Christmas Songs Sermon Series

O Come, Let Us Adore Him

Is the chorus from Adeste Fideles or O Come All Ye faithful. The words and music are traditionally attributed to John Francis Wade a catholic in 1743. It was later translated into English by Fredrick Oakeley 1841. There are several other anonymous people who contributed to stanzas we now sing. O come let us adore him is the chorus of O come all ye faithful is sung to emphasis the most important part of the hymn…we need to come and adore him...

Intro.

1.  Sometimes, the Christmas songs that speak of the birth of Jesus say things worthy of our consideration every day of the year.

-Even though we do not religiously celebrate the birth of Jesus, we do not deny His birth or its significance.

2.  “O Come, All Ye Faithful” has a repeating line in its chorus: “O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”

The word adore isn’t a word that is used too frequently these days. Webster’s Dictionary describes it as, “to worship or honour, admiration and devotion.”

3.  What does it mean to adore Christ? Why should I adore Him? What am I doing to adore Him?

What does it mean to adore Him?

TO ADORE: TO LOVE, HONOR, ESTEEM, WORSHIP, RESPECT, ADMIRE.

A.  “To Love and Respect Deeply.” To love dearly, be devoted to; To worship, venerate (glorify, praise, revere), Rev. 5:8-13 .

Revelation 5:8–13 NASB95

When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

B.  Wise Men Worshiped the Child as a Newborn King, Matt. 2:2, 11.

1.  Sought him out (great expense and sacrifice of money, time...).

2.  Cf. the self-denial of following Jesus, Lk. 9:23.

3.  Easy to adore a baby; Harder to adore a King who has authority over us and puts expectations upon us.

Why should you adore Him?

A.  We must first know Who Jesus Really Is. (The way we live is impacted by who we believe He was and is.)

1.  Savior, Immanuel..., Matt. 1:21-23 ; Isa. 7:14; 9:6-7 (Lk. 2:11).

Matthew 1:21–23 NASB95

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

2.  Son of the Highest (God), Lk. 1:30-35 .

Luke 1:30–35 NASB95

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

king reigning

-proven on the Day of resurrection, Psa. 2:7 (Acts 13:32-34).

3.  Christ, the Lord, Lk. 2:11 ; Psa. 110.

Luke 2:11 NASB95

for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

a.  He rules in righteousness and executes justice, Jer. 23:5-6.

b.  Christ (Messiah): Anointed One (prophet, priest, king).

c.  Lord: Ruler, Master, Lk. 6:46.

How do you show true adoration to Jesus?

B.  With True Worship, Jno. 4:23-24 ““But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”” . (Songs of Ascent, Psa. 121-134) 121 - when God is your help, your keeper, shade, protector, guard. Psalm 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”” Songs of ascent - how they worshipped on their way to Jerusalem.

1.  Vain worship exists, Isa. 1:10-15 “Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah. “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.” ; Matt. 15:9 “‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”” . Does not adore God.

But how do we “adore Him?”

“This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me….” Jesus said of the religious types of His day. To put it in modern terms, “You sing the right songs, you recite the proper prayers and you attend the right services… but your heart isn’t in it.”

Words are no substitute for the heart. That part of us that no one sees is what is most important to Him. Adoration is first and foremost an attitude of delightful worship, that our love for Christ lies at the core of our lives.

2.  Primary reason (purpose) we worship: Give, homage, praise, adoration and devotion to God.

3.  Secondary benefits to each worshiper (edification via teaching, encouragement, exhortation, Eph. 5:19 ; Acts 20:7), 1 Cor. 14:26.

Ephesians 5:19 NASB95

speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

4.  We urge consistent, faithful attendance because we ought to come and adore Him, cf. 1 Cor. 11:20-21.

5.  We must not offer Him worship while our attitudes and actions show that we despise him, lack of respect Mal. 1:6-8 ““ ‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’ “But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts.” . we offer lame and blind sacrifices. We do this by bringing lame sacrifices - hearts not devoted to him, no lives of repentance, we don’t give him our best, v. 13 we complain how tiresome it is and try and make worship not be as long - we are always in a hurry and can’t be together. you obtain your sacrifice illegally you are robbing someone else to present your offering.

