Not just set free but MADE free

"The burning passion that sin ignites is never to be satisfied, but Jesus Christ takes all of that--my guilt, my failure--so that I might be made the righteousness of God. That's the great exchange.

"I get His righteousness, His acceptance before God and I'm in the Beloved. I be loved and I be loved because He made me so, and on my worst day or on my best day, when I'm not lovable in myself, or when I thought I was and 'let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,' I have a real acceptance," explains Richard Jordan.

"To be guilty is one thing, but not to settle the issue . . . Psychology can't do that. They pull it out, you know, and wear it as a medal around your chest: 'I confess my sin.' It doesn't resolve guilt; it's still there, but Jesus paid it all. He took care of it and gave me His righteousness.

"You get a sense of being trapped by your sins; enslaved by them, hemmed in. But in Ephesians 1:7 he says, [7] In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

"That word 'redemption' means to pay the price and set it free. It's really freedom. You're liberated from the control of sin. It means you don't have to sin anymore. You don't have to have that irritable spirit, that nasty disposition, that lustful eye, you know, envious, jealous. You don't have to do that; you're free in Christ from all of those entaglements. Christ died to set you free. He died to MAKE your free.

"There's a great song Down South we used to sing: 'He set me free, He set me free, He broke the bonds of prison for me.' But somebody pointed out to me one time that the Bible doesn't say that. It says He MADE me free. He made me a free person. He didn't just take me and set me free; He completely transformed me into someone who's free.

Romans 6: [17] But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. [18] Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

"That's what redemption is. Look, be strong in THESE things! Don't try to go out and be strong in, 'I gave money to the church, I passed out tracts.' Don't try to be strong in what you do because it always comes up short--'cut off my legs and call me Shorty.'

"What He did always answers it. He says in verse 7 we have 'forgiveness according to the riches of his grace.' Say what you will, sin haunts us. We need peace. The anger, the hurt that comes from sin. The hurt that comes from hurting others and be hurt by it.

"To know what it is to be forgiven allows you to forgive. You'll never be able to forgive until you understand how it is to be forgiven. The entaglements of sin. He says, 'I give you freedom.' The word 'forgive' means to send it away. But where do you send it? The only place you can send it where it's dealt with completely is the Cross.

"You send it into the vacuum of your memory but you know what happens? It belches back up at inconvenient times and it haunts you and you wind up hearing its footsteps. He says, 'I can show you a way to peace,' because that's what we want.

"You don't have to be angry anymore, at war with the world, or your neighbor, or your family, or yourself. He paid the penalty. The war's over and we have peace with God and when you have peace with God you can have peace with everyone else through our Lord Jesus Christ."

(new article tomorrow)

Fellows in a ship

The ever-famous Christian song from 1887 by  Anthony J. Showalter and elisha Albright Hoffman (used in movies like True Grit, etc.) starts:

What a fellowship, what a joy divine
Leaning on the everlasting arms
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Leaning, leaning
Safe and secure from all alarms

"There’s an old lie of the religious system that says, while you can never break your relationship with God, you can break your fellowship with Him, and that’s just a lie right out of the pit of hell from people who don’t even know the definition of the words in their own language," says Richard Jordan.

“The word fellowship means partnership. Fellows in a ship. It’s when the same thing happens to everybody. You know what happened on the Titanic? It sank. You know where that left everybody? In the water. They all got wet. Now, some of them survived, but a whole bunch of them didn’t and the point I’m making is they were all in the same boat.

“Fellowship means a 'bunch of fellows in the same ship.' It means we share in a common lot together; a partnership. Communion is another word. Literally, to be in fellowship with God is to share things with God that belong to Him. If you don’t share God’s life, you know what’s going to happen to you? You don’t have life anymore.

“That business in Christian circles about being ‘in fellowship, out of fellowship, back in fellowship and then back out of fellowship,’ is a misnomer that, I was going to start to say snuck into the Christian life, but it didn’t sneak in; it just walked in with jack boots; a big noisy entrance!

“What it has to do with is an absolute complete misunderstanding of what ‘fellowship’ is in I John. It’s all this incorrect business about keeping a ‘short-accounts system,’ where you confess your sins to keep your fellowship with God going.

