**** HYMN TO A GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN (O GOD, THE DEEP IMMUTABLE)

How big is your God?  I noticed last week, in our Bible study (Behold Your God), one commentator made this statement: “(Our) great goal…is to be amazed with the bigness of God and to allow that to infiltrate and affect our lives in every arena of our lives.”

It seems like our culture, our country, and the whole world is rushing headlong into destruction.   Immorality, lawlessness, and godlessness is all around us and every day seems worse than the one before.  Consequently, many people, including Christians, are insecure, worried, and fearful.

It's NOT sufficient to simply acknowledge that God can or may use bad situations for our good.  We need to understand that God is much bigger than all our problems.  So, I continually remind myself; God is Sovereign.  But is He sovereign in ALL THINGS?  Do we really believe that?  Are we sure?

I know that most Christians will admit that God is in control but I wonder if we really believe that He controls ALL THINGS.   I sometimes ask that question of my Christian friends and almost every one of them answers "Yes, God is sovereign." 

But then, when I dig a little deeper and ask more specific questions about things like His control over our health, our environment, our finances, or even our salvation, the answers I get are often surprising.  One person answered, "Well, He is sovereign to a certain extent."

NO!  God is not sovereign to an extent.  There is no extent to God; He is immeasurable and infinite.  He is not limited in any of His attributes.  If your god’s sovereignty is limited, then your god is not the true God as revealed in His Word.

A God who is truly Sovereign is NOT reactive; it's not simply that, because He knows the future, He manipulates circumstances and works to change the outcomes of bad things.  He is not on the defensive.  The truth is that He is proactive.  He has ORDAINED ALL THINGS for His Glory.

HYMN TO A GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN (sometimes called, O God, The Deep Immutable), is a hymn about the “bigness” of God.  It focusses our attention to the mighty power of a sovereign God who rules over ALL His creation.

The first stanza begins with one of His attributes; God is immutable; He NEVER changes.  He doesn’t change His mind or His plans.  And He is not changed by His creation.  He doesn’t learn anything; nothing has ever occurred to Him so He is not caught off guard by anything men do.

God is not changed by time either.  He doesn’t grow older, He doesn’t forget, and He isn’t uncertain or surprised about the future.

The second stanza assures us that He is not caught off guard by nature.   All creation, the entire universe, changes at His command.  (Are you worried about global climate change and the threat of rising sea levels?)  Well, Proverbs 8:29 informs us that, even the boundaries of the seas are set by God’s spoken Word.  He is the Sovereign ruler over ALL things.

He is not only a SOVEREIGN ruler; He is also a GRACIOUS ruler. After the song proclaims the vast, immeasurable wonder of His power and glory, the hymn writer uses the final two stanzas to reveal His grace, love, and mercy. Because He is immutable, His care for us never diminishes; “He who began a good work in us will complete it.” (Phil. 1:6)

God is in control and He, intricately, works all things together for the good of those He is saving.  And that is why, as Christians, we can find peace and great comfort even during times of hardship, persecution, or tribulation.  

But, as the songwriter indicates, the greatest evidence of God’s graciousness is that “(He) demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)

HYMN TO A GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN

 (O GOD, THE DEEP IMMUTABLE)

Sing to the tune of, "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem"  KINGSFOLD c.m.d.

  

O God, the deep immutable,
The changeless, wise and still;
The absolute, eternal One;
You wield the sov’reign will.
Deep Heav’n itself and even time,
Must bend beneath Your sway.
With whispered thought You banish night,
With flash of blinding day.

  

The seas are bounded by Your Word;
Great mountains heed Your call.
Majestic swirls of galaxies,
Adorn Your royal hall.
The centuries are lumps of clay,
Shaped by Your strength and skill.
You mold the long millennia,

To the dictates of Your will.

  

The boundless, black-robed skies proclaim,
Your vast, astonishing might;
Their flaming jewels rejoice for You,
In silent shouts of light.
With sure and sovereign strokes, Your hands,
Finger the cosmic strings,
And play celestial symphonies.
As all creation sings.

