The sinner

The following is Hymn XXXVIII in Hymns, &c. Composed on Various Subjects, by Joseph Hart (London: J. Everingham, 1759, pp. 54-56). The hymn does not have a title, but is preceded by a verse of scripture.

This is a faithful Saying, and worthy of all Acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners... 1 Tim. i. 15.

1. When Adam by transgression fell,
And conscious, fled his Maker’s face,
Linked in clandestine league with hell,
He ruined all his future race:
The seeds of evil once brought in,
Increased; and filled the world with sin.

2. This lurking leaven ferments the mass.
All nature’s sick; creation’s spoiled;
Each sin-infected sire, alas!
Begets the sin-infected child.
Thus propagation spreads the curse:
And man, born bad, grows worse and worse.

3. But lo! the second Adam came,
The serpent’s subtle head to bruise;
He cancels his malicious claim,
And disappoints his devilish views;
Ransoms poor prisoners with his blood,
And brings the sinner back to God.

4. To understand these terms aright,
This grand distinction should be known:
Though all are sinners in God’s sight,
There are but few so in their own.
To such as these our Lord was sent;
They’re only sinners, who repent.

5. What comfort can a Saviour bring
To those who never felt their woe?
A sinner is a sacred thing;
The Holy Ghost has made him so.
New life from him we must receive,
Before for sin we rightly grieve.

6. Let the self-righteous hence beware,
Lest he this great salvation scorn.
Let every careless soul take care;
For they that laugh shall one day mourn.
High-flying lights, learn hence to stoop;
Dry knowledge only puffs men up.

7. This faithful saying let us own,
(Well worthy ’tis to be believed)
That Christ into the world came down,
That sinners might by him be saved.
Sinners are high in his esteem,
And sinners highly value him.

Joseph Hart (1712-1768) was a teacher, an independent evangelical minister, and a hymn writer. Hart is well-known is some circles, but not that well known among English-speaking Christians in general. In the spring of 1759, he published 119 “hymns, etc.” in his book Hymns, &c. Composed on Various Subjects. This work included “a Preface, containing a Brief Account of the Author’s Experience, and the Great Things that God hath done for his Soul.” His hymns are full of grace, passion, and Christian experience. A few of Hart’s hymns have achieved general acceptance; his most popular is likely that which begins “Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore.” Most of Hart’s hymns are reprinted in William Gadsby’s A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship (this hymn is #89). Peter C. Rae has an article on “Joseph Hart and His Hymns” in the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology.

Joseph Hart died at age 56, on May 24, 1768, and was buried in the Bunhill Fields Burial Ground in London.

I have not seen this hymn printed in a book with music. I suggest two tunes with the L.P.M. metrical pattern, from the The Sacred Harp 2012 Cooper Edition: Vernon (416b) by Amzi Chapin and Edwards (197) by H. S. Woodard.[i]

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[i] Vernon is a variant or arrangement of Farewell Hymn by Jeremiah Ingalls (The Christian Harmony, 1805). Henry Stephen “Steave” Woodard (1861-1945) was born in South Carolina, but lived most of his life in southeast Alabama. He wrote or arranged Edwards for the 1902 revision of The Sacred Harp by W. M. Cooper.

Some people want to serve, and other quotes

The posting of quotes of human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

“Some people want to serve God part-time, but want to be blessed full-time.” -- James Bell, Jr.

“The locks of Scripture are only to be opened with the keys of Scripture.” -- Charles Spurgeon

“A prayer doesn’t have to be long, as long as it is strong.” -- Amos L. Horton

“Jonah disobeyed God and ended up in a whale. Peter obeyed God and ended up in a jail.” -- Amos L. Horton

“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” -- Thomas Paine

“If you can’t see spiritually, you can’t pray properly.” (Cf. 2 Kings 6:15-17) -- Mike Matlock

“Time makes more converts than reason.” -- Thomas Paine

“You can’t out-preach your character.” -- Amos L. Horton

“Through the blood of Christ, you can get over what the Devil puts you under.” -- Joe Arthur

“Does your church submit to the Bible, or does your church expect the Bible to submit to them?” -- Keith Foskey

“For as the sun darts its beams upon a dunghill, and yet is no way defiled by it; so God decrees the permission of sin...yet is not the author of sin.” -- Thomas Boston

“Our hope is anchored in the past, because Jesus rose; our hope is guaranteed in the present, because Jesus lives; and our hope is assured for the future, because Jesus is coming.” -- Alistair Begg

I’ve Been Everywhere

...in Rusk County.

