The hymn “Seeking The Lost” was written in 1886. Some view the Parable of the Lost Sheep as
inspiration for the writing of this hymn and this certainly fits the lyrics.
William Augustine
Ogden (1841-1897), Lyricist & Composer
William Augustine Ogden was born October 10, 1841 in
Franklin County, Ohio (the Columbus area where I was born too). His parents
moved to Indiana when he was six years old.
He showed music aptitude at age 8, and through singing schools he was
able to sight read music by age 10. He
would soon be writing words and music. He
served in the 30th Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and fought
in several major battles. He also organized
a male choir which was well known in the Grand Army of the Republic.
He was trained in the Boston Music School under teachers
such as Lowell Mason, Thomas Hastings, B. F. Baker, and others. He was known for composing sacred music
including both lyrics and music.
According to Hymnary.org, his most popular lyrics were for “Sweet Are
the Promises, Kind is the Word”. He also
published several songbooks beginning with his first Silver Song in 1870; which was a major success in the United States
and England.
He taught music in several places in the United States and
even in Canada. He was the Director of
Music in Iowa starting in 1874, but he became the Superintendent of Music for
the Toledo School System in 1887. He
loved to teach music to children and taught thousands. Ogden died October 14, 1897 in Toledo, Ohio;
and his funeral was considered the largest Toledo had ever seen at the time. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Toledo,
Ohio. His wife, Jennie V. Ogden was also
buried there with other members of the Ogden family including children: Edwin, Lowell, Percy, and Marian. Jennie was 47 when William Augustine Ogden
died at the age of 58. She lived another
35 years.
Seeking The Lost
There are two types of lost souls. First are the ones who
have never obeyed the gospel. Second are the ones who have obeyed the gospel
but have wandered away. Notice the phrases: “Souls that are
weak” and “Hearts that are sore” which suggests those who have gone astray. It is sad when people obey the gospel but
somehow end up leaving the Lord and His church.
It is extremely difficult work to get those who wander away from the
Lord to return, but it is work we must do.
Sadly, some allow members to leave their fold without even a word, which
is disgraceful and adds another hurdle to getting these precious lost ones back. I have seen leadership allow people to leave
without trying to exercise church discipline to get them back. They would shrug their shoulders stating the
person “…had wandered off and maybe they will wander back.” Have these not read the Parable of the Lost
Sheep?
We are expected to encourage those who have become
discouraged; cf. Ephesians 4:12. Remember
Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement”.
This was not the name he was given at birth, but it was his name given
to him by the apostles because of his work of encouragement. The song includes this message as well: “Cheering the
faint and raising the fallen”. We
all need to always do more in the way of speaking words of encouragement to others
and not just the preacher (although he certainly can always use such.)
We spend so much effort to convince people to obey the
gospel, but do we consider how important it is to keep them in the congregation? If you think converting them is difficult,
try restoring them! This is what the
Hebrew writer speaks of: “For it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly
gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good
word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them
again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God,
and put Him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6, NKJV.) Can a person be brought back? Is it literally “impossible”? One needs to keep the context in mind to see
the “impossibility”. These cannot be
brought back as long as they continue to rebel against Christ. Consider another translation on this passage
to see the nature of “impossibility”: “For it is impossible,
in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness
of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen
away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again
the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt” (Hebrews 6:4-6, ESV). Notice the tense of “…since they are crucifying once again…” Wayne Jackson rightly noted: “Both of
the expressions “crucify” and “put him to open shame” are present tense
participles. In Greek, the present tense has more to do with the type of
action, rather than time (the latter being secondary). The present tense
represents an action that is in progress, and generally, one that is
sustained…The “crucifying” and “putting to open shame,” therefore, represent
on-going actions on the part of apostates.”
It is only “impossible” in that we cannot restore those who
continue in deliberate rebel against God.
We certainly have a more difficult task in restoring the erring because
these have already learned the good news and have left such behind to go back
into the world. What “good news” are we
going to share with them when this has happened that they don’t already know? What more motivation can we provide that they
have not already heard? We need to
remind them, and we need to warn them.
One of the more difficult assignments given to a new
preacher is to have him go to restore the lost from the time prior to his
tenure. Some consider this a “fool’s
errand” because the preacher has no idea what the issues are and is at a
tremendous disadvantage going in. It
would be wise for a preacher who was given such a task to insist that senior
men (preferably the elders if available) from the congregation go with him on
this mission. May we do all that we can
to seek and save the lost, including the ones who were once saved but have
wandered back into the wilderness of sin.
And a reminder to us, that we keep our hearts with all diligence since
we have been warned: “Therefore we
must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift
away” (Hebrews 2:1, NKJV.)
--------------------------------------------
SOURCES:
Burch, Aaron, “Seeking The Lost,” Bucyrus, OH: Annual West Virginia School of Preaching
Lectureship, 12 November 2016.
Hall, J. H. Biography
of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, New York:
Fleming H. Revell, 1914.
Howard, V. E., and Broadus E. Smith, eds. Church
Gospel Songs & Hymns. Texarkana, TX:
Central Printers & Publishers, 1983.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Augustine_Ogden
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Ogden&GSiman=1&GScid=44168&GRid=137088758&
http://www.hymnary.org/person/Ogden_William
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/o/g/d/ogden_wa.htm
Segars, James.
“Seeking The Lost.” Lessons in Lyrics. Memphis, TN:
Memphis School of Preaching, 1998, pp. 546-556.
Wiegand, John P., Editor. Praise for the Lord. Nashville, TN:
Praise Press, 1997.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment