"To Conclude" Sermon: Psalm 115

"To Conclude"
[Psalm 115:1-18]
March 23, 2008 Second Reformed Church

Christ is Risen! To Him be the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen.

This is our tenth and final sermon on the Lord's Prayer. We have been trying to understand over these past weeks, what prayer is, what it does, and how to pray. We have seen that prayer changes us, not God. And we have looked at the model of prayer that Jesus gave us and seen that when we pray we are to address our prayer to God, the Father, Who loves us and chose us to be His people. Then, our petitions -- the categories of things we ought to ask for -- are to be: First, that God is known and honored as holy. Second, that God's Glory and Grace would be fully known. Third, that all creation would obey God's Revealed Will and submit to His Secret Will. Fourth, that we would pray that the whole Body of Christ would understand what our needs are, that our needs can only be fulfilled by God, and that we would trust His Promise that He will fulfill all of our needs for each day on a daily basis. Fifth, that we would be forgiven, based on the Merits of Jesus Alone, and commit to not sin again and to be a people who forgive others. And sixth, that we would learn to recognize temptation, that we would not be overcome by temptation, that we would say "no" to temptation, and that we would know the way to escape from temptation.

The Lord's Prayer ends with a doxology -- a word of praise -- "for Thine is the kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen." We come full circle in the prayer -- beginning by recognizing God for Who He is and ending with the sure praise of the God Who we are confident will answer our prayer.

On this Easter Sunday, we come to rejoice and praise our Risen God, the God Who has declared, "It is Finished," and through His Resurrection has secured the salvation of everyone who believes in Him Alone for salvation.

Let us briefly consider Psalm 115 as a fitting response to the news that Jesus is Risen. This is a Psalm that is sung at Passover, so Jesus would have sung it with the disciples on Maundy Thursday. It is a Psalm the reminds us of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt by God's Mighty Right Hand, and it also symbolizes the deliverance of God's elect -- the Church -- from sin and Wrath by Jesus' Perfect Sacrifice. Let us hear it in another translation:

"Not unto us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?' Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases."

We humans love to hear people speak well of us, but it is not we that deserve any glory, but God Alone -- our Savior, Jesus Christ. All glory is to be given to Him, to His Name, to His Whole Being because the whole Creation is His Kingdom and He, Alone, of all the gods of the world has any power.

Jesus prayed, "Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed" (John 17:1b-5 ESV).

To Him Alone belongs the glory!

"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them."

When we put our trust in anything other than the one true God, we make an idol. We make a god that looks like us and acts like us and fails like us. We bow down in stupid thanks to gods that we have created, and they do nothing and say nothing and accomplish nothing. How can we put our trust in blocks of wood or coins -- it's all chasing after the wind.

There is only One we can trust; there is only One who provides for us each day. Peter wrote, "Know[] first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.' For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. By the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (II Peter 3:3-9 ESV).

To Him Alone belongs the glory!

"O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield."

Trust in the Lord; trust in the Lord; trust in the Lord -- three times indicating the highest level of emphasis in Hebrew literature -- the highest level of urgency. We must turn and trust in the Lord, because His is the power; His is the strength that creates and sustains us.

Solomon commanded, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make straight your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV).

And Paul gives us additional reasons to trust: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 22:4-10 ESV).

To Him Alone belongs the Power!

"The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; he will bless those who fear the Lord, both great and small. May the Lord give you increase, you and your children! May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth!"

Trust Him, and understand that since everything is His and He is Good, He will provide for our every need each day. Let us lean on His Promises and recognize Him as the reigning King of Creation. He cares for His people and will provide for us like He provides for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field.

"So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered, 'Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?' Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?' Jesus answered, 'my kingdom in not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of the world.' Then Pilate said to him, 'Then you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world -- to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.' Pilate said to him 'What is truth?'"(John 19:29-38 ESV).

To Him Alone belong the Kingdom and the Power!

"The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth forevermore. Praise the Lord!"

Through His Life, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus has brought His Kingdom among us and has given us part of it to be our dwelling. We have earned none of it, but He has graciously provided for us and made the Way for our salvation.

"Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being a great prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God rased up, and we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascended into the heavens, but he himself says, 'The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make all of your enemies your footstool.' Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified" (Acts 2:29-36 ESV).

"Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.' So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me'" (Matthew 28:1-10 ESV).

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV).

God's Word to us this morning is that to Jesus belong the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever and ever. So, let us pray confidently after the pattern of the Lord's Prayer, assured that God will hear us, and let us go forth to make disciples of all nations, with the Good News that Jesus is Risen. Amen.

Let us pray:
Almighty God and Savior, Risen Christ, Our Father, we ask that You would arm us with the pattern of the Lord's Prayer and with the command to go forth with the Good News, and let us go, with You, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, and be Your Witnesses -- to Your Kingdom, Your Power, and Your Glory. Amen.