The True Christmas Spirit

In all those participants in the first Christmas was praise and thanks and blessing and glory to God in a word that is worship. This time of all times is a time of worship. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. What attitude is most appropriate, most God-honoring, at Christmas, and how do you put that attitude into practice? Find out today as John MacArthur shows you the true spirit of Christmas. That's the title of John's lesson on this Christmas Eve edition of Grace to You.

Well, John, I'm sure that today, and especially tomorrow, are not going to be typical days for you or for most of our listeners. And so, if I can ask, what do you anticipate being most special about the MacArthur household's celebration on this Christmas Eve and tomorrow, of course, Christmas Day 2021? Yeah, I think for us, it all starts on Christmas Eve.

And the thing I like about these two days is nobody has to leave because nobody's got anywhere to go. So we meet on Christmas Eve, everybody comes, and it's relaxed, and there's nothing competing. Our kids and even our grandkids are old enough now that they've got all kinds of things going on in their lives, and trying to have a meal together and an evening together with the whole family there any other time of the year is pretty tough.

So I like the fact that nothing else is going on, and they stay. And that's Christmas Eve, and usually it's at one of the kids' houses, and we love that. And then, typically, we do the same thing on Christmas Day.

It's the longer part of the day, and we get together in one of the homes. And again, everybody gets to be together. We're not in a hurry.

Nobody's going to go anywhere. And I just love the fact that we can all catch up, because life moves so fast, doesn't it? I mean, you know this with your kids.

Faster all the time, yeah. I saw you last Sunday with two beautiful little granddaughters at church, and I know how precious that is for you and Darlene to have those hours with those kids, but it always seems like they're taking them away. But Christmas, both on the evening before Christmas and the day of Christmas, is a settled kind of time to thank the Lord for all that He's doing in our family, and so that's a precious gift. Why don't you just stay with us and enjoy the lesson today on the true Christmas spirit as we wrap up the Christmas Focus for 2021. That's right, and this is one of John's most popular Christmas messages.

You'll see why, as it helps you prepare for a memorable and worshipful celebration. And with that, here's John to help you find the true spirit of Christmas. If you're like me, you've heard the world's comments and evaluations of this time of the year, and one of the phrases that you hear a lot is the Christmas spirit. I suppose for some people, the Christmas spirit is expressed in a card that conveys a sentiment of well-being.

But I would just like to get down to the core of this deal. What is the true spirit of Christmas? Is it fun? Is it fellowship? Is it giving?

What is it? Well, as always, the best answer to that question is to go to the Bible. And so I would like to take you to Luke chapter 1 and chapter 2, and there we will find out what the spirit of Christmas really is. It'll come clear to you as I read some selected reactions to the birth of Christ among people and angels. Let's start with Elizabeth, Luke 1 41. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she cried out with a loud voice and said, blessed among women are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

How has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? That was Elizabeth's reaction, and that conveys the spirit of Christmas in its reality. But before we say what it is, let's look at another illustration of it, over to verse 67 in Luke 1.

Here we meet the husband of Elizabeth, the father of John the Baptist, whom she was carrying. And his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant. Now that was Zacharias' reaction and that tells us something of his spirit, his attitude. Let's go to chapter 2 and verse 13. And here we go to the realm of the angels and we find in verse 13 that suddenly to the shepherds there appeared with the angel who had made the original announcement a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.

Well that was the angel's response to this whole event. Down in verse 20 we get the shepherd's response. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen just as had been told them. Down in verse 25 we meet another unique individual attending to the period of the birth of Christ named Simeon. There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous, devout, looking for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Notice how many of these people have an unusually described relationship to the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth, Zacharias, the angel, the child in the womb of Elizabeth, Mary, now Simeon. The Holy Spirit was upon him and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ.

And he came in the Spirit into the temple and when the parents brought in the child, Jesus, to carry out for him the custom of the law, that would be circumcision, then he took him into his arms and blessed God and said, Now Lord thou dost let thy bondservant depart in peace according to thy word, for my eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all people, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. Another reaction comes down in verse 36, the reaction of Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, the tribe of Asher, an older woman advanced in years having lived with a husband seven years after her marriage and then as a widow to the age of 84, she never left the temple served night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment, she came up and began giving thanks to God, continued to speak of him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Elizabeth, Zacharias, angels, shepherds, Simeon, Anna, basically had one response. And that one response is the spirit of Christmas and the right word is worship, worship. The spirit of Christmas in all those participants in the first Christmas was praise and thanks and blessing and glory to God in a word that is worship. This time of all times is a time of worship.

This time of all times is a time of worship. Worship, let me give you a brief definition, is an attitude. It is a spirit.

It is something on the inside. It is an attitude of the heart that is so filled with wonder and gratitude at what God has done that there is not a thought of personal needs or personal blessings, only total abandonment to God in praise and adoration. That's worship. Now to give form to our worship, I am drawn to another person, none other than his mother, Mary. Mary gives form to our worship. Without question, she gives the most magnificent psalm of worship. And it is her magnificat, it is her psalm of praise to God for the coming of Jesus Christ, Luke 1, 46.

Let's look at it. Luke 1, 46. And Mary said, my soul exalts the Lord.

You see, immediately she had the same response that everybody else had, worship and praise and adoration and gratitude. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for He has had regard for the humble state of His bond slave. For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.

He has done mighty deeds with His arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty handed.

He has given help to Israel, His servant, in remembrance of His mercy as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever. That is the hymn of the incarnation. That is a psalm. That is a song. That is a worship song.

Mary knew that she was to be the mother of the Son of God. And so she bursts forth in the only appropriate response, and that is the response of worship. It is a hymn of worship from Mary to God.

And in it is such beauty and such magnificence that it can be looked at like a diamond with many facets and flashing brilliance on many different fronts. Here is a worshiper. Here is a Christmas, if I may borrow the word, a Christmas worshiper. Here is Mary, and she teaches us how we are to worship.

First point, and I'll give you three. First point, we see in her the attitude of worship. We see in her the attitude of worship. Now, as we look at this attitude of worship, we're going to see this in the first verse, and in the second verse, we're going to see this attitude of worship. We're going to see this in the first verse, and into the second verse. And Mary said, My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for He has had regard for the humble state of His bond slave. In just those first two, and then into the third verse of this psalm, verses 46, 47, and just into the first line of verse 48, we get the attitude of worship.

And I'm going to give you four comments about it. Number one, it is internal. It is internal. Mary said, My soul exalts the Lord, or magnifies the Lord, and then my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. And the term soul and the term spirit, which are, by the way, synonymous and speak of the inner one.

And the reason you use two of them is not because of the literary element of it, and also because of the all-encompassing element of it. She is simply summing her whole inner being. She is saying that worship rises from inside. Worship comes up from inside. It is the inner heart of adoring praise that is the essence of true worship. It is when the soul and the spirit are overwhelmed.

It is an internal thing. In fact, external, shallow observance of the birth of Christ is distasteful to God. And most of what goes on at the Christmas season breaks His heart. Superficial worship finds no place of acceptance with Him. The true worshiper is the one whose heart is devoted, the one whose heart is overflowing. It comes from deep down inside, and it therefore goes on all the time, and that takes me to the second point. It is intense. It is not only internal, it is intense. Notice, my soul magnifies the Lord.

My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. Now when you read that in English, maybe it doesn't grab you. The word exalts or magnifies is the word megalune. Now you know a little about the word mega. That is a Greek word that often gets transliterated over into English when we want to say something is bigger than normal, when it is larger than normal or louder. Sometimes you see it on a speaker, mega base.

It means more base than you need or care to listen to. Something is a mega thing, it just takes the word large. And what she is doing here is not just exalting, but it is a mega exaltation.

It is a large one. So you have two components of true worship. It is internal. It rises from what the heart comprehends. It rises from what the mind understands. And when Mary came to grips with what was going on, it literally captured her mind. Her mind transferred it to her emotions. It got every part of her inner being moving, and it just erupted in intensity. Worship then is the right attitude.

It is internal, and it is intense. If you look at the history of Israel, you will find how God despised superficial worship. In Isaiah chapter 1, I am full of the burnt offerings and rams and fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of bullocks or lambs or goats. Bring no more vain oblations, incense as an abomination to me, the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies. I can't tolerate. It is iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They are a trouble to me.

I am weary to hear them. And he goes on and on. This is another way of saying you have to worship Him from the heart, and Mary did that. The third thing about praise. It is habitual.

It is habitual. My soul exalts or magnifies, continuous action, present tense. It isn't that it's just related to an event or a moment, particularly an event or a moment like this that has eternal consequences. It goes on and on and on. It isn't just that you rejoiced when you were saved.

