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W8. Reflections: Nov.18

Nothing But Leaves

Graphic Bob New Glasses 2015HOW TO USE THIS BLOG
1) The Almanac. Click on the month you want in the side-bar, then the specific date. The blog will tell you what happened in hymn history on that day.
2) Reflections. There is always a current article on a hymn. But you can find many others by clicking on the Index tab. (More being added all the time.)
3) Topical Articles are opinion pieces on many aspects sacred music.
4) To Donate. If you can help with the cost of developing and maintaining this site, click on the “Support” tab above and the page will show you how.

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church. As others have contributed ideas, this wonderful resource has grown to over 80 items now. And, for more than three dozen reasons why congregations should still use hymn books rather than merely projecting words on the wall, see The Value of Hymn Books.

Words: Mrs. H. S. Lehman (no further data)
Music: Mrs. H. S. Lehman

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (none)
The Cyber Hymnal (H. S. Lehman)
Hymnary.org

Note: In 1924 an author, known only as Mrs. H. S. Lehman, published this song called Nothing But Leaves, and she also wrote a number of other songs. She published a couple of books in 1928, so, at a guess, she was born in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

In a search for more information, including her given names, I discovered a book she had authored and personally autographed. But, she signed it only “Mrs H. S. Lehman,” adding the text John 5:24 (as shown to the left). If you know more about this author, please let me know.

Disappointments–mild or otherwise–are a part of life. We may be counting on fine weather to attend a ball game on the week-end, only to find the darkening skies bring torrents of rain, and the game is cancelled. Or we may expect a new dishwasher to give us years of service, only to have it break down in a month.

Five centuries ago, the word actually had a political application. To “dis-appoint” an official meant to undo his appointment, to remove him from office. It could happen when one was put in place, with the expectation he would do well, but he had to be removed when he was found to be corrupt. The Bible warns, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes” (Ps. 118:9).

But what of the Lord’s expectations of us? Is He ever disappointed? In one way, no. Not in the sense of being surprised by our moral failures and disobedience. He is omniscient and “knows all things” (I Jn. 3:20). He knows well what’s in our hearts (Lk. 16:15; Jn. 2:25). However, God is still grieved, when He sees us on a destructive path, and saddened when we fail to fulfil His wise purposes (Eph. 4:30).

This relates to one of Christ’s most unusual miracles. The details are recorded by both Matthew (Matt. 21:18-21) and Mark (Mk. 11:12-14). What makes it unusual is it’s the only one of about three dozen miracles found in the Gospels whose intent was to destroy, rather than to heal and help.

The Lord was approaching the city of Jerusalem, with His disciples, and the Bible says, “He was hungry” (Matt. 21:18). So when they spotted a fig tree, He approached, hoping to find something to eat, but found “nothing on it but leaves” (vs. 19). With that, Christ cursed the fig tree, and it withered and died.

It was spring, and not yet the season for ripe figs. But there might have been some fruit left from the previous growing season. More likely, there should have been fresh buds of sprouting figs. These were often picked by the poor for food. Their absence was a sign the tree would not bear fruit later on. It was failing to fulfil its expected purpose.

Some have accused Christ of being petty and vindictive in what He did. But this cannot be. First of all, as the Creator (Jn. 1:3), He has a right to do as He chooses with His creation. But also, He may have been aware that not only was the tree no producing fruit, but that it would never improve. In such a case, a farmer would likely chop the tree down to save it using up precious moisture and nutrients from the ground.

Further, many commentators see this little incident as having prophetic significance. The fig tree is used in Scripture as a symbol for the nation of Israel (Hos. 9:10). And God had specially blessed Israel, expecting her to be, as His servant, a witness to the Gentile peoples (Isa. 41:8; 43:10). However, the nation had repeatedly strayed from God. Spiritually barren, they had nothing to offer to others around. And what happened to  them?

