****ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

"And there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."

"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid."

The shepherds were gripped with extreme fear. But why?   After all, what is so scary about a few beautiful young angels?

Well, there is no scriptural indication that angels are beautiful, feminine beings like we see portrayed in most media.  In every biblical mention of them, they either had masculine names or there was no indication of gender. In fact, there is nothing in scripture that even suggests that there are male and female angels. 

Angels are terrifying creatures, especially when they appear in large numbers. The common reaction to angels in Scripture is fear; probably not because of their physical appearance, but because, when they come, they usually bring God’s judgment and justice. 

What we do know is that they are God’s messengers and when this one appeared to the shepherds, the glory of God lit up the sky with a bright light.  And if that were not frightful enough, “suddenly, the heavens opened and there was with the angel a mighty army of the heavenly host.” 

But on this night, "the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

They were not there to wage war or bring judgment; they came to announce the birth of the Savior. 

We know very little about the hymn, ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH. We don't know who wrote it but experts believe that it was probably written in the first century. 

Like several other Christmas hymns, the lyrics suggest that the angels were singing. But scripture doesn’t tell us that. It simply says that they were “praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” 

So, is it wrong to presume that they sang?  I think it's not unreasonable. From a literal point of view, the word, sing, is sometimes used as a synonym for “tell” or “profess” or “proclaim.” But the question is, did the angels sing songs of praise in harmonic chorus? 

God told Job that, at the time of creation, “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:4, 7).

The Hebrew writer of that text used a literary form called poetic parallelism, in which “the sons of God” and “the morning stars” most likely refer to the same things; they were angels.

Also, in the fifth chapter of the Revelation, we are told that four “living creatures” (elsewhere called cherubim) accompany the saints in heaven when they sing praises to God.

Luke wrote that these angels, who appeared that night, were “praising God and saying..." The Greek word for saying can also mean, to sing praises.

In other words, the verse could be translated to say, “There was…a multitude of the heavenly host singing praises to God, declaring, ‘Glory to God in the highest’…”

We don’t know if the angels were singing that night but we do know that they were praising God. And we know, from Paul’s letters to the churches at Ephesus and Colossae, that God wants us to “SPEAK, TEACH, and ADMONISH ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace and making melody in our hearts to the Lord.”

Twice in his pastoral epistles, Paul tells us to "speak to ourselves in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs", so I think it is reasonable to presume that the Angels also sing praises to God.

****WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, OUR REDEEMER

  

WE PRAISE THEE, O GOD, OUR REDEEMER, was written by Julia Cory. Her father was a Sunday school superintendent who encouraged her, while she was still young, to write hymns. 

One day the music director, at her church, asked her to compose some new lyrics to be sung to the tune of the popular Thanksgiving hymn, "We Gather Together." 

About two weeks later, Julia had produced this new hymn.

In the new testament, the apostle Paul instructed the churches to speak to themselves with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. 

Paul’s instructions are beneficial to most Christians because there is so much doctrine that is learned and retained in the songs we sing.

But, on the other hand, Psalm 30:4 commands us, "Sing to the Lord, you saints of His; praise His holy Name." 

We have many songs that remind us or encourage us to praise our God, but we often forget that He also wants us to sing praises directly to Him. This hymn is one of a few that does exactly that.

This simple hymn identifies eight activities that God desires from His people: 

• Our praises
• Our thanksgiving
• Our tributes 
• Our submission 
• Our love 
• Our worship 
• Our unity with other believers 
• And Our singing 

The hymn also identifies eight activities, of our God, that are worthy of our praises:

• He is our Redeemer 
• He is our Creator 
• He is the God of our fathers 
• He is our Guide 
• He is our Deliverer 
• He is our Defender 
• He is our Lord 
• And He is ever-present with us 

The third stanza concludes with a direct proclamation of praise; “To Thee, our great Redeemer, forever be praise."

Julia’s hymn was first used in her church’s Thanksgiving Day service just a few weeks after she wrote it. One month later, her father wanted to use it for a Christmas service at their church, so he asked her to add a stanza about the incarnation.

The new (fourth) stanza, which alludes to the message of John 3:16, is a song of thanksgiving to God for sending His Son to die for the salvation of those whom He loved.

The Christmas stanza says:

Thy love Thou didst show us, 

Thine only Son sending,

Who came as a babe and whose bed was a stall,

His blest life He gave us 

And then died to save us;

We praise Thee, O Lord, for Thy gift to us all.

