“QUANTITATIVE CHOICES OF MANKIND OR THE ETERNAL, QUALITATIVE CHOICE OF GOD FOR MANKIND?”
J.FARRELL FISHER, JUNE 1-2, 2019
QUANTITATIVE CHOICES OF MANKIND? THE DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF ‘QUANTITATIVE’ IN THE RANDOM HOUSE COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY OF 1975 BY RANDOM HOUSE INC. SAYS OF THAT BIG WORD, “THAT IS OR MAY BE ESTIMATED BY QUANTITY”; & WHEN IT COMES TO “QUANTITAVIVE CHOICES OF ‘FALLEN’ MANKIND”, ALIENATED & SEPARATED FROM GOD BY THE WILLFUL CHOICE OF THE MIND & HEART, ALL MANKIND WAS BIRTHED WITH THE CHOICE OF ‘SELF-WILL’ OR “DIVINE WILL”, & FROM ADAM & EVE ONWARD THROUGH ALL HUMAN HISTORY THE CHOICE HAS BEEN ‘SELF-WILL’, ‘SELF-RULE’, ‘SELF-MASTERY’, ‘SELF-INDULGENCE’,& ‘SELF-PLEASURE’, “AS I OR WE DETERMINE FOR OURSELVES”!
HOLY GOD WAS NOT INTERESTED IN MANUFACTURING “ROBOTS” WHO, WITHOUT CHOICE, WOULD AUTOMATICALLY DO WHAT HE DESIRED; SO “FREE WILL” CAME INTO PLAY, & WE ALL KNOW ADAM & EVE’S CHOICE & YOUR CHOICE & MINE! DO YOU REMEMBER JOSHUA 24:14-16 WHEN JOSHUA SAID TO THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, “NOW THEREFORE FEAR THE LORD, & SERVE HIM IN SINCERITY & IN TRUTH: & PUT AWAY THE GODS WHICH YOUR FATHERS SERVED THAT WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FLOOD, OR THE GODS OF THE AMORITES, IN WHOSE LAND YOU DWELL; BUT AS FOR ME & MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD”?
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY GOD BLESSED TO ENLIGHTEN THE “CHOSEN PEOPLE” BECAUSE, ALREADY, IN HUMAN HISTORY THE “GREAT FALLING AWAY” FROM GOD CONTINUED! IN DEUTERONOMY 10:8 WE READ, “AT THAT TIME THE LORD SEPARATED THE TRIBE OF LEVI, TO BEAR THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, TO STAND BEFORE THE LORD TO MINISTER UNTO HIM, & TO BLESS HIS NAME, UNTO THIS DAY.” THEN IN VERSES 12-13 WE READ, “AND NOW, ISRAEL, WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU, BUT TO FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD, TO WALK IN ALL HIS WAYS, & TO LOVE HIM, & TO SERVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART & WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, & HIS STATUTES, WHICH I COMMAND YOU THIS DAY FOR YOUR GOOD?” (BUT THAT’S OPTIONAL?).
TO AMERICANS TODAY, I ASK YOU, “WHAT DOES THE LORD GOD REQUIRE OF YOU?”, AND A LOST, PERISHING, DYING HUMANITY, LIVING FAITHLESS KEEPS DIGGING A DEEPER HOLE TO BE BURIED IN! BUT COMPASSIONATE GOD DIDN’T CHANGE THEN & DOESN’T CHANGE NOW! IN DEUTERONOMY 11:26-28 WE READ, “BEHOLD, I SET BEFORE YOU THIS DAY A BLESSING & A CURSE; A BLESSING, IF YOU OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHICH I COMMAND YOU THIS DAY: AND A CURSE, IF YOU WILL NOT OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD, BUT TURN ASIDE OUT OF THE WAY WHICH I COMMAND YOU THIS DAY, TO GO AFTER OTHER GODS, WHICH YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN.”
