Words and Music by M.K.Blanchard
© Gotz Music/Benson
(860) 673-5100
In these days of confused situations.
In these nights of a restless remorse,
When the heart and the soul of the nation,
lay wounded and cold as a corpse.
From the grave of the innocent Adam,
comes a song bringing joy to the sad.
Oh your cry has been heard and the ransom,
has been paid up in full, Be Ye Glad.
(Chorus)
Oh, Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad,
Every debt that you ever had
Has been paid up in full by the grace of the Lord,
Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad.
From the dungeon a rumor is stirring.
You have heard it again and again.
But this time the cell keys are turning,
and outside there are faces of friends.
And though your body lay weary from wasting,
and your eyes show the sorrow they've had.
Oh the love that your heart is now tasting
has opened the gate, Be Ye Glad.
(Chorus)
So be like lights on the rim of the water,
giving hope in a storm sea of night.
Be a refuge amidst the slaughter,
for these fugitives in their flight.
For you are timeless and part of a puzzle.
You are winsome and young as a lad.
And there is no disease or no struggle,
that can pull you from God, Be Ye Glad.
(Chorus)
Our hardy band of readers has finished Chapter 6 in "Overcoming Sin and Temptation: of the Mortification of Sin in Believers."
This chapter was so rich I’m not sure where to focus!
Loren, I loved your “sin as ticking time-bomb” picture. I got the same feeling but would not have been able to describe it as well.
One of my great moments in this chapter was in the chapter sub-heading, “Mortification Consists in a Habitual Weakening of Sin.”
In this section I understood why I have failed to overcome some troubling sins; seeking them out and killing them has not been a habit. Perhaps because I’ve never had a good sense of just how dangerous, destructive and sneaky even the smallest of sins are; of course any sin is abhorrent to God but I, like many, tend to compare my sins to the sins of others and think “I’m not so bad”.
I’m sure I represent a large body of believers who live our lives as if the sins which plague us are something we do not think about until one jumps up in surprise attack. I know how often I have walked through my days in a sort of “ignorant bliss” when I think I am doing well; then how hard I fall when the serpent strikes! I then feel betrayed because I have mistaken sin’s inactivity for sin’s death.
Reading this book has forced me to be thinking about sin on a daily basis. I like this! I realize how our comfortable lives in North America distract us from the important work of rooting out sin.
I appreciate war analogies when considering this subject. I have many military members in my family including my son who spent a year in one of the most dangerous places in Iraq. In war it is most important to study the enemy; the better one knows one’s enemy, the greater chance one has for success because his moves can be anticipated and crushed before he makes them. My son lived in a state of constant alertness. He and his fellow soldiers could not even go to the bathroom without donning their full body armor. Things we take for granted and pass by without thinking (such as roadside litter) were objects of danger for these soldiers; a plastic bag could kill.
I often feel like Don, as if I were the one on the cross struggling and growing weaker; at times I feel like such a failure and just want to give up the fight.
This chapter has spurred me to get back to memorizing scripture. When Satan was allowed to tempt Jesus in the desert, our Lord answered “It is written…” I’m very sure the more scripture we carry in our heads the more weapons we have in our arsenal against our particular sins. For me, because my quick tongue is a huge problem, I’m going to attempt the book of James!
I’ve loved reading everyone’s thoughts. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas.
I tried writing a brilliant response then lost everything I wrote to a sudden power outage. It must not have been brilliant at all and I will be thankful to be spared any embarrassment.
I enjoyed this chapter perhaps more than all those already discussed. Though the main point is simple, it brings to mind so many things most of which are already covered here by others.
When Owen talked about unregenerate people who try to kill sin, one immediate thought was about some of my children’s Christian friends. They demand that their associates cease all their worldly behaviors because they feel as Christians they should not have to be exposed to cursing, etc. They are demanding that the “unregenerate” behave as “regenerate” not for the sake of the sinners, but simply for the comfort of the “saved”. I know Blackaby’s “Knowing God” is in some disfavor among Reformed types, but I took one thought away from that that had great meaning for me; we should not be cursing the darkness for doing what it is supposed to do…being dark! Rather it is our job to be salt and light, to proclaim Christ wherever and whenever we can.
One more thought. I was reading recently at Slice where Ingrid shared a quote from Paris Reidhead out of the book Getting Evangelicals Saved. Paris was a notable preacher from the mid 20th century and he called for a one to two-year moratorium on preaching the “plan of salvation”. He said:
“Then I would call on everyone who has use of the airways and the pulpits to preach the holiness of God, the righteousness of God and the law of God, until sinners would cry out, ‘What must we do to be saved?’
Since beginning to read this book I have developed a deep grief for all those who will be lost because the church has designed itself to be inoffensive to the world. I understand now more than ever how hard it is to get into the kingdom. In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said , “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
I pray the church in America will wake up and stop following after fads. Everything we need is in the Word of God.