1. “N. N.” Your case commands our deepest sympathy; but we could not attempt to reply to either of your questions in the pages of a Magazine. This your own moral sense will approve. We were unable to send you a personal reply within the time you named. All we can now say to you is to exhort you to wait on God for full victory over every besetment. Persevere. Cast yourself, in utter weakness, on His strength. Use Him. Trust Him. Cling to Him. Resist the devil. Use the Name of Jesus against him.
2. “L. E. J.” Matt. 20:1616So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. (Matthew 20:16), sets forth the grand principle of divine sovereignty. “The last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” God has a right to do what He will with His own. Will anyone dare to question this? If so, it is plain he has never felt his true place as utterly lost. The only resource for a lost sinner is God’s sovereign grace. There is no man who can stand before God on the ground of his own righteousness. All are guilty; and hence the only resource is in divine mercy; but this mercy must be sovereign. To deny God’s right to be sovereign is to deny His existence. Does this touch, for a moment, the truth of man’s responsibility? By no means. Both are true, and it is utterly impossible that two truths can ever clash. To attempt to reconcile divine sovereignty and human responsibility is gratuitous labor. They are reconciled already, being both set forth, with equal clearness, in the divine word. It is wonderful how simple everything becomes when we fling aside the dogmas of one-sided theology, and come like a child to holy scripture. Would that all the Lord’s people could but do this!
3. “E. N. F.,” Lower Edmonton. We render hearty thanks to God for the help and blessing you have received from the “Papers on the Lord’s Coining.” To His holy Name be all the praise! We can trust Him to clear up any little difficulties which may yet remain in your mind As to the first resurrection, you must bear in mind that those who are put to death under the Beast shall have part in it. The judgment of the nations is pre-millennial; the resurrection of the wicked is post-millennial. The period of Christ’s personal reign over the earth will be a thousand years. Then all dispensations shall close; God shall be all in all. This will be the everlasting state.
4. “J. B.,” Dublin. We fear there has been some mistake as to your communication. We were under the impression that the subject suggested was the Lord’s coming. In reply to your question on the subject of breaking bread alone, we have only to say that we can see no meaning in it. The Lord’s Supper is, pre-eminently, an act of communion. Where is the expression of the one body? Where is there aught of fellowship? Where indeed, is there any value, at all, in a person’s sitting down to break bread alone? We could only look upon such an one as an eccentric and melancholy solitaire—one whose mental soundness was more than questionable.
5. “J. C.,” Paddington. We do not understand the notice to which you call our attention; but we should judge it to be a matter of godly order, and very necessary in such times as these, for persons visiting a place, or presenting themselves, for the first time, at the Lord’s Table, to bring a letter of introduction. Would you expect to be received everywhere on your own testimony? If so, you will be disappointed. It needed a Barnabas to introduce a Saul to the assembly at Jerusalem. An assembly must have competent testimony as to a person’s Christianity ere he can be received. To look for anything beyond this, is to set up conventional rules of our own which must prove to be stumbling blocks in the way of God’s people as they approach the Table of their Lord. There are two things which must never be lost sight of in reference to the Lord’s Table, namely, first, the holiness of the Table which will not let in any who ought to be out; and secondly, the grace of the Table which will not keep out any who ought to be in. Finally, we have to bear in mind that cold rules and regulations are a poor substitute for love and zeal, and freshness and energy, and true pastoral care. There is a lovely simplicity in the way of the Spirit of God which we all want to cultivate more. A rule may be a very good thing in certain cases; but, if rigidly carried out, it may prove a grievous hindrance. We must confess, dear friend, we have no great liking for red tape and routine. We vastly prefer the holy activities of divine life and true personal devotedness. May God grant us to see very much more of these latter! “ Nevertheless “ we must know whom we receive at the Table of our Lord. We must remember that it is His Table, not ours; and, therefore we cannot use it to pay compliments to our friends, on the one hand, nor yet as a whip for the back of those who may have offended us, on the other. May the good Lord keep us all!
6. “J. H.,” Dublin. We do not deem it for edification to discuss such a subject in our pages; indeed, dear friend, we are most fully determined not to discuss it at all.