HOW SERIOUS-MINDED ARE YOU WHEN YOU HEAR HOLY GOD SPEAK ABOUT “TURNING ASIDE, OUT OF THE WAY, WHICH I COMMAND YOU THIS DAY, TO GO AFTER OTHER ‘gods’, WHICH YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN”? IN THE END OF ISAIAH 45:20 THE PROPHET EXPOSED THOSE “WHO PRAY UNTO A ‘god’ THAT CANNOT SAVE”! THEN, OF COURSE, THERE ARE THOSE WHO NEVER PRAY BECAUSE THEY DON’T NEED “FALSE GODS” & THEY SURE DON’T DESIRE TO TRUST THE GOD WHO MADE THEM, LOST THEM, BOUGHT THEM WITH THE PRICE OF HIS OWN SON’S BLOOD, BUT THEY REFUSE HIS MERCY, HIS GRACE, & HIS LOVE – “WE’RE OK WITHOUT YOU, BIG GOD!”
JOB HAD ‘FRIENDS’ WHO MADE ‘LIGHT’ ABOUT SERIOUS-MINDED FRIENDS LIKE HIM, YES, DEVOTED TO HOLY GOD. IN JOB 13:1-11 JOB RESPONDED REPROVING “HIS FRIENDS”, SAYING, “LO, MY EYE HAS SEEN ALL THIS (FABRICATION OF FAITH!), MY EAR HAS HEARD & UNDERSTOOD IT. WHAT YOU KNOW, THE ‘SAME’ DO I KNOW ALSO; I AM NOT INFERIOR UNTO YOU. SURELY I WOULD SPEAK TO THE ALMIGHTY, & I DESIRE TO REASON WITH GOD. “BUT”, YOU (IN THE FLESH) ARE FORGERS OF LIES (PRETENDERS), YOU ARE ALL PHYSICIANS (OR DOCTORS) OF NO VALUE (HAVING NO PRECRIPTION FOR YOUR RELIGIOUS PRETENSE!). O THAT YOU WOULD ALTOGETHER HOLD YOUR PEACE! & IT SHOULD BE YOUR WISDOM. (BUT SADLY MANY ‘WORLDLY-MINDED’ ARE MORE IN TUNE TO THE FALLEN SIN-NATURE THAN SAVING GRACE, BUT DESIRING BOTH, THEY STILL “SING PRAISES TO GOD AS, YES, AT THE SAME TIME THEY SHAME THE SACRED NAME OF THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS!!). JOB CONTINUED:
VERSES 6-11, HEAR NOW MY REASONING, & HEARKEN TO THE PLEADING OF MY LIPS. WILL YOU SPEAK WICKEDLY FOR GOD? & TALK DECEITFULLY FOR HIM? WILL YOU ACCEPT HIS PERSON? WILL YOU CONTEND FOR GOD? IS IT GOOD THAT HE SHOULD SEARCH YOU OUT? OR AS ONE MAN MOCKS ANOTHER, DO YOU SO MOCK GOD? IS IT GOOD THAT HE SHOULD SEARCH YOU OUT? OR AS ONE MAN MOCKS ANOTHER, DO YOU SO MOCK HIM? HE WILL SURELY REPROVE YOU, IF YOU DO SECRETLY ACCEPT PERSONS. SHALL NOT HIS EXCELLENCY MAKE YOU AFRAID? & HIS DREAD FALL UPON YOU?
QUANTITATIVE CHOICES OF MANKIND? ARE THEY STILL ALIVE ON GOD’S ‘PLANET-EARTH’? PAUL LEFT TITUS IN CRETE TO CONTINUE THE MINISTRY OF FAITH & IN TITUS 1: 9-16 HE CHALLENGED THE LORD’S AMBASSADOR OF THE TRUE FAITH, SAYING, “HOLDING FAST THE FAITHFUL WORD AS (A BISHOP) HAS BEEN TAUGHT, THAT HE MAY BE ABLE BY SOUND DOCTRINE TO EXHORT & TO CONVINCE THE GAINSAYERS (A DISPUTER OF BIBLICAL TRUTH WHO WOULD CONTRADICT THE HOLY WORD!) FOR THERE ARE MANY UNRULY & VAIN TALKERS & DECEIVERS, SPECIALLY THEY OF THE CIRCUMCISION (LEGALISTIC ‘JEWS’): WHOSE MOUTHS MUST BE STOPPED, WHO SUBVERT WHOLE HOUSES, TEACHING THINGS WHICH THEY OUGHT NOT, FOR FILTHY LUCRE’S SAKE.
