Christmas carols have a long history. Their first appearance dates back to the thirteenth century, although it would be the nineteenth century before they gained popularity. In point of fact, it wasn’t until the publication of “Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern” in 1833, which contained favourites such as ‘God rest ye Merry Gentlemen’, ‘The First Noel’, and ‘Hark the herald Angels Sing’ that carol singing began to grow in favour.

The author Charles Dickens further popularised the practice. In his literary masterpiece, ‘A Christmas Carol’, the legendary miser, Ebenezer Scrooge is regaled by a single caroller, lustily singing ‘God bless you, merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!’ And thus, as with so many other Christmas customs which appear in Dickens’ book, carol singing became permanently embedded in the popular mind as an essential part of the festive season.

The source for many of our most popular carols is the New Testament. And it is no surprise to read in Luke’s gospel of two songs, which were composed around the time of Christ’s birth. In Luke chapter two, what has become known as the song of Simeon is recorded, in which Simeon proclaims the Lord Jesus Christ to be the salvation which God has ‘prepared before the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of my people Israel.’ But in Luke chapter one, the evangelist, includes the more famous song of Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus.

Mary’s song is normally given the title of the Magnificat, which is a reference to its opening lines, where Mary declares that her soul ‘doth magnify the Lord’. The theme of the Magnificat is God’s salvation. In Luke 1:47 Mary says “And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

In this verse Mary acknowledges her need of a Saviour. In common with all humanity she had been shapen in iniquity and in sin did her mother conceive her. She possessed a fallen nature and was guilty of breaking God’s law. As a consequence her sins separated her from her God. The holy God will have no fellowship with sinful men and women until the matter of sin is settled. Mary needed a Saviour.

Mercifully she found a Saviour. She identifies the Saviour as God himself. Mary’s identification of God as her Saviour is eminently biblical. The scriptures reveal Jesus Christ to be both God manifested in the flesh and the Saviour of his people.

But Mary did not merely identify the Saviour, she also embraced him as her Saviour. She speaks here of God my Saviour. She has taken him to be her own God and deliverer. And as a consequence she is accepted as righteous in his sight and forgiven of all of her sins.

Finally, she rejoiced in this Saviour. She announces ‘my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.’ God’s salvation was for Mary a matter of supreme and lasting joy. She had found in the Lord a resting place and he had made her glad.

Do you know Mary’s Saviour? This Christmas we encourage you to receive with the empty hand of faith the Lord Jesus Christ and his salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Where must a man go for pardon? Where is forgiveness to be found? There is a way both sure and plain, and into that way I desire to guide every inquirers feet.

That way is simply to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. It is to cast your soul with all its sins, unreservedly on Christ - to cease completely from any dependence on your own works or doings, either in whole or in part - and to rest on no other work but Christ’s work, no other righteousness but Christ’s righteousness, no other merit but Christ’s merit as your ground of hope.

Take this course and you are a pardoned soul. “To Christ”, says Peter “give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins”. (Acts 10:43). “Through this Man,” says Paul at Antioch, “is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that believe are justified from all things.” (Acts 13:38). “In Him,” writes Paul to the Colossians, “we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14).

The Lord Jesus Christ, in great love and compassion has made a full and complete satisfaction for sin, by suffering death in our place upon the cross. There He offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, and allowed the wrath of God which we deserved, to fall on His own head.

For our sins, as our Substitute, He gave Himself, suffered, and died - the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty - that He might deliver us from the curse of a broken law, and provide a complete pardon for all who are willing to receive it . And by so doing, as Isaiah says - He has borne our sins; as John the Baptist says - He has taken away sin: as Paul says - He has purged our sins, and put away sin; and as Daniel says - He has made an end of sin and finished transgression.

And now the Lord Jesus Christ is sealed and appointed by God the Father to be a Prince and a Savior, to give remission of sins to all who will have it. The keys of death and hell are put in His hand. The government of the gate of heaven is laid on His shoulder. He Himself is the door, and by Him all that enter in shall be saved.

Christ, in one word, has purchased a full forgiveness, if we are only willing to receive it. He has done all, paid all, suffered all that was needful to reconcile us to God. He has provided a garment of righteousness to clothe us. He has opened a fountain of living waters to cleanse us.

He has removed every barrier between us and God the Father, taken every obstacle out of the way, and made a road by which the vilest may return. All things are now ready, and the sinner has only to believe and be saved, to eat and be satisfied, to ask and receive, to wash and be clean.

And faith, or simple trust is the only thing required, in order that you and I may be forgiven. That we will come by faith to Jesus as sinners with our sins - trust in Him - and forsaking all other hope, cleave only to Him - that is all and everything that God asks for. Let a man only do this, and he shall be saved. His iniquities shall be found completely pardoned, and his transgressions completely taken away.

