In he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until , when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in , and became a college tutor. Considered by many to be among Charles Wesley's PHH finest texts, "Love Divine" was published in four stanzas in his Hymns for those that seek, and those that have Redemption in the Blood of Christ Many hymnals, including the Psalter Hymnal, omit the original second stanza, which contained the questionable line "take away our power of sinning.
Addressed to Christ, this text begins as a prayer for the indwelling of his love in our lives: "fix in us thy humble dwelling" and "let us all thy life receive" st. A tone of praise and adoration runs throughout the text. But the final stanza is clearly a prayer for sanctification, for consistently holy lives.
Though this stanza was an outcome of the Specifically Wesleyan doctrine of perfection, it is our fervent Christian prayer that our sanctification will ultimately lead to glorification. As is customary in a Charles Wesley text, biblical allusions abound. Liturgical Use: As a sung prayer, probably towards the end of the service or, given its tone of praise, as a closing hymn; Advent.
Love Divine, all loves excelling. In it was included, with the omission of stanza ii. It had previously appeared in full in M. The two forms, the full and the abridged, have thus come into common use. Tested by its use it is found to rank with the best of its author's work. Stevenson has an interesting note thereon in his Methodist Hymn Book Notes , , p. On April 29, , millions of people around the world turned on their televisions to watch one of the most anticipated spectacles of the year: the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
This, we argue so easily, is love. And yet this hymn reorients us to see that this beautiful wedding and marriage is only, and can only ever be, a reflection of the Love above all loves.
We are only able to love one another because Christ first loved us. God is love, and we are the mirrors and bearers of that love to each other. Let us pray that we would continually be filled with Love, that we might bless each other, and become more and more like He who loves us.
The hymn is in fact a prayer: through the incarnated Christ, we pray for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and ask that we would never be separated from the love of God in Christ, who works in us and through us until our time on earth is done. There are three popular tunes for this hymn. So be careful to glide into that note gracefully. It would be particularly fitting during the Advent season, a time in which we ask God to continue working in and through us to bring about His kingdom.
Alternative Harmonization for Organ: Burkhardt, Michael. As Though the Whole Creation Cried. God Loved the World So Much - a processional using John as a refrain, the text of "Love divine" set to new music. A separate copy of this score must be purchased for each choir member. If this score will be projected or included in a bulletin, usage must be reported to a licensing agent e. Skip to main content. Home Page. Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.
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It may be that the coming economic crisis resulting from the lockdowns and the collapse of western economies will be the way to bring this in. Microsoft creator, Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world has been working on ID — a project initiated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, multi-national pharmaceutical corporations, and technology firms.
They also want to link this to a vaccine programme to counter Covid 19 and anything which may come after it. This can be tracked via the global ID certification and then check who has been tested and who has had the vaccine. Entry into society can then be linked to those who have ID and can show they have had the vaccine.
If such a system eventually becomes mandatory, those who resist could be blacklisted as a threat to public health. As a result they lose their rights to enter into society and buy and sell as in the Revelation 13 scenario. Bill Gates is also working on a new cryptocurrency programme, under Microsoft Patent The aim of the patent is to create a gateway for the transmission of biological information from a human body which could then initiate cryptocurrency processes within a digital network.
The possibility of making such a system work may be some way off, but the fact that people are working on it and the recent developments in the Coronavirus crisis are signs that it could be on its way. Never before in human history has anything remotely like this been thought of or proposed.
The fact that is now a possibility in our time is another sign that we are living in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. We should point out that in Revelation 13 the mark of the Beast is not just about exchanging money. The beast has an associate, known as the false prophet, who causes people to believe in the beast as a god, after he experiences a counterfeit death and resurrection Revelation He creates a new religion around his new world order, setting up an image which people are told to worship.
They receive the mark of the beast if they worship the image of the beast:. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. In previous times, the idea that an image could speak seemed impossible.
In our time, it is easy to see how an image could be given power to speak by new technology. In fact most people spend their time watching a speaking image on TV screens. We now have instant communication via computers which can be given the power to speak a message to the people.
We also have holograms whereby a person can project an image of themselves which can speak as though they were there present. Some political leaders have already used this technology to speak to their followers. Whatever the image and the mark of the beast turns out to be, if you find yourself living at the time when it comes into being, do not take the mark, because those who do so will be damned.
He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. Up until our present time people could not really have any idea of how such things could happen on a worldwide basis.
Now that we see these two signs of globalisation and the development of technology coming together in our time, we can see a way in which this really could happen.
Take heed that no one deceives you. Despite the fact that we live in an age that is on one level very secular and materialistic, there is a great search today for spiritual experience.
There are hundreds of different cults which claim to be spreading the truth but actually sow confusion. Islam is also on the march and gaining influence in countries which were previously nominally Christian. New Age gurus and psychics are in great demand and there is a fascination with witchcraft and magic. In the western world more people believe the Hindu idea of re-incarnation than the Christian teaching of the resurrection of the dead. Some people are saying that Jesus may have been the Messiah for his time but we need a new Messiah for our time.