ONE OF THEMSELVES, EVEN A PROPHET OF THEIR OWN, SAID, THE CRETIANS ARE ALWAYS LIARS, EVIL BEASTS, SLOW BELLIES. THIS WITNESS IS TRUE. WHEREFORE REBUKE THEM SHARPLY, THAT THEY MAY BE SOUND IN THE FAITH; NOT GIVING HEED TO JEWISH FABLES, & COMMANDMENTS OF MEN, THAT TURN FROM THE TRUTH. UNTO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE; BUT UNTO THEM THAT ARE DEFILED & UNBELIEVING IS NOTHING PURE; BUT EVEN THEIR MIND & CONSCIENCE IS DEFILED. THEY PROFESS TO KNOW GOD; BUT IN WORKS (WALKS) THEY DENY HIM, BEING ABOMINABLE, & DISOBEDIENT, & UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK REPROBATE.” WOW!!
BUT RATHER THAN THE “QUANTITATIVE CHOICES OF FALLEN MANKIND”, WHAT ABOUT EXAMINING “THE ETERNAL, QUALITATIVE CHOICE OF GOD FOR MAN?” WHAT DID JOSHUA SAY? “AS FOR ME & MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!” AND “YOU” HAVE A CHOICE! I PRAY IT’S FULL REPENTANCE BEFORE HOLY GOD & TRUE FAITH & FULL SURRENDER TO THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST JESUS!!
IN 1 KINGS 18:21 WE READ, “AND ELIJAH CAME UNTO ALL THE PEOPLE, & SAID, HOW LONG HALT YOU BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS? IF THE LORD BE GOD, FOLLOW HIM; BUT IF BAAL, THEN FOLLOW HIM. & THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM NOT A WORD.”
RATHER THAN HOUSES OF NATURAL ‘BEASTLINESS’, HOW ABOUT HEARTS & HOMES OF DIVINE PRESENCE, DIVINE POWER, & DIVINE PRIVILEGE, EMPOWERING MAN & WIFE & PARENTS & CHILDREN HONORING THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS? ‘HOUSES’ “CHOOSE” AS WELL AS “HOMES”, BUT ‘FLESHLY’ BEST HAS NEVER HONORED HOLY GOD! IN ECCLESIASTES 11:5-8, POSSIBLY AUTHORED BY SOLOMAN, WE READ: “AS YOU KNOW NOT WHAT IS THE WAY OF THE SPIRIT,NOR HOW THE BONES DO GROW IN THE WOMB OF HER THAT IS WITH CHILD:EVEN SO YOU KNOW NOT THE WORKS OF GOD WHO MAKES ALL.
IN THE MORNING SOW YOUR SEED, & IN THE EVENING WITHHOLD NOT YOUR HAND: FOR YOU KNOW NOT WHETHER SHALL PROSPER, EITHER THIS OR THAT, OR WHETHER THEY BOTH SHALL BE ALIKE GOOD. TRULY THE LIGHT IS SWEET, & A PLEASANT THING IT IS FOR THE EYES TO BEHOLD THE SUN; BUT IF A MAN LIVE MANY YEARS, & REJOICE IN THEM ALL; YET LET HIM REMEMBER THE DAYS OF DARKNESS; FOR THEY SHALL BE MANY. ALL THAT COMES IS VANITY.” FLESHLY BEST IS VANITY & DARKNESS! HOMES OF DIVINE PRESENCE ARE VICTORY IN JESUS, FULL OF HIS ETERNAL LIGHT!!
ALSO, RATHER THAN HOLLOW HEARTS, WHAT ABOUT VIBRANT HEARTS WITH THE PRESENCE OF THE LIVING CHRIST? IN COLOSSIANS 1:27 WE READ PAUL SAYING, “TO WHOM GOD WOULD MAKE KNOWN WHAT IS THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF THIS MYSTERY AMONG THE GENTILES, WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY.” ALSO, EXAMINE FOR YOURSELF 1 JOHN 3:16-24!!! “HEREBY PERCEIVE WE THE LOVE OF GOD, BECAUSE, HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US; & WE OUGHT TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR THE BRETHREN. (AND THAT’S “SAVED BRETHREN OR LOST BRETHREN”!)
