One of the great hymn writers, Charles Wesley wrote this hymn that is found in our believers hymn book. The linked music is a variation of how we normally sing the song.

And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?

Refrain:
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me!

'Tis mystery all! Th'Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine!
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more. [Refrain]

He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race;
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me. [Refrain]

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee. [Refrain]

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th'eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own. [Refrain]

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages.
http://www.hymnary.org/person/Wesley_Charles

Higgins, A. J.

In virtually all of Scripture, coveting is viewed in a bad light. It is the final interdiction in the commandments in Exodus 20. It is what took all hope away from Saul, the proud Pharisee (Rom 7:7-11). It is condemned in Luke 12:15, Romans 1:29, 13:9, and in Ephesians 5:3. It is universally viewed in a negative manner.

Is “coveting” ever good? While the word in the original is different from that used in the above cited Scriptures, there is an occasion where the Apostle Paul encourages coveting: “But covet earnestly the best gifts” (1Cor 12:31).

The Context

The background to Paul’s words reveals an assembly that needed no encouragement to covet. Rivalry, contention, envying of one another, and the place and prestige which the charismatic gifts afforded, marked the assembly at Corinth. Everyone wanted prominence, and the quickest way to the top was by the gift of tongues or some other spectacular charismatic gift. If any assembly in the New Testament did not need an exhortation to covet, it was Corinth!

The Charge

Amidst this contentious hotbed of envy and rivalry, Paul encouraged the assembly to covet the best gifts. What Paul is saying is vital to grasp. He is not encouraging individual believers to earnestly desire to have the best gift in the assembly. He is calling on the assembly to unitedly cry to God to provide the gifts which they required.

Paul is suggesting that God will provide what an assembly needs to function if that assembly will look to Him for its needs. The thought of the Lord Jesus being “in the midst” is that His resources as Head of the Body are available to meet the needs locally of each assembly.

Our prayer meetings should be marked by the confessions andrepentance which Revelation 2 and 3 exhort. They should be marked by praying forgovernments as 1 Timothy 2 teaches. We need to call upon God for the souls of men and women, families in our midst, and our contacts. But we should also be calling upon God to provide the gifts needed for the assembly, the work of God, and the continuation of testimony for God. Paul intimated the same in Philippians 4:19 when he reminded the assembly there that God would supply all their needs in total consistency with His wealth.

The Catalogue

What do we, as assemblies, need today? The catalogue of our needs is overwhelming. There are sections of North America, vast tracts with huge populations and not a single full-time gospel worker. There are assemblies which face a future without men willing to take leadership, or men in leadership so busy with work that shepherding is difficult. We lack the abundance of men of a previous generation who could teach the Word of God contextually and with power. We lack personal workers; there are open doors on the mission field with no one to walk through them and bring the gospel. The list is humbling. The time is crucial. May we begin to collectively call upon God to meet the need of testimony in our day; to raise up leaders, personal workers, evangelists, teachers, missionaries, and godly men and women to further the work of God.

September 2016