Friday 31 May 2013

Hymn Story: My Jesus, I Love Thee

1 John 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.

 
Sixteen year old William Featherston of Montreal, Canada wrote this simple but profound hymn in 1862, not long after he was converted to Christ. William wrote no other hymns that we know of and his brief life ended just before his twenty-seventh birthday.

How could such a young man write this thoughtful hymn? The answer begs the question, as young or old, when a person comes to Christ, the Holy Spirit bestows a power that transcends the commonplace.

Young William had been confronted by his sin and an eternity separated from God. In a life changing moment, he had trusted Jesus to forgive His sin.

William had been transformed into a "new creation", a child of God. Sinfulness had given way to repentance. He experienced the incredible joy of a life purchased by the blood of Jesus. Earlier, Jesus had been just a name, but now Jesus was William’s ‘Redeemer’. So loved by God, William could write these beautiful words expressing his love for Jesus.

Though William lived only ten years after writing this hymn, perhaps, instinctively, he knew that his destiny was "endless delight", that he would sing an unending song of adoration to his Lord:

In mansions of glory and endless delight
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright,
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.’


Do you belong to Jesus? Are you a "new creation"? If so, then with praise and adoration, sing this ‘love song to Jesus’. Let these words express your devotion for Christ’s sacrificial death on ‘Calvary’s tree’.

But if you’re not a child of God, why not ask Jesus, right now, to become your Redeemer? Acknowledge your need of a Saviour and tell Jesus that you are coming to Him as a repentant sinner, trusting only Him to save you and cleanse you of your sin. Tell Him that you believe in Him and His Word, and that you want Him to take control of your life, to come into your heart and be your Saviour and Redeemer.

Like William Featherstone, it will be the greatest decision you will ever make.

Listen to it here: My Jesus, I Love Thee

Friday 10 May 2013

Hymn Story: Rejoice the Lord Is King

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.


Early Methodists were persecuted and lived lives of hardship. Charles Wesley, who with his brother John started the Methodist movement, wanted to encourage his followers. He wanted them to be a singing, joyful people and not get discouraged and lose hope. Paul’s letter to the Philippians gave Wesley the text for "Rejoice, the Lord Is King." Although Paul was imprisoned when he wrote this letter, he wrote a message of joy and encouragement, stating "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice."

"Rejoice, the Lord Is King" was first published with six stanzas in 1744 in John Wesley’s Moral and Sacred Poems. Two years later Charles Wesley included it in Hymns for Our Lord’s Resurrection. Most hymnals include four stanzas, omitting the fourth and fifth stanzas of the original hymn.

We sing "Rejoice, the Lord Is King" to the hymn tune Darwall’s 148th. An alternate hymn tune, Gopsal, was composed by G. F. Handel for the hymn. According to Robert Guy McCutchan (Our Hymnody), Charles Wesley and Handel met at the home of Mr. Rich, whose wife had been converted through the preaching of Wesley. She requested that Handel compose hymn tunes for "Rejoice the Lord Is King" along with "Sinners, Obey the Gospel Word" and "O Love Divine, How Sweet Thou Art." Handel graciously agreed and composed Gopsal, Cannons and Fitzwilliam."

Listen to it here: Rejoice the Lord is King

Thursday 9 May 2013

Hymn Story: Make Me a Captive, Lord

Matthew 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.


"Make Me a Captive, Lord" lists a series of paradoxes. George Matheson wrote it as an interpretation of Ephesians 3:1, where Paul speaks of being the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Originally titled "Christian Freedom," the hymn lists a series of paradoxes. The first phrase, "Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free" is related to the beginning of a historic Church of England prayer, "O God . . . whose service is perfect freedom . . . ." This thought is common throughout Christianity, it is also reflected in John Donne’s Holy Sonnet XIV: "Take me to you, imprison me, for I, except you enthrall me, never shall be free . . . ."

There are many paradoxes in the Bible. In II Corinthians 12:10, Paul states: "When I am weak, then I am strong." Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:25, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" and in Luke 9:48, "For he who is least among you all will be great." And in John 12:24, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."

No doubt Matheson learned this lesson in his own life. Blind by the time he was 18, he eventually had to give up studying theology, which he loved. He then put his time and energy into devotional writing and preaching. As a preacher, he had a profound effect on all that heard him, including Queen Victoria and Oswald Chambers.

Listen to it here: Make me a captive, Lord

Friday 3 May 2013

Hymn Story: It Is Well with My Soul

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.


Horatio G. Spafford was a successful businessman in Chicago in the late 1860s, heavily invested in real estate along the shores of Lake Michigan. The disastrous Chicago fire of 1871 wiped out his holdings. He immediately worked to rebuild the city and assist the many that were left homeless.

