Hello, I'm Doctor Kylie Fisher. Welcome to heavenly harmonies. The Books of Daniel and revelation both foretold the rise of a persecuting power that was to wage unprecedented war upon God's faithful people for over a thousand years.
Speaking of that power, Daniel 7:25 says, and he shall speak great words against the most high, and shall wear out the saints of the most high, and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. How did gods people remain true to him during that fearful time? And does their endurance contain a message for us today? Our hymn that we will look at in this episode answers these questions. Stay with me to discover how the song, my faith has found a resting place, can keep you near to the heart of God.
In this season of heaven heavenly harmonies, we are exploring the theme of the Bible, the great controversy between good and evil through song. And so already in our episodes, we've looked at the hymn, we are living, we are dwelling, and we saw that this war between good and evil, this war between Christ and Satan, began in heaven, and it has come down to earth and it's today reaching its final climax. We saw also how our saviour came to earth personally to die for us and also to set us an example of obedience.
We then looked at the hymn victory through grace, and we saw that following the return of Christ to heaven, his disciples spread the gospel all over the world. The early christian church was a pure church, symbolised in revelation, chapter six, by a white horse going into battle, conquering and to conquer. As the hymn says, the early church conquered through their love for Christ, which led to unselfish love for one another.
And we then looked at the hymn sound the battle cry. And so the love of the early christian church stirred the wrath of Satan, God's self made enemy, who, through his own perverse choice, has come to hate all good. At first, Satan made open war on the christian church.
However, the church continued to spread. Then what he could not achieve through force, he tried to achieve through strategy, by leading the church to form a compromise with the world for the sake of personal gain and worldly honours. Many Christians sacrificed bit by bit, their allegiance to God and to his word.
And during this time, there were some terrible corrupt doctrines that actually came into the church. And this led many people to fear God and to despair of gaining eternal life. And it enabled the church leaders, very sadly, to acquire gain by unjust means.
However, there were some who remained true to God during this fearful time. And our hymn for today, my faith has found a resting place. Shows how these people maintain their allegiance to God and the hope that they found in his word, the Bible.
So let's have a look at this hymn. It has four verses. So the first verse says, my faith has found a resting place, not in a man made creed.
I trust the ever living one that he for me will plead I need no other evidence. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and rose again for me.
So let's break down the words of this first verse and look at what they're saying to us. So it says, my faith has found a resting place, not in, in a man made creed. And this is so significant because those who remain true to God during this terrible time, like the Waldenses, the albigenses and other groups in different lands, they found hope and comfort in the Bible, which is more than just the words of men.
Let's have a look at a verse about this. Let's have a look at two Timothy, chapter three and verse 16. 2nd Timothy, chapter three and verse 16.
This is such an important verse. Second Timothy, 3:16 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And so we see here that the Bible contains all that we need to know for salvation.
The Bible is a complete book in itself. And it says in verse 16, so I did read verse 17 as well. Verse 16 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
So this means that the Bible is the very thoughts of God expressed in human words. And, you know, the Bible is a unique book, even amongst holy books. The Bible is absolutely unique because it is because of that fact, because it is the thoughts of God that is expressed in human words.
And so we see here that it is not just divinity, is not just humanity, but its divinity and humanity combined. We also see the same thing in the life of Christ, that he was fully God and fully human. He was fully man.
And this teaches us actually a great truth about our salvation, that it is a cooperation between us and God. But then, you know, what exactly is God's part? What exactly is the part of humanity? That's a great debate. So we see in the Bible, though, that it is the words of God.
That's what this hymn is saying to us. My faith has found a resting place, not in a man made creed. Because when we trust the Bible as the Waldenzis did, as others did later on, there was John Wycliffe, the first to translate the scriptures into the english language, they saw that the Bible was the word of God.
It was given by inspiration of God. It expresses the very thoughts of God. And so they found in the Bible the hope of an eternal saviour.
Because that's what the next part of our song says. I trust the ever living one, that he for me will plead. So Christ died on the cross.
He was a perfect sacrifice. He lived on this earth, conquering sin. He did not sin.
And then he returned back to heaven. And is there acting as our high priest. Let's have a look at a verse about this.
We have spoken about this in previous programmes, but let's look at another verse about this. Let's look at Hebrews chapter nine and verse 24. Hebrews chapter nine, verse 24, which says, for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself.
Now, to appear in the presence of God for us, isn't that just a wonderful thought, that Christ is standing before his heavenly Father and he is pleading for us? And so, yes, our song puts that in beautiful poetic words. I trust the ever living one, that he for me will plead. And Christ, you know, he died on that cross, but he was raised again to life, as we've said in other programmes.
