(Mat. 22:42).
“What think ye of Christ” is the test,
To try both your state and your scheme;
You cannot be right in the rest
Unless you think rightly of HIM;
As JESUS appears to your view—
As He is beloved or not,
So God is disposed to you.
And mercy or wrath is your lot.
Some take Him a creature to be—
A man, or an angel at most;
But they have not feelings like me,
Nor know themselves wretched or lost;
So guilty so helpless am I,
I durst not confide in His blood
Nor on His protection rely
Unless I were sure He is GOD.
Some call Him a Savior in word,
But mix their own works with His plan,
And hope He His help will afford,
When they have done all that they can:
If doings prove rather too light,
(A little they own they may fail)
They purpose to make up full weight
By casting His name in the scale.
Some style Him “the Pearl of great price,”
And say He’s the fountain of joys;
Yet feed upon folly and vice,
And cleave to the world and its toys;
Like Judas, the Savior they kiss,
And while they salute Him, betray;
O! what will profession like this
Avail in that terrible day?
If ask’d what of Jesus I think,
(Though still my best thoughts are but poor)
I say He’s my meat and my drink.
My Life, and my Strength, and my Store;
My Shepherd, my Trust, and my Friend,
My Savior from sin and from thrall;
My Hope from beginning to end
My Portion, my Lord, and my All.
Reader, What think YOU of Christ? is He your Savior? that is, has He saved you? for if He has not saved you, He is not your Savior! though He be the Saviour of others. If Christ has not saved you, you are lost, and if cut off in this state, you will be lost forever—you will never enter heaven: and your keenest anguish and heaviest condemnation will be that you have rejected the message of mercy now proclaimed to all, and refusing to receive Christ as YOUR Savior, you have refused salvation.
ML-12/19/1920