ANSWERS

The Firstborn of creation
Rejected by His nation
Secured a new relation
  For men of Adam's race;
Ascended undefeated,
His work for God completed,
The Son of Man is seated
  Upon the throne of grace.

The Father was delighted
And heavenly hosts united
To give the Man once slighted
  The place that is His own;
The One who had descended
In whom all good was blended
Sits, risen and ascended,
  Upon the Father's throne.

His glory is eternal;
Things earthly and infernal
Will own He is supernal
  And bow to Him above;
But how much more the measure
Of His unbounded pleasure
In that peculiar treasure
  That answers to His love! 

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Views from Culross Palace

and the great old windows to see them from.

JESUS IS MY SAVIOUR

 

Jesus is my Saviour, Jesus is my Friend,

Jesus is my Shepherd, guiding to the end;

Jesus is my Master, Jesus is my Lord,

Jesus is my Shield and very great Reward;

Jesus is my Sunshine, Jesus is my Day,

Jesus is my Leader in the heavenly way.

Do you know the Saviour? Do you have a Friend?

Do you know the Man on whom you can depend?

Do you know the Master? Do you call Him Lord?

Are you bound to Jesus by faith's eternal cord?

Do you walk in sunshine? Do you know the day

Which goes and brightens to eternity.

He will be your Saviour if you trust in Him:

He will give you sunshine which will never dim;

When you know the Master, when you know the Lord

You with those who love him will sing with one accord:

"Jesus is my Saviour, Jesus is my Friend,

Jesus is my Shepherd guiding to the end!".

(Sing to Onward Christian soldiers!)

More around Culross Palace

 

SAVIOUR, SHEPHERD AND MASTER

The ever-faithful Saviour whom we know

Came down to save us from our sin and woe;

He bore our sins upon Golgotha's tree;

He shed His blood so that we might be free.

The ever-faithful Shepherd whom we know

Preserves us from a world of sin and woe;

His goodness and His mercy follows us,

Lest sin and Satan's power should swallow us.

The ever-faithful Master whom we know

Will fetch us from this world of sin and woe;

We shall be with Him in the heavenly place

Where joyfully we shall behold His face.

18 April 2026

Credit to Andrew M for the first line.

The Firth of Forth from Culross

Culross Palace, Fife, Scotland

(Culross is pronounced Coorus!) 

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME

 

Men climb and fall. Each in his day

Rises on mounting waves of fame

Till the waves break in froth and spray

But Jesus Christ remains the Same.

From riches which words cannot say,

Because of His great love He came

Into the deepest poverty,

Yet Jesus Christ remained the Same.

From past eternity's sublime

Relations to an infant's frame

Within the range of death and time

He moved, but always was the Same.

Jesus could utter words of grace

Or in His Father's house declaim

Against polluters of that place

And still in all things be the Same.

Seen on the mountain clothed in white

Or in the scarlet robe of shame

He caused His Father's heart delight

Since every scene proved Him the Same.

Though He heard Peter own Him Son

Or in the High Priest's house disclaim

All knowledge of Him He was one

In mercy and in love, the Same.

In love He reached the depths for men

And in His body bore the blame

For those who trust in Him   but then

In death or life He was the Same.

But His arising power displayed

The justness of His splendid claim

That altogether what He said

He was, He was indeed, the Same.

Peter and John, in faith, could call

Upon Him to restore the lame

Showing that though ascended all

His power and grace remained the Same.

Throughout the dispensation’s length,

Attacked by persecution's flame,

His own received the needed strength

In knowing Jesus Christ the Same.

They did not fear as dreadful power

Of those who merely kill or maim

But found the grace in every hour

That comes alone from Christ, the Same.

The Lord knows those who own His sway

And every one who names His Name

Departing from iniquity

Proves succour since He is the Same.

Soon we will greet the glorious day

To which our longing spirits aim

When He will come to catch away

His own to find Him still the Same.

Then in the time of setting right

His power will make the nations tame

Till all will find in Him their light

And own that Christ remains the Same.

Throughout eternity His own

For whom he suffered will proclaim

No man but Jesus Christ alone

Is, was, and is to come, the Same.

This was written shortly after the Lord took my father in late 1980; his last words were, "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come".

London!

JESUS CHRIST

Peace is preached by Jesus Christ
(He is Lord of all things)
For His sacrifice sufficed
For both great and small things;
Jesus Christ remains the Same,
Then, and now, and always;
We have blessing in His Name
In both great and small ways.