And he, having died, can never die again. Let's just actually have a quick look at a verse about this revelation, chapter one, and verse 18. This is Jesus himself speaking.
He says, I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death.
So Christ, he is alive forevermore. He is the ever living one, and he is pleading his blood today before his father. And this was what these those who remained true to God during that terrible time of persecution, this was what they trusted in, that wonderful message of the Bible.
So let's have a look at the second verse of this hymn and see what it says and how it. Obviously, this hymn was written in the late 19th century, about the year 1891. This was not actually written during that time, but it so much expresses these sentiments of faith that these people held true to.
So verse two says, enough for me that Jesus saves. This ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to him.
He will not cast me out. You know, as we look at the Bible and look at the gospels, there was so many who came to Christ that were sinners, and not one of them that came to him with repentance did he cast away and so we might think about, if we've got time, we'll look at this in more detail later on today. But we might think of the man who was sick with palsy.
This is mentioned in Mark, chapter two. And this man was so sick, in fact, that he could not himself come to Christ. And so four of his friends carried him on a stretcher to Christ.
And Jesus said to him, son, your sins be forgiven you. So this man, through a sinful lifestyle, had actually brought disease upon himself. Yet Christ did not refuse to heal him.
He came to Christ just as he was and found healing in Christ. We could also think about the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda. This man had been a helpless cripple for 38 years.
This was due to his life of sin. But Christ came to him. He was the most hopeless of all of the cases, all of the sick cases at this pool where people that were sick used to gather.
And Christ came to him and said, take up your bed and walk. And this man rose, took up his bed and walked. He found healing in Christ and he found salvation.
And we could also think about Mary Magdalene. You know, she was a very sinful woman and she lived a very sinful life, as it says in Luke, chapter seven. But, you know, and she even was possessed by devils.
And she, seven devils were cast out of her. And yet Christ was the one that cast out those devils. He did not refuse to heal her.
And he said, go in peace. Your faith has saved you. Your sins are forgiven.
And we might also think about Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector. He was a cheater.
And yet Christian said, today, salvation is come to this house. Because Zacchaeus realised the errors of his ways. And we see that his life was changed.
He said, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything wrongly, I restore it fourfold. And so Zacchaeus realised that he needed to, you know, he did have a work to do. He had a work to do to make his wrongs right as far as he could.
But he trusted in the forgiveness of Christ. And so all of these people came to Christ. They were sinners.
But Christ did not refuse to help them. He did not refuse to heal them. He did not refuse to forgive them.
And there's a beautiful promise in John, chapter six. John, chapter six. And verse 35, Jesus says, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
And then, and verse 37 says, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out and so, as our song says, a sinful soul, I come to him. He will not cast me out. This is the amazing message of the gospel.
And this was the truth that the Waldenses found in the Bible. And also, as I've been saying later on, John Wycliffe also found this truth in the Bible. You know, John Wycliffe was a scholar, and he was someone that really had lived a pretty upright life, and yet he felt a sense of want in his soul that until he started to read the Bible, he could not really find the solution to that deep longing in his soul.
And so all of those who maintained their faith in, or their trust in God during these terrible years of persecution, they felt the sentiments of this song, which says, a sinful soul, I come to him. He will not cast me out. And this does have a message for us today, because, you know, there are many ways today that people are trying to find happiness, and indeed, there are many things that do give us happiness on this earth.
You know, going out into the beautiful things of nature and, you know, family, relationships, relationships with our friends. You know, these things are wonderful things that bring joy into our lives. But without Christ, somehow there is just always something missing.
And so, you know, and many people today think that fame, fortune, you know, having an easy lifestyle, just being able to relax or, you know, various other things, they think that those things will satisfy the soul. But only Jesus can really satisfy our soul. Only he can really bring true, lasting satisfaction into our lives.
And so that is the wonderful truth of this song, the wonderful truth of the Bible. Let's go on to the third verse of this hymn, which says, my soul is resting on the word, the living word of God, salvation in my saviour's name, salvation through his blood. And so this verse is repeating, and it's intensifying the ideas that were in the first verse, which spoke about the Bible as being not a man made creed.
So in the first verse, we have what? It's not that the Bible is not just the words of men, but the third verse tells us what it is. My soul is resting on the word, the living word of God. And that is has reference to a Bible text.