****WE THREE KINGS

Christian music has always suffered a lot of criticism and some of it is deserved.  So, we should carefully examine lyrics for truth and doctrinal correctness.  Some of our available Christian music is so full of heresy that we should never use it in our worship.

But then there are some that aren’t necessarily heretical; they just contain some figurative or speculative or poetic language that might be misunderstood or are slightly, factually incorrect. 

WE THREE KINGS is one of those Christmas songs, and I have deliberately avoided it several years.   I was bothered by its inaccurate imagery: 

  

“Three Kings come from the Orient to visit the baby Jesus in His manger bed.” 

The Bible tells us none of that.  So, I have to admit, I never really paid much attention to it.  But once we get past the song’s title and the opening line, there is a lot of important prophetic doctrine in it. 

  

In fact, I have come to realize that my only legitimate dislike for this carol could be narrowed down to just TWO LITTLE LETTERS; “R” and “E.”  That’s right!  If the author had just written, “We THE Kings,” there wouldn’t be much left for me to criticize.  

John Henry Hopkins, Jr. was an author, book illustrator, stained glass window designer, clergyman, and editor of the New York Church Journal.  He wrote WE THREE KINGS for a Christmas pageant at the General Theological Seminary of New York City in 1857.  Six years later it was published in his book, Carols, Hymns and Song. 

Were there really three kings?  The Bible calls them Magi, so some would argue that they were pagan astrologers or sorcerers.

The suggestion that the Wise Men were kings comes from prophecies in Isaiah 49:7; “Kings shall see and arise,” and Isaiah 60:10; “Their kings shall minister unto thee.” 

There are other records that refer to the Wise Men as kings. The journals of Marco Polo contain a report from Persia about three kings who took gold, frankincense, and myrrh with them on a journey to visit a newborn prophet.

The term Wise Men, as used in the King James Bible, is from the Greek word that is translated, “magi” in English.  Some scholars think the Wise Men were priests in a Persian religious sect.  However, other biblical scholars have speculated that they might have been descendants of Nebuchadnezzar’s advisors who were influenced by Daniel during the captivity.  Having heard of Daniel’s prophecies and teachings they may have been true believers to whom God had revealed the birth of the promised Messiah.

The first four stanzas are a narrative.  The first verse starts with the account of the wise men following the star on their journey to find the baby.

Stanzas 2, 3, and 4 name three gifts they brought: 

Gold speaks of royalty.  This Baby is the King of kings.

  

Incense was used in the tabernacle as a symbol of prayer and worship.  Jesus is God in human flesh. 

Myrrh was used as an embalming spice.   It pointed to Christ’s death on the cross for sin.

The final stanza is a song of praise in which Hopkins summarized the three-fold offices of this Baby.  Jesus Christ is our King, He is our God, and He is our Sacrifice.  Praise the Lord!

****ONE DAY (GLORIOUS DAY)

The hymn, ONE DAY was written by Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman.  While he was a guest preacher at a Bible Conference around 1908, He handed the text to his organist, Charles Marsh, who composed the tune.  Chapman published it in 1910.

This is one of those songs that appear in many hymnbooks but, for some reason, always seems to be there just to take up space.  I don’t know why it is not one of our more prominent hymns.  Maybe it’s because of how it’s placed in the topical index.  It’s not categorized as a Christmas song, although the first stanza tells of Christ’s incarnation.  And neither is it listed as a resurrection hymn, although it sings of His death, burial, and resurrection.  It is just placed somewhere in the category, “The Life of Christ.”

ONE DAY is a hymn that recounts the glorious days in God’s story of redemption; the day of Christ’s birth, the day of His crucifixion, the day of His death and burial, and the day of His resurrection. 

The good news is that Chapman’s lyrics are making a comeback in a popular, new version titled, GLORIOUS DAY.  It was produced with a new music score, by Mark Hall and Michael Bleeker of Casting Crowns.  Except for the addition of a few lines, the original lyrics remain intact.

However, the new rendition has already generated some unfair criticism, mainly about the refrain:

“Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away; Rising He justified freely forever; One day He’s coming, O glorious day.”

 

The critic’s objection is that Jesus’ living doesn’t equate to His loving; His death didn’t save us, our sins were not carried far away by His burial, and His resurrection did not justify us.

But the arguments are foolish.  It is not hard to understand that the author’s intention was to recap the full scope and purpose of Christ’s ministry; His incarnation and perfect sinless life, His crucifixion, His death, burial and resurrection, and His Second coming, as an all-inclusive, once for all, completed work of God’s redemptive grace.

