Aug 17 (edited) • Hymns and Poetry
Stadium of Witnesses
There is as it were a great stadium full of witnesses. You give out tickets to this stadium to those that you read and sing about. So take up this noble endeavor carefully and guard the gate. Past saints cheer you on as they file in one at a time into this Hallowed stadium. They all enter through the narrow turnstile of your mind. You may ask, "But is it a big stadium?" Oh yes, As big as your study, prayers, devotion, and love will allow. Over there... Do you hear John Newton singing Amazing Grace? He's in seat A 12 near the 50 yard line. He took his place there at age 10 when you first met him in a dusty pew on a cold winter's day. That wretch that God plucked from the slime of deadness now dazzles in glory as he beams at you with a joy filled smile. There in the distance sits William Wilberforce. Do you see him in seat B 39 near the middle deck? He calls out "Remember Justice and the reformation on manners, Life as we know it, with all its ups and downs, will soon be over. We all will give an accounting to God of how we have lived." Next to Wilberforce stands William Tyndale. With a kind and gentle disposition you hear in a faint strangled whisper "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives a plough to know more of the scriptures than you do.” You clutch your Bible in your arm as Augustine from the top deck calls out "Take up and Read!" RC Sproul erupts "Ex nihilo nihil fit" as you remember the axiomatic witness of God's creative power. Just then a butterfly gently glides by. Dazzling at its splendor you remember who you were, and the new creation you have become. Near the enemy's side of the field, A German Monk named Martin Luther begins to bellow, as he cries bombastically "You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the Word which the Lord Who receives sinners preaches to you." in his hand he clutches to his heart the promise of Romans 1:17. "The Just shall live by faith." Over the loud speaker an ancient hymn crackles "Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" you know this song... you begin to tremble as you think of the Awesome Holiness of God. Thunder booms in the distance. A young deacon named Stephen cries out to you from somewhere in this great sea of Saints “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Cheering sweeps through the crowd with a roar. Paul of Tarsus puts his arm around Stephen as he triumphantly shouts " I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified!" John MacArthur grins. On the other side of the field Reginald Huber Begins to sing "Holy, Holy, Holy, as the words cascade through the stadium unseen Angels join in as the stadium begins to shake. Jim Elliot nudges you and with a grin says "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." You find yourself nodding in agreement.
John the Baptist explodes upward jumping up to stand on the makeshift pulpit of this stadium of pews. Dressed in Camel's hair he points and harkens: "Behold The Lamb of God." The crowd goes deathly silent as you strain to follow his pointing finger with your eyes...
There in the end zone stands one before you in dazzling white with nail pierced hands and spear pierced side, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, I died and am alive, His arms open saying "I will never leave or forsake you, I am with you always and I am coming soon."
Every knee buckles as the stadium falls to the ground as they in unison cry "Worthy is The Lamb, Worthy is The Lamb, Worthy is The Lamb."
Rest in His Grace.
Hebrews 12: 1-3, Hebrews 10:36, Hebrews 13:5 , Matthew 28:18-20, Revelation 5:12, Revelation 22, Col 2:14, Romans 8, Romans Rom 5:8, Titus 3:5.
Rest in the goodness of God's Grace and the finished work of Christ:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Ephesians 2:4-5
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39
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Stadium of Witnesses
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