  

And silent now, the angels stare;
Stunned seraphs blush, amazed;
Great Michael sheaths the sword that, at,
The Gate of Eden, blazed.
And Gabriel sets his trump aside,
And listens to his Lord,
As Love, incomprehensible,
Becomes the Living Word.

  

Now, space and time have cracked before,
The size of this event:
The glorious Godhead shudders as,   

The Son, to Hell, is sent.
Though Very God of Very God,
He counts it all but loss,
And comes and suffers as a man,
From manger to the Cross.

Words by Neil Barham (used by permission)

****OH SPIRIT, NOW WE THANK YOU

Our hymn book contains about 800 songs and hymns.  Many of them are rich with sound teachings about our God, Jesus Christ, Truth, salvation, Christian living, the Word of God, praise, worship, and the Church. 

But, when it comes to the subject of the Holy Spirit, so much of the available music borders on blasphemy or, at least, heresy, which is defined as “an unbiblical doctrine or belief; or a teaching that does not come from God or His Word.”   

We often find phrases like “Come Holy Spirit, fill this place, fall afresh on me, or, I want to feel your presence or your power or your joy.”

The problem with lyrics like those is that they teach us very little, or no truth.  And a lot of them appeal to our physical senses rather than our minds.  Feelings and emotions are not evidence of the Spirit’s presence or His work. 

 

Paul instructed the Church at Ephesus to “speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:19)

His letter to the Colossians was a little more intentional.  He said, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col. 3:16)

Those instructions define our purpose for corporate singing in the Church; it is to teach and reinforce biblical truth for our edification and for God’s glory.  So, what SHOULD appropriate lyrics look like when we sing about the Holy Spirit?

I think Jesus answered that before He left, when He said to His disciples, “I tell you the truth; It is necessary for you that I go away: for if I do not  go away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  I have many things, yet, to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all Truth: for He will not speak of Himself.  He will glorify Me.” (John 16)

The Spirit uses the Word of God to accomplish the Work of God.  If we are going to celebrate and honor the Holy Spirit in our singing, we need the Truth of God’s Word to fill our minds and to permeate our worship. 

O SPIRIT, NOW WE THANK YOU is a contemporary hymn written and arranged by Ken Puls. In my opinion, this one of the most doctrinally correct hymns ever written about the Holy Spirit. In every phrase, it teaches several, biblically accurate aspects of the Spirit’s work.  It is by Him, that we have the written Word of God.  With the Word of God, He convicts us of sin.   He conforms us to righteousness by the application of His Word.  And with the Word of God, He equips and empowers us for service.     He illumines the Word of God so that we can understand it, and by His Word, He guides us and teaches us all Truth. 

And, just like Jesus told His disciples, The Holy Spirit never brings attention to Himself.  With the written Word of God, He always and only glorifies Jesus Christ, who is the Living Word of God.

O SPIRIT, NOW WE THANK YOU

1.   O Spirit, now we thank You,

For giving us Your Word.

Please bless its proclamation,

The truths that we have heard.

Indwell us and empow'r us,

And cause us to obey;

Shine now the light of Scripture,

On all we do and say.

2.   Great Artist of the Scriptures,

In beauty, You have made,

God's Word to shine in glory,

That cannot fail or fade.

In poetry and proverbs,

Through narrative and line;

In prophecy and hist'ry,

God's truth in splendor shines.

3.   You, down through many ages,

Inspired men to write,

Progressively revealing,

You brought God's truth to light.

O Spirit, come illumine,

This truth for us today;

And guide us in sound doctrine,

The straight and narrow way.

4.   Wield now Your Sword, O Spirit,

The quick and living Word,

And rend our hearts asunder,

With truths that we have heard.

O search us now and know us,

Expose iniquity;

Conform us to our Savior,

And holy we shall be.

(Final notes) 

This is an excellent hymn of thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit, Who shines the Light of Truth on our Savior. 

