s God’s will for the Thessalonian Christians to be sanctified. So, God wants to do this in them. He wants to make them more like Jesus. He places this in Paul’s mind and heart so that he prays for their sanctification, which is the exact thing God desires to accomplish in them. This is what praying in God’s will and in Jesus’ name looks like.
We can be sure that when we are praying for holiness and righteousness in our own lives and for other believers that we are praying in the will of God and those prayers will be answered because God desires to do this already.
John 14:13–14 (ESV)
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Prayer is not hard to figure out. If your prayers are not answered then you’re simply not praying in the name of Jesus and for the things He wants to accomplish in and through you. If your prayers are answered then you are praying in Jesus’ name and for the things God desires.
The real issue is that our prayers are more immature and selfish. God give me something or God I don’t like this thing please take it away. Instead we should be praying for things like sanctification while seeking Christ’s righteousness instead of most of the things we pray about.
Prayer
1 Thessalonians 5:23–28 (ESV)
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
- Prayer for Complete Sanctification
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
- Who Sanctifies Us?
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely…He will surely do it.
The Apostle is very clear that our sanctification like our salvation is not by works. We cannot in our own strength make our self like Jesus. We cannot be holy by hard work. We cannot achieve the Christlikeness by our self. So, Paul prays that God would make them holy.
His prayer is directed to God Himself. He uses a title for God here that is extremely fitting… the God of peace. The God of Peace denotes our God because He has brought peace between Himself and His people. He has taken the steps necessary to reconcile His elect to Himself.
