When consciousness of sin and need
Constrains the broken, contrite cry,
And leads the weary-laden one
To lift imploring hands on high,
How may a sinful creature reach
A God who seems so far away ?
Ah, list the Voice of love divine :
" COME UNTO ME ! I AM THE WAY ! "
While crossless creed and Christless cults
Ensnare the prudent and the wise,
The babe, with truer wisdom, clings
To One whom they reject, despise :
For He alone, the Truth, the Life,
Can life and light divine impart,
Can minister the balm of peace,
And fully satisfy the heart.
No creature-power can doom avert,
Nor conscience purge, nor bliss bestow ;
The vanity of earthly things
Is writ in tears on all below :
But as the rays of morn dispel
The gloom and shadows of the night,
" I am the Way, the Truth, the Life,"
O'er this dark world pours living light.
The Way that to the Father leads,
The Truth that sanctifies, sets free,
The Life He giveth all His own,
That they with Him might ever be.
Thrice blessed chain !by love designed
To save and bring to God the lost,
With grace and mercy all entwined-
But, oh, how infinite the cost !
For ere one soul absolved could be,
And ere one dead in sins could live,
The Father had to give the Son-
The dearest gift that God could give !
For righteousness and peace must meet,
And the atoning blood must flow,
Ere God could from the mercy-seat
His blessed gifts of grace bestow.
And ere the new and living Way
Could open wide to all be thrown,
The way of sacrifice and death
The Lamb of God must tread alone-
A way that led through all the depths
Of sorrow, suffering, shame and loss-
Love's pathway of obedience, through
Gethsemane to Calvary's cross !
And there man's uttermost of hate
Was answered by transcending grace ;
For, while the Christ they crucified,
In love He took the sinner's place !
And having borne the due of sin,
And conquered death, and spoiled the grave,
Exalted to the throne of God
He lives omnipotent to save.
Though Darkness' power, with venomed might,
To quench the Light hath ceaseless sought,
And guilefully the Serpent's seed
To overthrow the truth have wrought,
Undimmed through all the hours of night,
Flung free o'er all earth's sea of strife,
From Christ the Rock still streams the Light :
" I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE ! "
While many-tongued apostasy
Increasingly assails the ear,
And fields now whitening fast proclaim
The harvest of the earth draws near,
The One whose love hath borne so long
Still calls and pleads at close of day,
And all who hear His voice still find
IN HIM THE LIFE, THE TRUTH, THE WAY !
W. I. G.