It is that you started rejoicing then and never will stop. Fluctuating circumstances do not, let me say that again, fluctuating circumstances do not impact true worship. They don't affect it.

They don't have anything to do with it. It flows uninterrupted. It's not really difficult for one who is a true worshiper from the heart with intensity to be able to fulfill the words of Paul in everything give thanks. True worship becomes a way of life because it's fixed on something that never changes. God never changes. Christ never changes. Salvation never changes. His promises never change. His covenant never changes. Our future never changes. The Spirit never leaves. That never changes. So why should worship rise and fall?

Why should it ebb and flow? True worship doesn't. And that leads me to a fourth element in the attitude.

The attitude of worship is internal, intense, habitual, and fourthly, and here's really the key one. It is humble. It is humble. True worship only comes from a humble heart. Only from a humble heart. And what is a humble heart? A humble heart is a heart that has no thought for itself. No thought for itself. Now we see this in Mary.

Look at it. Verse 48. For he has had regard for the humble condition of his handmaid, his bondservant. The thing that strikes Mary about this whole deal is that it's just incomprehensible that God would have had such regard for such a humble, common girl.

That's what's amazing. She doesn't say anything about herself. Nothing. Spontaneously she bursts forth, my soul exalts the Lord. My soul exalts the Lord. She doesn't have a thought like this, well, I think he made a pretty good choice. Or, well, I certainly know a lot of women who aren't as godly as me. Not a thought.

That almost is unfair to even mention such a possibility. I mean, her immediate thought was directed heavenward, from whom all goodness comes and all gifts and all graces and all blessings and all benedictions. That's the kind of attitude out of which worship rises.

You know, worship is internal, intense, habitual, and humble. If Mary was exalted above all women, she might have been the humblest of all women. I mean, if God lifted her to the highest, it must have been because she was the lowest.

She may have been the godliest young woman in that whole country. Isaiah 57, 15 puts it all in perspective. Thus saith the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. And this all elevating God higher and higher, those words. I dwell in the high and holy place. Really? Is anybody else up there with you?

Yes? Those who are of a humble spirit. What is the attitude then of worship? A deep heartfelt inner spring of intense gratitude and joy that bursts forth habitually from a humble soul who knows its utter unworthiness. That's worship.

And that's the spirit of Christmas. Who are we that we should be so highly favored as to be made not the mother of God, but the children of God? Who are we that He should come to die for us? Such overwhelming grace, undeserved. Okay, secondly, the object of worship.

As so we never miss this, and it's obvious. Mary said, my soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. The object of worship is God. All the glory goes to Him, all the honor goes to Him, all the worship goes to Him. Worship is very central in that sense, very simple, very focused, very one-dimensional.

We worship God. Now worship, all of it, every bit of it, no matter what attribute of God, no matter what dimension of His person and work you're talking about, all of worship is basically set loose in the great reality that we are saved from our sins and thus from judgment. I mean, the whole thing is that the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. The whole reason He came, it was said when they gave Him His name, you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall what?

Save His people from their sins. That's what Jesus means, Savior, Savior. And if it weren't for the fact that He was Savior, nothing else would mean anything. Savior.

So she worships God the Savior. He has called God our Savior a number of times in 1 Timothy and in Titus. God is a saving God. He sent His Son into the world to save us from our sin. He was manifested to save us, to deliver us from sin. So the object is God who is a Savior. You don't have to plead and beg with God like you do pagan deities to be nice.

God is a saving God by nature, and He initiated the whole thing. The spirit of worship, it is internal, intense, habitual, and humble, or that is the attitude of it. The object of worship is the God who saves. Thirdly and lastly, the cause of worship, the cause of worship.

What makes it happen? What motivates it? Well, three things. First, what God does for me personally. Look at verse 48, middle of the verse. For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. Why, Mary? Because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name. It's as if she's saying, can you believe that a holy God would do this for me, a sinner? That's where worship starts, that an absolutely holy God would do this for a sinful me. From this time on, all generations are going to count me blessed because of what God in His holiness has done for a sinner, and that's where it always starts. It has to start with what the Lord has done for you, and anything less is sort of meaningless and superficial.

