The Lawful Captive Delivered (III)

From James Osbourn's Autobiography, "A Lawful Captive Delivered" (p. 11)

"But although my mind was become so sordid and corrupt, and opposed to every good thing serious and solemn; yet eternity would at times bring me to a stand and to very close thinking, and very much would it damp my thirst for sin and vanity. Indeed it would spoil all the pleasures of sin, and throw my mind into a state of melancholy and great bitterness, insomuch that my life would be a burden to me. But as soon as ever the thoughts of futurity and of a judgment to come would wear off from my mind, my former thirst for sin and folly would return again, and great happiness I have promised myself in the practice of vice. And thus did Satan strive to lead me blindfolded on to ruin before I arrived to the years of manhood, or else to make a tool of me through life to ensnare others, and then sink me down into endless nights, where hope is not known and mercy never visits. And to this end I assuredly should have been brought but for the grace of God; and hence, to grace, and nothing else but grace, can I attribute my escape from endless woe. And that the Almighty should avert so dire a doom in my instance, is a marvellous circumstance, and a striking confirmation of the truth of these words, 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion' (Romans 9:15)."

Comment-I really enjoyed and delighted in Brother Osbourn attributing his deliverance "to grace, and nothing else but grace." That too is my conviction based upon the Bible and from experience. We deserve justice but God has delighted in extending mercy to the undeserving. The expression in Romans 9:15 reveals the reality that mercy and compassion are gifts extended to sinners. The cause in extending the gifts are not because of what God sees in man (not his effort nor decision) but in the majestic sovereignty of God.