BUT WHOSO HAS THIS WORLD’S GOOD, & SEES HIS BROTHER HAS NEED, & SHUTS UP HIS BOWELS OF COMPASSION FROM HIM, HOW DOES THE LOVE OF GOD DWELL IN HIM? MY LITTLE CHILDREN, LET US NOT LOVE IN WORD, NEITHER IN TONGUE; BUT IN DEED & IN TRUTH. & HEREBY WE KNOW THAT WE ARE OF THE TRUTH, & SHALL ASSURE OUR HEARTS BEFORE GOD. FOR IF OUR HEART CONDEMN US, GOD IS GREATER THAN OUR HEART, & KNOWS ALL THINGS.
BELOVED, IF OUR HEART CONDEMN US NOT, THEN WE HAVE CONFIDENCE TOWARD GOD. & WHATSOEVER WE ASK, WE RECEIVE OF HIM, BECAUSE WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, & DO THOSE THINGS THAT ARE PLEASING IN GOD’S SIGHT. & THIS IS THE COMMANDMENT, THAT WE SHOULD BELIEVE (TRUST IN,RELY UPON,ADHERE TO)ON THE NAME OF HIS SON JESUS CHRIST, & LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS HE GAVE US COMMANDMENT. & HE THAT KEEPS HIS COMMANDMENTS DWELLETH IN HIM, & GOD IN HIM. & HEREBY WE KNOW THAT HE ABIDES IN US BY THE SPIRIT WHICH THE FATHER HAS GIVEN TO US.”
AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO ALSO KNOWS ‘WARPED SPIRITS’ WERE CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST, & THAT THROUGH REPENTANCE & TRUE FAITH, THE “BORN-AGAIN HEART & LIFE” THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS IT TO BE HIS EARTHLY TEMPLE, TABERNACLE, WHERE HE LIVES IN RESIDENT-LIVING & PROVIDES OVERCOMING POWER FOR THE “TEMPLE” THAT FACES UNCEASING CHALLENGES FROM ‘THE POWERS OF DARKNESS’! THERE CAN BE, IS, & MUST BE “YIELDEDNESS” TO THE WILLFUL SPIRIT OF HOLY INTENT!
OH, THEN CONSIDER: “BUSINESSES ONLY FOR PROFIT” OR “LIFE-BUSINESS FOR THE PRAISE OF THE LORD”? EXAMINE THOROUGHLY YOUR OWN HEART & MIND BEFORE HOLY GOD AS YOU LISTEN TO, RESPOND TO, & REST IN COLOSSIANS 1:16-29!! PAUL WROTE: “FOR BY HIM WERE ALL THINGS CREATED, THAT ARE IN HEAVEN, & THAT ARE IN EARTH, VISIBLE & INVISIBLE, WHETHER THEY BE THRONES, OR DOMINIONS, OR PRINCIPALITIES, OR POWERS:ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM, & FOR HIM. AND HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, & BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST.
AND HE (CHRIST JESUS!) IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH:WHO IS THE BEGINNING, THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD; THAT IN ALL THINGS HE MIGHT HAVE THE PREEMINENCE. FOR IT PLEASED THE FATHER THAT IN HIM SHOULD ALL FULLNESS DWELL; & HAVING MADE PEACE THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS, BY HIM TO RECONCILE ALL THINGS UNTO HIMSELF; BY HIM, I SAY, WHETHER THEY BE THINGS IN EARTH, OR THINGS IN HEAVEN. & YOU, THAT WERE SOMETIME ALIENATED & ENEMIES IN YOUR MIND BY WICKED WORKS, YET NOW HAS HE RECONCILED IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH THROUGH DEATH, TO PRESENT YOU HOLY & UNBLAMEABLE & UNREPROVEABLE IN HIS SIGHT: IF YOU CONTINUE IN THE FAITH GROUNDED, & SETTLED, & BE NOT MOVED AWAY FROM THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL, WHICH YOU HAVE HEARD, & WHICH WAS PREACHED TO EVERY CREATURE WHICH IS UNDER HEAVEN; WHEREOF I PAUL AM MADE A MINISTER;
WHO NOW REJOICE IN MY SUFFERINGS FOR YOU, & FILL UP THAT WHICH IS BEHIND OF THE AFFLICTIONS OF CHRIST IN MY FLESH FOR HIS BODY’S SAKE, WHICH IS THE CHURCH: WHEREOF I AM MADE A MINISTER, ACCORDING TO THE DISPENSATION OF GOD (GOD’S ‘STEWARDSHIP’!) WHICH IS GIVEN TO ME FOR YOU, TO FULFILL THE WORD OF GOD; EVEN THE MYSTERY WHICH HAS BEEN HIDDEN FROM AGES & FROM GENERATIONS, BUT NOW IS MADE MANIFEST TO HIS SAINTS: TO WHOM GOD WOULD MAKE KNOWN WHAT IS THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF THIS MYSTERY AMONG THE GENTILES: WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY: WHOM WE PREACH, WARNING EVERY MAN, & TEACHING EVERY MAN IN ALL WISDOM; THAT WE MAY PRESENT EVERY MAN PERFECT IN CHRIST JESUS; WHEREUNTO I ALSO LABOR, STRIVING ACCORDING TO HIS WORKING, WHICH WORKS IN ME MIGHTILY.”
