Chapter 79—Press Your Case
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely.
Hosea 14:4
.
I hope that none will obtain the idea that they are earning the favor of
God by confession of sins or that there is special virtue in confessing to
human beings.... The Lord would have us come to Him daily with all our
troubles and confessions of sin, and He can give us rest....
Confess your secret sins alone before your God. Acknowledge your heart
wanderings to Him who knows perfectly how to treat your case. If you have
wronged your neighbor, acknowledge to him your sin and show fruit of the
same by making restitution. Then claim the blessing. Come to God just as
you are, and let Him heal all your infirmities. Press your case to the throne
of grace; let the work be thorough. Be sincere in dealing with God and your
own soul. If you come to Him with a heart truly contrite, He will give you
the victory.... He will not misapprehend or misjudge you.
Your fellow men cannot absolve you from sin or cleanse you from
iniquity. Jesus is the only One who can give you peace. He loved you and
gave Himself for you. His great heart of love is “touched with the feeling of
our infirmities” (
Hebrews 4:15
). What sins are too great for Him to pardon?
what soul too dark and sin-oppressed for Him to save? He is gracious, not
looking for merit in us, but of His own boundless goodness healing our
backslidings and loving us freely, while we are yet sinners. He is “slow to
anger, and of great kindness” (
Nehemiah 9:17
).
There is a remedy for the sin-sick soul. That remedy is in Jesus. Precious
Saviour! His grace is sufficient for the weakest; and the strongest must also
have His grace or perish.
I saw how this grace could be obtained. Go to your closet and there alone
plead with God. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me” (
Psalm 51:10
). Be in earnest, be sincere. Fervent prayer availeth
much. Jacob-like, wrestle in prayer. Agonize. Jesus in the garden sweat
great drops of blood; you must make an effort. Do not leave your closet until
you feel strong in God; then watch, and just as long as you watch and pray,
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