****AS, WITH GLADNESS, MEN OF OLD

As, With Gladness, Men Of Old was written by William Dix in 1860. He had been bed bound with a serious illness for a long time.  One evening he got the idea for this hymn and he began to form the line on note paper. The following year, his finished song was published in a small collection of his own works, which had a very limited circulation. From there it made its way into more popular collections, and today it has become known throughout the world.

I mentioned, last week, that many of our Christmas traditions are biblically inaccurate or they are based on fantasies or legends.  Some of those legends have to do with the kings or wise men.  Our traditions assume there were three because of the three gifts mentioned in scripture; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  And the wise men have even been given names, Melchior, Balthazar, and Caspar—but those are not found anywhere in scripture.

And we don't know that they were kings.  The Bible calls them Magi.  They were pagan priests who were considered, wise men (possibly astrologers) and they would have held powerful political positions in their eastern countries.  The unfounded assumption that they were kings comes from Isaiah’s prophecy, “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:3). 

Another tradition Is that they visited Jesus in His manger bed at the time of His birth.  But scripture indicates otherwise; "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him." Matt. 2:10-11

Bible scholars believe that He must have been about two years old by the time the wise men arrived.

In this song, Dix took that traditional departure from biblical accuracy where, in two phrases, he pictures the wise men at the manger.  That, however, doesn't diminish the theology or the value of this hymn; it just creates an unnecessary distraction.  For that reason, some authors have suggested a couple appropriate changes to those phrases, which we will use, for the sake of accuracy.  

There are two words that repeat several times --"As" and "So.” When you see the word, AS, you should look for the word, SO.  They are coupled to make comparisons between the recorded actions of the wise men and the appropriate applications for to us today.  In other words, as they did, So should we. 

In the first stanza, we see that the wise men were led to the Savior by the light of His star.   SO, like them, we also should be led to Him by the light of His Gospel; the Word of God.

In stanza 2, we see the wise men making their long, hurried journey to worship the Son of God.  SO, like them, we also should run to Him for mercy and joyfully worship Him because He Is worthy.

In stanza 3, the wise men gave costly gifts to Jesus.  SO, like them, we also should present ourselves, pure and holy, to Him.

There is a fifth verse that has been omitted from the text in some hymnbook.  I think that is unfortunate because it is a great song of praise and a joyful proclamation of our hope.  Here it is printed below:

In that glorious city bright, None shall need created light.

You, its Light, its Joy, its Crown; You, its Sun which goes not down.

There forever may we sing, Alleluias to our King!

****DOWN FROM HIS GLORY

DOWN FROM HIS GLORY is a song we usually only hear performed as a solo, mainly because of its wide range.  It is sung to the familiar tune of Edwardo Di Capua's, “’O Sole Mio.”  Or, if you are an Elvis Presley fan, you will recognize the melody of “It’s Now Or Never.”

 

I was surprised to discover that this song is not as contemporary as I thought.  It was written nearly 100 yrs. Ago, by William Booth-Clibborn, the grandson of William Booth who founded the Salvation Army.

The song begins with the glorious mystery we sometimes call the Humiliation of Christ.  It is the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ as is explained in Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi,”...although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (or held on to) but (He) emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”  

Think about that.  That little baby in the crib is God in human flesh and it is improper to consider His entrance into the world without understanding His purpose in coming.

What the shepherds saw that night, was the Sovereign King of Creation wrapped in filthy rags and lying in a dirty feeding trough.  He is the Righteous One of the Universe who opens His arms wide to wicked, sinful men. He is The Giver of Life, the One who IS Life, and He was born to die.  The One who made the Law; the One whose Word IS the Law, and the only One who ever kept the Law; the Judge of the world came to offer complete pardon and mercy to undeserving men. The Highest was utterly humiliated.  In Him, poverty becomes riches, tears become joy, death becomes life, trash becomes treasures, and sinners become saints.

The Christmas story, by itself, is incomplete.  In fact, it is meaningless and irrelevant without the Easter story. Paul’s revelation continues, “…Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” 

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a perfect and sinless life, died a horrible death on the cross, was buried and then, three days later He rose from the dead, according to the Scriptures. That is the message of the Gospel.  Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and perfectly satisfied God’s righteous justice.  Someone has summarized it like this: “I owed a debt I could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe.”

