What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought

Stanzas 2, 3, 4, and 5 are completely different:

2. All sin's bonds, inward, outward, have fallen away,
Since Jesus came into my heart;
Lust of flesh can no more captivate me today,
Since Jesus came into my heart.

3. This world's pleasures are colorless, tasteless to me,
Since Jesus came into my heart;
Life's anxieties, too, have no hold upon me,
Since Jesus came into my heart.

4. All my wand'ring has ceased, life no longer feels vain,
Since Jesus came into my heart;
His sweet rest satisfies me again and again,
Since Jesus came into my heart.

5. All my old ways are gone and I love them no more,
Since Jesus came into my heart;
Path of righteousness run, with blest hope set before,
Since Jesus came into my heart.

We are not preaching philosophy or religious doctrines, nor are we persuading men to join a dead religion. We are speaking the truth to people and showing them the proper path. God created man with a spirit so that man could receive Him. We were created by God, and in us there is a God-created spirit; therefore, we need God. If we do not have God, our life will be empty, vain, void of real power, without a center, and without meaning. For human life to be meaningful, we must receive this God and Savior Jesus. He is waiting for us to receive Him. He is the Spirit, and He desires to enter into our spirit to be our life, content, and calming power. Only through Him can our human life have a center, content, goal, and foundation; only then can we be satisfied. This is a tremendous gospel. I hope that when you hear this gospel, you will open up from within and pray, "o Lord Jesus, I thank You. You are God, You are the Creator of the universe, and You are also my Creator. You died on the cross to bear my sins so that I could receive You into me to be my life, content, and meaning." If you would receive the Lord Jesus deep within, your life will be like the hymn that says, "What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought/ Since Jesus came into my heart!" (Hymns, #309, stanza 1).

Some people say that Christ is the model for mankind and that we should imitate Him. If we try to imitate Christ with our natural life, we will be like a monkey in the zoo trying to imitate a human by eating a meal with a knife and a fork. If a trainer holds a whip and stands nearby, the monkey will behave itself and eat properly and slowly with a knife and fork. But as soon as the trainer walks away, the monkey will show its true nature and eat with His fingers. Monkeys do not have man's life; hence, they cannot have man's living. In the same principle, we cannot imitate Christ, because our life is corrupt. If we try, we will be like a monkey imitating a man. The way of God's salvation is not by imitation, but by God entering into us as our life and living in us. In this way, we can live Him out, rather than just imitating Him in an outward way. The Lord Jesus desires to enter into us and live in us; what a glory this is!

In God's way of salvation, He redeems us from our sinful, fallen, corrupt, and lost position. He also regenerates us by entering into us as the Spirit to be our life. Through regeneration we have God's life in addition to man's life. God's life is divine, glorious, holy, and good. This life enables us to have a divine living, to know God, and to express God by living Him out. Hymns, #309 says, "What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought / Since Jesus came into my heart!" This is the glorious gospel of God.

When we preach the gospel, we should also be familiar with hymns on the assurance of salvation, such as Hymns, #309. It is not difficult for young people to sing hymns, because many of them have a good foundation in music. It is especially not difficult for the sisters to sing hymns, because God created them in this way. In Ecclesiastes 12:4 Solomon is referring to the vocal chords when he mentions "the daughters of song." When young people sing, there truly is music.

Among the hymns on the assurance of salvation, Hymns, #322, which is about "the Fountain that never runs dry," is a good hymn. Another good hymn is #296, which was written by Charles Wesley. This is not an emotional hymn; it is very elegant. The first stanza says, "And can it be that I should gain / An int'rest in the Savior's blood? / Died He for me, who caused His pain? / For me, who Him to death pursued? / Amazing love! how can it be / That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?" The fourth stanza is also very good. When the young saints invite their professors to a meeting, it is good to sing hymns with them. We can choose a stanza that we like and lead our professors to sing with us. This will help them to receive the Lord Jesus. When we sing a hymn, others should be touched. We should then sing with them according to how they are touched. Hymns, #499 is also a good hymn to sing. If we are always singing these hymns, it will be difficult for our gospel friends not to be touched and to believe in the Lord.

Hence, to experience Christ, we need to see that Christ is the Spirit. If He were not the Spirit, we could not experience Him, and He could not come into us. Ephesians 3:17 says, "That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith." The chorus of Hymns, #309 says, "Since Jesus came into my heart!" If Christ is not the Spirit, how can He come into my heart and make His home in my heart? We should not merely repeat what others say. Perhaps we do not understand this mystery, but we must know this fact and experience this reality. Since Christ as the Spirit lives in our heart today, we can sing, "Floods of joy o'er my soul like the sea billows roll." Throughout the generations, Christians who love the Lord all have experienced the joy of the Lord's making His home in their hearts by their having intimate fellowship with the Lord and touching His Spirit in their spirit. Although many of them can neither understand nor speak this truth, they have experienced the reality. Every word of the Lord is established. Hence, we may not understand why, but if we just "amen" His word, we will have the reality.

To lead people to sing the proper songs or hymns is a little harder. This is because you have to learn the hymns and songs and also learn to choose the proper ones. The full-timers as well as all of the saints have to learn the songs, the hymns, the gospel songs, and the gospel hymns. In our hymnal there are a lot of good songs.

The message and the song do not have to match exactly in wording. In wording the song might not be the same as the message, but in actuality it is the same. For instance, there is a song whose first line of the chorus is: "Since Jesus came into my heart" (Hymns, 309) and the phrase from John 6:47 says, "He who believes in Me has eternal life." You can sing this hymn because it could be considered as a proper song on the assurance and joy of salvation.