Sermon for 12/12/2004
Rock and Roll
Psalm 18:4-19
Introduction:
You got me rockin’ and a rollin’
Rockin’ and a reelin’
Barbara Ann
(Bar bar bar bar Barbar Ann)
Alan Freed, a disc jockey, invented the term Rock and Roll, and it identified the new teenage music in the 50’s. It originated from Rhythm and Blues but it has a heavier beat. It makes people want to get up and dance.
God has had rock and roll in his mind for a while now. No, I am not talking about the music; I am talking about what he is going to do with this world.
(Psa 18:7 NRSV) Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
WBTU:
The time of Advent
The differences between miracles and Providence
Psalm 18:4-6 could have happened at a few points in David’s life. However, the Lord’s response in vs. 7-19 is found no where in the life of David.
It sounds like the time when God lead the Israelites out of Egypt through Moses. Providence through the plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness (eclipse).
The plague on the firstborn was a miracle.
The parting of the Red Sea was a miracle.
We see Jesus in this Psalm. Yes, the Lord was making a people for himself so that …(Gal 4:4 NIV) when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman,
We see more than that here. WE cannot help but see his first and second comings.
Thesis: This morning we are going to talk about Jesus’ first and second comings from the viewpoint of Psalm 18.
For instances:
First coming
A. From Psalm 18 we do not have the wonderful miracle, the incarnation. Baby born to a virgin. We can tamper with the reproductive organs today and have babies without sexual intercourse, but it is a miracle to have a baby without knowing a man, without tampering with the egg and the sperm. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary. No male component.
B. Easter should be a bigger holiday than Christmas. Yes, it is great that the Word became flesh. However, Jesus was born to die. Right after Triumphal Entry (John 12:27 NRSV) "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say--’ Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.(John 12:28 NRSV) Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."(John 12:29 NRSV) The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."(John 12:30 NRSV) Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.(John 12:31 NRSV) Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.(John 12:32 NRSV) And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."(John 12:33 NRSV) He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
C. (John 1:28 NRSV) This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.(John 1:29 NRSV) The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
D. It seems like we go from birth to death. (Acts 2:22 NRSV) "You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know—
E. In the Apostles Creed it says: And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.
F. The two greatest miracles were his birth and his death.
G. Psalm 18:4-6 is spoken by Jesus Christ. In the Garden of Gethsemane.
H. We see the Lord answering at that terrible event. (Mat 27:45 NRSV) From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. Vs. 9 and 11
I. (Mat 27:51 NRSV) At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.(Mat 27:54 NRSV) Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, "Truly this man was God’s Son!" Psalm 18:7
J. God took out his wrath upon the earth and upon His Son. Psalm 18:8. He took the penalty for our sins. (Isa 53:5 NRSV) But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.(Isa 53:6 NRSV) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
K. Psalm 18:16-17- He descended into hell. (Gen 3:15 NRSV) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."
L. Psalm 18:18-19- The Lord was my support. Jesus Christ would not have won had it not been for His Father. (Acts 2:24 NIV) But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. God raised him is mentioned 11 times in the New Testament.
M. On the day he was raised, (Mat 28:2 NIV) There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
N. Brought me into a spacious place- Rose from the dead and then ascended into heaven.
O. Psalm 18:46-48 - God is not dead. He lives!
P. Psalm 18:50- He gives his king great victories- greatest victory was the empty tomb.
Second Coming
A. Years ago an interesting sign was seen hanging in a store window during the Christmas season. The original message stated, “Let’s make this the best Christmas ever.” Underneath, some perceptive person had scribbled a legitimate question: “How will we top the first one?” God has promised an event that will easily overshadow the events that surrounded the first coming.
B. Death and the devil have been defeated for the Christian but they have not been destroyed, they have not been eliminated.
C. Ever since the fall, death has been terrible.
D. Ever since the fall, the devil has been terrible. This world, that the devil controls, has been hard. The world tempts us to sin. The world leads us astray. The world persecutes the Christian. Pain, suffering, hunger, war, murder, lust, greed, hate, corruption.
E. They were defeated but they are like the terrorists in Iraq.
F. Psalm 18:4-6 - many people have prayed about death and no more death.
G. (Rev 6:9 NIV) When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.(Rev 6:10 NIV) They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"(Rev 6:11 NIV) Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
H. Finally, the Lord acts in Psalm 18:7, 15. This place will be no more. Nature as we know it will be destroyed and all things will be made new.
I. (2 Pet 3:10 NIV) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire (elements will melt in the heat), and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
J. (Mat 24:29 NIV) ’The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’(Mat 24:30 NIV) "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
K. The Japanese forces were invading the Philippines, and March 11, 1942 marked a dark day for the American and Filipino forces. General Douglas MacArthur prepared to leave, uttering what was to become probably his most famous statement: “I shall return.” When he made the promise to return, many thought he was crazy. But his determination to free the Philippines from Japanese occupation would not be drowned by criticism and doubt. About 2 years later, General MacArthur landed once again on Philippine soil with the words, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!”
L. After the martyrs ask for justice, (Rev 6:12 NIV) I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,(Rev 6:13 NIV) and the stars in the sky fell to earth.(Rev 6:14 NIV) The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.(Rev 6:15 NIV) Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.(Rev 6:16 NIV) They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!(Rev 6:17 NIV) For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
M. Listen to what Jesus (David) says in Psalm 18:43-45.
N. The Lord will lead the Christians out into a spacious place, Psalm 18:19. (1 Th 4:16 NIV) For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.(1 Th 4:17 NIV) After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Conclusion:
A. The first coming. He moved heaven and earth for you.
B. The second coming. God will do something. God did not just make this world and lets it go on and on.
C. Are you ready for his return? A young woman was expecting a date. She was dressed up and waiting patiently. However, by the time he was an hour late she figured she’d been stood up. So, she took off her makeup, put on her pajamas, gathered all the junk food in the house and sat down to watch TV with the dog. As her favorite show was just coming on, the doorbell rang. It was her date. He stared at her wide-eyed: “I’m two hours late, and you’re still not ready?”
D. (1 Th 5:3 NIV) While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
E. Peter said, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Acts 2:38, Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.