In the third stanza, the writer makes a personal proclamation, “And Now I know Thou Art the Great I Am.” 

Because of who Christ is, and because of what He has done for us, He is worthy of our praise and worship.  And so, each stanza ends with this song of praise:

“O how I love Him!  How I adore Him! 

My breath, my sunshine, my all in all.

The Great Creator became my Savior,

And all God’s fullness dwelleth in Him!”

****A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD

Oct. 31 is the beginning of what we generally refer to as the HOLIDAY SEASON and I am intrigued by how the holidays line up on the calendar.

  

Halloween comes first and in actual dollars spent on decorations and entertainment, it has overshadowed Christmas as the biggest holiday of the year.  From a spiritual standpoint, Halloween is an appropriate holiday; the world is in darkness. That is our natural condition.  In fact, the Bible tells us that “men love the darkness because their deeds are evil” (John 3:19).  It also tells us that we are “dead in sin” (Eph. 2:1, Col. 2:13).  We are “of our father, the Devil” and have no knowledge of God so it is understandable that most people embrace or celebrate the holiday of darkness, superstition, and evil.   Unless and until the Spirit of God brings us light, we cannot know Him.

  

The next holiday on the calendar is Thanksgiving Day.  In 1621, the Pilgrims had just endured a terrible winter in which scores of children and adults had starved to death. They were discouraged and defeated and ready to return to England when God answered their prayers and another ship arrived with medical supplies, food, and just enough hope to encourage them to press on despite the adverse conditions.

Two years later William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony, said, “Inasmuch as the Father has given us an abundant harvest and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish; and He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship Him according to the dictates of our own conscience; I now proclaim that on Thursday, Nov. 29, 1623, we will render thanksgiving to the Almighty God for all His blessings.”

Romans 2:4 says, “The goodness of God leads you to repentance.” We celebrate His goodness at Thanksgiving and the ultimate manifestation of God’s Goodness was the gift of His Son, the Light of the world, and we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas time; the very next Holiday on our calendar.

St. Valentine's Day was named for a priest near Rome during the rule of Claudius II.  A few years before Claudius began persecuting Christians for not worshiping the Roman gods, war broke out in the Roman Empire and Claudius began drafting all the able-bodied men to go into battle.  Many of the men were reluctant to leave their families or their sweethearts.  So, to remedy that, Claudius ordered that there be no marriages and that all engagements were to be broken off immediately.

In addition to helping many Christians escape persecution, Valentine earned a reputation for being a friend of lovers by secretly performing Christian marriages in defiance of the Emperor's ban.  Claudius imprisoned him on Feb. 14, 270 A.D., and later had him beheaded because he would not renounce his faith.

Romans 5:8 tells us that “God demonstrated His love for us (the bride of Christ) in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  And He did that on the cross at Calvary, which brings us right up to Resurrection Day.

Spring is the season of new life.  Statistically, there are more babies born in the Spring than any other season.  There came a time when each of us was physically born into this world.   And, for Christians, there was another time when God caused His light to “shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6 ).  He gave us new life and we were Born Again.

Next on our American calendar, is Independence Day when we celebrate our liberties which were secured by those who made great sacrifices for our political freedoms. Likewise, Christ sacrificed His life to free us from the bondage of sin and death. “If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). That’s real freedom worth celebrating.

Finally, we come all the way back to Halloween, but we who are Christians, no longer lurk in that darkness.  “The Light of the world has shined in our hearts.”  We walk in the Light and have no fear of death because Christ has triumphed over sin, death, Satan.

Oct. 31 is one of the most important dates on the church calendar.  It is Reformation Day; the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Cathedral door.  After 600 years of worldwide spiritual darkness (the Dark Ages) when most men were illiterate and very few had access to the written Word of God, Martin Luther and a host of other reformers, ushered in the Renaissance by shining the Light of God’s Truth into a world of superstition and darkness.

