All I have in Adam is but sin and death

Learning to Speak the Hymns

The former way of having a certain person call hymns, pray, and speak has been eliminated because everyone agrees with and accepts the change in system. We all bring our Bibles and hymnals to the meeting, and in changing the system we must first learn to speak the hymns. The Bible does not emphasize singing the hymns but speaking the hymns (Eph. 5:19). There is a reason for this. Hymn lyrics are the highest form of language—exceptional utterances of spiritual experiences. Ordinary speaking is not as refined as hymns. Therefore, we need to learn to speak the hymns. For one person to speak is easy, but for many to speak as one is not easy. Therefore, we need. to practice; each one should. speak a little in a coordinated. way.

For example, the first stanza of Hymns, #593 says, "All I have in Adam is but sin and. death, / I in Christ inherit life and righteousness," These lyrics are a parallel construction. Sin is parallel to righteousness, and death is parallel to life. The former is what we had from birth, whereas the latter is what we have inherited. Then the hymn says, "When in flesh abiding, Adam I express, / But when in the spirit Christ is manifest," Express is parallel to manifest, and Adam is parallel to Christ. Stanza 5 says, "Minding just the spirit is God's saving way, / Minding just the spirit, Christ we will display; / Minding just the spirit, we can overcome, / Minding just the spirit, we the race may run," These lyrics distill the importance and effectiveness of minding the spirit. I wrote this hymn in 1961. I do not have the ability of a genius who can compose a poem in a few minutes; rather, I spent much effort and consideration to write lyrics with elegance and beauty.