In 1873 he arranged to take his family to Europe. He was close to D.L. Moody and Ira Sankey and planned to attend their evangelistic meetings in England, then take a vacation. At the last minute, urgent business kept him home, but he sent his wife and four daughters ahead on the S.S. Ville du Havre, planning to soon follow.

The night of November 22, 1873, the Ville du Havre, was struck by an English iron sailing vessel, the Lochearn. The ship sank in 12 minutes. Of the 273 people on board, only 47 of them survived. Mrs. Spafford was found nearly unconscious, clinging to a piece of the wreckage. Their four daughters did not survive. When she reached Cardiff, Wales, she cabled home, "Saved alone, what shall I do?"

Grief-stricken, Horatio immediately started to Europe to join his wife. En route, the captain pointed out the place where he believed the Ville du Havre had gone down. Returning to his cabin, he wrote, "It is well; the will of God be done." He later wrote the hymn "It Is Well with My Soul", based on these words.

Although Spafford in his hymn tells of the comfort that God gives, no matter the circumstance, he does not dwell on tragedy. In the third stanza he directs our attention on Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, and in stanza four, anticipates His Second Coming. As we through faith understand these things, we too can say, "It is well with my soul."

Listen to it here: When peace like a river

Thursday 2 May 2013

Coram Deo (May 2013)

God's holy justice means that He must execute judgment on humanity's sin, as He promised Adam and Eve eternal death if they were to eat of the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:15-17). The good news of the gospel tells us that we can escape the wrath to come if we are clothed with our holy Saviour (Rom. 3:21-26).

Jesus ransoms us from the wrath of God, which means that we never need fear His condemnation if we trust in Christ alone for our salvation. Our Saviour also rescues us from bondage to sin and Satan. Therefore, let us live out that reality, daily turning from sin by the power of the Holy Spirit.

"First, the law functions as a teacher by showing us God’s perfect righteousness and our unrighteousness and sin, and it shows our danger of God’s judgment, ..." —Burk Parsons

Jesus died to change our attitude to the law. He liberated us from the law’s condemning voice so that we can rightly hear its commanding voice. This leads us to say, as justified sinners, “I delight in the law of God in my inner being,” that is in our renewed natures, and, “So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind." —Daniel R. Hyde

Because we are sinners, we can do nothing in and of ourselves to merit eternal life. Even after we are saved, our best works remain tainted by sin and cannot produce the perfection we need for a righteous standing before God. Jesus’ active obedience to the Father, however, is put on our account when we trust in Christ, giving us confidence before him.

In the Old Testament, Israel’s high priest offered atonement only for the people of Israel, not for those who remained outside the covenant community. From first to last, the Bible teaches that God’s work alone saves His people and that He always accomplishes the salvation of those whom He wants to save. This is a great comfort, for it means He cannot fail to complete the good work He has begun in us.

Let us pray for the day of the Lord. Let us pray for that day when there will be no need for the sun or the moon because the Lord Himself will be our light. Let us pray for the day of eternal peace on earth that means no city will need to shut its gates for defence from enemies.

One result of the Messiah's work is to make his people "oaks of righteousness, the planting of The Lord" (Isaiah 61:3). If we trust in Christ, we are planted in righteousness forever, and will be preserved by His hand for the sake of His eternal glory.

When Christ came the first time, His primary aim was not condemnation. Condemnation was more of a secondary but inevitable consequence of rejecting His gracious salvation. “Whoever believes in [the Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already” (John 3:18). But Jesus will return to judge creation, and many will be condemned then (Rev. 20:11–15). The only way to escape eternal condemnation is to bow the knee to Him as Lord today.

“We are never more safe, never have more reason to expect the Lord's help, than when we are most sensible that we can do nothing without Him.” —John Newton

If we were asked to give a simple one-sentence summary of Christian eschatology, this would certainly suffice: God is going to make all things right. The Lord will fully transform all things, renewing them so that there will be no cause for pain, mourning, or anything else that we dread so much.

"In Romans 8:9, Paul reveals a stupendous fact: 'the Spirit of God dwells in you.' The Holy Spirit's indwelling is the sine qua non of being a Christian, meaning that He is the essential thing, or better yet, the essential person we need to be Christians." —Daniel R. Hyde from the weekend devotional titled "The Indwelling Sprit" in this month's Tabletalk magazine

It might be a cliché to say that we should "expect the unexpected." Yet because God is fully sovereign, there is a real sense in which we should expect Him to act in ways we have not anticipated. The Lord can do what we might consider impossible, not the least of which is to save His people without compromising His justice or mercy.

