Enjoying this song these days. Look ye saints!

Reverend Thomas Kelly wrote over 700 hymns, all of them evangelical. This is one of his best. It is based on Hebrews 2:9: 'We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.' ('The Head that Once was Crowned with Thorns is Crowned with Glory Now' is considered to be Kelly's greatest hymn and is based on this same verse.)

Thomas Kelly was the son of an Irish high court judge. He took a degree from the University of Dublin, then came to London to study law at Temple. His studies included Hebrew, for which he used Romaine's Hebrew Concordance. This led him to read his Bible, which led to his conversion. His change of heart changed his life and his plans for the future. He now felt the call to the ministry, and left his law studies the same year. He was ordained in the Established Church in 1792.

Soon after Thomas Kelly was ordained, the Reverend Roland Hill was holding evangelistic services in Ireland. Kelly heard Hill and the 2 men found that they were kindred spirits. They joined together and many souls were brought to Christ through their ministry. When this fact reached the ears of the Archbishop of Dublin, he rebuked the 2 men and forbade them to preach again in his diocese. For some time Thomas Kelly had been in doubts about his associations with the Established Church. This incident clinched his decision to leave the Established Church. and join the Evangelicals.

From Roland Hill, Kelly learned the new art or "fad" of preaching in the open air and in the fields. One time, when Roland Hill was preaching to a vast crowd in the open air, a man cried out, 'Your Reverence, pray do not get so excited.' Hill answered, 'You accuse me of being too emotional. Less than 2 months ago I saw 2 men covered by a slide in a sand pit. I shouted so loudly that help came from a quarter of a mile away, and both men were rescued. No one accused me of being too emotional then. Now, when I see men and women being swept into hell without hope, I cry out, and you tell me not to get excited?'

Here is a short testimony from Kelly, 'In the course of a long life I have seen much and heard much; but nothing that I have seen or heard has made the least change in my mind as to the grand truths of the Gospel. "Other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Chris Jesus."' - Hymn Stories by Wilbur Konkel

I love this song. It was last August. I was attending the New Wine conference in Somerset England. I had just been to the Rise, early morning bible study, came away singing this song, though we hadnt been singing it. It was a distant memory from childhood, which I believe the Holy Spirit stirred up. I knew then something of the great victory of Christ as I remembered these lines. When I got home I practised it up and led it at our service at the next opportunity. It still stirs me. Praise the name of Jesus.

"Look ye saints the sight is glorious..." I really enjoy this hymn. It gives me the sense of victory. The Devil, that old serpent, did not realize that he was actually being judged and destroyed on the cross. Hallelujah! Our Lord Jesus, as the seed of the woman prophesied in Gen 3:15, bruised the serpents head - the destroying of Satan was carried out on the cross.

Judged there - through the Lord's death on the cross, Satan, the old serpent, was judged, cast out. That judgment will ultimately be carried out by the overcomers as the man-child, the corporate seed of the woman (Rev. 12:9).

Lord Jesus, we love You. Gain what You are after and swiftly close this age. May we be those who cooperate with You by giving You the first place. Head us up...Make us Your overcomers...even now. Hallelujah!!! Amen.