Down from His Glory - William E. Booth-Clibborn

William Booth-Clibborn wrote these powerful lyrics in 1921 and set the tune to O Sole Mio (written by Edwardo Di Capua). 

This is one of my favorite songs with regard to the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Down from His Glory

William E. Booth-Clibborn (1893-1969)

[E major]

Verse 1:

Down from His glory, Ever living story, My God and Savior came,  And Jesus was His name.

Born in a manger, To His own a stranger, A Man of sorrows, tears and agony.

 

Chorus:

O how I love Him! How I adore Him! My breath, my sunshine, my all in all!

The great Creator became my Savior, And all God’s fulness dwelleth in Him.

 

Verse 2:

What condescension, Bringing us redemption; That in the dead of night, Not one faint hope in sight,

God, gracious, tender, Laid aside His splendor, Stooping to woo, to win, to save my soul.

 

Verse 3:

Without reluctance, Flesh and blood His substance He took the form of man, Revealed the hidden plan.

O glorious myst’ry, Sacrifice of Calv’ry, And now I know Thou art the great “I AM.”

The Recovery of Purity

Romans 5:12-21
12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

In the beginning God made Man perfect and complete in His image and after His likeness (Gen. 1:26).

 

Man (Adam & Eve) was absolute in his spirit, soul, & body.

 

ABSOLUTE = “Perfect in quality or nature; complete. Not mixed; pure. Something regarded as the ultimate basis of all thought and being.” [1]

 

Synonyms include “unadulterated, undiluted, uncontaminated, total, unconditional, unquestionable finality, unequivocal, definite, sure.”[2]

 

There are absolutes of truth, which are held by all true orthodox Christians (Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus, first century Apostles, and the prophets), and these truths include:

1. The eternality of the Word of God: “For Ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
2. One God
3. The Bible standard of salvation: “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
4. The necessity of the “born again” experience: “Jesus answered…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).

 

With the existence of these (and other) absolutes, there is also another truth. The devil wishes to pervert the beauty of Man’s original design and separate him completely from his Maker.

 

The spirit of perversion is at work today and began with Lucifer and his rebellion against God, moved to the Garden of Eden and the serpent’s tactic of questioning and corrupting the relationship between Man and God.

 

PERVERSION in 1388 was defined as “action of turning aside from truth, corruption, distortion (originally of religious beliefs).”[3]

 

This is the devil’s tactic; to subvert, corrupt, bend, misshape, and distort what God calls “good” into something perverse. Perversion is not, of necessity sexual in connotation, but it is the turning of something pure into a wrong use.

 

The Fall of Man resulted in the perversion of our original state into a nature - - the Adamic nature. Because Man has fallen so far from his original state we find examples in the bible of many types of perverseness (one such illustration is the Jezebel spirit found in 1 Kings 16:31-21:25; 2 Kings 9:7-37; & Rev. 2:20-23). Trinitarianism, cessationism, & the Jezebel spirit are all perversions, but Jesus has given the Church the power and authority to help bring those stuck in error back to completeness in God and in truth.

 

Sin is the state of perversion from the original design and purpose of Man. The account of the Good Samaritan can be viewed as Jesus’ attempt to warn the Apostles and Church of the dangers of perversion.

Jesus came to return what was once perverted back to its original state, by His love: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro. 5:6-8).

 

Because of Jesus Christ we now have the opportunity to walk in right relationship with Him. You’ve never met a man like Jesus. He never withdrew Himself from the lost sinners of the world (as many in the church do once they are “saves”). Instead, He went to the perverted (in spirit, soul, and body) who were looking for a change and a return to purity. He did not condemn the world, but He saved it through the work of redemption and reconciliation. He did not revile the perverse, but He removed the crookedness in them and returned them to a state of completeness. He, as the Potter, took the misshapen clay and created vessels of honor. Jesus heals, delivers, sets the captive free, restores broken homes, and places His love into right relationships.

 

Although tempted in all things, Jesus is our perfect example of a sinless life, and His obedience is what has reconciled Man to God. This ministry of reconciliation is the recovery of purity in our relationship with God.

 

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:17-21).

____________
SOURCES:
[1] Absolute. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/absolute
[2] Absolute. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved October 26, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/absolute
[3] Perversion. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved October 26, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perversion

Bishop G. T. Haywood - God's Masterpiece

Garfield Thomas Haywood

The following essay is from a wonderful and revelatory book written by Bishop Garfield Thomas (G.T.) Haywood, who was the Presiding Bishop of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World from 1925-1931. Haywood was a pioneer of truth and an influential leader of the Oneness Pentecostal movement in the early years of its restoration in North America. I thank God for men of his high caliber.

God’s Masterpiece [1]

Author: Bishop G. T. Haywood

Man is a threefold creature, consisting of Spirit, soul, and body. All that is visible is the body. Man is the masterpiece of God's workmanship, and is "wonderfully and fearfully" made. Nothing like him has ever been brought into being.

