Sermon Tone Analysis

RECORD

Well here it is, Christmas Eve Day and that means that, along with 2017, our series on the Christmas Carols is almost done

But no series on Christmas Carols would ever truly be complete unless it included the carol, O Come All Ye Faithful, that famous carol written in 1743 by a Englishman named John Francis Wade

Wade was a Catholic who fled England for France because of persecution and made a living while there teaching music and as a copyist of musical scores

Remember this was before modern printing techniques and so a person who could hand copy music with precision and neatness was considered an artist and Wade was such a man

When this song was first produced by Wade under the title Adeste Fidelis, Laetri triumphantes, it was assumed that Wade had simply copied an ancient hymn but it was later realized that he wrote it himself

Perhaps one of the simplest of all Christmas Carols it is also one of the most deep and profound and ties in with, what I think is, one of the greatest scriptures in the Bible, which says,

There are three verses in this carol and so this morning I want to consider each verse separately while seeing how they all tie together

So let’s take a look at this great song of the ages and I’ll show you what I mean

In the first of the 3 verses the song says, “Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!

Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and Behold Him, born the king of angels.”

The King of angels!

What an interesting title to ascribe to this little baby

So let’s begin with verse 3 shall we

Well I want you to listen to the words of from the Message Bible this morning, “Micaiah kept on, “I’m not done yet; listen to God’s word: I saw God enthroned, and all the Angel Armies of heaven standing at attention, ranged on his right and his left”

Joyful and triumphant!

This verse reminds us that although the little baby born to Mary and Joseph may have been His first appearance in this human form, this God-child was actually the one who had always been

Isn’t that an absolutely incredible picture painted in your mind?

“Yea Lord we greet Thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be all glory given.

Word of the Father now in flesh appearing.

Oh, come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.

The little baby that was born that day in Bethlehem may have been making His first appearance in that form but make no mistake that this was NOT his first day for He is the one that “WAS”

Come and behold him,

While Matthew, Mark, and Luke all begin their gospel accounts with information concerning the Earthly birth of Christ, Listen to how the apostle John begins his gospel account,

Born the King of angels;

John 1:1-3

As we approach the christ child with our worship we are given a stark reminder that the one to whom we give our adoration is the one who stood with God, AS God and brought into existence all we see and know to be

He wasn’t just there observing, He was there participating as a part of the Godhead, forming matter out of nothing more than His own Word, light streaming out of Him at 299, 792, 458 meters per second, He was there with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking around in the fiery furnace, He was there when King Uzziah died and Isaiah looked and saw Him high and lifted up

He is the one who was without beginning, that is the one that we come to adore

Now Let’s skip verse 2 for a moment and move right into verse 3 which says, “Yea Lord we greet Thee.

Born this happy morning; Jesus to Thee be all glory given.

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.”

This is a reminder to us us that the baby that we come to adore is not just another baby but is the incarnate Word of God, both fully God and fully man

Let’s go back to John’s description of the birth of Christ

John 1:

He was, He existed prior to time and creation but now because of the plan of the Father He existed IN time and creation, He was but now He IS