1
Though Christ a thousand times
In Bethlehem be born,
If He's not born in thee
Thy soul is still forlorn.
The Cross on Golgotha,
Will never save thy soul;
The Cross in thine own heart,
Alone can make thee whole.
In Bethlehem be born,
If He's not born in thee
Thy soul is still forlorn.
The Cross on Golgotha,
Will never save thy soul;
The Cross in thine own heart,
Alone can make thee whole.
O, Cross of Christ, I take thee
Into this heart of mine,
That I to my own self may die
And rise to thy life Divine.
Into this heart of mine,
That I to my own self may die
And rise to thy life Divine.
2
What e'er thou lovest, man,
That too become thou must;
God, if thou lovest God,
Dust, if thou lovest dust.
Go out, God will come in;
Die thou and let Him live;
Be not and He will be;
Wait and He'll all things give.
That too become thou must;
God, if thou lovest God,
Dust, if thou lovest dust.
Go out, God will come in;
Die thou and let Him live;
Be not and He will be;
Wait and He'll all things give.
3
To bring thee to thy God,
Love takes the shortest route;
The way which knowledge leads,
Is but a roundabout.
Drive out from thee the world,
And then thy heart shall be
Filled with the love of God,
And holy like as He.
Love takes the shortest route;
The way which knowledge leads,
Is but a roundabout.
Drive out from thee the world,
And then thy heart shall be
Filled with the love of God,
And holy like as He.
Delete Comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Remaining in the Cross
----------------
Christ wants His seeker to remain in the cross, that is, to stay in “the clefts of the rock” and in “the covert of the precipice” (S. S. 2:14a). Christ wants us to remain in the cross continually. The brothers need to be crossed out in their relationship with their wives. Christ wants us to remain in a crucified condition all the time. We may say that some of the things that come to us in our environment to trouble us are Satan’s work, but they are also God’s assignment. God’s assignment is to put us to death. In the midst of our troubling environment we must learn to turn our mind to our spirit to receive the strengthening of the Spirit as the power of resurrection.
Christ wants to see His seeker’s countenance and hear her voice in the cross as the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice (v. 14b). To stay in the cross is a hard matter, like getting into the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice by a rugged road. It could be only by the power of Christ’s resurrection shown in the leaping of the gazelle upon the mountains and the skipping of the young hart upon the hills, not by her natural life. This is to “deny” herself as the Lord charges in Matthew 16:24 . This is also to be conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection. It is only in this way that she can be delivered from her self, which frustrates her from experiencing Christ in resurrection.
God’s salvation is to transform us, to make us a new man, a part of the new creation. We must be transformed through denying ourselves. To deny the self is to leave the self on the cross so that we can be renewed. Day after day by the crossing out we become newer and newer. Eventually, we mature to be a new man. This is the reason that God deals with us in the way of crucifixion. God’s way is not to correct or improve us. God wants to re-create us through transformation, and this transformation is by our being crucified.
Previously, we have seen that we need to perfect others with gold, silver, and precious stones. The lover needs gold added to her plaits of hair, silver studs to hold the plaits, and strings of jewels, precious stones. We need to experience the Triune God as gold, silver, and precious stones, and then we can perfect others with the Triune God by helping them to deny themselves so that they can be with the Lord in a new way to be renewed and transformed to become absolutely a new man in God’s new creation. It is only by being conformed to the death of Christ by the power of His resurrection that we can be delivered from our self to be transformed. Through the crossing-out way, we become completely a new man in God’s new creation for God to fulfill His economy so that we can be the organic Body of Christ. The organic Body of Christ comes out of this kind of crossing out.
Crystallization-study of Song of Songs
Chapter 5 Delivered from the Self by the Cross of Christ
CWWL, 1994–1997, (LSM)
Waco, TX, United States
I love this hymn in light of our participation in the preparation of the bride. Whatever we live, we will become.
Storrs, Connecticut, United States
A hymn, though simple in nature, may go through a process of being written, translated and polished before becoming a popular hymn by many-a-believer to sing around the globe.
The history of hymn 477 “Though Christ a Thousand Times” was written by man of German nobility, translated by someone unknown from Polish into English and more than 200 years would pass before the chorus and a tune were added by a father and daughter team.
The writer of this hymn was Johann Scheffler born December 1624 in Beslau, Silesia (now Wroclaw, Poland).
Johann was the son of Stanislaw Scheffler. His father, a member of the Polish nobility, was forced to leave his homeland because of his adherence to Lutheranism. Johann attended Elizabeth’s Gymnasium in Breslau, then enrolled as a medical student at the University of Strasburg in 1643. The following year he went to Leyden and in 1647 to Padua where he received his PhD and MD in 1648. He then returned to Salesia, where in 1649 he became private physician to Sylvius Nimrod of Wüttemberg-Oels. He resigned his post in 1652 and upon returning to Breslau, joined the Roman Catholic Church and took the name Angelus.
In 1654, he was appointed the Imperial Court Physician by Emperor Ferdinand but it was purely an honorary title and he remained in Breslau. In 1661, Scheffler joined the order of Saint Francis and was ordained priest at Neisse, Silesia (now Nysa, Poland).
In 1664 he was appointed an administrative official of his friend Sebastian Von Rostock
(Prince Bishop of Breslau) and when the Bishop died in 1671, he retired in Breslau (Monestary of St Mathias) until his death on July 9, 1677.
The original hymn is titled, ”The Soul Wherein God Dwells”.
The soul wherein God dwells—
What church could holier be?
Becomes a walking tent
Of heavenly majesty.
Through Christ a thousand times
In Bethlehem be born,
If He’s not born in thee,
thy soul is still forlorn.
O would thy heart but be
A manger for His birth,
God would once more become
A Child upon the earth.
Over two hundred years later A. B. Simpson, (1843-1919), a Canadian preacher, theologian, and the founder of Christian and Missionary Alliance, would add the chorus to the now translated version into English. His daughter Margaret Simpson composed the tune as she had for many of A. B. ’s hymns.
(Cyberhymnal. org)
New York City, NY, United States
This is my prayer this morning:
O, Cross of Christ, I take thee
Into this heart of mine,
That I to my own self may die
And rise to thy life Divine.
Vista, CA, United States
v. 1, “The cross in thine own heart alone can make thee whole”
v. 2, “Whatever thou lovest.. that too become…God, if thou lovest God”
Stuttgart, Germany
The way which knowledge leads,
Is but a roundabout!
Let us be filled with the Love of God.
Lord Jesus we open to You.
Amen.
Wow. This song is so good
Kananga, Leyte, Philippines
This is the oldest hymn in our hymnal, composed by the early church fathers in the second century AD. This would be an evidence and assurance that the highest gospel is not our invention but a recovered truth from our earliest brothers. The second stanza proves it , that it is possible for man become a Godman in life and in nature but not in the Godhead! What an economy it is!
Rancho Cordova, California, United States
What e’er thou lovest, man,
That too become thou must;
God, if thou lovest God,
Dust, if thou lovest dust.
Go out, God will come in;
Die thou and let Him live;
Be not and He will be;
Wait and He’ll all things give.
City Of Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines
Stanza 2
God, if thou lovest God.
Dust, if thou lovest dust.
Lord Jesus, keep me in the realm and atmosphere of loving You. Losing my first love is the beginning of all degradation. Lord Jesus, I love You.
Oh Lord, You alone deserves my first and best love.
Save and keep my heart from the one who eats dust. I do not want to be a food for the enemy. I am wholly for You.
Lord Jesus I love You.