In fact, it reads like a poetic paraphrase of these words in Paul’s, summary statement of the Good News of the Gospel: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

This hymn is rich in sound doctrine and packed full of allusions to Scripture.  One researcher broke it down and identified multiple scriptural referenced for almost every phrase.  He found over 75 supporting texts for this hymn.

Some of the more overt theological themes in this song include the doctrines of angels, sin, the virgin birth, the incarnation, atonement, propitiation, justification, redemption, resurrection, ascension,  and second coming. 

The song ends with a glorious proclamation of our hope.

ONE DAY the trumpet will sound for His coming.

One day the skies with His glories will shine;

Wonderful day, my Beloved One’s bringing;

Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine.

One day He’s coming, O GLORIOUS DAY!

****THOU DIDST LEAVE THY THRONE

THOU DIDST LEAVE THY THRONE was written by Emily (Elizabeth Steele) Elliott in the late 1800s.  She was the daughter of Charlotte Elliot who wrote, “Just As I Am.”

Emily had a passion for her work in rescue missions and teaching Sunday school, and she saw those occupations as opportunities to reach children with the gospel.

For six years, she edited a missionary publication for children’s ministries, in which she published a collection of 48 of her hymns.

But THOU DIDST LEAVE THY THRONE was different; it was printed separately and written exclusively for the children’s choir in her father’s parish in Brighton, England.  She wrote this hymn to clarify the meaning, of Advent and the Birth of Jesus, to the children she taught, and there are some great doctrinal truths to be discovered in it.

The text is based on Luke 2:7, “And (Mary) brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

In the structure of this hymn, Emily used a literary technique called rhetorical antithesis.  Two observations, in each verse, are intentionally contrasted to emphasize the difference.  And each contrast hinges on the same conjunction, “BUT.”

In the first stanza, Jesus left His glorious heavenly home, BUT there was no room for Him in Bethlehem.

In the second, He is described as the King surrounded by angels always singing His praises, BUT His birth on earth was lowly and humble.

Verse three is a poetic paraphrase of Matthew 8:20 “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, BUT the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

And in the fourth verse, He came from heaven bringing words of love and life BUT, on earth, He was mocked and scorned.

A similar contrast is implied in the refrain; there was no room for Him in the Inn, BUT there is room for Him in the hearts of believers. 

  The song is sometimes used as an invitation hymn because of the last phrase in each of the first four stanzas, “O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee.”

But that usage misses the point.

This is not a hymn of invitation for sinners to come to the Savior; it emphasizes the reality that we have NOTHING big enough, grand enough, valuable enough, or good enough to offer that would impress God and merit His good grace and favor.  All we can do is come broken and needy and offer Him our hearts.

But, should God be pleased with that?

Well, frankly, I can’t think of anything dirtier; not even that filthy stable.  The words of Jeremiah the prophet, remind me what God thinks of my heart:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;

Who can know it?

"I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jer. 17:9-10)

Nevertheless, the Spirit of God indwells His people anyway.  He has given us a new heart and while we are still in these sin-sick bodies, He is at work cleaning us and making us fit to live with Him.

  The point is, we have nothing to boast; ALL the glory for our sanctification belongs to Him.

The final stanza proclaims our Hope.  We are looking forward to that day when He will call us home to dwell with Him forever. 

****WHAT CHILD IS THIS?

William Dix was born in Bristol, England in 1837.  He wrote and published at least 40 hymns including “WHAT CHILD IS THIS?”

It was one of his best hymns but, unfortunately, modern publishers, thinking it was too dark and depressing for a Christmas carol, removed half the second stanza.  What remains is a bright, joyful song of the celebration of Jesus’ birth without the unpleasant gloom of the cross.

  

Before the alteration, there were three stanzas of eight lines each with no refrain.  Now there are three, four-line stanzas with a common refrain that was originally the last lines of the first stanza.  So, today, in most hymnbooks there is an abbreviated, inoffensive text that neglects an important doctrinal purpose of the song.

The carol starts with a rhetorical question.  These kinds of questions are often used to emphasize a truth or to make an expression of amazement.  Sometimes those kinds of questions are used in Scripture.

For example, when Jesus calmed the storm that was threatening the disciples, they asked themselves, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:41).

They all knew the answer; This Man is God. 

  

The question asked in verse one is; “WHAT CHILD IS THIS?”   And, of course, we know the answer.  It’s plainly revealed in Scripture; “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  (John 1:14).

   

This baby is Christ the King.

