Not the labors of my hands
Can fulfill Thy Law's demands:
All for sin could not atone;
Jesus must save, and Him alone:
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy Cross I cling.
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, else I die.
Helpless, I look to Thee for grace;
Falling flat at the Cross on my face.
Now understand - King David spared Mephibosheth only for Jonathan's sake (II Samuel 9:7; 21:7; Ephesians 4:32). God Almighty will only spare your guilty soul for Jesus' sake. Inward poverty drives us to the Cross for His divine charity. An inheritance never comes to you by works. A wise man is more afraid of his own righteousness than his unrighteousness. God will only bless you according to the Atonement of Christ Jesus. The best gift a man can ever receive is God's fear (See Jeremiah 32:40).
Faith is trusting wholly upon the person, blood, merits, and promises of the Son of God. You can rest assured on the finished work of Jesus Christ. By grace ye are saved. The best and safest thing for any sinner to do is to trust alone to the merits and sufferings of the Lamb of God. *John 1:27* Evolution is a dangerous and damning lie. To trample upon the bleeding love of God is a deadly thing. Never put your doings in the place of Christ's atoning blood. Leave your sins, quit self, and trust in Christ's blood alone - this is the old path and good way. Trusting, depending, and leaning upon Jesus Himself - that is all. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Only troubled, broke sinners ever pay the Heavenly Banker a visit.
When your sins begin to bother and burden you, only then will you come to Jesus. Human goodness is a vile odor in the nostrils of God. Your best doings are all tainted and stained with your sins - pride, self-preservation, vain glory. Give up all hope of being saved by your own merit or strength. Give up all ideas of appearing before God in your own righteousness. Repose your restless soul in Jesus Christ's atoning Blood. Prayer is the pleading of a poverty-stricken heart to a rich and merciful God. The reason you don't pray is that you don't feel that you need anything from God, so you don't ask Him, you are in need of nothing. A needy man cries out of his heart to God for what he needs. Nothing I do counts for anything in knowing Christ.
When your sins begin to bother and burden you, only then will you come to Jesus. Human goodness is a vile odor in the nostrils of God. Your best doings are all tainted and stained with your sins - pride, self-preservation, vain glory. Give up all hope of being saved by your own merit or strength. Give up all ideas of appearing before God in your own righteousness. Repose your restless soul in Jesus Christ's atoning Blood. Prayer is the pleading of a poverty-stricken heart to a rich and merciful God. The reason you don't pray is that you don't feel that you need anything from God, so you don't ask Him, you are in need of nothing. A needy man cries out of his heart to God for what he needs. Nothing I do counts for anything in knowing Christ.
Sinners are invited to the Cross only because they are evil and hopeless. The Gospel Message is full of grace, because it is directed toward those whose only claim is their need. The morally sick need the Savior's healing. We must receive everything by faith, and nothing by human merit. Trust in the merit of Christ, be sure your soul is clothed with His Righteousness from head to toe. Our own righteousness is as unacceptable to God as our unrighteousness. All our attempts to merit acceptance with God only increases our unworthiness. You deserve no good thing, but you can use Christ's good name at the Bank of Heaven freely. What self-righteous men call merit is utterly despicable to God.
From "A to Z" in the Gospel Alphabet everything is of grace alone, of free favor, of pure mercy, and nothing of human merit. You are broken in spirit, crippled by sin, have no claim to mercy, and are an undeserving enemy of God. *Colossians 1:21* You have nothing to offer God, and are totally incapable of pleasing God while you are in your evil natural state. There is not a speck of God within you until you receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart by Faith in His Precious Blood. God makes a covenant of love and faithfulness with His enemies at the Cross for Jesus' sake. A miserable mendicant's only plea is for mercy through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Beggars must not be choosers, therefore simply trust what Christ Jesus has done for you on Calvary's Cross.
From "A to Z" in the Gospel Alphabet everything is of grace alone, of free favor, of pure mercy, and nothing of human merit. You are broken in spirit, crippled by sin, have no claim to mercy, and are an undeserving enemy of God. *Colossians 1:21* You have nothing to offer God, and are totally incapable of pleasing God while you are in your evil natural state. There is not a speck of God within you until you receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart by Faith in His Precious Blood. God makes a covenant of love and faithfulness with His enemies at the Cross for Jesus' sake. A miserable mendicant's only plea is for mercy through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Beggars must not be choosers, therefore simply trust what Christ Jesus has done for you on Calvary's Cross.
You cannot find acceptance with God by your own doings. A sinner is only blessed by God on account of the worthiness of His Son who died for the ungodly. Complete reliance upon the merits of Christ is the sure way. God hates the very notion of human merit, because it attempts to usurp His Son's merit. A dead thing only goes with the stream of sin, but a living thing will struggle against the downward current of sin. Come to the Cross penniless and bankrupt and receive the exceeding riches of Christ's grace. Jesus only forgives bankrupt sinners freely.
When you have nothing to pay, Christ will then frankly forgive all your sins. Come now in all your poverty, empty-handed as a destitute beggar, come and be made rich by Christ Jesus. We are rich at first in our own righteousness, but then the Spirit of God moves, the commandment comes, and the work of the Law reduces us to absolute beggars spiritually, making us poor in spirit. *Romans 7:9* *Matthew 5:3* Jesus has a quick eye for importunate beggars. Disown your own righteousness as eagerly as you disown your sins.
When you have nothing to pay, Christ will then frankly forgive all your sins. Come now in all your poverty, empty-handed as a destitute beggar, come and be made rich by Christ Jesus. We are rich at first in our own righteousness, but then the Spirit of God moves, the commandment comes, and the work of the Law reduces us to absolute beggars spiritually, making us poor in spirit. *Romans 7:9* *Matthew 5:3* Jesus has a quick eye for importunate beggars. Disown your own righteousness as eagerly as you disown your sins.
A penniless man will take Christ's money. The self-righteous carnal mind has no taste for the Gospel of the Grace of God. Self-righteousness kicks at the idea that human works cannot help save from the wrath of God. The most moral and excellent gentleman needs Jesus Christ just as much as the most depraved and debauched wretch. The self-righteous man cannot endure the fact that we all must be saved merely by free grace through simple faith in Jesus' atoning blood. Faith is simply the needy hand that takes from God. When the beggar takes alms from someone, he doesn't thank the hand that took the alms, but he thanks the Hand that gave to him. Even so the sinner doesn't praise his faith that receives from Christ, but the good God who gives eternal life through His Son. Now understand - Only the penniless hand gets filled at the Cross.
Be nothing, be nobody, only trust Him. Never trust yourself, simply believe in Jesus. Go now to Jesus for everything. Your best works are nothing but filthy rags in God's sight. Never mix anything with Christ's blood and merits. The best and safest thing to do is to trust altogether to the blood and merits of Jesus Christ at once. The penniless hand can have Everything for nothing. Lord Jesus, give me mercy, grant me free forgiveness, pardon all my transgressions against You. The short cut to the Cross is just to cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner, for Jesus' sake!"
Be nothing, be nobody, only trust Him. Never trust yourself, simply believe in Jesus. Go now to Jesus for everything. Your best works are nothing but filthy rags in God's sight. Never mix anything with Christ's blood and merits. The best and safest thing to do is to trust altogether to the blood and merits of Jesus Christ at once. The penniless hand can have Everything for nothing. Lord Jesus, give me mercy, grant me free forgiveness, pardon all my transgressions against You. The short cut to the Cross is just to cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner, for Jesus' sake!"
