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1000

Worship V Day 9 1,000 Tongues To Sing: Digging Deeper

May 2, 2019 by Rebecca Chartier Leave a Comment

Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out 1,000 Tongues To Sing!

The Questions

1) Why did Jesus come into the world?

2) How does Paul convey himself in this letter to Timothy?

3) What do we learn about God in this passage?

1 Timothy 1:15-17

This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Original Intent

1) Why did Jesus come into the world?
Jesus, God the Son, came as an act of obedience to God the Father, Who sent Him (John 6:38) for the purpose of “saving sinners”. The most well-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16, describes this perfectly (in concert with John 3:17). Jesus gives everlasting life, therefore “saving” sinners. Jesus saves them from torment and separation from God. In Luke 5:32 Jesus states, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Again, Jesus says in John 10:10, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Who are these “sinners” Jesus came to rescue? The collective “US” across all humanity. “There is none righteous, no, not one, for all have fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:10, 23)

2) How does Paul convey himself in verse 15 to Timothy?
Paul refers to himself as the “worst sinner” in verse 15 and reiterates it in verse 16. In verses 12-17, Paul gives a brief recounting of his “faith story” as he describes who he was, the moment he was eternally changed because of Christ, and how that decision changed everything about him going forward. In his story, Paul openly admits to being “the worst sinner” because he outright persecuted the Church but he received mercy and was made new. He was a sinner, but now he is the recipient of undeserved mercy so that Christ’s patient love would take center stage through Paul’s redeemed life. If Paul, the worst sinner, can be brought back to God, and his core identity change from sinner to saint because of Christ’s great mercy, then no one is too far gone! Paul purposefully emphasizes his own unworthiness of receiving forgiveness to Timothy to encourage him to continue persevering in sharing this freeing gospel to all as he pastored the church in Ephesus.

3) What do we learn about God in verse 17?
Our Great God is King of all time from eternity past through eternity future. He has always been and will always be the True King, the only God. There is none like Him; He has no equal! (Isaiah 40:25) God is immortal, meaning He is not limited to our earthly bodies which die and decay, returning to dust; He lives for eternity and exists outside of temporal time and space constraints. Within Him is found nothing but immortality; not a hint of death or an end. He is also invisible, at least to our fallen human eyes, dwelling in light which no human can approach (1 Timothy 6:16).

Everyday Application

1) Why did Jesus come into the world?
Do you ever find yourself feeling like you and Jesus are “okay” because you do so much? Maybe you serve at church and you’re a homeroom mom at your kids’ school and you also donate to a local food pantry. That’s enough, right?
Friend, no. That’s not enough. Nothing you or I could ever do, even if we worked yourself into utter exhaustion and poverty, could ever be enough to work your way to salvation. God’s economy just doesn’t work that way.
Father God knew we would need a Savior. He knew even before He created anything or anyone that the first humans (Adam and Eve) would disobey (Genesis 2:15-3:7). The sin that entered the world through this couple could only be removed by a blameless sacrifice from The Spotless Lamb.
Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was unlike other crucifixions in a myriad of ways, the most important being that He was innocent of any crimes, yet He took upon Himself all of the sin of the world. All sin. Of all time. Past, present, and future. He took the punishment that every person who ever lived deserved from God.
And then, He defeated Sin and Death by rising up out of that grave!
HE is the reason we can experience salvation and eternal life.

2) How does Paul convey himself in verse 15 to Timothy?
If Paul, being the foremost of all sinners, can experience the mercy Jesus gives when He is trusted for salvation, then anyone can! That was the message for Timothy to take to the church at Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3), and that is the message to you and me today, Sisters. Think your worst is too much for Jesus to forgive? Think again! Just take one step of faith toward Jesus…He’s been waiting for you. He loves you. He wants to give you eternal life with Him and help transform you into the beautiful woman He created you to be. In the same vein, extend that free gospel to all. Pull back from pre-deciding who “will never choose Christ”. Our mission is to extend this grace wrapped truth of salvation, not decide who will or will not embrace its message.

3) What do we learn about God in this passage?
When we open ourselves to Jesus’ powerful mercy and allow Him rule and reign in our life, we experience radical heart changes no one can comprehend unless they’ve also allowed Jesus to transform them.
Wesley’s song lyrics are a wonderfully descriptive account of the salvation experience.
Jesus shines on a dark soul, weighed down by sin, and cleanses it.
The burden of punishment is lifted!
Real living begins!
Praise and worship are natural consequences!
There’s such a glorious freedom in knowing He is forever holding you!
The greatest thing is how surrender opens us to a relationship with God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Our Triune God wants us to talk to Him and, if our hearts are in tune with His, we will sense His leading and guiding.

What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with 1,000 Tongues To Sing!

Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Posted in: Digging Deeper, Forgiven, God, Grace, Jesus, Love, Mercy, Paul, Sing, Song, Timothy, Worship Tagged: 1000, enough, freedom, God the Father, obedience, Reign, righteous, Rule, salvation, Tongues, Truth

Worship V Day 8 1,000 Tongues To Sing

May 1, 2019 by Tawnya Smith 6 Comments

Read His Words Before Ours!