“Anybody who tells you, ‘You don’t have to worry about breaking your relationship, but just confess to keep it open,’ is somebody who never read the Book of I John!

"If you’re going to quote I John 1:9, don’t forget to quote I John 2:12, will you, because He says in that verse, ‘Little children, your sins are forgiven.’ There’s a verse written to Believers. I John 1:9 is not written to Believers; it’s written to identify who Believers are.

"I  John 1:9 says, [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“What was it that John the Baptist called them to do? It was the ‘baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.’ They went to John confessing their sins—did exactly what Leviticus 26 and other passages said they were to do—in order to be restored back out of the corrupt, apostate religious system they had been taken by.

*****

“The great definition of 'eternal life' is in I John 1:3, but that’s also what He’s talking about with having a fellowship that is with the Father and with the Son; it has to do with possession of that life. John 17:3 says, [3] And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

“When He says in the next verse, [4] I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,’ what work is that that He’s finished?

“It’s two more chapters before He hangs on the Cross and says, ‘It’s finished,’ so it can’t be that work; the work of redemption. It’s something else that He had to do. Do you ever wonder why Jesus ministered on the earth for 3 1/2 years? What was He doing?

“How did He know at the end of 3 1/2 years that it was time to quit and go to Calvary and die; that the hour had come for that to be accomplished? He was doing something during His earthly ministry, and He says the night before He dies, ‘I’ve finished it; the work that you gave me to do, I’ve finished.’

“What’s Christ talking about here in the passage? John 17: 6: [6] I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

“He says in verse 8, [8] For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

“You know what He’s talking about? He’s talking about the training, the work, the giving of the message to the apostles, and through them to the ‘little flock.’ That work is completed. Now, He’s completed His work as the son of David and now He, as the son of Abraham, can go to Calvary.

“In all of that you come to verse 12: [12] While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

“That’s one verse that will help you to understand who the Lord’s talking about; He’s talking about the apostles because one of them was lost. He’s talking about the ‘little flock’ in Israel.

“Verse 13-17: [13] And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
[14] I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
[15] I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
[16] They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
[17] Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

“Now, that’s the issue there. When He says, ‘I’m writing these things that your joy might be full,’ this is what He’s talking about: ‘So you might be a part of those the Father has given me; you might be part of the true fellowship with the Father and me.’ ”

*****

"The only time in the Four Gospels we’re told Jesus Christ rejoiced is in Luke 10:21: [21] In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

“It’s fascinating what He rejoiced in. There’s the ‘wise and prudent’ in Israel, but then there are some people who are like ‘babes,’ who have just simple faith; ‘childlike faith,’ as Matthew calls it.

“Christ says, ‘Be a part of that group of people who rejoice in the real deal. You’ve got a real reason to rejoice, not just in the things you’re able to accomplish, but in the fact that you’re really a part of something.’

“I John 1:3-4 says, [3] That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
[4] And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

“The purpose of the Book of I John is that the people he’s writing to would be able to have fellowship with the ‘little flock.’ Literally, the ‘we’ and the ‘us’ in the passage is the 12 Apostles.

“They’re the ones who declared and did the things in verses 1 and 2: [1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
[2] (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

*****

“God forms that ‘little flock’ through the ministry of those apostles and in the ages to come the 144,000 will be the catalyst comparable to the 12 back in the Book of Acts. The issue is coming to the place where you have fellowship with the Father and with His Son; that you’re a part of the real genuine fellowship in Israel: ‘And these things we write.’

“That expression ‘that your joy may be full’ is very important because it really identifies the purpose of the book and the group of people Christ’s talking to. In Luke 10 is a fascinating passage where the Lord sends out His disciples and they come back to Him.

“Specifically, Luke 10:16-20 says, [16] He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
[17] And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
[18] And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
[19] Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
[20] Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

“In other words, they are a part of His program to dislodge the Adversary from his plan of conquest over God’s kingdom and authority and from Satan’s policy of evil to place himself in God’s position. They’re a part of that restoration and reclamation program to take away from the usurper that which he has and they’re invested with this authority.

“At this point, the kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus Christ and His Spirit working through them, and that’s why there’s this tremendous conflict between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light at that time. They have that power and they’re rejoicing in all that.