Verse two poses another important question; “Why is He lying in such mean estate?”  

The word, mean, doesn’t mean cruel or unkind; it describes His common, ordinary, or lowly birth.  A few years ago, my Pastor illustrated the “insignificance” of all the people and places surrounding Jesus’ humble arrival.  There was no pompous ceremony; there were no exalted dignitaries.  There were no fancy furnishings.  He was born in a smelly stable and laid in a filthy feeding trough.  

And the verse goes on to explain that this silent little Baby is the living Word of God, who is here “pleading” for our souls. 

And this is where the editors made their terrible cut.  In the original text, William Dix continued the account with the prophetic reason for this Baby’s coming.  “The nails and the spear shall pierce Him.”  

That’s an allusion to the crucifixion.  He came to bear the suffering and death on the cross for us.  This Baby, the Son of Mary, was born to die.

His birth in the manger is a reason to rejoice only because of His death on the cross.  So, we sing, “Come, peasant king to own Him.”

That is the invitation of the Gospel.   When Jesus came to His own people, they rejected Him.  But the insignificant, lowly shepherds and the wise men from far countries came to worship Him.   And so, the final stanza is a song of Joy; Jesus came to bring salvation to all who will believe.

WHAT CHILD IS THIS?

(Here are all the original lyrics.  

The green lines are the ones that have been removed.)

1. What Child is this who laid to rest,

On Mary's lap is sleeping?

Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,

While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,

Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing;

Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

2. Why lies He in such mean estate,

Where ox and ass are feeding?

Good Christians, fear, for sinners here

The silent Word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,

The cross be borne for me, for you.

Hail, hail the Word made flesh,

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

3. So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,

Come peasant, king to own Him;

The King of kings salvation brings,

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Raise, raise a song on high,

The virgin sings her lullaby.

Joy, joy for Christ is born,

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

COME, THOU ALMIGHTY KING (appropriate for Christmas)

Most people would not recognize this as an appropriate hymn for the Christmas season.  But it really is.

While looking for Christmas hymns, one thing I noticed is that most hymnbooks arranges them topically, starting with Advent and then proceeding to hymns about the birth of Jesus. 

I’m not very familiar with the liturgical calendar, but, apparently, in many Christian traditions, these four weeks leading up to Christmas day is called the Advent season.

But ALL these hymns, regardless of how they are categorized, are about His birth, so I wondered what was it that distinguished advent hymns from other songs about the birth of Jesus?

I looked to the dictionary for a definition of advent and it is a word that implies expectation or the waiting for an appearance or an event. In Christianity, it is the anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah, the promised One from God.

I found that to be somewhat curious because He has already come so, I wondered, how is it that we are still waiting?   Well, in my research, I learned a few things about the advent season.

In church tradition, Advent reminds us of ancient Israel's anticipation as they waited and hoped for the coming of Messiah. This is a time to recount the stories of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, and all the pre-Church saints. We think about all the promises that God made and how they looked forward to their coming salvation.

But that is just part of the anticipation. The Advent season, today, is a reminder that there is still more to come. 

John Piper explains this two-part appearance like this:

“When Emmanuel arrives — when the Dayspring rises — we learn that redemption has only begun.

“To be sure, it is magnificent.

  

“The final blood is shed. The debt is paid. Forgiveness is purchased. God’s wrath is removed. Adoption is secured. The down payment is in the bank. The first fruits of harvest are in the barn. The future is sure. The joy is great.

  

“But the end is not yet. Death still snatches away. Disease still makes us miserable. Calamity still strikes. Satan still prowls. Flesh still wars against the Spirit. Sin still indwells. 

"And we still ‘groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies’ (Romans 8:23). 

"We still ‘wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 1:7). 

"We still wait for final deliverance ‘from the wrath to come’ (1 Thessalonians 1:10). 

"We still ‘wait for the hope of righteousness’ (Galatians 5:5). 

"The longing continues.”

The Advent season is a time for rejoicing; Our Savior was born in Bethlehem. But the birth of Jesus is meaningless and irrelevant without His sacrificial death, burial, and His resurrection. It was all part of God’s plan that will culminate when Jesus Christ returns for His Church and finishes His work of redemption. 

So, now we look forward to His Second Coming. And the next time He comes, He is coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  

COME, THOU ALMIGHTY KING.

