“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” Luke 18:13

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The Lord is King!

Author: Josiah Conder Tune: Doxology (Louis Bourgeois)

1. The Lord is king! lift up thy voice,

O earth; and all ye heav'ns, rejoice!

From world to world the joy shall ring,

The Lord omnipotent is king.

2. The Lord is king! who then shall dare

Resist His will, distrust His care,

Or murmur at His wise decrees,

Or doubt His royal promises?

3. The Lord is king! Child of the dust,

The Judge of all the earth is just;

Holy and true are all His ways;

Let every creature speak His praise.

4. He reigns! ye saints, exalt your strains;

Your God is king, your Father reigns;

And He is at the Father's side,

The Man of love, the Crucified.

5. Come, make your wants, your burdens known;

He will present them at the throne;

And angel bands are waiting there

His messages of love to bear.

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"And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. "

John 5:40

"No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:44

Why is it, that no one can come to Christ unless he is 'drawn'? The answer is because his wicked heart loves sin and hates Christ! The heart of every man is so "desperately wicked" that if he is left to himself, he will never come to Christ! For the sinner to come to Christ that he might have life is for him . .

to realize the awful danger of his situation;

to see that the sword of Divine justice is suspended over his head;

to awaken to the fact that there is but a step between him and death, and that after death is the 'judgment'! And in consequence of this discovery, to earnestly strive . . .

to flee from the wrath to come,

to cry unto God for mercy, and

to agonize to enter in at the 'strait gate'!

To come to Christ for life is for the sinner . . .

to feel and acknowledge that he is utterly destitute of any claim upon God's favor;

to see himself as 'without strength,' lost and undone;

to admit that he is deserving of nothing but eternal wrath, thus taking side with God against himself;

to cast himself into the dust before God, and humbly sue for Divine mercy.

To come to Christ for life, is for the sinner . . .

to abandon his own righteousness;

to disown his own wisdom and be guided by Jesus;

to repudiate his own will and be ruled by Jesus;

to unreservedly receive the Lord Jesus as his Savior and Lord, as his All in all.

Such, in part and in brief, is what is implied and involved in "coming to Christ." But is the sinner willing to take such an attitude before God? No! For in the first place, he does not realize the danger of his situation, and in consequence makes no earnest attempt to escape. Instead, men are for the most part at ease, and whenever they are disturbed by the alarms of conscience or the dispensations of providence, they flee to any other refuge but Christ!

They will not acknowledge that all their 'good works' are as filthy rags but, like the Pharisee, will thank God they are not as bad as other heinous sinners. They are not ready to receive Christ as their Lord for they are unwilling to part with their idols! They had rather hazard their soul's eternal welfare than give them up! Hence we say that, if left to himself, the natural man is so depraved at heart that he has no moral and spiritual ability to come to Christ!

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

Romans 8:7-8 --Arthur Pink

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