[Intro]

I was totin’ my pack along the dusty old Jones Lake Road

When along came a pickup truck with-a-out any load.

“If you’re goin’ anywhere in Rusk County, Mack, with me you can ride”

And so I climbed into the cab and then I settled down inside.

He asked me if I’d seen a road with so much dust and sand,

And I said, “Listen, I’ve traveled every road in this county’s land.”

[Chorus]

I’ve been everywhere, man

I’ve been everywhere, man

Crossed the hills and hollers, man

I’ve breathed Mount Enterprise air, man

Of travel I’ve a-had my share, man

I’ve been everywhere.

[Verse 1]

I’ve been to old Gould, New Salem, Moss Temple,

Mt. Zion, Zion Hill, Pleasant Hill, fairly simple; 

Red Level, Smith Chapel, Harmony Hill, Leverett’s Chapel

Chapel Hill, Craig, Grandview, Jacobs, Crim’s Chapel.

Holley Spring, Springfield, Chinquapin, Gourd Neck,

Stringtown, Stewart, Turnertown, Prospect, don’t object!

[Chorus]

I’ve been everywhere, man

I’ve been everywhere, man

I’ve been everywhere, man

Cross the hills and hollers, man

I’ve breathed Mount Enterprise air, man

Of travel I’ve a-had my share, man

I’ve been everywhere.

[Verse 2]

I’ve been to Brachfield, Pine Hill, Church Hill, Eulalie,

Millville, Laneville, maybe even San Cosme;

Church Hill, Laird Hill, Chalk Hill, Caledonia,

Anadarko, Monroe, Shiloh, but not California!

Mayflower, Minden, McKnight, Striker Lake,

Shakerag, Cherokee & Martin Lake, for Pete’s sake.

[Chorus]

I’ve been everywhere, man

I’ve been everywhere, man

Cross the hills and hollers, man

I’ve breathed Mount Enterprise air, man

Of travel I’ve a-had my share, man

I’ve been everywhere.

[Verse 3]

I’ve been to Sulphur Springs, Big Spring, Union Spring, Pleasant Grove,

Sweetgum, Tatum, Mooretown, Irbyville, Valley Grove;

Roquemore, Greasy Kitchen, Gray Hill, Watt Hill,

Oak Hill, Oak Flat, Sand Flat, Sand Hill, what a thrill.

Gaston, Overton, Henderson, New London, even

Pone, Pirtle, Pitner’s Junction, see what I mean-a?

[Chorus]

I’ve been everywhere, man

I’ve been everywhere, man

Crossed the hills and hollers, man

I’ve breathed Mount Enterprise air, man

Of travel I’ve a-had my share, man

I’ve been everywhere.

[Verse 4]

I’ve been to Arlam, New Salem, Buford, Fairview

Bryce & Price, Carlisle, Concord, Bellview,

Easton, Egypt, Frog Pond, and Glenfawn

Ebenezer, Mansinger, Dewey, and Compton.

New Hope, Good Hope, Good Springs, Gum Springs,

Crossroads, Rhodes, Sexton City, Selman City, what a pity.

When it comes to traveling Rusk County, Texas, I’ve been everywhere…

Baptism and Church Communion

“To the Christian reader. 

“When it pleased God, of his free Grace, to cause me to make a serious inquiry after Jesus Christ, and to give me some taste of his pardoning Love, the sense of which did engage my heart with desires to be obedient to his will in all things, I used all indeavers both by Converse with such as were able, and also by diligently searching the Scriptures, with earnest desires of God, that I might be directed in a right way of Worship; and after some time concluded, that the safest way was to follow the Footsteps of the Flock (namely) that Order laid down by Christ and his Apostles, and practiced by the Primitive Christians in their times; which I found to be, that after Conversion they were Baptized, added to the Church, and continued in the Apostles’ Doctrine, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread, and Prayer; according to which I thought my self bound to be Conformable. And having continued in the Profession of the same for these forty years, although through many Weaknesses, and Fears, Temptations, and Sufferings, yet not without some Witness from God of his gracious Acceptance and Strength to this very day: The sense I have of my own Weakness and Inability, would have been a Bar to me to appear in this Publick way, did I not see a necessity lying upon me for the Truth’s sake, and the sakes of many, by reason of some that have lately risen up to weaken, if not to make void, that great Ordinance of Baptism, by indeavouring to maintain, that all persons that Believe, although they never did, nor do Practice the same, may partake of the Ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, and all other Gospel instituted Duties.”

