****WHITER THAN SNOW revised

 

WHITER THAN SNOW

Redemption is a “once for all” transaction where a sinner is washed in the blood of the Lamb of God who was slain for our sins. But in this world, we will do things and go places that will stain our hands and feet, so we need regular and frequent cleansing to keep us in fellowship with the Lord. He is holy and He commands us to be holy.

If you were a child in the mid-1900s, you probably remember Fizzies. They were little, colored seltzer tablets that we would drop into a glass of water and then watch them fizz up. When the tablets were completely dissolved, they turned plain tap water into tasty, carbonated soft drinks. They came in seven flavors: grape, orange, cherry, lemon-lime, strawberry, cola, and my favorite, root beer. By the early 1960s, Fizzies were more popular than Kool-Aid®.

One day, when I was about eight years old, my Mom left me at home with my grandfather. It was a summer day, and I wanted a Fizzie soft drink so I asked him if I could go to the market and get some. He said no!

Well, I pouted about that for a while until I found some coins on my mom’s nightstand. So, I took a quarter (that was equivalent to about $2.50 today). I sneaked off down the street to the market and I bought some root beer Fizzies. They sure tasted good.

When my mother got home from work, she found the Fizzies wrappers in the trash can and asked me how I got them. I told her Grandpa gave me the money. She didn’t question me anymore and I thought I got away with that, but I really didn’t. She knew that I lied to her. Even though she never said anything else about it, I knew she was disappointed with me (I could tell by the silent treatment) and I carried the guilt of that sin for a long time.

Finally, after several days, I confessed; I lied to her, I took her money, and I disobeyed my Grandfather. That’s when she forgave me, she smiled and hugged me, she told me she loved me, and our relationship was restored.

That heavy, guilty feeling I had, is called conviction. That’s the way the Spirit of God works in our lives. He is like a mother with eyes in the back of her head; she sees everything, and she knows what you did, and she will make your life miserable until you are sorry and corrected.

When we sin, the Holy Spirit relentlessly chases and chastens us until we are grieved so much that we are brought to a place of confession and repentance.

And that work of the Spirit, in us, is evidence of true salvation. It is one way a believer can know that he is saved. If you are not miserable about your sin; if you can ignore the pleas from other Christians, to stop, and if you can quench or silence the Spirit and continue to sin, it is possible that you may not have the Spirit of God in you and there is good reason to question the reality of your salvation.

When David sinned, he felt that same guilty feeling of conviction and he recorded his confession and repentance for us in Psalm 51 which was the inspiration for James Nicholson’s hymn, WHITER THAN SNOW.

In the Psalm, we see that David is deeply troubled by his sin. He knew that there would be no forgiveness from God without his confession and so, he is pleading with the Lord, “Have mercy upon me, O God, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, and You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.”

Then, after admitting his sin, David asked God for His forgiveness and a restoration of their fellowship; Wash me, and I shall be WHITER THAN SNOW.

****THE SOLID ROCK revised

****THE SOLID ROCK 

Edward Mote was not raised in a godly home. He didn’t have the advantage of an early exposure to the Word of God. His parents, who managed a pub in London, often neglected their son who spent most of his Sundays on the streets of the city.

About his own childhood, he said: “So ignorant was I that I didn’t even know there was a God.”

But, eventually, Edward heard the Good News of the Gospel. He believed and was baptized at the age of 18 years. That’s grace! And that’s the only basis for our Salvation.

Edward worked as a cabinetmaker for 37 years but it wasn’t until after his 55th birthday, that he became the pastor of a Baptist church in Horsham, Sussex. And for the next 21 years, Edward did not miss a single Sunday preaching the Word of God.

He was so well-loved by his congregation that they offered him the title deed to the church building. But, to that, he said: “I do not want the chapel, I only want the pulpit; and when I cease to preach Christ, then turn me out of that.” 

I am amazed at that statement. It was profound. Edward Mote understood that the church is not about a building; it’s about the pulpit. It’s about the preaching of the Written Word of God which is inseparable from the Living Word of God.

I once had a pastor who referred to his pulpit as the SACRED DESK. He placed a small, engraved plaque on the top. For anyone who ever stood behind it, the engraving was a simple reminder from the pages of scripture that said, “Sirs, we would see Jesus.” 

There is a good reason that so many churches place the pulpit right up front in the center of a raised platform. It is there to expose, elevate, and expound the Word of God so that the people can clearly see Jesus.

Edward Mote wrote the hymn, “THE SOLID ROCK,” at the age of 37. It is listed among the greatest hymns of the Christian faith. It reminds us that our salvation, our only Hope, is in the shed blood of Jesus (a sacrifice for our sin), and His righteousness is imputed to us.

Simply put, “I owed a debt I could not pay; Jesus paid a debt He did not owe.”