Within a few days the Jews would call for the crucifixion of Christ, and in AD 70, Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the people scattered. It could be the Lord’s action is to be taken as a foreshadowing of this. It should be added that, in Israel’s case, this did not mean the utter and final destruction of the nation. A believing remnant of Israel will be returned to its former glory (and greater) at Christ’s return (Rom. 11:1, 26). But it presents a sober warning for them, nonetheless.

In her song, Mrs. Lehman applied this condition to individual believers, on this side of the cross. Christians are to be producing both the inward fruit of Christian character (Gal. 5:22-23), and the outward fruit of an effective service for Christ (Jn. 15:16; Rom. 1:13). But what if we are lacking spiritual fruit? The author deals with this and the two kinds of fruit in the three stanzas of her song.

What she does not do is explain that if someone professes to be a Christian, but is not bearing fruit, there is reason to doubt the reality of his or her profession. And for a fruitless believer there should be an expectation of discipline by the Lord (Jn. 15:1-8; Heb. 12:5-11).

1) The Master is seeking a harvest
In lives He’s redeemed by His blood;
He seeks for the fruit of the Spirit,
And works that will glorify God.

Nothing but leaves for the Master,
Oh how His loving heart grieves,
When instead of the fruit He is seeking,
We offer Him nothing but leaves.

2) He looks for His likeness reflected
In lives that are yielded and true;
He’s looking for zeal in the winning
Of souls He’s entrusted to you.

Questions:
1) What aspect of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 6:22-23) do you have most trouble producing?

2) What are you doing to bear fruit in the lives of others for the Lord, by His grace?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (none)
The Cyber Hymnal (H. S. Lehman)
Hymnary.org

Living for Jesus, O What Peace

Graphic Bob New Glasses 2015HOW TO USE THIS BLOG
1) The Almanac. Click on the month you want in the side-bar, then the specific date. The blog will tell you what happened in hymn history on that day.
2) Reflections. There is always a current article on a hymn. But you can find many others by clicking on the Index tab. (More being added all the time.)
3) Topical Articles are opinion pieces on many aspects sacred music.
4) To Donate. If you can help with the cost of developing and maintaining this site, click on the “Support” tab above and the page will show you how.

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church. As others have contributed ideas, this wonderful resource has grown to over 80 items now. And, for more than three dozen reasons why congregations should still use hymn books rather than merely projecting words on the wall, see The Value of Hymn Books.

Words: Charles Frederick Weigle (b. Nov. 20, 1871; d. Dec. 3, 1966
Music: Charles Frederick Weigle

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Charles Weigle)
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: Mr. Weigle was a trained musician and he wrote over a thousand songs, He was also a gospel singer, and later became an evangelist, a preacher of the gospel. Living for Jesus, O What Peace (not to be confused with Living for Jesus, by Thomas Chisholm) is a lovely song, with a message that becomes all the richer when you learn about the man who wrote it. You can hear a beautiful rendition of it here on YouTube.

Over the years, television quiz shows have asked all kinds of questions. Jeopardy has invented a twist on this: they give the answer, and ask what the question should be. In either case, knowledge is tested, and contestants can often win a considerable amount of money from their depth of knowledge of various subjects.

But there’s a question I’ve never heard asked. In decades of following game shows, the question has never come up. Answering it can be challenging, and perhaps make us a little uncomfortable. The question is: What are you living for? The answer has to do with things such as our goals, our values and purpose in life.

Perhaps some will respond, “I haven’t really thought much about that.” If so, it may imply a life that is carelessly drifting, or basically directionless. But if we don’t have an understanding of what something is for–a plumb bob, a stethoscope, a life–how can we use it effectively? And if we don’t know where we’re going, it begs the question where will we end up? Our life’s purpose should become a kind of test of everything we do, and everything that happens to us. Will this forward my purpose? Or hinder it?

An honest and perceptive answer to the question can be sobering. Many responses will indicate largely self-centred goals. Career advancement, money and possessions, prestige and the approval of others, pleasure–which may be focused on things like alcohol and drugs, or sex, or some kind of all-consuming hobby. Even living for one’s family can be rather selfish, if looked at in terms of how they can benefit and satisfy us.

