Greetings sis Reis, et al;
I am reminded of this hymn by Edmund Jones;
Come, humble sinner, in whose breast,
A thousand thoughts revolve,
Come, with your guilt and fear oppressed,
And make this last resolve.
I’ll go to Jesus, though my sin
Like mountains round me close;
I know His courts, I’ll enter in,
Whatever may oppose.
Prostrate I’ll lie before His throne,
And there my guilt confess,
I’ll tell Him, I’m a wretch undone,
Without His sovereign grace.
I’ll to the gracious King approach,
Whose scepter pardon gives;
Perhaps he command my touch,
And then the suppliant lives.
Perhaps He will admit my plea,
Perhaps will hear my prayer;
But, if I perish, I will pray,
And perish only there.
I can but perish if I go;
I am resolved to try;
But if I stay away, I know
I must forever die.
But, if I die with mercy sought,
When I the King have tried,
This were to die (delightful thought!)
As sinner never died.
Blessings, mike
On 5/15/2022 3:36 PM, Soraya Reis wrote:
*"So will I go unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish." Esther 4:16*
*What a noble act of the soul is faith! Who, indeed, but the Lord Jesus, can be the author or giver of it? Ponder it well, my soul, and see if thou canst discover the smallest possible degree of it in thee. To have the least portion of it is an evidence of an interest in Christ; for it is said, that "as many as were ordained to eternal life believed," Acts 13:48. And Oh! what an honour is it to give credit to God the Father's testimony of his dear Son!*
*Sit down, my soul, this evening, and pause over the subject. There are more difficulties to the exercise of it than are generally considered. The case of Esther, in the court of the Persian king, will serve, in some measure, to explain it. By the law of Persia, every individual, whether man or woman, who ventured into the inner court of the king's presence uncalled, was condemned to death; neither was there any remission of the punishment, unless the king held out to the offender the golden sceptre. *
*The case, however, for which Esther was constrained to go in, was of that nature, that there remained no alternative, but to go or die. Contrary to the known law of the realm, she therefore ventured, crying out as she went, "If I perish, I perish." Now this is quite the state of the poor sinner. The law of God for ever separates between a holy God and an unholy sinner. "Thou canst not see my face and live." Nothing that is "unholy, can stand in God's sight." These are the solemn declarations of the law of heaven. God hath indeed reserved the grace of pardon, to whom he will hold out the golden sceptre. But even this grace doth not reign but through righteousness. *
*The law admits of nothing by way of pardon, but upon the ground of satisfaction. A righteousness every sinner must have in himself, or in a Redeemer, or he will perish everlastingly. Hast thou then, my soul, that faith, that trust, that sure dependence, upon the Lord Jesus Christ, as to go in unto the King, which is not according to law, but wholly on the blessed authority of the gospel, determined, like Esther, to be saved by this grace of thy King and Saviour, or not at all? Yes, Lord! I come. Precious Emanuel! wilt thou not hold forth the golden sceptre of thy grace, and say to my soul, as thou didst to the poor woman in the gospel, "Great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt?"*
*Robert Hawker (1753-1827) ***
**
