MY SAVIOUR by L. J. S.

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 18, 1867

MY SAVIOUR.

By L. J. S.

How beautiful and impressive are these words, My Saviour! Methinks I hear the heavenly host proclaiming him as a Saviour to the shepherds, the men of Samaria, acknowledging him to be the Saviour of the world, the apostles going through the earth to declare that there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. My soul responds to the song of angels, to the acknowledgment of the Samaritans and to the declaration of the apostles. I ask, I desire, I trust no other but him whom with patriarchs and prophets, with apostles and martyrs, I own and love, I adore as my Saviour. He is the beloved of the Father and of his people. There came a voice from Heaven saying, This is my beloved Son. He is the chiefest among ten thousand; he is altogether lovely. And dare I, would I, can I, withhold anything from him? Forbid it, O my Saviour, and bring me to make an unreserved surrender of myself to thee, that I may lose sight of all besides in the vision of thy glory.

My Saviour! He was promised to Abraham as a source of blessing to all nations, and while he is, or ought to be, and shall be, the blessing of all nations, can he be less than the desire of my soul? Can any need him more than I do? Can any sanctification short of him fill my breast? Is the day hastening on upon the rapid wings of time when Jesus will be the desire, the all-comprehensive desire of all nations? Then let me earnestly implore an outpouring of his influence upon my heart. Yes, let all the desires of my soul center in him who is the one altogether lovely. Oh! that my heart may be drawn after him with an intensity of desire which nothing else shall be able to abate, to divert, or satisfy, even for a moment, until I see him, embrace him, and exclaim as did the patriarch when he heard of Joseph, “It is enough.”

My Saviour is my righteousness. The prophet foretold my joy and my privilege. Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. I have neither in myself, I have both in him, he having given himself for me. Therefore, being my righteousness, I have a clear indisputable and unalterable title to the favor, the love, and eternal enjoyment of God. Therefore, my Saviour is the refuge of my soul. What fear is there to alarm me? From what danger have I to flee?

As a sinner, I am guilty. I have violated the law, and its avenger, Justice, exclaims in my startled ear, Thou shalt surely die. My danger is eternal death, to which, one stroke of God's righteous judgment, may in a moment consign me. But behold the very hand that barred up lost Paradise with the flaming sword, opens a refuge for my soul, a place of security, whither I may flee and be safe. The way that leads to my city of refuge is so plain that the wayfaring men though fools need not err therein. He is both my refuge, and the way, the door, and the life, which I am to find there. Have I, then, fled to Christ for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us in the gospel, this refuge from the storm, and covert from the tempest of divine wrath? When the hail of judgment shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and leave its deluded victims to inevitable destruction, I shall be lodged in God, the Rock of my refuge.

Oh that my name may be found written in the Lamb's book of life, that I may not be filled with consternation when he cometh, whether at even or midnight; for I shall lift up my eyes not upon an unknown Judge, from whom I have everything to dread, but upon him whom with affectionate confidence I have called my Saviour.—Copied for Review by L. J. S.