There can be another problem with the options mentioned, a more serious one. That they are not only focused on pleasing ourselves, but are time bound. Like the rich farmer in Jesus’ parable (Lk. 12:16-21), the person may plan to “pull down [his] barns and build greater…[then] eat, drink, and be merry,” with no thought of eternity. Instead, the Lord counsels us, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:20).

Earthly treasures will all be left behind (Ps. 49:17; I Tim. 6:7). How then can we lay up treasures in heaven? The answer is found in a Christ-centred life. First, to put our faith in Christ as our only Saviour from sin. Then, to live a life in fellowship with Him, praise of Him, obedience to Him, and service for Him. The latter involves using our gifts and opportunities to bless others for Jesus’ sake, rather than seeking personal gain.

Phrased in the well known couplet by missionary C. T. Studd:

Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Paul put it even more succinctly: “To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). And if to live is Christ, to die can only be gain. That’s true for each one of us.

It’s the conclusion reached by evangelist and gospel song writer Charles Weigle, and it’s beautifully expressed in his song, Living for Jesus, O What Peace! But we need to ask what he meant by that.

Was he suggesting the Christian life is a peaceful life, with no pain, no trials? No. In fact, Mr. Weigle struggled financially. And his wife, dissatisfied with her inability to have the things of this life, packed up and left him, taking their young daughter with her. Five years later, she died in a far off city, ruined by the pleasures of sin.

There are hints in the song that the author’s life had its troubles. “Trials may come” (stanza 1); “all of my burden…friends may forsake me” (stanza 3). No, the “peace” Weigle’s song speaks of doesn’t depend on the comforts of this world, but in the knowledge that we are investing our lives for Christ. It is a joy to serve Him, and know our service counts for something–and that everlasting joy and blessing await us up ahead.

CH-1) Living for Jesus–O what peace!
Rivers of pleasure never cease.
Trials may come, yet I’ll not fear.
Living for Jesus, He is near.

Help me to serve Thee more and more.
Help me to praise Thee o’er and o’er;
Live in Thy presence day by day,
Never to turn from Thee away.

CH-2) Living for Jesus–O what rest!
Pleasing my Saviour, I am blest.
Only to live for Him alone,
Doing His will till life is done!

CH-3) Living for Jesus everywhere,
All of my burden He doth bear.
Friends may forsake me; He’ll be true.
Trusting in Him, He’ll guide me through.

CH-4) Living for Jesus till at last
Into His glory I have passed;
There to behold Him on His throne,
Hear from His lips, “My child, well done!”

Questions:
1) What does “living for Jesus” mean to you personally?

2) How has this life purpose been a blessing to you?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Charles Weigle)
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Hallelujah to the Lamb

Graphic Bob New Glasses 2015HOW TO USE THIS BLOG
1) The Almanac. Click on the month you want in the side-bar, then the specific date. The blog will tell you what happened in hymn history on that day.
2) Reflections. There is always a current article on a hymn. But you can find many others by clicking on the Index tab. (More being added all the time.)
3) Topical Articles are opinion pieces on many aspects sacred music.
4) To Donate. If you can help with the cost of developing and maintaining this site, click on the “Support” tab above and the page will show you how.

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church. As others have contributed ideas, this wonderful resource has grown to over 80 items now. And, for more than three dozen reasons why congregations should still use hymn books rather than merely projecting words on the wall, see The Value of Hymn Books.

Words: Isaac Watts (b. July 17, 1674; d. Nov. 25, 1748)
Music: Gräfenberg, by Johann Crüger (b. Apr. 9, 1598; d. Feb. 23, 1662)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Isaac Watts)
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

Note: In 1707, pastor and hymn writer Isaac Watts published the present hymn calling on believers to unite with the songs of worship around the throne of God. This hymn sometimes takes its title from the first line: Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs.

