****JESUS SAVES

If you have lived here in So. California for any length of time, you’ve probably seen this historic landmark.  It is one of two giant red neon signs over Los Angeles that say, “JESUS SAVES.”

They were first installed on the downtown campus of The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, (BIOLA) in 1935 by the congregation of the Church of the Open Door under the pastorate of Dr. Louis Talbot.

In 1959, during the pastorate of Dr. J. Vernon McGee, BIOLA was relocated to La Mirada.  The original location of the Church of the Open Door was taken over by Gene Scott, the arrogant, obnoxious, cigar-smoking pastor known as “The Cussing Preacher of Faith Church.”  The facility was torn down in 1988.

Gene Scott salvaged the signs and installed them on his newly acquired location in the former United Artists Theatre on Broadway.  After he died, his widow assumed his pastorate and moved one of the signs to her relocated facility in Glendale.  The other sign still shines from its current location on top of the United Artists’ newly renovated Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

In 1954, Pricilla Owens wrote the song, JESUS SAVES, for a missionary service in her church, in Baltimore.

That phrase, JESUS SAVES, is the heart of the Gospel.  Salvation is a gift from God.  You cannot be saved by your good works, your church membership, or your sacrificial offerings.  (Eph. 2:8,9)

 “…for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

And Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

The first stanza of the hymn alludes to Jesus’ instructions to “go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mk. 16:15).

In the second stanza is a reference to the Year of Jubilee.  In the Mosaic Law, every 50th year, slaves were set free.  Spiritually speaking, that’s what happens where the Gospel is preached; sinners are set free from the bondage of sin.

If I tried to summarize the Gospel in just two words, I doubt that I could do better than the message of those neon signs.  And today, nearly eighty years later and despite an obnoxious preacher and a giant Hollywood corporation’s upscale hotel, the message, “JESUS SAVES,” is still boldly proclaimed in bright red neon lights over Los Angeles every night.

****O, The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus

(This commentary was not written by me but by my daughter, Dawn King who was inspired by the hymn, O THE DEEP, DEEP LOVE OF JESUS.)

I cannot read the Scripture passages about the death of Jesus Christ without my heart breaking for so very many reasons; too many to list.

One thing that stood out to me from the start was the silence of Jesus in the midst of the loudest, most vile shouting and terrifying screaming in all of history: "CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM!"

We all know what it feels like to be wronged.  Though we are sinful and unjust at the core, we know how we love to stake our claim on the "I'm right" side of a circumstance. 

But the One who, alone, is truly just, pure, and holy -the all-powerful King of Kings who is also the perfect Lamb of God, remained silent in the greatest act of humility as the full spectrum of terror, pain, and, anguish swelled over Him -- liars, evil schemers, brutal soldiers, religious leaders, political rulers, those who had been healed and had shouted forth praises to Him, those who ate the loaves He multiplied, the young, the old, the strong Roman soldiers in His reach, the thieves hanging behind Him, the crowd looking on from below all weighed in to make these hours horrifying. The Holy Spirit comforting Him, the will of the Father driving Him, the plan of my redemption to the praise of His glory holding Him there - silently.

Then, the final cry of agony filled the earth and changed history past, present, and future as the full measure of the wrath of God was poured out, and the Father turned away from His beloved Son. The once impenetrable veil of the Temple was torn by God from top to bottom and full access to the God of Heaven becomes available... to me.

Thinking about Christ on the cross--my stomach wrenches at these thoughts. They are too lofty for me to comprehend. They take away my breath and fill my eyes with tears even as I am writing.  I know He did not deserve an ounce of wrath until God put my sin upon Him. I am silenced before the Father who has willed my redemption, before Jesus who has purchased my soul with His blood, and before the Holy Spirit who has opened my eyes to see these eternal truths before I close my eyes in death and awaken before the Judgment seat in Heaven to hopelessly bear my sin alone.

Jesus on the cross is both terrible and wonderful. He purchased the souls of many that very sad, darkened Friday, but three days later, He burst forth from the grave that tried to contain His dead corpse. He appeared and spoke to many who witnessed this "unbelievable" act of glorious triumph-the silent Lamb now displaying that He is indeed God and is the King He claimed to be.

I cannot imagine how a person can hear of Jesus - God, who took on flesh and became sin so that He might give His righteousness to a sinner to have eternal freedom from guilt and punishment; God who penetrated history and by His undeserved murder now offers undeserved atonement and eternal peace between Himself and His creation.  How can everyone who hears not fall down before Him in worship, adoration, and grateful praise?

I have this salvation. It is mine in Christ; not because I am anything, not because I have done anything, for it is all of Him.

I realize that many of my friends and family members who are reading this have known the joy of salvation, but for those who have never considered what it is that Christ has done, I plead with you to think deeply upon these things. This gift of being made right before God in Christ is possible and available to any who will humbly recognize his sinfulness before the One, True, Holy God, and who will ask that the wrath he deserves, be forgiven based upon the only acceptable payment to God for sin which is that made by Jesus Christ upon the cross. It is available to you. Humble yourself before God. Confess your sin. He will forgive you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

Dawn King

****THERE IS A FOUNTAIN

William Cowper (pronounced Cooper) was a brilliant, highly educated man and one of England’s most revered Poet Laureates. But he was a fragile and emotionally, unstable mess. 

He was born in 1731 in England. Before the age of six, three of his siblings died, and then, his fifth sibling died at birth, along with his mother.

His father, a pastor, sent him to a boarding school where William learned very little about the Christian faith. He suffered with feelings of anxiety, isolation, disappointments, and a cold, weak relationship with his father, who pushed him into an education and law career for which he had no interest. 

