Nothing But the Blood of Jesus

“Nothing but the Blood of Jesus,”
Say the words of that precious old hymn,
Yes, “nothing but the Blood of Jesus”
Can wash away all of my sin.
But hymns don’t speak of the Blood anymore,
Nor mention that dear precious Name,
The name of Jesus, my Saviour and Lord,
Who bore all of my sin and my shame.
“What can wash away my sin?”
The answer still is the same:
The pure cleansing flood of my dear Saviour’s blood,
God’s pure, precious Lamb who was slain,
Slain on that old cross on that dark lonely hill
At the place that was called Calvary,
Where the Son of God died on that cross, crucified,
That from sin’s curse I should ever be free.
No, hymns don’t speak of the blood anymore,
Nor of sin, degradation nor shame,
Nor of worms such as I, unworthy, condemned,
Was it not for God’s Lamb who was slain.
The hymns being written are so politically correct,
Full of vain repetitions of phrase,
That one wonders what happened to the blackness of sin
From which mankind must be saved.
Yes, nothing but the Blood of Jesus
Can wash away all of man’s sin,
And there is no other way to come unto God
Than to come, dear friend, by Him.

a. franklin staples
January 12, 1997

© 1997 by A. Franklin Staples

AT THE FEAST OF BELSHAZZAR

At the feast of Belshazzar
God wrote on the wall,
"Thou art found wanting
And due for a fall.
Thy kingdom's divided
And is taken away.
To the Medes and the Persians
I will give it this day."

The king started to tremble,
His bony knees smote,
As he pondered the message
That the hand of God wrote.
He called his magicians,
His astrologers, too,
And commanded them to read it,
But not one could do.

So he called for old Daniel,
The great prophet of God,
And showed him the writing
On the wall's stone facade.
He promised him riches
And fortune and fame
If he would read the message
Which by the hand of God came.

"I cannot do it,"
Was old Daniel's reply,
"But there's a God up in heaven
Much wiser than I
Who'll show me the meaning
Of those words written there."
He spent the next several hours
On his knees, in deep prayer.

And God showed him the meaning
Of those words on the wall
Of Belshazzar's fine palace,
In the great banquet hall.
And when he had read them
To Belshazzar the king,
He was clothed in fine raiment
And given the ring

That made him prime minister,
Second only in power
To Belshazzar himself
If but for an hour,
For in that very night,
Up the dry river bed
Came the Medes and the Persians,
As the writing had said.

And Belshazzar's whole kingdom
Changed hands on that night,
Surrendered in total
Without even a fight
To Cyrus of Persia
And Darius the Mede,
As foretold in the writing
Which Daniel did read.

a. franklin staples


September 29, 1994

Copyright © 1994 by A. Franklin Staples

HEAVEN

All God's creation shall be made new,
Be throughly purged of sin
When God says, "It's finished!", and "time" is no more,
And the saints go marching in.

A brand new earth and a new heaven, too,
Will be made for the saints of the Lord;
There'll be no more corruption, no sin and no death
When God's children receive their reward.

No historical data will be retained
For all things will be made new;
Nothing of this world will be worth saving;
There'll be no great events to review.

All that's evil and corrupt will be forgotten;
There'll be no memories of injustice and wrong;
No wars and no quarrels between men or nations;
Not one thing that doesn't belong.

All will be peace and joy and contentment;
There'll be unclouded day and no night.
No sound of weeping shall ever be heard there
In that city where Christ is the light.

a. franklin staples


April 17-24, 1994

© 1994 by a. franklin staples

ORDINARY PEOPLE

David was a shepherd boy
But he became a king;
Amos was a herdsman —
God's message he did bring;
Nehemiah was a servant
But a city he repaired;
Elijah was a prophet
But one time he ran scared.
Samuel was but a little lad
When God's call came to him;
Moses was a Hebrew child
Who became an Egyptian prince,
Forsook it all at the call of God
To make his people free;
Just ordinary people, these,
Just like you and me.
Now, you may never be a Moses
And lead your people out;
You may never be a Joshua
And bring walls down with a shout;
You may never be a David,
First a shepherd then a king,
Who played upon a shepherd's harp
And wrote the psalms we sing,
But you can be what God intended,
Whatever that may be,
For He works with ordinary people,
Just like you and me.

a. franklin staples

December 21-24, 1993



Copyright © 1993 by A. Franklin Staples

JUST ORDINARY PEOPLE

Not many "great" people walk on this earth,

Destined, it seems, to be famous from birth;

No, most of the people that you and I see

Are just ordinary people, like you and like me.