The word tomorrow, in Old English, was tō morgenne (to morning), a reference to the beginning of a new day. And once tomorrow becomes today, the following day is a new tomorrow. Shakespeare’s Macbeth found a bleak monotony in this:

“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time.”

But that raises the question: What then? If we come to a point where there are no more tomorrows in this mortal life, what then? The atheist and the agnostic have no satisfying answers. For them, the only certainty is this physical world and our brief time in it. There is no God who created it and rules over it, says the atheist, and death is the end of our existence. The agnostic simply shrugs, and says these things are unknown and unknowable.

The Bible rejects this depressing dead-end-street. It begins with God creating the world and everything in it (Gen. 1:1-31), and ends with the triumph of the saints in the eternal kingdom of God. In between, the rule of God is made evident. He dominates the scene. All history is His story. The words “God,” and “Lord,” are used in the Bible over ten thousand times. “Even from everlasting to everlasting, [He is] God” (Ps. 90:2).

And the Lord is not remote and unknowable. Hundreds of times we read of Him communicating with human beings. And the Scriptures themselves are presented as the utterly trustworthy revelation of God. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Tim. 3:16). And we may confidently say, “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Ps. 119:160).

Further, it becomes clear that the focus of the entire Bible is especially on the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, and in particular on His saving work on the cross. He told the Jewish leaders of His day, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (Jn. 5:39). And He taught His disciples from the pages of the Old Testament all about Himself (Lk. 24:27, 44).

Christ’s coming is prophesied and foreshadowed in the Old Testament, and described and explained in the New. Then, when the curtain descends on this old world’s history, heaven will still resound with His praise, when “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ [Messiah], and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev. 11:15).

We’re told a few things about heaven, but much would likely be beyond our understanding now. We do know the throne of God is there (Rev. 4:2), and that the pain and suffering of this life will be gone (Rev. 21:4). We are told that in heaven, the saints will serve Him (Rev. 22:3), but we’ll have to wait and see what that service will entail.

In the book of Revelation Christ is repeatedly called the Lamb, reminding us of how He died to pay our debt of sin (cf. I Pet. 1:18-19). John the Baptist introduced the Saviour by announcing, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). And eternity will echo with glorious adoration from saints and angels. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 5:12).

Dr. Watts’s joyful song says:

CH-1) Come, let us join our cheerful songs
With angels round the throne.
Ten thousand, thousand are their tongues,
But all their joys are one.

CH-2) “Worthy the Lamb that died,” they cry,
To be exalted thus!
“Worthy the Lamb,” our hearts reply,
“For He was slain for us!”

CH-3) Jesus is worthy to receive
Honour and power divine;
And blessings more than we can give,
Be, Lord, forever Thine.

CH-4) Let all that dwell above the sky,
And air and earth and seas,
Conspire to lift Thy glories high,
And speak Thine endless praise!

Questions:
1) How will our praise of Christ in eternity differ from that of the angels?

2) What will we have to praise Christ for in eternity, besides His dying for our sins?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Isaac Watts)
The Cyber Hymnal
Hymnary.org

If We Could See Beyond Today

Graphic Bob New Glasses 2015HOW TO USE THIS BLOG
1) The Almanac. Click on the month you want in the side-bar, then the specific date. The blog will tell you what happened in hymn history on that day.
2) Reflections. There is always a current article on a hymn. But you can find many others by clicking on the Index tab. (More being added all the time.)
3) Topical Articles are opinion pieces on many aspects sacred music.
4) To Donate. If you can help with the cost of developing and maintaining this site, click on the “Support” tab above and the page will show you how.

Also see 30+ Ideas for Promoting Hymn Singing in your church. As others have contributed ideas, this wonderful resource has grown to over 80 items now. And, for more than three dozen reasons why congregations should still use hymn books rather than merely projecting words on the wall, see The Value of Hymn Books.

