My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

Edward Mote was born in 1797 in London to unbelieving parents who pretty much let him go his own way, giving him little in the way of spiritual or moral direction.  He said of his younger years, “So ignorant was I that I did not know that there was a God.”  As a teenager, he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker who introduced Edward to the Gospel.  He responded to the Gospel, was saved, and was baptized when he was 18 years old. 

He worked in the business of cabinetry until he was 50 years of age, then entered the ministry.  He became the pastor of the local Baptist church in Horsham, West Sussex for the last 26 years of his life.  He was loved by his congregation and was offered the church parsonage as a gift.  He declined, saying he would rather have the pulpit, “and when I cease to preach Christ, then turn me out of that.”

Edward wrote some songs for his little church to use in worship.  One day, he had a thought in his head to write a hymn on the ‘gracious experience of a Christian.’  He wrote a chorus based on the Parable of the Builders and used as a chorus “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”  That day he wrote the first few verses.

The fledgling song stayed on the scratch paper in his pocket for quite some time.  Later, he paid a visit to some congregants of whom the wife was critically ill.  She asked for a song and, as he didn’t have a hymnal to sing from, he pulled the scrap of paper from his pocket and sang it with the couple.  The woman asked for a copy of the song, so Edward hurried home and finished the text.  He then sent the song off to a publisher writing, “As these verses so met the dying woman’s case, so my attention to them was the more arrested.”

In the nearly two centuries since, this song has been a hymn of hope and assurance for the Church, regardless of trial and circumstance.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood
When every earthly prop gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Mote

https://hymnary.org/text/my_hope_is_built_on_nothing_less

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martin Luther’s letter, ‘Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague’

Martin Luther’s letter, ‘Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague’

The year was 1527, well into the time of the nascent Protestant Reformation.  The Black Plague had cropped up in Wittenburg and outlying areas and was ravaging the area.  It was well-known that this disease had killed about half of the entire European continent just a few generations before.

People of means tended to flee the plague.  They often had country homes or relatives in distant lands where they could flee to and wait out the disease.  Those without the means to do so stayed as sheltered as they could within the confines of the city. 

It was against this backdrop that Reverend Doctor Johann Hess, Protestant pastor at Breslau, Germany, wrote to Martin Luther requesting his advice on the question of whether it was sinful for him to flee the plague, or if his Christian duties compelled him to stay.  For the record, Martin Luther and his entire family stayed behind to assist in alleviating the suffering of his flock for the duration of the plague.

Knowing the intent of Rev Hess was to publish the letter for the edification of other ministers, Luther penned an 8-page reply.  The letter is a masterpiece of Biblical wisdom coupled with common sense, and gives us direction not only with the current (comparatively mild) COVID-19 pandemic, but also as an example of Biblical interpretation in light of current events.

Regarding those in the ministry, Luther says that, in principle, they should stay.  “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, but the hireling sees the wolf coming and flees” (John 10:11).  The need for ministers of the Gospel is very real in a situation where people are dying.  In practice, Luther encourages the clergy of the city to gather together and determine how best to meet the spiritual needs of the city in such a circumstance – with some leaving and some staying. 

Regarding those in public office (mayors, judges, etc), they are the fine line between order and anarchy.  As they were appointed by God to their role, they should stay and fulfill their duties unless some provision has been made for their duties to be assumed in their absence.  Likewise, those with a role of service to another (naming domestic servants, parents, and children) should not flee unless provision for their duties is taken over by another.

Finally, faithful Christians not in the above categories must evaluate themselves.  There is no shame in fleeing, provided their leaving does not endanger another or leave the sick without provision or care.  As Christians, we have a stated responsibility to help our neighbors in time of need as if that neighbor were Christ Himself.  We are hypocrites if we say we would help Jesus in time of need, but do nothing to assist a neighbor in a critical time.  Likewise, we dishonor Jesus if we take unneeded risks or avoid routine medical care at such a critical time.  The latter, Luther asserts, moves us from the point of trusting God, to the point of testing God.

Luther points out practical measures such as keeping a distance (i.e. ‘social distancing’), quarantining when sick, and making provision for those in quarantine.  He also circles back to the Spiritual – stating that in such a time people should: 1.) Attend church and listen to the sermon to learn through God’s Word ‘how to live and how to die.’; 2.) Become reconciled with your neighbors and make your heart right with God; and 3.) Those tending the sick should take care not to wait until the last minute to call for the pastor.  Too often, the pastor would arrive to find the person incoherent or past the point of being able to respond to the Gospel.