The Mighty One has done great things for me, and what I need is to be saved from my sins. Secondly, praise rises not only from what the Lord has done for her, but for what He has done for others. Verse 50, and she doesn't want to single herself out, so she quotes from the Old Testament here, from Psalm 103, verse 17, and His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him. Immediately her humility comes into play again, and she doesn't want anybody to think that it's just her. This is going to happen from generation to generation to those who fear Him. She realizes that the Lord is going to do the same for others, and that brings joy to her heart.

Why? Because she has spiritual priorities. Because she's concerned about what is spiritual and eternal and soul saving. She was absolutely overwhelmed with what the Lord was doing for her and what the Lord would do for generation after generation after generation. That's the stuff that elicits praise, her own salvation and the salvation of others. And then the third element, she worshiped because of what God does for His own.

This is marvelous. Look at verse 51, and let me just read. There's a recitation of all that God historically had done for His own people. He has done mighty deeds with His arm. That is, He's shown them strength and power. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.

In contrast, He doesn't do good things for those who reject Him. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and on the other hand, each of these kind of reverses and has exalted those who were humble. He's taken His own who were humble and lifted them up. He's taken His own who were weak and given them power. Verse 53, He has filled the hungry with good things. He's taken His own who were hungry and who had need and met that need.

That too comes out of Psalm 107, and on the other hand, sent the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel, His servant. He has remembered His mercy, and as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever, He has kept His covenants. That's cause for worship, salvation personally, salvation of generation after generation after generation, and the faithfulness of God to meet every need of His own beloved people.

Only because the mighty God has done mighty things is there good news to tell. Only because God has saved, does save, and remains faithful is there worship and praise and glory and adoration. What is the spirit of Christmas? Worship, in a word. Worship, nothing more and nothing less. And you know, as you look back over the Christmases of the ages, and we do that every Christmas season, we go back through history.

I'll tell you how we do it. We do it when we sing the carols. And as you go back through the history of the Christmases, and you touch those Christmas carols, you touch the most brilliant poets and articulators of Christmas truth, and their attitude is always worship.

It's always been worship. Listen to some of the Christmas carols. Martin Luther, born in 1483, died in 1546. If he had any commitment, he had a commitment to bring Scripture and to bring theology out of Latin and into the language of the people, which was German, so they could understand and so their praise would have meaning. We know him for his great theological work, but sometimes forget his great poetic work. On one Christmas season, Martin Luther wanted to write a Christmas carol for his little son Hans.

This is what he wrote. From heaven above to earth I come, to bear good news to every home. Glad tidings of great joy I bring, whereof I now will say and sing. To you this night is born a child of Mary, chosen mother mild. This little child of lowly birth shall be the joy of all the earth.

Were earth a thousand times as fair, beset with gold and jewels rare? She yet were far too poor to be a narrow cradle, Lord, to thee. And then he ends, Ah dearest Jesus, holy child, make thee a bed, soft, undefiled, within my heart that it may be a quiet chamber kept for thee. That's worship. Take up your place in my heart. Father, we thank you for this marvelous reminder of the focus of life, which is worship. May it come from deep within us, directed toward you, our saving God, for what you have done for us, what you have done for generation after generation of saved sinners, and the way in which you have kept every promise to your people. We rejoice, and our rejoice finds its focus in this great historic moment when you came into the world as a baby.

Thank you. We praise you. We offer you our heart worship. In your Son's name, amen. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, showing you the true spirit of Christmas on this Christmas Eve edition of Grace to You. Now, if I can, let me make a suggestion. Take time today to read the Christmas story in Matthew 1 and Luke chapter 2, maybe read Philippians chapter 2 as well.

Do that with your family. And one last thing, if you've been strengthened by Grace to You this year, would you do us a big favor and let us know how God has used this program in your life? Thanks for dropping us a note when you have a moment in the coming days. You can send an email to letters at gty.org, or you can write to Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412. And here's our email one more time, letters at gty.org, and the regular address, Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412. And remember, at our website gty.org, there are thousands of resources there for you. Do you have a question about how to honor God and honor your spouse in your marriage, or what sovereign election is all about, or how to deal with the trials you face and how to experience God's strength and peace in the midst of those trials? For those issues and countless others, you will find biblical answers in the Grace to You sermon archive, 3,500 full-length sermons, all available for free download right now. You'll also find daily devotionals and insightful blog articles, and much more.

Our web address again, gty.org. Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace to You staff, I'm Phil Johnson, wishing you and your family a joyous Christmas celebration. And be here next week when John looks at how you can be ready for Christ's return, which could be at any time. Don't miss the next 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.