The body was formed from the dust of the ground. God breathed into his nostrils the breath (spirit) of life, and he became a living soul. The union of the Spirit and the body apparently produced the soul. (Gen 2:7.)

The soul is never separated from the body. It is the seat of affections. It is the subconscious realm of human activity. On it is impressed the desires, or affections gathered by the spirit through the mental realm, and afterwards carried into actions by the body. The soul is to the body what the records are to the phonograph. (See Rom. 1:20.) Whatever is imprinted on the soul will be acted out unconsciously by the body.

When the spirit of man begins to reach out after evil things, evil impressions are stamped upon the soul, thus resulting in evil deeds, wicked works and practices. The Psalmist says man is "estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies." Psa. 58:3. The soul is often spoken of as the "heart". (Gen. 6:5; Psa. 51:10; 84:2.)

The preaching of the gospel stirs one's spirit to seek after righteousness. Though the spirit may be inclined towards righteousness, yet it cannot do the things they desire to do on the account of the soul being, as it were, filled with evil engravings of past affections. Hence there is a struggle between the spirit and the body, because the body is inclined to fulfill deeds recorded on the soul, while the spirit endeavors to perform the works of righteousness. (Rom. 7:9-24.) This is genuine conviction unto god­ly sorrow, working repentance unto salvation.

There is nothing that can remove those evil records engraved upon the soul, or heart, but faith in the blood of Jesus, the Bishop of our souls. The true cry of a penitent spirit is, "0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" "Create in me a clean heart, 0 God; and renew a right spirit within me!" "What must I do to be saved?" When a soul reaches that state he should be taught full faith and obedience in the command of God, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit," and God will confirm His word.

When the soul is cleansed the Holy Spirit comes in to help the spirit to place new records on the soul, that the body might perform the will of God, walk­ing in the newness of life. Through the Holy Spirit He will "put My laws in their minds (spirit), and write them upon their hearts" (soul). See John 14:26; 16:13; Heb. 8:10. The mind is the realm of the spirit's activity, while the heart is the seat of the soul's affections. Thus by having new records on the soul it becomes as easy for a man to walk and live righteous as it was for him to live wickedly in his former life. Many are cleansed and filled with the Spirit, but fail to get God's truth hidden, or engraved in their hearts. Psa. 119:11; Hos. 4:6. They need the TRUTH, and not tradition! John 8:32; 17:17.


The modern purchasing plan beautifully illustrates the purpose of spirit, soul, and body, and their final disposition. Whenever an article is purchased the salesman writes out the price, date, and description of the article on two bills at one writing,—an original and a duplicate bill. When the goods are delivered the duplicate goes with the article purchased, while the original is signed and returned to the Company that gave it. Should any question arise over the goods they are returned with the duplicate, which is immediately compared with the original, and judgment is rendered according to the records of the two bills. Thus it is with the spirit, soul and body.

The body is the article of purchase. The spirit and the soul are the two bills,—original and duplicate, respectively. The records of bodily action originate with the spirit, and are duplicated on the soul. When the body is delivered up to death and the grave, the deeds of the body are still imprinted on the soul. The soul and body enter the grave to­gether. (Job 33:18, 22, 28, 30; Psa. 16:10, and Acts 2:27, 31. Psa. 49:14, 15.) But the spirit returns to the God that gave it. (Ecc. 3:21; 12:7; Lu. 23:14, and Acts 2:31; Acts 7:59, 60.) The dead know not anything that is transpiring in this life after their departure, but they do know what is transpiring in the realm wherein they are confined. The spirit of the wicked is tormented by remorse, being conscious of his future destiny. His soul is harassed while sleeping, like a man with wicked, horrible, tormenting dreams, but unable to awake. And when he awakes on the morning of the second resurrection (Rev. 20:10-15), he will awake expecting relief, but will find that his punishment has in reality just begun. (See Luke 16:22-31.)

As for the righteous their spirit departs to be with Christ in Paradise (Phil. 1:23), while the soul is at rest sweetly sleeping in Christ like "one who has folded the drapery of his couch about him and laid down to pleasant dreams." And in the resurrection morning he "shall be satisfied when he awakes with His likeness." His spirit and soul will be united in "a glorious body" and shall enter into that realm of life eternal, where there shall be no death, no night, no sleep, no sorrow to break in on the feast of unending joy in the presence of the Lord. (See Psa. 17:15; Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:49-55; 1 Thes. 4:13-17.)


[1] Haywood, G.T. (n.d.). The Finest of the Wheat. “God’s Masterpiece.” Christ Temple Book Store:Indianapolis, IN. Ch. IV. P. 12-15.

Links to other messages, hymns, and essays by G. T. Haywood:
A Gospel Message of Hope
The Mystery of God Only Known By Revelation
Jesus, the Son of God

**Please post a comment if you know of other sites having messages, hymns, or essays by G.T. Haywood, thanks.**