2006 Songs of Christmas Series –
“Advent”
Luke 2:21-35
Sermon preached at Curwensville Presbyterian Church – November 26, 2006
Prayer Introduction: As you know, I love Christmas; and I love music. So it only stands to reason that I would love Christmas music. In fact, I spent an hour or so yesterday trying to find all of our Christmas CD’s, which had been put away in a different place then usual last year. There was panic in our household for awhile.
The songs we sing at Christmas are expositions of Scripture. During this advent season, we will not just look at the songs, but see how the songs point us to the truth that has set us free. We will begin with Luke 2:21-35 and the first hymn in our hymnal: “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus.” Before we do, let’s pray…We pray now for the preacher in the pulpit. He is not worthy, but by your grace he is able. And so it is through Jesus Christ that we pray – Amen!
READ Luke 2:21-35: Let’s first look at the 16 phrases in the 2 (or 4, depending on how you count) stanzas of the hymn and then look at three themes that run through this hymn and this Scripture passage.
I. Sixteen Phrases in Two (or Four) Stanzas
(1) Put yourself in the place of the Old Testament saints, like Simeon. People ask me all the time, “How were people in the Old Testament saved, since Jesus hadn’t yet come.” The answer is simply, “They trusted in the promised Messiah who was to come.” They knew a Messiah (Christ in Greek; meaning “Anointed One”) was to come; but they didn’t know his name.
Hence the wonderful irony in the first phrase of the hymn, “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus.” Charles Wesley writes a hymn from the perspective of the Old Testament saint, waiting for the long-expected Messiah – but Wesley puts in the name they did not yet know.
The Old Testament Israelite believers looked forward to the unnamed Messiah to come. Today’s New Testament Christian believers look back to Jesus, the named Messiah who has now come.
(2) The second phrase tells us why Jesus came – “Born to set thy people free.” As you know, I conclude every sermon with a variation on Jesus’ words, “May the truth set you free” (from John 8:32); because with every sermon, first and foremost, I want to point you to the truth – realizing that the truth isn’t a statement – the truth is a person. Jesus is the truth. Jesus, himself, said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). What does it mean that Jesus sets us free? Free from what?
(3) The third phrase tells us – “From our fears and sins release us.” You are set free from sin, and from the fear of death. “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). There is no longer a reason to fear God’s wrath, because it has been completely satisfied in Christ. The good news of the Gospel is that not only are we declared righteous; but we also receive the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and begin making us righteous – holy – making us like Jesus. We no longer fear condemnation. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). We have been redeemed, purchased by the blood of Christ, set free from sin and misery. We are free to live in faithfulness.
(4) The fourth phrase continues – “Let us find our rest in Thee.” Does anybody need a rest? You especially do if you are one of those insane people who went shopping at 5:00 in the morning on Friday. God knows that we need rest. He even set aside a day, the Sabbath Day – the Lord’s Day – for holy rest.
You can only rest (take refuge) in a place of security. Ever tried to sleep in chaos? In my prayers for the servicemen, I often think how hard it must be to sleep. I pray that they may remember the hymn based on the 46th Psalm, “God is our refuge and our strength, our ever-present aid; and therefore, though the earth remove, we will not be afraid.” We rest in Thee – in Christ – God incarnate. He is our refuge. We find our rest nowhere else, but in Christ.
(5) The fifth phrase goes on to call the long-expected Messiah, Jesus – “Israel’s strength and consolation.” Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament Messianic prophecies. He is the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6 – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” He is the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 – “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” He is the fulfillment of Micah 5:2 – “But you, Bethlehem…out of you will come for me one who be ruler over Israel.” He is the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 – “And I will put enmity between you (Satan, the serpent) and the woman (Eve), and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
(6) The sixth phrase extends this beyond the nation of Israel and calls Jesus – “Hope of all the earth Thou art.” Jesus, you are not only the hope of Israel; you are the hope of all the earth. There is no longer Jew and Gentile. All who find salvation, find it in Jesus alone. The earth has two groups of people: Those who do not have hope in Jesus, and those who do have hope in Jesus as the Christ.