C.  With Faithful Living, Eph. 4:1 ; Eph. 5:1-2 .

Ephesians 5:1–2 NASB95

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Ephesians 4:1 NASB95

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

1.  We imitate those we love and respect deeply.

2.  Who are you imitating in your life? 1 Cor. 11:1. Who does your life look like? Jesus? does your attitude look like Jesus? Do your priorities look like Jesus ? Does your commitment and devotion look like Jesus? Do you love others like Jesus?

Quit making excuses...

D.  With Careful Obedience,(1 Tim. 4:6 “In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.” ); Heb. 5:9 “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,” .

1.  By handling God’s word accurately, we show great respect for Christ (2 Tim. 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” ). you have the responsibility to understand the scriptures correctly and accurately. God’s Word must be our guide, we should not make excuses for what it says.

2.  When I sin I dishonor Christ, who died to save me from my sins. I am not adoring Him when I am sinning against Him.

3.  Careless and apathetic to following the word of Christ shows a lack of respect for Jesus, cf. Willful sin, Heb. 10:26-29 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” .

Conclusion

1.  Are you adoring Christ today and everyday of your life. Do you truly TO ADORE: TO LOVE, HONOR, ESTEEM, WORSHIP, RESPECT, ADMIRE

2.  We not only adore the Child born king of the Jews, we adorn the Son who reigns on His throne at the right hand of God.

3.  Adore the Son in every attitude you have, every goal and priority you set, every attitude you hold, every decision you make, every word you speak, and every action you take.

4. We adore Jesus through True Worship, Faithful living, & careful obedience

5. Finding time to adore God in a busy world sounds difficult but we must find time and make it a priority because he deserves all the praise and adoration we give Him.

Are you giving Jesus adoration by being obedient to the gospel call?

Finding Time to Adore God

Finding time to adore God in a busy world sounds difficult— especially at the holidays! We asked Pastor Lutzer for some practical suggestions on what adoration means, and how we and our families can adore God this Christmas season.

Q: You like to say that adoration or worship is costly. Could you expand on that?

A: To test Abraham’s degree of adoration or worship, God asked him to sacrifice his son. When he came to the base of the mountain, he told his servants to stay with the donkey while he and Isaac went up the mountain to “worship.” Think about what worship meant: the sacrifice of his son! Thankfully, he didn’t have to sacrifice him, but the willingness was there. That is real adoration or worship.

With ten fresh graves on a hillside, Job worshipped God. That’s what I mean by costly worship—it is being willing to adore God above all others, even those who are most precious to us. We adore Him in good times and in bad; He is always the central force in our lives.

Q: So, how should we adore Christ this Christmas?

A: First, we should strive to remember that this is Jesus’ party, not ours. That doesn’t mean we don’t give gifts to others; it means that we save the primary gift of ourselves for Him in submission and worship.

Second, we should tell Jesus how much we love Him and why. This can be done in a prayer meeting, or as a family. Or, we can give ourselves time to be alone each day during the season to talk with Jesus directly, giving Him our heart-felt adoration. Many passages of Scripture lend themselves to such worship (e.g. Colossians 1:15–20; Revelation 5:6–14, etc.).

Third, we as a family have often enjoyed the fellowship of those who were the least likely to be invited anywhere for Christmas. Every family can think creatively about extending the love of Christ to “the least of these,” who are all around us. Our experience has been that although our Christmas memories all blend together, the things we remember best are the people we’ve helped and the love we’ve shown to others. Every one of us should give gifts to those who cannot reciprocate with the same gesture.

The word adore isn’t a word that is used too frequently these days. Webster’s Dictionary describes it as, “to worship or honour, admiration and devotion.”