I wonder whether we truly understand the tremendous power and influence of a Christian song. Let us again read the words of Paul from Moffatt's translation: "Be filled with the Spirit, converse with one another in the music of the psalms, in hymns, and in songs of the spiritual life, praise the Lord heartily with words and music, and render thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ at all times and for all things" (Eph. 5:18-20).* That sets a high ideal before us, one which the Lord expects us to follow.
As we follow that admonition we must notice one point in particular---"render thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." They could not do that in the Old Testament, at least not in the same way that we can since New Testament times. They were looking forward to the Messiah; we look back to the great finished sacrifice of Jesus Christ. "The science of salvation is to be the burden of every sermon, the theme of every song," says Ellen G. White (Evangelism, p. 502). If we followed that counsel there are some songs we would not sing, and we could well afford to leave some out. Just as the burden of every sermon must be the science of salvation, so the theme of every song must be the science of salvation. There is no equivocation about this.
Again: "Music can be a great power for good; yet we do not make the most of this branch of worship. . . . Those who sing are left to blunder along, and the music loses its proper effect upon the minds of those present. Music should have beauty, pathos, and power."—Ibid., p. 505. And here are two other statements we would do well to ponder: "The singing is seldom to be done by a few. The ability to sing is a talent of influence, which God desires all to cultivate and to use to His name's glory."—Ibid., p. 504. And again: "The singing is not always to be done by a few. As often as possible, let the entire congregation join."—Ibid., p. 507. Here is an appeal for all present to join in the song.
I mentioned earlier that when the church first came into existence it was a singing church. It first began when the angels sang over the Bethlehem hills, and it will climax on the sea of glass. Even when the apostles left the upper room for the Garden of Gethsemane they sang a hymn and went out. (See Matt. 26:30.) Little did those men realize what awaited them. But when it was brought home to their minds what had really happened in the Garden and on the cross, then they could sing with new enthusiasm. Someday all our songs will be climaxed in the great hallelujah chorus that John describes in the book of Revelation.
As we have noticed briefly, in the early centuries of the Christian Era certain heresies began to creep into the church, and they were perpetuated in some of the hymns. About the year 380, in the Council of Laodicea it was decided that singing should be forbidden to the congregation. Only the monks were permitted to sing in the worship services. And this prohibition continued for a thousand years. Congregations generally did not sing. Wycliffe, sometimes called the Morning Star of the Reformation, was the founder of the Lollards. The Lollards were singing preachers that went throughout England and into other parts of Europe carrying the gospel.
A few years after Wycliffe, Huss of Bohemia began his work. He was a musician and he wrote some excellent hymns. Unfortunately, we do not have them translated into English. But that was the beginning of the Moravian church, which became the great missionary church and had such an important part in the heartwarming experience of Wesley.
Now we come to Luther, a little more than a century later. Of course, Luther was the one, more than any other perhaps, who definitely led out in bringing congregational singing back to the people.
Calvin was a strong leader in the Reformation, but he was eager to guard against the intrusion of heresy, so he insisted on singing only the Psalms. For two hundred years in the English and French languages congregations sang only the metric version of the Psalms.
The Germans, however, were singing some fine hymns which the leaders of their movement had written. In 1707 Isaac Watts, the man we sometimes speak of as the father of English hymnody, came out with quite a challenge. He said that, after all, to confine ourselves to the Psalms was really to turn away from some of the great fundamental teachings of the Christian church. "We ought to Christianize the Psalms," he said, "because by staying too close to David we are putting the veil of Moses over our hearts." So he began to take the thoughts of the Psalms and put them into Christian settings. He had a hard time, as most do who begin a work of reform. But he was wonderfully protected and he gave us a new message.
When the Wesleys came on the scene, about thirty years later, they wrote some wonderful hymns on Christian experience. Charles Wesley set the pace, for 6,500 of them came from his pen. We never have gotten away from the singing of Wesleyan hymns. In our own church hymnal we have thirty-one hymns by Isaac Watts and thirty-eight by Charles Wesley; and these are by far the greatest number by individual contributors.
Wesley really gave birth to the worldwide appeal to emphasize three great doctrines that challenged Calvinistic theology, such as "limited atonement," "unconditional election," and "irresistible grace." These do not have much meaning for us today, perhaps, but they had tremendous meaning for the people of that time. "Limited atonement" really means that Christ did not die for all. He died for those who were actually chosen by God before the foundation of the world, those who were elected unconditionally. And these, they said, could not be lost no matter what they did. Moreover, no one could be saved if he was not elected to be saved. "The grace of God," they declared, "is irresistible"; that is, no one can withstand His grace. Now remember, this had been the teaching for two hundred years.
To get the real picture of what was actually happening in the days of the Wesleys, let us notice a few of their hymns. Many of the hymns in the Methodist hymnbook published in 1779 deal with their doctrines. In all they have published about fifty hymnals. The first one compiled by the Wesleys was published in South Carolina, and the first hymn in this collection is the well-known "0 for a Thousand Tongues." This was written on the first anniversary of Charles's conversion. The seventh stanza reads:
"Look unto him ye nations; own Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone, Be justified by grace."
Another strong gospel appeal comes to us in the following:
"Come, sinners, to the Gospel feast;
Let every soul be Jesu's guest; Ye need not one be left behind,
For God hath bidden all mankind.
"Sent by my Lord, on you I call;
The invitation is to ALL;
Come, all the world; come, sinner thou;
All things in Christ are ready now."
The fifth stanza reads:
"Ye vagrant souls, on you I call;
(O that my voice could reach you all!)
Ye all may now be justified;
Ye all may live, for Christ hath died."
There is no limited atonement here, you see.
The last two stanzas are:
"See him set forth before your eyes,
That precious, bleeding Sacrifice! His offer'd benefits embrace,
And freely now be saved by grace.
"This is the time; no more delay;
This is the acceptable day;
Come in, this moment, at his call,
And live for him who died for all."
The Baptists as well as some Calvinist groups thought it altogether improper to give a general gospel invitation. They reasoned that they would have to come if they were elected, and to go out and try to get anybody else would be "meddling in God's business." Naturally, such theology did not inspire any program of foreign missions. And that to some extent explains why the great Reformers at first did not catch a world vision. It was because of their theology. But when the Wesleys came with the clear concept of full atonement, that Christ had died for all the world—well, that led to new plans. "All the world is my parish" was Wesley's explanation of his evangelistic enthusiasm. "My saving grace is for all" is another line in the hymns their people were singing. Some critics said, "It is intolerable, that doctrine." The Baptists of that day gave Wesley no quarter. If perchance he was invited by some unsuspecting person to preach, one sermon settled it, and he was never allowed to preach there again. But the people began to listen to the songs of the Wesleys, and listening to those songs, they soon began to sing them. Then they began to catch a larger vision of the grace of Jesus Christ.
One of those most definitely influenced by these hymns was William Carey, of Kettering, England. The challenge of a world in need of the gospel made that shoe repairer a missionary. When Carey left for India he led the vanguard for foreign missions. Yes, it was the hymns they sang that largely brought the missionary movement into existence.
From: The Bible: A New Translation by James Moffatt. Copyright by James Moffatt 1954. Used by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated.
