Saturday, February 13, 2010, 11:03 p.m. – I was on my way to bed when the following song began playing in my mind. I knew I had not heard it anywhere for a long while, so I knew this must be that the Lord had a message he wanted to give me through it. So, I came back to the computer to look it up and to record the lyrics:
The Church’s One Foundation / Samuel Stone / Samuel Wesley
The Church's one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation,
By water and the word:
From heaven he came and sought her
To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her,
And for her life he died.
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed;
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
Their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song.
Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blessed,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
With God, the Three in one,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with thee.
I don’t think that I ever really paid that close attention to the words to this song before, but just now I read them through carefully and prayerfully. I was greatly moved by the richness of the Biblical truth in them, and immediately I could see how well they fit with the book of Revelation, which is where I am reading right now for my quiet times with the Lord.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Revelation 2:1-7:
My Understanding: Revelation chapter 2 through chapter 3 contains the letters to the seven churches. The church, as a whole, is the Body of Christ, the people, the temple of the Holy Spirit. So, this is addressed to Christians or to Christian communities that included non-Christians or nominal Christians. Each letter was written to a part of the whole church that met in particular locations. There are varied theological thoughts on ultimately what these churches represent and how what is written is to be applied. Some people see the churches as representing various times in the church age while others take this to be written literally to these specific churches. Whatever one’s theological bent may be, one thing is clear. The Bible says that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.” So, it is applicable for all time. And, we can learn something from all these letters.
Most of these letters contain both “for” and “against,” i.e. they have words that are in praise of the congregation and there are words of disapproval. This first letter is one that has both “for” and “against.” If the Lord were to write a letter specifically to your church gathering – to the believers in Jesus with whom you meet regularly for prayer, Bible study, fellowship, the breaking of bread, etc. – what do you think he would say about you? What would he say “for” your group? Against? I’m asking myself these same questions. It would be different for each gathering of the church, just like each of these letters shares a different story about each of these congregations. There would be good points and bad points to be discussed and recommended corrections or courses of action, just like in these letters to the churches in Revelation. Yet, I see in the church today, overall, that the main “against” that is written about this church in Ephesus applies to the church in the USA, at least. And, that is that we, as the church in the USA, have forsaken our first love.
This is what this song is about. It is reminding us that Jesus is to be the church’s one foundation and that she is HIS new creation. My husband and I were in church planting for awhile. If you sat through some of the same training classes we went through, I don’t think you would come to the conclusion that the church of today in the USA is built on the foundation of Jesus and that she is HIS new creation. It is the thing today to use modern marketing techniques and to make church fun and palatable so that people will want to attend the meetings. It is very gimmick driven and uses man’s methods for building the church. But, it is Christ who builds the true church. Men build buildings. They build businesses. They build organizations and private clubs that are membership only. I’m speaking of the church here. But, it is Christ who builds his church. We are HIS new creation, not the creation of some man or some book by a man on how to build a church, because we, the people, are the church. And, when we are in Christ, we are members of the true church. That is the only membership we need.
This song is also reminding us that Jesus sought us to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died. To be holy means to be righteous. Now, when we are in Christ, we wear his righteousness. Yet, the Bible instructs us, as believers, to “be holy as Christ is holy.” So, there is a holiness that we must strive toward in God’s strength that sets us apart from the world and that reveals Christ’s righteousness in our lives. So, the true purpose of the church is to be Christ’s holy bride. It is not to have great marketing techniques that draw large crowds of people. Then, it is not the church. It is not there to entertain or to provide lots of great programs for your kids. It is not a social club. It is not to be a Christian version of what the world is offering. It is not to be “me” oriented with watered-down messages that are pleasing to the ear and a gospel message that is no gospel at all because it does not lead people to repentance or to obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be set apart to our Lord for his purposes and his glory, not for the glory of man.
What the Lord mainly had against this church in Ephesus, again, is that she had forsaken her “first love.” So, what does this mean? I think it is like remembering when you first fell in love with someone that you had a long relationship with or whom you married, i.e. a love relationship that had some depth and length to it. What was it like when you first “fell in love”? Perhaps it was like this: He or she was the first person you thought of when you woke in the morning and the last thought you had before you fell asleep at night, and you probably dreamed about him or her, too. When anything happened to you, he or she is who you wanted to tell first and foremost. You would stay up late at night on the phone talking about small stuff or just being silent because you just didn’t want to hang up and have to say “good-night.” You would write him notes and hand, mail or stuff them in his or her school locker or mail box. You would tell all your friends about him or her, too, and there would be a glow in your face every time you mentioned his or her name.
That is the kind of love relationship Jesus desires for us to have with him. He wants us to love him like a “first love.” Yet, so often he is just kicked to the curb, rarely mentioned and nearly forgotten except when the “church” gets together for “praise” and “worship” services. True worship is giving ourselves to Christ as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable and pleasing to God and to not be conformed to the pattern of the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The problem with today’s church in the USA is that they have conformed to the pattern of the world and that Jesus Christ has taken a back seat, i.e. the church in America has forsaken her first love, Jesus Christ. And, God is calling her to return to Him.