Let's have a look at Hebrews chapter four and verse twelve. Hebrews chapter four and verse twelve. And this says, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
So this verse says that the word of God is quick. Now, that word quick is one of those words in English whose meaning and connotation has changed over the years. And generally today when we say quick, we mean something that, like, really fast.
But here, this word quick actually means living. The Bible is alive. It is the living word of God, and it has power to change our lives.
And, you know, many times I just think of my own experience, you know, we sort of can feel pretty contented with our own lives and, you know, think that, well, you know, I haven't really done any of the. The really bad things. You know, I don't smoke, I don't drink alcohol, I don't, you know, use illegal drugs or, you know, do this or that.
So, you know, I'm pretty good. But this verse says that the Bible is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And I can testify to the truth of these words that when you start reading the Bible, you look at the life of Christ and you look at his tremendous self sacrifice, leaving a world of indescribable glory to come down to this dark earth to save ungrateful sinners who of their own, you know, free will, have rebelled against him.
You know, when we start to compare our life with the life of Christ, no matter how good or upright our life might have been, we start to realise just how evil our hearts are, are. And that it's only through the living word of God that we can have new life. As David prayed in psalm 51 ten, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Only God can take the heart that is dead in trespasses and sins and make it into a new living heart. And he does that through. Through the living power of his living word.
And that is just such a wonderful experience. Once you have experienced the joy that comes through a changed heart, a transformed life, a completely new heart, in fact, then you just actually long for nothing else. As I was reading earlier in, as we were reading earlier in John, chapter six and verse 35, Jesus said, you know, I'm the living bread.
He that cometh to me never hunger. You know, when we have tasted of the love of Christ, it's not exactly that we don't hunger, but we don't hunger after anything but the love of Christ. We just love him and we long to please him.
We long to bear his image, breathe his will, and please him in all things. And so let's look at the final verse of this hymn which says, the great physician heals the sick, the lost, he came to save for me. His precious blood he shed for me.
His life he gave. And so this is just such beautiful words, isn't it? The great physician. That's words used by Luke, the gospel writer who was a medical doctor.
And he spoke of Christ as the great physician. And, you know, as we've been saying, christ healed the sick, even those who had brought sickness upon themselves through their own wrong course of action, Christ did not refuse to heal them. Now let's have a look.
As I mentioned before, mark, chapter two, because mark, chapter two, and verse nine, verse ten. Sorry. Has a really, really significant truth that explains to us the purpose of why Christ healed people, or part of the purpose, because Christ, you know, he loves for us to have joy.
He loves for us to have health. But let's have a look at Mark, chapter two and verse ten, because this also tells us something really important that is taught by every single one of Christ's miracles and by every single one of Christ's healings. Mark 210 says, but that ye may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins.
He saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise, take up thy bed and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all. And so we see here that Christ's healing of people demonstrates his power to forgive sins.
So he, when he healed people, that was something that people could actually see, and he taught them to believe in something that they couldn't see, which was the forgiveness of sins. And so when we read about Christ's miracles in the gospels, these healing miracles speak to us not just about the physical power that Christ has, but about his power to heal us spiritually. And that power is still available to us today.
Let's listen now to Fountainview as they sing this song. My faith has found a resting place my faith faith has found our resting place not in a man made greed I trust the ever living one that he, for me will plead enough for me that Jesus saves this and my fear and doubt a sinful soul I come to him he will not cast me out I need no other evidence I need no other me it is enough that Jesus died and rose again for me my soul is resting on the word, the living word of God salvation in my savior's name salvation through his blood I need no other evidence I need no other dream it is enough that Jesus died and rose again for me. The great physician heals the sick.
Hash the lost. He came to save for me his precious blood he shed for me his life he gave. I need no other evidence.
I need no other flee. It is enough that Jesus died and rose again for me. Is it your desire to have a clean heart, to be free from sin, to hear the words of Christ to you saying, son or daughter, your sins be forgiven? You join with me in a brief prayer as we ask God for this amazing blessing of his forgiveness.
Dear Lord, we're so grateful for the amazing message that we find in the Bible, in your word, in the living word of God. And we find there the message of salvation in my saviour's name, salvation through his blood. Dear God, and so we come boldly, as it says in the book of Hebrews, we come boldly to the throne of grace so that we can obtain this amazing gift, the gift of forgiveness.
And so we thank you so much, dear God, that we can ask for that gift, that we receive it, and that you do not delay in answering this prayer. And so we thank you and we praise you in the name of Jesus and for his sake. Amen.
So thank you so much for joining me today on heavenly harmonies. Remember, you can write to
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But until then, may you stay close to the heart of God.