Scripture is clear that all sin begins with false worship (Rom. 1:18-32). Therefore, recognizing the idols and false worship behind our other sins advances our sanctification. At root, all sin manifests a desire to get what we want apart from the God who is, leading us to create all manner of idols that promise but can never satisfy.

To honour God as God, we must worship Him as He and He alone decrees. —R.C. Sproul

Every form of idolatry manifests our doubts that God really has the ability to save. Counsellors have long understood, for instance, that one of the main reasons people become drug, alcohol, and sex addicts is because they are looking for a way to escape their pain, to be saved from their trouble. But such things, as well as the gods of other religions, cannot rescue us. They all disappoint. Only the transcendent Lord of creation, the first cause of all things, can redeem us.

The world will worship Yahweh, the one true Lord of all. That is the conclusion of the Bible in many places. Thus we must eagerly pray for this day to arrive, and we must never think that any race, nation, or individual is so far gone as to be irredeemable.

We must always read the Old Testament in light of the new covenant revelation in Christ Jesus, the final Word of God to His people (Heb. 1:1-4).

“The Church has been trying to preach morality and ethics without the Gospel as a basis; it has been preaching morality without godliness; and it simply does not work.” —D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

May we long for the conversion of the nations to Christ, and work to that end with our time, talents, and treasures.

Matthew Henry comments, “The legal sacrifices had their virtue from the reference they had to Christ the great propitiation; but otherwise, of themselves, it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” While people believe that mere sacrifices appease God, they cannot benefit from Jesus’ work. Along with an outward profession, we must have an inner possession of trust in Christ; otherwise, we are not in Him, and if we are not in Him, we cannot be saved.

We can imitate the example of Jesus all we want, but if we do not believe the gospel, we do not know Him. The gospel is simple — we are to put our hope of salvation only in the Son, who was sent by the Father and who pours out His Spirit on His people.

God forgives sins without compromising His justice. That is the good news of the gospel. If He were to forgive sins by ignoring the demands of His perfect holiness and righteousness, then we could not be confident that the Judge of all the earth will do right. If He did not forgive sins at all, we would have no hope in this world or the next. Only the God of the Bible is both merciful and just. Only He is worthy of our worship and exclusive devotion.

The comfort of the gospel is not in that we are born children of God but in that God, seeing that all people are children of the Devil, nevertheless chooses to adopt a portion of humanity as His children in Christ.

God ordains all things, so if we are at peace with Him, we have nothing to fear. We find peace with Him only in Christ (Rom. 5:1).

"Being loved or being successful will never enable us to flourish as human beings. It is only God who satisfies our deepest longings." —Tedd Tripp from his weekend devotional titled "The Forgotten Woman" in the May 2013 issue of Tabletalk magazine

A nation that violates God's law impenitently will not stand. Countless empires have risen and fallen, and no great country is immune to decline and destruction if it pays no heed to the Lord. But God's faithful remnant will stand forever, shining forth the light of His holiness (Dan. 12:1-3). May we all be counted as members of this faithful remnant by trusting in Christ alone.

Outward reform of worship and society, while important and necessary, will not do much good in the long term if hearts are not changed to love God above all. Only the Holy Spirit can effect this change, which occurs through the preaching of His gospel. Gospel proclamation is the church's first priority.

When the day of judgment—the day of the Lord—arrives, there will be no more chances to ask for God's mercy. On that day, the grandeur of the city of man will be shown for what it truly is—emptiness. We must seek God's pardon before He brings human history to its consummation.

"The evangelical world seems obsessed with 'engaging culture' even as the average Christian’s knowledge of the basics of the faith diminishes. You can go to heaven without being able to offer a Christian appreciation of film, art, or music; one cannot go to heaven without knowing who Jesus Christ is and what He has done." —Carl R. Trueman from his September 2012 interview with Tabletalk magazine

When we first trust in Christ, we are freed from the power of sin. The removal of sin's presence, however, comes at our glorification when God, by His grace, brings us into the fullness of His kingdom, never to be handed over to sin again. This is part of the good news of the gospel—that Christ breaks the power of sin and will one day eliminate its presence as well. Let us preach this truth to ourselves and others each and every day.

God's love for us is great, for not only does He save His people but He also assures us of His tremendous love. John Calvin writes, "It is not without reason that God labours so much to persuade us of his love, because we are not only prone by nature to unbelief, but exposed to the deceits of Satan, and are also inconstant and easily drawn away from his word."

"God's words should be bound to [our] hearts, just like bracelets and headbands are bound to their owners, out in the open, in plain view, never to be forgotten or neglected." —Miles Van Pelt from his article "Bind These Words" in the May 2013 issue of Tabletalk magazine