The power of lines and verses in hymns

John Piper has often said, “Books don’t change people, paragraphs do — sometimes sentences.”

Something similar may be said of Christian hymns, something like: Hymns don’t affect us as much as verses or lines do.

Now, I would say my adage regarding hymns does not work as well as Piper’s on books. After all, books are much longer than hymns. The contrast between the impact of a sentence or a paragraph against an entire book is much greater than that of a verse or line against a hymn.

Yet, I thought of the power of verses and lines in hymns after I read Tim Challies’ recent blog post on the 10 greatest hymns of all time. You can read the post here. It is an excellent list. Several of the hymns would be on a top 10 list I would compile.

In this post, however, I want to call attention to some verses, or portions of verses, from hymns that particularly stand out for their beauty and power. These hymns would likely be in my top 10 list of favorite hymns, but it is not these hymns in their entirety that have earned places of recognition here. Instead, it is the verses or lines quoted from these hymns that have affected me and brought me to quote them.

I will begin with lyrics that have caused me to request these first two hymns be sung at my memorial service.

1. Before the Throne of God Above
This hymn’s lyrics, written in 1863 by Charitie Lees Bancroft, form a powerful testimony to the all-sufficient work of Jesus for His people. The second verse, which is my favorite, reminds me not to focus on my inadequacy but on the perfect adequacy of Christ:

When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me, to look on Him and pardon me.

These words in the last line – “God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me” – may be unsurpassed among hymns in explaining briefly the substitutionary work of Jesus.

2. In Christ Alone
This modern hymn by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, published in 2001, is one of the most-sung hymns in English-speaking churches and, The Gospel Coalition’s Collin Hansen reports, “has become an anthem for underground churches throughout the world.” It is difficult for me to choose a favorite from the last three verses of this poignant hymn about our union with Christ. For today anyway, my favorite is verse four:

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

3. Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted
Our church sings this 1804 hymn by Thomas Kelly during our Good Friday service each year. It is a sobering reflection on the suffering of our Savior. Verse two’s reference to “the stroke that Justice gave” is a vivid declaration of a holy God’s punishment of sin:

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning, was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning, foes insulting His distress;
Many hands were raised to wound Him, none would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him was the stroke that Justice gave.

4. And Can It Be?
Charles Wesley may be my favorite hymn writer. Of all his great hymns, none may surpass this one he wrote shortly after his conversion in 1738. The first verse profoundly expresses the amazement all of us, as Christians, should have that God the Son would die in our place:

And can it be that I should gain an int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

5. Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Yes, another Charles Wesley hymn. And yes, a Christmas carol. Some of the best theology in Christian hymnody is found in songs about the incarnation of Christ. In the last half of the third verse of this 1739 hymn, Wesley describes a purpose of God the Son in entering the world as a baby boy:

Mild He lays His glory by, born that men no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.

What are your favorite verses or lines from hymns?

* -- Photo source

The gospel and modesty (Part 2)

As Christians, we don’t take our signals from the world. This is certainly true when it comes to modesty. While this virtue has a cultural context, ours is an immodest culture. There was a day when American culture maintained a common understanding of basic modesty. That day no longer exists.

The church needs to give careful attention to this issue. How we dress, act and speak – whether modestly or immodestly – reflects on our testimony as followers of Christ and on the name of our righteous Lord.

Here are some questions I hope will prove helpful for our consideration as Christians:

-- What is our goal in our dress, language and actions? Is it the glory of God?

-- Whom do we dress to please? Is God our primary audience? Do we seek to catch the eyes of the opposite sex? Do we seek to impress friends of the same sex?

-- Do we try to bring attention to ourselves by our dress, actions and speech?

-- Is our goal to serve others in this area? Are you, as a lady, sensitive to your brothers in Christ? Are you, as a man, sensitive to your sisters in Christ?

-- Are we permitting other believers to hold us accountable regarding modesty? Are you, as a young lady, seeking your father’s wisdom? Are you, as a young man, requesting your mother’s insight? Are you, as a husband or wife, asking for your spouse’s counsel? Are you, as a single adult, soliciting advice from a fellow Christian?

