"Jesus Paid it All"

This is the title line to a hymn with lyrics written by Elvina M. Hall and music by John T. Grape, which both happened to be written at the same time within the same church and "happened" to go together. Cool stuff. 

I have three things to say about this line. The first is: Jesus. 

There is no sweeter name to a believer's ear than that of Jesus Christ. He is the only one who could be placed as the subject of this sentence. At the mention of His name, broken hearts and weary souls should listen and find relief. This statement becomes very important because of who it is about. What is to be said about Jesus? Many things, but the verb used here is: Paid. 

Jesus Paid. 

The greatest transaction in the history of the universe. Our lowly broken souls, released from eternal judgement and imprisonment, bought through Christ's sinless life and painful death in taking the weight of the sins of the world. His name was stained through so that ours might become washed white as snow. Justice and Mercy meet at the foot of the cross. It was a fair transaction, though we as believers cry, "why?", with tears falling as we struggle to comprehend the unbelievable. The gravity of the situation is explained through the last word of this sentence. Jesus paid what? 

Jesus Paid it All. 

All of it. All of our sin, guilt, judgement - he took it. He not only took it, he placed it on Himself and said, "I did this. I did these things." The Father's wrath was taken out upon His Son for the sins of the world. Only God has the authority to use these all-inclusive words such as "all." He is fully aware of how much sin we have, and he made sure that He washed it all away. Our debt is paid; we are free! We shall never fear, for in any situation or trial, we have peace with God because "Jesus Paid it All." 

Connections

So I am a music major, and I have to practice a lot. I also am a vocalist, and I have to sing a lot. But I don't always sing for my practice time. Sometimes I watch masterclasses on the internet to get another teacher's viewpoint on this nebulous thing known as the voice, and sometimes these masterclasses become educational beyond the musical realm, whether it was the instructor's intent or not.
There are so many parallels between the life of a musician (particularly a vocalist) and the life of a believer. Thus I have dubbed the practice room as the "sanctification room", and actually started writing a book on all of my discoveries over the past few years.
This masterclass that I watched the other day ended up being primarily about the breath, which wonder of all wonders was what I was struggling with at the time. I am loosely quoting the teacher (who was Joyce DiDonato for those of you that want to know), when I say the following:
"We can never grab onto the air and hold onto it. We have to do the actions that give us the effect, not go for the effect itself. The second we start thinking about making sound, we're in trouble. We go to try and make the sound, instead of creating the environment for the sound to happen. If we create the environment for it, freedom is there."
Wow. That makes so much sense as a vocalist. Usually the biggest thing that keeps a singer from reaching the full potential of their voice is that something is getting in the way of their breath fully releasing. As sinful human beings, we are all control freaks. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's true. I have seen this carry over into the practice room, the stage, the ensemble, friendships, school, etc. etc. We would choose control over what is best for us. Why live by faith when you can live by sight? Why trust someone or something else when you can just "believe in yourself"?
Let me substitute the word "life" in place of the words relating to the breath.
"We can never grab onto our life and hold onto it. We have to do the actions that give us the effect, not go for the effect itself. The second we start thinking about living a good life, we're in trouble. We go to try and make a good life, instead of creating the environment for it to happen. If we create the environment for it, freedom is there."
Crazy. God does not call us find our life, but rather lose it for His sake (Matthew 10:39). When we see the flaws and inconsistencies in our life, we can't just decide to "be better". All of our good works are as filthy rags. We will continue to be discouraged as long as we are trusting solely in ourselves to live a better life.
We do not go for the effect, but rather the actions that give us the effect. What are these actions? Meeting with God, praying for the Holy Spirit to enter your life and change you from the inside out. Your focus becomes not on being a better person but rather on letting God invade every part of you and making you like Himself. We must create the environment for spiritual fruit to happen, and not try and make it out of nothing ourselves. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 says, "I (Paul) planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."
It's amazing to see that when we give our life over to Christ, everything that we once attributed to ourselves becomes nothing. Our personality, our likes and dislikes, and experiences, all fade away in the light of Christ that shines so brilliantly through us. Just as we have to stay out of the way of our breath when we sing and let it fully release, we have to stay out of the Holy Spirit's way and let Him do His work.
"Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way!"

