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Jesus Lives And So Shall I – Sunday Songs

Gary Ware

August 21, 2023

I read an article listing six hymns chosen by the late Tim Keller for his memorial service.
The only one I didn’t know was Jesus Lives And So Shall I.
The lyrics were written in German by Christian F. Gellert; there seem to be a number of translations, including one (according to Hymnary) by John Dunmore Lang, the Church of Scotland minister instrumental in establishing the antecedent of what would become the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

The tune JESUS, MEINE ZUVERSICHT, attributed to Johann Crüger isn’t that catchy, but nothing seems likely to supplant it.

The lyrics:
1
Jesus lives, and so shall I;
Death, thy sting is gone forever!
He who deigned for me to die
lives, the bands of death to sever.
He shall raise me with the just:
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.
2
Jesus lives, and reigns supreme,
and, His kingdom still remaining,
I shall also be with Him,
ever living, ever reigning.
God has promised: be it must:
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.
3
Jesus lives, and God extends
grace to each returning sinner;
rebels He receives as friends
and exalts to highest honor.
God is True as He is Just;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.
4
Jesus lives, and by His grace,
vict’ry o’er my passions giving,
I will cleanse my heart and ways,
ever to His glory living.
Me He raises from the dust;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.
5
Jesus lives! I know full well
nought from Him my heart can sever,
life nor death nor pow’rs of hell,
joy nor grief, henceforth forever.
None of all His saints is lost;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.
6
Jesus lives, and death is now
but my entrance into glory.
Courage, then, my soul, for thou
hast a crown of life before thee;
thou shalt find thy hopes were just;
Jesus is the Christian’s Trust.

Heidelberg Catechism – Lord’s Day 34

Gary Ware

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August 20, 2023

Heidelberg Catechism – Lord’s Day 34

92.
Q. What is the law of God?
A. God spoke all these words saying:
First Commandment
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Second Commandment
“You shall not make yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Third Commandment
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
Fourth Commandment
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.”
Fifth Commandment
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
Sixth Commandment
“You shall not kill.”
Seventh Commandment
“You shall not commit adultery.”
Eighth Commandment
“You shall not steal.”
Ninth Commandment
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
Tenth Commandment
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

93.
Q. How are these commandments divided?
A. Into two tables, the first of which teaches us in four commandments how we ought to live in relation to God; the other, in six commandments, what we owe to our neighbor.

94.
Q. What does the Lord require in the first commandment?
A. That I must avoid and flee all idolatry, sorcery, enchantments, invocation of saints or other creatures because of the risk of losing my salvation. Indeed, I ought properly to acknowledge the only true God, trust in him alone, in humility and patience expect all good from him only, and love, fear and honor him with my whole heart. In short, I should rather turn my back on all creatures than do the least thing against his will.

95.
Q. What is idolatry?
A. It is to imagine or possess something in which to put one’s trust in place of or beside the one true God who has revealed himself in his Word.