-- Do we extend grace to others who may not meet the same standards we hold? Or do we nurse critical spirits toward those who fall short in our eyes? Do we take pride in how we dress or act in contrast to others?

-- Do we live with the constant recognition we are clothed with the righteousness of
Christ and our acceptance by God is based solely on Jesus and His work? Do we see personal modesty as an outworking of God’s grace in our lives rather than an effort to gain His favor?

May we pray for one another and encourage one another as we seek to dress, act and speak in ways that demonstrate we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9).

The gospel and modesty (Part 1)

News broke in the last few days a hacker had managed to access and make public photos reportedly from the cellphones of more than a hundred celebrities – some of them in the nude. The reports came on the heels of a sermon I preached last Sunday on modesty, my latest in a series on gender and sexuality.

In that sermon, I mentioned modesty has become even more of an issue for Christians in the age of social media. We need to be careful not only about how we dress, act and speak in public appearances but in what we wear, how we pose and what messages we post on Facebook and other online venues. The believability of our testimony and the name of Christ are on the line in those settings. We need to think about our Savior and His gospel when we take part in social media.

Here are some points I made during Sunday’s sermon, which focused on Titus 2:11-14:

-- We should think about modesty in a gospel-centered way, not a rule-centered one. In their book Modest: Men and Women Clothed in the Gospel, Tim Challies and R.W. Glenn write, “Modesty apart from the gospel becomes a self-made religion that can give some appearance of being the genuine article but that is in the end of no value (none!) in our battle with the sinful and inordinate desires of our hearts. If we reduce modesty to certain rules of dress, we are completely separating the concept of modesty from the person and work of Jesus Christ.” (Their book was a great help to me in compiling some of these points.)

-- Modesty can vary by situation and culture. What is modest at the pool would not likely be modest in corporate worship. What is modest in corporate worship in America would not be modest in public in Saudi Arabia.

-- Modesty is not just an issue for females. Males can violate modesty by their dress, behavior and words.

-- While Titus 2:11-14 applies to all of life for a follower of Christ, I believe it can be applied in these ways regarding modesty: (1) The grace of God enables and instructs us to embrace modesty. (2) The return of Christ motivates us to embrace modesty. (3) The substitution of Christ sets us apart to embrace modesty.

-- Modesty, based on this passage in Titus, is to be not only gospel-focused but (1) Christ-focused, (2) heart-focused, and (3) service-focused.

-- Pride, ignorance and/or insensitivity can fuel immodesty.

-- Two questions for Christians when considering this issue: (1) Whom do you dress for? (2) Whom have you invited to advise you and hold you accountable in this area?

Handling disagreements in the church (Part 2)

My first post on handling disagreements within the church focused on two recommendations:

-- Make certain your differences count.

-- Think, listen, speak and act with humility.

You can read that post here.

Here are two more thoughts on how church members should handle disagreements with fellow believers in their fellowship:

3. Seek to understand the other Christian’s beliefs. Some disagreements are based at least in part on misunderstanding. It is both unsettling and unhelpful for a church member to accuse another of believing something that distorts what he truly believes. As Christians, we can become deeply invested emotionally in disapproval of a particular belief. As a result, we sometimes have a difficult time backing down and humbling ourselves when we find out we have falsely accused someone who is in covenant with us in the church. Too often, apologies and requests for forgiveness are not forthcoming. The fellowship between two or more Christians suffers as a result, and so does the church’s health. If we think we disagree with another disciple, we should make certain we understand what he or she actually believes before we go any further. We should go to that person in a non-confrontational, non-judgmental way and kindly ask for clarification, demonstrating we truly want to understand his position. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves,” (Phil. 2:3).

4. Think and speak charitably. Our attitude, words and behavior should be filled with grace and love while we discern if there is a legitimate disagreement, while we address any disagreement and while we determine what to do in light of a disagreement. Hopefully, we will be able to walk together afterward. Differences over non-essential doctrines should not divide and should be accompanied by a demonstration of one of the marks of true Christianity: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Differences over essential beliefs may require separation, but they also should be accompanied by love.

