Sin

Let us mark, firstly, in this passage, how earnestly men can cry for help when they feel their need of it. We read that “as our Lord entered into a certain village there met him ten men that were lepers.” It is difficult to conceive any condition more thoroughly miserable than that of men afflicted with leprosy. They were cast out from society. They were cut off from all communion with their fellows. The men described in the passage before us appear to have been truly sensible of their wretchedness. They “stood afar off;“—but they did not stand idly doing nothing. “They lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They felt acutely the deplorable state of their bodies. They found words to express their feelings. They cried earnestly for relief when a chance of relief appeared in sight.

Above all, let us pray for a deeper sense of our own sinfulness, guilt, and undeserving. This, after all, is the true secret of a thankful spirit. It is the man who daily feels his debt to grace, and daily remembers that in reality he deserves nothing but hell,—this is the man who will be daily blessing and praising God. Thankfulness is a flower which will never bloom well excepting upon a root of deep humility.

Verse 1

Ah! how shall fallen man
Be just before his God?
If he contend in righteousness,
We fall beneath his rod.

Verse 2

If he our ways should mark
With strict inquiring eyes,
Could we for one of thousand faults
A just excuse devise?

Verse 3

All-seeing, powerful God,
Who can with thee contend?
Or who that tries the unequal strife,
Shall prosper in the end?

Verse 4

Ah! how shall guilty man
Contend with such a God?
None, none can meet him and escape,
But through the Savior’s blood.

Verse 1

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,
And did my Sovereign die!
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I!

Verse 2

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree!
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Verse 3

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When He, the mighty Maker, died
For man the creature’s sin.

Verse 4

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears;
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.

Verse 5

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.

Verse 1

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,
And did my Sovereign die!
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Verse 2

Help me, dear Saviour, Thee to own,
And ever faithful be;
And when Thou sittest on Thy throne,
O Lord, remember me.

Verse 3

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree.

Verse 4

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died
For man, the creature’s sin.

Verse 5

Thus might I hide my blushing face
Whilst His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt mine eyes to tears.

Verse 6

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.

Verse 1

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,
And did my Sovereign die!
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Verse 2

Help me, dear Saviour, Thee to own,
And ever faithful be;
And when Thou sittest on Thy throne,
O Lord, remember me.

Verse 3

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree.

Verse 4

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died
For man, the creature’s sin.

Verse 5

Thus might I hide my blushing face
Whilst His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt mine eyes to tears.

Verse 6

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.

Verse 1

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;
“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say,
“Go, Spirit, go thy way;
Some more convenient day
On thee I’ll call.”

Verse 2

“Almost persuaded,” come, come to-day;
“Almost persuaded,” turn not away,
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are ling’ring near,
Pray’rs rise from hearts so dear;
Oh, wand’rer, come!

Verse 3

“Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!
”Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last!
”Almost” cannot avail;
“Almost” is but to fail!
Sad, sad that bitter wail,--
“Almost,” but lost!

Verse 1

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;
“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say,
“Go, Spirit, go thy way;
Some more convenient day
On thee I’ll call.”

Verse 2

“Almost persuaded,” come, come to-day;
“Almost persuaded,” turn not away,
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are ling’ring near,
Pray’rs rise from hearts so dear;
Oh, wand’rer, come!

Verse 3

“Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!
”Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last!
”Almost” cannot avail;
“Almost” is but to fail!
Sad, sad that bitter wail,--
“Almost,” but lost!

Verse 1

And can I yet delay
My little all to give?
To tear my soul from earth away,
For Jesus to receive?

Verse 2

Nay, but I yield, I yield,
I can hold out no more:
I sink, by dying love compelled,
And own thee conqueror.

Verse 3

Tho’ late, I all forsake,
My friends, my all resign;
Gracious Redeemer, take, oh, take,
And seal me ever thine.

Verse 4

Come and possess me whole,
Nor hence again remove;
Settle and fix my wav’ring soul
With all thy weight of love.

Verse 1

Approach, my soul, the mercy-seat,
Where Jesus answers prayer;
There humbly fall before his feet,
For none can perish there.

Verse 2

Thy promise is my only plea,
With this I venture nigh;
Thou call’st the burdened souls to thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.

Verse 3

Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
By Satan sorely pressed;
By wars without and fears within,
I come to thee for rest.

Verse 4

Oh, wondrous love! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and shame;
That guilty sinners, such as I,
Might plead thy gracious name.

Now, Lord, we beseech Thee to hear us, to take us into Thy holy care and keeping, to forgive all our many sins; and grant us now Thy help, according to our need, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

Fallen man is wholly departed from God; and is become altogether selfish; seeking at all times his own things …. One would have supposed, that man, however fallen, should at least have given a precedence to his God: but he chooses rather to be a god unto himself, and to consult, in the first place, what will be most conducive to his own ease, or interest, or honour. If the gratification of self, in any respect, be found contrary to the declared will of God, the authority of God is set at nought; the honour of God overlooked, as unimportant; and the pleasure, whatever it may be, is pursued, without restriction or remorse. From their fellow-man, indeed, they feel some restraint; but from God, none at all. As far as he is concerned, they say, “Our lips are our own: Who is lord over us?” …. In truth, man in his fallen state does not admit any competition between God and him. He chooses rather to “cast God behind his back,” and to live “without him in the world.” “The things of Jesus Christ” do not at all engage his thoughts. He never asks himself, ‘What would the Lord Jesus Christ wish me to do? What will please him? What will honour him? What will advance his glory in the world?’ These are considerations which never enter into his mind. Nor is this the case with any one particular description of persons only: it is the same with all persons, of every age, of every country, of every condition. From infancy to old age there is the same regard for self, to the utter exclusion of every thing that relates to Christ. There may be indeed, and often is, in ungodly men, a great concern about their own sect or party in the Church; which they, perhaps, would call a regard for Christ himself. But this is nothing more than a carnal principle, precisely similar to that which actuates men in relation to their own society or country. There is in it no real regard for the Lord Jesus Christ himself, but only for the particular party to which they belong: and, whatever construction they may put upon their actions, God, who tries the heart, will comprehend them under the censure of my text, as “seeking their own things, and not the things of Jesus Christ.” “They are empty vines, because they bring forth fruit only to themselves.”