Martin Luther wrote A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD, based on Psalm 46.  The hymn, sometimes called the Battle Hymn of the Reformation, is a celebration of the sovereign power of God over all the earthly and spiritual forces of darkness, and of the sure hope we have in Him because of our Savior, Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world. 

****GUIDELINES FOR CHURCH MUSIC

I am a simple man.  I was not trained or experienced in leading my congregation in singing; it is not my gift.  But I served in the position of song leader for nearly ten years because there was no one else to do it.

That position of song leader was mine, not to grasp firmly but to hold carefully in trust with open hands. Any man whom God would send our way and was qualified, willing, and available, could assume that responsibility from me without objection.  In the meantime, I took that ministry seriously. 

Over the years I assembled this guide to remind me of my ministry responsibilities according to my understanding of scripture. And now I gladly offer it here for your own edification.

GUIDELINES FOR CHURCH MUSIC

• Sing songs people know. The important thing is that people sing songs of praises and thanksgiving to God; that is a scriptural commandment. And it is hard to do if they don’t know the songs.  When you introduce new songs, do it sparingly and then repeat them several times over a few weeks until they become familiar.

• Sing in comfortable keys.  Your job is not to show off your vocal range (or vocal gymnastics).  If it is too high, too low, or in challenging intervals, your congregation will not sing.

• Sing to celebrate the power, glory, and salvation of God.  There are good personal and relational songs of testimony or sentiments that may be appropriate in certain situations but, for the most part, worship is NOT about how warm and fuzzy you feel; it is about bowing down in humble awe of the power and glory of God.  Sing His praises, sing about His attributes and sing about His mercy and grace.

• Serve your people.  This might seem like a no-brainer but a legitimate worship service provides people with what they need; not what they want. 

• Saturate them with the Word of God.   Support your song choices with biblical references to God’s Word.   He has assembled your congregation in your presence for only a few minutes each week and they don’t need junk food.  They need spiritual meat and music can be a useful vehicle to deliver it to them.  Make sure that your song choices are substantive and rich in scripture.

• Don’t sing songs with humanistic philosophies or heretical theology.  I once read a comment that asked, “If your music doesn’t preach, why sing it?”  The fact of the matter is that ALL music preaches.  The problem is that so many Christians learn so much false doctrine from spiritually anemic, or downright stupid, popular contemporary music in church and on Christian radio.  It takes wisdom and discernment to examine all the lyrics in light of Scripture.  If necessary, you may have to make some corrective changes to the lyrics or, better yet, throw them out entirely.  Just do it because you are no less accountable than is your pastor when it comes to preaching or teaching false doctrine.

• Don’t draw attention to yourself.  It’s not about you (or your “worship team”).   Someone has suggested that, if worship teams were required to sing from behind a curtain, there would be no more worship teams.    Entertainment is not an element of  worship and the musical portion of your ministry is not your turn to perform.  And no one wants to hear your overly dramatic, rehearsed praises and prayers.  Do not use your music ministry as your outlet for creativity at the expense of the centrality of the Gospel.  I once had a pastor who had a small plaque on his pulpit, engrave with these words, “Sirs, we would see Jesus.”  It was fixed there to remind him (and anyone else he allowed to share his pulpit) that his responsibility was always and only to point men to Jesus.

****GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

Thomas Obadiah Chisholm was a poor, simple man of who experienced God’s faithfulness throughout his whole life.  He was born in a log cabin in Franklin, Kentucky in 1866.  He was educated in a little, one-room country schoolhouse, and at the age of 16, he began teaching there.  Later, he worked as an associate editor of the Franklin Advocate, his hometown weekly newspaper.

After God saved him at the age of 27, Thomas learned to find comfort and strength in the faithfulness of God to provide for all his needs in difficult times of illness.

With no formal college education or seminary training, he was ordained to the Methodist ministry at age 36.  He served as a pastor for only one year because of his fragile health. There were many periods of time when he was confined to his bed and unable to work.

Between his bouts of illnesses, he would push himself to work extra, long hours at various odd jobs just to make ends meet.

 

Thomas loved to write and during his lifetime, he wrote hundreds of poems.  One of them was GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, which was inspired by Lamentations 3:22-23, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”

This hymn has three verses that demonstrate God’s great faithfulness. 

