It Is Well With My Soul

So tonight I really wanted to share a story with you guys that has meant a ton to me lately. It is the story behind the song "It Is Well With My Soul".

"It Is Well with My Soul" is a very influential hymn penned by hymnist Horatio Spafford and composed by Philip Bliss.

This hymn was written after several traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his only son in 1871 at the age of four, shortly followed by the great Chicago Fire which ruined him financially (he had been a successful lawyer). Then in 1873, he had planned to travel to Europe with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, but sent the family ahead while he was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and all four of Spafford's daughters died. His wife Anna survived and sent him the now famous telegram, "Saved alone." Shortly afterwards, as Spafford traveled to meet his grieving wife, he was inspired to write these words as his ship passed near where his daughters had died.

I should mention that I got the article off wikipedia. But back to the story, Spafford, in a two year period, lost everything he had finacially and then all five of his children. This would kill most people. But Spafford understood where to turn and produced this song as he passed by the spot his daughters drowned.

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

This is an incredible song written by a Godly man who had just lost everything. Yet no matter what happened to him, God gave him the strength to say, it is well with my soul. This is very convicting to me, with all the petty problems I deal with that seem so big they are nothing compared to Spaffords suffering. Or for that matter, the apostle Pauls suffering. Yet they both were fully satisfied in God. He gave them the comfort and peace they needed, yet so often I do not turn to Him in my time of need. I would like to leave you with my favorite verse of the song:

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Tim Shrout

In My Place Condemned He Stood

We are back! The blog is officially back up and running!

For training purposes I have been reading a book called "In my place condemned He stood" which is on penal substitutionary atonement. I wanted to share a couple of passages from the book which struck me.

"The incarnational principle is that when the Son took Himself all the powers and capacities for experience that belong to human nature and began to live through His human body, mind, and identity, His sense of being the Father's Son was unaffected, and He knew and did His Father's will, aided by the Spirit, at all times. It was with His own will and His own love mirroring the Father's, therefore, that He took the place of human sinners exposed to divine judgment" and here is the good part... "and laid down His life as a sacrifice for them, entering fully into the state and experience of death that was due to them. Then He rose from death to reign by the Father's appointment in the kingdom of God and from His throne to send the Spirit to induce faith in Himself and in the saving work He had done, to communicate forgiveness and pardon, justification and adoption to the penitent, and to unite all believers to Himself to share His risen life in foretaste of the full life of heaven that is to come."

This is powerful stuff, very clearly stating what Jesus did for us in His incarnation. What He offered us, He offered us our lives if we were willing to die to the things of this world, not our temporary, earthly lives but our eternal, perfect lives. After all the sins we commit, after all the times we have turned our backs towards Him, He still "laid down His life as a sacrifice for them" a sacrifice for us!

The other text I wanted to share was written by J.I Packer(as was the previous) in which he offers us nine insights basic to our personal relationship with God that are directly related to penal substitutionary atonement. These are points I would encouraged you to reflect on and be edified because of them.

1. God, in Denney's phrase, "condones nothing," but judges all sin as it deserves: which Scripture affirms, and my conscience confirms, to be right.

2. My sins merit ultimate penal suffering and rejection from God's presence (conscience also confirms this), and nothing I do can blot them out.

3. The penalty due to me for my sins, whatever it was, was paid for me by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in His death on the cross.

4. Because this is so, I through faith in Him am made "the righteousness of God in Him," i.e., I am justified; pardon, acceptance, and sonship [to God] become mine.

5. Christ's death for me is my sole ground of hope before God. "If He fulfilled not justice, I must; if He underwent not wrath, I must to eternity" (John Owen)

6. My faith in Christ is God's own gift to me, given in virtue of Christ's death for me: i.e., the cross procured it.

7. Christ's death for me guarantees my preservation to glory.

8. Christ's death for me is the measure and pledge of the love of the Father and the Son to me.

9. Christ's death for me calls and constrains me to trust, to worship, to love, and to serve.

Those are powerful! I hope you guys enjoyed them as much as I did!

Tim Shrout