INTRO.: A song which exhorts us to go tell others what the Lord has done for us is "Will You Not Tell It Today?" (#351 in Hymns for Worship Revised, and #89 in Sacred Selections for the Church). The text was written by Jessie H. Brown Pounds (1861-1921). She is best known for such gospel songs as "The Way of the Cross Leads Home" and "Anywhere With Jesus." The tune (Tell It Today) was composed by James Henry Fillmore, who was born at Cincinnati, OH, on June 1, 1849, the eldest of seven children, five sons and two daughters, born to Augustus Damon (or Dameron) and Hannah Lockwood Fillmore. His father, a minister in the Christian Church, was also well known among the Disciples of Christ as a hymnwriter, music publisher, songbook compiler, and singing school teacher who developed his own system of musical notation with numbers on the staff inside the note heads. In 1865, when James was sixteen, his father died, and James assumed his father's singing school engagements to help support the family.

     Having learned from his father the printing trade and music typesetting, Fillmore built upon his father's business and in 1874 founded the Fillmore Brothers Music House in Cincinnati with his two brothers, Charles M. Fillmore and Frederick Augustus Fillmore (1856-1925). This became a successful music firm, publishing church and Sunday school collections, anthems, and sheet music. For many years, the firm issued a monthly periodical known as The Musical Messenger. Beginning with his Sunday school songook Songs of Glory in 1874, there were issued many Fillmore publications which became widely used in Churches of Christ and Christian Churches, especially thoroughout the Midwest. For these collections, he produced a great deal of music in the form of hymn tunes, anthems, and cantatas.

     For over thirty years, Fillmore collaborated with Mrs. Pounds.  His series, the New Christian Hymn and Tune Book, began appearing in 1882 with Parts I and II, and "Will You Not Tell It Today" was first published in the 1887 Part III. Fillmore, who gave us other well remembered tunes as those for Fanny Davison's "Purer in Heart, O God" and Palmer Hartsough's "I Am Resolved," was also active in other activities among Christian Churches and served as secretary with the American Christian Missionary Society for several years, before his death in Cincinnati on Feb. 8, 1936. His son, Henry Fillmore, who often used the pseudonym "Harold Bennett," became noted as a band director and composer of marches. The Fillmore Brothers Music House, which was sold to Carl Fischer in 1951, is still in business publishing music for band and orchestra.

     Among hymnbooks published by members of the Lord's church during the twentieth century for use in churches of Christ, "Will You Not Tell It Today" has appeared in the vast majority. It was used in the 1921 Great Songs of the Church (No. 1) and the 1937 Great Songs of the Church No. 2 both edited by E. L. Jorgenson; the 1948 Christian Hymns No. 2 and the 1966 Christian Hymns No. 3 both edited by L. O. Sanderson; the 1959 Majestic Hymnal No. 2 and the 1978 Hymns of Praise both edited by Reuel Lemmons; the 1963 Christian Hymnal edited by J. Nelson Slater; and the 1966 Great Christian Hymnal No. 2 edited by Tillit S. Teddlie. Today, it may be found in the 1971 Songs of the Church, the 1990 Songs of the Church 21st C. Ed., and the 1994 Songs of Faith and Praise, all edited by Alton H. Howard; the 1978/1983 (Church) Gospel Songs and Hymns edited by V. E. Howard; and the 1992 Praise for the Lord edited by John P. Wiegand; in addition to Hymns for Worship, Sacred Selections, and the 2007 Sacred Songs of the Church edited by William D. Jeffcoat.

     The song calls to our minds the need for each individual Christian to be busy in the work of telling others about Jesus.

I. According to stanza 1, we should tell others about the light by which He leads us
"If the name of the Savior is precious to you,
If His care has been constant and tender and true,
If the light of His presence has brightened your way,
O will you not tell of your gladness today?"
 A. The name of the Jesus Christ should be precious to us because it is only in His name that we can have salvation: Acts 4.12
 B. Everyone who will can find His care to be constant and tender and true because He cares for us: 1 Pet. 5.7
 C. This Savior who cares came to reveal God's word which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway for all mankind, and His
people should want to share it with others: Ps. 119.105

II. According to stanza 2, we should tell others about the hope that He gives us
"If your faith in the Savior has found its reward,
If a strength you have found in the strength of your Lord,
If the hope of a rest in His palace is sweet,
O will you not, brother, the story repeat?"
 A. True faith in Christ will always bring a reward, which is ultimately the salvation of our souls: 1 Pet. 1.9
 B. To help us gain that reward, He has promised to give us strength: Eph. 6.10
 C. Therefore, because Jesus came to give sinful mankind the hope of an eternal reward in the heavenly palace of God by making forgiveness of sins possible, those who follow Him can have this hope and should strive to share it with others: 1 Pet. 1.3-5
 
III. According to stanza 3, we syould tell others about the invitation that He extended to us
"If the souls all around you are living in sin,
If the Master has told you to bid them come in,
If the sweet invitation they never have heard,
O will you not tell them the cheer-bringing word?"
 A. It is certainly true that the souls all around us are living in sin: Rom. 3.23
 B. It is also true that that the Master has bid Christians, as His people, to bid them come in, as in Jesus's parable of the great
supper: Lk. 14.21-23
 C. Jesus came to invite all people who are in sin to come to Him for salvation, and He has commissioned His bride, the church, to take that invitation the whole world: Rev.22.17

     CONCL.: The chorus continues to ask each one of us this very important question:
"O will you not tell it today?
Will you not tell it today?
If the light of His presence has brightened your way,
O will you not tell it today?"
God has done so much for each of us in Christ and offers the same blessings to the whole world. He does not want us to be selfish with these blessings but desires that we share them with others.  Therefore, He asks all of us, "Will You Not Tell It Today?"