Verse 1 declares His faithfulness as He has revealed Himself in His Word.  It is adapted from James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”  

God is faithful because of His unchanging nature.  He is always the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

In verse 2, the writer points to the witness of nature as evidence of God’s faithfulness. The courses of the Sun, the moon, and the stars; the seasons, and even the ebbs and flows of the tides are all ordered and regulated by Him.  

If you are fearful about global warming and rising seas, you can rest assured that God has it all under control.  It is He who, said, “For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.” (Jer. 5:22)

He has orchestrated all of creation and He holds it all together according to His purposes and for His glory.

Verse 3 then assures us of God’s faithfulness in our lives.  He saves us, forgives us of all our sins, gives us His peace, empowers us for His service, and assures us of our eternal hope. And so we can trust Him for all His benefits, not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus Christ has done.  “The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”  (2 Thess. 3:3)

He is faithful to deliver us.

About his simple, ordinary life, Thomas Chisholm said, “God has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care which have filled me with astonishing gratefulness.”

Whatever difficulties or trials we might face in our lives, this hymn reminds us that God’s promises are true, that He never changes, and that His compassions never fail.

***HE LIVES

The popular song, HE LIVES, may not be listed among the greatest hymns ever written but it probably qualifies to be among the most loved, especially in American congregations during the mid 20^th century.  And I understand the sentimental popularity; it is a lively and joyful declaration of the resurrection of Jesus and it is fun to sing with its antiphonal response phrases in the chorus.

 

Nevertheless, I have been reluctant to use it because of one glaring weakness that permeates the text.  I am not implying that there is any false doctrine in it; there isn’t. 

So, what is the problem?  I am troubled by the weak subjectivity of the dominant theme that moves us, three times, to the question in the chorus, “You ask me how I know He lives?” and the subsequent response, “He lives within my heart.”

I understand that each of us has unique experiences where we have felt or sensed God’s nearness, protection, and love in our lives.  For those who are redeemed, we see His hand everywhere and in everything just as the writer has said, “In all the world around me, I see His loving care.”  

Our subjective testimonies may be true, but they’re not compelling proofs. They are secondary to objective truth.   Our confidence (and especially our testimonies to unbelievers) must rest on solid evidence and we have plenty of it.  

So when the song asks the question, “You ask me how I know He lives?”  I think the author could have written an objective response something like, “I’M GLAD YOU ASKED.  THERE IS EVIDENCE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.”  But, unfortunately, that doesn’t fit in the musical meter.

So what evidence is there for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead?  

We have the eye-witness testimonies of the apostles and others who met the risen Christ; those who physically “walked and talked with Him” in the flesh. 

We have the account of a doctor, Luke, who recorded the words the angel spoke to the women who were looking for Christ’s body at the tomb; “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.”  And later, he recorded that Jesus “presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs.”

We have the testimony of Peter who declared, “This Jesus, God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”

Even though he often gets a bad rap, I am really glad that Jesus used Thomas to validate His resurrection.  Thomas heard the testimonies of others but he demanded more than just hearsay; he wanted real, tangible evidence; “Unless I see, in His hands, the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them.  Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”  Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side.  Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”  And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus was seen by over five hundred people, during the forty days between His resurrection and His ascension, many of whom were still alive at the time these accounts were recorded in scripture.

We have the accounts from Paul who, as a skeptical unbeliever and a violent persecutor of Christians, met the risen, glorified Christ on the road to Damascus.

And we have the inspired Word of the living God.  In the words of R. C. Sproul, “We have to determine our theology from the Word of God, not from what we feel.”

This song is most often used in Resurrection Day celebrations because of its exuberant assurance of great things to come. Jesus said, “I Am the Living One; I was dead and behold I Am alive for ever and ever!”   

We really do serve a risen Savior so we can joyfully and confidently sing,

Rejoice! Rejoice, O Christian, 

Lift up your voice and sing,

Eternal hallelujahs 

To Jesus Christ, the King!

The Hope of all who seek Him, 

The Help of all who find,

None other is so loving, 

So good and kind.

HE LIVES!

