another hymn written by William Cooper. And, of course, you remember a little bit about the story we learned about his life a couple weeks ago. He became close friends with his pastor, who was none other than John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace. In fact, they were such close friends that he ended up living right behind Newton's home when they lived there in Olney, England. Imagine living right behind your pastor's house. Well, that's what they chose to do. In fact, even today, if you were to visit Olney, you can not only visit their respective homes, again, really close to each other, you can also see the small summer house in which they would sometimes meet right in the middle of their backyards in order to collaborate on some of the hymns that they would write. Really, that summer house was nothing more than just a small shed with some windows, and it would allow breezes to flow through on warm summer days. But that's where a lot of these hymns were actually written, and certainly some of the ones that John Newton wrote as well. Just a couple of years, though, before he wrote the hymn that we looked at last week, God Moves in a Mysterious Way, he wrote the hymn that we'll look at tonight, which we know as There is a Fountain. He wrote it in 1772. I think God Moves in a Mysterious Way was written around 1774, so just a couple years before that. But the first title that it was given is there on your message guide. The first title was Praise for the Fountain Open. Of course, we've been singing praises about the fountain open for us here tonight. But that was the title of this hymn, which was found in the first edition of the only hymn book in 1779. And of course, that series, there was actually three of those books, and they were produced by both Newton and Cooper. But both the title and the theme of this hymn comes from the Old Testament book of Zechariah. And I put the verse there on your message guide as well. Zechariah 13, verse 1, which says this, In that day there shall be a fountain, a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Now, from our standpoint on this side of the cross, This is a clear reference to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is about as clear as one of the things that we find in the Old Testament about Christ. And, of course, it was written several hundred years before Christ, but then its reference wasn't as clear. Instead, the reference of this fountain would have been not to a person, but to a place. A place and a provision like the labor of water. where the priests would go to cleanse themselves during the times of the tabernacle and the temple. And so that was sort of the picture there. But what was in that day a limited provision of cleansing? It was restricted only to the priest as they went before God in the temple. Here we have a special promise to God's people of an unlimited provision of cleansing through a fountain. A fountain, not like the fountain that you might go see in downtown Indianapolis, but rather a spring of living water. A spring that flows water. And that would have been the idea here, that would flow for the cleansing of all of God's people, and not just the priests. Over time though, this prophecy pointed more and more to a person instead of a place. And as the New Testament came to be written, many Old Testament objects, like the tabernacle, like the laver, like the candlestick, and all of those things that we've looked at in times past, many of those Old Testament objects were seen as illustrations and types of the Messiah, that is, of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is how Cooper came to see this verse in light of the gospel. In fact, he wrote another poem, I put a few lines there in your message guide as well, another poem that expresses how Christians can now see and understand many of those Old Testament objects. In another hymn that was titled, Old Testament Gospel, I like that, Old Testament gospel. Sometimes we think that the gospel was reserved only for the New Testament times, but we know that the gospel was given to people even in the Old Testament, even in the Garden of Eden itself after the fall. But this is what he wrote. Israel in ancient days not only had a view of Sinai in a blaze, but learned the gospel too. The types and figures were a glass in which they saw a Savior's face. Those who had the faith to see it saw Christ in those types, in those illustrations, in those objects, in those symbols. And now we see it a little more clearly than they did, but we still grasp them by faith. And so this is how he came to write this hymn about a fountain. A fountain not filled with water, as you might expect, but about a fountain filled with blood. And of course, that brings to mind a much more difficult and even gruesome picture. And yet, it's a biblical picture. You know, I appreciate Brother Tim asking that question, which really should be the question that we ask about all of the hymns that we sing. Is this biblical? Is this biblical? And obviously there's some poetic license, I think, when they come up with some of these hymns, but you want to make sure that they are essentially biblical. And this is a biblical picture. a fountain filled with blood because of the high price that was paid for our cleansing from sin, the precious blood of Christ. And of course, as Hebrews 9.22 reminds us, without shedding of blood, there is no remission, no forgiveness, no pardon from our sin. Blood had to be shed. And whether it's our blood, which wouldn't pay the penalty for our sin, it had to be the blood of someone divine. And so there is a fountain, is a powerful hymn about the blood of Jesus Christ. And I think there was another hymn that we looked at earlier this year that really focused on the blood of Christ, and this is another one. The blood of Jesus Christ, we're told in 1 John 1, 7, cleanses us from all sin. Now, we are familiar with five of the seven verses that Cooper originally wrote. One of those five, though, was adjusted back in 1830, some 30 years after Cooper's death, by Lowell Mason. He actually was the one who wrote the tune that we're familiar with. And it really fits. He wrote it specifically for Cooper's words. It's the same tune that we have in our hymn book. It's the same tune that we'll be using here shortly. But it uses repetition. It uses repetition to focus our attention on the very last line of each verse. And so I'd like us to read the hymn in its entirety as originally Cooper penned it, but then look at what change Lowell Mason made. You can look on both sides of your message guide to read all seven of the original stanzas, but this is how he wrote it. