Gtcotr/ss100426
Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915) was one of the most prolific hymn writers in Christian history. Born in Brewster, New York, she experienced an eye infection at 6 weeks old and a man pretending to be a doctor treated her. His treatment left her blind for the rest of her life.
Encouraged by a friend, Crosby began writing hymns in the 1860’s and eventually wrote more than 8,000 hymn texts. She used numerous pen names because publishers did not want hymnals filled with the name of a single writer.
Some of her best-known hymns include “Blessed Assurance,” “To God Be the Glory,” “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” and one of my favorites, “Rescue the Perishing,” which she wrote in 1869 after leading a sinner to the Lord who but longed to see his late mother after his death but could not at first imagine how he could ever be saved.
Fanny lived to be 94 years old. By then her hymns were being sung across denominational lines and throughout the English-speaking Christian world. As a young woman she became a teacher and married a blind man who also became a teacher. Due to them witnessing the outreach of a local Methodist Church and their work with the poor during the 1860s and all that surrounded the uncertainties for families during the Civil War period in our nation, Fanny and her husband joined the Methodist Church and despite their own personal hardships, they tirelessly worked to bring the love of Christ to lost and hurting people.
I often read biographies of individuals who faced challenges and endured hardships to bring the lasting Gospel of Jesus Christ to their world. Fanny Crosby is one of our long-standing Christian heroines in America. Fanny and her husband Alexander believed that every Christian has:
1. A Great Commandment
Matthew 22 NKJV
36 “Teacher, which is
the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him,
“ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your mind.’
38 “This is the
first and great commandment.
39 “And the second
is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
The scriptures remind us that we were made in the image of God and not the other way round.
Imagining a god who only agrees with you is dangerous, deadly, and demonic.
Many people believe God feels like they feel – or at least that He should.
We are called to love God more than we do ourselves and to love our neighbor as much as we do ourselves. “Who is your neighbor?” Jesus said it is the one who needs your help.
The reason why Fanny and her husband became Methodists is because they also believed every Born-Again Believer in Jesus not only has a Great Commandment, but they also have:
2. A Great Commission
Matthew 28 NKJV
18 And Jesus came and
spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth.
19 “Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
If we are not making disciples, we are not fulfilling the Great Commission. Salvations, water baptisms, dedications, ordinations, and world missions are the proofs of our calling. Join your strength to a Church that is making disciples of all nations and support that work with your time, talent, and treasury.
Fanny and Alexander are role models for us today and they deserve to be remembered. We have a Great Commandment. We have a Great Commission. And we have:
3. A Great Cloud of Witnesses
… of which Fanny and Alexander are a part …
Hebrews 12 NKJV
1 ¶ Therefore we also,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Do
not be discouraged. If anyone had a right to be discouraged and sit down and do
nothing for Jesus it would have been Fanny and Alexander. However, their lives
are a testimony to the fact that:
·
We must fight the good fight of faith.
o 1 Timothy 6:12 … lay
hold on eternal life …
o 2 Timothy 4:7 … finish
your course, keep the faith.
o Acts 20:24 … that I
might finish my course with joy and testify …
·
We must pray and not faint.
o Luke 18:1 … men ought
to always pray and not faint …
o Hebrews 12:3 …
consider (Jesus) … lest you grow weary and faint in your minds.
·
We must endure hardships as a good soldier of Christ.
o 2 Timothy 2:3 Endure
hardships as a good soldier …
o 2 Timothy 4:5 … endure afflictions, fulfill your ministry …
The same Jesus who started you on this journey is with you today. He will never leave you or forsake you. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Hebrews 13:5; Philippians 4:13). To God be the glory!
Lyrics
– Rescue the Perishing
Fanny J. Crosby
1
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.
Refrain:
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
2
Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
waiting the penitent child to receive;
plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe. [Refrain]
3
Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
cords that are broken will vibrate once more. [Refrain]
4
Rescue the perishing, duty demands it—
strength for your labor the Lord will provide;
back to the narrow way patiently win them,
tell the poor wand'rer a Savior has died. [Refrain]
Refrain:
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