*****

“When Jesus says in John 15:11, ‘These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full,’ that’s a comment He’s making to the 12 Apostles.

"There are only 11 of them at the time (Judas has exited already), but this is in the Upper Room the night before He dies and He’s there with that inner group of people--the ‘little flock’ at its core--emphasizing, ‘I’m telling you these things so that your joy might be full.’

“He continues to talk to them in John 16:23-24: [23] And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
[24] Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

“Come to John 17 in the Lord’s prayer. Again, the Lord’s Prayer is not the 'Our Father' prayer of Matthew 6. It’s not the 'Disciples Prayer.' It’s the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ prays the night before He dies as recorded in John 16. Here’s the REAL Lord’s Prayer.

“John 17:13 says, [13] And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.’ When He says ‘now come I to thee,’ that’s Christ coming to the Father. The ‘they’ there is going to be the 12 Apostles, in particular, and who they minister to, in general. Go back to verse 1: [1] These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

“Seven times in this passage Christ identifies some people the Father has given to Him. We looked at Isaiah 8 where Isaiah prophetically quotes the Messiah as saying, ‘[18] Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.’

*****

“You can go back into the Old Testament and see this issue about the true fellowship with the Father and with the Son, how it was established, how it was corrupted and how it’s going to be restored. As you do that, you need to get these things kind of rolling around in your mind.

“That expression of Isaiah’s about ‘the children whom the Lord hath given me’; in John 13 He says to the apostles there, ‘Little children,’ identifying them. They’re the children, in the sense that they’re the leaders of this ‘little flock.’ The verse says, ‘Fear not, little flock, it’s your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’

“As John 17:3 says, [3] And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

“That’s what Christ says in I John 1.  Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son. They share something in common with the Father and with the Son; they share an identity together, they share LIFE together."

(new article tomorrow)

Israel's covenant with death

"The prophecy in the Book of Daniel assumes there’s a nation state of Israel. The nation is in the land in unbelief and they are a literal state.

"Listen, a hundred years ago when C. I. Scofield and Larkin and those guys wrote about this stuff, the nation Israel was not a nation and there was really no vision on the future that there would be a nation," explains Richard Jordan.

"I’ve got some books written by Arno C. Gaebelein (1865-1945). Gaebelein was one of the premier prophetic students, preachers and teachers back a hundred years ago and he wrote with finesse and great accuracy about these prophecies and there was no nation of Israel.

"People laughed up their sleeve at him that there would ever be an Israel and in 1947-48 there became one. Then everybody jumped on the bandwagon: ‘Oh, yeah, prophecy’s been fulfilled.’

“Can you show me the verse? Which verse exactly was that? Where’s the verse that says what happened in 1947 is prophecy being fulfilled? You understand the nation Israel could get wiped out tomorrow and not be there for 500 years and it wouldn’t change any of this. Daniel is what’s going to happen when God brings them back.

*****

“Isaiah 28: [14] Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
[15] Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

“Israel thought that covenant they made with the Assyrian was going to deliver them from captivity and destruction, but they made a covenant with death and hell.

“When you read that your mind goes to Revelation 6 because that rider on that fourth horse is death and hell follows him. Those four horsemen represent four different roles the Antichrist will play and one of them is he’s death and hell follows him.

“The way he is that is Israel makes a covenant with death, and with hell are in agreement. They’re a part of the satanic program.

“Verse 16: [16] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
[17] Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
[18] And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

“That’s an immediate prophecy about the Assyrian captivity; prophetically it’s talking about the Antichrist. Isaiah 10: [5] O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
[6] I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

"That Assyrian is a picture and a type and a dress rehearsal of the Antichrist who also is the Assyrian in Scripture.

“You’ll see this covenant they make in Daniel 9: [24] Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
[25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
[26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

[27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

"In the midst of that 70^th Week he breaks the covenant. They thought they had a covenant that was going to protect them; they made a covenant with the one who was ultimately going to be the one who destroyed them.

“Daniel 11:21: [21] And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

“He’s going to come in as a peacemaker and take the kingdom by buttering up Israel and making them think he loves them; he’s going to be their Messiah. [22] And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.

“See that thing about the prince of the covenant?  Verse 28: [28] Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.

