Sermon Tone Analysis

Each week that I’ve preached one of these, I believe I have said that it was one of my favorite Christmas carols!

And that is true, but this week we have reached the crescendo.

Hark, The Herald is my favorite by far.

It combines all the themes that we have looked at this Christmas.

Kingship, Peace, Mercy, Joy, the Incarnation, the Lordship of Christ, Light, Life, the Resurrection, the Second coming, everything!

It would take weeks to cover every topic scripturally that this carol addresses, but we will have to suffice with a few examples for this morning.

The Hymn was originally penned by none other than Charles Wesley, which is really no surprise, as we’ve already seen a couple of his Christmas hymns, and they are, as the rest of his writings, very Biblical.

But there is an interesting detail behind this hymn that edges its way into another interesting story.

The words that we traditionally sing to this Carol, while still largely Wesley’s are actually an edited version.

And who was that editor?

Well, none other than George Whitfield!

Wesley and Whitfield are both well known for their leadership and involvement in the Great Awakening in the 1700’s.

As preachers, they were both very gifted - yet, as theologians, they differed a lot!

Whitfield, a moderate Calvinist, and Wesley, a Methodist Arminian, often butted heads on the details of Sovereign Election and Grace.

However, they often worked together, sometimes begrudgingly, but by the end of their life, they were warm friends.

Whitfield’s words to Wesley on his dying bed revealed a deep sense of love and appreciation for his brother, even through the differences.

And upon Whitfield’s death, who preached the sermon other than his Arminian friend, Charles Wesley?

Wesley and Whitfield were both faithful preachers of the Gospel, the Gospel that led to many thousands experiencing the reconciliation and second birth that this Hymn proclaims.

Their labor together on this Hymn, then, pictures their relationship - while they had their differences, the core essentials remain - and the words to this song are full of Scriptural and Doctrinal treasures which point us to the same Christ that they adored and served.

We could explore a number of themes that the song employs, but I’ve chosen just three for today.

The joyful announcement of Christ’s birth is so great because it tells us that God is with us, He has rescued us, and we are reconciled to Him.

1. Jesus Our Immanuel

Now if you have a fascination with things being just in order, you may cringe at this outline because we aren’t going in order this morning, at least in terms of the words of the Carol.

The second half of the second verse is, perhaps, the most rich yet mysterious portion of the whole carol.

“Veiled in flesh, the godhead see.

Hail the incarnate Deity.

Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus Our Immanuel.”

A couple weeks ago, we spend some significant time looking at John 1, particularly verses 1 and 14.

In those verses we learned about Jesus as the word - the Logos - the central figure and unifying factor of not just human history, but of all creation.

The creator of everything, whom everything was created by and for.

The first week, when we looked at the Carol “come, thou Long-expected Jesus” we looked at the fact that all of redemption is taking us from the first garden to the final garden - the final existence of perfection, God dwelling with mankind again, no sin sickness or sorrow.

Jesus’ coming to earth was both a taste of that and the means by which that will ultimately happen.

He came as the deliverer to take his people from our state of sin-cursed earth, back to one day be in the state of created perfection.

There are numerous prophecies about this, but one that comes up often at Christmas is this.

The further context of that passage has to do with the Lord’s deliverance of his people at the time of Assyrian invasion, but of course, like many prophecies, there is an immediate fulfillment, and an ultimate fulfillment.

Sometimes we are left scratching our head as to what one or both of those fulfillments might be - in the case of this one, some may not have even paid it much attention.

But some did!

And one example is found in Matthew’s Gospel, the first chapter.

All this referring to the beginning of Matthew, which starts with the amazing Genealogy of Jesus tracing a lineage from Abraham, to David, to Jesus.

And then, the short little birth narrative, that sums up so many of the details, but gives just what we need to know that this is a miraculous birth.

And if just the details - the lineage, the story, the virgin-birth, were not enough to make us wonder at the prominence and importance of the child, the prophecy that Matthew then quotes is enough to show that belief or disbelief in this child is a pivotal element of existence.

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah - A virgin shall conceive - not in the normal way, as we’ve seen, but by the Holy Spirit!

And bear a Son - not just any son, who would this son be?

They shall call his name Immanuel.

Now, that’s a nice sounding name - I wish we had a definition!

God with us - God is with us!

Certain things happen in life, which are reminders of the presence of God, his care for us.

A near-miss accident, an answer to prayer for a health-concern, a healed marriage - any number of things.

Something might happen to us and we say, “God is with us!”

But the birth of this child wasn’t simply to say God is with us, The child is God with us!

Phil 2 really spells out the unfathomable nature of this.

That Jesus, the very form and substance of God, stooped so low to be born in the fashion of a man.

“veiled in flesh” - Do you remember last week, when we looked at John 1:14?

And we learned that the word became flesh and dwelt among us?

That word for dwelt, again, is reminiscent of the tabernacle - and within the tabernacle, in the holiest place, behind the veil, was God’s presence.

Here, in Jesus Christ, behind the thin veil of flesh, is God’s physical presence.

Truly God, Truly Man.

The miracle of Christ’s birth at Christmas is not that God’s presence was promised, it is that God’s presence came in the person of Jesus.

God walking on earth with men.

A taste of future glory, and the work of eternal redemption.

2. Born to Give them Second Birth

A confusing statement to Nicodemus is perhaps the most beautiful picture and showing forth of what redemption is.

“Born again.”

It strikes confusion in the hearts and minds of men, because we can hardly imagine what it was like to be born the first time.

We can see it happen to our children, but we’ve no idea what it actually is like!

You can hear it in Nicodemus’ question, “Can i enter the second time into my mother’s womb?”

There is probably some amount of sarcasm in that question, as if to indicate that Jesus’ words seem mad!

They seem impossible!

But there is also a telling element in that - What can I do?

How do I accomplish this?

How can I bring this about?

Jesus piles analogy upon analogy here, but it is helpful.

We understand the wind only by its effects.

At least on a normal basis, we can’t determine its source or see it, we only see the leaves rustling or our lawn chairs tipped over.

Other than that, it is an invisible force.

Only the effects are visible.

We can’t control it, we can try to stop its effects, but in the most severe cases, the wind overcomes even the best attempts at that.

So it is with second birth - we cannot predict it, we cannot truly manufacture it, we cannot totally understand or even fathom its fulness - but we see its effects.

It is a work of God, a work of the Spirit.

There is that same analogy - born from above, born from God, born, not by human will or exertion, but of God.

Or as Paul says in Roman’s 9, God’s mercy in salvation depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who gives mercy.

Do you see God’s mercy extended in the Gospel today?

Do you see the call of salvation in Christ’s birth, in His coming?

Do you see that His birth was for your re-birth?

If so, then come unto Him!

Call out to Him today.

You will find Him to be a faithful Savior, born for your salvation, your redemption, your reconciliation.

3. God and Sinners Reconciled

And it is that reconciliation which we will close with today.

The second line of the first verse says,

“Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”

A fitting place to find ourselves, for today we focus in on peace in our celebration of Advent, and we have just seen the wonderful mercy of Christ extended in the Gospel.

That is summed up, say Wesley and Whitfield, in this statement - “God and sinners reconciled.”

And it was not just Wesley and Whitfield that summed it up as such, it was the Apostle Paul in Romans 5. We looked at the beginning of this passage in weeks previous, considering the great hope which was brought to us in Christ.

That passage begins, however,

Peace - that is one of the major themes of Advent.

That is on numerous Christmas cards.

In numerous Christmas carols.

It is a Christmas wish extended by many.

It is a warming though, for certain.