(7) The seventh phrase says a similar thing in a slightly different way – “Dear desire of every nation.” Jesus is the only who can answer our deepest needs – as individuals, as a church, as a nation, as a people. That’s right; a successful football team cannot answer our deepest need. A better job cannot. Good health cannot answer our deepest need… We tend to seek out these things. We place our hope and desire in these things – and they keep coming up short. Only Jesus can answer our deepest needs.
(8) The first stanza concludes with the eighth phrase – “Joy of every longing heart.” This really personalizes it. The strength and consolation of Israel. The hope of all the earth. The desire of every nation. The joy of every longing heart. Does your heart long for more than what you have right now? Do you ache for more out of life than what you have? Your heart isn’t aching for some thing to bring you joy (not even the new PS3). No Christmas gift wrapped in paper will bring you the joy your heart longs for. Only Jesus – the great gift of Christmas – can bring you true joy.
(9) The second stanza begins – “Born Thy people to deliver.” For the second of four times we have that word, “born.” It will be the first word of three phrases in a row. The long-expected Messiah was born as an ordinary child. The deliverer was born an ordinary baby. He was human – he was God, in the flesh – God in a bod – God incarnate. God came down to us, born a baby, in order to deliver us from sin and misery.
(10) The tenth phrase further expounds this wonderful irony – “Born a child and yet a King.” Wow! Occasionally you read in history about a king dying, and so their child becomes king when they are just a few days, weeks or years old. But none of those kings are perfect. This Christ-child, this anointed-child, is the King of kings.
(11) What does it mean for Jesus to be called King? The eleventh phrase says, “Born to reign in us forever.” Jesus was born in order that God could reign in us forever. Last week we saw Colossians 3:15-16 – “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” You cannot simply have Jesus as your Savior, He also needs to be your Lord – He came in order that God could rule your heart. Born…Born…Born – sing out the word “born” in the first three verses of that second stanza.
(12) The twelfth phrase further expounds the King theme – “Now thy gracious kingdom bring.” Every week we pray, in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come.” We are praying for Jesus to reign in us and among us.
(13) The thirteenth phrase connects the third person of the Trinity – “By Thine own eternal Spirit.” How does God reign in us and among us – by His eternal Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who dwells within the heart of the believer – ruling the heart. As a child I remember being confused about how Jesus was supposed to live in my heart – and then I understood the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16 – “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?”
(14) The fourteenth phrase completes the thought – “(By Thine own eternal Spirit) Rule in all our hearts alone.” I want God alone to rule my heart; because when I allow the evil spirit – my sinful desires – to rule, I end up in misery. We must continually listen for the way in which our self-centeredness tries to rule our hearts. “I can worship God in my own way…” Or, for us, “I like worship better when we…” Most of our pouting in the church has to do with not getting our way. Most of our pouting (and trouble) in life is not getting our way. So many marriages struggle because two individuals are trying to get their own way; rather than seeking God’s way.
(15) The fifteenth phrase poetically parallels the thirteenth phrase [“By Thine”] – “By Thine all-sufficient merit.” Ligon Duncan says of this phrase, “It’s one of my favorite phrases in all of this Christmas carol. It acknowledges that only Jesus’ work, only Jesus’ perfection, only His perfect obedience can save us. Our merits cannot save us, they will only condemn us; our works cannot save us, they will only condemn us. But Christ’s work, Christ’s fulfillment of the Law, Christ’s perfect life, Christ’s death on our behalf fulfilling the penal sanctions of the Law—these things save us, and so we sing this petition: ‘Lord, save us by Thine all-sufficient merit.’”