“THE ETERNAL, QUALITATIVE CHOICE OF GOD FOR MAN”? I WANT TO SHARE HERE WORDS FROM ERIC METAXAS IN HIS BOOK “7 MEN & THE SECRETS OF THEIR GREATNESS.” HE WROTE IN THE INTRODUCTION,(PP.19-20) THE FOLLOWING: “BUT BECAUSE MEN HAVE SOMETIMES USED THEIR STRENGTH SELFISHLY, THERE HAS BEEN A BACKLASH AGAINST THE WHOLE IDEA OF MASCULINE STRENGTH. IT HAS BEEN SEEN – & PORTRAYED – AS SOMETHING NEGATIVE. IF YOU BUY INTO THAT IDEA, THEN YOU REALIZE THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH IT IS TO WORK AGAINST IT, TO TRY TO WEAKEN MEN, BECAUSE WHATEVER STRENGTH THEY HAVE WILL BE USED TO HARM OTHERS. THIS LEADS TO THE EMASCULATED IDEA OF MEN. STRENGTH IS DENIGRATED BECAUSE IT CAN BE USED FOR ILL. SO WE LIVE IN A CULTURE WHERE STRENGTH IS FEARED & WHERE THERE IS A SENSE THAT – TO PROTECT THE WEAK – STRENGTH ITSELF MUST BE WEAKENED. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THE HEROIC & TRUE NATURE OF STRENGTH IS MUCH FORGOTTEN. IT LEADS TO A WORLD OF MEN WHO AREN’T REALLY MEN. INSTEAD THEY ARE JUST TWO KINDS OF BOYS: BOASTING, LOUD-MOUTHED BULLIES OR SOFT, EMASCULATED PSEUDO-MEN. WOMEN FEEL THAT THEY MUST BE “EMPOWERED” & MUST NEVER RELY ON MEN FOR STRENGTH. IT’S A LOT LIKE A SOCIALISTIC IDEA, WHERE “POWER” & “STRENGTH” ARE REDISTRIBUTED – TAKEN AWAY FROM MEN & GIVEN TO WOMEN, TO EVEN THINGS OUT. OF COURSE IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY. EVERYONE LOSES.
THE KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR WHO DOES ALL HE CAN TO PROTECT OTHERS, THE GENTLEMAN WHO LAYS DOWN HIS CLOAK OR OPENS A DOOR FOR A LADY – THESE ARE CHRISTIAN IDEALS OF MANLINESS. JESUS SAID THAT HE WHO WOULD LEAD MUST BE THE SERVANT OF ALL. IT’S THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP. THE TRUE LEADER GIVES HIMSELF TO THE PEOPLE HE LEADS. THE GOOD SHEPHERD LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP. JESUS WASHED THE FEET OF THE DISCIPLES. JESUS DIED FOR THOSE HE LOVES. THAT IS GOD’S IDEA OF STRENGTH & LEADERSHIP & BLESSING. IT’S SOMETHING TO BE USED IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS. SO GOD’S IDEA OF MASCULINE STRENGTH GIVES US THE IDEA OF A CHIVALROUS GENTLEMAN TOWARD WOMEN, NOT A BULLY OR SOMEONE WHO SEES NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIMSELF & THEM.” SO TRUE!
