Hello, I'm Dr. Kylie Fisher. Welcome to Heavenly Harmonies, a series designed to help you draw nearer to the heart of God through the music of hymns.
A question Many people grapple with is, if God is so wise, so powerful and so loving, why is there evil in the world? Does God even care about all this heartache and suffering? Our hymn for this episode shows that God is working to bring us comfort and that one day evil will finally come to an end. Stay with us as we consider the musical expression of these truths. In the song, it came upon the midnight clear.
We looked at the hymn near to the heart of God. We saw that it has a comforting message that we can find rest and joy in God's presence even in the most trying circumstances. But we might ask, if God is good, why is there evil at all? This is a question that we cannot fully answer, actually.
In two Thessalonians two, verse seven, the Bible calls sin, which is the source of evil, the mystery of iniquity. It's a mystery. We cannot fully explain evil any more than we can fully explain and understand all the complexities of things like how plants grow or how electricity runs through a circuit.
But the Bible does assure us that God is not responsible for sin and that he is working today to bring an end to suffering, pain and death. This is the wonderful message of hope that is the gospel, the plan of salvation, and our song for today highlights key aspects of this. We can best understand this song, and indeed all hymns when we see them within the context of the plan of salvation, of God's work to save people, planet, and indeed the entire universe from the threat of sin.
So we will begin looking at this theme, the great battle between good and evil, by focusing on songs about the birth of Christ. Often these songs are called Christmas carols. Now, sadly, these beautiful hymns are mostly sung for only about one month in the year, which, as we'll probably discuss, is not even actually the time of year that Jesus Christ was born, but as it is expressed in the desire of ages.
Page 48, the story of Bethlehem is an exhaustless theme. The story of Jesus birth can give us so much comfort and hope that it's really a shame to be thinking about it for only a limited time each year. It's a really wonderful thing for us to be thinking about every single day.
So let's begin with this carol. And our Carol for this week is it came upon the midnight clear. It came upon the midnight clear.
And immediately, when I say that title, it actually has a sort of a sense of intrigue in it, because what is the it that it's talking about? So the what, the who and the where of this is explained in verse one of this song. It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold. Peace on the earth, goodwill to men from heaven's all gracious king the world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angel sing.
So from this first verse, we find out that this what the what of the it is this beautiful song that's being sung by angels. That's the who. And where are these angels? Well, they're bending near the earth.
Now, this refers to a Bible story that's found in Luke, chapter two and verses eight to 14. And so I will read this passage, Luke, chapter two and verses eight to 14. If you've got your Bible there, be really good to follow along.
So verse eight says, there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. So in the same country, this is talking about Bethlehem, if you look at the beginning of the chapter, talks about actually the birth of Christ, and he was born in Bethlehem. So in that same country, shepherds were abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
It says in verse nine, and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Now, here this brings us, in verse 13, we come to the actual song sung by the angels.
It says here. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. So here we see in this Bible passage, and also it's sort of reflected in this song.
It's talking about angels singing this beautiful song about peace on earth. And so we might ask a question, well, who are these angels? Because last week, when I was talking about musical expression of ideas, what I was suggesting is that it's really great to have a scene in your mind. The more fully that you can kind of picture and have a scene in your mind, the easier it is to express that musically.
So who are these angels? Where did they come from? What are they like? And if we can start to get a picture of that in our mind, then it can give us better musical expression in the song. So let's think about some of the things that the Bible reveals. And actually the Bible reveals to us many things about angels.
Psalm 103 and verse 19 says, the Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens. Now, this tells us that heaven is a real place where God lives. And so God has a throne in heaven.
And in revelation five and verse eleven, John says that he saw many angels round about God's throne. Actually, I read this verse last week. So in the presence chamber of the King of kings, they wait.
Angels that excel in strength, ministers of his that do his pleasure, hearkening unto the voice of his word. That's from Psalm 103 and verses 19 to 21, and revelation five, verse eleven. So 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands were the heavenly messengers Beheld by the prophet Daniel as God's messengers.