“That’s when he breaks it. So this thing about making the covenant in Hosea 10 ('They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.') . . . the idea is they’ve gone out and sought to have the Assyrian deliver them and it isn’t going to work.”

(new article tomorrow--still having a hard time sitting at desk due to back injury.)   

Daniel 11 to read like daily newspaper

Daniel 8: [23] And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

[24] And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
[25] And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

“In Daniel 11, he tells you which one of the four divisions of the Greek Empire the Antichrist is going to come out of.

Daniel 11:4: [4] And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.

Here’s going to be the two legs in the image in Daniel 2. Daniel 11:5-6:

[5] And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
[6] And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.

“You move from verse 5 to 6 and you’ve moved from the past into the future. From verse 6 on, we’re no longer in the past. Now, every commentator you read—Scofield, Larkin, Sir Robert Anderson, all of them—they put verse 5 all the way down to verse 21 in the past because verse 21 is where the Antichrist shows up.

“I’m saying to you that between verse 6 and 21 is not the past; it’s things that are going to take place in this period of time right here. If you want to know some of the details of what’s going to be going on here politically and so forth in the Middle East during that period of time, that passage right there is going to read like the daily newspaper.

“There’s a conflict back and forth between the king of the south (the king of Egypt) and the king of the north (king of Syria).

"In verse 15 there’s a king of the north: [15] So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand.

“When you come down to verse 20 there’s the second king of the north and then when you come to verse 21, that’s the Antichrist:

[20] Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle.
[21] And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

“So the 70^th Week’s going to begin in verse 21. There’s going to be three kings of the north that will be dealt with during this period. Obviously there’s a gap here in prophecy that prophecy fills up with details in the Book of Daniel.”

(new post tomorrow)

Time for him to grow into man

 Daniel 9: [26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

"The thing that’s keeping back the 70^th Week and the prophetic events in Daniel 9:26 is the dispensation of grace, but once our dispensation is over with, katy bar the door. When it’s over, things are going to move rather quickly.

II Thessalonians: [6] And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
[7] For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
[8] And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

“Satan has been waiting for 6,000 years to get that moment and when it comes, in the prophetic scheme where it’s time for him to have that opportunity, he’s not going to be sitting around saying, ‘Well, should I really do this or not?’ He’s going to move quickly on those things you read about in Daniel 9.

Daniel 9:27: [27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

“How do you know when the 70^th Week begins? When he confirms the covenant. The confirmation of that covenant is the moment--that’s when the clock starts ticking on that last seven years.  But prior to that there’s some things that have to take place.

“Those ten kings have to be there before the 70^th Week. There’s a political realignment that has to take place in the Middle East where those 10 kings show up and are there, and then the Antichrist comes in and takes over.

“The point is there’s things that have to take place in prophecy after the Rapture prior to the beginning of the 70^th Week. If you’ve ever thought about it, when this guy takes over he has to be a grown man in a position of power. It takes some time to grow. In other words, the Rapture takes place—where did he come from?

(to be continued this evening)

This ends my fear and doubt

Some psychologists say there are six basic emotions--anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. Famous psychologist Robert Plutchik (1927-2006) once named eight, which he grouped into four pairs of polar opposite--joy-sadness, anger-fear, trust-distrust, surprise-anticipation.

One of the top themes heard today is how you can't trust anything anymore. You can't trust the news, the government, the schools, the corporations, the politicians, the media, the police, the judicial system, the food and water supply, the pharmaceuticals, on and on and on. 

The word “trust,” and forms of it appear in the King James Bible 191 times. David writes in Psalm 91, [2] I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
[3] Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
[4] He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

A favorite verse you often hear from the pulpit is Psalm 118:8: "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." Another favorite is in Proverbs 3: [5] Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

In one of the most-used verses in gospel-giving, Paul writes to the Ephesians: [13] In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

*****

Robert C. Solomon (1942-2007), a renowned American educator and philosopher and author of 40-plus books, had many thoughts about the nature of trust and how he believed “many people are blind to it.”

Solomon observes, in a compilation of quotes from him, “Trust is not bound up with knowledge so much as it is with freedom, the openness to the unknown . . . Trust opens up new and unimagined possibilities . . . True, trust necessarily carries with it uncertainties, but we must force ourselves to think about these uncertainties as possibilities and opportunities, not as liabilities. . . Trust is a skill learned over time so that, like a well-trained athlete, one makes the right moves, usually without much reflection.”

