O Come All Ye Faithful

Google the Christmas hymn “O Come All Ye Faithful” and you’ll find that one site reflects fittingly that the main subject is“Jesus Christ,” the scripture is Luke 2:15-16 referencing Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, and the copyright is “public domain.” Jesus is the main subject of Advent and anyone from the “public domain” can come to Him. He and He alone is worthy of all our adoration.

Google the Christmas hymn “O Come All Ye Faithful” and you’ll find that one site reflects fittingly that the main subject is“Jesus Christ,” the scripture is Luke 2:15-16 referencing Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, and the copyright is “public domain.” Jesus is the main subject of Advent and anyone from the “public domain” can come to Him. He and He alone is worthy of all our adoration.

“O Come All Ye Faithful” was composed between 1740 and 1744 by John Francis Wade, a Roman Catholic living in Douay, France. Adeste Fideles, as it is called in Latin, eventually made its way to England by way of the Portuguese Embassy which performed it regularly at its services.

The words call us to come . . . the faithful come . . . the faithful? All those who worship Him –the wise men following the star in Matthew 2 that first Christmas, the delegates to Lausanne summer 2010, the dear pastor in Iran scheduled for execution, young children in school, the underground church in countries hostile to the gospel, the flash singers in the malls singing impromptu renditions of The Hallelujah Chorus--you, me, all of us come. Let us adore Him.

Oh, come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,Christ the Lord.

God of God,
Light of Light,
Lo, he abhors not the Virgin's womb;
Very God,
Begotten, not created:
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of Heaven above!
Glory to God
 In the highest:
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him,
Oh, come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

The most incredible part is that Jesus takes notice of and remembers all of our adoration — He promises Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unjust as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in ministering and in still ministering to the saints.”

There are multiple YouTube videos of this beautiful hymn being sung or performed. It is worth your time to google it. Having spent 5 years traveling once a month to Bratislava, Slovakia from Vienna the following YouTube video caught my attention and is my favorite – Adeste Fideles sung by the Bratislava Boys Choir with special guest Miroslav Dvorsky. Merry Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEKcBoQC1y0