INTRODUCTION
Christmas and joy, or course, belong together. We’re studying some of our favorite Christmas songs in hopes of learning to appreciate them more for the gospel message they contain. Christmas is all about the gospel, so it is naturally filled with joy.
Our song this week is all about joy.
The History of Joy to the World
Isaac Watts, a English Congregational Church minister, wrote and published the song 1719 – now over 300 years ago!
Watts also wrote “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, “Jesus Shall Reign Where’er the Sun”, “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed”, “I Sing the Almighty Power of God”, and “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” among others.
He based Joy to the World on Psalm 98 which calls upon us to sing a new song to the Lord because he has revealed his salvation before all people and then calls on the whole earth to rejoice and sing praise to God. Many of the song’s words, however, find no direct reference to Psalm 98. The version we sing differs from what Watts wrote only in repeating the last line of each stanza two additional times.
The tune we sing it to is called Antioch. It is named after the New Testament city of Syria where believers were first called Christians. It was written in the United States by Lowell Mason, one of America’s first music educators and a prolific music composer in 1839, and first appeared together with the words of the carol in 1848. Mason indicated that the tune was ‘from Handel’ but scholars today find only a few links between the final composition and Handel’s works. Most of the tune is Lowell’s work.
Joy to the World is in the record books just as O Holy Night is. In 1979 it was recognized as appearing in more North American hymnals than any other song (1,387 of them. The Dictionary of North American Hymnology). Hark the Herald Angels sing was a distant second, found in 974 hymnals.
In the Time Magazine Survey that we saw last week, Joy to the World was the second most recorded Christmas song in their survey period of 1978-2014.
Some see in this hymn a reference to the second coming of the Lord, but the fact that the song says that the Lord is come, not is coming, seems to argue against such an interpretation. Likewise, when the songs says, “Let earth receive her king,” it is assumed that earth has not yet done so. The song does anticipate the blessings for the whole world found in Christ, blessings that won’t be fully experienced by the world until Jesus’ return, but already spiritually present in his first coming. Yet on the whole it seems best to see this as the people in France saw it when it was first published: as a celebration of the birth of Jesus.
This is, however, an unusual Christmas hymn. It never mentions Mary or Joseph, the shepherds, the angels, the manger, Bethlehem, or the wise men. In addition, only the first stanza references Jesus’ coming with the simple declaration, joy to the world, the Lord is come.
A brief overview of the song:
The first verse shares the joy that the Lord is come with the whole world and invites everyone to receive him and to make room for him in their hearts for him.
The second verse celebrates the reign of Jesus and encourages all people and the earth itself to join in the joy that he reigns.
The third verse prays for the end of sin and sorrow and the curse of sin because his blessings are for every place the curse can still be found.
The fourth verse declares that he is ruling the earth with truth and grace, and the nations must put to the test or prove by their actions that his rule is righteousness and loving.
For our time together this morning we’ll focus only on the first verse and its declaration that joy has come to us, to the whole earth, through the coming of the Lord.
In this verse, almost every word is significant and speaks of the good news, the gospel.
I. The opening cry
Joy to the world
The emotion called for:
What joy is
Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness depends on .
Christian joy is a positive emotion that can express itself in exuberant celebration or in quiet satisfaction no matter what our circumstances. It flows from the knowledge that we are right with God through Jesus Christ and are participating in what is eternal: God’s work, God’s presence, God’s action, and God’s love.
Why joy?
There isn’t anything higher or better to experience.
The gospel experience centers on the experience of joy:
Romans 14:17
Romans 15:13
What is the source of this joy?
Not presents nor a tree, but as we’ll see, it is caused by .
The extent of the cry:
Why the whole world?
John 3:16
Jesus came for everyone. Every person whether Jew or Gentile, people of every race, culture, and nation.
He came for the world because everyone in the world has sinned and needs a Savior. And Jesus alone is the savior.
John 14:6
The gospel is good news. It brings joy to all who respond to its call to repent and believe. Their sins are forgiven, they are restored to fellowship with God, they are guaranteed eternal life in heaven, and they are give the Holy Spirit to live in them, empower them, and transform them.
II. The cause for the cry
The Lord is come
Someone has arrived:
Not just a baby, but Jesus, the Lord
Lord – OT word used for God.
The joy of Christmas is the joy of God coming. just as Isaiah said he would
Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel, God with us.
Isaiah 9:6–7 The Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace with an eternal Kingdom.
An event has occurred: he
What was promised and is now .
Why is the Lord’s coming important?
It was the fulfilment of a promise given almost from the of human life on earth.
Genesis 3:15
It was the fulfilment of what an angel told both Mary and Joseph
Luke 1:31–33
Matthew 1:21
It was what the angel told the shepherds had occurred that night
Luke 2:10–11
Later Jesus himself would say:
Matthew 20:28
John 10:11
The good news of the gospel says: . The Savior has come and salvation can now be ours as we repent of sin and receive Jesus as our Savior. The gift of salvation that was promised ages ago is not present, waiting for us to simply receive it.
Romans 6:23
III. The consequent call
In consequence of the fact that the Lord is come, Isaac Watts issues a call:
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare him room
The urging:
Allow
Voluntary
The scope of the urging is two-fold.
1. is addressed
Why the whole earth?
God’s salvation was always intended for the :
Genesis 12:3
Galatians 3:8
What is the earth to do?
Receive – welcome, accept – her King
He may not be known as their king, but he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, so to receive him rather than reject him is the only logical response to his coming.
There is a day coming when Jesus will return and all will acknowledge him as Lord. Joy comes in doing that now.
2. is addressed
Every = all
This makes the call – what Watts urges he urges upon .
“Let every heart” then could mean the same thing as “Let every person”
But I think there is a reason he doesn’t just say “person” or “soul” but he says “heart”
It is because of what the word heart is often used to describe in the Bible.
The heart = our being
We are thus being urged to do something , not superficial nor outer, but inner and deeply personal.
Christ coming into our heart means having a deep personal relationship with him.
What are we to do in our heart?
We must
Get the heart ready for a new King.
(MULTILINE REVEAL TINY)
We must prepare for Jesus
(MULTILINE REVEAL TINY)
IV. The cosmic conclusion
A song must be sung by .
And heaven and nature sing
Heaven will sing for everyone there feels:
Joy over God’s promise
Joy over salvation
Joy over restoration between heaven and earth
Nature will sing for it feels:
Joy the its creator has given
Joy that its creator as a human being on the earth
Joy over its own coming from the curse
CONCLUSION
Joy to the World invited us to experience joy over the coming of the Lord – God himself in human form – who brought salvation to the world. It calls us to respond personally by making room in our heart for Jesus and then inviting him in to be the Lord of our life and our Savior.
It then calls upon everything in heaven and earth to sing over this great event.
Have you experienced the joy this song is about?
Have you experienced the joy of inviting Jesus into your heart and experienced him coming in to your heart, forgiving all your sins and giving you a restored relationship to God the Father?
If not today is the day. Prepare him room and invite him to come in.