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1 John 2:1

My Advocate

In a poem entitled “My Advocate,” Martha Snell Nicholson dramatically portrays the adequacy of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. She wrote:

I sinned. And straightway, posthaste, Satan flew
Before the presence of the most High God,
And made a railing accusation there.
He said, “This soul, this thing of clay and sod,
Has sinned. ‘Tis true that he has named Thy Name,
But I demand his death, for Thou has said,
‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’
Shall not Thy sentence be fulfilled? Is justice dead'

Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.
What other thing can righteous ruler do?”
And thus he did accuse me day and night,
And every word he spoke, O God, was true!
Then quickly One rose up from God’s right hand,
Before whose glory angels veiled their eyes.
He spoke, “Each jot and tittle of the law
Must be fulfilled; the guilty sinner dies!

But wait—suppose his guilt were all transferred
To Me, and that I paid his penalty!
Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One day
I was made sin for him, and died that he
Might be presented faultless at Thy throne!”
And Satan fled away. Full well he knew
That he could not prevail against such love,
For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!

Do you sometimes wonder how God could accept you? Look again to your Advocate. God is satisfied with His sacrifice, and no accusation of Satan or of your conscience can undo the completeness of Christ’s work. - D.J.D.

He who died as our substitute lives as our advocate.

Our Daily Bread, December 4

Looking Upwards In A Storm

God of my life, to Thee I call,
Afflicted at Thy feet I fall;
When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

Friend of the friendless and the faint,
Where should I lodge my deep complaint,
Where but with Thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor!

Did ever mourner plead with Thee,
And Thou refuse that mourner’s plea'
Does not the word still fix’d remain,
That none shall seek Thy face in vain'

That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer-hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.

Fair is the lot that’s cast for me;
I have an Advocate with Thee;
They whom the world caresses most
Have no such privilege to boast.

Poor though I am, despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not:
And he is safe, and must succeed,
For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead.

Olney Hymns, William Cowper, from Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York

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