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An Advent Sermon: “Lasting Spiritual Joy: He Has Come and He is Coming — ‘Joy to the World’”

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Preached by Dr. Whytock at the United Reformed Church of PEI Sunday evening December 13, 2020. Psalm 98 speaks of the redemptive work of salvation to come. Christ has come, and he will come again. The end of missions is to see a worshipping people around the throne of glory. Here is a question for us: “Is my heart desirous that others come to a true knowledge of the Lord and worship him”?

Isaac Watts’ carol “Joy To The World” is based on Psalm 98 and Psalm 96. Christ has come. If you know him you know he has already stood trial in your place and he has removed the curse from you. Because of this, you can say “Joy to the world… He is coming”.

The sermon begins at the 28:26 mark.

Psalm 98 – ESV

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.

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!

7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together
9 before the Lord, for he comes
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

Joy To The World — Isaac Watts

  1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
    Let earth receive her King;
    Let every heart prepare him room,
    And heaven and nature sing…
  2. Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
    Let men their songs employ;
    While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
    Repeat the sounding joy…
  3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
    Nor thorns infest the ground;
    He comes to make his blessings flow
    Far as the curse is found…
  4. He rules the world with truth and grace,
    And makes the nations prove
    The glories of his righteousness,
    And wonders of his love…

An Advent Sermon: “They Testify About Me”

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Preached by Dr. Whytock at the United Reformed Church of PEI Sunday evening December 6, 2020. Christ’s high righteousness and our need for his righteousness are made clear. Based on Isaiah 11:1-10.

“They Testify About Me“.

John 6:39-40 ESV 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

Isaiah 11 ESV THE RIGHTEOUS REIGN OF THE BRANCH

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.