The musical score flows nicely with the lyrics and is simple enough for most congregational singing.

The hymn is metrically adaptable to the music of several other familiar hymns including, “The Church’s One Foundation,” “O Jesus, I Have Promised,” “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” and “Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus.”

O SPIRIT, NOW WE THANK YOU

Words and Music by Kenneth Puls © 1966

Used by permission.

****PRAISE THE LORD! YE HEAVENS ADORE HIM

In 1739, Thomas Coram founded an orphanage in London.  By the early 1800s, it had become well-known for its music programs and it was a popular attraction for Londoners to attend Sunday services just to hear the children’s choir sing.   George Frederick Handel donated an organ for the chapel and he often presented benefit performances of the “Messiah,” to raise funds for The Foundling Hospital of London. 

 

That archaic word, “foundling,” is defined as “an abandoned infant who has been found.  A young child with no known parents or guardians.

John Keble used the word, foundling, in a verse of his poem, “The Second Sunday After Epiphany:” 

Fathers may hate us or forsake,

God's foundlings then are we;

Mother, on child, no pity take,

But we shall still have Thee.

And the phrase in Amazing Grace, “I once was lost, but now am found,” is an allusion to Luke 15:24, where that imagery was used by Jesus.  In His parable of the prodigal son, the father said, “…my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and now is found.”

The Foundling Hospital is remembered today, mainly because of a hymnbook compiled in 1796, by Coram titled, Psalms, Hymns, and Anthems of the Foundling Hospital, London.  Inside the jacket of that book, was an anonymous poem inspired by Psalm 148.  It became the lyrics of the first two stanzas of the hymn, PRAISE THE LORD!  YE HEAVENS ADORE HIM.

Psalm 148 begins and ends with the same command; “Praise the Lord.”

“Praise the Lord! 

Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights.  Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.  Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light.  Praise Him, you highest of heavens, and you waters that are above the skies. 

“Let them praise the Name of the Lord, for He commanded, and they were created.  He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree that shall not pass away.

“Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all you depths, fire and hail, snow and mist, storming wind fulfilling His Word, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars; animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds; kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth; both young men and maidens, old men and children. 

“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is excellent; His glory is above the earth and heaven.  He has raised up a victory horn for His people, praise for all His saints, even for the people of Israel near Him. 

“Praise the Lord!”

The Psalm can be divided into three parts:

Part 1 commands the heavens and everything in them, to Praise the Lord.

And Part 2 commands the earth and everything in it, to Praise the Lord.

It may seem odd that God would command all His creation (the sun, moon and stars; the waters, the elements, and all plant and animal life) to praise Him.  The word, Praise, means to recite or reflect God’s attributes back to Him.  How can those things do that?  Well, obviously, not with spoken words or human languages but, in all of nature, His design, purpose, and handiwork are clearly seen.  So, all creation is a continuous testimony to His greatness, and His power, and His Majesty. 

This idea is reminiscent of the opening verses of Psalm 19 where we see a similar testimony of God’s creation. Notice the allusions to speech; “Heaven is declaring God’s glory; the sky is proclaiming His handiwork.  One day gushes the news to the next, and one night informs another, what needs to be known.  Of course, there is no speech, no words— their voices can’t be heard—but their sound extends throughout the world; their words reach the ends of the earth.”

Part 3, is a general command for ALL people, everywhere, to Praise the Lord.  And whether or not they willingly do that now, we know that one day, “Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”  (Rom. 14:11, Phil. 2:9-11, Is. 45:23)

Verse 14 ends the Psalm with a personal reminder to God’s foundling children.  We have greater reasons to praise Him.  We were once lost and now are found; we have been redeemed and adopted.  We have been shown mercy and grace.  And we can praise Him for Jesus Christ who suffered and bled and died for our sins that we might be saved.

So, we are ALL commanded to Praise the Lord.

