^ A. 0. Benson, Joyous Gard, 134.
REVELATION xxii. 17 425
Above, below, around, within us tender help is proffered ; but no power may touch with lightest hand the sceptre of the soul. There in the throne-room man is master. A thousand ministries from heaven wait his nod ; a thousand demons from the pit attend his will.^
^ If you ask me why the King is upon the throne, I reply in the words he insists should be on all his coins, " Dei Gratia " — by the grace of God. But, on the other hand, if you ask me why yonder criminal is in the cell, I dare not reply, By the will of God ; but I say, Because he has done wrong ; and I insist that he is morally responsible, else you must not shut him up as a criminal. You may confine him as a lunatic, as one who is dangerous to society; but do not punish him as a criminal for what he had no power to avoid. 'No, these two things are quite compatible — the Divine sovereignty and the free agency of man ; and herein consists the glory of God. He performs His purposes not by mere machines, but by living moral agents, who have this power of will. We all acknowledge that the power of the statesman, who moulds the will of the people, is of a higher order than the power of a blacksmith, who moulds a dead, resistless piece of iron to his purpose. So God carries out His own will, though liable to be crossed at every turn by the will of man. 2
If With the call to come, give us the will to come, most Bountiful Lord Jesus. Thou who turnedst water into wine ; who saidst, " Give me to drink " ; who criest, " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink " ; who saidst, " With desire I have desired " ; who declarest, " My blood is drink indeed " ; who saidst in extremity, " I thirst " ; suffer us not to make ourselves as Dives, but join us to Thyself and quench our thirst.^
^ A visitor to Dr. Horatius Bonar's church (about 1876) says : " His address was founded on the words ' The Spirit and the bride say, Come ' — ' the last invitation in the Bible.' It was marked by the absence of all attempt at originality. It was simply an invitation — warm, loving, urgent. With one of the most winning faces I ever saw, he closed: 'Whosoever — that includes you: whosoever will — does that include you ? * "
Long since that aged saint hath reached the fair celestial shore, And gained the martyr's crown, for he the martyr's suffering bore ;
^ C. G. Doney, The Throne-Room of the Soul, 11.
2 E. A. Stuart, Children of God, 162.
2 Christina G. Rossetti, The Face of the Deep, 542.
426 COME
Long since his happy feet have stood within his Father's home, Yet still the mighty voice he heard, with ceaseless cry, saith, " Come ! "
And life's bright fountain springeth yet, as free, and fresh, and
fair, As when in Patmos' dreary Isle it cheered the exile there! And hark ! the Spirit and the Bride repeat in mercy still, That he who is athirst may drink — yea, whosoever will\
0 blessed voices ! be it ours your loving call to hear And so obey that when, at last, from yonder radiant sphere The Heavenly Bridegroom shall descend to claim His own again. We may lift up our heads and say, " Lord, even so. Amen ! " ^
1 Elizabeth Surr.
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