"My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"

     This is the opening line to the hymn that contains the refrain: "On Christ the solid Rock I stand; All other ground is sinking sand." The text was written by Edward Mote, and the music composed by Dmitri Bortnianksy. The entirety of the first line is as follows: "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."
     For those of you that read last week's post, it was also about hope. Therefore, I see this as a sort of continuation or part II of last Sunday's writing. Last week I talked about how our hope should never be shaken if we are placing it in the Lord Jesus Christ, and this week is an exhortation to actually put that into practice. Understanding doctrinal truths is one thing; living them out is another.
     Notice that the text says "nothing less". I was curious at first as to why it doesn't say "nothing more" instead. Who would want anything less than what Jesus Christ has given us? Wouldn't the struggle be more in wanting something more than Jesus Christ to build our hope upon?
     But that's just it. The author is revealing that adding anything to Christ's work (anything "more") becomes building our hope on an unsure foundation. Christ and Christ alone shall be our all in all. He is the Rock that is big enough and secure enough to lay all of our hopes and aspirations, needs and desires upon, and that he will sustain us.
     Unfortunately, as I said earlier, understanding the truth is not the same as living it out. How many countless times have I failed to build my hopes solely upon my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! How many countless times have I turned from Him, thinking that something else will satisfy my desire, or secure my need! We know that Christ is our Rock, but we fail to treat Him as such.
     The human heart is an idol factory. We twist and corrupt the gifts God has given us and worship them, or we become dissatisfied with what we do have and search after lesser things. We see the grass that appears greener on the other side and we decide to build our home there, even though the Rock may haven proven trustworthy in times past.
     I would exhort you to examine your heart and see where you are building your hope upon. Where do your thoughts linger most often? What consumes your time? What causes your aggravations or irritations? My dad always used to say that whatever your mind turns to first in the morning right after waking up, that is your predominant desire. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where your heart wanders from its Maker.
     I would also exhort you to make time to spend with your Maker. The best cure for an unfaithful heart is to become enraptured with your true love. Climb up the mount where the air is most thin and your mind most clear. "Great things seem little to him who stands high; if he could live among the stars, the earth would seem as nothing." - Thomas Watson. Seeing the glory of God makes all other thing pale in comparison and become insignificant before Him.
     May God continue to work in our hearts that we may see more of Him and less of the world! Draw us nearer Lord; let us build our lives completely and only upon your perfect and finished work!

"Thy Hope, Thy Confidence Let Nothing Shake"

This line comes from the second verse of "Be Still, My Soul", written by Katharina von Schlegel, music composed by Jean Sibelius.

 Before I dive in to this, let me give a little disclaimer/explanation. My inspiration for writing these posts about hymns comes from Charles Spurgeon, and his devotional book, Morning and Evening. For each day of the year, he has two entries (on for morning, one for evening) based upon a single Bible verse. He simply expounds upon it, turning the believer's heart to raptures towards its Creator and Savior with a paragraph or two. I wanted to do something similar, only with lines from hymns.

As much as I would like to, I cannot write like Spurgeon. I tried to last week, and it just didn't work out. There were a couple things that I said or didn't say because they weren't Spurgeon-esque. So I would like to announce that I am intending to go back to my choppy blunt writing and forgo attempting the elegance that Spurgeon possessed, and pray that Holy Spirit would continue to use me regardless. 

Now, back to the hymn. As I get older and gather little tidbits of wisdom here and there, I have realized that life is more about balance and stability rather than hopping aboard every emotional roller coaster that looks inviting. Your life from age zero to twenty-two(ish) is full of changes and growth and discovery. After that it seems to be just the long stretch of "adulthood", where not much happens except work, work, possibly family, and work. And to be honest, that is rather true. There's not so much drama and the world isn't ending daily and you're not having an identity crisis every week or so (hopefully). You learn to go with the flow. Life is life - time is going to keep moving whether you want it to or not, so you learn to live with it. You learn to accept what you've been given and cherish the time you have. At least that's what I'm learning. 

As Christians, we should be the most chill people of all. We should know how to roll with the punches of life. Psalm 112:6-7 says, "For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD." We will never be moved if we are trusting in the LORD; our confidence will never be shaken if He is whom we place our trust in. 

I said that I wasn't going to try and write like Spurgeon, but I can quote him: "Not one ship in the convoy shall suffer wreck; the great Commodore will steer every barque in safety to the desired haven. By faith we will slip our cable for another day's cruise, and sail forth with Jesus into a sea of tribulation. Winds and waves will not spare us, but they all obey Him; and, therefore, whatever squalls may occur without, faith shall feel a a blessed calm within." Believers are not without trials, but we feel a blessed calm throughout it all if we are in Christ. We feel Psalm 23 as we are experiencing Psalm 2 (Please go look up Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms 2nd movement if you have not heard it). Christ is our solid rock when all around us is sinking sand.