Not many "great" people, in the worldly sense,

Will make it to heaven, their sins recompensed;

No, most of the people in heaven will be

Just ordinary people, like you and like me.

Not many "great" people, by whatever name,

Will surrender themselves, give up worldly fame

To serve Jesus who died to set all men free,

Even ordinary people, like you and like me.

Not many "great" people will enter that gate

That leads into glory, the narrow and straight;

Nay, the most who will enter by that way will be

Just ordinary people, like you and like me.

Now there are some great people 

with their names in God's Book,

Those who, by choice, the world's way forsook,

Who surrendered to Jesus and decided to be

Just ordinary people, like you and like me.

For greatness, you see, is by Jesus defined

As willingness to leave all the world's things behind

To give service to others, from sin be set free;—

Just ordinary people, like you and like me.

It's not through the "great" that Jesus Christ works,

But the meek and the humble, as He builds His church

Of the repentant sinners His blood has set free; —

Just ordinary people, like you and like me.

Just ordinary people like you and like me

Will reign with King Jesus for eternity,

For all the great people in heaven will be

Just ordinary people, like you and like me.

a. franklin staples

December 20-21, 1993

Copyright © 1993 by A. Franklin Staples

THE "GODS" OF FOOLS

Stocks and bonds and RRSP's,
Mutual funds and GIC's,
Gold and silver, fine, sterling and plate,
And then, of course, there's real estate;
Rubies and diamonds and emeralds - jewels -
The things of earth, the gods of fools;
This wealth that so many think they need
Is the root of evil and lust and greed.
Those that have it want still more
Even though ample they have in store,
And those that lack it wish they had,
Thinking that riches can make them glad,
But in riches happiness cannot be found; —
Money does not make the world go round.
Those with money are afraid they'll lose it
So they hoard it up and do not use it
To help those who cannot help themselves,
To put food upon poor people's shelves;
They invest, with the goal of reaping gain,
In coal and oil and steel and grain,
In whiskey and gin and beer and wine,
For profit is the bottom line.
Lord, help me not get too concerned
About the money I have earned
But help me, Lord, to clearly see
That it is a blessing, Lord, from Thee,
For Thou hast said Thou wilt provide
For those who will in Thee abide.
Help me to live, Lord, by Thy rules
And to worship not the gods of fools.

a. franklin staples

December 10-12, 1993

Copyright © 1993 by A. Franklin Staples

JESUS DID IT ALL!

There's not one thing that I can do,
No work — great or small —
To obtain salvation for myself.
Jesus did it all!

My own good works will not avail.
'Tis on Him that I must call.
Of myself I can but fail.
Jesus did it all!

My pain and suffering are of no avail.
They are but fruits of Adam's fall.
When it comes to suffering for my sins,
Jesus did it all!

The tears I've shed, the sorrows borne
Will have no effect at all.
When it comes to bearing burdens,
Jesus did it all!

Yes, Jesus did it all!
He bore my sin and shame.
The only Way that I can come to God
Is through His matchless Name.

So remember, friend, that works won't do.
It's on Jesus we must call,
For only His blood can take us through.
Jesus did it ALL!


a. franklin staples

October 16, 1993

Copyright © 1993 by A. Franklin Staples

NOTE: I awakened this morning thinking of my father's sudden death on January 30, 1977, on his way home from church, and of his being just as suddenly ushered into the presence of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, not because he had lived a good life or because he had been a deacon or a Sunday School Superintendent or a good husband, father, and grandfather, for he was all of those things while here on earth, nor because he had been in church on that Sunday morning but simply because he had turned his life over to that same Lord Jesus and trusted in His death on the cross and His shed blood for his salvation. Jesus did it ALL!