7. “H. T. G.,” Westport. We cannot but regret that the friend who visited you from a distance did not seek to lead your souls to something more edifying than discussing the question of the scripture authority for singing hymns at our meetings; and, further, we can only marvel that a number of intelligent Christians should spend a moment in the discussion of such a question. You say “the question is at first sight startling.” We cannot see anything “startling” in it except it be in its bearing upon those who raise it.
But let us see what scripture says on the point. In Mark 14:2626And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. (Mark 14:26), we read, “And when they had sung,’’ an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.” You say that “Liddell and Scott tell us that ύμνέω, might equally correctly be rendered ‘to praise.’” Here is what these learned lexicographers say— “ύμνέω, to sing, laud, praise, sing of, tell of.” And then they give the Latin “cano,” which, as every schoolboy knows, signifies to sing. But you say that some learned brother has informed you that “in no one instance in scripture does the word ‘sing’ refer to vocal music.” If singing be not vocal, what is it? When Paul and Silas sang praises (ὕμνέω) unto God, was not that vocal? So also, in Heb. 2:1212Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (Hebrews 2:12), we have the words of Christ Himself, “In the midst of the assembly will I sing praise (ύμνήοω) unto thee.” Is not this vocal? In 1 Cor. 14:1515What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. (1 Corinthians 14:15), we have a different word (φαλῶ)
I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding.” And here the word stands in contrast with praying. Then in Rev. 5:99And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Revelation 5:9), we have another word (ἅδω) “They sung a new song.” The same word occurs, chapter 14:3; 15:3; and in Col. 3:1616Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16), “singing with grace in your hearts.” And in Eph. 5:1919Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; (Ephesians 5:19), “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Now here we have three different Greek words, rendered, in our most excellent Authorized Version, by the English word sing;’ and the question is, what idea do these words convey to the mind? Is it not, to say the least, that of audible praise or worship, whether rendered individually or collectively? Are not “Psalm and hymns and spiritual songs” divinely recognized? And, if so, for what are they designed? Is it not as a vehicle for the worship of Christians? We do not see how this can be called in question by any sober person. There is no analogy between forms of prayer and hymns. The latter are divinely recognized; the former are not. This is quite sufficient for us.
“But,” you say, “there is danger of our getting occupied with the tune or mere music.” No doubt. And is there not danger, in teaching, preaching, and exhortation, and even in praying, of getting occupied with the language, with grammar, rhetoric, or oratory? Must we therefore give up teaching, preaching, exhortation, and prayer? Is there no remedy for the supposed evil save reducing our meetings to a senseless and miserable silence? It certainly is a very great evil in singing to forget the subject and object of our song and become occupied with the style and effect of our singing; and, if we mistake not, it is to this very evil that the revered writer to whom you refer applies the term “iniquity.” But most certainly he never meant to teach that it is iniquity to use a hymn book or sing a hymn, for he has been doing both for the last forty years, all over the world; and not only so, but he has contributed some precious hymns to help the worship of his brethren.
We have thus, dear friend, gone fully into your question; and, in taking leave of you, we would affectionately entreat of you and our beloved old Westport friends to fling aside such foolish notions; and, when you come together, instead of discussing the rightness of singing, seek to have your hearts in tune to sing. We greatly dread young Christians getting under the influence of a morbid sentimentality, transcendental notions, or a higher spirituality, falsely so called. It is sure to lead to mischief. See that you keep clear of such. Cultivate simplicity, reality, soundness of mind, and earnestness. There is no telling where we may find ourselves if we take up with every crotchet that comes in our way. Some would suggest our breaking bread alone; thus reducing the Church of God to a state of complete isolation. Others, it seems, would rob us of our hymn books, and reduce our meetings to a gloomy silence. From all such wild and foolish notions, may the good Lord deliver us! May He graciously fill our hearts with an intense desire for His glory—for the good of His beloved people, and for the progress of His cause. May these grand realities so engage all our energies and fill up our every moment, that we shall have no time or thought for the discussion of unprofitable questions.