They go forth like the appearance of a flash of lightning, so dazzling their glory and so swift their flight. In fact, at the resurrection of Christ, there's a description of the angel, an angel, one angel. It talks about his face being like lightning.
And so this is the scene presented in the first verse of this hymn. Can you imagine, on maybe a really starry night, it says, it came upon the midnight clear. So it was a beautiful clear night, the sky full of stars, and then all of a sudden, the sky being lit up by all of these angels.
And so that sounds like just a really wonderful and amazing thing. But this idea of sort of like a supernatural choir that can seem pretty far removed from everyday life, and we might sort of think, well, look, that was back in Bible times, but what about today? Are these angels still with us today? Can they still help us today? Is a Bible still relevant to me today? Well, let's think about this second verse in this song, which says, still through the cloven skies they come. NOW, ClOVEN IS KIND OF AN OLD FASHIONED WORD.
It JUST MEANS, LIKE PARTED. So still through the cloven or the parted skies they come, the days, the angels on peaceful wings unfurled, and still their heavenly music floats. Or all the weary world above its sad and lowly plains, they bend on hovering wing, and ever owe its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing.
So this song is saying that these angels are still with us today. ACTUALLY, THIS HYMN WAS WRITTEN BY EDMUND SEARS. He was a minister, and he liked to write hymns that summarized the message of his sermon.
AND SO HERE WE SEE THAT HE IS TAKING THE BIBLE STORY AND HE'S GIVING IT A PRESENT DAY APPLICATION. And we can see from the Bible that this is true and that the angels are still with us today. AND SO THESE THINGS IN THE BIBLE ARE STILL RELEVANT FOR US.
THEY DO HAVE A PRESENT DAY APPLICATION. SO TO UNDERSTAND THIS, LET'S HAVE A LOOK AT ACtS, CHAPTER ONE. LET'S HAVE A LOOK AT ACTS, CHAPTER ONE.
And in this chapter, this book was written by Luke. Luke was a doctor, and he became a follower of Christ. And he, in acts, chapter one, describes the ascension of Christ.
CHRIsT RETURNED TO Heaven after his crucifixion, resurrection. He returns to heaven, and we notice something. So let's pick it up from verse nine.
Acts, chapter one. And verse nine says, when he that's Christ. When he had spoken these things, while they beheld that they is the disciples, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
So the disciples had been with Christ for three and a half years, watching him do ministry, working with him, learning from him how to help others and how to present the truth of the gospel to them. And now Christ was being taken back to heaven. He had a work to do up in heaven, and he had also committed to the disciples a work to do here on earth which we'll talk about in a little while.
So here we see that Christ, though, is being separated from his disciples. They have been with him for three and a half years. And at this moment they are feeling very sad because all their hopes have rested in Christ.
And now his personal presence is being taken away from them. And so they're feeling really lonely. But Christ does not leave them alone.
He sends someone to comfort them. Let's have a look. In verses ten and eleven says, while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, you men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
So here we see that Christ has returned to heaven, and he has left angels to comfort the disciples. And so we can see from this passage that one of the things that angels do is that they sing. And the hymn that we're talking about today obviously talks a lot about the angels singing, but we can also see that they do do other things, and here they're left to comfort the disciples.
And in fact, angels are sent on many missions of mercy to the children of God. And we can see this right from, if we go back further in the Bible, we can see this right from Old Testament times. And so we see in Genesis 18 and verses one to five here we see that angels came with blessings to Abraham.
Abraham was someone who faithfully served God in Old Testament times. Of course, he's the father of the Hebrew people, the Jewish people, and many people know him because of that. In one kings, Chapter 19 and verses one to eight, it talks about an angel coming to the prophet Elijah when he was just completely exhausted.
And the angel gave him food and gave him a drink. And in two kings, chapter six and verses eight to 17 describes how the prophet Elisha was hemmed in by his enemies. They'd surrounded the city where he was living, and talks in that passage about how the angels were all gathered on these hills around him.
