140-103 O Come, All Ye Faithful

Psalm 95

You hear it with increasing frequency every year “Happy Holidays!” How do you typically respond?

Some it doesn’t bother (maybe prefer)

Some cringe

Some reply (with varying degrees of politeness) “Merry Christmas”

Some might use it as an opportunity to explain the reason for rejoicing

Others (I generally fall into this category) don’t take offense or tend to be surprised by an unbelieving world’s response to Christmas. After all, if you’ve never encountered the freedom that is found in LJC, you are still enslaved by everything that opposes God—you wouldn’t know any different.

Christmas is a “holiday.” Dictionary defines it as “a day on which one is exempt from work” (applies to most people but not universally).

Have you ever considered what a “holiday” is? For some, it is just that, time off of work. For others, it is reminiscent of important days that are established for the purpose of commemorating historical events. Still others are reminded of the Holy Days—days that were set apart by God for His people.

Leviticus 23; Point out 1) “holy convocation” summons of the people (1) Unleavened Bread; (2) Weeks; and (3) Tabernacles required that all males gather in Jerusalem (cf. Ex. 23:14–17; Deut. 16:16, 17); 2) precise days;

Feasts:

The MacArthur Study Bible (Chapter 24)

The Feasts; Fulfillment by Christ (Lev. 23)

Passover; Death of Christ (1 Cor. 5:7),

Unleavened Bread; Sinlessness of Christ (1 Cor. 5:8),

Firstfruits; Resurrection of Christ (1 Cor. 15:23),

Pentecost; Outpouring of Spirit of Christ (Acts 1:5; 2:4)

Trumpets; Israel’s Regathering by Christ (Matt. 24:31)

Atonement; Substitutionary Sacrifice by Christ (Rom. 11:26)

Tabernacles; Rest and Reunion with Christ (Zech. 14:16–19)

Purpose:

Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2003 Edition Additional Sermon or Lesson Ideas

1. Worship (Lev. 23:1–2, 4, 27, 35–36, 41). These were feasts to the Lord, special days for extended worship and praise.

2. Rest (Lev. 23:7–8, 21, 25, 28, 30–31). These were days when normal work activities were suspended.

3. Teaching Children About God (Lev. 23:14, 21, 31, 42–44).

Even as many consider “rest” to be the primary purpose of holidays, the rest Israel longed for was the Promised Land which was to prefigure a greater rest spoken of in Hebrews 2:3; 3:7-4:10, that of eternal salvation by grace.

As we celebrate Christmas Day later this week, for those who have obtained this salvation by grace thru faith, there is a deep-seated appreciation, longing to worship the birth of LJC b/c in Him the Holy Days of Israel find fulfillment…and to us (predominantly Gentiles) we see God’s compassion and love coming to us thru His chosen people (nation of Israel) and we participate in the blessings of these “Holy Days.”

Christmas not just a holiday…but a holy convocation (a summons to the people of God) to bring forth our offerings/sacrifices of worship to God with grateful hearts.

Our hymn focus this morning—the beloved “O Come, All Ye Faithful” is a summons to the church to worship LJC.

This hymn stems from a Latin poem in the 18th century. For many years the authorship of that poem remained unknown until recent research (last 50 years) has uncovered a manuscript that indicated it was written by an English layman named John Francis Wade. The Latin title “Adeste Fideles.” The poem, then set to music first appeared in Wade’s collection “Cantus Diversi” in 1751. A century later it was translated into English by Frederick Oakeley. Oakeley (like Wesley) was a graduate of Oxford who had began ministry in the Church of England but soon controversy arose over his views. He would later became a priest in the Roman Catholic church.

O Come, was used among the Catholics long before any Protestant churches sang it (they would sing “Ye faithful, approach ye...”).

Today, it has been translated into 100 different languages and sung around the world by the Lord’s people who want to come to Him with adoration in worship.

Ps 95 was’t the text for O Come, but here, the psalmist calls the people of the Lord to worship and explains how and why we should worship. It also contains the warning of what will happen if we do not worship and instead harden our hearts.

