Peace Be Still

The apostles didn’t set out in a storm and they didn’t expect one either, but the Sea of Galilee was raging, and water was filling their boat.  

When they roused Jesus from sleep, He began to work.

Mark 4:39.  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Mark 4:41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

We may be facing some storms in our lives and it will help us to know all we can about the One who rides in our vessel. 

Jesus still calms our troubled seas. Jesus still gives peace. Call on Him. 

Mary A. Baker, an active worker in the temperance cause, was the author of various hymns and temperance songs.    

Her most popular hymn, “Master, The Tempest Is Raging — Peace”, was written in 1874 at the request of Dr. H. R. Palmer, who asked her to write several songs on the subjects of a series of Sunday School Lessons for that year. 

Peace be still 

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“Master, the tempest is raging!   —   The billows are tossing high!   —   The sky is o'er-shadowed with blackness,   —   No shelter or help is nigh:   —   “Carest Thou not that we perish?   —   How canst Thou lie asleep,   —   When each moment so madly is threatning,   —   A grave in the angry deep?

Chorus

The winds and the waves shall obey My will,   —   “Peace, be still.”   —   Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,   —   Or demons, or men, or whatever it be.   —   No water can swallow the ship where lies   —   The Master of ocean and earth and skies;   —   They all shall sweetly obey My will,   —   Peace be still, peace be still.   —   They all shall sweetly obey My will;   —   Peace, peace be still.

“Master, with anguish of spirit I bow in my grief today;   —   The depths of my sad heart are troubled;   —   Oh, waken and save, I pray!   —   Torrents of sin and of anguish   —   Sweep o'er my sinking soul!   —   And I perish! I perish! Dear Master;   —   Oh, hasten and take control!

“”Master, the terror is over, the elements sweetly rest.   —   Earth's sun in the calm lake is mirrored,   —   And heaven's within my breast.   —   Linger, O blessed Redeemer,   —   Leave me alone no more;   —   And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,   —   And rest on the blissful shore.

Mary A Baker 1874

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit. 

Until Then

We live in a world plagued with viruses and riots and very few people seem to have certainty about anything.

Recently I read a small book about prophesy and the antichrist. Just knowing how all this earthly garbage ends surrounds me with peace.

In the introduction, J. Vernon McGee, Author and long time radio preacher, wrote about reading many mystery novels late into the night in his younger years.

Sometimes the story would have the girl tied to the rail road tracks and her hero tied to a chair in a shack with a dynamite fuse lit near his foot. 

Not able to sleep at that point, Brother McGee would turn to the back page and read about the same couple being happily married. 

Then he turned back to the dilemma and said, “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay.”              

I’d like to use Brother McGee’s illustration. To believers struggling in this troubled world, I say, “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay. I’ve read the last page of the Bible.”

James 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

But until then

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“My heart can sing when I pause to remember  —  A heartache here is but a stepping stone;  —  Along a path that's winding always upward,  —  This troubled world is not my final home.

Chorus:

“But until then my heart will go on singing.  —  Until then with joy I'll carry on.  —  Until the day my eyes behold the city;  —  Until the day God calls me home.

“The things of earth will dim and lose their value  —  If we recall they're borrowed for a while.  —  And things of earth that cause this heart to tremble  —  Remember there will only  bring a smile.

“This weary world with all its toil and struggle  —  May take its toll of misery and strife;  —  The soul of man is like a waiting falcon;  —  When it's released, it's destined for the skies.”

Stuart Hamblen

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit. 

Cleanse Me

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 

[24] And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

This Psalm is a prayer of humble submission for heart-cleansing and revival of all believers. 

If we want to be what God wants us to be, we should pray this prayer often, because we are not perfect. 

We need His cleansing. We need His leading.  

Missionary Dr. Orr recalls that he wrote "CLEANSE ME" in l936 as a result of great inspiration during an intense movement of the Holy Spirit at the Easter revival convention in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand.

As he was leaving, four Aborigine girls approached and sang for him the beautiful Maori Song of Farewell:

Dr. Orr was so impressed that soon afterward he wrote new verses to the tune on the back of an envelope in the post office at the little town of Ngaruawahia. 

Cleanse me.

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“Search me, O God, and know my heart today.  —   Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;  —   See if there be some wicked way in me;  —   Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

“I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;  —   Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;  —   Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;  —   Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

“Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;  —   Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;  —   Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;  —   I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.

“O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;  —   Send a revival, start the work in me;  —   Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;  —   For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.”

James Edwin Orr 1936

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit. 

Heavenly Love

How do you select the perfect “Love” scripture or gospel song?  There are so many and all of them seem to draw me to praise the Lord. 

I especially love the ones including the word “lovingkindness”. Separate love from kindness and both words lose their flavor. 

Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

A verse in the book of John is the most powerful and  popular. God didn’t have to give His son to be tortured on a cross for our sins, but He did. How do you thank Him?  

John 3:16 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Frederick Lehman penned the words to “The Love Of God”’.  The third verse always grabs my heart.  

“Could we with ink the ocean fill,  —   And were the skies of parchment made,  —   Were every stalk on earth a quill,  —   And every man a scribe by trade.  —   To write the love of God above,   —   Would drain the ocean dry.  —   Nor could the scroll contain the whole,  —   Though stretched from sky to sky.

A southern gospel song I love: “Heavenly Love”

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“Heavenly love, was all that could help me, —   I was astray, so sad and alone,

—  I looked above, my burdens all left me, —   Now I can say, “Heaven's my home.”

Chorus: 

“Heavenly Love, the love of my Lord,   —   Lifting above, for he is my sword and shield,   —   giving me light, in darkness of night,   —   Heavenly love, heavenly love.

“Troubles of earth so often o're take me;  —   Burdens of life with heartache and care.  —   Heavenly love will never forsake me,  —   Filling my need, Jesus is there. 

“When I shall stand at Jordan's dark river,  —   Shadows of night are gathering above.  —  There is a pow’r I know we'll deliver;  —   Heavenly love, heavenly love.”

Vep Ellis

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit. 

There’s Something About That Name

The name of Jesus is a name that thrills the souls of the believer. 

A name at which the devils tremble. 

A name that gains man access to the God of Glory. 

A name that moves mountains. 

A name that convicts the sinner. 

A name that opens the door to the blessings of God. 

A name that is above every name. 

A name that causes sinners to bow in repentance. 

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Yes! There is something about that Name!

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“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!   —   There's just something about that name.   —   Master, Savior, Jesus!   —   Like the fragrance after the rain.   —   Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!   —   Let all heaven and earth proclaim:   —   Kings and kingdoms shall all pass away,   —   But there's something about that name.”

Gloria Gaither and William J. Gaither

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit. 

How Great Thou Art

Isaiah 45:18  For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord ; and there is none else.

“How Great Thou Art” was a poem inspired by a thunderstorm. Author and editor, Carl Boberg was a member of the Swedish Parliament from 1912 to 1931.  

The poem was later set to a Swedish folk tune. In 1907 Manfred von Glehn translated it into German, and five years later a Russian pastor, Ivan Prokhanoff, made a Russian adaptation.

In the early 1920s Stuart K. Hine, a missionary in Poland, learned the Russian version, wrote original English lyrics, and made his own arrangement of the Swedish melody.

J. Edwin Orr introduced Hine’s translation of “How Great Thou Art” to audiences in the United States. 

A short time later, in 1957, it began its orbit around the world by way of the Billy Graham New York City Crusade where it was sung 99 times.

How Great Thou Art

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“O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,    —  Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;    —  I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,   —  Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Chorus:

“Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,   —  How great Thou art, How great Thou art.   —  Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,    —  How great Thou art,   —  How great Thou art! 

“When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,   —  And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.   —  When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur   —  And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

“And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;    —  Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;    —  That on a Cross, my burdens gladly bearing,    —  He bled and died to take away my sin.

“When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,    —  And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.   —  Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,   —  And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Carl Boberg

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit. 

He Hideth My Soul

Psalm 27:5  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

It’s a rock that juts far above the battles going on at its feet. It allows those who ride its heights to rise far above the tumult beneath — those who personally know the Lord.

“He Hideth My Soul”, a hymn by Fanny Crosby, explains her life, for she faced three incredible hardships in her ninety-five years. 

The first was her blindness caused by a careless doctor when she was six weeks old. 

The second was a less-than-ideal marriage. 

Her deepest blow was the loss of her infant child. 

Fanny Crosby lived out her song every day of her life: “He hideth my soul in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand.”

He hideth my soul.

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“A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, —   A wonderful Savior to me; —   He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, —   Where rivers of pleasure I see.

Chorus:

“He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock —   That shadows a dry, thirsty land; —   He hideth my life in the depths of His love, —   And covers me there with His hand, —   And covers me there with His hand.

“A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, —   He taketh my burden away; —   He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved; —   He giveth me strength as my day.

“With numberless blessings each moment He crowns; —   And, filled with His fullness divine, —   I sing in my rapture, oh, glory to God, —   For such a Redeemer as mine.

“When clothed in His brightness, transported I rise —   To meet Him in clouds of the sky, —   His perfect salvation, His wonderful love —   I’ll shout with the millions on high!”

Fanny J. Crosby 1850

Ideas for this unprofitable blog are taken from The Sermon Notebook—Biblical resources for preachers and teachers of the word of God. They allow these sermons to be used as the Lord leads but not for profit. Also, “Then Sings My Soul”.

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