****THE SOLID ROCK (2)revised

On Christ, The Solid Rock I Stand

Martin Luther was only 13 years old when he enrolled at the University of Erfurt to study law. He earned a baccalaureate and a master’s degree in the shortest amount of time allowed by university statutes. And he was so skilled at public debates that he earned the nickname, “The Philosopher.”

It was All Saints’ Eve in 1517 when he publicly objected to the church’s practice of selling indulgences. Those were documents whereby parishioners could have their sins forgiven. As Tetzel once preached, "Once the coin into the coffer clings, a soul from purgatory heavenward springs!"

Martin Luther was rude, crass, and obnoxious. And the older he became, the more cantankerous he was. He mocked the popes and other theological enemies with cutting sarcasm and vulgar language.  Nevertheless, he was God’s chosen man for the times, and he was on a mission to declare that SALVATION IS BY FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE.

Luther objected to so many of the church’s practices that he called for public debates to challenge the authority of the church and expose its blasphemous and heretical paganism.

At one debate, he declared that "a simple layman armed with the Scriptures was superior to both popes and councils without them.”

When the church leaders threatened to excommunicate him, he replied with his three most important treatises which are like these three Distinctives held by Baptists today:

In the first, he called for church reform, arguing that all Christians were priests.

The second treatise called for the reduction of the church’s seven sacraments to just two ordinances: baptism and the Lord's Supper.                                                             

In the third, he declared that Christians are free from the bondage of church laws, but instead, they were bound in love to their neighbors.

In the 1953 movie, MARTIN LUTHER, is a scene where his opposing superior asked, “If we removed all these ‘rituals and relics’ as you say, with what would you suggest we replace them?”

Luther’s answer was powerful and unapologetic; he simply shouted, “CHRIST!”

In 1521, the Holy Roman Emperor summoned Luther to an assembly at Worms, Germany. Luther believed he was going to another debate, but it was a trial demanding him to recant his 95 theses.

He replied, "Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures, I cannot and will not recant.” Then he added, "Here I stand. I can do no other.  God help me!  Amen.”

When the Roman church convicted him of heresy, Luther fled and hid for nearly a year. Yet he maintained his defiant determination to STAND FIRM with God’s Word against a corrupt religious system for the rest of his life.

I don’t know if Edward Mote was inspired by Martin Luther, but in his hymn, THE SOLID ROCK, are some similar declarations of truth that remind us that we too, must stand firm on Christ alone. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ Name. On Christ, the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

N

****FAITH OF OUR FATHERS

“…the church has always been beset by heretics and false teachings, and church history is full of the evidence of this.

“Obviously, then, we who love the Truth cannot automatically shy away from every fight over doctrine, especially in an era like ours when virtually every doctrine is deemed ‘up for grabs’. Christians need to be willing and prepared to contend earnestly for the faith.

“Clearly, there are two extremes to be avoided. One is the danger of being so narrow and intolerant that you create unnecessary divisions in the body of Christ. The other is the problem of being too broad-minded that you settle for a shallow false unity with people whom we are commanded to avoid or whose error we are morally obligated to refute.”

(Phil Johnson, Executive director Grace to You)

Throughout church history, there have always been open doors to false teachings and practices in the Church.  One of those doors has been the pragmatic approach to evangelism. 

But another common breach is in worship music.  Music has a powerful effect;  it tends to lull people of different faiths, doctrines, and practices into a false unity. 

Christians are often too quick to accept or are easily influenced by religious ideas without first examining the doctrines and origins of the music we use in our worship services.  Such was the case with a Roman Catholic song that has been accepted and sung by millions of Protestants unaware of its history and true meaning.

Frederick William Faber was raised in a reformed protestant family. His father was an English minister of Huguenot ancestry (The Huguenots were reformed French Christians who were persecuted by the Church of England.).  Faber was opposed to the doctrinal tenets of the Roman Church but, as a young man, he came under the teachings of John Henry Newman, the most prominent English Roman Catholic scholar of the 19th century. 

