Tried With Fire

I normally post an excerpt from a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon, but my reading this week brought this hymn by William Cowper (1731-1800) to mind. This is very good news indeed. No strength of nature can suffice To serve the Lord aright: And what she has she misapplies, For want of clearer light. How long beneath the law I lay In bondage and distress; I toil'd the precept to obey, But toil'd without success. Then, to abstain from outward sin Was more than I could do; Now, if I feel its power within, I feel I hate it too. Then all my servile works were done A righteousness to raise; Now, freely chosen in the Son, I freely choose His ways. "What shall I do," was then the word, "That I may worthier grow?" "What shall I render to the Lord?" Is my inquiry now. To see the law by Christ fulfilled And hear His pardoning voice, Changes a slave into a child, And duty into choice. Ph...

God of my life, to Thee I call; Afflicted at Thy feet, I fall; When the great water-floods prevail. Leave not my trembling heart to fail. Friend of the friendless and the faint, Where should I lodge my deep complaint? Where but with Thee, whose open door Invites the helpless and the poor? Did ever mourner plead with Thee, And Thou refuse that mourner's plea? Does not the word still fixed remains, That none shall seek Thy face in vain? That were a grief I could not bear, Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer; But a prayer-hearing, answering God Supports me under very load. Poor though I am, despised, forgot, Yet God, my God, forgets me not; And he is safe and must succeed, For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead. William Cowper, 1779

Hark, my soul!  it is the Lord; 'Tis thy Saviour, hear His word; Jesus speaks and speaks to thee; "Say, poor sinner, lovest thou Me? "I delivered thee when bound, And when wounded healed thy wound; Sought thee wandering, set thee right, Turned thy darkness into light. "Can a woman's tender care Cease towards the child she bare? Yes, she may forgetful be, Yet I will remember thee. "Mine is an unchanging love, Higher than the heights above; Deeper than the depths beneath, Free and faithful, strong as death. "Thou shalt see my glory soon, When the work of grace is done; Partner of my throne shalt be; Say, poor sinner, lovest thou Me? Lord, it is my chief complaint, That my love is cold and faint; Yet I love Thee and adore; O for grace to love Thee more! William Cowper, 1768

This hymn by William Cowper (1731-1800) sums up the difference between legalism and grace and the transformation that is only possible through grace. No strength of nature can suffice To serve the Lord aright; And what she has she misapplies, For want of clearer light. How long beneath the law I lay, In bondage and distress! I toiled the precept to obey, But, toiled without success. Then to abstain from outward sin Was more than I could do; Now, if I feel its power within I feel I hate it, too. Then all my servile works were done A righteousness to raise; Now, freely chosen in the Son, I freely choose his ways. What shall I do, was then the word, That I may worthier grow? What shall I render to the Lord? Is my inquiry now. To see the law by Christ fulfilled, And hear his pardoning voice, Changes a slave into a child, And duty into choice. From Gadsby's Hymns 188