The Bible has many contrasts, things that are opposite one another, because of the incredibly powerful transformation that comes about as a result of the gospel. A number of those are found in the Gospel of John, contrasts like life and death, light and darkness, good and evil, this world and the world to come, the wrath of God and the love of God, angels and demons, God and Satan, heaven and hell.
Preachers and hymn writers have often imitated that pattern with eloquent creativity as a means of impressing people with the dramatic change that happens when the gospel re-creates a human soul in the image of Jesus. Instead of having one thing, we then have another, which is actually just the opposite. It’s a way of portraying what Paul emphasized in letters like Ephesians, where he taught that a Christian is not just an improved version of the “old,” but is actually something entirely new. Paul said that very thing in 2 Corinthians 5:17. “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” We also see that pattern of contrasts in Ephesians 4:22-24 where Paul calls us to put off and put on.
Such contrasts dominate the text of the hymn “Out of My Bondage, Sorrow, and Night” (sometimes known by the title “Jesus I Come”), written in 1887 by William True Sleeper (1819-1904). The contrasts come in every verse, in the movement that progresses from “out of” and then to “into.” That pattern is evident in the opening two lines, the first phrase with three negatives, and the second phrase with three positives that are the exact opposite of each, in perfect balance, rhyming not only the sound but also the ideas: “Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night” … “into Thy freedom, gladness, and light.”
Sleeper was an American Congregational clergyman, educator, poet, and hymn-writer, born in Danbury, Connecticut to Jonathan and Mary Sleeper. He attended the Phillips Exeter Academy, a preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire, and then graduated from the University of Vermont in 1850 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1858. He and his wife, Emily, both taught at Woodman Sanbornton Academy before his ordination. After ordination on June 29, 1854, he did missionary work in Worcester, Massachusetts and was Chaplain of the State Reform School for Boys from 1856 to 1860. He held a number of positions around Massachusetts and Maine, and was involved in the establishment of three churches in Patten, Sherman, and Fort Fairfield, Maine. In 1876, he returned to Worcester where he preached for 30 years at the Summer Street Congregational Church. Sleeper also served as supervisor of schools in Aroostook County from 1868 to 1871, president of the Aroostook Valley Railroad in 1874, and established and edited the periodicals “The Voice and The North Star.”
In 1877, Sleeper began writing hymns with composer George Coles Stebbins (1846-1945). That year, Stebbins was in Worcester assisting George F. Pentecost in an evangelistic crusade. Pentecost preached one night on John 3:3 about the need to be born again. With the strong impression of this sermon on his mind, Stebbins contacted Sleeper, who apparently had already written some hymns, to ask his assistance in providing verses for a hymn on the subject. The result was likely Sleeper’s most famous gospel song, “Ye Must Be Born Again.” Sleeper published a book of poems in 1883, which included two which would later become hymns: “Jesus, I Come” (which later became known as “Out of My Bondage, Sorrow and Night”) and “Ye Must Be Born Again” (also known as “A Ruler Once Came to Jesus by Night”). He published “Walks and Talks: A Sunday School Book” in 1860 and “The Rejected King and Hymns of Jesus: A Devotional Book of Poems” in 1888.
His three children distinguished themselves in various fields of service. William W. Sleeper was also a Congregational minister at Wellesley, Massachusetts for many years. Henry Dyke Sleeper was a professor of music at Smith College. And Mary Sleeper Ruggles was a well-known contralto soloist in Boston. Sleeper’s granddaughter, Helen Joy Sleeper, daughter of William, was the music librarian at Wellesley College and a widely respected research scholar. The senior patriarch of the family died on September 24, 1904 in Auburndale, Massachusetts.
At first glance, with the repeated refrain “Jesus, I Come” (sixteen times!), this hymn sounds like it could be directed toward someone who is not yet a believer, still immersed in the many ways in which sin brings misery and unhappiness into a life that is outside of the gospel. That invitation to come to Jesus comes from Jesus Himself, in Matthew 11:28-30. “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
But a more thoughtful consideration of the lyrics will cause us to recognize ourselves as believers today in this very condition of need. Though we are no longer under the condemnation from our sin, we do still struggle with the indwelling presence of “the old man.” These words were not just for us back when we first came to Jesus. They are also for us each day as we need to come to Jesus afresh. We still struggle with sin. The Bible does not support the faulty idea of “perfectionism.” We won’t be free from our struggle with sin until we are in glory. Paul made that clear as he wrote near the end of his life in 1 Timothy 1:15 that he viewed himself as the chief of sinners. That was not because he had progressively become more and more characterized by sin, but that as he had grown in Christ, he could see more and more of the sin that remained. We see that principle that when a light is brought into a dirty room, it doesn’t make the room dirtier, but it makes the dirt that’s there more visible so that one can work more effectively in cleaning up the dirt.
