The True Christmas Spirit

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. What is the spirit of Christmas? In a word, 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 continues his study, The Best of Christmas. But before the lesson, John, with so many of our listeners scattering to their Christmas celebrations in the next day or so, if they haven't already headed out, what would your prayer be for these dear family members, the Grace to You family? Well, I think this is a wonderful time for us to sort of elevate the personal worship.

I mean, I'm just sort of extrapolating out of my own experience. Christmas for us is a busy day, big family, lots of kids, grandkids, great grandkids. But the focus has always been on the person of Christ. And I think you have to sort of clear the clutter a little bit and get to that.

And it's most effectively done if you do it before dinner, because everything starts to disintegrate at the table when every possible conversation gets generated. But we've always tried to have a time on Christmas Day when we look at the person of Christ and express our faith and our joy in all that He has done for us. And I don't know that there's anything more that you need to do than that. I don't have a problem with Christmas trees or presents. I mean, we're not worshipping those things like they were pagan gods.

I don't have any problem with the traditions that make wonderful memories for a family and a home. But I do think Christ needs to be a dominant reality in the middle of all of it. And so you need to find a way to do that. Maybe some testimonies from folks as to what the Lord has meant to them through this year and what they have to anticipate in the future, but make Him the center of things. That's right. Thank you, John.

That's timely advice. And friend, if you're looking for more help focusing on Christ this Christmas season, making Him the center of your celebration, stay here for today's lesson. John is going to show you the true Christmas spirit. That's the title of his message. And it's one of his most requested Christmas sermons.

And so with that, here again is John MacArthur. One of the phrases that you hear a lot is the Christmas spirit. We need to have the Christmas spirit.

Just what is the Christmas spirit? Luke 1 46. And Mary said, My soul exalts the Lord. 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. I just want us to look at the elements that are in this psalm that speak of the significance and the meaning of worship.

First point, and I'll give you three. First point, we see in her the attitude of worship, and I'm going to give you four comments about it. Number one, it is internal. It is internal. 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, and what she is doing here is not just exalting, but it is a mega-exaltation.

It is a large one. Literally, the word megalune means to cause to swell or to cause to grow or to crescendo, as if starting at some point and extending and becoming larger and larger. 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. That's the stuff of which worship is made, but it starts with revelation to the mind, doesn't it? This is what's going to happen.

Here are the facts, and then the explosion in response. This is sincere, intense worship, not at all shallow, not at all superficial, not at all temporary. Worship then is the right attitude. It is internal, and it is intense. 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. 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. If worship for you only happens on a Sunday morning when it sort of gets pumped up, or only happens around the Christmas season or other special events, you're kidding yourself about whether you're a true worshiper. If worship only happens when things are going well in your life and you can whistle a tune because you got what you wanted or because you're happy about the current events in your life or because your measure of comfort has been met, if worship is connected to that, then you don't understand the real stuff because true worship is unaffected by fluctuating circumstances. It doesn't rise and it doesn't fall. It is the constant praise that comes from deep within the soul because that which is spiritually true is unchanging, unchanging. It doesn't matter what goes on in life. And when you begin to ebb and flow in your attitude and your demeanor and your joy comes and goes, it is because you have attached yourself to another priority than the unchanging work of God and the unchanging presence of Christ.

You have attached your joy to the changing circumstances of life, which means your focus isn't on Him, your focus is on you. You can tell a true worshiper because they go through the circumstances of life with an unmitigated contentment and an unchanging joy. 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. Pride is the worship of self, that's what it is, and it competes with God. And if you're not thankful, it's not because God hasn't fulfilled His promise, it's because your comfort level isn't where you want it.

And that's because you're focused on you. It's because you didn't get what you deserved, it didn't get what you counted on, hoped for, prayed for, thought you deserved. Pride remembers all wrongs done to it. Pride wants to strike back when it is offended.

Pride wants to retaliate. It is not filled with praise because it fixes itself on the ebb and flow of life's issues. Humility cares nothing for those. Humility isn't going around all the time beating on your chest bemoaning your iniquity.

That's a component of it. Humility is being so focused on God that what may or may not be yours is of little consequence. You don't focus on you.

You're not the issue. Now we see this in Mary. Look at it, verse 48. For he has regard, has had regard for the humble condition of his handmaid, his bondservant. The thing that strikes Mary about this whole deal is that it is, it's just, 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.

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. You know, it's part of being fallen creatures, but we're rather anxious to spread our successes to all who will listen and to some who have to listen. Even our smallest successes turn into tall tales, don't they?

And if we have achieved some great thing, or if we have received some great blessing, or met some great person, or had some distinction, or some position, we tend to speak of our success, and our initial response might be my soul doth magnify myself, and we stick the plaque on the wall. Well, Mary didn't have such a thought. She didn't even think to pick up the telephone if there had been one, and boy, that would be a tough temptation if you just were told you're going to be the mother of God to stay away from the phone. 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.

She just was overwhelmed. She didn't even respond to Elizabeth. She didn't even say thanks to Elizabeth, for Elizabeth made a gracious benediction there in verses 42 to 45.