****ALAS! AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED? (2)

“You can’t be saved if you don’t know you’re lost.”  We don’t hear that axiom much, anymore, because, in our modern culture, we practice too much self-worship and self-esteem. We tend to minimize our own sinful natures. We use non-offensive terms like “missing the mark,” “shortcomings,” or “mistakes.”

We do that with our children too. We avoid telling them about their sin or calling them out for their rebelliousness. We use phrases like “acting out” to describe their bad behavior. Instead of disciplining them or allowing them to suffer consequences for their willful disobedience, we give them “time out” and send them to their rooms to play with their video games. 

We are inclined to make excuses for our sins like, “I’m just human,” or “That’s the way God made me,” or, “I’m a good person, I’m not nearly as bad as a lot of other people.” But God doesn’t compare people on a sliding scale.

The Gospel is Good News but before we can begin to appreciate the goodness of God’s grace, we need to know how grievous our sins are.  We must first understand the Bad News of the Gospel. 

In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul, the apostle, quoting from the Psalms and Isaiah, made a startling, assessment of all men everywhere. “They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good.  They are dead.  They are as unclean things and their good works are like filthy rags.”  “There is no faithfulness in their mouths; in their body is destruction; their throat is an open tomb. Their mouths are full of cursing and deceit and oppression; under their tongue is trouble and iniquity” (Is. 64 and Rom. 3).

That’s really Bad News.  It’s a blanket indictment against all people. There are NO EXCEPTIONS!  

Humility was a major theme in my former pastor’s sermons for a few weeks and I think this song, ALAS! AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED? is a truly, humbling hymn. In the first stanza, Isaac Watts used an image that has been rejected by a generation that thinks too highly of itself. The phrase, “for such a worm as I,” has been replaced, in most modern hymnals, with “for sinners such and I” or “for such a one as I.” Those alterations are unfortunate because they minimize the horrible depth of our sin natures. But his allusion to a worm is scriptural and is an important setup to the hymn’s contrast between man’s sin and God’s grace.

  

Bildad asked Job, “How can a man be righteous before God?  If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in God’s sight, how much less is man, who is a maggot, and a son of man, who is a worm?”

Abraham referred to himself as mere "… dust and ashes." (Gen. 18:27).  And Isaiah said, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6)

David wrote, “I am a worm and not a man.” (Psalm 22:6).  That was a prophetic statement about the Son of God who would humble Himself to become the One who would be despised and scorned by men, and even forsaken by His Father when He was hung, in our stead, on the cross.

So, the allusion is both fitting and humbling. Isaac Watts laid out the Gospel in a way that leaves us no room to gloat with pride or self-esteem. Instead, we are humbled and struck with great grief when we realize our wretched, helpless condition. That’s the meaning of the word, “Alas.”  There is no place to turn; there is no hope in our own goodness or worth. 

In the second stanza, Watts asks a disturbing, rhetorical question, "Was it for crimes that I had done, He suffered on the tree?”  And the only answer is YES!  We can’t just blend in or hide, unnoticed, with the masses of humanity; this is personal. This is where our humility suddenly turns to grief and shame as we face the awful truth; Alas!  My sin caused His pain; I am responsible for His suffering and death. 

It’s at that point, we can begin to appreciate and understand the magnitude of the GOOD NEWS.  The Lord laid my sin on Jesus who willingly took my punishment on the cross. The second verse ends with an expression of humble praise to God for His amazing mercy, grace, and love.

ALAS! AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED?

Alas! and did my Savior bleed,

and did my Sovereign die;

Would He devote that sacred head,

for such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I have done,

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! Grace unknown!

And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,

and shut its glories in,

when God, the mighty maker, died,

for His own creature's sin.

Thus, might I hide my blushing face

while His dear cross appears;

dissolve my heart in thankfulness,

and melt mine eyes to tears.

But drops of tears can ne'er repay

the debt of love I owe.

Here, Lord, I give myself away;

'tis all that I can do.