II Samuel 22 says, [29] For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.
[30] For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.
[31] As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
[32] For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?
[33] God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
[34] He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places.
[35] He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
[36] Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.
[37] Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.”

Regarding the trust one can and should place in God’s Word, Richard Jordan emphasizes, “When you come to a book that you can trust, instead of it disappointing you when you doubt it, you realize the problem was you, not it. You discover that as you keep studying it, you begin to trust it more and more.

"When you hear me talk about trusting the King James Bible, that’s not because I had some tradition to do that. That comes from 55 years of just reading it every day, studying it for what it is and letting it commend itself to me. I tell people all the time, ‘You should believe the bible you’re reading. You should let it tell you about itself.’ ”

*****

Are there many themes more prominent in Christian hymns than trust and all associated with it? In the end, it's everything.

In the great old hymn from 1891, "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place," author Eliza Hewitt (a Philadelphia teacher who wrote many Christian poems in her convalescence after a boy she disciplined struck her in the back with a heavy slate, giving her a spinal malady that ended her career and made her a shut-in) boasts,

1. My faith has found a resting place,
   Not in device or creed;
   I trust the ever-living One,
   His wounds for me shall plead.
   • Refrain:
     I need no other argument,
     I need no other plea,
     It is enough that Jesus died,
     And that He died for me.
2. Enough for me that Jesus saves,
   This ends my fear and doubt;
   A sinful soul I came to Him,
   He’ll never cast me out.
3. My heart is leaning on the Word,
   The living Word of God,
   Salvation by my Savior’s name,
   Salvation through His blood.

According to a biography on Hewitt, "As an an invalid for an extended period, she developed a love of God and the Scriptures, and the hope of sharing with others in written form. She wrote Sunday School literature and children’s poems. She wrote a poem for her pastor during this time entitled 'Winning Souls for Jesus' and it was placed in the corner stone of Tabernacle Presbyterian Church of West Philadelphia. 

"Her condition eventually improved and she was able to return to an active life in Christian ministry. She wrote 'There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today' after getting her body cast off and being allowed a walk in the nearby park, in thankfulness at the joy of being able to get about again. She was very committed to reaching children through Sunday Schools and attended the Methodist Camp meetings in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. She worked with the Methodist District Superintendant’s wife, Emily Wilson, on the hymn poem, 'When We All Get to Heaven.' "

*****

Thoro Harris, regarded as one of the most prolific African-American hymn writers of the early 20th century, reveals in his classic from 1931, All That Thrills my Soul, “He is more than life to me. And the fairest of ten thousand, In my blessed Lord I see . . .  On His strength divine relying, He is all in all to me.”

Making Jesus everything, trusting in Him for our all, was a constant theme in Harris’ hundreds of Christian songs. In Hide Thou Me, He writes, “O what a Friend is Jesus sure anchor for my soul, So tender, true and gracious, I'm safe in His control.”

In another classic of his from 1914, More Abundantly, the refrain goes, “All from Him receiving,
Yield to Him your all; Jesus will accept you When to Him you flee; He will grant His blessing more abundantly.”

*****

Minister Howard A. Walter (1883-1918) is the author of the hymn, "I Would Be True, For There are Those Who Trust Me." A book on hymn origins reveals, "In July of 1906 Walter was teaching English at Waseda University in Japan. He sent his mother a poem he had written called 'My Creed.' In the poem he expressed the feeling that motivated him as a Christian: 'I would be true, for there are those who trust me.'

"His mother was so impressed with the sincerity of the poem that she submitted it to the editors of Harper's Bazaar, who published it in 1907. Three years later it was seen by Joseph Peek who saw its possibilities as a hymn. Although a tune was running clearly in his mind, Peek was unfamiliar with the techniques of musical composition and got an organist friend to write it down while he whistled. 'I Would Be True,' one of the outstanding youth songs of all time, is one of the few hymns that mention the word 'laughter' as a Christian attribute."

