****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.  

****GOD LEADS HIS DEAR CHILDREN ALONG

Haldor Lillenas, the founder of the music-publishing company that bears his name, immigrated to the United States from Scandinavia as a young man.  A kind Christian lady befriended him and taught him the English language.  She also taught him about Jesus and, she introduced him to the world of Christian hymns.  One of her favorites, which she sang often, was GOD LEADS HIS DEAR CHILDREN ALONG. 

 

Years later Haldor began to research the origin of that hymn.  What he found was that there is not much information or any reliable records about the author, George A. Young.  He was a poor preacher who worked hard as a carpenter to provide for his wife and family.

 

After years of sacrifice, George was able to build a small house for his family.  But soon after they occupied it, while he was preaching in another community, some gospel-hating young punks set fire to their home.  It was completely destroyed.

In 1903, George Young published his hymn for which he wrote both the lyrics and the score.

   

And that’s about all we would know if Haldor had not dug a little deeper.  Without the modern convenience of Google Search, he discovered that the writer, George Young, had passed away, but that his widow was living in a nearby town.  So, he found an address and he drove out to meet her. 

When he stopped at a gas station to ask for directions, the attendant said, “Sir, that’s the County Poor House, up the road about three miles.  And mister, when I say poor house, I really mean poor house!”

When he arrived, he found a poor, elderly woman, in simple surroundings. But she was rich in spirit; she radiated with joy, and she spoke of how the Lord had guided her and her husband over many years.

She said, “My husband and I were married while we were very young. God gave us a wonderful life together; he led us from day to day. We had so much of Jesus. But then God took him.”

Then she told him, “I am so thankful that God has led me here!  You know, every month, people come into this place to spend the rest of their days.  Many of them are so sad and in such great need of help and comfort.  And so many of them don’t know my Savior.  I have been able to cheer them and introducing them to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Isn’t it wonderful how God leads His children?”

GOD LEADS HIS DEAR CHILDREN ALONG is presumed to be George Young’s personal testimony of his unwavering faith in God, through times of great trials and difficulties.

****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."    

****MY SAVIOR'S LOVE

  

I selected this song for our Sunday worship because my Pastor's sermon was about how we (Christians) are to be prepared for persecution and suffering because our Lord suffered persecution.

In this hymn, the writer, Charles Gabriel, refers to the Lord as “Jesus the Nazarene” which references a statement in Matthew’s Gospel:

“He [the Lord Jesus] came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’.”

What does that mean?  To be blunt, Nazareth had a lousy reputation; it was the “lowlife neighborhood on the other side of the tracks.”  Nazarenes were despised by most people including the people of Galilee.

When Philip referred to the Lord as “Jesus of Nazareth”, Nathanael’s derogatory response was, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”

Later, followers of Christ (who were associated with Paul), before they were known as Christians, were called, “the sect of the Nazarenes” which was intended to be an insult and a put-down.  (And, by the way, the world STILL hates us because the world hates Christ.)

This kind of scornful contempt for the Son of God was prophesied:

(Ps. 22:6-7) “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.  All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;”

(Ps. 69:20-21) “Reproaches have broken my heart so that I am in despair.  I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.  They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst, they gave me sour wine to drink.”

For Jesus to be called a “Nazarene” might allude back to Isaiah’s prophecy; “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him and no beauty that we should desire Him.

“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces.  He was despised, and we esteemed him not.

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”

So all of this is to be expected.  We are all familiar with the first few verses in the second chapter of Philippians-- the “Humiliation of Christ.”  It details a remarkable description of how the Almighty God, the creator of the Universe, the Holy and Just One, would stoop so low and take on the form of a man and suffer and die for His creation.  Certainly, this humiliation would include rejection, persecution, grief, beatings, scorn, and maltreatment.

The hymn writer’s personal sense of “amazement” is that this One, so despised by humans, would love him enough to die for his sins.

MY SAVIOR'S LOVE

I stand amazed in the presence,

Of Jesus, the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

He took my sins and my sorrows;

He made them His very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary

And suffered and died alone.

When with the ransomed in glory,

His face I, at last, shall see,

’Twill be my joy through the ages

To sing of His love for me.

Refrain:

How marvelous, how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

How marvelous, how wonderful

Is my Savior’s love for me!

And that is the message of the gospel of grace, the Good News that the Son of God set aside His glory and humbled Himself to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

He suffered and died a terrible death, under the wrath of God, as our substitute, so that we, through faith in Him, might be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life.  How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me.