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This shows that we must have a thorough knowledge of the truth. Therefore, this hymn is well written, and the truth in it is very clear. This is the double cure mentioned in this hymn. The blood redeems us from the eternal punishment related to our sins, and the water saves us from the power of sin. How can we resolve the problem of sin and sins? It is through the water and the blood which flowed from the Lord's riven side. The key point of this hymn is found in the last lines of the first stanza: "Let the water and the blood, / From Thy riven side which flowed, / Be of sin the double cure, / Save me from its guilt and power." Guilt is due to our outward sinful deeds and shows that we have received eternal punishment power refers to the power of the sinful nature within us. It is a valuable, classic Christian hymn. The hymn "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me" (Hymns, #1058) is a good Christian song. God saves fallen human beings by resolving the problem of sins and by dealing with our sin. 2, The Work and Warfare to Build Up the Body of Christ, ch. Romans 5:10 speaks of the two aspects of God's deliverance from sin: "If we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled." Here the reconciliation to God through the death of His Son points to Christ's redemption, which delivers us from the guilt and condemnation of sin, and the salvation in Christ's life delivers us from the power of sin. For deliverance from the power of sin, we have God's salvation in the divine life, and for deliverance from the guilt and the condemnation of sin, we have Christ's redemption through the shedding of His blood. Guilt is the result of the condemnation of sin, and the power of sin is the entanglement and tyranny of sin. The blood is for redemption, and the water is for the imparting of the divine life.
#More than words rock of ages lyrics full#
We have a hymn in our hymnal (Hymns, #1058) that speaks of the double cure of God's full salvation through the blood and the water that flowed from Christ's pierced side (John 19:34), which save us from both the guilt and power of sin. 5, The Faithful and Diligent Spreading of the Truth-Concerning the Publication Service, ch.
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I hope that we would understand the fine distinctions here. It is good to write new hymns, but we must adhere to the principle of mainly presenting the truth. Brother Nee was very much against embellishing the hymns, because this does not build up our spirit. Proper tunes for hymns should be neither light nor embellished on the contrary, they should be solemn and weighty. This is evident with the tunes for "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, / Let me hide myself in Thee" (Hymns, #1058) and even for "Many weary years I vainly sought a spring" (#322), which has a little faster tempo. Our hymnal includes almost all the good tunes for hymns. After twenty or thirty years, however, no one is singing the new tunes people prefer the traditional tunes. Regardless of where and how Toplady got his inspiration, the hymn has been a blessing in past generations and will continue to be a blessing to Christians in generations to come.Īfter World War II there was a desire in the United States for new things consequently, many new tunes were written for hymns. Nevertheless God used even what is negative for His good will and purpose. This is ironic, because he had a combative relationship with John Wesley. Benson argues that Toplady was most likely inspired to write the hymn after reading the preface of John and Charles Wesley‘s Hymns on the Lord’s Supper (1745) which contains a prayer voicing many of the themes and words that are also found in the hymn. However the story is probably apocryphal-(doubtful of authenticity but widely circulated as true). The particular rock is in Burrington Combe gorge in North Somerset, England, and it has a plaque on it with its claim to fame. There is a common story of the hymn being inspired by (and even written from within) a rock cleft that Toplady once took refuge in during a storm.
#More than words rock of ages lyrics full version#
The full version of the hymn was printed the following year in Toplady’s book Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Worship. ”Īs for the hymn, the first stanza appeared in public in 1775 in a periodical called the Gospel Magazine (a periodical which still is in print today). When Louis Benson wrote about the hymn in 1923, he claimed it “is to-day in more church hymnals than is in any other English hymn. Augustus Toplady wrote a number of hymns in his life, but “Rock of Ages” is by far the most famous.
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