Hello OCBC family,
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1 – NKJV)

This beautiful psalm is part of a group of psalms called “The Song of Ascents”, several psalms that the people of Israel used to sing while they were going to Jerusalem to celebrate the national festival three times per year. We call these psalms “The Song of Ascents” because in the title of them we can find the Hebrew word for stairs, which some take to mean “ascending to Jerusalem” and because Jerusalem is on the mountain. These “Song of Ascents” are from psalm 120 to psalm 134, and Jewish people used them during their pilgrim journey to remember God’s faithfulness to the people of Israel.

Psalm 127 is unique among the Songs of Ascents because it is attributed to Solomon rather than David. In this psalm, Solomon teaches us that whatever efforts we undertake, if the Lord is not involved, our labor is ultimately in vain. This psalm reminds us to make God our priority in every area of life.

This same passage was the inspiration for Dustin Kensrue to write this modern hymn that we love to sing here at OCBC, “All Glory Be to Christ.”

Kensrue was a worship pastor but now has a career of a solo artist. His style started as a rock musician, but while he was pastoring his style became more like a contemporary style. It is in 2012 that he wrote this hymn. Like many people around the world, he was familiar with the melody of the traditional song, “Auld Lang Syne”, a popular song to sing during the New Year’s Eve, but Kensrue, while he loved the melody, did not agree with the lyrics, at least to be sang during a worship gathering, then he wrote the new words that we are familiar with now.

“Should nothing of our efforts stand,
No legacy survive,
Unless the Lord does raise the house,
In vain its builders strive.
To you who boast tomorrow’s gain,
Tell me, what is your life?
A mist, it vanishes at dawn,
All glory be to Christ!”

This stanza reminds us that any effort without God is futile. We need Christ in every area of our lives, because without Him we are nothing.

The second stanza tells us that Christ is the fulfilment of human longing. He is the Messiah that came, and we can rejoice that He is part of our lives.

“His will be done, His kingdom come,
On earth as is above.
Who is Himself our daily bread,
Praise Him the Lord of love.
Let living waters satisfy
The thirsty without price.
Come eat of Him, our Living Bread,
All glory be to Christ!”

And the third stanza is about our future in glory with Christ. We cannot picture this yet, to see the great I AM in all His glory, and us, worshiping the Lamb of God for all eternity.

“When on the day, the great I Am,
The Faithful and the True,
The Lamb who was for sinner’s slain,
Is making all things new.
Behold our God shall live with us,
And be our Steadfast Light,
And we shall e’er His people be,
All glory be to Christ!”

And the hymn ends with a powerful doxology, a doxology that I encourage you to sing during your quiet time.

“All glory be to Christ our King,
All glory be to Christ.
His rule and reign we'll ever sing,
All glory be to Christ!”

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:1-5).
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In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.” (Revelation 19:12 – NKJV).

This passage is the glorious picture of the worship in heaven to our Lamb. I don't know your eschatological position, and we could disagree, but one thing is certain, our Lord is coming back a second time, and we will all worship him for all eternity. Notice that in the book of Revelation, we can read that on the head of the rider of the white horse (v. 11) are many crowns, or diadem as we can read in ESV version, and this represents that our Savior is the King of kings and Lord of lords. And this verse is the basis for the hymn "Crown Him with Many Crowns."

We love to sing this hymn but there is something that you might not know about the author and his spiritual journey. The author of this hymn is Matthew Bridges, a British poet who was born on July 14, 1800, Maldon, Essex, England. He was educated in the Church of England, and he was very critical about the Roman Catholic Church, until he became in contact with the Oxford Movement and the influence of John Henry Newman, and he converted into catholic church, in 1848.

During this transition time between Anglicanism and Catholicism, he wrote this hymn. He thought of his hymn as a sermon in song, based on Revelation 19:12.

“Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne,
Hark! how the heav'nly anthem drowns
All music but its own;
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Thro' all eternity.”