Spurgeon “It has about it a ring like that of the church bells, and like the bells it sounds both merrily and solemnly, at first ringing out a lively peal, and then dropping into a funeral knell as if tolling at the funeral of the generation which perished in the wilderness.”

I’ll come back to the hymn in a few moments but let’s consider the how and why of worship in Ps 95.

The psalmist looks back to Israel’s time in the wilderness and one moment in particular when the nation tested the Lord, grumbled against Moses and thus were demonstrating the heart of unbelief toward God. The proper response of God’s people should be praise and worship.

How We’re Called To Worship

Jesus gave instruction regarding the nature of true worship in Jn 4 when He says

John 4:23–24 NASB95

“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.”

The nature of our worship is not only outward expressions of joy and delight. Sometimes we worship silently, tears, sighing. In Ps 95 the psalmist expresses several ways our worship is accompanied:

1. Singing

Singing is a fundamental way of expressing thought, joyfully. For millennia singing has been a way for God’s people to worship him with enthusiastic praise for the salvation He offers to sinners.

2. Shouting

Shouting doesn’t always appear in contexts of worship and most people would be fine if the congregation never “shouted.” This was the means of expressing excitement and joy. Maybe the equivalent would be the response of “amen” when the church gathers.

3. Music

Some of your translations refer to shouting joyfully with psalms, songs of praise, music and song. Much of our music is accompanied by other instruments. Though it isn’t necessary, a variety of instruments are spoken of in Scripture as fitting for worship. Not in this Psalm but Ps 150 lists many. You probably have preferences of instruments that shouldn’t be part of worship but there doesn’t seem to be that restriction in the Bible.

Why We’re Called To Worship

vv 3-5 highlight 3 reasons worship of God is proper:

1. The Lord is the great God

Having a right understanding of God is essential if saints are to engage in true worship. Ps 95 reminds believers that the Lord alone is God…He is awesome.

2. The Lord is above all gods

Scripture frequently repeats God’s incomparability—contrasting Him to the dumb, deaf, blind idols that men often prefer.

Isaiah 46:9 NASB95

“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,

3. The Lord is above all creation

It is the Lord who providentially cares for His creation, directing it so that everything fulfills His sovereign purpose for it.

Again people are enjoined to worship with reverence the great Shepherd and not to harden their hearts against God as Israel did in the wilderness. For 40 years God says He loathed that generation (angry because they went astray, not believing the God of promise.

Those who died in the wilderness, God swore “they shall not enter My rest.” Rest for them was the Promised Land—for us realized in LJC who became to us:

1 Corinthians 1:30 NASB95

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

There is a response to God that endangers the soul. It is the response that Israel manifested many years ago (Exodus & cross), it is the same response that so many today are guilty of—the sin if unbelief, the sin of rejecting God’s provision for solemn, divine rest—found only JC.

That is the invitation of or xmas hymn today. An invitation to receive God’s gracious salvation and the followup response of proper, fitting worship and adoration of Him who is Christ the Lord.

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Verse 1

Invitation to visualize the reality of Jesus’ birth. John Wade recognizes the importance of fulfilled prophecy as Messiah was prophesied to be born in Bethlehem.

Micah 5:1-6;

The MacArthur Study Bible (Chapter 5)

5:1 strike the judge of Israel. A reference to the capture of King Zedekiah at the hands of Babylon in 586 B.C. (cf. 2 Kin. 24, 25).

5:2–4 This passage looked forward to Christ’s First Advent (5:2), an intervening time (5:3a), and beyond to the Second Advent (5:3b, 4).

5:2 Bethlehem Ephrathah. The town S of Jerusalem which was the birthplace of David and later Jesus Christ (1 Sam. 16; Matt. 2:5; Luke 2:4–7). The name Bethlehem means “house of bread” because the area was a grain producing region in OT times. The name Ephrathah (“fruitful”) differentiates it from the Galilean town by the same name. The town, known for her many vineyards and olive orchards, was small in size but not in honor. from of old, From everlasting. This speaks of eternal God’s incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ. It points to His millennial reign as King of Kings (cf. Is. 9:6).

