****SOLDIERS OF CHRIST, ARISE

He’s like an old friend; I look forward to seeing him regularly. I come, early in the morning, several times a week and when I look up to the cross on the top of the steeple, he’s always there.

 

I watch him as he scours our church grounds with his laser-like hawk eyes.   From his perch high above the steeple, he stands guard, ever watchful, for snakes and vermin and other pests that might do harm to our people and our property.  And when he sees one, quickly and silently, he unapologetically swoops down for the kill. 

Charles Wesley wrote SOLDIERS OF CHRIST, ARISE in 1747.  He originally titled it, "The Whole Armor of God, Ephesians 6."  It’s one of several battle hymns that have become largely rejected by the modern church because of their militaristic images.

  

At the time, The Church of England was intolerant of those who rejected its false teachings.  Christians were persecuted, their homes were vandalized, and many were stoned, mauled, dragged through the streets, and sometimes killed.

   

Wesley was aware of very real physical battles as he wrote the hymn. Yet the more important theme of his song refers to the spiritual warfare that all Christians face in every age. 

In today’s climate of political correctness and social justice, we are pressured to keep our beliefs to ourselves to avoid offending others. Those who would speak up to defend God’s Truth are accused of being judgmental or intolerant.

It’s easy to avoid controversy and just focus on love and forgiveness rather than standing for the whole truth of God’s Word.  But that is not God’s way.  God has given His church some Steeple hawks; people who guard and protect us from false teachers and false doctrines.  Primarily that responsibility has been assigned to pastors, but we are all called to be vigilant and to fight for truth.

Jude warned us to watch out, “...for certain men have crept in unnoticed, ...ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.  ...these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain (an) advantage.

“But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:  how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.  These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.”

And the apostle, Paul, encouraged his young friend, Timothy, to "fight the good fight of the faith." (1 Tim. 6:12).

This hymn encourages us to put on the full armor of God and it reminds us that our strength in the Lord. We should always be ready to defend the truth whenever someone teaches or promotes unbiblical beliefs.  

****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.”

****AND CAN IT BE?

I had a brief conversation with a friend, one day, about the Gospel. Jack professed to be a Christian but there was no evidence of it in his speech, his actions, or his life. When I began to question him about his faith, he said, “Hey! You don’t have to worry about me.  I’m okay with God; I did that thing years ago.”

That “thing” he referred to was a one-time event in his life when someone talked him into repeating a prayer and accepting Jesus into his heart. 

And so he had no interest in hearing the gospel. He believed that he was a good person and that he had done all the things necessary to ensure his favor with God. Jack passed away shortly after that.

The question each of us should ask ourselves is, What part did I have in my salvation?  What did I do to merit forgiveness and eternal life? What good have I done that God should show favor toward me?

For those of us who are saved, the answer to all those questions is, “NOTHING.”  We were depraved. We were destitute. We were spiritually DEAD. There was nothing any of us could do to merit God's favor. There was no good that we could do to satisfy Him. 

The Good News of the Gospel is NOT that "God Loves You."  It's NOT that "He has a wonderful plan for your life."  It's NOT that "He is standing and knocking at the door of your heart” hoping that you might invite Him in.

So, what is the Gospel?  In summary, it starts with the bad news; we are all sinners worthy of God’s judgment and wrath, and there is nothing we can do to erase our sin or buy our pardon. We need a Savior. We need a Redeemer.

The good news is that Jesus is the only substitute in every aspect of a believer’s salvation. He lived a perfect, sinless life of obedience to His Father and He did it for us.  He died a horrible death on the cross and endured the wrath of His Father, for us. He was victorious over sin and death for us. Our only right response, then, is to turn from our sin and trust Him for our salvation.

AND CAN IT BE? Was written by Charles Wesley and it is one of our greatest Gospel Hymns. It starts with a series of introspective questions: Is Jesus’ blood of any concern to me? Am I the cause of His pain? Did I cause His death? And then, as though the lights suddenly came on, the songwriter asks, “What is this amazing love? How is it that You, my God, should die for ME?”

The whole plan of redemption was decreed, by God, the Father before we were even created. It was secured by the Son of God, who is our Substitute, while we were yet dead in sin.

And verse two tells us that Jesus, in an act of mercy and grace, left the glory that was His and humbled Himself to become a man. And He suffered a horrible death for the sins of His people. 