Bridges’ idea was to exalt Christ’s triumph at the end of time. Nevertheless, in the original second stanza, we can see some catholic influence after his conversion.

“Crown him the Virgin's Son,
the God incarnate born,
whose arm those crimson trophies won
which now his brow adorn:
Fruit of the mystic Rose,
as of that Rose the Stem;
the Root, whence mercy ever flows,
the Babe of Bethlehem.”

Anglican clergyman Godfrey Thring later revised and expanded it, creating the version most familiar today. The original work of Bridges had six stanzas, but with the addition of Thring, the hymn ended with twelve stanzas. And it is very notorious that each stanza starts with the phrase “Crown Him…” and from hymnal to hymnal, the number of stanza and their order change.

• Stanza 1: Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne…
• Stanza 2: Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born…
• Stanza 3: Crown him the Lord of love, behold His hand and side…
• Stanza 4: Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways…
• Stanza 5: Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time…
• Stanza 6: Crown Him the Lord of Heaven, one with the Father know…
• Stanza 7: Crown Him with crowns of gold…
• Stanza 8: Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began…
• Stanza 9: Crown Him the Lord of light…
• Stanza 10: Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave…
• Stanza 11: Crown Him the Lord of lords, who over all doth reign…
• Stanza 12: Crown Him the Lord of heaven, enthroned in worlds above…

Yes, this is a glorious hymn to sing, and I will close my article with my favorite stanza, a vision that I believe we will see in heaven.

“Crown Him the Lord of love;
Behold his hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified:
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For Thou hast died for me:
Thy praise and glory shall not fail
Thro-out eternity.”
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In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family,
“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15).

The book of Revelation tells us in this passage that this seventh angel played his trumpet, announcing the arrival of the King. His judgment is at hand, God is in control and he unleashes his full wrath on the evil world that refuses to turn to him. But, for the believers, that day will be a day of rejoicing, a day when we can adore our heavenly King, Jesus the Christ.

“Look, ye saints! the sight is glorious:
See the Man of Sorrows now;
From the fight returned victorious,
Ev'ry knee to Him shall bow;
Crown Him, crown Him, Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, crown Him.
Crowns become the Victor's brow,
Crowns become the Victor's brow.”

This hymn, not too familiar in modern churches, was written by Thomas Kelly, a prolific Irish hymnist, who gave us over 750 hymns. People called him the “Isaac Watts” of Ireland.

Thomas Kelly, following his father’s desire, started his studies of law in the Dublin University, but during his studies, he changed his interest to study Hebrew, which led him to study the Scriptures. He left the study of law, committed his life to Christ, and began studying theology.

Kelly was ordained into the Anglican church in 1792 and became friends with open-air evangelist, Rowland Hill, an evangelist that complained about the slow music at church, and the necessity of upbeat tempo in the hymns. Because of this friendship and his own desire to do the same thing at the church, Kelly was suspended from ministry and forbidden to preach.

“Crown the Savior! angels, crown Him;
Rich the trophies Jesus brings;
In the seat of pow'r enthrone Him,
While the vault of heaven rings:
Crown Him, crown Him, Crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, crown Him.
Crown the Savior King of kings,
Crown the Savior King of kings.”

Because he could not preach in the Anglican church, Kelly became a Dissenter-a non-Anglican preacher, sharing his sermons in a very passionate way, working with poor people in Ireland; he became a local hero.

At age of eighty-six, and ready to die, his prayer was, “Not my will, but Thine be done.” A friend was reading to him the 23rd Psalm, and in his last whisper, he said, “The Lord is my all.”

This hymn, “Look, Ye Saints! The Sight Is Glorious” was written to be used for Ascension Day, a day when some denominations, celebrate and remember the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ forty days after Easter.

Repeat the refrain once again, proclaiming Jesus as your King. “Crown Him, crown Him.”
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In His service,
Israel