Luther, thus, lays out his logic for a Biblical response of a minister to a devastating plague.  While he does not say this directly, the full intent of his letter is to pull a person away from focus on self to a focus on the ministry to others: first of all if our position in life demands it, and secondly if there is a real opportunity to show love to our neighbor – love which involves a level of risk in ministering to those in need.

https://blogs.lcms.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Plague-blogLW.pdf

 

 

O Holy Night

O Holy Night

In 1847, a parish priest in a small town in France asked a local wine merchant named Placide Cappeau to write a poem for his church’s Christmas Eve mass.  During a hard carriage ride to Paris, Cappeau read through the Gospel of Luke and imagined himself an eyewitness to the birth of Jesus.  On that carriage ride, Cappeau wrote the words to a poem he entitled “Cantique de Noel” (Song of Christmas). 

Cappeau asked his friend, Adolphe Charles Adam, to write the music.  It was an easy feat for Adam, a trained and skilled musician, and he composed the tune with ease.  The song was performed for the congregation on Christmas Eve as planned, and it was an absolute hit!  The song quickly spread through France.

O Holy Night!  The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
‘Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees!
Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

However, leaders within the French church learned later to their horror that Cappeau had abandoned the Christian faith in favor of Socialism and that Mr Adam had always been a practicing Jew.  Neither was a believer!  Because of this, performance of the song was banned in French churches.  The French people loved it, however, and continued to sing it in private.  The song remained banned until the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, where the song was a catalyst for a ‘Christmas Eve truce’ between the armies.

The song came to the United States via a man named John S. Dwight, an abolitionist who was visiting France.  He translated the song into English, with some liberties to advocate for his cause, especially in the third verse:

Truly He taught us to love one another.
His Law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother.
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord!
O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

https://www.incourage.me/2013/12/history-of-christmas-carols.html

https://pjmedia.com/faith/jeff-sanders/2016/12/12/the-unbelievable-inspiring-story-behind-o-holy-night-n96341

 

 

 

 

 

James Pennington

 The Fugitive Blacksmith

James Pennington was born into slavery in the Eastern Shore of Maryland around 1807.  He was apprenticed as a mason and later as a blacksmith.  After receiving a severe beating and witnessing his father receive an even more severe beating James made a dash for freedom at age 19, leaving behind his parents and eleven siblings.  He knew only to travel north and had a number of misadventures along the way – including being captured by bounty-seekers, whom he secured his freedom from by subtly mentioning that he had recently come into contact with a group of escaped slaves who were all suffering from smallpox.  This was clearly a lie, but it did the trick and James was released from his brief period of custody.

Later in his travels, starving and dehydrated, he came across a woman who informed him that he had finally reached Pennsylvania.  She connected him with the Quaker family of William and Phoebe Wright who, as was the habit of many Pennsylvania Quakers in that day, gave him shelter and medical care.  The Wrights taught him to read and write, and paid him a salary for his work.  They were also very likely the ones who nurtured the faith of the young man.

James later moved to New York, where he found modest work.  He lived frugally, and used his wages to pay tutors to increase his education.  He was later allowed to attend classes at Yale Divinity School, provided he sit at the back of the classroom and not ask questions.  He was not allowed to formally enroll in the school in the 1830s, and essentially “audited” the classes.  He was not allowed to receive a diploma, but completed his coursework and was ordained in the Congregational Church and called to pastor a small church on Long Island.  He later moved to accept a position at a church in New Haven, Connecticut.  One of his great delights was in conducting weddings for fugitive slaves.  In 1838, a young couple named Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass came to him asking to be married.  Since they had nothing at the time, James married them waiving the customary fee that was normally paid at the time.

During his time in Connecticut, he wrote a book in 1841 which is believed to be the first history of African Americans ever published, entitled “The Origin and History of the Colored People.”  In 1848, he completed his memoir “A Fugitive Blacksmith,” which was widely read both in Europe and the United States.  Pennington later traveled to Europe to raise money to purchase the freedom of American slaves and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Heidelberg.  Pennington contributed to a number of periodicals advocating for the abolitionist cause.

