The Old Rugged Cross (#159)
by request from Mike Huckleberry
Another Resource: The Desire Of Ages: Calvary
George Bennard wrote both the music and the words to this song in 1913, just before Ellen White died in 1915! I hope she had a chance to hear it before she died!
OK, seat-belts fastened? Thinking caps on? Box of tissues handy? Let’s begin!
“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame,”
Nimrod married Semiramis and they ruled Babylon (which Nimrod built the first version of). Nimrod had an affair and Semiramis’ father cut up Nimrod into little pieces and sent them by messenger all over the kingdom to prove that Nimrod was NOT a real god! Semiramis had a panic attack and sent her own messengers after the original set to retrieve the pieces of Nimrod!
Semiramis did not want to lose her status as a “goddess”, so she made up the flat earth story, including how Nimrod the sun god would “fight” the underworld monsters when he went underneath the flat earth! Semiramis was very beautiful and just had to have an heir, so she became pregnant (not sure by whom) and she made up another story about how Nimrod the sun god made her pregnant while she was “sun bathing” (obvious counterfeit for the “virgin birth” of Jesus by Mary)!
The child’s name was Tammuz, and he was born on December 25! And in the time of Christ, everyone knew that the cross was a symbol of the power and authority of Tammuz, another god, of course! When I first read this story in a book called “All In The Name Of The Lord”, I literally almost threw up!
And yet Jesus intentionally stooped this “low” and “became sin for us”! Jesus gladly took all of the shame that should have belonged to us! He is our Creator, King and Priest (Melchizedek), Redeemer, Brother, and Friend! He did this for us, because He loves us! This defines love! Love that has NO EQUAL! (see Song Of Solomon)
“And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.”
We can only learn to really deeply love that old cross as we learn the depths that Jesus explored on our behalf! Both the “little time of trouble” (begins when the first Sunday law is passed – literally any day now – SDA probation closes at this point) and the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (begins when the death penalty is attached to the Sunday law – Probation closes for the rest of the world) are blessings from God to His faithful children in order that we might be more closely connected to Him!
We should not be fearful of these things, nor fail to fearlessly honor His name when brought before worldly authorities! Between the two closings of probation many SDA’s will probably die. The promise of “no more deaths” of SDA’s only applies to the period of 3.5 days between the close of probation for the whole world and the second coming! “There will be a final and full display of the love of God through His people”. EGW And this “display” happens between the two closings of probation! Are we ready?
This is NOT the time to ponder new “ministry methods”, to talk about longer Creation “days”, or to enjoy movies and TV! No, it’s time to study your Bible like never before! It’s time to plead with your neighbors and friends (even enemies) to turn to Jesus! If you do this, then you love that cross! If you don’t, then guess what? You don’t love that cross or the One who died there for you! It’s just that simple!
I’m going to leave the chorus for the last part of this article and focus on just the verses for now.
“Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction for me, for the dear Lamb of God left His glory above, to bear it (the cross) to dark Calvary.”
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.
Philippians 2:5-11 KJV
There’s a wonderful Norwegian song that contains all of these words, from verses 6-11 from the Norwegian Bible! It sounds like a triumphant march! When I first heard this song, and found out it was based on this Bible passage, I thought to myself, “I want to sing this one with all the saints as we enter the New Jerusalem”!
And it is because Jesus decided to behave as this passage describes, that we have our debts paid in full! So, should we not “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”? Is this unreasonable or impossible? (see Desire of Ages chapter one! And Steps To Christ chapter 5! Most SDA’s pay no attention to these words!)
“To the old rugged cross I will ever be true, its shame and reproach gladly bear; then he’ll call me someday to my home far away, where His glory forever I’ll share.”
Really? Will you be true to “the old rugged cross”? Even when fellow SDA members believe that you are being “anti Christian” by sharing the book Great Controversy with your neighbors? Even when they say Ellen White was a “plagiarist”, “dishonest”, “a hypocrite”, and “not a true prophet”? And even when they say, “Creation week was much longer than 6 literal days”? I’ve heard these exact things from SDA preachers’ kids who have been SDA for their whole lives and still claim to be members! How will you respond when you hear these things? Will you stand up for the honor of Jesus Christ, or will you “allow them” to have their own opinions, without saying a word?
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it”.
Matthew 10:28-39 KJV
Listen! I know that some of you reading this want to crucify me right here and now! Whether you do it verbally or literally, doesn’t matter to me! I take everything I’ve written here very seriously, and if you really love Jesus…then so should you!
“So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown.”
“And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me”. (from the Bible reference above) Sounds to me like you won’t be in heaven, if this phrase applies to you! So, my brother, my sister, will you cherish the old rugged cross? Will you carry it with honor, until you cross the finish line? A crown awaits you! Do you really want to complain about your cross?
By the way…Satan is VERY upset with me for writing this article! One of our cats just threw up his dinner in the office where I’m working on this article. For the last two days, one of our dogs has pooped diarrhea in our living room several times! And just last week we had several critical car repairs! Anyhow…it’s just part of bearing my cross!
Again…I’m writing this article, as harsh and critical as it might seem to you, because I love you! I’m also speaking to myself in complete honesty! And I’m trying to help prepare you for what will happen as soon as the first Sunday law is passed! There will be many SDA pastors who will persecute you by what they say and do! Pay no mind to them! They are working against God and will pay the appropriate price! There will be other SDA pastors who will stand up for their Lord! Pray for them…and cooperate with them!
Here’s the customary link to the best performance of the song:
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