John 1:14. And the Word was made flesh (became flesh), and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Well a wonderful Sunday morn to you my fellow believers in Christ! It’s great to be with you on this the Lord’s Day to praise and worship Him and give much thanks, although it’s still in the virtual realm. (smile) But we know that prayer has no borders or barriers, and as Christ promised: ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ (Matt. 18:20) Glory be my people, our Lord and Saviour is definitely amongst us this morning, even though it’s not a physical gathering.
And with only five more sunrises to that awesome day of Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, I think it’s only right that we sing, worship Him with something befitting that auspicious occasion. And today we’re going to raise to the high heavens, the Charles Wesley composed favourite, ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing.’
It’s said that Wesley wrote the hymn in ten four-line stanzas, but beginning with George Whitfield, who changed the first line from ‘Hark, how all the welkin (heavens) rings Glory to the King of Kings,’ to what it is today, several editors down through the years shortened it until we now only have three verses. But thankfully that doesn’t take away anything from the gloriousness of the hymn.
So with overwhelming enthusiasm and joy, let’s open our hearts and voices as we worship in soulful ecstasy: ‘Hark! the herald angels sing: “Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled” Joyful, all ye nations rise Join the triumph of the skies With angelic hosts proclaim: “Christ is born in Bethlehem” Hark! the herald angels sing: “Glory to the newborn King!” Christ by highest Heav’n adored, Christ the everlasting Lord! Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of a Virgin’s womb:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with man to dwell Jesus, our Emmanuel. Hark! the herald angels sing: “Glory to the newborn King! Hail the Heav’n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings Ris’n with healing in His wings Mild He lays His glory by Born that man no more may die Born to raise the sons of earth Born to give them second birth Hark! the herald angels sing: “Glory to the newborn King!” Hark! the herald angels sing: “Glory to the newborn King!”
Oh that was fantastic my brethren! Heaven too was thrilled! Now here is info from a group of scholars, can’t remember which ones (smile), but what they say does make sense. ‘Containing biblical phrases from Luke, John, and Paul, the text is a curious mixture of exclamation, exhortation, and theological reflection. The focus shifts rapidly from angels, to us, to nations. The text’s strength may not lie so much in any orderly sequence of thought but in its use of Scripture to teach its theology. That teaching surely produces in us a childlike response of faith; we too can sing “Glory to the newborn King!’ And that’s for sure friends, as we just did!
Now all we’re going to do today is highlight some passages that are supposedly tied to the text of the hymn. From the first verse we have these greatly treasured words of Luke re the night of Christ’s birth. ‘And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ (Luke 2:13-14)
And still on the first verse, from Bruh Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. ‘And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation: To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.’ (2 Cor. 5:18-19) And what a blessed day that was!
And turning to the second verse. ‘Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made (born) under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.’ (Gal. 4:3-5)
And still on the second verse, these marvelous words of John. ‘And the Word was made flesh (became flesh), and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.’ (John 1:14) And yuh know what mih people? We still beholding His divine glory even to this day, and will continue to do so even unto eternity!
Finally we come to the third verse, which also refers to some amazing scripture. And we going to begin with that everlasting prophecy of Isaiah: ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor. The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’ (Is. 9:6)
And we have Malachi in there too: ‘But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall (grow fat like stall fed calves).’ (Mal. 4:2) And did the ‘Prince of Peace,’ and the ‘Sun of righteousness’ ever show up, just like promised! Glory Hallelujah! There’s still more to come though.
From Bruh Paul’s epistle to the Philippians comes these words: ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: Yet made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion (appearance) as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’ (Phil. 2:5-8) Ah friends, humility and obedience, two words that are certainly not popular in our society today.
And the last scripture comes from Peter. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.’ (1 Pet. 1:3) Oh my people, after reading and hearing all those wonderful fulfilled promises, how could we in good conscience turn away from Almighty God eh? But that’s the question we each need to ask ourselves. Let’s hope we come up with right answer, before it’s too late. Much LOVE!
…the fool says in his heart…there is no God…
SCRIP-BITS 