TRUE

There was a Man

Amid a world lying

In the wicked one; all

He said was true .

Amongst gainsayers,

Self-seekers, and those at enmity

With truth, He could

Be named the Amen.

Among disciples He could start,

As He could with Pharisees,

Sentences of high intent,

"Verily, verily ...".

Before His Father He could

Acknowledge One in glory

And in intimacy as

The only true God.

[Being Scots I'm a bit thrifty and try to get my poems to work more than one way!]

In the grounds of Mellerstain House

BEFORE HIS FATHER

Before His Father He could
Acknowledge One in glory
And in intimacy as
The only true God.
 
So that His Father was
Constrained by love to accord
What accords to His nobility
The title "Lord and Christ".
 
Having completed the work
To the satisfaction of Him
Who loved Him He could
Address, "Righteous Father".
 
He was the expression of all
God would convey, consonant
With the divine thought that every
Word of God is pure.

Why is He the Beloved?
Because God saw in every act
And thought He was true,

Noble, just and pure. 

Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders

Designed by Robert Adam

(probably Scotland's greatest architect)

AMONGST GAINSAYERS

 

Amongst gainsayers,

Self-seekers, and those at enmity

With truth, He could

Be named the Amen.

While the world destroyed,

Sin damaged, Satan corroded,

This was the Man who

Devised noble things.

 

Before an earthly ruler

The Just One stood. Crowds 

Clamoured for injustice; He

Accomplished righteousness.

Three times Satan essayed

To sully that man by

Guile. Failing, he attempted

Violence. And failed again.

Amid a world of hatred,

Crucifying God's Man,

A few, attracted by Him,

Gathered around His cross.

Views of the Firth of Forth from Fife

A brief contemplation, relating the life of the Lord Jesus to the things to be thought of in Philippians 4:8

The King of the Jews

Born; all the prophets' words

Verified in the Amen.

Taking His place among

The poor of the flock, see the Just One

Fulfilling all righteousness.

Acclaimed in baptism;

Acclaimed on the mount:

See God's Beloved!

Never have words been said

With such dignity: "Not my will

But thine be done".

Without blemish;

Without spot:

The Lamb for the offering.

Where the excellence

Always existed, the fire

Released the fragrance.

The four evangelists

Wrote, by the Holy Spirit,

Their holy narratives.

Worthy of homage;

Worthy of honour:

The ascending Man.

(This is another thinking of the things in Philippians 4: 8)

More of Culross, Fife

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! 

l

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!

A PSALM ON THE TITLES OF CHRIST

 

If He is the Alpha and the Omega

All titles between belong to Jesus;
If He is the Father's Beloved
He is the assembly's Beloved too.
Since the Lord Jesus is the Christ of God
How wonderful a Christ-ian is to God!
Since the Dayspring from on high has risen
What guidance we have in the way of peace!
Emmanuel has come in - God with us -
So that by His grace we should be with God;
He came that He might become Friend to me
And fold me with those who are friends of God.
If God distinguishes His "gracious one"
He will also pour grace into His lips;
Since He is the Head of the assembly
He's worthy to be Head of every man;
The Person who could call Himself, "I am"
Said also, "I am the door of the sheep".
Since the Just One has suffered on the cross
The just may be justified by his faith. 
Jesus, the rejected King of the Jews,
Will reign in universal kingship.
He is Lord of all we willingly say, 
Before the day when all confess Him Lord.
If already we have the Morning Star
Soon the world shall shine in Messiah's light.
How suitable that the Nazareaen
Should be the branch of true nazariteship;
Since He is the Alpha and Omega
He must have as spouse the Aleph to Tau.
He is a clearer Prophet than Moses;
He is a purer Priest than Aaron;
For the dead the Son is the Quickener:
For the storm-tossed He is the Quietener;
If in His grace He is the Redeemer
Such grace made Him a Ransom for many;
To the One who is Saviour and Shepherd
Belongs the title of the Son of God;
We receive instruction from the Teacher
And refreshing fruit from the Tree of life.
Our  holy, harmless, undefiled High Priest
Bears to our unfading inheritance.
O Wisdom of God, the incarnate Word,
Come and show us the way of prudence.
He who expired is risen: exult Him!
He who excels us all: exult in Him!
We are awaiting the once-slain Yearling:
"Yea, I come quickly", the Lord Jesus says.
Zechariah tell us where His feet shall stand;
And Zephaniah tells where He will rest.

Completed 5 August 2019.

Around Berwick-upon-Tweed