Verse three describes our miserable, helpless condition; we were bound in sin and spiritual darkness without hope until God intervened. He broke the chains that imprisoned our souls, He shed His Light in our hearts, and He rescued us from the penalty of sin and death.

Finally, verse four is the glorious Good News; There is now, no more condemnation for those who believe. Jesus paid the penalty for us. God’s justice is satisfied. He imputed His Son’s righteousness to our account and He gave us new life. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Rom. 5:8)

  

This hymn should humble us when we realize that there is nothing we have done or can do to merit God’s amazing love, forgiveness, and salvation. “(This) is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”  (1 John 4:10)

The song doesn’t do much for our egos but it does magnify and glorify our Savior.

AMAZING LOVE!  HOW CAN IT BE THAT THOU, MY GOD SHOULDST DIE FOR ME?    

****O, FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES TO SING

Charles Wesley wrote O, For A Thousand Tongues To Sing in 1739 to commemorate the first anniversary of his conversion to Christ.

The title comes from the seventh verse (which has been moved to the first verse in modern hymn books).  It is believed that the inspiration for this verse came from his friend, Peter Bohler, who once said to him, “Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Him with them all.”

Like most hymnbooks, ours has five verses (printed below in bold type) .  Many Methodist books use seven and a few books contain ten verses.  But the original hymn had 18 verses.  Many of them have been omitted because the hymn is just too long for most congregational hymn singing.  A couple verses (12 and 17) were eliminated because of pressure from the political correctness crowd.

The exact order of the verses, as originally written, is uncertain but the order here is consistent with the majority of authoritative sources: 

In the first part of the hymn, Wesley employs two verses (1 and 7) of Praise and Glory to God as parentheses around his personal testimony (Vss. 2-6) of faith in his Savior. 

Verse eight is a prayer for assistance to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ to the world.  Then in verses 9-11, he expounds on the power of that name.

And then, in verses 12-17, he makes a general appeal to the lost world to turn from sin to Christ.  He closes with words of assurance in this life and the promise of our eternal hope.

1.    Glory to God, and praise and love,

Be ever, ever given,

By saints below and saints above,

The Church in earth and heaven.

2.    On this glad day the glorious Sun

Of Righteousness arose;

On my benighted soul, He shone,

And filled it with repose.

3.    Sudden expired the legal strife,

’Twas then I ceased to grieve;

My second, real, living life,

I then began to live.

4.    Then with my heart, I first believed;

Believed with faith divine.

Power with the Holy Ghost received,

To call the Savior mine.

5.    I felt my Lord’s atoning blood,

Close to my soul applied.

Me, me He loved, the Son of God;

For me, for me, He died!

6.    I found and owned His promise true,

Ascertained of my part.

My pardon passed in heaven, I knew,

When written on my heart.

7.   O for a thousand tongues to sing,

My great Redeemer’s praise.

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of his grace!

8.    My gracious Master and my God,

assist me to proclaim;

To spread through all the earth abroad,

the honors of Thy name.

9.    Jesus! The name that charms our fears;

That bids our sorrows cease.

‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears;

‘Tis life, and health, and peace.

10.  He breaks the power of canceled sin;

He sets the prisoner free.

His blood can make the foulest clean;

His blood availed for me.

11.  He speaks, and, listening to his voice,

New life the dead receive.

The mournful, broken hearts rejoice;

The humble poor believe.

12.  Hear Him, ye deaf, His praise, ye dumb,

Your loosened tongues employ.

Ye blind, behold your Savior come,

And leap, ye lame, for joy.

13.  Look unto Him, ye nations, own

Your God, ye fallen race.

Look, and be saved through faith alone,

Be justified by grace.

14.  See all your sins on Jesus laid:

The Lamb of God was slain.

His soul was once an offering made,

for every soul of man.

15.  Harlots and publicans and thieves,

In holy triumph join!

Saved, is the sinner that believes,

From crimes as great as mine.

16.  Murderers, and all ye hellish crew;

Ye sons of lust and pride,

Believe the Savior died for you;

For me, the Savior died.

17.  Awake from guilty nature’s sleep,

And Christ shall give you light.

Cast all your sins into the deep,

And wash the Æthiop white.

18.  In Christ, your head, ye then shall know;

Shall feel your sins forgiven.

Anticipate your heaven below,

And own that love in heaven.

This is a great hymn for doctrine, worship, and edification.  And even though we never sing all eighteen verses, it is worth occasional reading through in its entirety.