Holiness Unto the Lord/Called Unto Holiness
It’s my 100th Friday Classic Hymn episode! To celebrate I am featuring my denomination’s unofficial anthem, written by Lelia Morris and still sung all around the world by Nazarenes today. A powerful call to the holy life, enabled by Christ abiding within, this reminds us that “’Holiness unto the Lord’ is our watchword and song”.
Introduction
Today is a very special episode of Friday Classic Hymns for two reasons. Firstly, because this week I hit 50,000 subscribers. I can't believe it! Thank you for being on this journey with me. It seems like just a short time ago, I was trying to get all my friends to subscribe so that I could get up to a thousand, and now 50,000 - that's crazy! So thank you to all of you for being on this journey, listening to godly music and rediscovering these hymns with me. I really appreciate you being here.
Secondly, this same week I'm recording my 100th Friday Classic Hymn. Can you believe it? I've done 100 of these episodes now, so there's a whole catalogue for you to look at and enjoy all these great hymns that I've done. I think all the favourites, all the really well-known ones I've covered in the first couple of weeks. But I thought, what do I do for my 100th episode? Being a Nazarene, I thought it'd be great to do the Church of the Nazarene's official anthem, which is a hymn called "Holiness Unto the Lord" or "Called Unto Holiness". When I came into this denomination, I just fell in love with the song, and I hope that you'll really come to enjoy it as well.
Do you know this song? Do you know "Holiness Unto the Lord", or "Called Unto Holiness"? I think Nazarenes will have memories of this, all of us, but perhaps in a different denomination you know this one. Please share your stories of the song and your memories of the song in the comments below. If you like it, or if you don't like it, whatever you think of it, write that in the comments as well. I'd love for you to share what you're thinking.
Subscribe to the channel if you enjoy old hymns and if you enjoy any godly music. I like to write and record all sorts of Christian-based music that honours God, so I hope you'll enjoy it here on this channel.
The Story Behind "Holiness Unto the Lord"
Back in 1862, in the small village of Painesville, Ohio, during the Civil War, Lelia Naylor came into the world. Her father was John, and he was away fighting in the war and left her mother, Olivia, to raise the seven children. In this biography that I've read of her, it's called "Singing at Her Work" the writer talks about how Lelia became such a light to her family. She had a heart that was always singing.
At the age of four, her family moved to Malta, Ohio, and her father arrived back home after the war, but died a short time after that. The rest of the family really struggled along. Lelia talks about how she remembers her childhood being difficult, how every penny had to be stretched, and even at a young age, she had to work to try and support the family. But despite this, Lelia's talent for music began to shine quite young. A neighbour very kindly allowed her to come and play the piano, and soon they realised that this little girl had a talent. By the age of 10 or 12, she was playing the reed organ at her local church.
When she was ten, she gave her life to the Lord. Listen to how she describes it: "When I was ten years old, I was led to give my heart to God. It was not a form of giving my heart to God. I knew then that I needed a Saviour. Three different years I went forward to the altar and prayed and prayed until a man came and laid his hand on my head and said, 'Why, little girl, God is here and ready to forgive your sins.'" She had a real encounter with God at that young age and realised that her sins were forgiven by Jesus.
At the age of 19, Lelia married Charles Morris, a young man in the community who had a passion for outdoorsy things - he loved birds and nature. They settled in Mcconnelsville, Ohio, and began to get heavily involved in the local Methodist church. They had four children, and Lelia was always involved there in that church.
But her life changed in 1892 when Lelia went off to a camp meeting, a holiness camp meeting at Mountain Lake Park, Maryland. For the first time, she heard about holiness. She heard that the Spirit longed not just to assure you of your salvation, but to baptise you and cleanse you of sin so that you could live a holy life. This is how she writes about it: "I read in books about the Holy Spirit and how we might have the Holy Spirit come into our lives. I had read this over and over again, but thought it was for bishops and preachers and those doing great work for God. I did not suppose it was for me. Only did I found out in the preaching that it was for the young, such as I. I was so glad when I found that I might have the Holy Spirit in my life. So I will open my heart and let the Holy Spirit come in."
Now, once she experienced that fullness of the Spirit, she began writing songs. She went back home and songs just poured out of her all the time. She would speak about how before that she could play, but she never really had any desire to write. But after she had invited the Holy Spirit into her life and believed that He was present, her life changed. Her heart was singing all the time! She would write and write and write. One of the songs that came out of that period was "Holiness Unto the Lord", or "Called Unto Holiness", as a lot of people know it by its first line. Although she wrote 1,500 other songs and put them all to music herself, I'm actually recording quite a few of them in the Canaan Melodies project I'm doing. I think I've recorded four of her songs already in the first 36 songs of that hymnal that I've done.