Faber was lured toward Roman Catholic beliefs and practices and was influenced by a “works righteousness” movement that stressed that the only way to a true religious experience was through liturgical and ceremonial church practices. Eventually, he rejected the reformed doctrines of grace.  He resigned his parish, converted to the Roman Catholic Church, and became known as Father Wilfrid.

Having experienced the way religious hymns influenced the life and outreach of the Protestant churches, Faber was determined to compose hymns that supported the Roman Catholic doctrines and practices. He wrote about 150 of them. 

With his hymn, FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, Faber’s original intent was to remind Catholic parishioners of the suffering and martyrdom their forefathers endured during the reign of King Henry VIII and the Protestant Queen Elizabeth.  And in one verse (printed below), the hymn expressed the hope that someday, by the effectual prayers of Mary, the Church of England would be won back to the Roman Catholic faith.

(original text of the problem stanza)

Faith of our Fathers! Mary's prayers

Shall win our country back to thee:

And through the truth that comes from God

England shall then indeed be free.

The origin of this hymn obviously had to do with Christian martyrs — and we are always inspired by those kinds of stories. In his epistle, Jude exhorts us to “Contend (or fight) for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3) 

So, after many years and several attempts to correct and revise it, the hymn we sing today stands as an appropriate reminder of those who, in every age, have remained faithful to God and His Gospel even in the face of great persecution and death.

****STAND UP AND BLESS THE LORD

The reformation was responsible for many Christians fleeing Europe to relocate where they could exercise their faith without persecution.  And the result was the spreading of the Gospel throughout the world.

The Hussite movement that became the Moravian Church, was started by John Huss in the early 15th century in what is today, the Czech Republic.   Hus protested some of the unbiblical doctrines and the political persecutions executed by the Roman Catholic Church.  Since the movement predated the Protestant Reformation by a century, some historians claim the Moravian Church was the first Protestant church.

About 400 years later, James Montgomery, a Moravian orphan grew up to become a prominent British journalist and one of England’s greatest hymn writers.

   

As a newspaper editor in Sheffield, England, he developed a reputation for his radical editorials which he used to advocate for social reforms and humanitarian causes.  He was passionately critical of slavery, he promoted democracy in government, and the end of the exploitation of child chimney sweeps.  Other causes, he championed, included hymn singing in the Anglican church services, foreign missions, and the British Bible Society.

In Europe, in the late 18^th century, Christians who spoke against governments or the Church, were often punished or persecuted.   And so was James Montgomery. He was imprisoned, twice, in the Castle of York, for his editorial activism. The first time was for printing a poem that celebrated the fall of the Bastille which, ironically, was a French prison for political critics who wrote things that displeased the royal government.

A year after his release, he was incarcerated, again, for criticizing a judge who forcefully dispersed a political protest in Sheffield.

So, from his cell, James used his writing ability to profit from his imprisonment.  In 1797, he published a pamphlet of poems written during his captivity, that he titled, Prison Amusements, with a subtitle, Words with Wagtails (wagtails are birds that would frequently visit him on his prison window sill).

In a long poem titled, The Pleasure of Imprisonment, An Epistle to A Friend, he details every moment of his daily routine as a prisoner.   I was amused at this verse where he figuratively thumbs his nose at his captors:

Fanatic dreams amuse my brain, 

And waft my spirit home again:

Though captive all day long, ‘tis true, 

At night, I am as free as you;

Not ramparts high, nor dungeons deep,

Can hold me – when I’m fast asleep!

James Montgomery wrote over 400 hymns including the Christmas carol, “Angels We Have Heard on High” and the communion hymn, “I Will Remember Thee.”   About him, the writer Alfred H. Miles wrote, “His Christian songs are vigorous in thought and feeling, simple and direct in action, broad in Christian charity, and lofty in spiritual aspiration.”

