This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Christmas” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 14, 1990.

the songs that have been sung in connection with the birth of Christ. We have read all four of those songs this morning once more. With the coming of Christ, with the coming of the Son of God, there has been an explosion of revelation of God revealing himself again.

Short of the end of the world, this is, in fact, God’s last great work. Short of the conclusion of everything, the consummation of all things, this is God’s last great work, the sending of his Son. In fact, we can say the end of the world, the consummation of all things, is but the conclusion of what God has begun to do here in this marvelous work.

Therefore, this is not just another great work. This is the greatest of God’s mighty deeds. This is the great work to which all his previous works pointed. It is as if those previous works, those former great deeds done by God were but a laying of a foundation set beneath the surface of the ground so that now a beautiful house, the house of this His crowning work might rest upon. that foundation in full brightness of the day. But this is not just God’s last great work, nor his greatest work. For as these songs make claim, this is specifically a new work.

It’s as if the long night is over, as if only the words of God were but stars, as if the former words of God were but the moon. And now the dawn has come. And as the dawn causes the lights of the night to fade, and chases the darkness before it, so this work of God brings light as if the dawn had never been seen before. There were shepherds in the night, but their night is chased by the effulgence, the radiance of that glory that shined upon them. God’s new work. The old ways former manners of revealing himself. His previous works, they have run their course. The wait has ended. The old passes the new comes. The old itself had announced such a day.

Psalm 98 speaks specifically of this day in terms of a new song being sung. And in that psalm, the psalmist calls upon all to join in the song. O sing a new song to the Lord, for he hath done wondrous things. His right arm and his holy His right hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory. He has made known His salvation to the animals of the earth. He has revealed His salvation. Most specifically, psalmists in that psalm have imbued the new day of God’s work in which only the new psalm will be appropriate.

And in order to get us all singing on the same key, the Lord himself gives us a few bars in Luke 1 and 2. We have looked at the songs here in turn, Mary’s Magnificat, Zacharias, Benedictus, the Angels, Gloria, Simeon’s Note, Demetrius. Four songs. And each of these songs, in its own way, summing up the events that surround the events that go before the events that will come after. These songs appropriately sung in terms of this mighty and wonderful new work which God is doing. Luke 1 and Mary’s song, beginning at verse 46.

A song that is sung after Mary has been greeted by Elizabeth, her cousin. Significant thing about this song is the fact that not only two women here are meeting and greeting one another, but the children that they carry are, as it were, meeting and greeting one another.

We are told that the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps at Mary’s greeting. That child in Elizabeth’s womb is John. He is the embodiment of the Old Order and the greatest of all of those who are of the Old Order. And he now greets the child in Mary’s womb, that child signaling the commencement of a new order, the child in Mary’s womb being the embodiment of the new, the new order that comes within.

As Mary sings her song then in response to The grieving of Elizabeth, it’s as if she takes up all of the psalms of the old order and sews them together into a marvelous tapestry of hymnody. A testimony to the fact that the old, in all of its sentiment, the old in all that it sang about, the old in all that it sang, period, was pointing to that one who is in fact now in the womb of man. We cannot then stop short of this day in which there is an explosion of revelation in which the new has come, we cannot content ourselves with merely singing the songs of the old order, for the new order has come. And all of the songs and sentiments of the old order now are captured, as it were, and placed in the service of the new. Mary’s song is a masterpiece, a praise, appropriate for the dawning of the new day. So the new order is greeted by the Lord. And the new order sums up the old and gives expression to all that that old order intended. And it sings.

Then there’s Zacharias, verse 67 and following. His benediction. specifically here in you is what Zacharias brings before our eyes. Zacharias was a priest. He was faithful in the house of Levi. He served in the temple and in the performance of the temple rites. His interest was in the holiness of the people and the forgiveness of sin through the administration of the sacrifices in that temple.

And as you read down through his psalm, what you are given here is a summing up of the institutions in the old order that were appointed for the promotion of holiness and piety and the providing for the forgiveness of sins in the life of the people. The Zacharias’s hymn tells us that the Levitical order and all of those ministrations in the temple have reached their appointed end in what now is transpiring for him, for his wife, for Mary, for Joseph, and for humanity.

The Angels, chapter 2, verses 13 and 14. Here are heavenly heralds of the new order who in their coming and in their song revealed the nature of the kingdom in view over against the kingdom whose emissaries they are is a kingdom over which sits Caesar Augustus and over against the decree The messengers of which they are is the decree that Caesar Augustus has sent out. And over against shepherds that they greet now in hills in Judea are shepherds that are contacted by emissaries sent out from the throne in Rome. It is one kingdom against another, and the angels are heralding the new. the manifestation, the unveiling of the kingdom that is from above, with the testimony that in the end, in the conclusion of all things, glory will be given alone to God.

What glory is there in the world and for those who are of the world? In the end, all glory will be given to God. And in the end, peace is not a matter of governments getting together and mapping out their strategies and coming to their conclusions with regard to treaties that they may construct. Peace is a matter of divine grace.

It is given to those whom God chooses. Those who are, in fact, of his good will, the subject of his good will, the choices of his good will, his sovereign good pleasure. Such a kingdom is announced, declared, its days have begun, and the beginning of its is worthy of a song, out of heaven. And finally, Simeon, verses 29 and following, Luke 2, Simeon, seemingly the inconspicuous one, faithful, devout, godly, one who is dutiful, faithful in his attendance to the things of God, to the means of grace, but above all, one who is dutiful with respect to an expectation that God will in fact save his people. The center of this man’s life is the Lord’s salvation. But in this, though he is inconspicuous, Simeon speaks on behalf of all faithful Israel, as faithful Israel awaits the coming of the great day, the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. For faithful Israel recognizes that it has its end in the coming of the new day, which God now as inaugurating.