Because of this experience of hers - that she was a believer, she did have the Spirit, but when she asked for the fullness of the Spirit, that changed her life - this became a very important song in the holiness movement, because that is the holiness movement's thinking and theology.
Now, in 1913, Lelia's eyesight started to fail and she became completely blind, but she still managed to keep writing songs. She had a blackboard with lines for music staff, and she could feel them. So she would write or stick the notes of the melodies that were in her head onto the board so that they could be written out. Amazing!
Mrs Morris passed away in 1929 and she was widely revered in the holiness movement as one of the great hymn writers, and just as a real soldier for Christ. She had a passion for Jesus. She had a passion for the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Spirit. The second work of grace is what the holiness church teaches, and she wrote about it. She spoke about it. She was involved in her church to proclaim it, and "Holiness Unto the Lord" is one of the great ways she did it.
In the Church of the Nazarene, which was officially formed in 1908, this became a kind of unofficial anthem. Nazarenes everywhere know the song because it's sung at every District Assembly. Most people who are ordained have the song sung at their ordination ceremony. In fact, on many Nazarene buildings you will see "Holiness Unto the Lord" written as the kind of banner of the holiness movement. This is our passion - it's to proclaim the possibility of holiness through the Holy Spirit's indwelling!
I'm grateful for Mrs Morris's wonderful song, and I have this idea in my mind that maybe in the future I'll release an album full of her songs. She wrote so many of them, and I'd love to record a whole bunch of them. So I will get through a few of them on the Canaan Melodies project. But then I want to look for some of her others as well because I really appreciate them.
So let me take you through the words of this song of hers that had such an impact.
What Do the Lyrics of "Holiness Unto the Lord" Mean?
Every verse begins with the words "Called unto holiness".
Verse 1
"Called unto holiness, Church of our God"
The Church of God is called to holiness. 1 Peter 1:15 says, "Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do." People in the holiness movement see this all throughout the New Testament and, of course, in the Old Testament as well. We are called to live holy lives and enabled to by the Spirit.
"Purchase of Jesus, redeemed by His blood"
The church has been purchased by His blood, redeemed by His blood. He bought us at a price when He died on the cross. Now we belong to Him.
"Called from the world and its idols to flee, called from the bondage of sin to be free"
So we're called to holiness - to a life of love and service and purity. But we're called from the world and idols and the bondage of sin. And this is possible - this is the great cry of the song, is that we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to live this way, no longer just going back to sin and asking God to forgive us all over again, but freed from the sins of our past.
Verse 2
"Called unto holiness, children of light"
The New Testament often calls us children of light, no longer living in darkness - darkness representing sin and evil - but children of light, living holy and good lives.
"Walking with Jesus in garments of white, raiment unsullied, untarnished with sin"
Raiment is clothing. So we’re in white garments, symbolically, unsullied and untarnished by sin. In the book of Revelation, the saints are often pictured as clothed in white. Here in South Africa, by the way, there are groups of Christians who meet in the fields. As you drive around on a Sunday, you'll see small pockets of African Christian groups who wear white as they worship. I think they're trying to maybe over-literalise this a bit. This is a spiritual picture of our souls being clothed in white, saved by Jesus, but then going on living holy lives by His Spirit. So unstained, untarnished by sin.
How do we do it? Well:
"God's Holy Spirit abiding within"
The only way that we can be holy is by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which will conquer the sinful nature and enable us to live holy lives.
Verse 3
"Called unto holiness, praise His dear name"
I love that - it's not just about me and my quest for holiness, but praise Him, because:
"This blessèd secret of faith now made plain"
I love that - the way to holiness has now been made plain.
"Not our own righteousness, but Christ within"
So this is not me striving to be holy and God seeing my effort and counting me holy because of my efforts. But it's the Spirit cleansing me from within, or Christ dwelling within through His Spirit. In that moment you are cleansed: that's why the holiness movement emphasises a second work of grace. When you give your all over to God, which you couldn't do when you just needed to be saved - you didn't have the capability, you just received His forgiveness - but now that you've walked with Him and realised the call to holiness, you give it all to Him and He enters your heart. In that moment, by what He's done, not by what you've done, but by what He's done, you are cleansed. It's His righteousness, not ours.