Preaching: 'A picture of the gospel'

I am grateful as a pastor when writers communicate eloquently the significance of preaching in the life of a church. David Mathis, executive editor of Desiring God, posted Sunday a profound piece – titled “When Grace Is in the Pulpit” -- on the proclamation of God’s Word and the church’s response to it.

As Mathis points out, preaching is not all there is by any means to corporate worship, but it is a vital part. He writes, “The other elements of the gathering follow the rhythm of receiving from [God] and responding back to him, but in preaching we move into the posture of simply receiving, whether it’s a full half hour or just 15–20 minutes.” Our congregation would add, “Or 45-50 minutes.”

You can read all of the post here, but I have pulled out some of Mathis’ comments below I think might be particularly help for a congregation:

When we put ourselves under the preaching of God’s word, it is one of the precious few moments in life today when we close our mouths, and confront the temptation of responding right away, and focus our energy and attention to hearing with faith.

The act of preaching itself is a picture of the gospel. As the preacher stands behind the Book, doing his level best to re-reveal Jesus to his people, our Lord is put on display, not for give-and-take and the mingling of our efforts together in some mutual enterprise. Rather, we sit in the seat of weakness and desperation. What we need is not some boost from a trusted fellow to get us over the wall, but the rescue of the Savior for the utterly helpless.

The best of preaching serves the worshiper in the joy of self-forgetfulness, and preacher-forgetfulness. Preaching that goes on and on about the preacher himself, or is always angling at how the hearer should apply this or that to daily life, does so at the expense of tapping into the very power of preaching, namely, a preoccupation with Jesus. True Christian preaching swallows up the listener again and again, not with self or the speaker, but with Jesus and his manifold perfections.

The great goal of preaching, as well as the sacraments and the various other spiritual disciplines, is this: knowing and enjoying Jesus. The greatest incentive for attentive listening as we gather for corporate worship and sit under the preaching of God’s word is that we may know him (Philippians 3:10).

Are we remembering the persecuted saints?

As many as 40,000 of our fellow image-bearers remain stranded atop a mountain in northwest Iraq while we go about what can only be described by most of the world as comfortable, even luxurious, lives. If they remain on the mountain, they face death by dehydration. If they descend the mountain, they face death from Islamic militants.

Most of those stranded are Yazidis, a minority religious group in Iraq. Some reportedly are Christians. They fled to Mount Sinjar as the ruthless forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) neared their homes. Some children and adults already have died from thirst. Some men and women did not escape execution and rape by the extremists.

Tens of thousands of other Iraqis also have become refugees to avoid ISIS’ murderous campaign. The mass exodus of Christians from Iraq – which is more than a decade old -- may be near its end game. An estimated 1.2 million Christians lived in Iraq before Saddam Hussein’s regime fell in 2003. Now fewer than 200,000 remain. ISIS drove all Christians from Mosul, the country’s second largest city, a few weeks ago. The militants are determined to rid the entire land of Christians and other religious minorities.

This is only the latest example of a sobering reality for followers of Christ: To be identified with Jesus is to invite mistreatment, imprisonment, torture and execution. An average of 180 Christians around the world are killed each month for their faith. Christians in more than 60 countries face persecution from their government or neighbors.

In response, we can feel powerless to help the people on Mount Sinjar or our fellow saints in not only Iraq but countries such as Iran, Pakistan, North Korea and Syria. We may viscerally react with grief and disgust at reports of atrocities, but we move on to more immediate concerns in our lives that we acknowledge pale in comparison. We may ask: What can we do?

Last Sunday, one of the young ladies in our church read aloud Heb. 13:3 before we prayed for persecuted Christians and others in need. That verse says, “Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.”

The context appears to indicate the writer is referring here to Christians who are imprisoned or mistreated. Certainly we should defend, care for and pray for any who are threatened or brutalized. But there is a special expectation that we, as followers of Christ, would remember our brothers and sisters in the faith.