****MY COUNTRY 'TIS OF THEE (America)

Tomorrow is Independence Day so there will be a patriotic theme in some of our music this morning. 

I am somewhat concerned about all that; I know the inherent dangers and how easily our worship can become misguided and profane so I want to preface our service with a few thoughts.

First, I am a patriot of the United States republic as our founders established it and codified it in our constitution.  And I believe most of you are too.  So tomorrow, I will reflect on the greatness of this country.  I will give thanks for those who have sacrificed their lives to secure our liberties.  I will praise God for His providential guidance in its formation and I will enjoy the celebrations of our national heritage.  I may even eat a chili cheese dog or two, scarf down some watermelon, and fire off a couple dozen rounds of blanks from my .22 revolver.  That will be appropriate for the national holiday that we will celebrate tomorrow.

As for today, it is incumbent on us to remember that the purpose of our gathering together as the church of God is to honor and celebrate and worship Jesus Christ.   So I want to put our love for our country in a proper context.

 

There are many revisionist historians today, who would argue that our founding fathers were not all Christians and even if they were, it was never their intention to recognize God’s sovereignty and providence in our nation’s formation, much less establish it on biblical principles.  But they would be wrong.  Listen to the words of some of our founders:

Benjamin Franklin, “I have lived, my friends, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing the proofs I see of the truth…that God governs in the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”

Patrick Henry, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionist, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”

James Madison, “We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

Less than 100 years later, this country was torn apart by a terrible civil war. Abraham Lincoln wrote, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven.  We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity.  We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown.  But we have forgotten God.  We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom of our own.  Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too proud to pray to the God that made us.  It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and to pray to the God that made us!  All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope, authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less the pardon of our national sins, and restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.”

In the infancy of our nation, a foreigner, a Frenchman by the name of Alexis de Tocqueville, observed and wrote about the greatness of this country.  He wrote, “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and ample rivers, and it was not there; in the fertile fields, and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there.  Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power.  America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

I hope you don’t miss that.  De Tocqueville’s words remain today as a promise or a warning depending on the direction this generation takes it.

There are two verses of Scripture that come to mind; Prov. 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people.”  And another one is Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

 

Now I don’t know if de Tocqueville was a Christian.  But I do know that he recognized that America’s greatness was a result of her goodness, and her goodness was rooted in her reverence for God and her respect for His laws and His Gospel.  America was great because her God was Great.

And so as we sing the words to, “MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE,” I want you to notice in the very first line, that Samuel Smith, the writer of this patriotic song, recognized that our country is a gift from God.  You might not see that because most modern editors have not capitalized the word, "Thee."  In some earlier hymnbooks, it was capitalized.  In my research, I found several explanations for the sentence as it might read without a recognition of God.  But I just can’t see that the sentence makes sense when you try to make the phrase, “'tis of Thee,” to mean “it’s for all of you, the people.”  And furthermore, the author, being a Baptist minister and a theologian, certainly would have been familiar with the difference between the singular pronoun, “thee,” and the plural pronoun, “ye.”

But regardless how modern secularists try to parse it, there is no question that in the final verse, Samuel Smith, appeals to the God of our fathers for His continuing grace, and goodness, and protection for the freedom He has granted us in this land.

Psalm 22:4 says, “In You our fathers put their trust; they trusted and You delivered them.”  So in our worship services, it is always appropriate for us to thank God for giving us this bountiful land and to praise Him for our freedom. 
       

THERE IS A REDEEMER

If you’re 55 years or older, you will probably remember the Jesus movement that was spawned in the Southern California hippie drug culture of the 1970s.  And if you remember that, you will probably remember the controversial Christian singer and songwriter who rose to prominence from out of that culture.

Keith Green was born in 1953.   At a very young age, it seemed that he would become a musician.   Music was his passion; he wanted to be a pop-star and he was exceptionally talented.  At age eight, he began to perform in stage musicals.  At age 12, he published his first song and became the youngest member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. That same year he signed a five-year recording contract with Decca Records.

He had a secular Jewish background but, as a child, he was fascinated with reading the New Testament.  The first time Keith ran away from home, he was 15 years old. Even though he was on a fast track to becoming a teenage idol, he never quite achieved that success and by the late 1960s, he began experimenting with drugs and dabbling in various Eastern religions.