****BRETHREN, WE HAVE MET TO WORSHIP

BRETHREN, WE HAVE MET TO WORSHIP is one of America's great revival hymns.  It was authored by George Atkins, in 1819, during the Second Great Awakening.

The title (and some of the lyrics) have been altered in several publications. The word, “brethren” was changed mainly in concession to the modern pressures of political correctness.  It’s frustrating whenever those kinds of changes are made without consideration for the author’s intended use of the language.  Through a careful reading of the text, it is obvious that there was nothing discriminatory in the original uses of the word.  It was a generic noun that referred to both men and women but also for men specifically.  The hymn writer used it both ways; the context makes it clear.

The song begins with a definitive purpose statement; We have come together to Worship the Lord.

In the revised version (sometimes titled “We Have Come To Join In Worship”) the participants, in this act of public worship, are identified as “we” and “us.”  Those pronouns are indiscriminate but, In the original text, the worshipers are more specifically identified as “brethren.”  I think that is an important distinction because the regular, organized gathering of believers for worship is not an open club meeting; it is not our special interests or demographics that hold the Church together.  The Church is a local body of those who have been redeemed and joined together as “brothers and sisters” by our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

After stating the purpose for the meeting - to worship and adore God, the congregation is petitioned to engage in its first and most important order of business - Prayer.   And that prayer has a specific purpose.  God’s people are to pray with sincere expectations that, in our gathering for worship, He will speak to us through His Word. 

Many of you might remember the days when church leaders and some members would come early to church just to pray before the service and to continue, even while the pastor was preaching.  We should all approach our worship services with that kind of prayer.  We should pray for our pastors before they speak and continue our prayers, while they are speaking, asking the Spirit of God to direct their words so that we will hear and understand the very Words of God.  Unless the Holy Spirit is working in us and in our service, everything we do is vanity.

At the end of each stanza, the hymn writer uses a similar phrase of expectation, that God will supply us with an abundance of His manna.   

In Exodus 16, Moses was having a problem with the people. Bible scholars estimate that there were about 2.5 million Israelites, plus a mixed multitude with them, wandering around in the wilderness.  They were hungry and needed food every day.  So, God provided daily bread for them.  It was a complete, perfect food.  It was nutritious, it was satisfying to the taste, and it was all-sufficient for their sustenance.

In this hymn, manna is a metaphor for the Word of God which is our spiritual food; it’s everything we need for our spiritual life and health.  It’s the Bread of Life.

Why did Atkins put so much emphasis on this manna when their purpose was to worship God?   Well, the word, "worship" (in one of its most commonly used forms), means to bow down and obey.  Or to rephrase that, it means to submit to the lordship of God and do what He commands.  And we can’t obey Him if we aren’t hearing (or feeding on) His Words.  That’s why the Word of God is to be preeminent in and central to our worship; we read it, we pray it, we teach it, we sing it, and we preach it.

The hymn also instructs us to look around.  Just like with the children of Israel in the wilderness, we can assume that there will be others among us. We need to be aware of them and pray for them too.  The same manna that sustains our spiritual lives, can give new life to those who don’t know the Lord.

In the second stanza, Atkins reminds us that death is certain and hell is real, so we must preach the gospel.  God saves lost sinners by the preaching of His Word, and by the power of His Spirit.  Paul, the Apostle said, “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost” (1 Thess. 1:5). 

The instructions, for gathering manna, was for each person to gather for their own sustenance.  But some of those who were weak and could not gather enough, ate from what others had gathered so that no one was left needy or lacking.  Besides the strangers among us, there are also likely to be some who are weak in faith or struggling with sin.  We need to be aware of their needs too.  Where their faith or prayers lack, others can help by encouraging, teaching, and praying for their needs.     

This is a great hymn with a biblically accurate guide for why and how the church is to conduct itself in corporate worship.

BRETHREN, WE HAVE MET TO WORSHIP

Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God;

Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word?

All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down;

Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Brethren, see poor sinners round you slumb’ring on the brink of woe;

Death is coming, hell is moving, can you bear to let them go?