Who, among all the readers of this paper, desires to be saved by Christ, and yet is not saved at present? Come, I beseech you: come to Christ without delay. Though you have been a great sinner, COME - Though you have long resisted warnings, counsels, sermons, COME - Though you have sinned against light and knowledge, against a father’s advice and a mother’s tears, COME - Though you have plunged into every excess of wickedness, and lived without a Sabbath and without prayer, yet COME - The door is not shut, the fountain is not yet closed. Jesus Christ invites you. It is enough that you feel laboring and heavy- laden, and desire to be saved. COME: COME TO CHRIST WITHOUT DELAY!

Come to Him by faith, and pour out your heart before Him in prayer. Tell Him the whole story of your life, and ask Him to receive you. Cry to Him as the penitent thief did, when He saw Him on the cross. Say to Him, “Lord save me also! Lord remember me!” COME: COME TO CHRIST!

It is not wrong to desire a place in the service of God. Paul wrote to Timothy “… If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work” 1Tim.3:1. Nor is it wrong to want to do that work well. Diligence in God’s work is commendable and is encouraged by no less a figure than King Solomon : He said “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” Thus it is good to have the drive and the ambition to serve God well .
But to seek great things for oneself, to seek the advancement, enrichment, and greater glory of one’s own name is wrong, foolish and forbidden. When such ambition exists in God’s servants it is a serious problem. God’s word on this matter is clear. Speaking to Baruch we read of God’s mind on this subject : “Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not.”
Ambition if wrongly directed is a dangerous thing in the church of Jesus Christ. It will curtail the blessing of God, create rivalry among workers, and ultimately destroy the usefulness of the ambitious ones.It is dangerous because it is wrong and hateful to God.
In the first place it exalts the interests of self above the glory of God. The Shorter Catechism reminds us that it is man’s chief end to glorify God. And the Lord Jesus said to his disciples “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Self-denial and the glory of God are not compatible with sinful ambition. The servant of Christ is always to place the interests of his master before his own wants. He is to study self-indifference and to learn contentment with his lot. His mindset must be whatever I do I will do all to the glory of God.
Secondly, sinful ambition covets the praise of men more than the well done of God. It yearns for the baubles of the world at the expense of the approval of the master. It turns the servant of Christ into a pale shadow of the hypocrites of old who loved ” to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men”. All work is done with an eye to how the onlookers will perceive it. What God may think of it is never considered, for his acceptance is neither sought nor desired.
Finally, sinful ambition measures success by the standard of the world instead of the yard stick of the Word of God. The outward symbols of earthly prosperity are equated with the well done of God. The earthly poverty but spiritual blessing of Lazarus is despised in favour of the worldly wealth but spiritual bankruptcy of Dives.
Such an approach when applied to the work of God is doomed to disaster. The Lord will resist such proud ones and when he withdraws his protection from them they will become easy prey for the devil.

However, the names which we find given to Biblical characters are somewhat different. They are often loaded with significance and profitable for study. Samuel is a good example. His birth was an answer to his mother’s prayers and his name which means “heard of God” reflects that. Further study along this line will teach valuable lessons concerning prayer.

The Lord Jesus Christ also possesses a significant name. His name speaks primarily of God’s salvation (Matthew 1:21) and will teach us many valuable lessons in this area.

His is a unique name. Salvation is to be found in no other name. As Peter reminds us “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

It is also an exceptional name. It is the name of the crucified Christ who died for our sins. It is the name of the living Christ who rose for our justification. It is the name of the glorified Christ who ever lives to make intercession for us. And it is the name of the returning Christ who goes forth conquering and to conquer.

Finally it is a needful name. To know Him not is to die and perish in your sins. But to know him is to possess life everlasting. As John the beloved disciple wrote, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

“SCHULLER: Tell me, what do you think is the future of Christianity?

GRAHAM: Well, Christianity and being a true believer — you know, I think there’s the Body of Christ. This comes from all the Christian groups around the world, outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the Body of Christ … I think James answered that, the Apostle James in the first council in Jerusalem, when he said that God’s purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name. And that’s what God is doing today, He’s calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ, because they’ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think they are saved, and that they’re going to be with us in heaven.”

“SCHULLER: What, what I hear you saying, that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they’ve been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you’re saying?

GRAHAM: Yes, it is, because I believe that. I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they’ve believed in their hearts that there was a God, and they’ve tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.”

“SCHULLER: [R.S. trips over his tongue for a moment, his face beaming, then says] I’m so thrilled to hear you say this. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy.

GRAHAM: There is. There definitely is.”

Rev. Graham’s views are not in accordance with the Word of God. Peter clearly states that salvation is to be found alone in Christ. Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Paul also in his writings continually points men and women to Christ for salvation. Rom10:9 is a classic example “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Both apostles clearly indicate a proper narrowness in the gospel message. They both affirm the exclusivity of Christ as the sole way of salvation for individuals. Importantly they are in full agreement with the claims that Christ made concerning himself, namely that John 14:6
“… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Dear unconverted person understand that Scripture furnishes no basis for the belief that someone can be saved apart from faith in Christ. Do not take refuge in such erroneous views but rather consider the exclusivity of the gospel and then as one of old “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

W. Ian Hall