One young Christian in foreign service writes:
"Please send me some tracts to give out here to the men as they come out of the mess hall door and to give out in the 'chow lines' of the different companies. I am sure the Lord will bless the tracts to many. Don't forget to send some of the leaflets,
'That Name.' "
This brother and many others have felt the increasing use of the blessed name of Jesus in profanity, and have called for copies of the poem entitled "That Name." We reproduce it here so that all of our readers may know what it contains.
That Name
Lines suggested on hearing some young men using the name of our Lord Jesus Christ profanely.
That Name which you take, is delightfully sweet,
Jesus is Christ! and Him you must meet;
Now He is meeting poor sinners in grace,
He knocks at your heart, O, give Him a place.
He hears you blaspheme; but O, if you knew
How much He loves sinners, how much He loves you,
You would fall at His feet and adoringly sing
Jesus! my Saviour! my Lord! and the King!
'Twas for this that He died on Calvary's tree,
That sinners the chief might from judgment be free.
He's now up in glory—a man on God's throne,
But He's coming again—it may be quite soon.
He left us this message, while He is above,
A message of mercy—a message of love,
Tell sinners I love them—tell Adam's whole race,
And this is the day of My patience and grace.
Yea, more—go, beseech—beseech them for Me,
Beseech by My blood—by My death on the tree.
It cleanses from sin and fits them to be
At once and forever in glory with Me.
O. these are sweet words, and wondrous to tell
How God in His mercy saves sinners from hell,
The story's so simple—so plain to the lost,
To be saved without doing—saved at God's cost,
To be saved as ungodly, unrighteous, undone,
To be saved by faith in the Blood of His Son.
The prodigious use of the name of Jesus by the ungodly only shows where man's natural heart is. Man is away from God; and more than that, he has actual enmity in his heart to God and His Christ. God so loved the poor world that He sent His beloved Son down into the world to reconcile it to Himself, but man cast His Son out, and said "away with Him." Now God has sent out the good news of a full and free pardon to all who will have it. But men not only take God's name in vain; they also revile the precious name of Jesus who is the expression of God's great love. All of the enmity is on man's part. He may not realize his enmity, a fact which only proves how little he knows his own lost condition. Satan is leading men on to destruction, and there is no better proof of his controlling power, than man's almost instinctive profane use of "God," "Christ," "Jesus," and "hell." This greatly increasing evil is not confined to service men, but is very widespread.
Young Christian, does not the profane use of the name of Jesus make you cringe each time you hear it? The very mark of a Christian is that the name of Jesus is precious to him.
All of the hopes and blessings of the child of God for time and eternity hinge on that blessed person, Jesus. Does not the very mention of the name of Jesus spoken in reverence, awaken a responsive chord in your heart? May you never become so accustomed to this profanity that it will cease to bruise you. How can it help wounding one who truly believes that Jesus loved him, and died for him? May you not consider such slandering of your Saviour in your presence as a light matter.
There is a Name we love to hear,
We love to sing its worth;
It sounds like music in our ear,
The sweetest Name on earth.
It tells us of a Saviour's love
Who died to set us free;
It tells us of His precious blood,
The sinner's perfect plea.
Jesus! the Name we love so well,
The Name we love to hear!
No saint on earth its worth can tell,
No heart conceive how dear.
This Name shall shed its fragrance still
Along this thorny road,
Shall sweetly smooth the rugged hill
That leads us up to God.
O! if men would only realize that their profane use of that Name, will only condemn them! It is prima facie evidence that men knew of Jesus and hated Him. He cannot plead before the Throne of Judgment he did not know about God's Saviour for man. And to think that today Jesus would be their Saviour, to save them from the "wrath to come" and make them happy. If He is refused, there is another day coming when He will be their judge. They may take His Name in vain now, but the day is surely coming, by God's decree, when they will bow before Him, and confess that He is Lord. (Read Phil. 2:9-119Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9‑11)). Neither shall man be able to plead that he did not know there was a "Hell" in store, for its use has become common-place enough to be used in advertisements of great corporations. That power that works in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:22Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (Ephesians 2:2)) is seeking to make light of "hell" by making it a familiar by-word.