O Come, O Come Emmanuel
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Isaiah 11:1-11
We have been looking at a couple of the carols we sing as compared to scripture.
Today we look at the Carol: O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
This is a very beautiful carol with a haunting melody.
It has many verses, but we are going to look at just three for times sake.
Emmanuel is the name prophesied to be given to Jesus meaning, God with Us.
God himself came to dwell with us, as one of us.
I would like to show three reasons Emmanuel came.
Let’s sing that first verse together.
1 O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
First we see...
I. He has Come to Ransom
I. He has Come to Ransom
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, And reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
Prophesied many years before he came, it was told that he would strike the earth with the rod of his mouth.
That he would slay the wicked with the breath of his lips.
he would be the perfect example of Righteousness and faithfulness.
And will bring peace like has never been seen before by sinful man. 6-9
So He comes to Ransom the souls of man, and free us and give us peace.
We see first of all that He is come to ransom...
A. Captive by Sin
A. Captive by Sin
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
We are free from the chains of sin!
No longer do we have to obey our old master!
God has given us a way of escape!
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
B. Captive by Loneliness
B. Captive by Loneliness
that mourns in lonely exile here
Christmas time is a time of severe loneliness for many.
But there is good news today!
He tells us that he has been sent to bind up the brokenhearted!
Isaiah 51:1
3 He healeth the broken in heart, And bindeth up their wounds.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take me up.
Many times we get lost in the shuffle of Christmas and forget about those who are alone during this season.
We need to be mindful of those around us, especially those who are of the household of faith!
Christmas is big business. So much so that Christmas decorations go up right after Halloween ends. A 2013 article in Time magazine quipped, “The tendency to push the envelope around the winter holidays has been growing for years. … Retailers twisted themselves in knots trying to come up with a catchy term for the day before Black Friday, when a handful of the nation’s biggest chains kicked off their Black Friday sales. Black Friday Eve? Black Thursday? We used to just call it ‘Thanksgiving’”
The anticipation—and opportunity for retailers to profit—is massive. Beyond the commodification of Christmas lies this truth: the world seeks sources of joy, prosperity, and togetherness. The world is full of broken people trying to buy healing, belonging, and value. In Mark 6:34, Jesus sees throngs of people surrounding him, and has compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd. They are searching for the Messiah.
We too need to have compassion on those around us!
C. Captive in Exile
C. Captive in Exile
that mourns in lonely exile here
Again the line speaks of the exiled.
It is a reminder that we are exiled on a strange land!
This World is not our home! We are just passing through!
God has come to rescue the captive in exile!
We soon will be on our way home!
Isaiah 11:11
And it shall come to pass in that day,That the Lord shall set his hand again the second time To recover the remnant of his people,
What a day that will be!
As we move on to the second reason Emmanuel came, We see a calling that He has given us.
let’s sing the second verse:
2 O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go. Refrain
II. We are Called to Reconcile
II. We are Called to Reconcile
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
By His Wisdom from on High, He has ordered all things to be reconciled before Him!
This is a two fold Calling!
We need to first of all reconcile...
A. Our Life with God’s Path
A. Our Life with God’s Path
This work is done by Jesus’ work on the cross and the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives!
The Bible says we are now a new creature; Old things are passed away!
We are this because God hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ!
The Bible says that we are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit when we believe the truth!
2 Thessalonians 2:13
So the process begins of making our life line up with God’s path!
But it is a process of yielding!
As we yield to the Holy Spirit we become obedient to Jesus Christ!
1 Peter 1:2
But the command doesn’t stop with reconciling our lives to the path God has chose for us, but we also to reconcile...
B. Other Men with God’s Truth
B. Other Men with God’s Truth
Again 2 Corinthians 5:18
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
We need to be faithful to be a witness all around us!
By God’s grace we can testify and witness to the people God brings across our path!
We need to commit this that we have learned to others...
1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
We have seen that Emmanuel came to ransom us from Sin.
Because of this we have a responsibility to Reconcile our lives with the Plan God has for us, and reconcile others around us to God.
Now let’s see the third reason Emmanuel came.
For this we look at the third verse of our Carol...
3 O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
III. He Is Coming to Rule
III. He Is Coming to Rule
We can rejoice today because Emmanuel came to be the King of Kings!
15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
In the right time, In HIS time, the whole world will see that He is King!
Emmanuel has come to rule...
A. The Hearts of Mankind
A. The Hearts of Mankind
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
God’s desire from the beginning has been to rule in the of mankind!
He gave Adam and Eve the command not to eat of the fruit, but they disobeyed.
So His presence could no longer walk with them.
As men grew more and more wicked He still desired to fellowship with them and rule and reign in their hearts.
As He led His people out of Egypt and through the wilderness, He designed a tabernacle to be His dwelling place.
As he gave them their land flowing with milk and honey, he challenged them to follow Him and His Word.
But soon they wanted more, they wanted a king they could see and touch.
God gave them what they wanted but for centuries they struggled with putting other things and other gods before Him, the One true God!
He came to earth and lived as man, but His own rejected Him.
They crucified Him on that rugged cross.
After He rose again, He went to Heaven so that the Father could send the presence of His Holy Spirit to live with us.
But His people, now for two millennia, have refused to allow Jesus to have the throne of their hearts.
One day very soon Jesus will come again and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord!
I challenge you today dear Christian!
I challenge you to yield your heart to the King of Kings!
Yield your life to Him!
This third verse continues and says:
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
B. The Unity of Mankind
B. The Unity of Mankind
We have never seen all mankind united, but we will one day!
As I mentioned earlier, the Bible says
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Every Knee, Every Tongue!
We will be united in praise to Him!
Those who have rejected Him will be cast into everlasting darkness, but those who remain will serve Him forever!
Then and only then will we see...
C. The Peace of Mankind
C. The Peace of Mankind
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.
Isaiah 11:6-10 tells us of that wonderful day when even all of nature will be at peace.
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; Their young ones shall lie down together: And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
9 They shall not hurt nor 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 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, Which shall stand for an ensign of the people; To it shall the Gentiles seek: And his rest shall be glorious.
This makes me think of another carol:
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
And in despair I bowed my head
"There is no peace on Earth, " I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, good will to men
It is coming!
Will you be there to sing the praises to the Prince of Peace with us?