****AS, WITH GLADNESS, MEN OF OLD

As, With Gladness, Men Of Old was written by William Dix in 1860. He had been bed bound with a serious illness for a long time.  One evening he got the idea for this hymn and he began to form the line on note paper. The following year, his finished song was published in a small collection of his own works, which had a very limited circulation. From there it made its way into more popular collections, and today it has become known throughout the world.

I mentioned, last week, that many of our Christmas traditions are biblically inaccurate or they are based on fantasies or legends.  Some of those legends have to do with the kings or wise men.  Our traditions assume there were three because of the three gifts mentioned in scripture; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  And the wise men have even been given names, Melchior, Balthazar, and Caspar—but those are not found anywhere in scripture.

And we don't know that they were kings.  The Bible calls them Magi.  They were pagan priests who were considered, wise men (possibly astrologers) and they would have held powerful political positions in their eastern countries.  The unfounded assumption that they were kings comes from Isaiah’s prophecy, “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3). 

Another tradition Is that they visited Jesus in His manger bed at the time of His birth.  But scripture indicates otherwise; "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him." Matt. 2:10-11

Bible scholars believe that He must have been about two years old by the time the wise men arrived.

In this song, Dix took that traditional departure from biblical accuracy where, in two phrases, he pictures the wise men at the manger.  That, however, doesn't diminish the theology or the value of this hymn; it just creates an unnecessary distraction.  For that reason, some authors have suggested a couple appropriate changes to those phrases, which we will use, for the sake of accuracy.  

There are two words that repeat several times --"As" and "So.” When you see the word, AS, you should look for the word, SO.  They are coupled to make comparisons between the recorded actions of the wise men and the appropriate applications for to us today.  In other words, as they did, So should we. 

In the first stanza, we see that the wise men were led to the Savior by the light of His star.   SO, like them, we also should be led to Him by the light of His Gospel; the Word of God.

In stanza 2, we see the wise men making their long, hurried journey to worship the Son of God.  SO, like them, we also should run to Him for mercy and joyfully worship Him because He Is worthy.

In stanza 3, the wise men gave costly gifts to Jesus.  SO, like them, we also should present ourselves, pure and holy, to Him.

There is a fifth verse that has been omitted from the text in some hymnbook.  I think that is unfortunate because it is a great song of praise and a joyful proclamation of our hope.  Here it is printed below:

In that glorious city bright, None shall need created light.

You, its Light, its Joy, its Crown; You, its Sun which goes not down.

There forever may we sing, Alleluias to our King!

****DOWN FROM HIS GLORY

DOWN FROM HIS GLORY is a song we usually only hear performed as a solo, mainly because of its wide range.  It is sung to the familiar tune of Edwardo Di Capua's, “’O Sole Mio.”  Or, if you are an Elvis Presley fan, you will recognize the melody of “It’s Now Or Never.”

 

I was surprised to discover that this song is not as contemporary as I thought.  It was written nearly 100 yrs. Ago, by William Booth-Clibborn, the grandson of William Booth who founded the Salvation Army.

The song begins with the glorious mystery we sometimes call the Humiliation of Christ.  It is the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ as is explained in Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi,”...although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (or held on to) but (He) emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”  

Think about that.  That little baby in the crib is God in human flesh and it is improper to consider His entrance into the world without understanding His purpose in coming.

What the shepherds saw that night, was the Sovereign King of Creation wrapped in filthy rags and lying in a dirty feeding trough.  He is the Righteous One of the Universe who opens His arms wide to wicked, sinful men. He is The Giver of Life, the One who IS Life, and He was born to die.  The One who made the Law; the One whose Word IS the Law, and the only One who ever kept the Law; the Judge of the world came to offer complete pardon and mercy to undeserving men. The Highest was utterly humiliated.  In Him, poverty becomes riches, tears become joy, death becomes life, trash becomes treasures, and sinners become saints.

The Christmas story, by itself, is incomplete.  In fact, it is meaningless and irrelevant without the Easter story. Paul’s revelation continues, “…Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” 

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a perfect and sinless life, died a horrible death on the cross, was buried and then, three days later He rose from the dead, according to the Scriptures. That is the message of the Gospel.  Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and perfectly satisfied God’s righteous justice.  Someone has summarized it like this: “I owed a debt I could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe.”

In the third stanza, the writer makes a personal proclamation, “And Now I know Thou Art the Great I Am.” 

Because of who Christ is, and because of what He has done for us, He is worthy of our praise and worship.  And so, each stanza ends with this song of praise:

“O how I love Him!  How I adore Him! 

My breath, my sunshine, my all in all.

The Great Creator became my Savior,

And all God’s fullness dwelleth in Him!”