I have just one other illustration, and I particularly like it because it is musical, but hopefully I can explain it accurately enough to get my point across. In music there is something referred to as a Cantus Firmus, and it can be defined as: "a preexisting melody used as the basis of a polyphonic (many voices) composition". It is basically the thing that is the basis for and of the whole piece; what all the other parts are created from. There is also this dude called Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was a pretty awesome guy during WWII. He was also quite a talented musician, of which I did not know about until a couple months ago. Anyway, he wrote this concerning the Cantus Firmus: "I wanted to tell you to have a good, clear, cantus firmus; that is the only way to a full and perfect sound, when the counterpoint has a firm support and can't come adrift or get out of tune, while remaining a distinct whole in its own right. Only a polyphony of this kind can give life a wholeness and at the same time assure us that nothing calamitous can happen as long as the cantus firmus is kept going." 

This is such an accurate picture of what our relationship with God should look like. He is the cantus firmus that the rest of our life is built upon. Since He is ever faithful and unchanging, we can be assured that nothing really truly calamitous can happen as long as we are trusting in Him. We ride through the calms and the storm because He is in control of both. Great is His faithfulness! Be still, my soul - let nothing shake your hope or confidence!

Gospel Exploration

“All the fitness He requireth is to feel your need of Him”

“Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy”

Joseph Hart, Traditional American Melody

It is not the healthy that need a doctor, it is the sick. The deluded that believe that they are healthy will never go to the doctor. All Christ asks us is to believe the truth that we are sick and in need of a Healer. He is the only one that can cure us.

We are not saved by any works that we have done, but by the sinless life and sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our human nature inclines us to try and add to Christ’s work. The only equation that is valid in the gospel is Jesus + NOTHING = Everything. There is nothing we could do or should do in order to receive favor or forgiveness from our Lord.

Believer, do not think that you can serve the Father in some better way than He has ordained. Do not fall into the trap that salvation was a past event; Christ’s work is past, present, and future. The gospel is just as relevant to us now as it was when we first saw the light. We could not save ourselves and we cannot sanctify ourselves either.

Unbeliever, let nothing make you hesitate coming to Christ. There is none who is too sick for Christ to heal. “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

The gospel is not about being saved and trying to be better, or being good enough for Christ to be willing to save you. “For while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us.” All He requires of us is to feel our need of Him, and to believe His promises that He is able to save to the uttermost (completely; at all times). Do or do not, there is no try. You either believe in the finished and perfect work of Christ, or you do not.

May the Holy Spirit work in us to believe the amazing grace of the gospel in a deeper way! Praise God that nothing is expected of us except to see that we are great sinners that need a great Savior, who loved us before the foundation of the world! 

