Heads up: piano recordings may drift slightly out of sync with the highlighting.
1
Glory be to God the Father, Glory be to God the Son, Glory be to God the Spirit, Great Jehovah, Three in One! As it was, is now, and shall be While the endless ages run.
Many times when we pray-read the word of the Bible in this way, it causes us to be inspired and weep. Not only the word of the Bible but even the hymns affect us in this way. A few days ago I sang Hymns, #1. I love that hymn very much. The first stanza says, “Glory be to God the Father, / And to Christ the Son, / Glory to the Holy Spirit—/ Ever One. ” Stanza 2 says, “As we view the vast creation, / Planned with wondrous skill, / So our hearts would move to worship, / And be still. ” When I came to this stanza, my tears came down. Then stanza 3 says, “But, our God, how great Thy yearning / To have sons who love. ” By reading this I knew that what God wants is not even the beautiful creation; He yearns to have many sons. Regardless of whether it is the word of the Bible or the hymns, if we read with a spirit of prayer, often we will be moved and will shed tears. This experience shows that the life-giving Spirit, through the prayers and petitions of the believers, mingles with the Lord’s words to make them spirit and life, that is, the Spirit who gives life.
The Issue of the Union of the Consummated Spirit of the Triune God and the Regenerated Spirit of the Believers
Over 150 ago in the capital city of Edinburgh, a long standing conflict within the official Kirk (Church) of Scotland finally came to a head in what is known in history as the Great Disruption of 1843. Scotland had strong embraced its home grown version of Calvinism known as Presbyterianism, in the late 16C, a church ruled by a board elders at the local level.
Ever since the absorption of the Scottish Parliament into Great Britain’s Parliament in the early 1700’s, there had been strong governmental pressure to allow the Scottish nobility, known as “lairds” to follow England’s example and appoint ministers of their own choosing. This usurped the local elders’ traditional rights and responsibilities to call a minister to lead the people according to Christ’s mandate along with the congregation’s spiritual needs and not according to the whims of a laird or the government.
After more than a century a discontented group of pastors walked out of the General Assembly in 1843, forming what came to be known as the Free Kirk of Scotland. Many leaving their livelihoods, church buildings and future security in order to follow their consciousness insisting that the Christ’s Church belongs to Christ alone.
Horatius Bonar who was born In Edinburgh, Scotland on December 19, 1808 and later became a prolific hymn writer along with two of his brothers and over 450 ministers was one of these brave souls. He was pastor of a church in Kelso located in the southern borderlands of Scotland.
In the same year as the Great Disruption he married Jane Catherine Lundie. Together they experienced the sorrow of loosing 5 of their young children to death in a fairly quick succession. Yet even in this they could see the hand of God: he wrote of this experience
“spare not the stroke; do with me as Thou wilt; let there be naught unfinished, broken or marred, complete Thy purpose that we may become Thy perfect image. ”
Later in life another tragedy had the unexpected result of bringing him some of the same joy that Job experienced later in his life; a surviving daughter was widowed and moved in with him - along with his five grandchildren!
Early in his ministry he realized that the children within his flock could not follow along with the metrical psalms used in Presbyterian worship. He valued children and desired above all else that they would have every opportunity to respond wholeheartedly to the living Christ. He found it necessary to start with simple hymns and simple tunes for children to understand. He often wrote new hymns in trains between evangelic journeys. He authored as many as 600 hymns in his lifetime.
It was not until 1866 when he became pastor of the Chalmers Memorial Chapel in Edinburgh that he introduced one of his hymns in the Sunday morning worship service. Two of the elders of the church walked out of the service.
Horatius Bonar walked into that “ light of life” until his “traveling days were done”, passing into the presence of the Lord in 1889. His wife had died thirteen years earlier. He desired no biography be written of him in order not to detract from the Lord’s glory and honor who belongs to Christ alone. Some of his hymns survived which we still enjoy today.
In this hymnal are found some of them: 9, 31, 186, 225, 226, 325, 326, 615, and 896.
How about three more stanzas?
Glory be to him who loved us,
Washed us from each spot and stain;
Glory be to him who bought us,
Made us kings with him to reign!
Glory, glory
To the Lamb that once was slain!
Glory to the King of angels,
Glory to the Church’s King,
Glory to the King of nations;
Heaven and earth, your praises bring!
Glory, glory
To the King of glory sing!
Glory, blessing, praise eternal!
Thus the choir of angels sing:
Honor, riches, power, dominion!
Thus its praise creation brings.
Glory, glory,
Glory to the King of Kings!
How wonderful is God's plan... Amen.. we are part of His economy.. He went through lots of things to accomplish His heart desire which involves the tripatite man..