Words: (unknown author)
Music: Norman John Clayton (b. Jan. 22, 1903; d. Jan. 1, 1992)

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Norman Clayton)
The Cyber Hymnal (Norman Clayton)
Hymnary.org (Norman Clayton)

Note: Norman Clayton was a church organist for five decades, and served as the accompanist for Jack Wyrtzen’s Word of Life rallies, in New York. He was also a writer and editor for a music publisher, and wrote both words and music for many fine songs, including Now I Belong to Jesus, My Hope Is in the Lord, and We Shall See His Lovely Face.

Fortune telling is big business. Many people crave the knowledge of what will happen in the future, to them, or to family members or friends. And, for a price, there are a host of people who claim they can find out for us–by holding seances, analyzing dreams, reading palms, using the stars, fortune cookies, tea leaves, magic boards, and more. They’re in the business of marketing hope–but it’s a counterfeit.

Skeptics of these supposed prognosticators abound. English professor and award-winning television host Bergen Evans (1904-1978) said fortune telling is the “naive selection of something that has happened from a mass of things that haven’t, the clever interpretation of ambiguities, or a brazen announcement of the inevitable.” Put more simply, fortune tellers are good guessers–but their guesses are more often wrong than right.

Yet people continue to hand over large amounts of cash, in the vain hope that maybe someone will know…something. It’s estimated that this is a two billion dollar-a-year business across North America. Most who claim psychic ability tell fortunes as a sideline. But there are some who do it full-time, and make their living at it.

There are some things that can be predicted as possible because they are statistical probabilities. This often applies to the vague pronouncements of fortune cookies. “You will receive some good news this week,” for example. And yes, that may well happen. But it’s far from a personal, detailed, and explicit prophecy. No one has a knowledge of the future to that degree.

As a Bible-believing Christian, let me suggest an exception to that. I do believe Satan and his host of demons have great power. And when fortune tellers invoke occult powers, they sometimes gain information beyond what is humanly available. However, God condemns this practice (Lev. 20:6), and we need to keep in mind that Satan’s ultimate goal is to deceive and destroy (Jn. 8:44; I Pet. 5:8). A recent television exposé on CTV’s W5 told of Jack who, ensnared by occult fortune tellers, lost his marriage, his job, his house and almost his sanity.

In terms of prophecy, the Word of God, the Almighty’s only written revelation to man, is in a class by itself. A God of truth (Deut. 32:4), who knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:9-10), has revealed about a thousand specific prophecies in the pages of Scripture. Half of them have already been fulfilled (many associated with Christ’s first coming), giving us confidence that the rest will be, in His good time.

God’s main purpose in Scripture is the revelation of His person, and of His saving work, through Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

But, though God knows all that will happen to each of us, the Bible does not contain such details. When the Lord Jesus revealed to Peter that he would one day die as a martyr, Peter asked, “But Lord, what about this man [John]?” Christ’s response was sharp, “What is that to you? You follow Me” (Jn. 21:21-22). God is not in the business of satisfying idle curiosity.

Further, He wants us to trust in Him, step by step, and knows that with explicit information about our future we’d have greater trouble doing that. We’d be more inclined to careless complacency, or sinful independence. There’s a hymn about that. Gospel song writer Norman Clayton took some thought provoking words by an unknown author, and wrote music for If We Could See Beyond Today. It begins:

1) If we could see beyond today
As God can see,
If all the clouds should roll away,
The shadows flee,
O’er present griefs we would not fret,
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet,
For you and me.

The second stanza assures us that “Someday life’s wrongs will be made right, faith tells us so.” Then, the last stanza says:

3) If we could see, if we could know,
We often say,
But God in love a veil doth throw
Across our way;
We cannot see what lies before,
And so we cling to Him the more:
He leads us till this life is o’er,
Trust and obey.

Questions:
1) Since we, as Christians, don’t know the details of our future, what should the result of this be today?

2) What things, as Christians, do we know, with certainty, about our future?

Links:
Wordwise Hymns (Norman Clayton)
The Cyber Hymnal (Norman Clayton)
Hymnary.org (Norman Clayton)