I mean, it was a beautiful thing. She couldn't even think of what Elizabeth was saying. Her focus was not on Elizabeth. Her focus was not on her, except for the fact that she couldn't comprehend how God could possibly do this with somebody so absolutely common as she. That's the kind of attitude out of which worship rises.

You see, it is characteristic of humility that it has no thought for itself, and that it is surprised by any commendation if not shocked. When she says that God regarded her low estate, literally she uses a term that means that she was in a humiliated state of being. She was a nobody. She was a nobody socially, culturally. She was just a handmaid capable of nothing and worthy of nothing, a simple wife of a village carpenter, an unlikely mother for God. And Joseph, he made yokes, plows, tables, chairs, and perhaps doors and maybe a few buildings. But there was one very unique thing about Mary.

She was bearing in her veins the royal blood of David. Now, we are sure she was a pure and a godly woman, but do you know something about the pure and the godly? They never see themselves that way. Those who are truly pure and truly godly and truly righteous don't think they are.

In fact, they know they're not. Because one of the functions of godliness and purity and righteousness is to be able to search out every nook and cranny of your iniquity and they can do it. The more godly you are, the less godly you believe yourself to be. And so there's a certain brokenness and a humility. The essence of true spirituality is not to think you have it, but humility is at the heart of true worship, a sense of unworthiness, a sense of sinfulness, a lack of qualification for anything, for any blessing, for any goodness, for any gift from God.

And when it comes, you're just absolutely overwhelmed. Now, 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 says 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.

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. In Luke 4 8, Jesus said, It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. Worship is limited to one being in the universe, and that is God. And Mary knew it. 1 Timothy 1 17, To the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen. That is the center and circumference of worship. It is all directed right at God. And most particularly, the heart of worship is that God is our Savior.

And she says that, God my Savior. You know, in all honesty, if I wasn't saved, if God hadn't saved me through Jesus Christ, I would have a hard time getting into worshiping Him just for the rest of the stuff that's true about Him. I can't honestly say that I'd get real excited about His incommunicable attributes like omniscience, that He knows everything, omnipresent, that He's everywhere at the same time, omnipotence, that He's all-powerful and almighty and there is nothing He can't do, and that He's immutable, that is, He never changes.

Those are all true about God. But I can't honestly say that I would be the first guy to write a hymn about all of that if I was on my way to eternal hell to be destroyed there. I really couldn't get into worshiping Him for His other attributes if it weren't that He was my Savior.

Do you understand that? In fact, I don't see people who don't know Him as Savior writing hymns to Him as a judge. I don't know any hymns about hell and judgment and damnation and condemnation and punishment and wrath. If He weren't a Savior, none of us would be worshiping Him.

We would be hiding in fear, wouldn't we? Cowering and probably cursing. 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. That's where worship starts. And let me tell you something, friend. It doesn't mean anything that God is a Savior unless you've experienced His salvation, right?

It has to come down to you. And Mary knew she was a sinner, and she knew God was holy, and she knew she needed a Savior, and she was worshiping because the Savior had come. And she knew that that meant her sins were to be dealt with. She, like everybody else who is saved from their sins, owes all to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. She offered soul-felt praise because the Redeemer was coming, the One who would bear her sin, the One who would fulfill all of the sacrificial imagery. And that's where worship starts.

That's what motivates it. That's what causes it when you personally experience the saving reality of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't change her social status, didn't change at all. Her whole life she never became some earthly queen. And though she was the mother of God, she maintained the same social status. She had the same friends. She even had to be given over to John the apostle to be cared for because she needed someone to take care of her after Jesus left.

Her social status never changed, but her spiritual status changed just like all who ever believed. Before and after Christ, His death was her death for sin. And so she knew it. She knew the Redeemer was coming. Her praise comes out of pure gratitude for salvation.

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, and I wish we had time to go into detail.

We don't. But 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 are 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. By the way, in verses 51 to 55, heiress verbs are used to describe the recitation of what God does for His own.

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. Do you realize that we've sung carols from as far back as the fifth century that have gone through several translations and finally reached us, and we've sang carols from the 15th century, the 11th century, the 17th, the 18th, the 16th, as well as the 19th? 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. And maybe it was John Francis Wade, who died in 1786, who summed it all up in the simple words, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. 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.

Thank you. We praise you. We offer you our heart worship. In your Son's name, amen. Can I ask a favor?

If there was a particular series or two that encouraged you in 2023, would you let us know about that? Maybe it was through suffering to triumph, or the battle for the beginning, or our great salvation. We'd love to hear your story. Contact us when you can. You can email your note to letters at gty.org, or you can drop a letter in the mail to grace to you, FOX 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412. And if you'd like to review John's study, The Best of Christmas, you can find the whole series free to download in MP3 and transcript format at our website, gty.org. The Best of Christmas looks at why Jesus came to earth, his amazing character, and why he is worthy of your worship. Listen to it again with your family over the next couple of days, and that's a great way to keep Christ at the center of your celebration. And keep in mind, all 3,600 of John's sermons are free to download at our website.

Just go to gty.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Remember to watch Grace to You television Sundays on DirecTV channel 378, or check your local listings for Station and Times. Then be here on Monday for a special Christmas message that might surprise you. Not a look at the first time Jesus came to earth, but a look ahead to his glorious return. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace to You.