The Christmas Carols: Past, Present, & Future HopeSample

Day 3

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Read: Romans 6:5-11; Isaiah 9:6-7

The very first churches I knew were Methodist. Most every Sunday for the first eighteen years of my life, I could be found somewhere around East Cross United Methodist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. One of the many blessings I received from that heritage was a knowledge of John and Charles Wesley. Though the Wesleys never set out to start “Methodism,” God used them to reform the Church of England and call it to both passion and application. If Luther’s reform in Germany was about orthodoxy then the Wesleys’ reform in England 200 years later was about orthopraxy . . . as much about what we do as what we believe.

While John Wesley preached, Charles Wesley was best known for his hymns. One of the eighteen Christmas carols Wesley wrote was “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” This song not only laid out sound theology and Scriptural references, but called followers of Jesus to act in certain ways.

The first verse points out that Jesus has released us from our “fears and sins” (Romans 6:5-11). This is a theological truth . . . but the application of this truth is that we would find “our rest in Thee.”

In the second verse, Jesus is described as “a child, and yet a King” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Charles takes the next line, though, and drives it home, stating that Jesus was “Born to reign in us forever . . . Rule in all our hearts alone.” The application is not just to say that Jesus is the “King of Kings,” but to have Him be our King - the ultimate authority in our lives.

This Christmas, as we sing Wesley’s song, may we have a reformation of our practices, and find our rest in Jesus, the ultimate authority in our lives!

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free.
From our fears and sins release us.
Let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation
hope of all the earth thou art
dear desire of every nation
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone.
By thine all sufficient merit
raise us to thy glorious throne.

You draw the hearts of shepherds.
You draw the hearts of kings.
Even as a baby
You were changing everything.
You called me to Your Kingdom
Before Your lips could speak
And even as a baby
You were reaching out for me.

And now we are awaiting
The day of Your return,
When every eye will see You
As heaven comes to earth.
Until the sky is opened,
Until the trumpet sounds,
The bride is getting ready,
The church is singing out.

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free.
From our fears and sins release us.
Let us find our rest in thee.
Come Thou long expected King!