Some are even claiming to be that Messiah. The globalisation process also means that peoples of different races and religions now find themselves living alongside each other. Religion often causes tension and strife. With this in mind, many are saying that the religions of the world need to work together and unite to save the world. The United Religions Initiative Charter has called for a unification of religion in this cause. There are many forces today promoting the idea that all religions are the same and should come together.
Freemasonry and the New Age movement are looking to unite all humanity in a new spiritual consciousness. Much of the professing church is going down the same road, with leaders like Pope Francis calling for religions to come together to end wars and poverty and save the environment. In other words, this document is saying that God is pleased with all of the religions of the world and that they exist because it was His will for them to do so and that they all lead to God and heaven.
One in which not only believers but all men and women of good will, beyond differences of creed and nationality, can participate, inspired by an ideal of fraternity attentive above all to the poor and excluded.
If you look carefully at what he is saying it sounds like a call for a world religion to back a world government. Christians who try to preach the Gospel that there is one way to God through Jesus Christ are accused of disturbing this agenda and come in for severe criticism from this Pope. The Pope wants to change the world through a religion based on faith in humanity humanism not faith in God through Jesus Christ.
This kind of thinking is present in many Protestant churches today and is part of the end time apostasy or turning away from the true message of the Gospel by those who profess to be Christians. Today we see church leaders of all denominations opposing the preaching of the Gospel and publicly denying the basic teaching of the New Testament, questioning the virgin birth of Jesus, His sinless life, His death as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and His resurrection from the dead.
Above all they question His promise to come again. The Book of Revelation shows that a false religious system will dominate the world in the last days. In Revelation 17, we read of a woman riding the beast, which is a symbol of this alliance which will persecute true believers in Jesus:. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marvelled with great amazement. These churches will deny the blood of Jesus as the only means whereby sins are forgiven and be willing to make a compromise with other faiths in an interfaith union.
The Bible teaches that God loves all people and wants them to be saved. In Acts 4 Peter declared that faith in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the only means whereby God offers salvation to humanity:. Nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. No one comes to the Father except through Me. He says that He is the only one who can bring us to God as we repent of sin and believe that He died as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and rose again from the dead.
No other person in history has done this or can do this for us. According to the second letter of Peter, one of the features of the last days of this age will be a denial of the teaching of the Bible. Peter writes:.
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. This passage tells us that in the last days people will scoff at the idea of the second coming of Jesus. They will also deny that God is the Creator who made the world and the Flood is an event in history that really happened. They will believe evolution explains how we came to be here — that things have continued to exist for millions of years and that all life as we know it is the result of a continuous ongoing process over a vast length of time.
The first is the Fall of man described in Genesis 3; and the second is the Flood, described in Genesis If evolution is true, then the Bible is not true and there is no meaning in the central teaching of the New Testament, that Christ died to save us from our sins and from death.
Evolution assumes that there were millions of years of death and destruction before humans entered the world. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. The modern evolutionary view teaches that in the beginning there was nothing, that nothing exploded, that the universe came out of that explosion, that life originated out of non-life, and that incredibly complex life forms came into being as a result of random chance processes. In fact there is far more evidence to believe that the ordered world we live in and the amazing design and complexity of all life forms is the result of God in creation rather than evolution.
In recent times a number of Christian organisations have come into being teaching the literal creation as written in Genesis. Many of these have PHD Scientists on their staff, who are able to give good reason to believe the Word of God is the truth.
Evolution in its modern form originated in the 19th century along with a number of ideas which attacked the beliefs of the Bible such as Marxism, various racist and fascist ideas, and Freudian psychology. In the 20th century the attack on Christianity took shape in the Communist regimes of the Soviet bloc and China and in Nazi Germany.
Although the Communists and the Nazis were opposed to each other, both had their roots in 19th century ideas opposed to Christianity, both caused rivers of blood to flow and both sought to eliminate Christianity. The Nazis also sought to eliminate the Jewish people and thereby prevent the purposes of God for Israel from coming to pass.
God says that as long as the sun, moon and stars are shining in the sky, so long will Israel be a people before Him Jeremiah Persecution of Christians has increased in various countries of the world, with many martyrs for the faith. One of the signs of the last days, according to Jesus, is such persecution:. Now that we are in the 21 st century we see a worldwide hostility to Christians who seek to spread the Gospel and bring others to know the Lord.
The worst place in the world to be a Christian is the Communist regime of North Korea. China is now stepping up its persecution of Christians, using the digital technology we have already mentioned to monitor and control what goes on in churches. There is severe persecution of Christians in Islamic countries around the world.
In Iran there has been a massive disillusion with Islam leading to many turning to Jesus Christ, but they also face severe persecution from the Islamic regime.
The same pattern can be found to varying degrees throughout the Muslim world. If Christians accept their position and submit to Islamic domination they may have a measure of protection, but if they seek to spread the faith to Muslims they will face opposition or even death. Despite this, many people from a Muslim background today are finding salvation through faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
But it is not just under Communism or Islam that the true message of the Gospel is opposed. All over the world there are reports of extreme opposition to the preaching of the Gospel, often causing violence against believers. This opposition happens when people come to faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord from these backgrounds. Permissive ideas on sex and morality have radically changed how people view marriage, how to bring up children, crime and punishment etc.
