The Copper Coast Waterford, Ireland
‘It is Well with my Soul’
 
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul".
 
It is well with my soul;
It is well, it is well with my soul.
 
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control:
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And has shed His own blood for my soul.
 
My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
 
For me be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live;
If Jordon above me should roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
 
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
 
O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend;
Even so, it is well with my soul.
 
Horatio G. Spafford (1828-1888)
 
‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law’.
​
Galatians 5:22-23 ​
​‘Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift’
Paul reminds the Corinthian assembly of their need to come through on their promise to give to the collection for the Jerusalem saints – 2 Cor 8:10-11; 9:3-5). He uses the noun charis, ‘grace’ some ten times in chapters 8 & 9 of 2nd Corinthians. Six times it is translated as ‘grace’, twice as ‘gift’ and two other times as ‘thanks’. Paul teaches us that grace is all about giving. Clearly he is appealing to the Corinthians for the grace of practical giving so exemplified by the Macedonian churches who gave sacrificially and personally – 2 Cor 8:1-5. As well as the example of these saints Paul reminds them of the ‘grace of our Lord Jesus Christ’ which He displayed when He stooped from heaven and exchanged the riches of glory for the poverty of earth so that they, and all who believe in Him, could ‘become rich’ – 2 Cor 8:9. Moreover, there is also the grace of giving back to God in the form of thanksgiving – 2 Cor 9:11, 12 and Paul climaxes his words in that very mode as he expresses the grace of thanksgiving for the greatest grace of all, God’s indescribable gift - His only Son – ‘Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!’ – 2 Cor 9:15.
​
No wonder then that ‘God loves a cheerful giver – 2 Cor 9:7 for no one delights more in giving than He.   
​This is my Father’s World
 
This is my Father's world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.
 
This is my Father's world,
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their maker's praise.
This is my Father's world,
He shines in all that's fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.
 
This is my Father's world.
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!
 
Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858 – 1901)
​Assurance
In the midst of all the uncertainty and changes that mark life, the believer shares the assurance of ‘the sweet psalmist of Israel’, David, when he told the LORD; “My times are in Thy hand” – Psalm 31:15 and those who belong to the Father take great comfort from the words of the Lord Jesus who said to His disciples: “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” – Matt 10:29-31. 
​‘To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled’.
​
Titus 1:15
'Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!'

Psalm 34:8
The Maker of the Universe

As Man for man was made a curse;
The claims of laws which He had made,
Unto the uttermost He paid.

His holy fingers made the bough,
Which grew the thorns that crowned His brow,
The nails that pierced His hands were mined,
In secret places He designed.

He made the forest whence there sprung,
The tree on which His body hung.
He died upon a cross of wood,
Yet made the hill on which it stood.

The sky that darkened o’er His head,
By Him above the earth was spread,
The sun that hid from Him its face,
By His decree was poised in space.

The spear that spilled His precious blood,
Was tempered in the fires of God.
The grave in which His form was laid,
Was hewn in rock His hands had made.

The throne on which He now appears,
Was His from everlasting years,
But a new glory crowns His brow,
And every knee to Him shall bow.
​
F.W. Pitt (1859-1943)
'Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord'.
​
Colossians 3:16
Time Paces
 
When as a child I laughed and wept,                           
Time crept.
When as a youth I waxed more bold,
Time strolled.
When I became a full-grown man,
Time ran.
When older still I daily grew,
Time flew.
Soon I shall find, in passing on,
Time gone.
O Christ! wilt Thou have saved me then?
Amen.
​
Henry Twells (1823-1900)
The clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.

To lose one's wealth is sad indeed,
To lose one's health is more,
To lose one's soul is such a loss
That no man can restore.
​
The present only is our own,
So Live, Love, toil with a will -
Place no faith in 'Tomorrow' -
For the clock may then be still.
 
