OPEN: Does anyone know what happened on the moon 55 years ago? That’s right, that was the first time mankind set foot on the Moon. In July of 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the surface of the Moon and they spent over two hours exploring the site. They collected over 47 pounds of lunar material to bring back to Earth. They were on the Moon's surface for 21 hours, 36 minutes before lifting off from the surface and then they returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24. By that time, they’d been in space more than eight days. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11)
NOW… I THINK THAT’S COOL!
And you’d would expect that after having come back from the moon that they’d have immediately been given tickertape parades and they’d have met with the press and political dignitaries. And of course, that all DID happen. But before all of that… they had to spend about 21 days in quarantine, and of course… there was some paperwork to be filled out.
1st – they had to go through customs. They were required to declare to custom officials the Moon rocks, moon dust and other lunar samples, and then they had to sign a customs form saying that that’s what they brought back.
And of course… they ALSO had to present their passports because they had been out of the country for few days. (https://www.space.com/7044-moon-apollo-astronauts-customs.html). Did you realize that US citizens NEED to present their passports in order to get back into the US after leaving the country?
The Passport identifies WHO you are… and WHY you should be here!
Now Psalm 110 is basically Jesus’ passport. It identified who He was, and why He came. By the time Jesus was born… Psalm 110 was seen as a Messianic prophecy - a prophecy that declared that God would send a hero change their lives. And Jesus was that hero.
The section we just read tells us Jesus came to be our PRIEST! "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:4) So, AS A PRIEST Jesus came to offer a perfect sacrifice for our sins, and that sacrifice was His own life and His own blood on the cross.
If you’ll notice in verse 1, it says “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” (Psalm 110:1) What does that mean that Jesus SAT AT THE RIGHT HAND?
ILLUS: One commentary explains that there were times when people were brought before the Sanhedrin in the same way you might GO TO COURT to face judgment. It was the custom in the Sanhedrin, during those proceedings, for two scribes to sit on either side of the judges. The scribe who sat on the left would write the condemnations - writing that you were guilty. The scribe who sat on the right would write the acquittals - writing that you were NOT guilty! (John MacArthur, Commentary on Hebrews. p. 207)
Now, when Jesus rose from the dead… where did He sit? “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND!!!” And because He sat at the right hand… He declared us not guilty. When Jesus ascended on high, He went there not to condemn us, but to FREE us from GUILT. That’s why Hebrews 10:12 tells us that “When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” He sat down and wrote “NOT GUILTY.”
So, Jesus came to be our PRIEST… but He also came to be our KING. The first 2 verses say “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter (He’s a King). Rule in the midst of your enemies!” Psalm 110:1-2
Not only is Jesus King now (because Colossians tells us Christ is the head of the church), but Philippians tells us that THE DAY WILL COME when “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10-11
ILLUS: Years ago, Johnny Carson had Billy Graham as a guest on his show. And at one point Johnny said, "You know what Billy, I bet if Jesus ever came back to earth, I bet we’d do him in again!" Billy Graham leaned forward and said, "In the Bible we read that Jesus predicted that He would return to earth again. But the first time He came in love. The next time, He’ll come in power - and no one will DO Him in!"
When Jesus comes again, He’s come to take over… He’s coming as KING, and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is LORD.
Now that brings me to the part of Psalm 110 that really caught my attention. The Psalm starts out by declaring: The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Psalm 110:1
Notice that there are 2 Lords mentioned here - it’s like one of those “Lords” is talking to the other one (The LORD says to my Lord). Also notice that the first LORD is in all Capital letters. What’s that mean? Well, in the Old Testament, whenever you see the words Lord or God in all Capital letters, that is the translators' way of indicating that the Hebrew word in the text was God’s personal name – Yahweh.
But the 2nd Lord… is another word entirely. That 2nd Lord is the Hebrew word “Adonai” which means: “The one in authority.”
Now, in the Psalms, Adonai is often used to refer to God. Psalm 8:9 says “O LORD (Yahweh) our Lord (Adonai), how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Yahweh is God’s name… and Adonai describes God’s position of authority.
Psalms 97:5 “The mountains melt like wax before the LORD (Yahweh), before the Lord (Adonai) of all the earth.” God has authority over all the earth… He owns it.
