An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended a large community church. When he came home his wife asked him how it was. ?Well,? the farmer said, ?It was good. But, they did something different. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.? ?Praise choruses,? said his wife, ?What are those?? ?Well, they are sort of like hymns, only different,? said the farmer. ?In what way? What?s the difference?? asked his wife. The farmer said, ?Well, it?s like this. If I were to say to you, ?Martha the cows are in the corn.? Well, that would be a hymn. If on the other hand, I were to say to you, ?Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS, COWS are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, the CORN, CORN, CORN.? Then if I was to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well, that would be a praise chorus.?
The next weekend, the farmer?s nephew, a young, new Christian from the city came to visit and attended his uncle?s small country church. He went home and his mother asked him how it was.
?Well,? said the young man, ?It was good. But they did something different. They sang hymns instead of praise choruses.? ?Hymns,? asked his mother, ?What are those?? ?Oh, they?re OK. They are sort of like praise songs, only different,? said the young man. ?Well, what?s the difference?? asked his mother. The young man said, ?Well, it?s like this – If I were to say to you, ?Martha, the cows are in the corn,? – well, that would be a praise chorus. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you: ?Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry. Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth; Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by…to the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth. For the way of the animals who can explain? There in their heads is no shadow of sense! Hearkenest they in God?s sun or His rain, unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced. Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight, have broke free their shackles, Their warm pens eschewed. Then goaded by minions of darkness and night…They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed. So look to that bright shining day by and by, where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn, Where no vicious animals make my soul cry And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.? Then if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well, that would be a hymn.?
Now?if we were to gather all worshiping Redlanders into this room at the same time and tell this story?that is to say if we were to combine our 8:30 and 11AM services?well, I?m sure I?d have almost an equal amount of laughter at both parts of this story. Some would get a grin from the farmer?s description of praise choruses and others would chuckle at his nephew?s description of hymns because when it comes to music we have very diverse preferences here at Redland.
And that?s a good thing! It?s part of what makes our fellowship so sweet and our worship so deep and meaningful. Personally, I love the way Bill blends the worship at BOTH services. In fact, for me, the more blended and diverse the music?the richer and more meaningful the worship! Unfortunately these days some churches don?t seem to understand this. I say this because many congregations have abandoned the music of the past and almost exclusively embrace music that is current. I?ve even heard some believers say they give a thumbs down to any song that is more than five years old as if it?s not worth singing anymore. I guess in their minds songs are like perishable food and should come with ?best if used by? labels.
Now?as you probably know, this summer I have decided to build my sermons on worship music, and I?ve selected HYMNS as a jumping off point for each of these messages?not to put down the wonderful new songs we sing?but rather to help us remember that OLD is not necessarily BAD. If OLD songs were bad God wouldn?t have included the words to so many of them in the Bible. Yes?as Psalm 33:3 says, we are to sing to the Lord a NEW SONG…but that doesn?t mean we have to throw the OLD songs away. In my mind, to do so would be senseless?because old songs like HYMNS are full of ?meaty? Spiritual truth…truth that has been set to beautiful music. The Great Hymns of our Faith are wonderful teaching tools that we would be foolish to ignore. In my opinion, anyone who does so worships with one hand tied behind their back. Think of it this way?God is too great for one type of music to suffice in describing Him?so to make our worship as powerful and complete as possible we need both the old and the new.
By the way, last year when I was on my sabbatical I worshiped one Sunday at Covenant Life Church down the street and they were doing a congregational study of hymns. Their pastor wasn?t doing a SERMON series on the great hymns but he was challenging their very young congregation to learn all the words to one old hymn each month and the hymn they were learning the week I was there was Amazing Grace. Now?I thought?surely everyone already knows that hymn…but that?s not necessarily true. You see, if we don?t make a conscious effort to remember OLD things?we forget them?and wouldn?t you agree that it would be a horrible thing for us to forget those blessed words? How sad it would be for our children to NOT know hymns like Amazing Grace!
And while we are on the subject let me remind you that worship isn?t for us. I mean, we mustn?t let ourselves fall into the trap of thinking that worship should be based on our personal preference because worship isn?t supposed to please us personally. It?s supposed to please God. The Bible teaches that we aren?t the audience each Sunday?He is! We worship for His pleasure?not our own. Our singing?whether its an old song or a new one?is to be our sacrifice of praise to our Heavenly Father. So?when you are singing, sing as unto the Lord. And?if you can read music, I encourage you to ignore the screens, pick up your hymnal, and add some harmony to our worship! In short, let?s do all we can to make our worship pleasing to God.