5:3 give them up. A reference to the interval between Messiah’s rejection at His First Advent and His Second Advent, during the times of the Gentiles when Israel rejects Christ and is under the domination of enemies. Regathering of the “remnant of His brethren” did not occur at the First Advent but is slated for the Second Advent (cf. Is. 10:20–22; 11:11–16). Nor can “return” speak of Gentiles, since it cannot be said that they “returned” to the Lord. Rather, the context of 5:3, 4 is millennial and cannot be made to fit the First Advent. Thus, “she who is in labor” must denote the nation of Israel (cf. Rev. 12:1–6).

5:4 The millennial rule of Christ, sitting upon the throne of David (cf. Is. 6:13).5:5, 6 Assyrian. Assyria, God’s instrument against Israel (722 B.C.) and Judah (Sennacherib’s siege in 701 B.C.) is here used as a representative of enemy nations in opposition to the Lord.

5:5 Seven … eight. An idiom for a full and sufficient number of leaders, more than enough for the task (cf. Eccl. 11:2).

5:6 Nimrod. A reference to Assyria (cf. Gen. 10:11) that could possibly also include Babylon (cf. Gen. 10:10).

Pictures of Messiah’s nature, rule and ministry are given: ruler, eternal, shepherd, great, peace, deliverer. Our hymn explains that in the manger was born the King of angels.

It is a wonder how so many people missed the fulfillment of such precise detail. This prophecy wasn’t hidden from the people. Even Herod...

Matthew 2:4–6 NASB95

Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Verse 2

This is usually omitted from most hymnals and typically doesn’t get the attention of the other 3vv.

Over the centuries the church has debated the precise nature of LJC, wrestling with His 2 natures: fully God and fully man. Confusion and error led to “ecumenical councils” where church leaders came together to search the Scriptures about what God had revealed concerning His Son. One such council was Council of Nicea AD 325.

Historic Creeds and Confessions Nicene Creed

NICENE CREED

The Nicene Creed was originally the result of the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. While there are similarities between the text of the Nicene Creed and the text of the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, according to Schaff, is “more definite and explicit than the Apostles’ Creed in the statement of the divinity of Christ and the Holy Ghost.”2 The Nicene Creed provided the needed clarification to combat the heresies of the Nicene age, and is useful to combat those same heresies today which invariably reoccur in differing forms.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

“God of God, Light of Light, abhors not the virgin’s womb, very God begotten (not created)” what a profound statement regarding the 2 natures of Jesus.

Later councils would further clarify (Chalcedon)

Historic Creeds and Confessions The Symbol of Chalcedon

We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [coessential] with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

Verse 3

This verse reminds us of the angelic involvement that after an angel told shepherds in the field about the Savior’s birth…multitude of heavenly host appeared.

Verse 4

We have the offering of praise and adoration to the Word made flesh.

John 1:1–2 NASB95

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:14 NASB95

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Refrain

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Our adoration, praise and worship is not found in the sentimentality of a baby being born—precious as that is. Bt Jesus became man for a reason. It is that reason and the fulfillment of everything Jesus came to be and do that brings us tremendous joy in the celebration of Christmas. We’re not just celebrating the birth but truly “the rest” that JC came to bring in the eternal salvation offered to sinners on the basis of His perfect sacrificial work.

The great object of our Lord’s coming here was not to live, but to die. He appeared, not so much to subdue sin by His teaching, or to manifest goodness, or to perfect an example for us to imitate, but “to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” CHARLES SPURGEON

Hebrews 9:24–26 NASB95

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

If Xmas is merely a holiday of gift giving, time off work, and feasting, then you’ve missed the whole point. JC is God incarnate, came once—born of a virgin, lived His life in perfection righteousness, offered Himself as a substitute for all who put their faith and hope in JC alone. He who came once, will come again and the Kingdom He inaugurates will have no end.

Each one here today must examine themselves to know if you are trusting in X alone or if you are trusting in yourself (your abilities, doings, rituals) for the rest He provides. That rest comes to those whose faith is Jesus.