United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night
America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping
United States of America
Looks like another silent tonight
The Church’s One Foundation / Samuel Stone / Samuel Wesley
The Church's one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation,
By water and the word:
From heaven he came and sought her
To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her,
And for her life he died.
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed;
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
Their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song.
Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till with the vision glorious
Her longing eyes are blessed,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
With God, the Three in one,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with thee.
I don’t think that I ever really paid that close attention to the words to this song before, but just now I read them through carefully and prayerfully. I was greatly moved by the richness of the Biblical truth in them, and immediately I could see how well they fit with the book of Revelation, which is where I am reading right now for my quiet times with the Lord.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Revelation 2:1-7:
My Understanding: Revelation chapter 2 through chapter 3 contains the letters to the seven churches. The church, as a whole, is the Body of Christ, the people, the temple of the Holy Spirit. So, this is addressed to Christians or to Christian communities that included non-Christians or nominal Christians. Each letter was written to a part of the whole church that met in particular locations. There are varied theological thoughts on ultimately what these churches represent and how what is written is to be applied. Some people see the churches as representing various times in the church age while others take this to be written literally to these specific churches. Whatever one’s theological bent may be, one thing is clear. The Bible says that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.” So, it is applicable for all time. And, we can learn something from all these letters.
Most of these letters contain both “for” and “against,” i.e. they have words that are in praise of the congregation and there are words of disapproval. This first letter is one that has both “for” and “against.” If the Lord were to write a letter specifically to your church gathering – to the believers in Jesus with whom you meet regularly for prayer, Bible study, fellowship, the breaking of bread, etc. – what do you think he would say about you? What would he say “for” your group? Against? I’m asking myself these same questions. It would be different for each gathering of the church, just like each of these letters shares a different story about each of these congregations. There would be good points and bad points to be discussed and recommended corrections or courses of action, just like in these letters to the churches in Revelation. Yet, I see in the church today, overall, that the main “against” that is written about this church in Ephesus applies to the church in the USA, at least. And, that is that we, as the church in the USA, have forsaken our first love.
This is what this song is about. It is reminding us that Jesus is to be the church’s one foundation and that she is HIS new creation. My husband and I were in church planting for awhile. If you sat through some of the same training classes we went through, I don’t think you would come to the conclusion that the church of today in the USA is built on the foundation of Jesus and that she is HIS new creation. It is the thing today to use modern marketing techniques and to make church fun and palatable so that people will want to attend the meetings. It is very gimmick driven and uses man’s methods for building the church. But, it is Christ who builds the true church. Men build buildings. They build businesses. They build organizations and private clubs that are membership only. I’m speaking of the church here. But, it is Christ who builds his church. We are HIS new creation, not the creation of some man or some book by a man on how to build a church, because we, the people, are the church. And, when we are in Christ, we are members of the true church. That is the only membership we need.
This song is also reminding us that Jesus sought us to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died. To be holy means to be righteous. Now, when we are in Christ, we wear his righteousness. Yet, the Bible instructs us, as believers, to “be holy as Christ is holy.” So, there is a holiness that we must strive toward in God’s strength that sets us apart from the world and that reveals Christ’s righteousness in our lives. So, the true purpose of the church is to be Christ’s holy bride. It is not to have great marketing techniques that draw large crowds of people. Then, it is not the church. It is not there to entertain or to provide lots of great programs for your kids. It is not a social club. It is not to be a Christian version of what the world is offering. It is not to be “me” oriented with watered-down messages that are pleasing to the ear and a gospel message that is no gospel at all because it does not lead people to repentance or to obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be set apart to our Lord for his purposes and his glory, not for the glory of man.
What the Lord mainly had against this church in Ephesus, again, is that she had forsaken her “first love.” So, what does this mean? I think it is like remembering when you first fell in love with someone that you had a long relationship with or whom you married, i.e. a love relationship that had some depth and length to it. What was it like when you first “fell in love”? Perhaps it was like this: He or she was the first person you thought of when you woke in the morning and the last thought you had before you fell asleep at night, and you probably dreamed about him or her, too. When anything happened to you, he or she is who you wanted to tell first and foremost. You would stay up late at night on the phone talking about small stuff or just being silent because you just didn’t want to hang up and have to say “good-night.” You would write him notes and hand, mail or stuff them in his or her school locker or mail box. You would tell all your friends about him or her, too, and there would be a glow in your face every time you mentioned his or her name.
That is the kind of love relationship Jesus desires for us to have with him. He wants us to love him like a “first love.” Yet, so often he is just kicked to the curb, rarely mentioned and nearly forgotten except when the “church” gets together for “praise” and “worship” services. True worship is giving ourselves to Christ as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable and pleasing to God and to not be conformed to the pattern of the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The problem with today’s church in the USA is that they have conformed to the pattern of the world and that Jesus Christ has taken a back seat, i.e. the church in America has forsaken her first love, Jesus Christ. And, God is calling her to return to Him.
United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night
America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping
United States of America
Looks like another silent tonight
