(photo of Ira Stanphill)
“ROOM AT THE CROSS FOR YOU”
“For it pleased the Father…having made peace through the blood of His cross…” (Col. 1:19-20)
INTRO.: A song which reminds us about the peace which we can have through the blood of the cross is “Room at the Cross for You” (#345 in Hymns for Worship Revised). The text was written and the tune (Stanphill) was composed both by Ira Forest Stanphill, who was born on Feb. 14, 1914, at Bellview, NM. His parents were musical people and active in church work. After having travelled by covered wagon from Arkansas to New Mexico, the family then moved first to Oklahoma and then when Ira was eight to Kansas where they settled in Coffeyville. Although he had only a year of piano instruction, his natural musical abilities soon made him proficient on the piano, organ, ukelele, and accordion by the age of ten. At age fifteen he became host of a radio program, then received his high school and a junior college education, all the while attending the Assembly of God. Later in life he received an honorary PhD from Hyles-Anderson College in Hammond, IN. At the age of seventeen, he wrote his first song for a church youth group and, for several years, traveled as a musical director with different evangelists. His first published song appeared in 1935. On his twenty-second birthday, he began his own preaching work in a meeting at Arcadia, KS, and in 1936 became minister of a church in Springfield, MO.
After that Stanphill served Assembly of God churches in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. All over the United States, as well as in forty other nations, he both preached and led singing. One of his unique practices during a meeting was to produce a new gospel song from suggested titles received from the audience. This one was penned in 1945, as a result of such a suggestion given to him on a Sunday morning. While he did not write the song during the service, he returned home that afternoon and when he cleaned out the scraps of paper from his pocket, he became impressed with this title, quickly writing both words and music. Its first appearance in print was the following year in Stanphill’s Hymntime Harmonies, and like many of his other songs, it has since been translated into several foreign languages, including Spanish, German, and Italian. It was later assigned to Singspiration, who renewed the copyright in 1974. “Room at the Cross for You” was used by the nationally-aired Revival Time Broadcast as its closing theme for several years. Perhaps Stanphill’s best-known hymn is “Mansion Over the Hilltop,” written in 1949 and also owned by Singspirsation. Stanphill said that he wrote gospel songs because he loves God and God loves him, that most of his songs were the outgrowth of real experiences, and that he thought that they appealled to people because he also had trials, heartaches, and sorrows, so he knew what he wrote about.
Having penned more than 600 songs, over 400 of which were published, Stanphill founded Hymntime Publishers, which was sold in 1968 to Zondervan Publishing House (Singspiration), where he then served as a staff composer. After working with the Rosen Heights Assembly of God in Ft. Worth, TX, for several years, he retired in 1979 and became active in an itinerant music ministry. A few of his titles that are familiar and still performed today include “Suppertime,” “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow,” “I Walk with His Hand in Mine,” and “We’ll Talk It Over.” Two other songs by Stanphill in Hymns for Worship are “Happiness Is The Lord” and “Follow Me.” His death occurred less than two months shy of his eightieth birthday in Overland Park, KS, on December 30, 1993. Among hymnbooks published by members of the Lord’s church for use in churches of Christ, “Room at the Cross for You” has also appeared in the 1977 Special Sacred Selections edited by Ellis J. Crum; the 1978/1983 Church Gospel Songs and Hymns edited by V. E. Howard; the 1992 Praise for the Lord edited by John P. Wiegand; the 1994 Songs of Faith and Praise edited by Alton H. Howard; the 2007 Sacred Songs of the Church edited by William D. Jeffcoat; and the 2010 Songs for Worship and Praise edited by Robert J. Taylor; in addition to Hymns for Worship.
The song focuses our attention on the blessings of the cross.
I. Stanza 1 points out that the cross brings to mankind the grace of God by which we can be saved
The cross upon which Jesus died,
Is a shelter in which we can hide;
And its grace so free is sufficient for me,
And deep is its fountain–as wide as the sea
A. Jesus died upon a cross: Phil. 2:8
B. This is a manifestation of the grace of God for our salvation: Rom. 3:24-25
C. As a result, a fountain has been opened for cleansing of sin: Zech 13:1
II. Stanza 2 points out that the cross brings us into friendship with Jesus by which He welcomes us
Though millions have found Him a friend,
And have turned from the sins they have sinned,
The Savior still waits to open the gates
And welcomes a sinner before it’s too late.
A. Millions have found Jesus a friend because He laid down His life for us: Jn. 15:13-15
B. The Savior still waits to open the gates because He Himself invites us to come: Matt. 11:28-30
C. We have the example of the Philippian jailor who could believe and obey the gospel to be welcomed in by the Lord: Acts 16:30-34
III. Stanza 3 points out that the cross brings us the love of Christ by which He cleanses us.
The hand of my Savior is strong,
And the love of my Savior is long;
Through sunshine or rain, through loss or in gain,
The blood flows from Calvary to cleanse every stain.
A. Jesus is the Savior because He came to save sinners: 1 Tim. 1:15
B. He showed God’s love in that even though we were enemies to God, He died on the cross to reconcile us to the Father: Rom. 5:8-11
C. Hence, we look to Him and His blood which flowed from Calvary to cleanse us from all sin: 1 Jn. 1:7
CONCL.: The chorus lets us know that regardless of how many come to the cross, there is always room for all who wish to be saved.
There’s room at the cross for you,
There’s room at the cross for you,
Though millions have come, There’s still room for one
Yes, there’s room at the cross for you.
The message of God’s great love displayed at Calvary is designed to move the lost to obey and receive salvation. Christians should resolve to invite needy sinners to come, reminding them that there’s “Room at the Cross for You.”
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