11 For other foundation can
no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Cor
3:11)
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This is a beautiful classic hymn of the Church that expresses that quality that
epitomizes the worth of a hymn and its purpose in teaching doctrine and Gospel
Truth. Composed by Samuel J. Stone in 1866 as a part of a series of Twelve
Hymns of the Twelve Articles of the Apostles’ Creed (Lyra Fidelium), the
hymn has become a victorious anthem of the Church and, especially, for
magnificent occasions. The hymn was set to the musical score of Aurelia
by Samuel S. Wesley. There are seven long verses; therefore, I will reserve my
main comments to those of the hymn itself. The third and seventh (last)
stanza’s, included here, were omitted by the 1940 Hymnal. This hymn was
intended as an exposition of the ninth article of the Apostle’s Creed.
The Church’s One Foundation
(underlined verses were
omitted in the 1940 Hymal)
The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought
her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her
And for her life He died.
Elect from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
The Church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord to defend,
To guide, sustain, and cherish,
Is with her to the end:
Though there be those who hate
her,
And false sons in her pale,
Against both foe or traitor
She ever shall prevail.
Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed:
Yet saints their watch are
keeping,
Their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song!
’Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
Till, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won,
With all her sons and daughters
Who, by the Master’s hand
Led through the deathly waters,
Repose in Eden land.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee:
There, past the border mountains,
Where in sweet vales the Bride
With Thee by living fountains
Forever shall abide!
Amen
The
Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord, She is His new creation By
water and the Word. From heaven He
came and sought her To be His holy bride; With His own blood He bought her And
for her life He died.
If Jesus Christ is not the Good Shepherd, the Rock, and foundation of the
Church, then that which is called by that name is NOT the Church! The Church is
the new Creation of God that is Eternal which completes the intention of God at
Eden where that first creation in Adam fell. The Lord Jesus died for His Bride,
the Church, just as Adam died for his wife, Eve; however, with His own blood,
Jesus (being innocent and righteous) was able to purchase the Church wherein
Adam simply died (in his sins) with his bride, Eve.
Elect
from every nation, Yet one o’er all the earth; Her charter of salvation, One
Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy Name she blesses, Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued. One tenet of the Creed that
seems to be ignored in our day is: There is only ONE Name by which men are
saved – the Lord Jesus Christ! “Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:12) That One Holy Food is the Bread of Life – Jesus Christ. That One
Faith is that expressed in the Gospel and by the Apostles without embellishment
or diminution. The Church is not confined to stone, grey walls but is a
building without borders encompassing every nation, tribe, and tongue – all
sharing a blood relationship with Jesus Christ and each other. The Grace by
which she is ‘endued’ is a free grace from God that only the elect will enjoy.
It is granted as a special prerogative of the Throne of God, and is never
earned or merited in any way.
The
Church shall never perish! Her dear Lord to defend, To guide, sustain, and
cherish, Is with her to the end: Though there be those who hate her, And false
sons in her pale, Against both foe or traitor She ever shall prevail. It will not be possible for the
Church to perish as did Adam’s bride. The Church is a staunch defender of the
Word that is Christ just as Christ is of the Church! If it does not stand in
defense of the Holy Gospel, it is not the Church. Christ has already been with
His Bride the Church to the very end whose stripes He bore at Calvary. The
“false sons in her pale” are the demons that inhabit the branches of the Church
(Matthew 13:31). Those demons in the branches of the Church are traitors and
more despicable than those who openly bear arms against her. But the Church
will be purified and perfected at the coming of the Bridegroom for whom she
languishes.
Though
with a scornful wonder Men see her sore oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, By
heresies distressed: Yet saints their watch are keeping, Their cry goes up,
“How long?” And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song!” Men who trample on, and contend
over, the “Body of Christ” are not unlike their father, the devil who contended
over the body of Moses: “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the
devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a
railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” (Jude 1:9) Herein lies
the power of the Church – it is the Hand of the Lord her Bridegroom! The Church
is like a war bride exposed to the scandalous gossip of wagging tongues that
never see her virtue, but only her imagined shame. The Bride weeps and longs
for her Bridegroom’s return so that she will be justified in the eyes of the
wicked who have sorely abused her. When the “Morning of the Lord shall come
and time shall be no more,” her night of weeping will seem only as a brief
moment. Her Morning of song shall be an everlasting time of rejoicing and
reward.
’Mid
toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of
peace forevermore; Till, with the vision glorious, Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest. It is the very toil and tribulation of her daily battles
that strengthens the Church and which will be her medallions of victory at
Christ’s return. There is only one means of peace for the Church and that is
the Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ at His Coming. In quoting Plato (perhaps
erroneously) General of the Army Douglas MacArthur said, “Only the dead have
seen the end of wear.” It is true. Wars come by sin, and there will be no end
of sin until the curtain of time drops as an ax upon the modern world. The
Church Militant shall, at that time, become the Church Victorious, and her
eternal Sabbath rest shall commence. How happy will the eyes of the war bride
be to see the Captain of her Soul, and the owner of her heart, returning.
Yet
she on earth hath union With God the Three in One, And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won, With all her sons and daughters Who, by the
Master’s hand Led through the deathly waters, Repose in Eden land. There has been no breach of affection between Christ and His
Church during the ages of their temporary separation. The love letters have
continued from Heaven to earth, and earth to Heaven, by unabated prayers, and
the Word read. How is it possible for the Church (who is comprised of MANY) to
be One with Christ? It is because she has taken on the Mind and Will of Christ
just as Christ, being One with the Father and Holy Ghost, has the Mind and Will
of the Father. A problem of modern marriages is that the couple are not agreed
as One. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos
3:3) The silent,
soul communion we enjoy with the Church Victorious shall be consummated at the
Last Day. If we are the Church, we are being led by the Master’s Hand – the way
we know not, but the WAY is our Lord, and we KNOW Him. He leads where we have
never before been, but we trust in the Good Shepherd to lead us to ever greener
pastures, and even through that Valley of the Shadow of Death. We will soon
emerge on the far Banks of Jordan Waters to that same Paradise foreclosed on
Adam, and the Tree of Life in the Midst.
O
happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee: There, past the border mountains, Where in sweet
vales the Bride With Thee by living fountains
Forever shall abide! Amen What a wonderful benediction to
this great hymn of triumph and victory! The only way we may become large in the
Eyes of the Lord is to become small and humble in the eyes of man. If we do not
LOVE righteousness, how could we ever bear the blessings of the same in Heaven?
If we are not graceful, as well as recipients of Grace, how can we claim the
gift? The war bride is swept away at her bride groom’s return, and carried to a
vale surrounded by the mountains of the Lord, interspersed there with the
Fountains of Living Waters, the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valleys.
What an Eternal Sabbath she will enjoy in that seclusion from the wicked and
evil ways of the world! Those temporary allurements of the world will not
profit, but the eternal promises of God stand forever sure.