Jesus Christ the Righteous One
Is propitiation;
Jesus Christ, God's only Son,
Brought our souls salvation;
Jesus Christ the crucified
Saved us by His dying:
Once for all our Saviour died,
For our sanctifying.

In this world where sin and pain
Makes things seem disjointed,
Jesus Christ will come to reign
As the Man Anointed:
Good and vile with one accord
Will pronounce the story:
Jesus Christ alone is Lord
To the Father's glory.

(You can sing this to the tune of Good King Wenceslas.)

Around Findhorn, run by the Findhorn Foundation: https://www.findhorn.org/

THE COMING ONE

 

Once unto Israel’s remnant
Thou wast the Coming One
They saw Thee in the temple
And hailed their rising sun;
And still a waiting people
With opened ear and eye
Desire the Coming One’s face
And long to hear His cry.

The Firth of Forth

THE FIRSTBORN

Thou cause of heaven’s exultation,
Yet in such lowliness displayed,
Thou hast, as Firstborn of creation,
Lived in the world that Thou hadst made!

And such the grace of Thy subjection
That Thou hast died here in our stead,
But in Thy glorious resurrection
Thou art the Firstborn from the dead.

When Thou wast here there were not any
To comfort Thee in time of strife
But now Thou art Firstborn of many -
Thy brethren in Thy risen life.

Come near as Man Thou art distinguished
As Firstborn by the Father’s choice;
Thy praise will never be extinguished
And all Thy worshippers rejoice.

If you look hard you can see Edinburgh Castle top centre, and, a little clearer, Craigmillar Castle to the left, with Arthur's Seat to the right.  This is from the only spot I know of, near Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where the two castles can be seen.

HYMN by Horatius Bonar

I hear the words of love,
I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty sacrifice,
And I have peace with God.

'Tis everlasting peace!
Sure as Jehovah’s name,
'Tis stable as His stedfast throne,
For evermore the same.

My love is oftimes low,
My joy still ebbs and flows,
But peace with Him remains the same,
No change Jehovah knows.

I change, He changes not,
The Christ can never die;
His love, not mine, the resting-place,
His truth, not mine, the tie.

The cross still stands unchanged,
Though heaven is now His home,
The mighty stone is rolled away,
But yonder is His tomb!

I know He liveth now,
At God’s right hand above,
I know the throne on which He sits,

I know His truth and love! 

Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) Born in Edinburgh, and minister of the Grange Church near where I was born and brought up.

Loch Lomond in the distance

The rocks form The Whangie

HYMN by H D'A Champney

'Twas not for our great love to Thee

That Thou didst send Thy Son;

That spring of love, O God, we see

In Thee alone.

 

What love, Lord Jesus, brought Thee down

Our hardened hearts to win,

To be despised and spit upon,

And bear our sin!

 

The sins of many Thou didst bear,

Of all who look to Thee,

When God, Thy God, forsook Thee there,

On Calv'ry's tree.

 

"'Tis finished!" loud triumphant cry

Ere Thou didst yield Thy breath!

The veil was rent, and God draws nigh

To us, through death.

 

That glorious resurrection morn

Bids doubts for ever cease;

For far and wide the news is borne

Of perfect peace.

 

Yes. peace! since every claim is met,

Lord Jesus, by Thy blood,

And Thou, our peace, art ris'n, and set

On high by God.

 

Thy grace, O Lord, alone revealed

That wondrous heart of Thine;

We thank Thee, and ourselves we yield

To love divine.

H. D'Arcy Champney (1854 -1942)

Posted as continuing the theme of Peace.

Streets and feeds of central London

PEACE

 

God has made peace by the blood of Christ's cross;
By Him now all things have been reconciled.
Out of His anguish, His horror and loss
Peace comes in triumph where sin had defiled.

He is our peace who has broken the wall
Forging diversity into one man;
Coming in love He has preached peace to all:
Formed through this Source we are built to one plan.

He gives His peace ‑ what a wonderful gift ‑
More than the best that this world can provide!
How could we fear with such power to uplift
Hearts to the place where His comforts preside?

As Prince of Peace He will quickly return
Down to this earth to set everything right:
Lord! wake our hearts with desire ‑ let them burn
Till Thou shalt come and secure Thy delight.

John Wesley's House, London

John Bunyan's Grave;
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, London

Around Chelmsford, Essex

Brick Lane, London