Matthew 21:42a. Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner (the chief cornerstone):
It’s Sunday friends! The Lord’s Day, the best day of the week; the day on which we get together to sing and dance and give thanks and praise for His everlasting goodness to the children of men! And I like how Bruh Paul greeted the Galatians as they were beginning to backslide, listening to the Judaizers false doctrine. ‘Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world (age), according to the will of God and our Father. To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Gal. 1:3-5)
Yes my brethren, Jesus most certainly gave Himself, or sacrificed His sinless body and soul at the Father’s behest, so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin. And please note that He, and He alone could have done it! No one else but the Son of God had what it took, mainly a sinless persona. And that’s why our song of praise and thanksgiving today is so important in the Christian life. It is most appropriately titled ‘The Church’s One Foundation.’ And who else could that be but Jesus Christ eh?
It’s a hymn written by Samuel John Stone in the 1860’s. And the website Godtube tells us: ‘This hymn describes the church’s relationship to its “foundation” being Jesus Christ. The church is represented as the collective Christian fellowship of the earth as it is wholly united by its Saviour, the Son of God.’ And so it should be! Now let’s sing a rousing version, making sure that both heaven and earth understand how blessed, joyful and grateful we are, because the words come sincerely from our hearts.
So as one harmonious voice: ‘The Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord, She is His new creation By water and the Word: From Heav’n He came and sought her To be His holy bride, With His own blood He bought her And for her life He died. – She is from every nation, Yet one o’er all the earth; Her charter of salvation, One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued. -The Church shall never perish! Her dear Lord to defend, To guide, sustain, and cherish, Is with her to the end:
Though there be those who hate her, And false sons in her pale, Against both foe and traitor She ever shall prevail. – Though with a scornful wonder Men see her sore oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, By heresies distressed: Yet saints their watch are keeping, Their cry goes up, How long? And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song! – ’Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of peace forevermore; Till, with the vision glorious, Her longing eyes are blest, And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest! –
Yet she on earth hath union With God the Three in One, And mystic sweet communion With those whose rest is won, With all her sons and daughters Who, by the Master’s hand Led through the deathly waters, Repose in Eden land. O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we Like them, the meek and lowly, On high may dwell with Thee: There, past the border mountains, Where in sweet vales the Bride With Thee by living fountains Forever shall abide!’
Yes friends, Christ bought the Church, paid for her with His own precious blood, and is the sole foundation on which it’s built! As He so poignantly pointed out to His listeners in Matthew, quoting Psalm 118:22-23: ‘Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner (the chief cornerstone): This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.’ (Matt. 21:42)
Oh my people, from the very beginning the Lord had planned to have His Son redeem mankind and be the very foundation stone on which the new kingdom was laid. But you know how it was back then, the chief cornerstone was the most important stone in the entire building because it bore the majority of the load, so it had to be very special, sturdy and strong. And no stone the builders refused could ever become the cornerstone of a building.
However, with Jesus it was different. The people of His time rejected Him, but nonetheless, He became the chief cornerstone of the Christian Church! Glory be my fellow saints! Our great God does move in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform! But as we know, everything that man touches, he sullies and or destroys. Now Christ’s church has not been any different, for all down through the ages, even to this day, it has been rife with dissension and controversy, and constantly threatened by false doctrine.
And unfortunately, according to the website Godtube: “The Church’s One Foundation” was composed as a primary answer to the division within the Church of South Africa generated by John William Colenso, first Bishop of Natal, who denounced much of the Bible as untrue. This issue is referenced to within the fourth verse of the lyrics “Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed.”
When Bishop Colenso was dismissed for his teachings, he pleaded to the higher religious authorities in England. It was then that Samuel Stone became included in the discussion. It sparked him to draft a set of hymns based on the Apostles’ Creed in 1866. He titled it, Lyra Fidelium; Twelve Hymns on the Twelve Articles of the Apostles’ Creed. “The Church’s One Foundation” is based on the ninth article, The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints. Music by Samuel Sebastian Wesley 1810-1876.’
Ah Lord eh! What won’t mankind do to get rid of Christ and His church eh! But yuh know what, despite all the isms and schisms, the false doctrines and petty dissensions, the separations and many different religions, Christ’s church is still going strong today, and nothing is ever going to break it up. And when He comes back for His own, which could be very soon, then the whole situation will be made right, because the true foundation, the majestic and magnificent cornerstone will solidly anchor His church in the bedrock of His shed blood!
So my fellow saints, let’s not forget to keep careful watch, knowing that our ‘night of weeping shall be the morn of song;’ and that ‘the consummation of peace forevermore’ is close at hand… ‘and the great church victorious, shall be the church at rest.’ Have faith and stand strong my brethren, our troubles will soon be over, for the last trump will sound and Christ will appear on the horizon in full glory, to take us home!Much LOVE!
…the earth and all therein may perish…but the church of Christ NEVER WILL…
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