Bible believing Christians are often portrayed as intolerant, bigoted and old fashioned. Instead of finding freedom, however, we now have a growing social chaos in which people are enslaved to fears, disease and despair. As families fall apart, young people are left without guidance or love and end up getting into drugs, alcoholism, violence and gangs. Older people are afraid to go out of their homes. Prisons are full and lives are ruined. This kind of society eventually leads to loss of freedom and towards dictatorship.
If people will not be restrained by conscience and a fear of God and respect for His commandments, in the end they will find themselves living in a society which is falling apart. They will then accept some kind of dictatorship. The kind of technological developments in our time will give the state enormous powers to control behaviour and crack down on lawless behaviour.
The real answer to the moral and spiritual chaos of our time is to be found in the message of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. He offers us forgiveness and a new start. It is said to be offensive to people of other faiths to say that Jesus is the one way to forgiveness and peace with God.
In places where this message really needs to be heard — in the media, in the schools, universities, prisons etc — there is a growing hostility to biblical Christianity and suppression of the Gospel. You do not have to look far to see that western society, too, is heading for a time of persecution of real Christianity. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo I am with always, even to the end of the age.
T his gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. Despite the opposition to the Gospel, the message is spreading around the world. While there may be spiritual decline in traditionally Christian parts of the world like Europe and North America, there are many coming to faith in Africa and South America. The persecuted Christians of the Soviet Union lived to see the end of Communism and new opportunities to spread the message in Russia.
Despite continued opposition from the state, there are now millions of Christians in China, many meeting in unregistered house churches, but with a vision to spread the faith through central Asia. Even in the Muslim world there are remarkable stories of people coming to faith in Jesus with many seeking to understand the truth and finding Jesus, sometimes through dreams and visions, and then reading the Gospel to understand His message. In Israel and the Jewish Diaspora many Jewish people are understanding that Jesus is the promised Messiah, who came the first time to suffer and die as a sacrifice for our sins, and who is coming again in power and glory to judge the world in righteousness at the end of this age.
This is the one positive sign which God wants us to be involved in. The last days will be a difficult time to be alive, but they will also be a time when many will cry out to God for salvation.
The world today is like a sinking ship which has so many holes in it that no one can save it. The only hope is to get on the lifeboat of salvation and trust in God to save us through the Messiah He has sent, Jesus Christ. The Bible says:. We need to make use of the opportunities of this time now to spread the message that Jesus has come once to save us from our sins and is coming again to judge the world in righteousness according to how we have responded to the message of the Gospel.
Now is the day of salvation and now is the time that God want us to tell people how to be saved before the time of judgement comes on the earth. We should make use of the time that remains to us and get this message out to the people of the world. According to the prophetic scriptures, the following events will take place at the end of this age.
Jesus said there is a day coming when a large number of people will suddenly be taken out of the world:. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Jesus compares this event to the days of Noah, when the Flood came, and the days of Lot when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
Both events happened suddenly when life was going on as normal. People were doing ordinary things like eating and drinking, buying and selling, building and planting, when the disaster struck. So it will be at this time. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And thus we shall always be with the Lord. The people who will be caught up to meet the Lord are those of us who believe that the Lord Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead. This event is known as the rapture of the church.
To be a part of this event you must repent of your sin now and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. If you have never done this please read on to the last section of this booklet where you will find an explanation of how to be saved from the coming judgement of God. We will then experience the most dramatic life-changing event of all time. We will receive new resurrection bodies which will never again experience sin, sickness and death 1 Corinthians We will meet the Lord Jesus in the air and He will take us to heaven.
From this time onwards, we will be forever in His presence. We will pass before the judgement seat of Christ where our works done on earth will be judged. This judgement will be for reward not for heaven or hell.
Those taken in the rapture of the church, along with those who died in Christ between the Day of Pentecost and the rapture, will return with Jesus Christ in glorified bodies and be part of the glorious time when Jesus reigns on earth in the Millennial kingdom and then live forever in the new heavens and new earth. There will be a seven-year period known as the Great Tribulation, during which the world will face a crisis of such enormous proportions that it will threaten to wipe out all life on earth.
Jesus described it like this:. The world will come under the power of a world leader known as the beast or Antichrist. To begin with he will offer peace and safety to a world terrified by the events taking place. He will be controlled by Satan and will have an assistant known as the False Prophet who will cause people to worship him as a god. Despite the evil of this time there will be a great number of people who will come to faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Many of these will be martyred for their faith.
They will then be resurrected after Jesus returns to the earth at Armageddon. In the first half of the tribulation period the Beast or the Antichrist will rise to power. He will be possessed and energised by the Devil. Half way through the seven-year tribulation period he will experience a counterfeit death and resurrection which will cause people to worship him as god.
The False Prophet will perform supernatural signs and set up an image of the beast which people will be told to worship. He will give those who worship the image of the beast a number which will enable them to buy and sell Those who refuse to worship the image will not receive the number and so will not be able to buy and sell.
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