*****

A great hymn from 1887, written by John Sammis, is "Trust and Obey." Of the hymn's origins, "The inspiration for this hymn began in 1886 when the composer of the music, Daniel B. Towner, was the music conductor during one of Dwight L. Moody’s renowned revivals. Towner offered the following testimony cited by Moody’s musical partner, Ira D. Sankey, in his biography, My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns: 

“Mr. Moody was conducting a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of singing for him there. One night a young man rose in a testimony meeting and said, ‘I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.’ I just jotted that sentence down and sent it with a little story to the Rev. J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born.” 

The lyrics are:

1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
   What a glory He sheds on our way!
   While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
   And with all who will trust and obey.
   • Refrain:
     Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
     To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
   But His smile quickly drives it away;
   Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
   Can abide while we trust and obey.
3. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
   But our toil He doth richly repay;
   Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
   But is blessed if we trust and obey.
4. But we never can prove the delights of His love
   Until all on the altar we lay;
   For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
   Are for them who will trust and obey.
5. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
   Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
   What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
   Never fear, only trust and obey.

(new article tomorrow) 

Dangerous nonsense

Galatians 3 says, [26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

[27] For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
[28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

"So how did you become a child of God? Well, you weren’t just born. One hundred years ago the stuff going around was called the 'social gospel.' Then it was the 'fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man.' Today, it’s called 'being woke.' Woke to being a 'social warrior.'

"The term today is all men are 'image-bearers.' What they mean by that is we’re all equal; we’re all the children of God. But you know that ain’t so. We’re all the children of the wrong god until verse 26 of Galatians 3.

"Until you make a personal choice to trust the God of the Bible, the creator of heaven and earth, to be your Savior, and you personally rely upon Jesus Christ to be the Savior He died and rose again for you to be, you’re in the wrong family. You get in His family by Galatians 3:26.

"That’s not water baptism. It’s not religion. Forget that stuff designed to hoodwink you into something else.

"In Christ is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, male nor female. You’re put into a body of Believers where there’s a complete total abandonment of social status and a complete equality in Christ.  God is as rich to you in Jesus Christ as He is to the person sitting next to you. More than that, there’s no circumcision, uncircumcision, bond or free.

"If you look at Colossians 3:11, Paul puts it like this: [11] Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

"That’s all the social distinctions, racial distinctions. All those things are abandoned in Jesus Christ and literally what he’s done is he says to the Corinthians, 'There’s Jew, there’s Gentile, and then there’s the church. We’re literally a new species of humanity. We have a new identity. We’re a new creature.'

"He calls us 'the one new man' and that concept of that classless world in Christ--that blew the minds, the circuitry of the people of the 1^st Century. It literally shook the Roman Empire to its very foundation, because here’s a group of people who call each other brother and sister and treat each other like they’re the same, and yet in every other way—socially, politically, economically—they weren’t the same. Different races, Jew and Gentile.

"Listen, in Ephesians 2:11, Paul says, [11] Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

"That’s a racial distinction God made when He set Israel aside. The Jews and Gentiles called each other names. The contempt, the enmity, it’s always been there because of the old sin nature. The animosity, the hatred, the violence between the groups . . .  all of a sudden you got a group of people who aren’t that way. All that racial hostility goes away. All the economic hostility, social-class hostility.

"You talk about a class-driven world, the 1^st Century was that. Now you have a group of people who are a family: Jews, Gentiles, slaves, free, rich, poor. They’re working and eating together, greeting one another with a holy kiss, raising their children together, taking care of one another, marrying each other. And that literally shook the Roman Empire to its foundations.

*****

"One of the reasons you hear so much about the church growing exponentially in the first three centuries had nothing to do with going back to Pentecost. It had to do with being who they were and this new culture, this new identity that was being created in a world that had never heard the name of Jesus Christ until that century. In a world that had never heard about the gospel of grace until then.

"Think about this, when Paul went out there, he was the only dude who knew this stuff. People say, 'Well, there’s nobody in our town who believes any of this.' Well, there was a time when Paul said, ‘Nobody in the WORLD knew this!’

"Two things happened in the first three centuries. No. 1, they produced a culture among the Believers of unity and oneness that did away with all the class distinctions. No. 2, in the second and third centuries, there was a great pandemic. About 20 years of pandemic centered in Rome. Thousands of people dying everyday and it was the Christians giving themselves to love and good works that produced a witness. It had nothing to do with, ‘Let’s go back to Pentecost!’ No, not hardly.

