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Sunday, July 07, 2019

I have found His grace is all complete


A popular song I have known and sung from my youth is Joy Unspeakable. Barney Elliott Warren wrote both the words and music. The thought is based on 1 Peter 1:8. It probably first appeared in Salvation Echoes: a New Collection of Spiritual Songs (Gospel Trumpet Company). Warren was a prolific songwriter, but sources suggest that most of his songs have fallen out of use other than among the Churches of God. Joy Unspeakable has remained popular among us to sing in worship, and when a new member has joined the church. We sometimes sing his song Beautiful.

B. E. Warren was born February 20, 1867 in Lewiston, New York. In 1884 he joined the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) and ministered in that denomination until his death. He sang bass in Daniel Sidney Warner’s company of singers and married Nannie Kigar, who also sang with Warner’s group. He pastored for the Church of God, and edited numerous songbooks for the Gospel Trumpet Company, which is the publishing arm of that Church of God. Warren died on April 21, 1951 in Springfield, Ohio. He and his wife are buried in Vale Cemetery in Springfield. In 1942, Axchie A. Bolitho wrote of Warren’s life in To the Chief Singer: A Brief Story of the Work and Influence of Barney E. Warren.

1. I have found His grace is all complete,
He supplieth every need;
While I sit and learn at Jesus’ feet,
I am free, yes, free indeed.

2. I have found the pleasure I once craved,
It is joy and peace within;
What a wondrous blessing, I am saved
From the awful gulf of sin.

3. I have found that hope so bright and clear,
Living in the realm of grace;
Oh, the Savior’s presence is so near,
I can see His smiling face.

4. I have found the joy no tongue can tell,
How its waves of glory roll;
It is like a great o’erflowing well,
Springing up within my soul.

Refrain:
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Full of glory, full of glory;
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Oh, the half has never yet been told.

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