In 1842, James preached a famous sermon entitled “Covenants Involving Moral Wrong Are Not Obligatory Upon Man.”  In this sermon, he argued that when man’s law requires people to participate in evil, then they must disobey and follow God’s Law.  He had two applications: 1.) Americans who enforce laws holding others in slavery were in violation of God’s Law, and 2.) Those who restored escaped slaves to masters were violating God’s Law which commands God’s people to shelter outcasts (Isaiah 16:3-4). 

Normally a pacifist, probably due to the Quaker influence in his young life, Rev. Pennington ended up helping to recruit black troops during the Civil War.  After the war, he helped nurture a number of congregations in the South and passed away in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1870 after a brief illness.

In 2016, Yale University proclaimed him to be Yale’s first black student and named a classroom in his honor.

Periodical E-mail from Christian History Institute

https://connecticuthistory.org/reverend-james-pennington-a-voice-for-freedom/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_W.C._Pennington

 

 

 

Ignatius of Antioch

 Ignatius of Antioch

Born around 35 AD, Ignatius of Antioch (not to be confused with Ignatius of Loyola, who lived in the 16^th century) was the third bishop (the first being Peter) of the important city of Antioch, a position he held for nearly 40 years, in the years 67-106 AD.  Tradition holds that he studied personally under the Apostles Peter and John. 

Ignatius became the model for future ‘Bishops’ within the church – basically, a pastor with authority over a number of churches in a geographical region.  He was one of the most influential members of the church in the years immediately following the Apostles.

In his writings, he bemoaned the divisions within the church that cropped up over doctrinal matters, yet he found himself heavily engaged in doctrinal discussions and debates.  His letters provide a great deal of insight into the early church and helped set the foundation for early doctrinal and organizational development within the church.  He wrote scathingly against a heretical group called the Ebionites, the next generation of the Judaizers who believed essentially that converts to Christianity needed to convert to Judaism before they could convert to Christianity.  His pen aimed at Docetists, a group who believed that Christ was never fully human – only appearing to be such.  He also wrote of the organization of the church, and corresponded with fellow bishops on matters of the church.  In his letters, he was the first of the early church Fathers to use the term ‘catholic’ (in the sense of ‘universal’) in reference to the church.

Because of his prominence within the church, when the Roman Emperor Trajan began his persecution of the church, Ignatius was a natural target.  He was arrested, most likely on the charge of “atheism” (i.e. failure to worship any of the recognized Roman gods) and order deported to Rome.  The trip to Rome was beset with many difficulties and took a great deal of time.  As he was traveling, Ignatius was met by followers of many churches along the way – and he was able to dictate many of his most famous letters during this trip.

Over time, as they traveled, it became apparent to Ignatius that a plan was forming to free him.  This, he discouraged strongly.  He wrote, “I fear your kindness, which may harm me,” he wrote to the church in Rome.  “You may be able to achieve what you plan.  But if you pay no heed to my request, it will be very difficult for me to attain unto God.”  He instead requested of the churches that they pray that he would remain faithful to imitate Jesus Christ in death.  He wrote, “Nearness to the sword is nearness to God; to be among the wild beasts is to be in the arms of God; only let it be in the name of Jesus Christ.  I endure all things that I may suffer together with Him, since He who became perfect man strengthens me.”

It was on October 17^th, the year 107 AD, when Ignatius finally reached Rome.  The arena was about to close, but remained open and Ignatius was hustled into the arena where two lions quickly dispatched him.  He is the first recorded martyr of the church after the time of the New Testament.  His faithfulness in following Christ to martyrdom was a great inspiration to the early church.

Christian History Institute e-mail

https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/martyrs/ignatius-of-antioch.html

https://www.theopedia.com/ignatius-of-antioch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Old Rugged Cross

 The Old Rugged Cross

George Bennard was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1873.  While very young, the Bennard family moved to Iowa so George’s father could work in the coal pits there.  George’s father passed away when George was only sixteen years old, and George came to faith soon after.  As a young man, George got involved in the growing Salvation Army and served, with his wife, as officers in that organization for a period of time.

Later, George joined the Methodist Episcopal Church as an evangelist.  His preaching emphasized Christian purity and godliness – and used the term “Christian holiness.”  He taught that when personal holiness (as defined in the Bible) was missing from individuals, the church lost the ability to positively impact the culture in which it lived.  George traveled extensively in his evangelistic work but tended to focus mostly in the states of New York and Michigan.

It was in the early twentieth century that the American and European churches were heavily flirting with theological liberalism, which called into question many of the fundamental doctrines of the church and, sadly, led many individuals, churches, and even entire denominations into a spiritual wasteland.  During this time, George himself seems to have been enticed by these doctrines and went through a bit of spiritual turmoil himself in struggling with this.