At the age of 21, he began experiencing severe attacks of depression. His father died; his stepmother died, and his best friend drowned. He failed several suicide attempts and the woman he loved dumped him.

Facing a public bar examination, he suffered a mental breakdown and slipped into full clinical insanity. 

His brother committed him to a mental asylum. 

It was there he met a therapist who was reading one day. William asked him what he was reading and the therapist read to him, these words from Romans 3; …being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

When he finished that passage, the therapist explained the gospel to William. That was when Cowper understood that Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient to cover all his sin. 

After 18 months, he was released from the asylum, and he met a minister, Morley Unwin, who invited him to live with him and his family. Pastor Unwin died two years later so, Cowper and the Unwin family moved to the village of Olney where he became a friend and ministry assistant to John Newton.

But he could never stop slipping back into his episodes of mental darkness. To help him through, John Newton suggested they work together on hymn writing.

Even though Cowper struggled his entire life with the feeling of being under God’s wrath, he held on to the assurance that one day he would finally be free. 

In 1770, he wrote a hymn based on of Zech.13:1: “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.”

The hymn paints a vivid picture of Christ’s atoning blood and God’s forgiveness. 

“THERE IS A FOUNTAIN filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” 

****WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS?

There is a myth about the origin of many of our hymns that goes something like this:

"The melodies for some of our great hymns of the Christian faith were originally bar tunes."

Even though that's been debunked many times, it just won't go away.   The problem is a misunderstanding of musical terminology.  

Hymnwriters did, and still do use bar tunes, but that doesn't mean what we think.  The correct terminology is a “bar form,” which is a specific musical form where there are two identical or similar lines followed by a contrasting one.  That form would be noted musically, as AAB or in some cases, AABA.  (An example of that form would be the hymn, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.")

Today’s Hymn was not written in a pure, classic bar form, but the tune was associated with a well-known old song, “The Ballad of Captain Kidd,” the infamous Scottish pirate.

That 18-verse ballad tells a very dark and stunning story about an arrogant man who, in the late 1600s, rejected his godly upbringing, thumbed his nose at God’s laws, and terrorized and murdered a lot of people.  Ultimately, he was hanged, publicly, in a cage and left to rot along the River Thames.

The first stanza says:

My name was William Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed,

My name was William Kidd when I sailed,

My name was William Kidd; God’s laws I did forbid,

So wickedly I did, as I sailed.

In contrast to that ballad of a ruined sinful life, is an American Folk Spiritual, that shares the same tune and structure.  WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS? is a song of praise to God for His great grace and mercy.  It originated in the revivalist camp meetings of the American South.

Written music was rare in the early 1800's, and spiritual songs were passed down orally.  So, for ease of memorization, the writers kept their texts simple and used a lot of repetition.

This is a personal, introspective hymn that addresses our souls.   And, even though it’s simple, it is not shallow. 

It starts with a profound question and a fearful sense of overwhelming awe.  What kind of love is this that would cause the Lord to “bear the dreadful curse for my soul?”

It’s reminiscent of another hymn, written by Charles Wesley.  The first stanza of, And Can It Be, ends with similar language, "Amazing love!  How can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me?"

WHAT WONDROUS LOVE IS THIS?  is a simple and biblical summary of the gospel.  It was God’s love that sent His Son to earth to bear the punishment for our sins.  Therefore, we should praise Him in this life and we look forward with assurance that we will sing His praises for eternity.

(the entire 18 verses of The Ballad of Captain Kid can be viewed HERE.)

****JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL

The three greatest and most prolific writers of English language hymns are Isaac Watts, Fanny Crosby, and Charles Wesley.  Each of them wrote thousands of hymns.

Some of Charles Wesley’s best-known hymns include "Ye Servants of God, Your Master Proclaim," "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus," "A Charge To Keep I Have," "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," "Soldiers Of Christ, Arise," "Oh, For A Thousand Tongues To Sing," and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."

But many scholars of Christian hymnody have labeled his hymn, JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL, the greatest hymn ever written and even where there is disagreement, almost all of them agree that it is the best of Wesley's hymns.  He wrote it shortly after his conversion in 1738. 

The hymn had many early critics who considered it unsuitable for public worship.  His own brother, John, disliked using terms of endearment to address God; he thought the use of phrases like, “Jesus, Lover of my Soul,” and “let me to thy bosom fly,” were too intimate and, so, he would not allow it to be used for congregational singing.  It was not published in any hymnbooks until six years after John’s death.

Unlike most of Charles Wesley’s songs, this one has very little verifiable, historical context.  There is no particular event linked to it but there are several, often repeated, sentimental legends.  Some of them seem too fantastic to be believable.

  

One story that is most often repeated is that, in one of his many open-air evangelistic meetings in Ireland, Charles Wesley preached a convicting message that was not very well received.  A mob of angry attendees assaulted him and intended to kill him.  Wesley ran for his life and came to a nearby farmhouse. 

The farmer’s wife, Jane Moore, hid him in the milk house.  Within a few minutes, some of the mob arrived looking for him.

Mrs. Moore stalled their search by offering some refreshments.  She told them she needed to go to the milk house to get something cold to drink. 

 

Then, in the milk house, she told Wesley to climb through the rear window, and hide under the hedge.  Outside, he found branches overhanging a little brook that was flowing beside the hedge.  That gave him a safe hiding place.

While he waited for the angry mob to give up their search and leave, Wesley pulled a pencil and paper from his pocket and began to write the lyrics to this song. 

Whether or not any of the stories are true, there is no doubt as to the hymn’s skillfully applied allusions to scripture, its doctrinal integrity, and its universal influence in the Christian church.

The great American preacher, Henry Ward Beecher, once said: “I would rather have written this hymn of Wesley’s than to have the fame of all the kings that ever sat on earth.”