Romans 5:6-10
Colossians 2:13-15
I Timothy 1:15-17

Worship V, Day 8

We love reasons to celebrate, don’t we?
Birthdays
Anniversaries
National holidays that close banks and
National donut-days for indulgences

While most of us celebrate our birthday in some way, (or bless their heart, others celebrate it for us!), have you ever considered the day you were born-again?
The day God first opened your eyes and drew your heart into a trusting relationship with Him.

That’s what Charles Wesley, the great English hymn-writer did.
Of the 6,500 hymns he penned in the 1700s, one of his most well-known was written upon the 1-year anniversary of his conversion. Originally titled “For the Anniversary of One’s Conversion”, it quickly became known as “O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing!”.
This is a celebration story of who Wesley was, who God has always been, and how sinners like us can be saved.

Originally, Charles Wesley wrote 18 stanzas, but most hymnals today use 4-5 of those and have shifted the order around. I’m including all but two of the original stanzas (*explanation for omission in footnote), because this version tells Wesley’s full conversion story we may otherwise miss. Let’s dig in!

Glory to God, and praise and love
be ever, ever given,
by saints below and saints above,
the church in earth and heaven.

On this glad day the glorious Sun
of Righteousness arose;
on my benighted soul he shone
and filled it with repose.

Sudden expired the legal strife,
’twas then I ceased to grieve;
my second, real, living life
I then began to live.

The first three stanzas open with exuberance, calling all who hear to praise God! He recounts the very day God’s light shone on his dark heart. He tells us his “legal strife” is now gone, pointing our eyes to Christ’s work in canceling our legal debt. (Colossians 2:14)

Then with my heart I first believed,
believed with faith divine,
power with the Holy Ghost received
to call the Savior mine.

I felt my Lord’s atoning blood
close to my soul applied;
me, me he loved, the Son of God,
for me, for me he died!

I found and owned his promise true,
ascertained of my part,
my pardon passed in heaven I knew
when written on my heart.

Here Wesley lays out the foundation of the gospel.  He knew “faith divine” comes from a God who makes us come alive. (Colossians 2:13) Stanzas five and six speak directly to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus to pardon the sinner. Romans 5:6-8 These weren’t simply theological points for Wesley, they were “written on his heart” in true belief.

O for a thousand tongues to sing
my dear Redeemer’s praise!
The glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace.

My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
that bids our sorrows cease;
’tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’tis life, and health, and peace!

Like a geyser that can no longer hold back, Wesley springs forth in praise with that most familiar seventh stanza!  It catapults him into the eighth asking God to help him spread this amazing news to others. By stanza nine Wesley gives voice to the truth that Jesus’ love casts out fear (1 John 4:18, Romans 8:15), and surpasses all else (Philippians 3:7-8)!

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.

He speaks, and listening to his voice
new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
the humble poor believe.

Look unto him, ye nations, own
your God, ye fallen race!
Look, and be saved through faith alone,
be justified by grace!

Wesley is not only telling us his story, but THE story of redemption.
It’s as if we hear him say “You want to know how I know? He did it for ME!”
He’s making a strong case here, line by line, that Jesus is all of life, for all nations.

See all your sins on Jesus laid;
the Lamb of God was slain,
his soul was once an offering made
for every soul of man.

Harlots and publicans and thieves,
in holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes
From crimes as great as mine.

Murderers and all ye hellish crew,
ye sons of lust and pride,
believe the Savior died for you;
for me the Savior died.

Okay now Wesley is writing for the back row – for the ones thinking, “no way this includes me”. He’s hitting it home so every last person knows that every sin, in every form, was laid on Jesus. He came for those who know they need a doctor, (Matthew 9:12) and died for every single crime against a holy God (Psalm 51:4).

With me, your chief, you then shall know,
shall feel your sins forgiven;
anticipate your heaven below
and own that love is heaven.

Wesley closes out with a nod to 1 Timothy 1:15, where Paul calls himself the worst of sinners. He wants to make this invitation clear and show his confidence is not in his morality, but in how far-reaching grace is.

Learning from Wesley
Wesley used a hymn to do it. Some give speeches. Others write books, some preach sermons and others sit across coffee tables with tears streaming down as they listen. Some paint the sky, or make a meal for gathered guests, and someone right now might be throwing in another load of wash for that college kid that needs help.

The question is not how you will do it.
The question is, will you?

Will you choose to celebrate God’s redemption of your life with someone else?
Will you choose to embody it, and then invite others into that free gift?
Decide today, that if there’s anything worth celebrating with our lives, it’s that Christ died for the sins of the ungodly, that we might be reconciled to God forever (1 Timothy 1:15-17, Romans 5:10-11).

Footnote:
*Two of Charles Wesley’s original stanzas were omitted in the writing of this article because they contain language that is both racially offensive and also derogatory toward individuals with physically impairment. It is the conviction that these stanzas not be circulated as they do not hold up the basic premise of the imago dei (Genesis 1:27). We can respect the work of many great men and women in history such as Wesley, and rightly recognize where sin still laced their thoughts, hearts and actions as they do ours today in myriad ways. God, however, is the faithful One, and we look to Him as our guide, knowing He will one day make all things right and new.

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Worship V Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Worship V!

Posted in: Believe, Faith, Power, Praise, Sing, Song, Worship Tagged: 1000, Bless, celebrate, geyser, heart, Spring Forth, Tongues

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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14