SERMON POWERPOINT
Sunday, December 15, 2019 Brad Barrett
Advent:
Joy to the World
We
are in week 3 of a 4-week series on Advent.
Advent is from a Latin word that means, “coming.”
The
first and obvious meaning is Jesus’ First Coming to earth. But Jesus’ Second Coming is just as
important.
To
the First Advent we look backwards with reflection and awe. To the Second Advent we look forward with hope and anticipation.
Each
week of this series spotlights on one well-known hymn that relates to Christ’s
Advent.
Today
we’ll look at one of the songs we sang this morning, “Joy to the World.”
We’ll
look at this well-known and well-loved song, and look at Scriptures related to
it.
It’s
a beautiful song that actually was written to point us to the Second Coming of
Christ, not the First Coming. Joy to the World is a powerful worship
song.
My
prayer is that from this morning, we would leave here yearning for the Day when
Jesus Christ returns to earth. And that in that yearning, you would find
great joy even now. That future joy is
our hope.
Though
we sing this song primarily in this season where we think of Christ’s FIRST
Coming, I hope from this day forward, you will sing this song with greater yearning
for and richer worship of the SECOND
Coming. We can and should have joy even
NOW! He is coming!
Background to Joy to the World
VERSE 1
Here
is verse 1 to the song:
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
The
author of the hymn was Isaac Watts. He
was a pastor in England in the early 1700’s.
And he was a prolific author, known best for the hymns he wrote.
Watts
wrote Joy to the World as a
paraphrase of Psalm 98. In a publication
of his in 1719, exactly 300 years ago, he published “Joy to the World,” under the title, “The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.”
His
focus was the Second Coming of Christ, although we think of it primarily for
the First.
Let’s
look at the song and some of the truths that it points to.
He
prompts us to sing of joy in the whole world!
Everywhere we go, there is joy. WHY?
Because
“the Lord is come.” Based on today’s grammar, that seems like bad
English. But 300 years ago, this would
have been more common. Watts’ meant,
“The Lord HAS come.” So the perspective
that Watts writes this is unique. Since
Watts is writing with the Second Advent of Christ—the Second Coming– he is positioning himself into the future on
that Day of Christ’s return. On that
day, the greatest day in the history of the world, Jesus has just
returned.
On
that day, we will sing and shout and dance and laugh, “Joy to the whole world. The Lord Jesus has come back.”
Then
with Watts, we sing and shout,
“All the earth
should receive him as King. Every heart
should make room for him. All of heaven
and earth—the sea, the rivers, the mountains—will sing on that Great Day.”
Psalm 98: The King has Come in
Justice!
As I
said, this is the Scriptural basis for Watts’ song lyrics is Psalm 98. Let’s look.
4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the
earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with
the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a
joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
God’s
people are celebrating the King, the Lord.
Joyous song! Singing praises. No thought here of quiet, unemotional or
melancholy music. This is loud
hurt-your-eardrum singing! Sing with the
lyre, a string-instrument like a harp. Play trumpets and horns with a joyful noise! This is an unparalleled celebration!
The
psalmist continues:
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills…
