Come Ye Sinners
This past Wednesday night at church we sang Todd Agnew’s arrangement of Come Ye Sinners. The original text to this great old hymn was written by British preacher Joseph Hart 1759. Here are lyrics:
Come ye sinners, poor and needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore
Jesus ready stands to save you
Full of pity, love, and powerCome ye thirsty, come and welcome
God’s free bounty glorify
True belief and true repentance
Every grace that brings you nighI will arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace me in His arms
In the arms of my dear Savior
Oh, there are ten thousand charmsCome ye weary, heavy-laden
Lost and ruined by the fall
If you tarry until you’re better
You will never come at all
This is a powerful song because those words declare the hearts of so many. When many hear this song they immediately think back to their own salvation when Christ rescued them from death and restored them to new life in Him. The remember the declaration of James:
James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
However as I reminded our congregation on Wednesday night it is important that we not mistake this song and these words as being solely for unbelievers. No, in fact every single one of us is a sinner. Some of us are sinners saved by grace, but sinners nonetheless. Paul made this very clear by his own declaration:
1 Timothy 1:15
It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
Some might be offended by that, or resent the thought that they who have been redeemed are still sinners. On the contrary I find great hope and relief in that fact. See I have been following Christ for many years now, but just like Paul it seems that I progress deeper into my walk with Christ the more I realize the depth and magnitude of my sinful ways. The more I learn from Jesus the more I realize how much I need Him to continually rescue me from this fallen world and my sinful nature.
So I am thankful for the truth of this song. There are so many days that I am “weary and heavy laden, ruined by the fall” and I need His arms to carry me and I need His ten thousands charms to revive and delight my soul.
In the Song of Solomon we see a beautiful picture of what our relationship with God should be.
Song of Solomon 7:6
How beautiful and how delightful you are, My love, with all your charms!
That revelation is for both believer and unbelievers alike. We all need His arms of love to save us for no other source can even come close to His ten thousand charms.
–Wholly Surrender!