2Corinthians 5:20
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us:
we pray you in Christ’s stead,
be ye reconciled to God.
“What unparalleled condescension
and divinely tender mercies are displayed in this verse!
Did the judge ever beseech
a condemned criminal to accept of pardon?
Does the creditor ever beseech
a ruined debtor to receive an acquittance in full?
Yet our almighty Lord, and our eternal Judge,
not only vouchsafes to offer these blessings,
but invites us,
entreats us,
and with the most tender importunity solicits us
not to reject them.”
Rev. J. Wesley
Rev. Charles Wesley’s poem:
“God, the offended God most high,
Ambassadors to rebels sends;
His messengers his place supply,
And Jesus begs us to be friends.
Us, in the stead of Christ, they pray,
Us, in the stead of Christ, entreat,
To cast our arms, our sins, away,
And find forgiveness at his feet.
Our God, in Christ, thine embassy
And proffer’d mercy we embrace;
And, gladly reconciled to thee,
Thy condescending mercy praise.
Poor debtors, by our Lord’s request
A full acquittance we receive;
And criminals, with pardon blest,
We, at our Judge’s instance, live.”
Thoughts of Grace 