This morning we are beginning this series with one of my favorite hymns?an old song whose text was written by a man named William Cowper. Now?to say that Cowper wrote OLD hymns would be an understatement because he lived nearly three centuries ago…but two of his OLD hymns are still in our hymnal today. This week I learned that Cowper and I have some things in common. We are both P.K.s. His father was a minister and so was mine. And?whereas in many ways my mom is a ?queen? of a person, Cowper?s mother was almost literally a queen in that she was descended from British royalty. In fact, I believe it was her family wealth that made it possible for the family to have in their home what would have been a rare thing in the 1700’s?a large library and Mrs. Cowper used it to expose William to the best poetry and literature of the day. All they time they spent together in the family library helped Cowper to become very close to his mother?and when she died giving birth to one of his siblings he was deeply affected. Not a day passed that he did not mourn for his mom?and to show you HOW deep his loss impacted him?Cowper developed an extreme depression…one that plagued him all his life. In fact, as a young man he became so ill emotionally, that he attempted suicide three times and because of this he was confined in an asylum called St. Albans. While he was there is brother visited him regularly and through those visits eventually led William to embrace a personal faith in Jesus Christ. Shortly after that Cowper was discharged and he began his career as a poet living in Cambridge. I?m sure most of you are familiar with one of the phrases Cowper wrote because it was he who said, ?God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.? Many people think those words are in the Bible?but they are not. They are true?but they are not in the Scripture. You see, Cowper had been inspired by God?s providence in his own life?and this led him to pen this popular phrase.
Perhaps the greatest example of God?s providence came when shortly after being discharged from St. Albans, Cowper met and became close friends with John Newton, the repentant slave trader and pastor. Cowper attended Newton?s church and his pastor discipled him, and together they composed several hymns that were published in 1779 in a popular collection called, Olney Hymns. This very OLD hymnal is where Newton?s hymn, Amazing Grace first appeared in print as well as the hymn we are looking at today?one Cowper entitled, There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood. I believe, Cowper was inspired to write this hymn by reading the words of Zechariah 13:1?where it prophesies Jesus? death on the cross for our sins. It says, ?On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.? Open your hymnals now to page 196?and have your Bibles ready as well. Before we share communion I want to use this old hymn as a teaching tool to remind us of two very important Biblical truths.
(1) First?as Cowper points out in his very first verse?because of Jesus? BLOOD shed on the cross, we can ?lose ALL our guilty stains.?
Now?if you?ve studied your Old Testament?then you know that BLOOD was a key symbol in the Jewish sacrificial system. In Leviticus 17:11, God says, ?The life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; It is the blood that makes atonement for one?s life.? God organized this sacrificial system as a way to constantly remind His chosen people that atonement for sin?or to put it another way?washing away the stain of our sin?well, it is a very costly thing?and that makes sense because sin leads to death?so in order for sin to be forgiven?atoned for?washed away?something had to die. An animal that was innocent?in that it had done nothing wrong?an innocent animal had to be killed in order to pay for their sins. The innocent was to take the place of the guilty.
But please understand?this entire sacrificial system that God set up was to be SYMBOLIC. I mean, killing animals didn?t really atone for sin. It didn?t actually make the Hebrew people pure. As Hebrews 10:4 says,?It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.? So?all those animal sacrifices did was merely foreshadow the blood that would be shed by the one TRUE?the one PERFECT sacrifice, Jesus Christ. You see only a PERFECT human could really pay the price for the sins of IMPERFECT humans like you and me?and this is why Jesus came. He was and is the sinless, innocent Lamb of God, Who died on the cross in our place. As Cowper put it in His hymn, the actual PRICE of our redemption was blood ?…drawn from Immanuel?s veins.? Only THAT blood can truly cleanse us. As 1st John 1:7 says,?The blood of Jesus purifies us from EVERY sin.? Hebrews 9:11-12 puts it like this,?Jesus came as High Priest of this better system which we now have. He once for all took blood into that inner room, the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled it on the mercy seat; but it was not the blood of goats and calves. No, He took His own blood and with it He, by Himself, made sure of our eternal salvation.?
This week I read that blood is the most powerful cleansing agent in the world. In your body blood takes oxygen and other supplies TO cells AND REMOVES waste and impurities from those same cells. Blood literally cleans out the filth from your body from the molecular level on out. That is one of it?s major responsibilities. There is NO OTHER cleansing agent known to man that can purify our bodily system as well as the blood that courses through our veins.
And…in an infinitely better way, there is no other cleansing agent known to man that can rid your soul of its filth and shame than the blood of Jesus, the Christ. Isaac Watts, another great hymn writer of yesteryear, wrote:
?Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain
Could give the guilty conscience peace,
Or wash away the stain.But Christ the heavenly Lamb
Took all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name
And richer blood than they.?
So?as Cowper says in his OLD hymn, ?…sinners plunged beneath that flood can indeed lose ALL their guilty stains.? Because of Jesus? blood we can be pure in God?s eyes. When we pray and ask Jesus to forgive us?when we put our faith in what He did on the cross?we can be cleansed of all our sin…all our faults and failures…all our sins of commission and omission…God will hold none of the bad we do against us because of our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. In short, we get credit for His righteousness.
