Introduction

WE STOOD IN silent awe, sensing God's presence as shafts of sunlight arrowed through the gracefully arched windows high in the vaulted towers of the vacant abbey. The British countryside was welcoming another summer's morn as we ambled through the partially restored ruins of this ancient house of worship. Although it was disheveled and dilapidated, a dignity remained that was only a trace of the beauty it had known six centuries before at its dedication.

For two weeks, my wife Anna and I had been probing the corners of Scotland, Wales, and England in our tiny rental car, setting our own pace as we drove from place to place. We slowly grew accustomed to a left-hand-drive roadway system, but the caution and patience required by such unfamiliarity was not expediting our progress. So we chose a leisurely pace, visiting castles and cottages at our whim. Nothing dictated our schedule except that we were supposed to be at Oxford the third week of July. I was to participate in a conference there, studying the phenomenon of Spiritual Awakenings in a seminar under Dr. Edwin Orr's direction, following which we would return home to Los Angeles.

That summer the whole nation was enjoying a certain regal festivity as the people anticipated the silver anniversary of Elizabeth II's coronation as Queen. It was amid this prevailing air of rejoicing in royalty that we were introduced to England. Landing in Glasgow, after 10 days of preaching in Denmark, we began our journey-sampling the variety of climates, customs, cuisine, and clothing styles from Inverness to Edinburgh to Llangollen to the Cotswolds. By the time we arrived in London, a special sense of wonder had overtaken us.

Occasionally, I attempted to put into words the emotions I felt as history spoke to me at every turn. Whether we were quietly sitting in a park, reading an engraved plaque antedating us by centuries, strolling beside the Thames, or pushing our way through the crowds shopping at Harrods, an elusive sense of "the grand, the regal, and the noble" caught my imagination and defied my efforts at definition. However, on a side trip we made into Oxfordshire, that definition came by surprise. It included a lesson I hadn't expected and resulted in a song I hadn't sought.

It happened the day we drove to Blenheim.

Blenheim Palace is the massive estate built at Queen Anne's orders in the early 18th century. She presented it to John Churchill, the first duke of Marlborough, in honor of his leadership in the military victories against Spain. Two centuries later, Winston Churchill would be born and raised here, frequently retiring to this site for rest from the rigors of leadership during World War II. It was at Blenheim that he wrote many of his stirring speeches-speeches that inspired the English people to sustain their efforts at staving off Hitler's Luftwaffe, which was close to suffocating their will to survive.

A Person of Destiny

However, World War II was a full generation past, and we were walking through the spacious palace that had taken over 18 years to build. It was after we passed outside and surveyed the sprawling grounds, so meticulously groomed and magnificently flowered, that the undefined feeling now surfaced and blossomed to a clear, complete thought. While overlooking the palace and grounds from the southwest and contemplating Churchill's former presence on the paths and fields, I mused aloud, "Being raised in such an environment would certainly make it far more credible for a person to conceive of himself as a person of destiny."

The idea effervesced within me. I seemed to have touched the nerve of a concept that had to do with far more than Blenheim and Churchill. It had first to do with that "something" Anna and I had felt these weeks as we traveled around Britain. However, it also extended to a fundamental issue of human nature-the grounds of self-worth and the purpose of human existence. All tied in together were unspoken questions and partial answers concerning how people perceive themselves and God's order of things. In some special way, there were traces of a larger and more complete pathway to discovering one's true identity and purpose-something realized in an undeclared but real national consciousness.

I'm not presuming that in one instant I plumbed the depths of a nation's psyche. However, I do feel that somehow my single observation began to explain a great deal of the spirit that permeates this small nation of such historic consequence. Here, only a generation ago, an outnumbered band, surpassed by superior technology, withstood the most sinister and vicious manifestation of evil in history. Motivating them was an inherent sense of righteousness, but driving the will to hold their ground was an awakened sense of destiny coupled with a historic sense of royalty as a clan.

Even as I stood there, millions of common folk of ordinary means were enthused and excited about celebrating one woman's royal ascent a quarter of a century earlier. This wasn't a case of idolatry, nor an instance of the mindless masses cowering before a ruling tyrant with no choice of doing otherwise. On the contrary, the people were rejoicing. The entire kingdom possessed a general mood of personal and national significance. It seems inescapably linked in some mystical way to the fact that each one perceives himself linked with and personally represented by the one who wears the crown and bears the scepter. To a visitor from another country, there seems to be a national dignity that flows to the general citizenry from the regal office of a single individual who reigns over them, exercising authority as an ennobled friend rather than as a feudal overlord.

Then a second thought exploded. This sense of dignity is the essence of the relationship Jesus wants us to have with His Church! He wants the fullness of His power, the richness of His nature, the authority of His office, and the wealth of His resources to ennoble our identity and determine our destiny!

Notwithstanding the deep emotion filling my soul, a holy calm and genuine joy possessed me. Standing there, my gaze sweeping the scene once again-the verdant, lush fields, the fragrance of roses everywhere, the magnificent architecture, with the stateliness of historic bearing-I gently squeezed Anna's hand.

"Honey, I can hardly describe to you all the things this setting evokes in me. There is something of a majesty in all this, and I believe it has a great deal to do with why people who lived here have been of such consequence in the shaping of history. I don't mean that buildings and beauty can beget greatness, but I do feel that some people fail to perceive their possibilities because of their dismal surroundings."

As we continued our walk, I spoke further of my concerns, with which she agreed. She felt, as I did, a pastoral longing for people to understand the fullness of Jesus, to perceive His high destiny for each of them, and to see that our self-realization only comes through a realization of Him! How completely and unselfishly He invites us to become partners with Him in His Kingdom. He wants to transmit His Kingdom authority to us and through us as a flow of His life, love, and healing to a hopeless and hurting world.

Now something expanding and deepening that understanding was welling up within me. What had been undefined but sensed for more than two weeks of vacation journeying was now distilling into a single moment of awareness.

Majesty.

The word was crisp in my mind.

Majesty, I thought. It's the quality of Christ's royalty and Kingdom glory that not only displays His excellence but also lifts us by His sheer grace and power, allowing us to identify with and share in His wonder.

Majesty.

As Queen Elizabeth II's throne somehow dignifies every English citizen and makes multitudes of others partakers in a commonwealth of royal heritage, our ascended Savior sits enthroned and offers His regal resources to each of us.

Majesty.

As a nation rose against the personification of evil in the Nazi scourge, ignited to action by a leader who perceived himself a person of destiny created by a childhood identification with the majestic, so may the Church arise.

Kingdom authority.

"In my name they will cast out demons" (Mark 16:17), the King declared; and in going forth by the power flowing from His Throne, "the Lord working with them, and confirming the word through the accompanying signs" (Mark 16:20).

The crowds were increasing at Blenheim, and the marvel of the moment seemed no less real for becoming less intimate. "Let's go, honey," I said, and we started for the car. My soul was still resonating with the sound of a distant chord struck in heaven but still a lost chord to much of the Church.

Worship His Majesty

As Anna and I drove along the narrow highway, the road undulating from one breathtaking view to another, I said to her, "Take the notebook and write down some words, will you, Babe?"

I began to dictate the key, the musical notes, the time value of each, and the lyrics (and she still insists that she wrote the song!):

Majesty, Worship His Majesty!

Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise.

Majesty, Kingdom authority,

Flows from His Throne, unto His own,

His anthem raise.

So exalt, lift up on high the Name of Jesus.

Magnify, come glorify, Christ Jesus the King.

Majesty, worship His Majesty!

Jesus who died, now glorified,

King of all kings.

I completed...