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Selected Messages Book 1
come to God is not that you shall be holy, but that you shall ask God
to cleanse you from all sin and purify you from all iniquity. Then why
wait longer? Why not take God at His word, and say:
“Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee,
‘Tis all that I can do”?
If Satan comes to cast his shadow between you and God, accusing
you of sin, tempting you to distrust God and doubt His mercy, say: I
cannot allow my weakness to come between me and God; for He is
my strength. My sins, which are many, are laid upon Jesus, my divine
Substitute and Sacrifice.
“Nothing in my hand I bring.
Simply to thy cross I cling.”
No man can look within himself and find anything in his character
that will recommend him to God, or make his acceptance sure. It is
only through Jesus, whom the Father gave for the life of the world, that
the sinner may find access to God. Jesus alone is our Redeemer, our
Advocate and Mediator; in Him is our only hope for pardon, peace,
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and righteousness. It is by virtue of the blood of Christ that the sin-
stricken soul can be restored to soundness. Christ is the fragrance, the
holy incense which makes your petition acceptable to the Father. Then
can you not say:
“Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.”
Coming to Christ does not require severe mental effort and agony;
it is simply accepting the terms of salvation that God has made plain
in His Word. The blessing is free to all. The invitation is, “Ho, every
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;
come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money
and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not
bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently
unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness” (
Isaiah 55:1, 2
).