Also in Daniel chapter Six and Daniel chapter Nine, we read about Daniel being in the Lion's den and talks about how an angel of God came and closed the lion's mouth so that they didn't hurt Daniel. And also Daniel chapter nine and verse 21 talks about an angel coming in answer to Daniel's prayer when he was seeking wisdom from God. So that was in the Old Testament.
But we do find them also in the New Testament. Obviously, there's this passage that we've just read, but also in Acts chapter twelve, verse seven, Peter is doomed to death in Herod's dungeon, and an angel comes and frees him. And in Acts chapter 27 and verse 23, Paul and his companions were caught in the storm when they were on the sea in a boat.
And an angel came and stood by him, brought him a message, comfort, and told him that he wouldn't die. And Psalm 34, verse seven is really a beautiful verse. It says, the angel of the Lord encamps around about those that fear him and delivers them.
And so I have this beautiful quote from the desire of ages, which is our free book offer for those, for our listeners that are in Australia. If you do not have a copy of the desire of Ages, please write into us and request your free copy of this wonderful book, which says, heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds listen to the angel song, you know, and as we live our life from day to day, heaven may be very near. Angels from the courts above will attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command.
That's in the desire of ages, and that's page 48. And what I want to speak about, actually, before we go on to the third verse of this hymn, is that the Bible speaks of a very important three part message that is actually a message that is being given today. And this message is represented in the Bible as being given by angels.
So Revelation 14, verse six says, I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach. That's in Revelation 14, verse six, verse 14 of that chapter, we see that there is Christ coming on the cloud, and this is describing the Second Coming. So we know that this is just before the second coming of Christ, that these three angels are going out presenting this message, and we know that is happening in our day now.
So this angel, it says there that this angel has the everlasting gospel to preach. And so everlasting is something that has no beginning, has no end. So it's the same message that were brought by the angels actually, when they saying, peace on the earth and goodwill to men.
So it's the same message, but it's within a new context. It's within a modern day context. And so the message of the angels of Bethlehem is still sounding today.
What does this invite us to do? And to answer that question, let's turn to the third verse of this song, which says, and ye beneath life's crushing load whose forms are bending low, who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow look now for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing arrest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing. So let's consider this a little bit. I mean, we've only got such a short time to just begin scratching the surface of these songs.
But, yeah, let's just consider this verse a little bit before we talk about the practical application and come to a summary and actually listen to the song. So at the angels in Revelation, Chapter 14 and verse six, we said that they are proclaiming the Gospel. Now, Jesus after his resurrection, which I was speaking about just before he spoke to his disciples and he gave them a commission.
Mark, Chapter 16 and verse 15 says, go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Now, these angels, as we've said, the angels in Revelation, they are proclaiming the everlasting Gospel. But from the verse in Mark, Chapter 16, we see that the work of preaching the Gospel has not been committed to angels, but it has been entrusted to human beings.
Holy angels have been employed in directing this work. They have in charge the great movements for the salvation of men. But the actual proclamation of the Gospel is performed by the servants of Christ on the earth.
And we can see this actually once again turning to the Book of Acts, this time looking at Acts chapter ten. Now, acts chapter ten speaks about Cornelius. Cornelius was a Roman centurion, and he had served God to the best of his knowledge.
But one day, as he was praying, an angel suddenly appeared to him. What did this angel say? Did this angel tell Cornelius about Christ or things in heaven? Well, he did not tell him these things directly. The angel told Cornelius to send for Peter, the Apostle, who would tell him about Jesus.
So how are people today to hear the voice of angels? Well, I would like to suggest to you that now, as then angels partner with humans, the messages of angels are spoken through human lips, and it might be through you singing this song or inviting someone, maybe to a carol's program where they will hear this song. And when you think about that, that is an amazing honor for us as human beings. It's an amazing honor, and it's an amazing responsibility for us to be working with angels.
