Holy Manna (Brethren We Have Met to Worship)

Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God;
Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word?
All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down;
Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Brethren, see poor sinners round you slumbering on the brink of woe;
Death is coming, hell is moving, can you bear to let them go?
See our fathers and our mothers, and our children sinking down;
Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around.

Sisters, will you join and help us? Moses’ sister aided him;
Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin?
Tell them all about the Savior, tell them that He will be found;
Sisters, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Is there here a trembling jailer, seeking grace, and filled with tears?
Is there here a weeping Mary, pouring forth a flood of tears?
Brethren, join your cries to help them; sisters, let your prayers abound;
Pray, Oh pray that holy manna may be scattered all around.

Let us love our God supremely, let us love each other, too;
Let us love and pray for sinners, till our God makes all things new.
Then He’ll call us home to Heaven, at His table we’ll sit down;
Christ will gird Himself and serve us with sweet manna all around.

Written in the early 1800’s, I was made aware of this song by a great couple in our church (Thanks Mike and Karen).  This particular hymn, in my opinion, has an interesting take on the purpose of the Church.  The Church in this song is not seen as a social club.  It is not seen as just a place to go on Sundays.  Not a place to have our “itching ears” scratched.  But the Church is seen as a place where we meet together, and we break and partake of the “Bread of Life.”  Where God’s Word is preached about, is sung about, and is lived out in the lives of God’s children through fellowship, burden bearing, praying for and caring for one another – Brethren and Sisters in the Lord. 

Jesus speaks of this bread, this Holy Manna, several times in John Chapter 6:

Verse 32-33 -“Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Verse 35 – And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

Verse 48 – “I am the bread of life.

Verse 51 – I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

The Church ought to be the place where “manna” comes down on a regular basis.  It ought to be a place where we feast on God’s Word and dwell in His presence.

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• “All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down” – I was reminded of the old song that says “Without Him I could do nothing.”  It is a theme from John 15:15 where Jesus says “Apart from me you can do nothing.”  Our work is in vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down.  Our striving and our efforts are worthless unless the Spirit is central to what we are doing.  We, as the Church, need the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, direct, comfort, convict, and spur us on to good works.  If we are not living lives filled with the Spirit being led by the Spirit, all that we do is vain.

• “Hell is moving” –  What an interesting phrase this is.  Is Hell really on the move?  As a physical place, I don’t see Hell as a place that is moving.  But as an indicator of the pervasiveness of sin in the world, “hell” is definitely on the move.  The newspaper and internet is filled with awful stories of sinful people. Sin seems to be on the increase.  Wickedness is on the rise.  The enemy is seeking whom he may devour.  But the question is, what should be our response to Hell moving closer and closer in?  Our response should be “the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.”  We should take up the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the evil one.  Hell may be moving, but the Church of Jesus Christ will prevail.  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“What is it?”  That is the actual meaning of the word “Manna” in the Old Testament.  Exodus 16:15 says “So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.  And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.” 

So let me ask a a question about the Church.  What is it?  To you?  Is it a pretty white building out in the middle of the country with old wooden pews and hardwood floors where they sing hymns every Sunday? Is it a modern, technologically up-to-date building with all the latest sound systems, wide screens, lights, and comfy stadium seats?  Is it a 1,000 year old cathedral with beautiful stained glass and granite pillars – empty of both people and the Word?  What is it?

The Church is the Bride of the Christ.  It is made of up God’s people doing God’s work.  It is not a temple built by human hands.  The Church is God’s Spirit living on the inside and visible on the outside of alL believers.  It ceases to be Church when the Church ceases to preach, teach, and live out the Word of God on a regular basis.  I hope today that this hymn has encouraged you to be more involved in the Church.  To be more committed to the Church.  To love the Church where His Holy Manna will be scattered and showered all around.