A Sober Discourse of Right to Church-Communion, William Kiffin, 1681 [“…we dare not break that Rule and Order by which we find the Primitive Saints walkt…” (pp. 130-31)]

Christopher Yetzer on Inspiration, Preservation, and Translation

By Christopher Yetzer, Baptist Missionary in Milan, Italy. (Used by permission.)

1. Inspiration

• 1. I affirm that God sovereignly inspired His words exactly as He intended (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). Inspiration rests in God’s act, not in my understanding of the process.

2. Preservation

• 2. I affirm that God has preserved His inspired words, as Scripture promises (Ps. 12:6–7; Isa. 40:8; Matt. 24:35).
• 3. Preservation means that God’s words remain accessible to His people and have not been lost to history.

3. Progressive Access in History

• 4. I recognize that not every believer in every generation possessed the entirety of Scripture (e.g., Old Testament saints did not have the New Testament; early churches did not immediately possess the complete canon).
• 5. Therefore, preservation does not require identical distribution in every era, but faithful transmission within God’s redemptive plan.

4. Recognition, Not Private Revelation

• 6. I believe Christ’s sheep hear His voice (John 10), meaning believers are enabled by the Spirit to recognize and receive God’s Word—not to generate new revelation.
• 7. I believe I possess God’s preserved Word today and can receive it with confidence.

5. The Textual Foundation

• 8. I believe the Old Testament is most faithfully preserved in the traditional Hebrew Masoretic text, and the New Testament in the historic Greek manuscript tradition received by the church.
• 9. Textual questions should be approached from this preservation framework rather than from a skepticism toward the text itself.

6. Translation

• 10. I believe God’s words can be accurately translated into other languages.
• 11. Accuracy does not always require word-for-word literalism but faithful representation of meaning and structure.
• 12. Changes in language over time (e.g., “ass” to “donkey”) do not necessarily constitute doctrinal or textual corruption.

7. Principles for a Translation

• I believe a faithful translation should aim for:
• 13. Accuracy — conveying the meaning of the original text faithfully.
• 14. Authority — broad ecclesiastical acceptance and proven use.
• 15. Beauty and dignity — language fitting for public worship and reverence.
• 16. Comprehensiveness — capable of expressing the full theological depth of the original languages.
• 17. Unity — promoting doctrinal and congregational stability where possible.

8. Application to English

• 18. For English-speaking believers, I believe these principles converge most fully in the King James Version.
• 19. I desire similar faithfulness, clarity, dignity, and unity in translations for other languages.

My confidence in a translation rests not on private spiritual impression alone, but on its historical continuity, textual foundation, doctrinal faithfulness, and long-standing use among believers.

Notes.

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I think this very well represents the truth, and with which I understand and agree. Generally there is the modern evangelical denial of preservation as a biblical doctrine. More a “oh, what we have is just what happened to survive to the present” kind of preservation.

I believe the best preservation of biblical faith and practice occurred to a large degree underground during the ascendancy of the “hierarchical church” (Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox) from say the 500s to the Reformation. Both the people and the words of the Lord have been preserved. I see the Catholics and Orthodox as being heretical, and the truth generally preserved in persecuted bands of believers. (Not that no truths were preserved among the Catholics and Orthodox, but when they “hereticize” the doctrine of salvation outside of grace through faith, they have lost the plot.)

