Praise Him! Praise Him!

If you had to forfeit the use of one of your senses for a week, which one would it be?  Sight, hearing, taste, touch or smell: which would you choose?  Would you spend that week grousing about the loss?  Would you let everyone know what a sacrifice your life was under as a result of this inconvenience?  Would you be even more grateful for that sense when it was returned?

Fanny Crosby was born with sight, but in infancy she was blinded by a medical mistake.  Fanny really never saw it that way, however.  She saw it as the special gift that God had given her.   She found that the soul has beautiful vision.  Fanny wrote her hymns during a great period of revival that ran from the time of the Wesleys, from around 1735, to the great revivals of the twentieth century, to around 1950.   Charles Wesley contributed over 6000 to start with.  Fanny Crosby added about 8000 of her own.  Other prolific hymn writers of that period added a thousand or more each.  Many more writers wrote a few hundred hymns each and some of our favorite hymns of that period were the only ones written by that particular author. 

Many of Fanny’s hymns have remained popular over a century after she went home to the Lord.  Most of her songs were not the great doctrinal works of the Reformation.  Those grounded the church in what it believed.  Many of Wesley’s hymns were also written in the same vein.  Crosby’s hymns and Gospel songs, however, were largely a personal expression of praise.  They lifted the heart in joyful praise to the saving God.  They extolled His keeping grace.  They testified of the eternal hope of each believer.  They were very personal, not just to Fanny, but to all who found voice in making exclamations of praise.

It is hard to choose one hymn for recognition here, so I chose two.  One is the title today and one is the one on her tombstone, “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine.”  Rejoice today in singing with Fanny her song of remembrance.

“Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.  This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long.  Perfect submission, all is at rest I in my Savior am happy and blest, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love.”

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In the Crucible

Don’t we all just really love the “good days”?  Those are the days when the sun shines, the birds sing, the kids play nicely and supper dishes seem to just clean themselves.  It’s true.  Those are good days.  Many people think those are the days that really want to make us sing.  But praise is not only a comely thing on “good days”.

The German reformation was a period of over a hundred years marked by war, disease, famine and persecution.  Over half the population of Germany died during those years.  Nearly all of some cities perished by plague while surrounded by enemy armies.  What is amazing is what wonderful music came from those 120 years of terror.  By some estimates over twenty thousand new hymns were written during that chaotic time. 

What did they sing?  Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress”, one of the most sung hymns in Christendom.  Martin Rinkart wrote the great hymn “Now Thank We all Our God”.  Another wonderful hymn is Peter Herbert’s “Faith is a Living Power”.  As these saints of God endured the horrors of their age they found peace in singing songs of praise.  These hymns are not laments or posing questions of doubt to the almighty God; they are songs of greatest confidence in His love and care.  They express the deepest sounds of faith from those whose faith has been most deeply tested.  At no point do they think God has abandoned them because it was not a “good day”.  They knew that all days with God are good! 

Because it is the least well known of the three hymns mentioned let us conclude with a few verses of Herbert’s hymn “Faith is a Living Power”.  While singing this hymn of joy and faith, have a really good day. 

Faith is a living power from Heaven, that grasps the promise God hath given,

A trust that cannot be o’erthrown, fixed heartily on Christ alone.

Faith in the conscience worketh peace, and bids the mourner’s weeping cease;
            By faith the children’s place we claim, and give all honor to one Name.

And from His fullness grant each soul the rightful faith’s true end and goal,
           The blessedness no foes destroy, eternal love and light and joy.

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Thy Name We Praise

One of the most controversial elements of the modern church centers around what the congregation will sing.  Instead of concentrating on the teaching of God’s word or the sanctity of Christ’s church, we are lost in an argument over what shall we sing next.  Some people point to the clear scriptural teaching that we should sing a “new song” while others insist on the equally scriptural admonition that we walk in the “ancient paths”.  Even Solomon could not unravel this one. 

It is a simple fact that the church has been singing a new song since its inception.  The history of Christian hymnody traces new musical systems and hymns sung in the church since the second century AD.  In the seventeenth century Isaac Watts stirred things up in a big way by introducing the modern English hymn.  Luther had brought the German church alive a century and a half earlier with his and his associates’ hymns.  All these new hymns met with both a positive and negative response.  Still, we sing both the hymns of Luther and Watts in our churches today because they convey eternal truths about the Triune God, His work, His glory and His praise.  Their work carried on in the spirit of the oldest hymns of Christendom. 

