Tell Me the Story of Jesus / Fanny J. Crosby / John R. Sweney
Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Tell how the angels in chorus,
Sang as they welcomed His birth,
“Glory to God in the highest!
Peace and good tidings to earth.”
Fasting alone in the desert,
Tell of the days that are past,
How for our sins He was tempted,
Yet was triumphant at last.
Tell of the years of His labor,
Tell of the sorrow He bore;
He was despised and afflicted,
Homeless, rejected and poor.
Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,
Writhing in anguish and pain;
Tell of the grave where they laid Him,
Tell how He liveth again.
Love in that story so tender,
Clearer than ever I see;
Stay, let me weep while you whisper,
“Love paid the ransom for me.”
Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
I tried falling back to sleep, but to no avail, so I got up to hear from the Lord. I asked the Lord to speak to my heart. I read I Corinthians 7 on the subject of marriage, then chapter 8 on the subject of eating meat sacrificed to idols, then I moved on to chapter 9, which then talked about the gospel (the story of Jesus), so I knew this is where the Lord Jesus wanted me to focus my attention and where he wanted to speak to my heart. I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then, I read I Corinthians 9: (quoting vv. 7-27):
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8 Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?
But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. 16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.
19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
My Understanding: As I read through this passage of scripture, there were six verses that stood out to me, in particular, in relation to telling the story of Jesus. I believe that the Lord would have me to examine these six verses by subject matter.
We put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel (v. 12)
Paul, in this discourse, was talking on the subject of receiving financial remuneration for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He laid out an argument, as a lawyer would do, for financial compensation for preachers of the gospel, yet he concluded that he and his fellow preachers would not use that right. His reasoning for this was, if he should receive payment for preaching the gospel, it might hinder the gospel message, even though he went on to state clearly that the Lord commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
I believe Paul’s reasoning here has a solid basis, though, and that is that he did not want to be accused of preaching the gospel for profit and thus discredit his ministry. Many preachers may fall prey to the temptation to preach for profit (financial gain) and make this their primary goal in ministry rather than the salvation of human lives. And, this could corrupt and discredit their ministry. Paul wanted to keep his ministry so pure of greed that he refused to take money for what he did. And, that is a good example to follow.
Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel (v. 16)
Paul said that he was compelled to preach, i.e. he sensed the urgency and the necessity of sharing the gospel message. He could not hold it inside. Jeremiah described it this way: “His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot” (Jer. 20:9b). Then, Paul said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” “Woe” means “grief or distress resulting from a serious affliction or misfortune; regret; and/or great sadness of heart” (Encarta). Paul knew the great serious nature of the gospel message and the enormous significance eternally for human lives that they hear, that they understand, and that they believe in Jesus Christ with their whole hearts, surrendering themselves to Jesus Christ in absolute submission and obedience, repenting (turning from) their sins and turning to faith (in action) in Jesus Christ. And, he took his commission to preach the gospel message so seriously that he did not want to do anything that might hinder that message nor did he want to take his calling lightly. He knew that human lives were at stake, and he loved people like God loved people and he was willing to sacrifice his own life, his comfort, and even his rights for the sake of the gospel message to be preached in all its purity and righteousness. This is another great example for us to follow.
I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible (v. 19)
Paul adapted to the customs and the practices of the people to whom he was trying to reach with the gospel message, but only so much as did not compromise his faith and doctrine in the Lord Jesus Christ. He never compromised the message in order to win people to a weak gospel message. The message remained the same; untainted by human flesh. Yet, he had a gift for finding common ground with people and observing their surroundings, their customs, etc. and for relating to them where they were. Again, this is another great example to follow as we share the gospel message in that we should try to find common ground with people and yet not in such a way ever that we compromise the message.
I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings (v. 23)
Paul said he did all of this (what is described above) for the gospel that he might share in its blessings. The main blessings I see are changed lives, i.e. people coming to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith to have their lives transformed; to no longer be under bondage to and the control and weight of sin over their lives, but to walk in freedom and truth and to have true peace and joy, and to know that one day they will get to be with Jesus (God) for eternity in heaven. To me, there is no greater joy than to see a sinner set free!
Run in such a way to get the prize (v. 24)
Paul used the example here of a runner training to run a race. I have a friend, Josh, who is a runner, and he could tell you more what this means because I am not an athlete. Yet, I do understand the concept of the kind of training that is involved in preparing a runner to run in a race. It involves getting up early in the morning or staying up late at night doing stretches, running to beyond tired sometimes, as well as it involves a strict diet. Paul is making a spiritual parallel here. Our diet is time spent in the word of God (eating the right kinds of stuff spiritually) and cutting out the things of this world and its influences (from TV, movies, music, books, friendships, etc.). And, it means beating our flesh into submission, i.e. to not give in to our sinful nature but to respond, instead, to God and to his righteousness. This is godly discipline. And, we do this to get the crown of eternal life and fellowship with God/Jesus forever, which begins right now.
I do not run like a man running aimlessly (v. 26)
If we are going to run the race in such a way as to get the prize, we cannot run aimlessly. If a person is getting ready for a big race and he or she does not eat the correct diet, he or she does not do the necessary exercises, and he or she does not discipline his or her life in such a way as to not give in to the flesh and its cravings and desires, and if he or she does not commit his or her life to a course of strict discipline in order to win the race, when the day of the big race comes, that person will not be ready and either will not be able to compete at all or will have to quit or will have a heart attack part way through and will never finish the race.
The spiritual parallels should be obvious. We must spend that time at Jesus’ feet each day feeding on his word, and not just to get it into our heads but into our hearts. When it gets into our hearts, then it becomes part of our lives in how we live practically each and every day through obedience to what the Word of God teaches us. Yet, if our lives are filled up with a bunch of “junk food,” spiritually speaking, i.e. if we are taking into our minds and hearts a lot of nonsense and the teachings and philosophies of this world’s system; if we are busy filling up our minds, hearts and lives with viewing sexually explicit material, movies and TV shows with sexual content, filthy language, or anything that brings us to the place where we take God’s word and his truths lightly and we laugh and are entertained by the very things that grieve the heart of Almighty God, then there is no room for God in our hearts. The Bible says we will either obey the lusts of the flesh (one master) or we will obey God (the other master), but we can’t obey both at the same time. We will love one and by loving sin we will hate God. So, we need to rid our lives of any “junk food” that might keep us from competing and finishing the race, and we need to fill our minds and hearts with the truths of God’s Holy Word via studying the Word and via obeying the word and applying it to our daily lives. And, this takes discipline. If we do not discipline our spiritual lives in such a manner, then we are like runners just running aimlessly and we will never be able to finish the race the Lord has set before us with the crown of righteousness at its finish line.
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