"Christ within, living and reigning and saving from sin"
It's an ongoing thing. It happens in that moment. But as you walk with Him from there, He's living and reigning in you and saving you from sin moment by moment. This is what Paul spoke about when he said, "It's no longer I that lives, but Christ who lives within me. I'm crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2). That's the Christian life - living with Christ reigning within and continuing to love you and save you.
Verse 4
"Called unto holiness, glorious thought"
It really is a glorious and wonderful thing. For people who get this, it becomes your focus in life. You love Jesus for what He's done and you want to honour Him. As He has cleansed you, you want to live in that cleansing and not mess it up.
"Up from the wilderness wanderings brought, out from the shadows of darkness and night, into the Canaan of perfect delight"
This is a picture that the old Nazarenes love to use about how our salvation was us being freed from Egypt. Like the Old Testament - the Jews were freed from Egypt and they were saved. That pictures our salvation from sin. But then we still wander in the wilderness. Remember how the Jews or the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land? So in a spiritual sense, Christians are saved from sin and freed from Egypt. But then they're still wandering in the wilderness for those first few years - saved, but still not quite living the life they should. But then they can move into the Canaan of perfect delight. That's what the second blessing is, or the second work of grace. When you have that moment where the Holy Spirit baptises you, symbolically you cross over the Jordan and enter into Canaan, where you are now living a holy life by His grace. So she's bringing that imagery in.
Verse 5
"Called unto holiness, bride of the Lamb"
So now we're going New Testament - Revelation. The church is the bride of Christ, the bride of the Lamb. We are called to be holy as His bride.
"Awaiting the bridegroom's returning again, lift up your heads, for the day draweth near, when in His beauty the King shall appear"
Jesus promised to return and find His bride spotless when He returns - that's what we're waiting for. While we wait, we live a holy life and we can't wait for Him to arrive and to see Him in His beauty.
The Chorus
Then the chorus that we sing after every verse goes like this:
"Holiness unto the Lord is our watchword and song"
That phrase is what keeps us focused. It's our song, it's in our hearts. We're called to holiness and we have the means to holiness through the Spirit. It's what keeps us on the right road.
"Holiness unto the Lord as we're marching along"
So as we're walking our Christian journeys alongside each other, we're chanting and singing and remembering that holiness is our calling.
"Sing it, shout it loud and long"
I love when we sing this! We sing that word "long" and we sort of stretch it out because we need to proclaim it and remember it.
"Holiness unto the Lord now and forever"
It's our present call, and it'll always be our call as those who are in Christ.
Conclusion
I really enjoy this song. I think we've sung it twice at our church since I've been there, and maybe that's not enough, right? Maybe if this was our watchword and song, we'd be singing "Holiness Unto the Lord" more often.
But it is a little old-fashioned. It's got a bit of an old feel to it. So I have been writing some new holiness songs with this theology, just in a bit of a more modern worship feel, and I've introduced some of those. But what do you think? Should we still be singing this type of stuff, reminding ourselves we're not just saved - we are saved and it's a wonderful thing - but we're saved and through the Spirit we may be sanctified and live that holy life?
Just remember, all this talk about being freed from sin - holiness unto the Lord as freedom from sin - it's not flawlessness! We need to remember that. It's not perfectionism in the way we understand the word today - something that can't be improved on. Yes, we believe that the Spirit in us will empower us not to go off to sin, not to go back and do the sinful things we used to do. But even as holy as we may be, we will still need to be praying for God's forgiveness every day. Not because we've rejected Him and rebelled against Him, but because even at our best, we fall short of His perfection. So we still need the blood of the Lamb to cover us every day.
But don't set it too low and say we're just going to be sinning every day in word, deed and thought! I don't believe that. But don't set it too high and say we're going to be perfect. It's a freedom from sin, but it is still a falling short of absolute perfection. Of course, only when we're glorified and with Him will we be free from the sinful and broken world and will be finally glorified.
What do you think of the song? Did anything speak to you particularly? Did any of the words really mean something to you?
As always, I want to thank you for donating to my ministry. Those who donate on Patreon get downloads of the songs and the piano pieces that are playing in the background of these hymns as well. I really hope you'll also check out my daily devotions channel, which is growing. I really enjoy recording those little clips every week, so check that out. God bless you and remember your call - holiness unto the Lord now and forever.
References
Weiss, ME. Singing At Her Work: A Biography of Mrs CH Morris. Nazarene Publishing House: Kansas City
