#zepheniah

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the mann family sucks why cant they just stay dead. assorted sketches...

"erm scream fortress ended it isnt halloween anymore" YOUR CALENDAR'S NOT BROKEN, IT'S YOUR MIND! HALLOWEEN MODE!

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Inktober Day 22: GHOST

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[magicalpostdeer]

[thurzograndma]

Book of Zephaniah

Watch our overview video on the book of Zephaniah, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, Zephaniah announces God’s purifying judgment on Israel. It will remove evil and open up a new future where all people can flourish in peace. GCBI is a one year Bible program designed to give students the tools and knowledge required to understand the Bible…

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Zephaniah 3:17 CEB

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The Lord, your God, is with you, he is mighty to safe. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with His love, he will rejoice over you with singing. ~Zeph. 3:17

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Come Ye Sinners

1. Come, ye sinners, poor and wretched,

Weak and wounded, sick and sore;

Jesus, ready, stands to save you,

Full of pity, joined with power.

He is able, He is able;

He is willing; doubt no more.

  2. Come ye needy, come, and welcome,

God’s free bounty glorify;

True belief and true repentance,

Every grace that brings you nigh.

Without money, without money

Come to Jesus Christ and buy.

  3. Come, ye weary, heavy laden,

Bruised and broken by the fall;

If you tarry ’til you’re better,

You will never come at all.

Not the righteous, not the righteous;

Sinners Jesus came to call.

  4. Let not conscience make you linger,

Nor of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness He requires

Is to feel your need of Him.

This He gives you, this He gives you,

’Tis the Spirit’s rising beam.

  5. Lo! The Incarnate God, ascended;

Pleads the merit of His blood.

Venture on Him; venture wholly,

Let no other trust intrude.

None but Jesus, none but Jesus

Can do helpless sinners good.

    “Come Ye Sinners” is a classic hymn text that is known by many people.  This hymn was written in 1759 by Joseph Hart.  Hart had a good educational upbringing in London.  He was a classics scholar (Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages) and translated several ancient texts later in his life.  Hart’s first publication was before his conversion and it denounced Christianity.  It was entitled The Unreasonableness of Religion, Being Remarks and Animadversions on the Rev. John Wesley’s sermon on Romans 8:32.  Hart was later converted and became a very popular minister in London, and the author of a few beloved hymn books. But, we’ll revisit Hart a little later.  I want to next exam the text and draw some inferences from it.

  One great thing about hymns is that you can generally tell what the hymn is about within the first few lines, if not the title.  This hymn is no exception.  This hymn is all about God calling broken, sinful people to Him- sinful people like you and me. Just look at the words of the text, he is welcoming all kinds of sinners: poor, wretched, weak, wounded, sick, sore, needy, weary, heavy laden, bruised, broken, and helpless. But just as the theme says, this hymn states in multiple ways that Jesus came to save THESE people- the helpless, the broken, the sick and sore!  In verse three, Hart writes “Not the righteous, not the righteous, sinners Jesus came to call.”  This line is what I want to focus on for the remainder of this post. 

  The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all share the story of when Matthew (Levi) was called to be a disciple.  The Gospel of Mark tells us:

  15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  (Mark 2:15-17, ESV)

All three Gospels document almost word-for-word the last line of this account: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  And scripture is abundant with more imagery of Jesus calling the weak and helpless sinners. The beauty of Christianity is that it is He who saves us.  Often times we think that in order for Him to save us, we need to become better, less broken, anything but the mess that we are.  But this is not the case!  Verse 4 says “Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream; all the fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him.”  When the author mentions “fitness” he is talking about our current state, whether or not we are fit to be saved by God.  Hart writes that all of the “fitness” that we need is only to know that we do need something bigger than us, something that can pay for the massive debt our sin has given us.  This “something” is Jesus.

  So far, what we’ve gathered from this hymn that God has a knack for saving broken, helpless sinners like us.  No matter how broken we are, no matter how wretched we are, and no matter how many times we screw up, we will forever be allowed to kneel at the Cross of Jesus - in fact not just allowed, but invited.   Hart was a man who rejected Christianity.  Keep in mind, his first publication was one that denounced Christianity.  I don’t know the details of Hart’s conversion, but there is one thing that of which I am certain.  That is that Joseph Hart did not want to be converted.  How he got converted is found in the last line of the hymn.  “None but Jesus, None but Jesus, can do helpless sinners good.”  Hart didn’t make himself more righteous, God pursued Hart just as he pursued Paul.  Hart was helpless, just as I am, just as you are, but God still pursued him.  That should give us great hope in our God.  “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17, ESV)

By Jeremy Britt