Meditation

     As a resident in a first world country, I am very blessed. As a resident in a first world country that finds its roots in Christianity and considers it as the primary religion, I am even more blessed. I live in an area where there are several Bible-teaching-and-believing churches with fifteen miles from me. I go to a school where we have Chapel once a week, and there are numerous Bible studies and worship gatherings throughout the week. I probably own more spiritual books than I will ever get to read in my lifetime. I am very thankful to have so many opportunities around me to hear God's word and to worship with His people.
     But, as a girl who likes to see the whole picture - the good and the bad, the dark and the light - I like to look at the downsides of having this easy availability of God's word and all the teaching that surrounds it. So, whether you like it or not, I'm going to dive in to the pitfalls of living in a Christian-based first world nation.
I am currently reading a book called, Christian on the Mount by Thomas Watson, and it deals primarily with meditation for the believer. I have been exploring this idea and finding it to be very fruitful. I know that many people may be skeptical about using the word "meditation", because it sounds like something only hyper-religious people or hippies would be doing. I once heard meditation as being defined as having a conversation with yourself about the goodness and glory of God. I could really identify with that, because I used to talk to myself quite often (and still do, I must admit). It really excited me that I could use my odd introverted habit to the glory of God and the good of my soul.
     Another definition of meditation that I like (and that Thomas Watson uses), is that of it being like digestion. God's word is the bread, and the preaching of it is us being fed. But how will it do us any good if we do not digest it? Could you imagine continually eating food, but never really digesting it? Your taste buds would be satisfied, and you might feel good for a little while, but eventually your body would start to become sick and hungry. You would have no nourishment to go off on, because you didn't take the opportunities that you were given and use them as they were intended in the best way possible.
     On page 66 of Christian on the Mount, Watson says, "Without meditation the truths that we know will never affect our hearts. Deuteronomy 6:6 says, 'These words which I command this day shall be in thine heart.' How can the Word be in the heart unless it is wrought in by meditation? as a hammer drives a nail to the head, so meditation drives a truth to the heart. It is not the taking in of food, but the stomach's digesting it that turns it into nourishment. Just so, it is not the taking in of a truth at the ear, but the meditation on it, that is the digestion of it in the mind, that makes it nourish."
     The book of James talks about us being doers of the word and not only hearers. (James 1:22-25). Meditation is the process by which action ensues. So many times do I hear a sermon, and forget it within 24 hours. Once you digest food, then it has the ability to be used for energy and activity.
     It is such a blessing to have the availability of the preaching of the Word and its resources, but I would caution against getting caught up in the activity of going to hear the Word, but never letting it seep into our hearts and change us for real. Meditation is not an easy thing to do. It typically has to be done by ones lonesome, and takes focus and concentration. But, take heart! You will not be disappointed. "Though while we are first entering upon meditation it may seem hard, yet once we are entered it is sweet and pleasant. Christ's yoke at the first putting on may seem heavy, but once it is on it becomes easy; it is not a yoke, but a crown...The poets say the top of Olympus was always quiet and serene. Just so, it is hard climbing up the rocky hill of meditation; but when we get to the top, there is a pleasant prospect, and we shall sometimes think ourselves even in heaven. By holy meditation the soul, as it were, has breakfast with God every morning." (pg. 75).
     May we press further in and further up, dear saints! May we reach the mount to find the oasis of God's beauty and glory and peace! Praise God that He condescends to meet us and give us hope and rest!

Storytime

     Stories are great. I love stories in any form - books, real life, movies - you name it. Of late I have become much more interested in "real life" stories, ones that you hear from "real" people about their experiences and discoveries. The LORD has been taking me through a "walk by faith, not by sight" tutorial this summer and a sub-point to that could be entitled, "walk by faith, not by feelings". I have felt as though I could not feel. Deep, I know. But seriously, I believe that every Christian goes through phases where no matter how hard you pound the Truth into your brain, you just don't feel it or it doesn't affect you emotionally. You know it's true, but you don't have an emotional reaction to it being true.
    So I've been pounding away at my brain God's promises to me that "I will never leave you nor forsake you", "All things work together for good to those that love God", "He has overcome the world", etc. etc. But no matter how much my brain knows that it's true, it doesn't affect my heart. I don't know what the effects of these truths look like in the life of a believer.
     Thus I have turned to stories, to real-life enactments of Biblical truths. The story I am about to tell you is a living out of the verse from Philippians: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (4:7). That sounds like some pretty powerful peace there. It's more than I can imagine, but what does it look like? I've felt overwhelming peace before, but what about seeing it in the lives of others?
     John Rogers was a preacher and Bible translator during the early 1500's. He was the first English protestant martyr under Queen Mary I ("Bloody Mary") of England. He was imprisoned for several years before finally being burnt at the stake after being unwilling to recant his faith.
     All martyr stories make an impression on me, but there was one detail of John Roger's story that stuck in my brain and made that verse from Philippians come to life.
     On the morning that John Rogers was to be burned at the stake, he was found fast asleep. So fast asleep that he had to be shook several times to be woken up. Foxe's book of martyrs says, "who [Rogers], being then sound asleep, could scarce be awakened. At length being raised and awakened..." It was only "at length" that he could be awakened.
     This is what peace that surpasses all understanding looks like. Such peace, that would keep a man fast asleep as he awaits a painful death, can only come from the Lord of heaven and earth.
     Stories encourage us and uplift us, they open our eyes to see and our hearts to feel when the bare Truth does not pierce us. Proverbs 30:5 says, "Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." Real life stories are the proof of God's Word. Each and every one of His promises will be fulfilled, and even though we may not be able to see them played out yet in our lives, we can see and hear the stories and testimonies of others. Praise God for the saints of old such as John Rogers that were used to give us such an excellent picture of God's Truth! May God use our lives for the same extraordinary purpose!