An interesting exercise with this hymn would be to make two columns on a paper, one called “out of my …” and the other called “into Thy…” That would make the direct contrasts even more bold, between the heaviness and darkness of those things on the left compared to the weightlessness and brightness of those things on the right. You will see that kind of contrast in each stanza below. In each stanza it will also be evident how many scripture passages informed Sleeper in his writing.
Stanza 1 shows us the contrast first between our “bondage, sorrow, and night” and “Thy freedom, gladness, and light,” and then second between “my sickness, my want, and my sin” and “Thy health, Thy wealth, and Thyself.” All responsible people are in bondage to sin at one time or another (Galatians 4:3). But coming to Jesus makes us free from the bondage of sin and death (Romans 6:17-18). Thus, we can come out of sin and into Christ Himself (Galatians 3:26-27).
Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of my sickness into Thy health,
Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Stanza 2 shows us first the contrast between our “shameful failure and loss” and “the glorious gain of Thy cross,” and then second between “earth’s sorrows, life’s storms, and distress” and “Thy balm, Thy calm, and jubilant psalm.” We must count all things as but loss for Christ (Philippians 3:7-8). This glorious gain is made possible by the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:14).
Thus we can come out of overwhelming distress to the jubilant psalm of rejoicing always in the Lord (Philippians 4:4).
Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of earth’s sorrows into Thy balm,
Out of life’s storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Stanza 3 shows us first the contrast between “unrest and arrogant pride” and abiding in “Thy blessèd will,” and then second between “myself and despair” and being low, and “Thy love, raptures above, and wings like a dove.” Arrogant pride is something that will keep us out of heaven (Proverbs 16:18). Coming to Jesus demands submitting our wills to His as He did to the will of the Father (Luke 22:42). Only in this way can we proceed upward on wings like a dove to find rest (Psalm 55:6). Note: “aye” is pronounced like “eye” when it means yes, as in voting or sailor talk, but is pronounced as a long “a” sound is in “hay” when it means ever, as it does in this song.
Out of unrest and arrogant pride,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into Thy blessèd will to abide,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of myself to dwell in Thy love,
Out of despair into raptures above,
Upward for aye on wings like a dove,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Stanza 4 shows us first the contrast between “the fear and dread of the tomb” and “the joy and light of Thy home,” and second between “the depths of ruin untold” and “the peace of Thy sheltering fold,” then “ever Thy glorious face to behold.” The Bible speaks very ominously of the fear and dread of the tomb or death (Hebrews 2:14-15). But coming to Jesus brings us into the light and joy of the hope of eternal life in His home (Titus 1:2). There, when His home will have fully and eternally have become our home, we shall behold His glorious face forever and ever (1 John 3:1-2).
Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,
Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;
Into the joy and light of Thy Home,
Jesus, I come to Thee;
Out of the depths of ruin untold,
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,
Ever Thy glorious face to behold,
Jesus, I come to Thee.
Sleeper sent the words to George Coles Stebbins (1846-1945) to have them put to music. Stebbins was a noted Gospel musician of the time, who not only wrote music, but also played the organ and led congregational singing in services led by evangelist Dwight L. Moody in the late 19th century. “Jesus I Come” was first published in 1887. Stebbins studied music in Buffalo and Rochester, New York, then became a singing teacher. Around 1869, at the age of 23, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, to join the Lyon and Healy Music Company. He also became the music director at the First Baptist Church in Chicago. It was in Chicago that he met the leaders in the Gospel music field, such as George Root, Philip Bliss, and Ira Sankey.
Stebbins first met Moody while he was preaching at a village church in Massachusetts. Moody asked him to lead the singing and Stebbins, a bit nervous, sat at the little organ in front of the pulpit. As he played and led the congregation he was bothered by a terrible wheezing noise. He described it as “a discordant sound.” At first he was sure it was the organ and he tried to figure out which keys weren’t working properly. Finally he realized that it wasn’t the organ; it was the voice of Moody singing. He said, “I heard the voice of Mr. Moody singing away as heartily as you please, with no more idea of tune or time than a child.” Apparently, he could preach, but just couldn’t sing. Stebbins went on to work alongside Moody for years, composing many favorite hymn tunes and invitational hymns.
At age 28, Stebbins moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he became music director at the Clarendon Street Baptist Church, whose pastor was Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836-1895). Gordon was an American Baptist preacher, writer, composer, and founder of Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He was named after Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma who had recently completed a Burmese translation of the Bible. Gordon was converted at age 15 and thereafter sought to become a pastor.
In 1869, he became pastor of Clarendon Street Baptist Church in Boston, a fairly affluent church. Under Gordon’s leadership, Clarendon Street Church was described as “one of the most spiritual and aggressive in America.” Gordon became a favored speaker in Moody’s Northfield conventions. He is remembered today as having written the tune for “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” After two years at Clarendon with Gordon, Stebbins became music director at Tremont Temple in Boston. Shortly thereafter, he became involved in evangelism campaigns with Moody and others. Around 1900, Stebbins spent a year as an evangelist in India, Egypt, Italy, Palestine, France and England.
Here is a link to the singing of the hymn in London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle.