The Songs of Christmas

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The Incarnation brought joy to the entire world. I will praise God for His incarnation.

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The Songs of Christmas

Welcome

Merry Christmas! It’s a beautiful time to celebrate and to be a part of the Church.
We have a big day ahead and a big year ahead!
Jan. 8th - EXODUS series begins.

Text

Luke 1:46–47 KJV 1900
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Luke 1:68–69 KJV 1900
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; For he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David;

Intro

Christmas Songs

Over the past three weeks, you have been overtaken by Christmas songs of all kinds.
Now, if you’re like me, there are some songs that perfectly capture the feel and the spirit of Christmas. I’m talking about Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song. All of the music from A Charlie Brown Christmas…
But then… there are some songs that when they come on, your skin begins to crawl. You do not find it pleasant. You petition the Lord, “God, have mercy on us, in zapping this song from existence!”
Last week, we took a poll in our youth class of what Christmas Songs were most liked and least liked. Can you guess what the #1 response for least liked was? SANTA BABY.
What I want to do today is look at the first two songs of Christmas. The very first. And they’re in our Bible.

Mary’s Song

God Worked a Miracle for Mary and Elisabeth

Luke 1:30–31 KJV 1900
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Now, initially, Mary may have thought, Maybe he mistook me for someone else. Surely this honor wouldn’t come to some peasant girl in Nazareth.
Also…
Who is going to believe that she actually had an angelic visitation?
And how is she going to convince her family and friends that the baby she had conceived was from God?
And then, when the angel continues, he announces something else:
Luke 1:36 KJV 1900
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
I suspect that she might have had a sigh of relief here. She was not going to be the only woman in her day who had an angelic visitation AND a miracle baby!
So Elisabeth was also going to have a baby. Elisabeth was her cousin. She was not a young maiden as Mary - she had been married for several years.
But in Elisabeth’s case, the angel did not appear to her. It appeared to her husband, Zacharias. As a priest, he was burning incense at the altar when an angel appeared and said:
Luke 1:13 KJV 1900
13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
But when he heard that, he instantly began to doubt it was possible and he questioned the angel.
Now, Mary questioned also. But she was just a young girl. She innocently was asking Gabriel:
Luke 1:34 KJV 1900
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And Gabriel explained (Luke 1:35). And satisfied with his answer, Mary responded in faith:
Luke 1:38 KJV 1900
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
So think about this answer…
An angel arrives and turns your life on its head. Says you are now going to have a child. Here’s what’s going to happen. And her response is, “Here I am; what your word says is what my life is going to be.”
I think we need to observe something here. Her willingness in this moment… it’s not a cringing slavery. It’s not a miserable feeling. It’s not a pain to have to deal with. For her, it’s simple: I’ve got a word from God, and I’m in submission to whatever He says.
For many, the Word is not enough. They must reference their own opinion, convenient opinions, and other fantasies.
“LET GOD BE TRUE AND EVERY MAN A LIAR!”
Now, when we move to Zaharias… his case was different; he was a priest. He should have known better than to doubt. He should have believed what God said He was about to do in his life. Namely: he was not only going to see the answer to his prayer for a son - that son was going to be a great prophet of God.
But because of his unbelief, the Bible says that Zacharias was struck silent and was unable to speak until the day his son was born. Which may well have been 9 full months!
Luke 1:20 KJV 1900
20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
If you really know the power of God… if you’ve been filled with the Holy Ghost… then you had better be careful casting doubt on that power!
Luke 1:59–66 KJV 1900
59 And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. 60 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61 And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62 And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. 64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 65 And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. 66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
Billy Cole used to pray before he preached, “Loose my tongue!” Not that he wanted to be able to say just anything. He wanted God to loose his tongue that he would magnify Him and speak the Word!
And if I’m going to say anything other than that, DO NOT loose my tongue!
When Zacharias’s tongue was finally loosed, it was to immediately begin praising the God he had doubted!

Elisabeth Recognized the Messiah in Mary’s Womb

So… something else very curious takes place here.
In the middle of her pregnancy, Mary decided to travel about 80 miles to see her cousin Elisabeth. God love her.
Luke 1:41–45 KJV 1900
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Now I want you to understand the dramatic nature of what just took place. It’s truly powerful.
Elisabeth heard Mary’s voice. The baby leaped in her womb. Then Elisabeth is suddenly filled with the Holy Ghost. Then she clearly prophesies to Mary. And she says that Mary is for sure carrying the Messiah in her womb!
Aren’t you thankful that God is willing to say something in the RIGHT NOW!!!
Think of what a comfort that was to Mary to know what she had heard a while back was already coming to pass! What a comfort to know that someone else believed her story without even hearing it! A confirmation! And Elisabeth speaks it in the power of the Holy Ghost.
You know, I’m thankful for the written Word, and I’m thankful for the spoken Word of God! We’re going to have to be able to receive BOTH of them!
Sometimes God sees that we need to hear a confirmation and a reminder of what He has said. Aren’t you thankful!!!
And I’m going to tell you what happened here with John leaping in the womb: he was doing his job before he was ever born. He was the forerunner. The one preparing the way. The one to announce and notify the world of the Messiah.
A man is coming who is going to establish His kingdom here on earth. He’s going to heal the broken. Save the lost. Crush the head of the enemy.
And as Mary and Elisabeth’s bellies get near one another, John says, “HEY - THIS IS IT! HE’S THE ONE! THIS IS WHERE OUR HELP COMES FROM! THIS IS WHERE HIS KINGDOM STARTS!!!”

Mary’s Song Praised God for Caring for Her

And then comes the song… Mary responds to this word from Elisabeth with what many cal “Mary’s Song.”
And she had no idea her praise to God was going to become a part of Holy Scripture. But when I read this, you’re going to see how thankful Mary was to be called blessed and to be regarded by God. She saw herself as unworthy. And her song is a testimony of God as a caring God who sees people where they are and chooses them anyway.
Luke 1:46–50 KJV 1900
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; And holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him From generation to generation.
I am captured today by that phrase: “He that is mighty hath done to me great things.”
Think on that.

I Will Praise God for Caring for Me

You may not have been the recipient of an angelic visit today. But the God of all angelic hosts loves EACH OF US!
He has seen us in our low estate and has shown us the mercy Mary mentioned. It stretches from generation to generation.
He HAS done great things for us! HOLY is His name!

Zacharias’s Song

Zacharias’s Song Praised God for Remembering the Jews

Let’s move back to Zacharias. Because he has a song to sing, too.
Remember, we read that he was struck silent because of the doubt. And it wasn’t until John was born that Zacharias could speak again. Actually, it wasn’t until he aligned with God’s word and told them by writing, “This baby’s name is going to be John.” Then:
Luke 1:64 KJV 1900
64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
And in this praise came the song.
The Bible says that Zacharias also was filled with the Holy Ghost when this happened. Luke 1:67 calls this one, too, a prophecy. A song of prophetic praise:
Luke 1:68–75 KJV 1900
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; For he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David; 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, Which have been since the world began: 71 That we should be saved from our enemies, And from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Might serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before him, All the days of our life.
So - Mary’s Song mentions her people, Israel. And so does the song of Zacharias. He sings about God showing love and mercy to His people and remembering His holy covenant to them.

Zacharias Prophesied Jesus Would Be Our Savior

Why is this important? There had been 400 years of silence. Dark ages of the Bible when God had spoken not a word. And there were no prophets speaking on His behalf.
But even with all of that… what we are hearing in Zacharias’s Song is that… after those 400 years, God has still not forgotten His promises!
And He hasn’t forgotten the promise He made to you 10 years ago! 5 years ago! Last month!
When He said He was going to become our savior, HE BECAME OUR SAVIOR!

I Will Praise Jesus for Being My Savior

He IS the COVENANT KEEPING GOD! He was then, and He is now!
He is still moved with compassion for His people! He still sees, hears, knows, responds to, and delights in His people!
And just as Mary and Zacharias gave their songs of praise for what God had done in their lives, we also can proclaim the wonders He’s done for us! YOU HAVE A SONG TO OFFER!
I’ve got something to sing about today!
“What are you talking about?” I’ll show you:
Matthew 4:16 KJV 1900
16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
That alone is worth singing about!
But I know that God has done amazing things in people around this room! When we begin to think about the goodness of God in our lives, a song of praise begins to erupt from inside us!
It’s not Mary’s song! It’s not Zacharias’s song!
IT’S OUR SONG!

Conclusion

We’ve got to find our song.
It can’t be this thing about, “I don’t want to be seen.” It ain’t about you. But you better open your mouth and speak the praises. Let me ask you this: Has He who is mighty done to you great things??? You better praise Him! Testify! We overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony!
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