So, Psalm 110 tells us… “The LORD says to my Lord”, and what’s interesting is that this verse was quoted by Jesus… ABOUT Himself. “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, ‘What do you think about the CHRIST? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” Matthew 22:41-45
You see, for centuries, the Jews had known that Psalm 110 was talking about the Messiah. And now - here we have Jesus telling the Pharisees that the Messiah (the promised one that all Israel was waiting for) was going to be more than just a descendent of David. And that Messiah (the Christ) was NOT EQUAL to David. The Christ was King David’s LORD - the Messiah would be SUPERIOR TO David. And it was no secret that Jesus was saying - He was that Messiah!
ILLUS: Now, lots of people have trouble with the idea of Jesus having the Position, Power, and Authority that He’d have as the Messiah. Charles Colson was convicted of many of his activities when he worked for President Nixon… but while in prison, Colson turned to Christ. He noted that, since then, he’d always deliberately explained that he had “accepted Jesus Christ.” But whenever the News Media told about his conversion they invariably translated his statement that he had “accepted Jesus Christ” as being his “professed religious experience.” Colson later discovered that one major U.S. daily, as a matter of policy, would not print the two words Jesus & Christ together because - when combined – the editor said it represented an editorial judgement.
An “editorial judgement?” What was the editorial judgment? Well, when you say Jesus was the Christ you’re saying He’s the Messiah - the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And that doesn’t sit well with some folks. To declare Jesus as your Messiah/Christ is to say that He is your LORD and Master. There are people who are offended by that.
ILLUS: I recently had a conversation on FB recently with a person who said they were a Christian. But I got the impression that they preferred Christianity STAY in their church bldg. They didn’t mind confessing Jesus was their Lord as long as they didn’t offend anybody. It seemed that the most serious offense they could think of would be offending people by posting the 10 Commandments in schools or making public statements about God or declaring that Jesus was our Lord in a setting where people wouldn’t want to hear that.
But the fact is, if we do our faith right, people will get offended. Jesus said: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12
In other words – if you talk about Jesus - you will offend people and you run the risk of being rejected or even persecuted.
I went on to say (to this person on FB) that Paul angered entire crowds of people – he was stoned, beaten, run out of town, and ultimately executed for his faith. In fact, that was the outcome of the lives of most the Apostles... not to mention others like Stephen. That’s what happens when you make Jesus Lord.
And then I wrote: if you're worried about upsetting folks you really need to ask yourself who it is you’re trying to please.
ILL: D.L. Moody was walked down a Chicago street and saw a man leaning against a lamppost. Moody went over and gently put his hand on the man’s shoulder and asked him if he was a Christian. The man was immediately angry – shook his fist and said, “Mind your own business!” Moody replied: “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you. But to be very frank, that IS my business!” (Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations, 1999)
Now we don’t want to be offensive or argumentative or hostile to others. We don’t want to insult people or call them names, or come across as self-righteous. But it IS our business to publicly tell others about our Jesus/ God/ His Word. and we will offend some people when we do that. We shouldn’t insult people or be self-righteous, but we shouldn’t be ashamed to talk about our faith.
Paul said “I am NOT ASHAMED of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Romans 1:16
In fact Paul wrote: “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” I Corinthians 2:2
ILLUS: I was talking to a man recently about a change that took place in his life when he decided to make Jesus LORD. He’d been a nice guy, and a church goer… but his faith was weak. Then a friend challenged him to watch a movie called “God’s Not Dead part 2”, and he ended up weeping during a certain part of the movie because it showed how little he believed that Jesus was Lord. When he heard the question “Who do you say that I am” it changed his life completely. And now he’s a preacher… mostly because of that movie.
God’s Not Dead 2 drew inspiration from numerous cases in the USA that have been litigated by Alliance Defending Freedom. (https://adflegal.org/article/gods-not-dead-2-legal-cases-inspired-film)
The scene you’re about to watch is a fictional story about a History teacher on trial for helping a struggling student in her class come to faith in Jesus. This was the part of the movie that shook my friend. The clip shows HER attorney treating her as a “hostile witness”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMxcvdS2RTw - timestamp: 0:42 to 5:57)
Who do you say that Jesus is? And have you chosen Him as YOUR Lord?
Invitation