There are then these four songs, these beautiful summons up, these wonderful welcomings of the new, by those who seemingly straddle the time, between the old and the new. And what wonderful notes are heard in the songs themselves. What wonderful features stand out, blending together now into a marvelous harmony, as if productive of a grand chorus. Magnificent. Above all else, the eye of each one of these singers is focused upon the salvation that is coming, the salvation that was promised, the salvation that has now arrived.

We make a mistake with regard to piety. We make a mistake with regard to our faith. We think our faith is useful for 101 things, but salvation is 102. These people may have been excited about the prospect of salvation, but it’s something that bores us terribly. if it doesn’t put us to sleep. We’re not interested. Because there are 101 other things that are more important to us.

We may cry ourselves that we are in the company of Mary or the company of Zacharias or maybe even especially spoken to by the angels or friends of sin. We are not the friends of any of these people if salvation isn’t as important to us as it was to them. Is salvation the center of your life? Is what these people anticipated and hoped for the center of your life? Did I marry the vision of Zachariah? the glory of the angels the deep deep satisfaction of sin all because of their preoccupation with their devotion to salvation well you have to know about not being saved before you can know about being saved.

Throughout the song there is a concentration upon covenant. These people read their Bibles. At the end of Mary’s song, she makes reference to Abraham and the covenant promise that has been made to Abraham. She sees what’s happening here as the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham 2,000 years previous. Is the history of Abraham of significance to you? Do you understand yourself not as blessed because of the promise made to Abraham 4,000 years ago? that you are in fact a child of Abraham, it’s in fact you believe as he believed and he embraced the promise that he embraced Zacharias makes mention of the same thing, the promise given to Abraham and as the song progresses it intensifies and widens in its application because you see it wasn’t merely a blessing expected with respect to the Jews, it was a blessing with respect to the nation It was a universal vision, and such was the conviction. This covenant is not merely for us, it is for all mankind. This blessing is meant to be universal, so that our vision shall never be chopped short. Our vision extends to the ends of the earth. It includes all races, all nations, all tongues.

I focused on salvation, a concentration on covenant and knowledge of scripture and the promises that have been made by God in ages past, but now also an unprecedented realization of joy. Each one of these songs is filled with joy. Each one of these psalms glories in God’s righteousness and the provisions made by Him for righteousness, and each one of these psalms is testimony to God’s provision of peace. Later on, the Apostle Paul would speak himself, him like As he talks about that which is of the essence of the kingdom, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. That already being evident in the songs that are being sung here, people that are overflowing with joy because of what God has done. It may have been, you don’t know the circumstances of these people, it may have been that they had all kinds of personal problems. But still, the joy overflows, the glory in the righteousness that is now revealing itself, and an assimilation of that peace that passes all understanding and is part and parcel of the kingdom that God alone can bring. Focus on salvation, covenant, knowledge of the word, the promises, unprecedented realization of joy, righteousness and peace, but also a testimony to the cross and the resurrection.

Mary speaks about humiliation, of humbleness, of those who are high in mind and exalted, and the exaltation of those who are low. She speaks about that on the background of what is coming, certainly, in the death and resurrection of Christ, that one who made himself low and then was exalted to the position of prior preeminence by God. The same way, this one is set for the falling and the rising again of many in Israel. It’s death, resurrection, for Amnesty.

It speaks to Mary directly about a sword that she pierced her own soul with, when in fact this one in your very will die. The death, resurrection, this then being the focus of Zachariah’s own hope with respect to the realization of holiness and righteousness, with respect to the realization of the forgiveness of sin, No other way than through the sacrifice of Christ and through His resurrection. And as we’ve already interpreted, each one of these songs gives rise to a sense that there’s nothing yet outstanding. Each singer is satisfied in their song. They’re not looking for something more. They don’t want something else. They’re not walking away from God and saying, well, you tried, Lord, you made a good stab at it, but it doesn’t quite make it. You left me with a big hole inside. Obviously, what you can do will never fill that hole, so… I guess I have to either look elsewhere or just learn how to live with my dissatisfaction.

The wonderful sense of peace and satisfaction with what God has done. And finally, Do you notice that every one of these individuals is less than a headline? I mean, we think that the world is actually being run by Bush and Gorbachev. Let me tell you. There is more going on here this morning with regard to God and His Kingdom than is going on with our service in Moscow, in the Congress of Moscow, or some of you.

The important people to God are not the important people to the world. But even less, the important people to God are not the important people to themselves. the hundred, the inconspicuous, the unnoticed, the poor, those who trust in God and wait for Him. These are the ones who are precious to Him.

These are the ones who say as Mary, Zacharias, angels, and sinners. Our Lord, These songs have been sung, and they are sung for us. Lord, we would sing them to you. But their words, Lord, would come forth from our hearts as surely as they came forth from those who sang them.

May the very spirit that compelled them compel us. with great love for you with a great devotion to that which you have accomplished now in sending your son commencing the new day and bringing us into the unprecedented day of joy and righteousness and peace all of this so as to keep your cover all of us, through Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, that we would bear them no longer, who rose again, that we might be justified in more sin.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.