Hail, Thou great and glorious Captain of my salvation!

"And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them." -I Samuel 22:2 [KJV]

My soul, was not this thy case when thou first sought after Jesus? Thou wert, indeed, in debt under an heavy load of insolvency. Distress and discontent sadly marked thy whole frame. Unconscious where to go, or to whom to seek, and no man cared for thy soul. Oh! what a precious thought it was, and which none but God the Holy Ghost could have put into thine heart—Go unto Jesus! And when I came, and Thou didst graciously condescend to be my Captain, from that hour how hath my soul been revived! My insolvency Thou hast taken away; for Thou hast more than paid the whole demands of the law; for Thou hast magnified it, and made it honourable. My distress under the apprehension of divine justice Thou hast removed; for God's justice, by Thee, is not only satisfied, but glorified.  

My discontent can have no further cause for exercise, since Thou hast so graciously provided for all my wants, in grace here, and glory hereafter. Hail, Thou great and glorious Captain of my salvation! In Thee I see that Leader and Commander which Jehovah, Thy Father, promised to give to the people. Thou art indeed, blessed Jesus, truly commissioned by Thy Father to this very purpose, that every one that is in soul distress, by reason of sin, and debtors to the broken law of God, may come unto Thee, and take Thee for their Captain. And truly, Lord, Thy little army, like David's, is composed of none originally but distressed souls. None would take Thee for his Captain, whose spiritual circumstances are not desperate. None but the man whose heart hath felt distress, by reason of sin, and is sinking under the heavy load of guilt, will come under Thy banner. Oh! the condescension of Jesus to receive such, and be gracious unto them. Oh! that I had the power of persuasion, I would say to every poor sinner, every insolvent debtor, every one who feels and knows the plague of his heart—would to God you were with the Captain of my salvation, He would recover you from all your sorrow. Go to Him, my brother, as I have done; He will take away your distress by taking away your sin. He will liberate you from all your debt by paying it Himself. He will banish all discontent from the mind, in giving you peace with God by His blood.  

Yes, blessed, Almighty Captain! Thou art indeed over Thy people, as well as Captain to Thy people. By the sword of Thy Spirit, which is the word of God, Thou workest conviction in our hearts; Thou makest all Thine enemies fall under Thee; Thou leadest Thy people on to victory, and makest them more than conquerors through Thy grace supporting them. Lord, put on the military garments of salvation on my soul, and the whole armour of God, that under Thy banner I may be found in life, in death, and for evermore! 


-preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)

March 6th, THE POOR MAN'S MORNING PORTION

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more