Sermon Tone Analysis

Great Spiritual Diamonds from the Son of God

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 22:41-46; Psalm 110:1-7

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared January 21, 2023)

MESSAGE:

*Vance Havner told the story of some little boys in Africa who were playing marbles in the dirt next to a creek.

These very poor boys were using rocks for marbles.

But it turned out that they were playing marbles with huge diamonds!

(1)

*And that's what we have in today's Scripture: -- Spiritual diamonds that could be mistaken for ordinary rocks.

On the surface, this seems like a pretty obscure passage.

But when we take a closer look, Jesus shows us great things.

1. FIRST, JESUS SHOWS US THE GREATEST TRUTH.

*And the greatest truth is that Jesus Christ is Lord!

As Peter said in Acts 10:36, "Jesus . . . is Lord of all!"

*Most of you know that by now, it was only 2 or 3 days before the cross.

The evil Herodians, Sadducees, and Pharisees had been trying to trick Jesus into saying something against the Roman Caesar or against God's Law.

But the Lord had easily answered their questions, because nobody can fool God!

*Next, Jesus had some questions for the Pharisees.

Verses 41-42 tell us that, "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, 'What do you think about the Christ?

Whose Son is He?' They said to Him, 'The Son of David.'''

*Those questions from Jesus are the most important questions we will ever have to answer: "What do you think about the Christ?

-- Whose Son is He?"

The answers to those questions will determine where we will spend all eternity.

And the right answer is this: Jesus Christ is the Son of God! Jesus is Lord of all!

*Tragically, those Pharisees got the answer wrong in vs. 42.

They believed the Christ was the Son of David, and that is true up to a point.

But they rejected Jesus as the Christ, -- because they were never willing to accept that He was also the Son of God.

*The Lord was still trying to reach them in vs. 43-45:

43.

He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:

44.

'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?

45.

If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?''

*Here Jesus was quoting from King David in Psalm 110.

The Holy Spirit inspired David to write this prophecy about the promised Messiah a thousand years before Jesus was born!

John Phillips explained that this Psalm was clearly about the coming Christ.

And though it is only seven verses long, we know that it is very important because Psalm 110 shows up seven times in the New Testament, more than any other Psalm.

(2)

*There in Psalm 110:1, the Holy Spirit led David to say, "The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'"

*In this Old Testament verse, the Holy Spirit used two different words for "Lord."

That's because God wants us to understand that King David was quoting God the Father speaking to God the Son.

The first word "LORD" is usually written in all capital letters because it is the translation for "Yahweh," or "Jehovah."

This is God's great "I AM" name that He revealed when He appeared to Moses in the burning bush.

The other word "Lord" with just a capital "L" is the translation for "Adon," and it means "lord," "master," or "owner."

*So, in Psalm 110:1, David was saying, "The LORD ("Yahweh," "Jehovah," God the Father in this case) said to my Lord ("Adon," -- "my master, my owner") 'Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'

*Again, David was quoting God the Father speaking to God the Son, and the Father told His only begotten Son to "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."

Wrapped up in these two different names is the greatest truth in the universe: Jesus Christ is no ordinary man.

He is the Almighty God come to earth as a man!

*During in my late teens and early 20s I was a firmly committed atheist.

But occasionally I would wonder about the truth.

And I remember asking my dad about Jesus one day.

I said, "Jesus didn't really claim to be God, did He? -- That's not in the Bible is it?"

*Dad said "yes" and of course he was right, but I wish he had sat me down and gone through God's Word to show me.

I wish he would have opened the Bible and said, "Look here son.

Here is a place where you can see it clearly.

Jesus is the Lord God Almighty."

*Now, my Dad wasn't ready to walk me through God's Word that day.

But in countless ways over the years, he lived-out his faith in Jesus Christ.

And I will be forever grateful for that!

Christians: We've all come up short from time to time.

Maybe we were distracted.

Maybe we were afraid we would say the wrong thing.

Maybe we were just caught off guard.

But no doubt, we've all missed opportunities.

I know I have.

*But God wants us to be ready, and here are some of the Scriptures I wish Dad had shown me that day:

-Speaking about Jesus, John 1:1-3 says:

1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2. He was in the beginning with God.

3.

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

-Then after Jesus miraculously healed a man, John 5:15-18 says:

15.

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.

17.

But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.''

18. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

-In John 6:37-40, Jesus said:

37. "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

38.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

39.

This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

40.

And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.''

-In John 8:23-24, Jesus also said.

"You are from beneath; I am from above.

You are of this world; I am not of this world.

Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.''

*"You are from beneath; I am from above.

You are of this world; I am not of this world."

No other man could honestly say that.

But Jesus could, because He is the almighty Son of God who was born as a man to save us from our sins.

*More great evidence is in Acts 20.

There Paul was speaking to the church elders from Ephesus and in vs. 28, Paul said, "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."

How could God purchase the church with His own blood?

-- Only if Jesus Christ is God's eternal Son who became a man to die on the cross for our sins.

*Jesus is Lord of all!

But can you sincerely say that Jesus is Lord?

In 1 Corinthians 12:3, Paul made an amazing statement: "No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit."

In other words: No one can sincerely say that Jesus is Lord except by the inspiration and revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Can you sincerely say that Jesus is Lord?

*Years ago, there was a new college freshman at Morehouse University.

His name was Alvin Jackson.

Alvin walked in to his first day of philosophy class and sat down.

The professor passed out some notes and explained what would be expected.

*Then, suddenly, he changed his tone and said, "When we cover the subject of Jesus you must know this; what you may have heard in Sunday School or at your church concerning Jesus is wrong.