How do we remember them? With the assistance of others, I offer these as some ways:

1. To remember a persecuted Christian is first to keep him or her in mind. The oppressed in other countries have testified one of their greatest burdens or fears is they would be forgotten during their suffering. We should not forget those who are enduring affliction on the basis of their identification with the same Savior with whom we are identified.

2. To remember a persecuted Christian is to identify with his or her suffering. Heb. 13:3 says we are to remember prisoners “as though in prison with them.” This verse seems to call for us to think about what it would be like to be a fellow prisoner with that saint. It also says we are to remember the mistreated since we also “are in the body.” That seems to mean we -- who also have a physical body and know something of what it means to be in pain – should identify in our bodies with the suffering of our brother or sister. We should take time to agonize with our fellow saint.

3. To remember a persecuted Christian implies we are to care for, help and tend to the needs of the one who is suffering. If we are near, it can mean visits to prison or caring for the family of the prisoner. If we are far away, it can mean writing or otherwise communicating with our fellow saint.

4. To remember a persecuted Christian is to pray for him or her. We remember that Christian to God. There is nothing greater we can do for a suffering saint than pray for God’s gracious provision in his or her life. We can pray for deliverance from persecution, as well as endurance during it. We can pray for a bold gospel witness by the persecuted and for the breaking up of the hard soil of the heart in the persecutor.

May we remember the persecuted, and may God prepare us for any persecution to come in our own lives.

Handling disagreements in the church (Part 1)

One of the many blessings of having our children become adults is to be able to worship with them and their churches when we visit them in cities far from us. We have been able to experience something of life in the churches they have joined and, in some cases, have come to know their pastors.

Our daughter and her husband have been members of the same church since shortly after they were married in 2005. Because our son is in the Air Force, his wife and he have been part of several churches as they have moved from station to station the last 11 years.

Now, the churches they are members of – another move just took our son and his wife away from their church home – are facing challenges. Disagreements mark both churches, though both are biblically faithful, gospel-focused bodies. The existence of these churches does not appear in question, but they now face the tests brought by divisions among saints.

This news has reminded me how vital it is for a church’s leaders and members to handle disagreements properly. After all, this is about the name of Christ and the witness of His body on earth.

Covenant Community Church knows something of this experience. Our church has experienced some painful differences in the last year. A theological disagreement – one the elders and a majority of members did not believe should divide us – nonetheless resulted in some members removing themselves from the church.

As a pastor, I look back at the departure of members with regret, sometimes realizing I could have handled issues better than I did. There have been times I should have addressed more quickly what appeared to be growing dissatisfaction on the part of some members. In at least some cases, I don’t think there is anything the other elders and I could have done to prevent the separation. I also recognize some members could have handled their concerns better than they did.

How should church members handle disagreements within their fellowship, regardless of the nature of those disagreements? Here are some of several recommendations I plan to share in this post and a sequel:

1. Make certain your differences count. Too many divisions in churches are based on things that really shouldn’t matter. Church members battle over the cosmetic appearance of a building. They fight over what style of music should be used in corporate worship. Members decide their felt needs are not being met. They get their feelings hurt over real or perceived slights. Those issues call for biblically based, grace-filled solutions, not acrimony and division. They also call for servanthood. All members, including elders, must remind themselves their purpose is to serve, not to be served. We are all followers of Jesus, the King of kings who came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45). What are issues, when properly understood, that may call for division? Certainly, the gospel and essential biblical doctrine are two of those.

2. Think, listen, speak and act with humility. Though we are saints, we all retain a sin nature that infects all we do. None of us perceives God, His Word or His people perfectly. We should remind ourselves regularly of these limitations as we dwell on how we disagree with other Christians – or think we disagree with other Christians -- and as we begin the process of expressing those disagreements. Disputes and divisions in a spirit of pride can make a recipe for personal disaster – and possibly corporate disaster. The apostle Peter says it well: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (I Peter 5:5).