"It’s important you get the idea going on here. I Corinthians 12 says, [12] For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
[13] For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
[14] For the body is not one member, but many.

"Your physical body has all kind of members and yet it’s one body, and that’s how the Body of Christ is. Why? ‘For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.'

*****

"Bad doctrine from people who don’t rightly divide the Word is no help in understanding or overcoming the racial bigotry, the social distress, the hurt.

"These people are of no help because they don’t have the answer, which is in God’s Word rightly divided. It’s in who God’s made us and 'the one new man.'

"Only Jesus Christ can live His life. He gave His FOR us at Calvary so He could give His life TO us when we trusted Him so then He could live His life THROUGH us as we walk by faith in an understanding of who we are. Everything else would be an outward, forced shell.

"The answer to racism that’s being promoted today among evangelicals ('Big Eva' they call it; I call it the Evangelical Industrial Complex); the answer to the social problems is what’s called being a 'woke social warrior.' That’s the big term today. If you haven’t heard it, God bless you. Be wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil.

"Here’s the way they do it. Tim Keller, best-selling Christian author and founder of Redeemer Church in Manhattan, is one of the titular heads of the social warrior movement; Russell Moore is their southern Baptist guy.

"Using Galatians 2:14, where Paul rebukes Peter for leaving the Gentiles, Keller writes in an article, ‘Paul deals with Peter’s racial pride and cowardice by declaring that he was not living in line with the truth of the gospel.’

"What these people say is the reason in Acts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 that the Pentecostal church only focused on Israel . . .  As far as Acts 11:19, they go out preaching to none but the Jews only and their answer for that is because Peter and the apostles were 'racist.' Now, you’ll hear that everywhere you go in this stuff and they argue, ‘We can’t be racist.’

"They want to go back to Pentecost to get the Pentecostal power, but the guys they say had the Pentecostal power were racist because they only went to the Jews. You say, ‘Hello, anybody awake?’ Not many.

"When I tell you that you laugh because you know the reason the apostles didn’t go to anybody but the Jews is not because they were racist; it’s because they understood what God was doing at the time. It’s Israel’s program.

"By the way, if they were racist, Jesus Christ told them, ‘Repentance and remission of sins should be preached among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.' Was He a racist? According to Keller He is because He made the distinction.

"In Acts 2, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks as the Spirit gave him utterance and three times says, ‘I’m only talking to Israel.' 'Ye men of Judea; I’m not talking to you Gentiles.’ Keller and these guys say he’s a racist. They say the reason they had to raise up the Apostle Paul and send him to the Gentiles was because these 'racist apostles' wouldn’t go! That is as close to blasphemous, nonsense malarkey . . .

"The point is this is dangerous nonsense. These people have political and religious power and position, but they don’t have an answer, and the reason they don’t is not because they don’t see the problem; they do. They’re trying to ‘bring in the kingdom.’

"They quote, 'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,' and they think that means political, economic and social and religious force and external things. They don’t understand what God’s doing today. When you don’t understand how to study your Bible rightly divided, you’re going to wind up in that kind of thing.

"We’re not bringing in the kingdom today and all the foolish talk about doing it only demonstrates that you’re impotent when it comes to facing real problems. The reason our culture today in America and in the West is the way it is is because, when the opportunity to understand that and grow in it was there, the church turned its back on it and 'light rejected becomes lightning.' "

(new post tomorrow)

Safe on that beautiful shore

I threw my back out without even knowing how and am having a hard time even sitting or laying down this evening. This is with Aleve so I've already called in sick for work in the morning. Hopefully I will be better tomorrow and can sit to type on laptop, etc. I will post again tomorrow. In  meantime:

One of the most frequently sung hymns at my church, “Higher Ground,” goes:

“My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

"I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.”

The hymn’s creator, Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (1856-1932), is the author of another great old hymn, “O That Will Be Glory,” with the refrain:

“Oh, that will be glory for me,

Glory for me, glory for me,
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.”

The first stanza goes, "When all my labors and trials are o’er,  And I am safe on that beautiful shore, Just to be near the dear Lord I adore, Will through the ages be glory for me."

