COME, thou vile wretch, thou veteran in sin,
With faith and tears, come to the Son of God!
'Tis He, the Son of God, that calls thee in,
If thou art weary of thy cumbrous load.

'Tis Christ himself, that calls thee from above,
'Tis Christ commands, and who can disobey?
'Tis Christ, that deigns thy troubles to remove,
If thou to Him, thro' faith, wilt come away!

Come thou to Christ, however great thy crimes,
Come thou, thy life however vile and ill,
Come thou, and beg his needful aid betimes;
For he can save thee, whensoe'er he will.

Though thou in Adam once wert ruin'd quite,
Though thou wert snar'd by the insidious Fiend,
Though thou hast so incens'd the God of might,
Believe in Christ, He'll save thee in the end.

Though thou wert in Iniquity conceiv'd,
Though thou so very lewd a life hast led,
When thou hast once Christ's covenant receiv'd,
He'll cleanse thy filth, and raise thee from the dead.

Though thou by nature art to God a foe,
Though thou wert born of a corrupted line,
Believe in Christ - thou shalt no more be so -
But a great fav'rite of thy Sire divine.

Though thou to Satan art become a slave,
Though to his wiles thou hast been made a prey,
Believe in Christ - from Satan's den He'll save
Thy soul, and bring thee up to perfect day.

Though thou Damnation dost deserve in hell,
And all the tortures that the Devils bear;
Believe in Christ - in heaven thou shalt dwell,
And thy Creator laud for ever there.

Though thou art now a headstrong rebel grown,
And turn'd a fiend, who wast a saint before;
Believe in Christ - he'll take thee for his own,
And make thee, from a fiend, a saint once more.

Tho' thou'rt condemn'd thro' ancient Adam's fault
Who poison'd and infected all his race;
Believe in Christ - and thou shalt yet be brought
To heav'n, in spite of Adam's foul disgrace.

Though Satan seiz'd thy bosom, as his prey,
And took possession of the fenceless seat;
Believe in Christ - he'll take his arms away,
And out of doors the fell intruder beat.

Though thieves, of ev'ry virtue robb'd thy soul,
And wounded thee with a felonious rage;
The true Samaritan will make thee whole,
And thy deep wound's excessive pain assuage.

Altho' the fi'ry Serpent stung thy heart,
And hot his venom thro' each rankling pore;
Believe in Christ - and he'll allay the smart,
And bathe thy wounds in his all-cleansing gore.

Though thou hast often wander'd far from home,
Like a stray'd sheep, just perish'd with the cold;
Believe in Christ, He speedily will come,
And from the desert drive thee to his fold.

Tho' thou more than a thousand times has sinn'd,
And tho' those sins as many stripes require,
Believe in Christ - thou shalt remission find
For ev'ry crime, and ev'ry loose desire.

Altho' thy sins are, as the scarlet, red,
Or, like the deeper crimson, though they glow;
Believe in Christ - and with the blood he shed,
He'll bleach thee white as any driven snow.

Altho' thy vices, than thy hairs were more,
And did unto a countless sum amount;
Thy blest Redeemer, God and man, adore,
And he'll forgive thee the immense account.

Take comfort, thy desponding spirits raise,
Believe in Jesus, thy Redeemer dear,
Amend thy morals, quit thy wicked ways,
And he from ev'ry ill will keep thee clear.

Christ calls - Christ summons thee above the sky,
Nay, Christ invites thee to a blissful home;
Why wilt thou therefore obstinately die,
Because thou wilt not to thy Saviour come?

Christ to the world, from the bright realms of joy,
Expressly came, transgressors vile to keep;
His care, his business, and his sole employ,
To gather, and to fold his straggling sheep.

Thou long, as all have done, hast gone astray,
Thou art, like us, without his aid undone:
Why wilt thou not the gracious Call obey,
And for protection to thy Saviour run?

The sins, which now o'erwhelm thy soul with shame,
Are not than Saul's, or any other's, more;
Yet Saul receiv'd remission for the same;
And so shalt thou - if thou wilt Christ adore.

Thy sins do not above his mercies soar,
Nor are they such as Christ can not efface,
Nor can the errors of thy life be more,
Than he can wash away by his free grace.

Satan can ne'er contaminate thee so,
That Jesus cannot his assistance lend,
Nor so pollute, tho' he his worst should do,
But Jesus can thy wicked ways amend.

Christ, man's perverseness can with ease subdue,
And to a lamb the wolf, a saint the fiend,
Convert - the veteran in vice, renew,
And cause God's foe, to be again his friend.

Christ only call'd Zaccheus from the tree,
And alter'd by the Call his nature quite :
So, at his pleasure, he can alter thee,
And change thy colour soon from black to white.

Christ is a Deity of wond'rous might,
Who pardon's ev'ry contrite sinner's vice,
Who our degenerate nature sets to right,
Who ruins Satan's labour in a trice.

Omnipotent he is, who bought thy soul,
He can the breaches, Satan made, repair,
And from thy breast, with his corruption foul,
Eject the pow'rful sovereign of the air.

Though seven Devils revell'd in thy heart,
Nay, though a Legion that retreat possess'd,
Christ, with a word, can make them all depart,
Like flies before a tempest, from thy breast.

No creature has the power to deface
The work, by his divine Creator done:
Nor man, nor fiend, can rob thee of his grace;
If thou wilt put thy trust in him alone.

There's not a soul, who does in Christ believe,
That to amend his life and errors past,
Does not sufficient grace from him receive;
'Till he becomes another man at last.

No one for grace to Jesus ever came,
No one for help to Jesus ever cry'd,
Who did not speedily receive the same,
And was not both with grace and help supply'd.

Come then, and earnestly his favour crave,
Nor let thy weighty sins retard thy soul:
Christ never came the sinless folks to save,
But such as are contaminate and foul.

Christ ne'er on purpose left the realms of joy,
But to preserve the sheep that went astray;
It is his bus'ness and his chief employ,
To bring the stragglers back to the right way.

Come therefore, come to him with th' utmost speed;
He spurs, he goads thee on, to mend thy pace:
Believe in Christ - be that thy constant creed,
And he'll preserve thee by his saving grace.

God give thee grace this summons to attend;
O may the gracious Call not prove in vain!
God give thee faith, thy morals to amend:
So thou from Christ shall grace and peace obtain!