Christ the Friend of Sinners
Where shall my wondering soul begin?
How shall I all to heaven aspire?
A slave redeem’d from death and sin,
A brand pluck’d from eternal fire,
How shall I equal triumphs raise,
And sing my great Deliverer’s praise!
O, how shall I the goodness tell,
Father, which Thou to me hast show’d?
That I, a child of wrath and hell,
I should be call’d a child of God!
Should know, should feel my sins forgiven,
Blest with this antepast of heaven!
And shall I slight my Father’s love,
Or basely fear His gifts to own?
Unmindful of His favours prove?
Shall I, the hallow’d cross to shun,
Refuse His righteousness to impart,
By hiding it within my heart?
No—though the ancient dragon rage,
And call forth all his hosts to war;
Though earth’s self-righteous sons engage;
Them, and their god, alike I dare:
Jesus, the sinner’s Friend, proclaim;
Jesus, to sinners still the same.
Outcasts of men, to you I call,
Harlots, and publicans, and thieves!
He spreads His arms to embrace you all;
Sinners alone His grace receives:
No need of Him the righteous have,
He came the lost to seek and save.
Come, all ye Magdalens in lust,
Ye ruffians fell in murders old;
Repent, and live: despair and trust!
Jesus for you to death was sold;
Though hell protest, and earth repine,
He died for crimes like yours and mine.
Come, O my guilty brethren, come,
Groaning beneath your load of sin!
His bleeding heart shall make you room.
His open side shall take you in.
He calls you now, invites you home:
Come, O my guilty brethren, come!
For you the purple current flow’d
In pardons from His wounded side:
Languish’d for you the eternal God,
For you the Prince of Glory died.
Believe, and all your guilt’s forgiven;
Only believe—and yours is heaven.
On the Conversion of a Common Harlot
“There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”—Luke 15:10.
Sing, ye heavens; and, earth, rejoice;
Make to God a cheerful noise:
He the work alone hath done,
He hath glorified His Son.
Sons of God, exulting rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
See the prodigal is come,
Shout to bear the wanderer home!
Strive in joy, with angels strive;
Dead she was, but now’s alive:
Loud repeat the glorious sound,
Lost she was, but now is found!
This through ages all along,
This be still the joyous song,
Wide diffused o’er earth abroad,
Music in the ears of God.
Rescued from the fowler’s snare,
Jesus spreads His arms for her;
Jesu’s arms her sacred fence:—
Come, ye fiends, and pluck her thence!
Thence she never shall remove,
Safe in His redeeming love:
This the purchase of His groans!
This the soul He died for once!
Now the gracious Father smiles,
Now the Saviour boasts His spoils;
Now the Spirit grieves no more:
Sing, ye heavens; and, earth, adore!
Hallelujah.
Romans 4:5
“To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
Lord, if to me Thy grace hath given
A spark of life, a taste of heaven,
The Gospel Pearl, the woman’s Seed,
The Bruiser of the serpent’s head;
Why sleeps my principle Divine?
Why hastens not my spark to shine?
The Saviour in my heart to move,
And all my soul to flame with love?
Buried, o’erwhelm’d, and lost in sin,
And seemingly extinct within,
The Immortal Seed unactive lies,
The heavenly Adam sinks and dies:
Dies, and revives the dying flame.
Cast down, but not destroy’d I am;
’Midst thousand lusts I still respire,
And tremble, unconsumed in fire.
Suffer’d awhile to want my God,
To groan beneath my nature’s load,
That all may own, that all may see
The ungodly justified in me.
Acts 1:4
“Wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of Me.”
Saviour of men, how long shall I
Forgotten at Thy footstool lie!
Wash’d in the fountain of Thy blood,
Yet groaning still to be renew’d;
A miracle of grace and sin,
Pardon’d, yet still, alas, unclean!
Thy righteousness is counted mine:
When will it in my nature shine?
Darksome I still remain and void,
And painfully unlike my God,
Till Thou diffuse a brighter ray,
And turn the glimmering into day.
Why didst Thou the first gift impart,
And sprinkle with Thy blood my heart,
But that my sprinkled heart might prove
The light and liberty of love?
Why didst Thou bid my terrors cease,
And sweetly fill my soul with peace,
But that my peaceful soul might know
The joys that from believing flow?
See then Thy ransom’d servant, see;
I hunger, Lord, I thirst for Thee!
Feed me with love, Thy Spirit give;
I gasp, in Him, in Thee to live.
The promised Comforter impart,
Open the Fountain in my heart;
There let Him flow with springing joys,
And into life eternal rise.
There let Him ever, ever dwell,
The Pledge, the Witness, and the Seal:
I’ll glory then in sin forgiven,
In Christ my life, my love, my heaven!