(16) The final phrase concludes – “Raise us to Thy glorious throne.” In this final phrase we see the two-fold meaning of this hymn. We are to place ourselves in the position of the Old Testament believer and the long-expected coming of the Messiah; but we are also to place ourselves in our own position as New Testament believer and the long-expected second coming of the Messiah. Jesus will return and raise us to the glorious throne of God.
Next week officially begins the “Season of Advent.” The word “Advent” means “coming.” In this season we celebrate the first advent, the first coming of Jesus, 2,000 years ago; but we also anticipate the second advent, the second coming of Jesus, which could come at any time. And so from this hymn, I want to take you back to our Scripture passage, and briefly see three themes – captured in this Christmas song – and, I pray, captured in your heart.
II. Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Law
The first theme is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. The primary use of God’s Law is to show us our failure; and Christ’s success. When we see the Law, we see how we fail to keep it; while also seeing how perfectly Jesus kept it. Three times the words, “the Law” are repeated in verses 22-24, emphasizing how Jesus fulfilled even the ceremonial law.
And so Jesus said, in Matthew 5:17 – “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Or in the words of Galatians 4:4-5 – “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
Jesus fulfilled the law for us, so that we can be justified – declared perfect – crediting us with his perfection; and so that we can be sanctified – receiving the Holy Spirit so that we can gratefully obey the law in our own lives. “By Thine own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone. By Thine all-sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne.”
III. Waiting for Jesus
The second theme is waiting – waiting for Jesus. In Simeon we see the definitive picture of the Old Testament believer waiting for the long-expected Messiah. Can you imagine the joy that Simeon experienced when he saw Jesus and held the baby in his arms – “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (vv.29-32).
Suddenly, everything made sense for Simeon. He now understood God’s providence in allowing the wicked Romans to invade and occupy the Holy Land. It was in order that Jesus’ birth would demonstrate that He would not only rule Israel, but the whole earth.
With Simeon we pray as we sing – “Come, Thou long-expected Jesus…Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.”
With Simeon we long await Jesus’ coming. Simeon waited for His first coming; we await His return. Waiting is the hard part.
Children you know how hard it is to wait. Do you know how many days until Christmas? 29 days – ugh! The next 29 days will just seem to take forever, won’t they? It’s hard to wait, isn’t it? But how great the celebration when that day finally comes. The wait for Christmas reminds us that we await something even greater – the day of Jesus Christ’s return.
Jesus was and is the long-expected Messiah & King. Eagerly await His Second Coming as you celebrate His First Coming.
IV. Jesus is Central
The third theme is that Jesus is central. Jesus is the central point of history, of humanity, of salvation. Notice that in history we refer to years as “B.C.” – Before Christ – and “A.D.” Anno Domini, In the Year of our Lord – that is, After Christ. Secular historians, seeking to re-write history without Jesus as the Christ, now use the initials “B.C.E” and “C.E.” – Before the Common Era and the Common Era. They can try and change the words, but they expose their own hearts and the truth of what Simeon said to Mary, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against.”
The attempted secularization of Christmas proves Simeon’s words to be true. Every time you hear “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” don’t get angry – but weep for those who don’t know the true joy of the true Christmas.
It is not only the secular world that speaks against the truth of Jesus. Many Christians do this when they treat the Christmas story as a cute story about a cute baby in a cute manger scene. There is nothing cute about Christmas. Christmas is about dividing the world into two groups – those who speak against the Christ-child and those who follow him.
Jesus said (Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23) – “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.” And in Luke 12:51 Jesus said – “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” Jesus’ coming brought joy to some, but terror to others.
Jesus’ return will bring joy to some, but terror to others.
Where are you? Does Jesus’ birth, and imminent return, fill you with joy or fear [or apathy]? For the Christian, we joyfully, and expectantly, sing “Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee.”
May the child, who is also King, rule your heart. May your heart find joy only in Jesus. May you eagerly await the Second Advent of Jesus as you celebrate his First Advent.
BECAUSE THE TRUTH HAS SET YOU FREE – AMEN!