Robert H. Smith (1932-1982)
​The Present Crisis
 
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side; 
Some great cause, God's new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight,             
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right,            
And the choice goes by forever 'twixt that darkness and that light.         
 
Hast thou chosen, O my people, on whose party thou shalt stand,          
Ere the Doom from its worn sandals shakes the dust against our land?  
Though the cause of Evil prosper, yet 't is Truth alone is strong,               
And, albeit she wander outcast now, I see around her throng
Troops of beautiful, tall angels, to enshield her from all wrong.
 
Backward look across the ages and the beacon-moments see,
That, like peaks of some sunk continent, jut through Oblivion's sea;      
Not an ear in court or market for the low, foreboding cry
Of those Crises, God's stern winnowers, from whose feet earth's chaff must fly;  
Never shows the choice momentous till the judgment hath passed by.   
 
Careless seems the great Avenger; history's pages but record
One death-grapple in the darkness 'twixt old systems and the Word;      
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,--
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,         
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.

James Russell Lowell. (1819–1891)
Four of the eighteen verses of this poem
“Therefore be ye also ready”
The Lord, having answered the disciples’ questions concerning the “sign of [His] coming” and the “end of the age” – Matt 24:3, went on to state this: “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” – Matt 24:44. He spoke of three categories of ‘unready’ people and how they will be affected at His coming:
 
1. An Unconcerned World – no warnings heeded 
(Matt 24:36-42).
2. An Unfaithful Servant - no expectancy shown 
(Matt 24:48-51). 
3. An Unwise Company – no preparation made
​(Matt 25:1-13).
 
Whether we think of the glorious appearing of Christ when He returns to establish His kingdom or of His coming for His church the same thing is necessary – readiness.
'Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, To the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You.”'

Isaiah 49:7
What Really Matters?
In the end what matters is being right with God, our Creator.

When the time comes for us to leave this world we leave it alone as a bare soul. Everything we have known and possessed including our bodies is left behind and the real me, the very essence of who and what I am, enters the next world. In that moment all speculation will cease, all uncertainty will be over. A moment on the other side of death I will face the reality of my fate or realise the joy of my hope. What I am then, I will always be. Where I am, I will remain forever. In that moment I will be utterly convinced of the truth. I will learn abruptly that hell is real, more real than I could ever have imagined or I will discover that heaven is beautiful, more beautiful than I could ever have dreamed. I may take my chances in time, in eternity I won't have any chances to take. My choice in time will be confirmed and my destiny in eternity will be fixed. Yes in the end, I will either be on the right side or the wrong side of God.

So what really matters? What absolutely matters is the salvation of my soul and the forgiveness of my sins. Only Jesus Christ can forgive and save. Why? He paid for our forgiveness on the Cross and He died and rose again to save our souls. Trust HIM today. 
Monarch of the Smitten Cheek
 
He Who wept above the grave,
He Who stilled the raging wave,
Meek to suffer, strong to save,
He shall bear the glory.

He Who sorrow's pathway trod,
He that every good bestowed--
Son of Man and Son of God--
He shall bear the glory.

He Who bled with scourging sore,
Thorns and scarlet meekly wore,
He Who every sorrow bore--
He shall bear the glory.

Monarch of the smitten cheek,
Scorn of Jew and scorn of Greek,
Priest and King, Divinely meek--
He shall bear the glory.

On the rainbow-circled throne
Mid the myriads of His own,
Nevermore to weep alone--
He shall bear the glory.

Man of slighted Nazareth,
King Who wore the thorny wreath,
Son obedient unto death--
He shall bear the glory.

His the grand eternal weight,
His the priestly-regal state;
Him the Father maketh great--
He shall bear the glory.

He Who died to set us free,
He Who lives and loves e'en me,
He Who comes, Whom I shall see
Jesus  only – only He –
He shall bear the glory.

William Blane
'For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law ... in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel'.

Rom 2:12, 16

'Seeing is not believing. Seeing is seeing. Believing is being confident without seeing'

G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945)