Lord, I Am Fondly, Earnestly #585

Author:

Elisha Albright Hoffman born May 7th, 1839, in Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County, Pa

His parents were Pennsylvania Germans and his father was a minister for over 60 years

Elisha was educated in the Philadelphia public school system. He had no formal schooling in music. All his musical knowledge was gained by personal application.

It came from listening to his father and mother sin. The family had a practice of singing one or two hymns morning and evening during their family devotions. From this practice Hoffman came to the belief that song was “as natural a function of the soul as breathing was a function of the body.”

Elisha Hoffman served in ministry like his father from more than 60 year. Which included pastoring a number of churches. He passed away at the age of 90.

Over his lifetime Hoffman authored over 2,000 hymns and helped to write more than 50 hymn books.

Other popular hymns include- “Christ Has For Sin Atonement Made” #562 “What a Wonderful Savior” #119 LS “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” #213 LS “Are You Washed in the Blood” “I Must Tell Jesus”#228 LS

According to Hoffman, a hymn is "a lyric poem, reverently and devotionally conceived, which is designed to be sung and which expresses the worshiper's attitude toward God or God's purposes in human life. It should be simple and metrical in form, genuinely emotional, poetic and literary in style, spiritual in quality, and in its ideas so direct and so immediately apparent as to unify a congregation while singing it."

Story of I Must Tell Jesus- While visiting one day he came to a home that had experienced much sorrow and affliction. He found the mother of the home in the depths of despair. He tried quoting Bible verse that he thought would console her but to no avail. Then he suggested that she could do nothing better than to take all of her sorrows to Jesus. “You must tell Jesus” he told her. Upon meditating on these words a light broke across her face and she cried “Yes, I must tell Jesus.” Hoffman left with those words echoing in his head and went directly home and penned the words to the hymn found in our LS book.

He had a God given ability of expressing the inner intuitions that God gave him through song

Fondly, Earnestly Longing...

Fondly- in a fond manner; lovingly or affectionately

Earnestly- with deep and sincere feeling; seriously

Longing- strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant

“…thirsting for more and deeper communion, yearning thy love more fully to know

Psalm 42:1–2 NIV

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

Do I have a strong, persistent, deeply sincere, affectionate desire to be like my Lord?

That is what we are called to:

1 Peter 1:15–16 NIV

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Peter is quoting from Leviticus 11:44-45

Leviticus 11:44–45 NIV

I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

How would you describe your desire/longing for this call to holiness to be a reality in your life?

One thing to remember-we begin from a place of holiness, that is who we are in Christ- holy, but we can grow in that holy likeness

How is it that we grow into the holy likeness of our Lord? Verse #2

Dead Unto Sin Alive Unto Thee

We can go back to the first part of the 1 Peter passage we just referenced for instruction on how to live the holy life God requires

1 Peter 1:13–16 NIV

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

We see this in more detail in Paul's writings in Romans

Romans 6:1–14 NIV

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Showers of Grace...

What is grace? When we ask for grace to be showered on us, for the wells of grace and salvation to be opened what are asking for?

In a bible gateway search of the word grace you’ll find that it appears 124 times in the NIV- 114 times in the N.T.- 80 times in Paul’s writings about 65% of what we know and understand about grace comes from Paul’s writings

Grace is Undeserved Favor

Romans 3:23–24 NIV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

It is grace that inclines God to give free gifts to sinners

Romans 5:15 NIV

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

It is grace that produces the gifts that are freely given to sinners

Romans 11:5–6 NIV

So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Grace can not be earned, which makes it free and undeserved

Most of us see and understand grace as this character quality within God

Now, that’s what most of us have in our minds when we say God is a God of grace. And that’s true. It’s wonderful. Our eternal lives depend on it. None of us would be saved if grace were not undeserved favor, and were not a quality in the mind of God, in the heart of God, in the nature of God. - Piper

Grace is Power for Living

This an different element of grace that I have often overlooked because it doesn’t fit into “undeserved favor” definition that I have had.

We don’t need to throw that definition away- we need to expand it

2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Grace is seen as a power or influence for obedience

2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

In all three of those texts — and they’re not the only ones — grace is not only a disposition or a quality or an inclination in the nature of God, but is an influence or a force or a power or an acting of God that works in us to change our capacities for work and suffering and obedience. - Piper

What Is Grace?

“Well, it appears that the word grace in Paul’s use not only refers to God’s character trait or disposition or inclination to treat people better than we deserve, but the word grace also refers to the action or the power or the influence or the force of this disposition, which produces real, practical outcomes in people’s lives, like being sufficient for good deeds or enduring the thorn in the flesh or working harder than everybody else, which Paul says about his own apostolic work.”- Piper

Now, that does not mean you have to give up that simple definition of undeserved favor. That’s true. That’s a good definition.

this favor overflows in powerful, practical helpfulness from God in your daily life where you most need it. That help is also called grace because it’s free and it’s undeserved. -Piper

Hebrews 4:16 NIV

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The throne of grace that is the quality , character and inclination to treat sinners as they don’t deserve- that’t the kind of throne we are coming to

That grace offers us practical - “well-timed help”

It’s both the character and inclination of God’s heart to treat us better than we deserve and it is the extension of that inclination to help in very practical ways- Piper

Conclusion:

Lord, I am fondly, earnestly longing into thy holy likeness to grow- dead unto sin alive unto thee- crucify all the earthly within me- open the wells of grace and salvation- (your undeserved favor and well timed help)- pour them deeply into my heart- cleanse and refine my thought and affection- make me pure as thou art.