WHAT AM I SINGING When I Survey the Wondrous Cross Isaac Watts. Today we begin a new sermon series. Pastor Jeff and I will be looking into

Transcription

1 1 Galatians 6:14 NASB February 14, 2016 WHAT AM I SINGING When I Survey the Wondrous Cross Isaac Watts Today we begin a new sermon series. Pastor Jeff and I will be looking into the background and what was behind the writing of some of our favorite hymns. Songs are important in the life of the church. Some tell a story, others share the theology, or beliefs of the church. I am enjoying working in a staff relationship and it is important that the members of the staff cooperate together Pastor Jeff, Dena, and myself are working well together. We know that church there can be disputes in the church, especially among groups in the congregation. But when the pastor and a choir director get into it, well you just better stand back. I heard the story of such a feud when the pastor and choir director had a major disagreement. One week the preacher preached on commitment, and how we should dedicate ourselves to service. The director then led the choir in singing, I Shall Not Be Moved. The next Sunday, the preacher preached on the topic of giving and how we should gladly give to the work of the Lord. The choir director lead the choir in the song, Jesus Paid It All. The next Sunday, the preacher preached on gossiping and how we should watch our tongues. The hymn was I Love to Tell the Story.

2 2 Becoming disgusted over the situation, the preacher told the congregation that he was considering resigning. The choir began to sing, Oh Why Not Tonight. When the preacher resigned the next week, he told the church that Jesus had led him there and Jesus was taking him away. And immediately the choir director had the choir stand as they were led in the song, What A Friend We Have in Jesus. The first hymn of our series What Am I Singing is When I Survey the Wondrous Cross by Isaac Watts. Tedd Smith in the book A Hymn Story gives us some background and insight into the life of Isaac Watts. Isaac was born in 1674 to a merchant in Southampton England. He was said to be a sickly and unattractive as a child. Yet he was very gifted lad. Isaac began to study Latin at age four (4), and added Greek when he was nine (9), French at eleven (11), and Hebrew at thirteen (13). He was immensely interested in poetry and much of his talk as a boy came out in rhyme and meter. His father, as you can imagine, soon grew tired of all his conversation being expressed in rhyme so he forbade Isaac from speaking in that style. But Issac could not be stopped. So one day to strengthen his ban of Isaac s poetic improvising his father resorted to a spanking. Through the tears the boy cried: O father, do some pity take, And I will no more verses make.

3 3 At age fifteen (15) Isaac turned his talents to the service of the church. In the 17 th century the church in England did not sing hymns and praise songs, like we are familiar with today. The style was stiff and rather stilted versions of the Old Testament Psalms, introduced by a precentor and repeated line after line by the congregation. Now I have a difficult time imagining what Tedd was describing, so I have asked Dena and I ask your help in demonstrating this which was the common style of singing in the church in that age. Isaac said: The singing of God s praise is the part of worship most closely related to heaven; but its performance among us is the worst on earth. When Isaac complained to his father, who was a leading deacon in the Congregational church, told him: Young man, give us something better! Before the evening service began, the young Isaac Watts had written his first hymn, which the people greeted with great enthusiasm. Later, as a Congregationalist minister, Isaac has been credited with having written over six hundred (600) hymns. Kenneth Osbeck in the book 101 Hymn Stories tells us that the hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross was written in 1707 (Isaac would have been 33 years old) and was written for a communion service conducted by Watts and its original title was Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ. The hymn was inspired by the Scripture of Galatians 6:14

4 4 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. NASU With this background on Isaac Watts and his hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, I would like to turn our attention to the verses of the hymn. As we look at the verses of the hymn we can see Four Realizations that We Need to Make In Our Life In Christ: The First Realization is that My Greatest Is No Good. The first verse: When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of glory died. My richest gain I count by loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Tedd Smith says, It seems to me that Isaac Watts wrote this text as if he were standing at the foot of Christ s cross, together with the disciple John, the faithful women, Jesus mother, and the excited shouting mob. The Prince of glory nailed to a tree by sinful men. Jesus died for me! It was for my sins that Jesus went through all that he did. My richest gain I count but loss, recalls the Scripture of Philippians 3:7&8 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, NASU.