Rev Bennard spent much time in reflection on the Cross of Christ, and what Peter meant when he spoke of ‘sharing in the sufferings of Christ’ (I Peter 4:13).  In his reflections, he pictured in his mind a picture of the Cross on a distant hill and he resolved personally not to bow to the pressure of liberalism plaguing his church.

During this time of personal reflection, George was conducting a series of revival services and during one particular meeting, he was viciously heckled by a group of teenage boys.  In praying for them that evening in 1915 the words came to him for a song, with a basis on that mental picture of a cross standing on a lonely hill.

On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross; The emblem of suff'ring and shame
And I love that old Cross where the dearest and best; For a world of lost sinners was slain
 
Oh, that old rugged Cross so despised by the world; Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God, left His Glory above; To bear it to dark Calvary
 
In the old rugged Cross, stain'd with blood so divine; A wondrous beauty I see
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died; To pardon and sanctify me
 
To the old rugged Cross, I will ever be true; Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then He'll call me some day to my home far away; Where His glory forever I'll share
 
So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross; Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross; And exchange it some day for a crown

This beloved hymn was picked up by Hymie Rodheaver and popularized by him during the Billy Sunday crusades of the early 20^th century, and has been a beloved hymn ever since.  Wikipedia has a list (certainly not a comprehensive list) of performers that have recorded this hymn: Al Green, Andy Griffith, Anne Murray, Brad Paisley, Chet Atkins, George Jones, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Van Shelton, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Gaither Vocal Band, The Statler Brothers, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Alan Jackson, George Beverly Shea, and Ronnie Milsap.

https://christianheritagefellowship.com/george-bennard-and-the-old-rugged-cross/#Introduces%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Old%20Rugged%20Cross%E2%80%9D%20(1913).BK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Rugged_Cross

 

Nearer, My God, to Thee

Sarah Flower Adams

Sarah was born in 1805, in Essex, England.  She and her sister Eliza were the only children of Benjamin Flower, a Cambridge printer and newspaper editor who was jailed at least once for what he printed.  Both daughters became gifted composers and authors.

After her mother’s death, Sarah’s father moved the family to a rural area where they numbered among their family friends the great author Robert Browning. 

Their father died in 1825, and the two young women moved in with the pastor of their church.  Eliza devoted herself to enriching the musical ministry of her church, composing hymns and playing during the services.  Sarah married an author and civil engineer, and while she wrote some hymns herself, her passions turned to acting.  Moving to the Richmond district of London to be near the larger theaters, she performed in some minor roles, then played Lady Macbeth in 1837, with rave reviews.  Frail health put a stop to her acting career soon after, so she again turned to writing hymns and poetry after moving with her husband again to be near her beloved sister Eliza.

Her Pastor approached the two sisters in 1840, frustrated that he could not find a hymn to work with his upcoming Sunday sermon, taken from the story of Jacob at Bethel – Genesis 28:20-22.  Sarah offered to write the hymn herself if Eliza would write the music.  All week long, she pored over the passage, visualizing Jacob sleeping on the ground with a rock for a pillow while dreaming of a ladder reaching to Heaven.  The following Sunday, South Place Church sang this song for the first time:

Nearer, my God, to Thee,  Nearer to Thee

E’en though it be a cross That raiseth me!

Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, The sun gone down.

Darkness be over me, My rest a stone;

Yet in my dreams I’d be, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear, Steps unto Heav’n;

All that Thou sendest me, In mercy giv’n;

Angels to beckon me, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts, Bright with Thy praise,

Out of my stone griefs, Bethel I’ll raise,

So by my woes to be, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Or if, on joyful wing Cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot, Upward I’ll fly,

Still all my song shall me, Nearer, my God, to Thee

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!

Eliza died in 1846, after a long bout with Tuberculosis – faithfully attended by her dear sister the entire time.  It was only near the end of Eliza’s life that Sarah began to show signs of the disease herself.  Sarah held on for nearly two years, but finally passed away in 1848 at the age of 43.

One of the survivors of the Titanic, on April 14, 1912, recalled that the band played this hymn as the great ship sank to its icy grave.

Morgan, Robert J., Then Sings My Soul, Nelson Publishing, 2003.

https://www.bartleby.com/294/124.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Fuller_Flower_Adams