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AND CAN IT BE THAT I SHOULD GAIN
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood … (Revelation 1:5) Can any believer contemplate the “amazing love” of Calvary without sharing the awe and wonder of Charles Wesley’s questions in today’s hymn? Written a short time after his “heart-warming” Aldersgate experience on…
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JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him. (Nahum 1:7) The universal recognition of a personal dependence upon the infinite God has no doubt made this appealing hymn the best loved of the more than 6500 texts of Charles Wesley.…
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LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVE EXCELLING
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. (1 John 4:9) We must never underestimate the power of love in our human relationships—whether marriages, family, business associations, or friendships. The divine love of…
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LO! HE COMES, WITH CLOUDS DESCENDING
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen. (Revelation 1:7) When Jesus made His first entrance to earth, He was seen by only…
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COME, THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come … (Haggai 2:7 KJV) Anticipation is a necessary and important part of every believer’s life. In Old Testament times the people anxiously awaited a Messianic Kingdom. Today we should be waiting with the same urgent expectancy as…
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SOLDIERS OF CHRIST, ARISE
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:10, 11) Followers of Christ are also His soldiers—called to do battle with the forces of Satan and evil. Victories…
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A CHARGE TO KEEP I HAVE
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (Ephesians 4:1) All of us as Christians have been given a general charge—a God to glorify. We have also been given a particular charge or calling that is unique.…
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YE SERVANTS OF GOD, YOUR MASTER PROCLAIM
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 … salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. (Revelation 7:10) The proclamation of the gospel requires a devoted, zealous spirit. The real purpose of this proclamation is to affect a personal conversion in the hearer, and this experience implies a radical change of…
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O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES TO SING
Amazing Grace Charles Wesley, 1707–1788 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. (Psalm 150:6) Soon after their graduation from Oxford University, John and Charles Wesley decided to sail to America, the new world, to try to minister to the rough colonists under General Oglethorpe in Georgia and to evangelize the Indians.…