It was the content of the hymns that was enduring.  It was the heartfelt expression of God and of our response to His amazing grace.  This is the essential point on which music for the Church of Jesus Christ will be evaluated by future generations.  What did it do for the glory of God, the praise of His name, His work and His grace?  Such hymns will enrich all believers and can enrich our churches for today and tomorrow. 

One of the earliest known hymns of the Church is quite simple.  It extols God, honors His glory, recognizes the Trinity and calls upon His people to praise Him.  It isn’t sung anymore in our churches, but it is the pattern for all true Christian hymns.  Its simplicity and beauty are timeless.  Here it is, and let us all rejoice to learn this “new” song.

.. Let it be silent       Let the Luminous stars not shine,

Let the winds and all the noisy rivers die down;

And as we hymn the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Let all the powers add "Amen Amen"

Empire, praise always, and glory to God,

The sole giver of good things, Amen Amen

  The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

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Purpose

Have you ever asked yourself that one big question – why am I here?  I don’t mean the question that everyone over 60 asks whenever they go into another room, for half the time that question never finds an answer.  I mean here, this world, now, in this life.  Why am I here?  Do you have your answer ready?

One of the great songs that God wrote gives us the answer.  Yes, God wrote songs.  Every word of the Bible is given by inspiration and that means that the songs we find in the Bible are given by God.  God is a great hymn writer.  In Revelation 4:11 He wrote, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You have created all things and by your will they exist and were created.”  There is a song worth remembering.  We will hear it every day in heaven. 

Why are we here?  We are here because God wills us to be here in this time in this place.  He wills us to be here to the praise of His glory.  (Ephesians 1)  We are not in this place or time by mistake.  The eternally great and wise God put us here for His purpose and He did it at the right time.  I don’t belong a century ago or a century from now.  I cannot go back and should not long to do so.  I will not go forward and come back as another person in a future generation.  God put me and you here now by the purpose of His will. 

So, what are we here for in 2017?  If you have never believed in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and Savior, then you are here to believe.  It is not God’s will that any should perish.  (II Peter 3)  If we have believed in Christ as God’s Son and Savior, then His will for you and me this year is to live to the praise of His glory.  Paul wrote the Ephesians and said, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  He didn’t prepare them for us to do a hundred years ago or a hundred years from now.  He prepared them for us to do today when we are here for the praise of His glory. 

In 2017 let us all remember that we were created by His will and that we are born again to live as His workmanship unto good works prepared just for us to do. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

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Penitent

Oops!  We had that firm resolution to eat better this year.  We really meant it, but then we saw the cherry cheesecake in the fridge left over from the New Year’s Eve party.  We just couldn’t let it go to waste, so we let it go to our waist.  Only two days into the new year and already our firm resolution is shot.  Now how penitent do we need to be?

None at all is the simplest answer.  It is the theological one anyway.  God has set laws in His word, the Bible.  Some of those laws were purely ceremonial and were fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Christ.  The first church synod in Acts 15 made that declaration by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and that truth is reinforced at length in the book of Hebrews.  Some of God’s laws, moral ones, like “Thou shalt not steal” are in effect for all society for all time.  When we break these absolute laws of God we should be penitent, sorry for our sin.  We should go to God who gave the law and tell Him we are sorry and accept His forgiveness.  That is the wonderful gift He gives us through Jesus Christ.

Now about that cheesecake, let us consider a paraphrased quote from Luther who probably was paraphrasing someone else’s comment.  “Neither the believer nor the Church has the liberty to create moral laws where God gave none nor to abolish the laws that He gave.”  I assure you dear friend that there is no law in the Word against finishing the cheesecake.   God does not want us to be burdened with manmade laws that cripple our joy in Christ. (Col. 2:20-23) In fact we are told that if we eat it with thankfulness we are free to eat anything.  (I Timothy 4:3)

Too often we take ourselves and our resolutions to self denial too seriously.  I am not saying be a glutton for God does condemn gluttony.  I am not saying live an undisciplined life for God’s word is full of directions to the contrary.   What God is saying in Colossians 2 is that we are not a better person for not eating the cheesecake.  We are better people for knowing and loving Him.  Please enjoy Christ this year. 