5 5 It reminds us that what is important to us, whatever we may hold dear, whatever may seem the greatest to us is worthless, damaged, nothing compared to the work of Jesus Christ for us. Does Jesus Christ have the pre-eminent place in your life? Is He first, undisputed number one, or do we allow something or someone else to have our allegiance over Christ. But Christ will not take second place. He will not force Himself into the first position. He will wiat for us to place Him there. As we see at the end of Verse 8 count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ. King James says that compared to Jesus Christ and what he has done for us the best of what we have or can want is DUNG and the meaning is that of rubbish, or any other decaying thing. So our best is worthy of being thrown out on the compost pile. As the last part of the verse says, And pour contempt on all my pride. It is so easy for us to let our pride get in the way. We might think, as in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, Look Lord, I am a pretty good person. I have not gotten into trouble (like so many others), I have been coming to church since before I could walk, I don t even ask you for a lot of things. I am a whole lot lower maintenance that so many others. BUT, Isaac in the hymn reminds us it is not about us, it is not about what we have done, or what we can do. We come to our second Realization In Our Life

6 6 in Christ: Our Only Boasting is in Christ. We have nothing wherein we can stand. As we are going to see in the next verse: Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ, my God; All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. You and I do not have the ability to stand on our own merits before God. One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament Scriptures is the clear reminder of where we stand with God. Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. KJV Some have heard me illustrate this by saying how many of you would go out to the garage and pick up one of the old greasy, oily, dirty shop rags that you used to change the oil and lube the car and take it inside to start dusting your house to prepare for company. That is what this verse illustrates to me that the very best that we can be (when we are on our Sunday behavior, everyday of the week) compared to the righteousness of God we are like that old filthy greasy, oily shop rag that we are trying to do something good with. It is not our ability (we cannot) but God s ability (through the work of Jesus Christ for us) that makes us righteous able to be acceptable to God. So it is not in our ability or what we can do. The Apostle Paul says several times in his letters that if there was the anyone who would have the ability to

7 7 stand before God and say, Look at me and how good I am, I should be acceptable to you, on my merits that it should be him. And in a couple of places Paul lists his credentials. But we see as he says in Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (NASU) Lord help me not to trust in my own ability or to think that I am good enough to make it without you. As a Christian there is a time to boast. But that boasting is not in my works or ability. It is that Jesus Christ did the work for me. That God did love me (as He loves the world) that He provided the way that I can be restored in relationship with Him. We are more familiar with the verses of Ephesians 2:8&9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. NASU Similar words of Paul in the Galatians passage making it clear to us that it is not our ability, but God who has given us the ability to have salvation (by faith) and again it is not our faith but trusting and accepting the provision of God through Jesus Christ for us. And all the great wonders around us, that try to attract us to them (seduce us by their glitz and glamour) ARE TRULY PALE IN COMPARISON TO THE

8 8 LOVE OF GOD AND THE WORK OF CHRIST THAT PROVIDES SALVATION AND A RESTORES OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. So Isaac continues in the next verse: The third Realization In Our Life in Christ: Christ suffered for me. If you take the position of Tedd Smith that Isaac Watts wrote this song as if at the foot of Jesus cross looking at Him during His time up there. The power of the third verse is driven home. See, from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down; Did e er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown? It recalls for us the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53:3-5 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, NASU A vivid description of what the Messiah Christ would go through for our sake. That the Jesus, would choose to give up and endure because of His love and caring for us. The physical punishment and agony. Finally, The fourth Realization In Our Life in Christ: Therefore it demands all of me. In the fourth verse we see Isaac s words:

9 9 Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. If I had the whole world at my disposal to give to God, in return for His gift of Christ and His work for me, If I could give Christ anything. It would not be enough. The love of God for me that, as John 3:16 tells us He would give His only begotten Son. Demands that I give back to God only one thing me and all of me. The story goes that a farmer was known for taking very good care of his animals. One day the farmer was ill and unable to care for them, as he had been used to doing. Because of his generosity to them and his illness they decided to do something for the farmer. But what can we do, we are just a bunch of animals, they reasoned with each other. Finally, one of the animals decided that what they could do for him was to fix a nice breakfast, after all he was always there to feed them. So a few of them decided they were going to fix a nice ham and eggs breakfast. They began to ask the other animals for the materials needed. All of them were anxious to give what they could to help the farmer. But when they got to the pig, he refused. Why, don t you want to help, after all the farmer has been as good to you as he has to each of us. Said the Hen to the pig, trying to encourage him to help out. Well, it is like this, the pig replied, I love the farmer as much as you do, he has been there for me, just like you said. But a ham and

10 10 egg breakfast for you it would be an offering. For me it would be a sacrifice. Jesus gave Himself for us He was our sacrifice. Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Are you ready to give ourself as a sacrifice? Are you ready to give everything to God, who gave everything for us? Or are we only giving a token, a part of us. If God is leading you to make a decision, I invite you to come as we sing this invitation hymn. LET US PRAY: If God does not have all of you then He really has none of you. Acceptance of Jesus Christ demands our all.