In 1824, he wrote a children’s hymn for the Red Hill Wesleyan Sunday School anniversary celebration in Sheffield.  The song began, “Stand up and bless the Lord, ye children of His choice.”  A short time later, the word “children” was changed to “people.” 

The text was based on Neh. 9:5: “Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.”

This hymn uses simple and clear language to proclaim the glory of God.  It’s a call for God’s people to stand up with courage and praise God and to boldly speak up and proclaim their faith regardless of the political climate.    

STAND UP AND BLESS THE LORD.  

****SING PRAISE TO GOD WHO REIGNS ABOVE

SING PRAISE TO GOD WHO REIGNS ABOVE is a hymn that was written during a time of several converging events in church history.  

The Protestant Reformation started in Germany when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral.  That was in 1517, and just a few years later, by the time he died, the new Lutheran Church was strong and fervent and it was the dominant Christian force in Germany and throughout Europe.

Another contributing factor to the rise of Christianity in Northern Europe was the influence of the Bohemian-Moravian Brethren.  They were very zealous followers of John Huss, who, in 1415, had been burned at the stake because of his evangelical views.  The Brethren had migrated into Germany in search of religious freedom.

Then there was the Thirty Years War (1618-1648).  It was a miserable time of persecution for Christians in Germany.  The Roman Catholic Church was at war against Protestants throughout Europe.  The German population had been reduced from 16 million to 6 million people.

By the middle of the century (just about one hundred years after the death of Martin Luther) the Lutheran Church was still doctrinally sound but they had lost much of their zeal.  In those days, Philipp Jacob Spener became the pastor of a congregation in Frankfurt.  One of his earliest members and his most trusted friend and helper in the ministry, was a young attorney, Johann Jakob Schutz.

At Johann's suggestion, Philipp Spener began to hold small group gatherings in homes for prayer meetings and Bible studies.  His preaching heavily emphasized the need for repentance and personal piety.  His discipleship moved his people from dead orthodox rituals to active personal faith and holy living.  That became the basis for the Pietistic revival movement in the Lutheran Churches in Germany.

One notable difference between traditional Lutheranism and the new Pietism was the active involvement of the laity in the church.  The regular gathering together of believers became a participatory time of worship rather than a spectator event conducted by the clergy.

(So, what was this thing called Pietism?  The root of the word is “pious” and if you are like me, you might be suspect of it.  That’s because the meanings of words change over time.  Our modern usage has negative connotations; it means to be characterized by a sanctimonious or hypocritical pretense of virtue or religious devotion.

But the classic definition means to have or show a genuine spirit of respect or reverence for God.)

As the father of the new Pietist movement, Philipp Spener outlined his Five Guiding Principles in a document titled “Pious Desires”.  Those included:

• The increased use of scripture.

• Lay participation in small groups, emphasizing prayer and Bible study.

• A balance of faith and actions.

• An emphasis on a pious clergy.

• Sermons that encourage an active faith.

Because of the movement’s new emphasis on hymns and congregational singing, rather than just Psalms only,  many new German hymns were written during those years.   It was pastor Spener’s friend, Johann Schutz, who authored five hymns including “SING PRAISE TO GOD WHO REIGNS ABOVE.” His inspiration for the hymn was Deut. 32:3, “For I proclaim the Name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God.”

And that verse is exactly the model he used for each stanza of this hymn. 

Verse 1 proclaims the All-Powerful God of creation and Salvation.

Verse 2 proclaims the Ever-Present God who is our help and our peace.

Verse 3 proclaims the joy of knowing God.

Verse 4 proclaims that our God is Christ, the Lord.

There are two other verses that are not printed in most of our hymnbooks.  One of them proclaims the God Who never sleeps; He is always in control.  

The other proclaims the God of Mercy. 

Each proclamation, then, is followed by the same refrain: "To God, all praise and glory."