Whiter Than Snow Words by James Nicholson Music by Wm. G. Fisher "Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole; I want Thee forever to live in my soul." "In the spring of 1893," relates the Rev. Mr. Bradley, a Methodist minister in Utah, "a lady who had come from Ireland as a Mormon immigrant several years before was brought under very pungent conviction of sin, which lasted for several days. She attended our services several times, but seemed to get no relief. On the following Monday morning, while she was about her work as usual, the burden had become almost unbearable. As she worked she began to sing, 'Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;' and when she came to the closing words, 'To those who sought Thee, Thou never saidst No,' a feeling came over her like a flash, she says, that He would not say 'No' to her. From that moment the burden was lifted and she was filled with joy." Mr. Fischer, the composer, was a resident of Philadelphia, and in 1876 was the leader of the Moody and Sankey choir in the great building at Thirteenth and Market streets, in that city. Words by P. P. Bliss Whosoever Will Music by P. P. Bliss ""Whosoever heareth,' shout, shout the sound! Send the blessed tidings all the world around." Henry Moorehouse, the English evangelist, preached seven sermons on John 3: 16 in Chicago during the winter of 1869-70. Those sermons made 1 a very deep impression on Mr. Bliss, Mr. Moody and others, and from that time a new and clearer view of the love of God was experienced by many who went forth to preach-perhaps not less about the law, but surely more about the boundless love of God in Jesus Christ. As an outcome of this experience the hymn was written at that time. In singing it, Bliss put special emphasis on the word "whosoever." So he helped many a man to believe in the magnificent offer of salvation, and-like Richard Baxter, the famous London preacher-to praise the Lord. "I thank God," he said, "for the word 'whosoever.' If God had said that there was mercy for Richard Baxter, I am so vile a sinner that I would have thought he meant some other Richard Baxter; but when he says 'whosoever,' I know that it includes me, the worst of all Richard Baxters." Words by Eliza Reed Why not To-Night? Music by Ira D. Sankey "Oh, do not let the Word depart, And close thine eyes against the light." A tram-car man was passing along the broadway at Deptford, England, where some Christians were singing at an open-air meeting. “Oh, do not let the Word depart, Nor close thine eyes against the light; Poor sinner, harden not thy heart, Thou would'st be saved-Why not to-night?" He felt the force of the appeal and hastened home to pray. Though he knelt down and plead earnestly, no light, or peace, or rest came. A fortnight passed away in this state of uncertainty, and on the following Sunday he was so miserable that he could not go to his work on the tram-car. In the evening he went to a chapel and remained for the prayer-meeting. The leader of the open-air meeting, in which the hymn was sung a fortnight before, happened to be present, and he saw the young man weeping and covering his face. with his handkerchief. Praying the Lord to give him a word for this troubled soul, the leader asked: "Are you trusting Christ?" "No, but I am seeking Him,” the man replied. And there he found Him, to the joy of his soul. Thus, in the providence of God, the Christian worker who was the cause of producing the anxiety, without knowing at the time any of the circumstances, was also the means of removing it. This is but one of the numerous instances of the usefulness of "Why not To-night?" in evangelistic meetings. Windows open toward Jerusalem Words by P. P. Bliss Music by P. P. Bliss "Do you see the Hebrew captive kneeling, While attending a Sunday service at the State Prison in Joliet, Illinois, where he had gone to sing, P. P. Bliss heard H. G. Spafford of Chicago, who wrote "It is well with my soul," address the prisoners, and use Daniel in Babylon as an illustration of Gospel truth, asking the question in closing, “Are your windows open toward Jerusalem?" This suggested the hymn to Mr. Bliss. About a month before his death Mr. Bliss came to Chicago to attend a convention called by Mr. Moody, 66 and there, at a morning meeting, where over a thousand ministers were present, he sang, Are your windows open toward Jerusalem?" with intense spiritual feeling. One minister cried out: "God bless Mr. Bliss for that song!" His face fairly shone as he sang, and half of those present were in tears under the influence of the song. Mr. Moody, filled with emotion, leaned his head forward upon the desk. It was the last time he heard his beloved friend and brother sing. I often used to sing this song as a solo in connection with Mr. Moody's lectures on the prophet Daniel. Wonderful Words of Life Words by P. P. Bliss "Sing them over again to me, Wonderful words of Life." Music by P. P. Bliss While visiting an old man, who suffered much from rheumatic gout," narrates a Methodist minister of Birmingham, England, "I was led to start up, Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of Life.' When I had finished and while the tears were coursing down his cheeks, he exclaimed, 'Oh, sing them over again to me, those wonderful words of life! for they take my pain away.' And so I repeated that God-sent message to the poor old sufferer, who soon afterward passed away to the land where there is no more pain. "On another occasion this hymn became very useful to me. I was preaching to a crowded audience at Dartmouth on a Sunday evening, when a young man fell from his seat near the pulpit, and the service was in danger because of the confusion. I started singing, 'Wonderful Words of Life,' in which the whole congregation joined heartily. By the time we had sung the hymn through the young man had recovered consciousness and found his seat again, listening earnestly to my sermon on the theme, ' In God's Word there are spirit and life.' Those present thought his case a living illustration of the song and sermon." Ye Must be Born Again Words by W. T. Sleeper Music by George C. Stebbins "A ruler once came to Jesus by night, To ask Him the way of salvation and light;" "One evening in November, 1886," says the superintendent of a boys' school, “I was walking along a street in St. Joseph, Missouri, when I saw before me a great crowd gathered around a door. On coming nearer I saw that it was at the entrance of the hall of the Young Men's Christian Association. In the doorway stood some young men, singing. Just as I came near enough to hear they began to sing: 'A ruler once came to Jesus by night, To ask Him the way of salvation and light; The Master made answer in words true and plain, When they came to the chorus the sword of the Spirit entered my soul. It seemed to me that I was brought face to face with the Lord Jesus. There on the street, while that song was being sung, I asked him to teach me how to be born again—and he did it. I accepted an invitation to the service for the evening, and after that service, for the first time in my life, I publicly |