He met the woman he would marry, Melody Steiner, another songwriter, in the early 1970s.  That is when his life began to turn around.  She was also of Jewish heritage and had been exploring the teachings of mysticism and Eastern religions.   After they met, they began to explore the Christian faith together.  

At the age of 21, Keith and Melody heard the Truth of the Gospel at a church in the San Fernando Valley, and the Lord saved them.

They never turned back from the Christian faith.  Not only did his life take a radical turn, so did his music.  He was no longer interested in stardom. His songs began to reflect the Joy of knowing Jesus and experiencing His love.   From that time, Keith focused his work, on a series of Christian music projects, including working with the band, Good News.

Keith developed some strong convictions that left him feeling inadequate and undeserving of God’s grace.  And his convictions affected and irritated many of his friends and separated him from most of the others in his industry.  He started holding concerts for free and he questioned how other Christian musicians could, in good conscience, charge for their concerts or make profits from their record sales.

But in the final years of his life, Keith Green, the Firebrand, was tempered by the grace of a loving God.  He met John Dawson, of YWAM, and through that relationship, he began to re-discover the love of Christ.  After striving for years to measure up to God's holiness, and sometimes questioning his own salvation, Keith came to a deeper understanding of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross―both to forgive his sins and to clothe him in His own righteousness.

Keith grew in grace without compromising his beliefs; he reconciled and restored all his relationships, and began to experience real peace.   He wrote personal letters of apology to those he had offended with this admission:

“I hope you can understand that I am a man of principle, and yet, like a pendulum, I have a tendency to go too far to make a point.  I fear that in the past I have done just that.”  

In 1982 he released his final, and most worship-oriented album, Songs for the Shepherd.

One of the songs on that album is THERE IS A REDEEMER.  It was written by his wife, Melody, in the late 1970s during the time she and Keith were starting Last Days Ministry (LDM), an outreach to the drug culture and to unwed teenage mothers; a ministry that is still continuing today.  The song had been set aside, unpublished until she presented it during the production of this last album.

Keith loved the song but wanted to make it longer so, within a few minutes, he had penned this prophetic third and final verse:

When I stand in Glory, 

I will see His face,

And there, I’ll serve my King forever, 

In that holy place.

Just a few months later, at the young age of only 28 years, Keith Green was killed in a small plane crash.  He was standing in Glory, seeing his Father face-to-face.

  

There is a Redeemer,

Jesus, God's own Son,

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,

Holy One,

Jesus my Redeemer,

Name above all names,

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,

Oh, for sinners slain.

When I stand in Glory,

I will see His face,

And there I'll serve my King forever,

In that Holy Place.

(chorus)

Thank you oh my Father,

For giving us Your Son,

And leaving Your Spirit,

'Til the work on Earth is done.

6-11-2016

****HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION (2)

If you were to Google Search for lists of the greatest Hymns of the Christian faith, HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, would be on almost all of them.  The title of this song is also its theme- We have a Rock Solid Faith that is built on a Firm Foundation which is God’s Word.  

Some other hymns with similar themes, come to mind like Christ Is Made The Sure Foundation, or how about, “On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”  

This is the kind of stuff that builds confidence.  Authentic Biblical Faith isn’t fuzzy; it’s not iffy; it’s not uncertain.   When someone asks, “Are you sure you’re going to be with the Lord when you die?” we don’t have to offer meek, squishy-sounding, answers like, “I think so," or "I hope so.”   We can respond with absolute assurance, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives, and because He lives, I too shall live.”   Those of us whom God has redeemed can rest assured that our salvation is solid and unshakeable. 

Some people would say (and there are whole denominations that say), that kind of attitude is proud, or arrogant, or boastful; that we can’t possibly know for sure.  And they would be right if our confidence was in ourselves.  

But our confidence is not in anything we do; it’s not in our self-righteousness, our works, or our religious devices.  In fact, this might come as a surprise to you, –-  If you’re saved, it’s not because your walked down an aisle or repeated a prayer.   Salvation is of the Lord. You are saved if you are trusting, totally, in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone.   