So in our program today, I've mainly focused on the first three verses of this hymn. There is a fourth verse, which I will just mention very briefly because it's not always sung, although we will listen it to it in our recording today. But the fourth verse actually is beautiful verse.
It points forward to the time when evil will be completely eradicated from this earth and the whole earth will be at rest. So that is a really wonderful time. And for those of us that are presenting this message, presenting as a song or inviting other people, maybe through our actions, we might not actually sing the song, or people might not actually hear this song in a Carol's program.
But when we do kind deeds, we're actually partnering. We're still partnering with angels, and it actually makes music in heaven. Maybe we'll look more at that in future programs.
The Bible talks about angels singing in heaven and even God himself actually singing. So even when we do kind deeds, that actually produces music in heaven. So even if people do not actually hear this song, they still are hopefully hearing this invitation through our kind acts to them.
And that's really what we're inviting people to. We're inviting people to experience peace and rest with Christ here on this earth. We spoke about that last week.
There is a place of quiet rest, but we're ultimately inviting them to enjoy that wonderful heavenly rest when Christ will return and sin will be no more and the earth will be recreated anew. So that's a really wonderful know. Look, we've spoken about a lot of things and there's just so much depth in these songs.
I mean, as I said before, we're really just scratching the surface by speaking about all of these things. But I hope that those Bible verses will give you some ideas of things to think about when you are singing this song, listening to this song. But I would like to, just before we do actually listen to the song for today, to just kind of recap what we've spoken about and consider how we might give musical expression to all these ideas that we've spoken about.
So to kind of bring it back to small stories and scenes, sort of a summary scene for the first verse. And as I was saying last week, when you are listening to a song, or when you yourself sing a song, you kind of have to own it yourself. You sort of have to think about it in terms of your own experience.
We all have an individual experience, and none of us has exactly an identical experience to somebody else. So we all have our own individual things that we can bring to these songs and give it that individuality. So I'm just sort of sharing with you things that I would think about, and then you can sort of take those ideas and then make those things your own.
So what I think about for the first verse, as I mentioned before, is to kind of think about that beautiful, starry night, that real feeling of awe, and then just imagine that being all that darkness being dispelled by brighter than midday light with all these angels suddenly appearing. In the second verse, you would be thinking about maybe the scenes of today, the earth as it is today, all of the din and so forth, and yet hearing, sort of mentally hearing the angels singing over all of those things. And then the last verse is very direct.
It's a very direct invitation. And ye beneath life's crushing load. So I think there's a lot of space in that third verse for a lot of empathy towards your audience.
So let's listen to this beautiful hymn sung by classic carols, and then I'll make a few concluding remarks from you. Standing here to be the world is always you hear me steal through the sky with me still are all world See all ye beneath Life's crushing loud whose forms are bending way with painful steps and slow look as we or rest beside the weary road and hear the angel see for those my all. And when we shall know when we shall over all year see today God is still working through angels to bring gladness through gloom.
When you work to help others, you are partnering with angels. Maybe that sounds too unbelievable, but it's true, because it's in God's word, the Bible. So let's just say a closing prayer that God will be with you in your ministry of music.
And yeah, let's say a prayer to ask God for his help in being able to express these wonderful truths. And I'm praying for myself as well. So, dear Lord, we just thank you today for the Ministry of Angels.
And thank you, dear Lord, that you invite us to partner with angels. That's really an amazing privilege. We know that we're not worthy of it, but please help us as we work to improve our musical expression of this beautiful hymn and other songs that we might be singing.
May we have the peace of heaven in our hearts to be able to share with others. Amen. Thank you for joining me today on heavenly harmonies.
I do invite you to write into us at
[email protected] if you are in Australia, remember you can request your free copy of the desire of Ages. Or if you've got a comment, a question, or you've got a music story about how hymns have helped your life, feel free to write into us.
Join me again for our next episode, Joy to the world. Until then, goodbye and God bless.