This fall, Bobby, Kevin, Hugh, and I are entering a golf tournament to help raise money for Centrepointe Counseling Services. Now?none of our full-time ministerial staff?not Bobby, not Kevin, not me?none of us are any good at golf, which means we would have absolutely no hope of winning?if it weren?t for a special rule in this particular golf tournament. You see in this tournament only the best score counts and we have HUGH on our team?and Hugh is VERY good at golf. So on the first hole when Bobby scores a 12 and Kevin scores a 15 and I lose 3 balls and take 37 strokes to get to the green…Hugh will be waiting patiently at the golf cart because it only took him THREE STROKES. And?guess which score counts? Right! Hugh?s does! We three get the credit for Hugh?s good work. All his holes-in-one…all his double birdies and eagles?all the GOOD GOLF he plays?counts for us three lousy golfers. Well, this is a picture of what Christ has done for us. We get credit for His sinless sacrifice. When we put our faith?not in our own paltry attempts at righteousness but rather in what He did?we can be forgiven and washed clean. This is called POSITIONAL sanctification. But that?s not all that Cowper says in his OLD hymn.
(2) He also says that because of Jesus? blood, shed on the cross, we can ?be saved to sin no more…?
This refers not to POSITIONAL sanctification but PROGRESSIVE sanctification. Positional sanctification is Christ?s work FOR us…and progressive sanctification is His work IN us. Hebrews 10:14 refers to this when it says, ?With one sacrifice He MADE PERFECT FOREVER, those who are BEING MADE HOLY.? You see, once we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, His Spirit comes into our lives and He begins to change us. Paul refers to this in Philippians 2:12-13 when he says, ?Do the good things that RESULT FROM BEING SAVED, obeying God with deep reverence, SHRINKING BACK FROM ALL THAT MIGHT DISPLEASE HIM. FOR GOD IS AT WORK IN YOU, helping you want to obey Him, and then helping you to do what he wants.? (TLB)
Don?t get me wrong?God doesn?t FORCE us to grow in Christlikness?it?s still our choice. Nor is our spiritual growth something we do to EARN our salvation. No?it?s just that in thanks for what God has done we learn to respond to His Spirit?s inner prompting and with the power He gives us, we shrink back from all that might displease Him. Before Christ came in to our lives we had no choice?we always leaned toward sin. But after He comes in we are no longer slaves to our sinful nature. We can choose to tap into His indwelling power and begin to live Godly lives. I think this is what Cowper is getting at in verse 3 when he says, ?Redeeming love has been my theme and will be ?til I die.?
Max Lucado puts it this way:
[Inspired by Jesus? sacrifice and with His help] we love our neighbor and refrain from gossip. We refuse to cheat on our taxes and spouses and do our best to love people who are tough to love. A similar dynamic occurs in marriage. Are a bride and groom ever more married than they are on the first day? The vows are made and the certificate signed?could they be more married than that? Perhaps they could. Imagine them fifty years later. Four kids later. A trio of transfers and a cluster of valleys and victories later. After half a century of marriage, they finish each other?s sentences and order each other?s food. They even start looking alike after a while. Wouldn?t they have to be more married on their fiftieth anniversary than on their wedding day? Yet, on the other hand, how could they? The marriage certificate hasn?t matured. But the relationship has, and there is the difference. Technically, they are no more united than they were when they left the altar. But relationally they are completely different. Marriage is both a done deal and a daily development, something you did and something you do.
Well, the same is true of your walk with God. Can you be more saved than you were the first day of your salvation? No. But can a person grow in salvation? Can you be saved to sin no more? Can you become more and more like Jesus? Yes! With His power can you learn to say ?NO? to sin and temptation? As our relationship with Him deepens we begin to mature! Our salvation, like marriage, is both a done deal and a daily development.
Because Jesus? sacrifice was indeed the PERFECT sacrifice…we no longer sacrifice animals?that symbolic system is no more?but Jesus gave us ANOTHER teaching tool?another symbol to help us remember what He did for us on the cross. This table?communion?reminds us that Jesus is the Lamb of God, Who died to wash all our sins away…and rose to live in us helping us become more and more like Him. As we come to this table, I invite all Christians present to partake with us because even if you are not a member of this church….If you are a Christian…if you are His, this is Yours.
THE ORDINANCE OF COMMUNION
Invitation
You know, many of us have a hard time admitting our need for the cleansing blood of Jesus. We compare ourselves to other ?more sinful people? and think we are good enough on our own. And?if that describes you?then look at verse 2 of Cowper?s hymn. He says, ?The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, THOUGH VILE AS HE, wash all MY sins away.? Cowper was mature enough in his walk with our Lord to know that in God?s eyes we are all vile sinners?as guilty and deserving of judgement as that thief crucified next to Jesus. He knew that, as Paul puts it ?All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God?and the wages of sin?is death…but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.? (Romans 3:23; 6:23) This morning if you?ve never accepted that free gift?if you?ve never been ?washed in the blood of the Lamb?…if you?ve never prayed, admitting your sin to God and asking for the forgiveness and cleansing that Jesus offers?we invite you to do so. As we stand and sing come and talk to me or Bobby or Kevin. We?d love to tell you how to become a Christian. And if God is calling you to join this church?come forward and ask to join Redland. But come now as God leads.
BENEDICTION:
Let the PEACE OF CHRIST rule in your hearts
since as members of one body you were called to peace.
Let the WORD OF CHRIST dwell in you richly
and whatever you do…in word or in deed
Do it all in the NAME OF CHRIST giving thanks to God the Father
through Him.