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there have I, here's a personal confession of Cooper, there have I, as vile as he, washed all my sins away. Dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power, till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die. Then, in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save when this poor, lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave. Now these are the two verses that we're not so familiar with. Beautiful words. Now when Lowell Mason wrote his tune, he didn't like how the fifth verse ended. He didn't like how it ended, lies silent in the grave, because as he wrote the tune, the very last line is repeated several times in order to really get the point across and to sing it with joy and triumph. And he didn't think that it was very triumphal to sing, lie silent in the grave, lie silent in the grave. So all he did was, to fit his tune, he switched the first two lines with the last two lines, and that's how we find it and sing it in our hymnal. When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave, then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save. Now that is a way you can end a stanza. I'll sing thy power to save, I'll sing thy power to save, then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save. And I think you probably got that one right. I think you probably got that one right. But then the final two verses of Cooper's hymn have kind of seemed to go by the wayside. I think I've seen a few hymn books that still have them. Obviously, Cooper and Newton's books had them in it. But ever since it was popularized with Mason's tune in 1830, we don't find these two very often. But we'll include them in our time tonight. So in this hymn about the blood of Christ, there are two main sections. The first three verses speak of the reason for Christ's blood, while the last four verses speak of what Cooper's response was, and really what our response can be to the blood of Christ as well. So we've got the reason for the blood, and then the response to the blood. And so the reason for Christ's blood is actually given to us in those first three stanzas. And in the first verse, Cooper reflects on the great potential of Jesus's blood. The great potential. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. So the blood of Jesus Christ, according to Cooper and really according to scripture, has great potential to cleanse us from the deep, dark stains of sin and guilt. Now, I don't... know too much about laundry. I know how to throw it in the washer and then take it out of the washer, throw it in the dryer, and that's about it. Sometimes my wife reminds me to check for stains before I throw it in the dryer because then they'll set there, so you might have to add some more spray stuff on there, I guess. But I've heard that blood is one of the hardest stains to get out. Heard that. May have actually experienced that. I think I might have seared some of those blood stains in when I threw it into the dryer a few times. But here we have, when it comes to sin, the blood of Jesus is the only detergent that can cleanse us from all unrighteousness, as it says in 1 John 1.9. So what really makes a stain on our clothes is the solution for the stains of sin in our hearts. But what gives the blood of Christ such potential? I love how in these three verses, Cooper describes the Lord in one way or really three different ways that shows us the power of his blood. Because, as Cooper puts it, the blood is drawn from whose veins? Immanuel's veins. And of course, we know that that is a name, a designation that is given to the Lord Jesus Christ, and it simply means God with us, God with us. And so the reason why this flood of Jesus's blood can cleanse you from the stain of your sin is because his blood is not merely the blood of a man. It is the blood of God himself. It is the blood of Immanuel, of God with us. That's what makes his blood so powerful. That's what gives his blood such potential. And that is why we sing that in the first stanza. But then in the second verse, Cooper reflects on the great power of Jesus's blood. The great power of Jesus's blood. He focuses attention on the dying thief, right? The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there have I, as vile as he washed all my sins away. So the blood of Jesus not only has great potential, it has great power to wash you from all of your sins, every last one, past and present and future. Of course, Cooper refers to this dying thief. who Jesus promised in his last moments on the cross in Luke 23, 43, that because of that man's faith in him, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And it seems clear that Cooper here is identifying himself with that thief. Yes, he saw Jesus on the cross, but he also saw himself right next to Jesus. He saw himself in that thief and says, I am as vile as he. But it wasn't just that condition that he saw. He also saw in his joyful faith, he saw his joy as well. There is, have I as vile as he, but remember the dying thief says, he says, rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. So what gives the blood of Christ such power? Well, as Cooper puts it here, Jesus is that fountain. And again, it always goes back to Zechariah 13, verse one. The very verse where he gets that theme. Jesus is that fountain. He is that fountain that will never run dry. So you can go to him and have all your sins washed away. Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Revelation. Because in Revelation, That is where we find the idea of being washed in the blood of Christ. But it's actually put two different ways. There are two ways this washing is put. In Revelation 1, verse 5, we're told that it is Jesus who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. So from our perspectives, it's Jesus who washes us in his blood. That's one way of looking at it. But then if you go over to chapter 7, verse 14, We're told, or we see that it's Christians who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So, from our perspective, that is done in an active sense. So in one sense, and from God's perspective, it's Jesus who washes us through his blood when he saves us. But in another sense, and from our perspective, we wash ourselves through his blood when we believe in him. And that's the idea of Cooper. Cooper says, I have gone to the fountain to wash my sins away in the blood of Christ. This is a conversion experience. This is a conversion statement. This is what you did when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your savior. But in doing so, in actively washing yourself in the blood of Christ, it's because Jesus Christ himself has washed you already. But together, the blood of Jesus Christ never loses its power. And that's why there in the third verse, Cooper reflects on the great purpose of Jesus's blood. So you've got the great power, and you've got the great potential, and now the great purpose, where he says, dear dying lamb, it's a prayer, dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. So the blood of Jesus fulfills God's great purpose to ransom and save a people unto himself who will one day be saved to sin no more. Imagine what kind of day that will be. For you personally, for you individually, but also for all of God's people, for all time, saved to sin no more. Can you imagine a time and a place where there will be no more sin? What a powerful thing, what an amazing thing. But that's the purpose of the blood of Jesus Christ. Of course, the verses that Cooper has in view here is 1 Peter 1. If we go there together, 1 Peter 1, you know these verses, verses 18 and 19. Peter wants to remind us again and again, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed, you were not bought back with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but how were you redeemed? with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. The reason why the blood of Jesus Christ has such great potential, has such great power, and even here has such great precious value is because he is the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. He's that final lamb. Now obviously we don't know for sure if God used a lamb in order to provide the clothing for Adam and Eve after they sinned. More than likely he did, we're not told such. But from that time, even until Jesus died on the cross, lambs were the very picture of Jesus himself. Meek and mild, pure and spotless. But those lambs were only used to cover sin for a time. But Jesus' blood, as the Lamb of God, cleanses us from all sin. So these are the reasons. These are the reasons why Jesus had to become flesh and blood so that His blood might be shed. His was the only blood that could have such potential and power and purpose for sinners like Cooper and sinners like us. That's the reason for the blood. But when you and I receive the benefits of the blood, how should we respond? And that leads us to really the rest of Cooper's hymn, the response to Christ's blood. There in the fourth verse, Cooper wants us to see how the shed blood of Christ ought to affect the very theme of our life. I liked how he puts it here. E'er since by faith I saw the stream, thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die. What is a theme? A theme is the very purpose for your life. You know, there was a time a few years ago that coming up with a mission statement was really all the rage. And so churches would come up with these mission statements, and families would come up with mission statements, and businesses would come up with mission statements, and it seems like that has kind of gone a little bit by the wayside. Obviously, everybody should have a purpose, but that's the idea here. We ought to have a theme in our lives as Christians. And here Cooper says, now, ever since by faith I saw the stream thy flowing wounds supply, ever since I've been saved by the blood of Christ, redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die. Of course, faith is essential for Christ's blood to have this kind of effect. When you believe, the fountain of his blood now turns into a stream. He kind of changes the picture a little bit. The source, the spring of the blood of Christ is everlasting. It's something that will never go away. And yet that fountain, that spring turns into a stream, into a river. Imagine a river of blood. And yet it's not a blood of wrath, but a blood of mercy for those who believe. And it's all supplied by his blood flowing out of his veins, he puts it, through the wounds of his head, his hands, his feet, and his side. I think it's really interesting, a lot of these older hymn writers focus on the five bleeding wounds of the Lord Jesus. We saw this in Wesley, I think. We saw this in others as well. And yet here we have it here as well. We have the blood from the veins of Christ flowing out of the wounds of Christ. And those wounds, all of those wounds, reveal God's love. Romans 5a, but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we're yet sinners, Christ died for us. And when Christ died for us, he shed his blood for us. But once you believe the love of God, that can be and ought to be the main theme of your life. Redeeming love has been my theme. Now, the way that Cooper put this is a great desire and aspiration for us to have as Christians, I think, right? Our desire should be that redeeming love is our theme, but I think sometimes our theme shifts throughout life. But when Cooper writes this, redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die, the question is, was this true for Cooper, knowing what we now know about his life and his fits of depression? Sadly, no. He struggled with having redeeming love as his theme. He struggled with that. At the time, though, he wrote this, it was his desire. It was his aspiration. And it ought to be our aspiration, too. But I wonder if a better way to put this would have been as a prayer. Maybe something like this. May redeeming love become my theme, and be so till I die. Because That's our desire, that's our aspiration, that's what we want. But sometimes we struggle with that truth. But there in the fifth verse, Cooper knows that the blood of Jesus will also not only affect our theme of life, but also our tongues, our tongues in another life. Then in a nobler, sweeter song," this is how he originally wrote it, "...then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save, when this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave." Now, some