Great Christ of God the wedding feast at Cana you did enjoy

And for the blessings of the host Your power You did employ

So let us find the joy in life with all You did create

And give You praise and righteous thanks in all we celebrate

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Resolutions

The new year has begun and many noble hearted souls have made some resolutions.  Papers are filled with ads for exercise equipment and gym memberships.  Additional ads for ways to stop smoking, getting organized or building your portfolio are everywhere.  Businesses know they must strike while the iron is hot and it is very hot when New Year resolutions are made.  Even if no one keeps their resolutions for more than just a month, the sales have been made and the profits put in the bank. 

Personally, I don’t usually make resolutions.  In the summer I walk Molly four miles every day.  In the winter I walk her three miles a day.  I figure the extra hour it takes me to get dressed and undressed for winter weather compensates for the one mile of walking I missed.  I am a writer, so therefore I have no money to put into a portfolio and if I got organized I wouldn’t know where anything is.  My beloved bride has tried for years to make my office into “efficiency central”, but I have never quite grasped her methodology and prefer to find my things on little pieces of paper stuck in piles with other little pieces of paper all over my desk. 

At issue, however, is why do people make resolutions?  Mostly it is because they want to be better: better fit, better health, better organized, better in general.  That is an admirable goal and we would all benefit from being better people in general.  But being a better person in general does not satisfy a deeper longing of mankind.  That desire is to be “Better Enough” to please God. 

That is a goal we cannot reach.  From Genesis to Revelation the Bible makes it clear that we are sinful.  It isn’t an illness we can take a pill for and get over.  It isn’t a defect that we can work on and get rid of.  It is in the very essence of our human nature and while many people strive to be better citizens or family members, they cannot get rid of the sinful condition that separates us from God.  Only God can take care of that problem.  He did it at the cross of His Son Jesus Christ.  Christ took our sins upon Himself so that in Him we can have forgiveness and a new life that is seen by God through the righteousness of His Son.  Luther said that each day we should say, “I am baptized.”  By this he means that we should see that we have died to the old self and we are now alive to the new man in Christ.  Each day with that statement we are saying, “I am resolved today to live with, by and for the Christ who died for me.” 

James Fillmore wrote the hymn, “I Am Resolved”.  It can be our theme song for each day of each year.  “I am resolved to follow the Savior, faithful and true each day; heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth, He is the living way.”

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Happy New Year!

          I am certainly not the first to give you that greeting, but be assured my sentiments are heartfelt.  I wish for you all the joy, the peace, the comfort and hope of God to enrich your days all this year through.  Each of those things is an element of His abundant grace that really makes life worth living.  Consider those who are missing these things in their lives. 

Sadly, there are those for whom the joy of each new day is blocked by the cynicism of life that says we are all just truly waiting for the “next shoe to drop” so we shouldn’t get too joyful today.  The absence of faith in the true God of compassionate love darkens their days.  The God who sacrificed His own Son for us is really just a demented puppeteer who is waiting to break all our strings and let us fall.  The true joy that He wants to give is scoffed at and left as an unopened Christmas gift.

And so it is with all the wonderful gifts of God’s grace.  All the Christmas gifts He gave: joy to the world, peace on earth, lifting the fallen, securing the hopeless and, well, just keep reading the Christmas story along with the prophesies of Mary and Zacharias to find the rest; all these priceless gifts of love are left unopened.  How many people will live the rest of this year without those precious gifts of God? 

It is sad but true that some will reject these gifts and prefer to try and live their lives without the benefits of God’s grace.  More sadly is the fact that many still have never heard that such gifts are available.  That is why we, God’s children, are still here for the coming year.  He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.  He wants us to communicate through words and life that there is hope, joy, peace and comfort found only in Jesus Christ.  He doesn’t call us all to stand in a pulpit or go to a jungle village, but He does call us all to be witnesses in word and life that Jesus is real and that God’s grace in Christ is unfathomably rich toward all who believe.  This year let us all strive to make it a truly happy new year for those whom Christ came to save.

Frances Havergal wrote these words on all her New Year’s cards in 1874.  “Another year of service, of witness for Thy love, another year of training for holier work above; another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be on earth, or else in heaven, another year for Thee.”

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