Jacob leaning upon his staff

Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

“and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff; not that he worshipped the top of his staff, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it, either his own, or Joseph’s, or any little image upon the top of it; which would be an instance of idolatry, and not faith, contrary to the scope of the apostle; nor is there any need to interpret this of civil worship and respect paid to Joseph, as a fulfilment of his dream, and with a peculiar regard to Christ, of whom Joseph was a type; whereas, on the contrary, Joseph at this time bowed to his father, as was most natural and proper, Gen. xlviii. 12 nor is there any necessity of supposing a different punctuation of Genesis xlvii. 31 and that the true reading is not Mittah, a bed, but Matteh; a staff, contrary to all the Targums^f, and the Talmud^g, which read Mittah, a bed, seeing it is not that place the apostle cites or refers to; for that was before the blessing of the sons of Joseph, but this was at the same time; and the apostle relates what is nowhere recorded in Genesis, but what he had either from tradition, or immediate revelation; or else he concludes it from the general account in Genesis xlviii and the sense is, that Jacob, having blessed the two sons of Joseph, being sat upon his bed, and weak, he leaned upon the top of his staff, and worshipped God, and gave praise and glory to him, that he had lived to see not only his son Joseph, but his seed also, see Gen. xlviii. 2, 11, 20.”

John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament, Vol. III, 1746, p. 435

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f. Onkelos, Jonathan & Jerusalem in Genesis xlvii .31.
g. T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 16. 2.

The Gospel

Philip Doddridge wrote the following hymn, which is titled “Fruitful Showers, Emblems of the Salutary Effects of the Gospel.” The idea is derived from Isaiah 55:10-12.

For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

1. Mark the soft-falling snow
And the diffusive rain!
To heaven, from whence it fell,
It turns not back again;
But waters Earth through every pore,
And calls forth all its secret store.

2. Arrayed in beauteous green,
The hills and valleys shine,
And man and beast are fed
By providence divine:
The harvest bows its golden ears,
The copious seed of future years.

3. “So,” saith the God of Grace,
“My gospel shall descend,
“Almighty to effect
“The purpose I intend;
“Millions of souls shall feel its power,
“And bear it down to millions more.”

4. “Joy shall begin your march
“And peace protect your ways,
“While all the mountains round
“Echo melodious praise;
“The vocal groves shall sing the God
“And every tree consenting nod.”

This hymn was published posthumously in 1755 in Hymns Founded on Various Texts in the Holy Scriptures, by Job Orton (J. Eddowes and J. Cotton, 1755). It is Hymn CXI and is written in Hallelujah Meter (H. M.). The hymn does not seem to be settled with any one particular tune. It will fit well with Lenox, with which it has been paired at times, as well as Allerton. More recently, shape-note composer Raymond Hamrick arranged a tune named Harvest for this text.

Philip Doddridge (1702–1751) was an English Nonconformist minister and hymnwriter. In addition to his hymns, his published works include The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, The Family Expositor, Three Sermons on the Evidences of the Gospel, Ten Sermons on the Power and Grace of Christ, and A Dissertation on the Inspiration of the New Testament. Doddridge died October 26, 1751, at age 49 while in Lisbon, Portugal. He was buried at the British Cemetery in Lisbon. Well-known hymns written by Philip Doddridge include “Grace ’tis a charming sound,” “Hark, the glad sound, the Saviour comes,” “O God of Bethel, by Whose hand,” and “O happy day, that fixed my choice.”

Liberalism at Southern Seminary

I am not Southern Baptist. I have never been Southern Baptist. I never intend to be Southern Baptist. However, I appreciate that of all the larger and mainline denominations in the United States, it seems only the Southern Baptist Convention has successfully pushed back against theological liberalism in any meaningful way.

In “The Conservative Resurgence and Southern Baptist Seminary,” Mark Terry sheds some personal light on what he experienced during his early tenure as a teacher at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. It is inconceivable that it had been allowed to get so bad, but perhaps more unbelievable that the conservatives in the SBC were able to oust the liberals from Southern.[i]

A few examples:

“He reported that he was the only student of ten who believed in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The professor himself did not believe in the physical resurrection of Christ.”

“The faculty members who studied at Southern in the 1980s shared experiences from their student days. One reported that he kept a running count of the curse words one professor uttered in class. He stopped counting at 152.”

“…one of the ethics professors often spoke at abortion rights rallies and made pro-abortion statements on local television.”

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[i] I suspect, as happens in most things like this in religion and politics, that some “liberals” turned “conservative” as the tide was turning.