believe that Cooper himself had a lisp, or some kind of stammer or stutter after one of his fits with depression. We're not totally sure. But he actually reflects what it says in Isaiah 32, verse 4. when the Lord prophesies how one day the hearts also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. Obviously, Cooper knew that passage and was reflecting that passage, whether he experienced that stammer or not himself. And so even though you and I cannot give to the Lord all the praise he deserves for his blood, one day you will be able to. Isn't that a wonderful thing? I think sometimes when we come to sing of his power to save and we come to sing and to worship the Lord, our heart's not fully in it. Our mind's not fully in it. Sometimes we might stammer and list, or maybe we've got a cough, or we've got other issues that are struggling to get out our praise to the Lord. Someday, we're not gonna have those restrictions, those limitations. We'll be able to praise Him for His power to save fully and forever. But then we come to those sixth and seventh verses that are not so familiar to us, and Cooper reflects on how the blood of Jesus affects his time. And by time, I'm reflecting on the time yet to come. Because when eternity does come, he writes this, Lord, I believe thou hast prepared unworthy, though I be for me a blood bought free reward, a golden harp for me. And then, of course, he expands on that harp. It's strong and tuned for endless years, but it's formed by power divine to sound in God, the father's ears. No other name but thine. There are some who think these two stanzas are not of the same caliber or quality as the other verses, and that's why they're out. Some do not see these verses as closely connected and integral to the other stanzas in this hymn. But whether they think it is or not, Cooper thought it was. because it still shows the hope that the blood of Christ gave to Cooper. In fact, it reflects something else that we find in the book of Revelation. Last passage that we'll turn to is Revelation 14. Why don't we head there? We're gonna look at several verses. Revelation chapter 14, which eventually we'll get there in our Sunday school lessons, but in Revelation 14, verses one through three, in John's vision, he says this. Revelation 14, one. And I looked, and lo, a lamb, the Lord Jesus, stood on the Mount Zion, the heavenly mount. And with him, 144,000. We met them in Revelation seven. And these have his father's name written in their foreheads. And then he says, and I heard. So again, he saw and he heard. He heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their hearts. And they sung, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders, and no man could learn that song but the 144,000 which were redeemed from the earth." As Cooper wrote these words, Cooper saw himself in John's vision and believed that one of those harps would be his, so that his voice might be accompanied with his harp in order to glorify the Lord in a way that was worthy of his blood. So tonight, as we close, we're going to sing Cooper's hymn as he originally wrote it, even though it's going to be a little different because it's still to the tune that we're familiar with. But as we do so, remember what Paul tells us in Ephesians 2, 13. Remember that now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. And that's why we sing, there is a fountain filled with blood, because that brings us close to God. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for the hymn that we're about to sing. We thank you, Lord, for the imagery that we have looked at. We thank you, Lord, for the truth that is put into a poetic form to stir our hearts, to really see not only the reason for the blood of Christ to be shed for us, and that ought to stir our hearts beyond measure, but Lord, also how we can respond. And we respond by singing your power to say, Lord, we as Christians ought to be more than anyone. People who have something to sing about because we recognize your love for us. We recognize the cleansing that you provided through the Lord Jesus Christ. We recognize that that fountain is still open for us when we continue to struggle with sin and the other issues that come into our lives. And so, Father, I pray that we will regularly remember and respond to the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses us from all sin. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand together, and we're going to sing all these seven verses. And even though verse five is still gonna end a little bit differently, we're gonna sing it the way he wrote it, and then we'll pick up verses six and seven. They do fit, but we'll try it together. So let's sing, There is a fountain filled with blood, remembering the power and the potential and the purpose of that blood. Let's sing together. There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that flood ♪ Lose all their guilty stains ♪ ♪ Lose all their guilty stains ♪ ♪ Lose all their guilty stains ♪ ♪ And sinners plunged beneath that flood ♪ ♪ Lose all their guilty stains ♪ The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there have I, as vile as he, washed all my sins away. Washed all my sins away, Washed all my sins away. And there have I, as vile as he, Washed all my sins away, Dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed Church of God be saved to sin no more. Be saved to sin no more. be saved to sin no more. Till all the ransomed Church of God be saved to sin no more. E'er since by faith I saw the stream, Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die, And shall be till I die. die and shall be till I die. Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die. Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save. When this poor, lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave. When this poor lesbian's stammering tongue lies silent in the grave, Lord, I believe thou hast prepared, unworthy though I be. For me, a blood-bought free reward, a golden harp for me. A golden harp for me. A golden harp for me. For me a blood-bought free reward, A golden harp for me, Tis strong and tuned for endless years, And formed by power divine. to sound in God the Father's ears. No other name but thine. No other name but thine. No other name but thine. To sound in God the Father's ears, no other name but thine.