Every line, of these lyrics, has a sense of power and authority as though God, Himself, is actually speaking.  And that's because almost all of these lyrics are paraphrases of, allusions to, or quote from some text from God’s immutable Word. 

 

And so, in verse one, we see that the foundation for our faith is laid in the excellence of His unchanging Word.  The Apostle Paul tells us that we are “members of the household of God, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets;” that foundation being the very Words of God.  And then he anchors that figurative building on the Living Word, Jesus Christ, Himself, being the chief cornerstone.   What more can He say?  We don’t need any new revelation from God.  He has spoken!

The second verse, then, assures us that we have no need to fear anything.  It’s almost an exact quote from Isaiah 41:10: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Aren’t you glad that your salvation is not dependent on your own works of righteousness?    The God who saves us is always with us.  The Spirit of God indwells us.  He helps us; He strengthens us, and He hold us up with His own all-powerful hand.

The third verse contains God’s promise that His grace is completely sufficient for every need.  Even when He takes us through extreme trials and persecutions, He does it to refine us and to purify us for our good and His glory.    

We are weak but God is Strong.  Sometimes we might wonder and question, but we can be confident that the foundation of our faith is Sure.  It cannot fail because Jesus never fails.  And God’s Word is on the record.  “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread…, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you.   He will not leave you or forsake you.”

 

So the song ends with one of the most powerful promises of assurance ever put to music;  

          The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

                    I will not, I will not desert to its foes;

          That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

                   I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

5/29/2016

****AT CALVARY

The story behind this hymn was told by Dr. Torrey, who was the President of Moody Bible Institute in the mid-1800s.  He told how he had received a letter from a pastor with a troublesome and rebellious son.  The father hoped that attendance at Moody would help. 

Dr. Torrey advised him that, even though he sympathized with him, his responsibility was to run a Bible school and not a reform school, and so he had to deny the father’s request. 

After many letters of relentless pleading, Dr. Torrey finally gave in with the stipulations that the son must meet with him every day and must abide by the rules and requirements of the Institute.

After months of private counseling, the father’s prayers were answered.  The boy, William Newell, was saved.  He eventually became a minister and later returned to Moody Bible Institute as a teacher.

It was a fascinating story but I want to focus on the text of the hymn.  It makes an excellent presentation of the gospel of grace which he originally wrote as a chronological account of his personal testimony in the form of a poem.

Verse 1 starts with his wasted past.  Note the first phrase, “Years I spent in vanity and pride.”  He was self-absorbed, self-sufficient, arrogant, and, even though he was a preacher’s kid, he was unconcerned about God and unreceptive to the message of the Gospel.

 

And that is the sinful condition of every man.  We are all born with depraved natures, incapable of doing good and bound for judgment and the eternal wrath of a holy God.  BUT GOD sent His Son to die for our sins AT CALVARY.

In verse 2, are the words, “At last, Then, and Until.”  They follow all those “years in the author’s “past.”

  

Then there came a turning point in William’s life and it wasn’t of his own efforts or good works.  In the words of his poem, it happened when, “By God’s Word, at last, my sin I learned.” That’s when the Spirit of God opened his ears to hear, and the Word of God penetrated his heart.

It’s through the preaching of the Gospel that men are saved.  We aren’t saved simply by warm fuzzy messages about how much God loves us.  A true Gospel message must bring us to a clear understanding that the law, God’s moral standard, has been broken and we are guilty and deserve judgment.

“Then, he said, I trembled at the Law I’d spurned.” Once William Newell realized his guilt, the Spirit of God convicted him and made him aware of his need for a Savior.  And the result of that was his turning to the Only remedy; the Only way to salvation; the Cross of Jesus Christ AT CALVARY

In verse three William describes the result of his new faith in Jesus Christ.   He expressed it this way, “Now I’ve given to Jesus, everything, Now I gladly own Him as my King.”

When God saves a man, there will be evidence of a changed life that surrenders to His Lordship and a heart that is naturally filled with His praises.

  

William Newell finished his poem with a great song of praise:

“Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!

Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!

Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span AT CALVARY!”

5/8/16