More Than Conquerors (‘Tis Finished, ‘tis done!)
A powerful hymn about the Christian’s triumph over death, set to a new haunting tune.
This is song 5 in my series Wesley's Hidden Gems. I'm finding forgotten Charles Wesley hymns that I think are beautiful, putting my own music to them to bring them alive - for me, and hopefully for you too.
I've already covered a variety of themes, but this one is very different because it's about death. I found it while researching my book on Lent with the Wesleys. One of the weeks has to do with death, heaven, and the eternal hope that the Wesleys had in their preaching and teaching. I found this hymn doing that research and was just taken with these words. I remember writing a tune for it there and then, but I haven't got to actually recording it until this week.
If you like hymns and hymnwriters like Charles Wesley, I think you'll enjoy what I do on this channel. I hope you'll subscribe and maybe share this video with a friend.
This song was written in the 1700s, and the version I have is from a hymnal called Funeral Hymns, published in 1798 - which was after the Wesleys had both died - but this hymn appeared in earlier funeral hymnals that they published as well. It's a typical Wesley hymn: very victorious, and it makes you think about how death is not the end.
I think it's such an uplifting song! Let's have a look at the words.
What Do the Lyrics of "More Than Victorious" Mean?
Verse 1
'Tis finished, 'tis done, the spirit is fled.
This sounds a lot like when Jesus died and said, "It is finished," and His Spirit departed from Him. It's quite a startling start to a song - declaring quite firmly that somebody has died. We need to remember that even though Jesus has given us victory over death, we do still die. Of course, the great hope of many Christians is that they'll be the generation that doesn't die but meets Jesus in the air when He comes back. But when a believer dies, they die. Their body properly dies and the spirit flees.
The prisoner is gone, the Christian is dead.
The body is a kind of prison, keeping us on earth and distant from God - even though He is with us in His Spirit, that fullness of His presence is not there until we meet Him in another place. So yes, the Christian dies, and you can sing this song at a funeral, stating plainly that this person is dead.
But then I love the turnaround!
The Christian is living in Jesus's love,
And gladly receiving a kingdom above.
Even though the body has died and the spirit has fled, the Christian goes on living in the love of Christ. This is the great hope of Christians - that though we die, yet we shall live. Jesus promised it, and we believe it. We receive a new kingdom. Of course, the kingdom has already begun here - we are living in it now - but we will fully realise and embrace it when we have died and are living on in another world.
Verse 2
All honour and praise to Jesus is due,
Supported by grace, he fought his way through.
The believer was sustained through their life by the grace of God, and so the glory goes to Jesus and Jesus alone for sustaining this person.
Triumphantly glorious through Jesus' zeal.
This person has conquered death, but it is through Jesus' zeal - His work in His death on the cross and His rising from the grave. The Christian is sustained by grace, and all glory goes to Jesus.
And more than victorious o'er sin, death, and hell.
A great promise from Paul in Romans 8, where he says we are more than conquerors. This is why I chose it as the title of the song. There's no title in the hymnal - it's just called "Funeral Hymn" something - but I thought this was the right title, because that's what it's about: even though we die in the body, as believers we are victorious over sin, over death, and over hell as we meet Jesus in heaven.
Verse 3
Then let us record the conquering name,
Our captain and Lord, with shouting proclaim!
We have this testimony to share - the conquering name, the name of Jesus, the name above all names at which every knee will bow and every tongue confess. We proclaim Him as our captain, our Lord, our leader, our God. The shouting almost reminds me of Jericho - the saints walking around the city, shouting and being victorious. Or maybe it also has to do with the shout that Paul talks about in 1 Thessalonians 4, that Jesus will come with a shout. In the meantime, we are recording His name and elevating it as the great name above all names.
Who trust in His passion and follow our Head
To certain salvation, we all shall be led.
If we want to be saved and receive these benefits, we trust in His passion - His death and resurrection. We follow Him. It's a belief and a lifestyle. If we believe in His work on the cross and His rising from the grave, we have life eternal. He gives it to us freely, not by anything we've done, and that is what saves us.
Verse 4
Oh Jesus, lead on in Thy militant care,
And give us the crown of righteousness there.
"Militant care" - maybe that seems like a contradiction, but a sort of military care is apt. Jesus cares for us in this battle we're in against evil, and looks after us not just as a father looks after a son or a friend looks after a friend, but even as a captain or lord of an army looks after his troops - leading them out into battle, but caring for them and wanting to protect them as much as possible.
Give us the crown of righteousness there - one day we will meet Him and receive the crown of righteousness. Paul talks about that in 2 Timothy 4. We don't earn our crowns, but they are given by grace.
Where dazzled with glory, the seraphim gaze.
Just as Isaiah saw the seraphim worshipping God, saying "Holy, holy, holy" in Isaiah 6, we will one day be dazzled with His glory and sing with them.
While prostrate, adore Thee in silence or praise.
Or maybe we'll be so overwhelmed by Him that we will just fall prostrate on our faces and adore Him in silence, or simply with words of praise. That's what it's going to be like when we see Him. I always remember my Uncle Cocky saying at my gran's funeral: "Those people who say, 'When I get to heaven, I'm going to ask God this, this and this' - oh man, we're going to be on our faces in adoration as we see His glory."
Verse 5
Come, Lord, and display Thy sign in the sky.
This is a reference to Matthew 24, where Jesus talks about the sign of the Son of Man in the sky at the end. He's saying: come, let us be part of the generation that gets whisked away and doesn't actually die.
And bear us away to mansions on high.
John 14, of course - Jesus talks about the mansion He has gone to prepare for us. Come and take us back there, Lord.
We pray the kingdom be given, the purchase divine,
And crown us in heaven, eternally Thine.
There's a sense of belonging here at the end. It's not just heaven - it's heaven as His eternal ones. Eternally His.
Conclusion
It's a beautiful, beautiful hymn. I thought it took the theme of death and made it triumphant - which we know it is, but so often at funerals we are so caught up in our grief that we don't remember the triumphant nature of the death of a Christian. Because even though we die, we live on.
Do you think this is worth singing? I don't know that we could sing it at a funeral today - would it work? Would anyone want it sung at their funeral? That great declaration: yes, I'm dead, but I'm living on. It was an uplifting one for me, and I still wrote the tune in a minor key - because it's got a kind of dark feel at the beginning, talking about death so freely - but it swivels into the relative major key by the time we get to the chorus parts. I hope you'll enjoy it.
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Otherwise, why not consider supporting me in prayer? On my website there's a place where you can pray for me and for those who are precious to me - and that really helps me in the work I do. God bless you, and let's sing the song now. Let me know what you think of the tune. I hope it uplifts you today.