Gabriel, regarded as "one of America’s most influential and prolific hymn writers in the early 20^th Century," was born in a prairie shanty in Wilton, Iowa, and raised on a farm. His father led singing schools in their home and young Charles taught himself to play the family's reed organ.

The settlers in the area often gathered at the Gabriel home for singing sessions and fellowship and “at an early age Charles gave evidence of a gift for composing,” says the book 101 Hymn Stories. “One day he told his mother that it was his supreme desire to write a song that would become famous. She replied, ‘My boy, I would rather have you write a song that will help somebody than see you president of the United States.'

“Two years later (at 15 years old), Charles began teaching (shape-note) singing schools in the surrounding area without ever having the benefit of a single formal music lesson. He began writing and selling many of his songs but never received more than $2.50 for any of his works.”

According to Wikipedia, “His musical talent was well recognized in his boyhood home of Wilton. There is one folklore story that the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilton (Pastor Pollock or McAulay) once saw Gabriel walking in town early in the week. He asked Gabriel if he knew a good song to go along with his sermon. The pastor shared the sermon topic and by the end of the week the boy had written a song for that Sunday, words and music.

“The Rev. N. A. McAulay was a pastor at the Wilton church for many years, and it is also said that young Gabriel wrote the music for one of McAulay's songs. The song, 'How Could it Be,' was later published in Songs for Service, edited by Gabriel, with the music being credited to 'Charles H. Marsh,' possibly one of Gabriel's pseudonyms.

"Eventually he served as music director at Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, San Francisco, California (1890-2). While working at Grace Church, he was asked to write a song for a mission celebration. He wrote 'Send the Light,' which became his first commercial song. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, and in 1912 he began working with Homer Rodeheaver's publishing company.”

1 There's a call comes ringing o'er the restless wave, "Send the light! Send the light"
There are souls to rescue, there are souls to save,
Send the light!
Send the light!

Chorus:
Send the light, the blessed gospel light;
Let it shine from shore to shore!
Send the light the blessed gospel light;
Let it shine forevermore!

Until his death, Gabriel was associated with Rodeheaver and "his fame as a successful composer became widely known, especially with the use of his songs by Rodeheaver in the large Billy Graham evangelical campaigns,” says 101 Hymn Stories. Gabriel wrote both the texts and music for his songs, some shown with his pseudonym, Charlotte G. Homer.

A testimonial posted to the website Hymnology Archive was written while Charles was still alive. The author reveals, “Mr. Gabriel has been recognized as a leading writer of music for Sunday Schools, having issued 24 books for Sunday Schools and evangelistic meetings, his songs being found in almost every book that is issued.

"His first sacred song success, ‘Send the Light,’ is recognized as one of the best missionary songs extant, while scores of others, among which are: ‘Let the Sunshine In,’ ‘Calling the Prodigal,’ ‘The Way of the Cross Leads Home,’ etc., have large popularity. His ‘O That Will Be Glory’ song is no doubt the most popular song he ever wrote.

"The song may now be heard in many tongues and dialects. It has been translated into at least 17 languages. It has appeared in print in leaflets, newspapers, magazines and books no less than 17,000,000 times. It is enjoyed by all classes and conditions from the street urchin to the nobility . . .

“Mr. Gabriel's music is nothing if not melodious. Even a comparatively commonplace theme under his pen receives some touch that gives it a perennial freshness, and while he rarely writes difficult or severe music, there is unbounded variety in it all.

“Having received little or no instruction, and being a self-made man, he has a style peculiarly his own. Copying no teacher or instructor, but following the natural bent of his genius, he is little hampered by purely scholastic rules of form, and hence is free to produce many effects and contrasts which other composers are apt to lose; yet his freedom deserves no censure, as it amply justifies itself in every case.

“He gives himself wholly to composition and his work is in constant demand by the various publishers of sacred music. Personally, Mr. Gabriel is a very genial and kindly-spirited man. His large success has not spoiled him, but seems rather to have added kindliness and helpfulness to his naturally generous disposition.

"He has no sense of rivalry with other composers and no inclination to emphasize their limitations or shortcomings. There is probably no composer in the land who has more friends among music writers, both famous and obscure, than Mr. Gabriel. He resides in Chicago and is one of her honored citizens. May he live long and continue to give vent to his musical genius.”