See our fathers and our mothers, and our children sinking down;

Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Sisters, will you join and help us? Moses’ sister aided him;

Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin?

Tell them all about the Savior, tell them that He will be found;

Sisters, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Is there here a trembling jailer, seeking grace, and filled with tears?

Is there here a weeping Mary, pouring forth a flood of tears?

Brethren, join your cries to help them; sisters, let your prayers abound;

Pray, oh, pray that holy manna may be scattered all around.

Let us love our God supremely, let us love each other, too;

Let us love and pray for sinners, till our God makes all things new.

Then He’ll call us home to Heaven, at His table we’ll sit down;

Christ will gird Himself and serve us with sweet manna all around.

****HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD

Adelaide A. Pollard was a sincere Christian lady who, from all indications, was fully dedicated to the work of the ministry.  She spent most of her life serving her Lord.  She was convinced that God was calling her to be a missionary.

Following her education in elocution and native cultures, she moved to Chicago and for several years she worked in a variety of Christian ministries while trying to raise funds and support for her desired missionary work in Africa.

She worked as a teacher in two different schools for girls and she was also engaged as an itinerant Bible study teacher.  She aided in the teaching and preaching circuits of two evangelists and later, she taught at a missionary training school.  Though she spent most of her life in ministry work, she was frustrated; the dream of a calling to Africa was fading.

At the age of 45, while attending a prayer meeting one night, an elderly woman was praying.  As she began her prayer, the woman omitted the usual kinds of requests for God to give them health and shower them with physical blessings.  Instead, she simply uttered the words, "It really doesn't matter what you do with us, Lord -- just have your way with our lives . . .."

On her way home that night, that old woman’s prayer reminded Adelaide of a passage in Jer. 18:3-6, “So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel.  And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.  Then the word of the LORD came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done?’ declares the LORD. ‘Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’”

Adelaide began to form the lyrics in her mind, and before going to bed, she had written the lyrics on paper.  That night in 1907, was a turning point in her life as she realized that God is in control; He directs us and uses us in His service for His good pleasure.  Nevertheless, she continued to hold out hope that God would lead her to Africa.

At the age of 60, she finally made a trip to a mission work in Africa but, shortly after her arrival, World War I interrupted her plans and she spent the war years in Scotland.  After the war, she returned to the United States in poor health but continued to work in Christian ministries until she died at the age of 72 in 1934.

Some have speculated that this hymn's third stanza is an autobiographical statement of her personal struggles to discern and submit to God's will fo her life.

In 1989, the scourge of Political Correctness brought about two changes in this hymn.  Before it was acceptable for the new United Methodist Hymnal, it was scrubbed of any perceived inferences to racism or slavery.  

In stanza two, the word, "Master," was changed to "Savior."  But that doesn't really make sense in the context of the song; God as our Savior is already presumed but as the Potter, the Lord IS our Master and He has the right to mold us and use us as He sees fit.

The second alteration they made was to the phrase, "whiter than snow."  It was changed to "wash me just now," which was a pointless redundancy as the very next phrase was a repeat of that phrase.

Those who favored the changes argued that one doesn't have to be white to be perceived as spiritually pure and socially acceptable.  An African American member of the committee said, "You can wash me as much as you wish, but after you've finished, I'll be just as black, which is beautiful." 

But the argument was foolish.  This hymn is not about being socially acceptable; it's about our sanctification and our humble submission to our Lord and Master.

To be fair, there were some, on the committee, who wanted to retain the original text.  They rightly reasoned that the biblical reference, in the text, was about our spiritual cleansing as in Psalm 51:7, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow," or in Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Most other conservative denominations did not allow Political Correctness to redefine the biblical teachings of this hymn, but retained the rich text in verse two, as it was intentionally written:

Have Thine Own Way, Lord!  Have Thine own way!

Search me and try me, Master, today.

Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,

As in Thy presence, humbly I bow.

****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?