“THE ETERNAL, QUALITATIVE CHOICE OF GOD FOR MAN?” WHAT ABOUT 1 SAMUEL 3:10? “AND THE LORD CAME, & STOOD, & CALLED AS AT OTHER TIMES, ‘SAMUEL, SAMUEL’. THEN SAMUEL ANSWERED, “SPEAK, LORD; FOR YOUR SERVANT HEARS.” BUT DOES GOD COME, DOES HE STILL KNOCK, DOES HE STILL CALL AS HE HAS FOR SO MANY MULTITUDES & YET WHEN THE “WISDOM OF GOD CALLS, THERE ARE THOSE WHO REFUSE TO ANSWER OR RESPOND TO HIS PASSIONATE INVITATION! IN PROVERBS 1:22-33 WE READ, “HOW LONG, YOU SIMPLE ONES, WILL YOU LOVE SIMPLICITY? & THE SCORNERS DELIGHT IN THEIR SCORNINGS, & FOOLS HATE KNOWLEDGE?
TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF, BEHOLD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UNTO YOU, I WILL MAKE KNOWN MY WORDS UNTO YOU. BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED, & YOU REFUSED; I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HAND, & NO MAN REGARDED. BUT YOU HAVE SET AT NOUGHT ALL MY COUNSEL, & WOULD NONE OF MY REPROOF; I ALSO WILL LAUGH AT YOUR CALAMITY; I WILL MOCK WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES; WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES AS DESOLATION, & YOUR DESTRUCTION COMES AS A WHIRLWIND; WHEN DISTRESS & ANGUISH COMES UPON YOU.
THEN SHALL THEY CALL UPON ME, BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER; THEY SHALL SEEK ME EARLY, BUT THEY SHALL NOT FIND ME: FOR THAT THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE, & DID NOT CHOOSE THE FEAR OF THE LORD; THEY WOULD NONE OF MY COUNSEL; THEY DESPISED ALL MY REPROOF. THEREFORE SHALL THEY EAT THE FRUIT OF THEIR OWN WAY, & BE FILLED WITH THEIR OWN DEVICES. FOR THE TURNING AWAY OF THE SIMPLE SHALL SLAY THEM, & THE PROSPERITY OF FOOLS SHALL DESTROY THEM. BUT WHOSO HEARKENS UNTO ME SHALL DWELL SAFELY, & SHALL BE QUIET FROM FEAR OF EVIL.” THE ETERNAL,QUALITATIVE CHOICE FOR MAN?” FANNY CROSBY & W.H.DOANE, IN THE OLD “THE AMERICAN HYMNAL”,(PUBLISHED IN 1933, BY THE BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN.) WROTE A HYMN ENTITLED “SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS”. IT SAYS: “SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS, SAFE ON HIS GENTLE BREAST, THERE BY HIS LOVE O’ER-SHADED, SWEETLY MY SOUL SHALL REST. HARK! IT’S THE VOICE OF ANGELS, BORNE IN A SONG TO ME, OVER THE FIELDS OF GLORY, OVER THE JASPER SEA.
SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS, SAFE FROM CORRODING CARE, SAFE FROM THE WORLD’S TEMPTATIONS, SIN CANNOT HARM ME THERE. FREE FROM THE BLIGHT OF SORROW, FREE FROM MY DOUBTS & FEARS; ONLY A FEW MORE TRIALS, ONLY A FEW MORE TEARS!
JESUS, MY HEART’S DEAR REFUGE, JESUS HAS DIED FOR ME; FIRM ON THE ROCK OF AGES, EVER MY TRUST SHALL BE. HERE LET ME WAIT WITH PATIENE, WAIT TIL’ THE NIGHT IS O’ER; WAIT TILL I SEE THE MORNING BRREAK ON THE GOLDEN SHORE…..SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS,SAFE ON HIS GENTLE BREAST, THERE BY HIS LOVE O’ER-SHADED,SWEETLY MY SOUL SHALL REST. AMEN?” ARE YOU AT REST?