Recently there came into my
possession a many-years-old desk motto made of a triangular block of wood with
a metal plate fastened on front bearing the words, "Christ Is All."
The words are taken from the Bible:"Christ is all and in all" (Col.
3:11). The JND translation reads, "Christ is all things, and in all."
It is to have discovered the
Spring—the Secret of life—for one to have found the Lord Jesus Christ. Servants
of God have, in ecstasy, made their life motto, "Christ Is All"; this
was said of brother Samuel Ridout in particular.
It is of interest to learn how
many hymn-writers and poets have written upon this theme. Hymns of Grace and
Truth contains quite a number of examples of this, I have found.
"Christ is all" for salvation of the soul; "Christ is all"
for the daily path of a Christian from the moment he is saved until taken home
to glory; and "Christ is all" for worship and for assembly life,
collectively with other believers.
Following are extracts from Hymns
of Grace and Truth:
"I heard the Saviour say,
"Thy strength indeed is small!
Child of weakness, come to Me!
Find in Me thine All in all!"
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain:
He washed it white as snow.
Elvina M. Hall
(#263)
* * *
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind,
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
Charlotte Elliott
(#300)
* * *
My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life-giving and free:
"Jehovah Tsidkenu" is all things to me.
Robert M McCheyne
(#265)
* * *
Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;
Thou savest those that on Thee call;
To them that seek Thee, O how good,
To them that find Thee, All in all!
Bernard of Clairvaux
(#92)
* * *
O Jesus, Lord, my Life, my All,
Hast Thou now set Thy love on me?
Then chain this heart, Thy captive thrall,
To beat for evermore for Thee!
F. Allaben
(#175)
* * *
Christ Jesus is my All in all,
My comfort and my love,
My life below, and He shall be
My joy and crown above!
J. Mason
(#80)
* * *
I lift my heart to Thee, Saviour divine!
For Thou are all to me, and I am Thine.
Is there on earth a closer bond than this,
That "my Beloved’s mine, and I am His!"
C. E. Mudie
(#117)
* * *
The love has made the glory mine—
Oh, prostrate at His feet I’d fall!
And e’en the glory I’d resign
To have the love alone, my all.
F. C. Jennings
(#44)
* * *
Jesus, my Saviour! Thou art mine,
The Father’s Gift of love divine;
All Thou hast done, and all Thou art,
Are now the portion of my heart.
All that Thou hast Thou hast for me,
All my fresh springs are hid in Thee;
In Thee I live; while I confess
I nothing am, yet all possess.
James G. Deck
(#93)
* * *
Taken up with Thee, Lord Jesus, I would be;
Finding joy and satisfaction all in Thee;
Thou the nearest and the dearest unto me.
Miss C. A. Wellesley
(#84)
* * *
He my cause will undertake,
My Interpreter will be;
He’s my all; and for His sake,
God be merciful to me.
J. S. B. Monsell
(#299)
* * *
Jesus, before Thy face we fall—
Our Lord, our life, our hope, our all!
For we have nowhere else to flee—
No sanctuary, Lord, but Thee!
C. Medley
(#69)
* * *
We praise Thee, and would praise Thee more;
To Thee our all we owe:
The precious Saviour, and the Power
That makes Him precious too.
William Cowper
(#191)
* * *
We can scarcely close this tribute
to "Christ Is All" without quoting the words of Isaac Watts who
epitomizes the theme in #83:
O Lord, the Spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And comfort of my nights!