Rescue the perishing

1
Rescue the perishing,
  Care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
  Weep o’er the erring one,
  Lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.
  Rescue the perishing,
  Care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful,
    Jesus will save.
2
Though they are slighting Him,
  Still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
  Plead with them earnestly,
  Plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.
3
Down in the human heart,
  Crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
  Touched by a loving heart,
  Wakened by kindness,
Chords that are broken will vibrate once more.
4
Rescue the perishing,
  Duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
  Back to the narrow way,
  Patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.
54
Joshua Davis

Portmore, St Catherine, Jamaica

"Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died"

This line means so much to me.


Lilo Xu

Auckland, New Zealand

the Lord's love is so great. though we often slight and greive Him, He is always there waiting, waiting to receive all the penitent children. How we need to cooperate with the Lord, who desires all men to be saved, to tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.


Ruth N Samuel

Nairobi, Kenya

Powerful


Fidèlis Yong

Bamenda, Cameroon

I love this hymn with a love so deep. It touches the soul.


Joshua

Cavite, Bailen, Philippines

this is I always sing in the church every sunday. I really love this Rescue The Perishing song


Kevin McWatt

Hickory Corners, Michigan, United States

I pray that our church's door to door evangelism effort will be blessed with this hymn sung to all who will keep their doors open to hear it. What a wonderful message this hymn has for soul winners and the unsaved alike.


Ganez

Bracknell, Berkshire, United Kingdom

Pray for me felt God had opened up a way to reach out to my neighbour whose home was invaded twice and damaged by a person known to him. (I had been praying for my neighbours for some time) things went in an unexpected direction and I don't know how to proceed further now.


Buimi

New Delhi, Delhi, India

So touched


George

De Meern, Utrecht, Netherlands

Nice! Thank you


Cecilia Gambrah

Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana

The song sums up the mission work of mankind. We need to help each other. I love the song.

During those years, the fire of the gospel was indeed burning among us. However, we did not reach the stage of going out and compelling people. In Luke 14:23 the Lord Jesus told us that to go out and bring people in, we even need to go to the roads and hedges and compel people. According to the original Greek, to compel people means to force people. The Lord said, "Go out into the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled." Our burden is to teach you how to compel others. The Lord Jesus spoke of our need to compel others.

In verse 23 the Lord said that we should compel people to come in. Then in verse 26 He said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate." These two matters spoken of in Luke 14 are quite harsh. First, we have to go out and compel people to believe in the Lord. Second, after they believe, they have to "hate." Seemingly, this is against what Christianity teaches about being kind, loving, and broad, but this is indeed the Lord's word. Not only do we have to hate our parents and our wife, we also have to hate our self. The teaching of the Lord Jesus' is quite particular. Hymns #664 in Chinese says, "Rise up quickly and preach the gospel!" But the Lord's word goes even further; He wants us to rise up quickly and compel people. The secret to preaching the gospel is to have a zealous heart, to be crazy. A person who is crazy does not care for himself. Forty years ago I was crazy whenever I preached the gospel. However, I was not crazy to the extent of compelling others. For this reason, I feel that I am still indebted to the gospel.

Our main impression concerning the Gospel of Luke is that it is a sweet gospel. It tells us that the Lord Jesus is a good shepherd who is full of compassion. In His tender love He looks for us, He embraces and bears us, and He brings us back to His flock (15:1-7). This Gospel also tells us that the Lord is a good Samaritan. We are wounded and on the verge of death, but He binds our wounds and pours oil and wine on them (10:25-35). However, we never saw the matter that the Lord Jesus wants us to go and compel others, nor did we see that the Lord wants us to hate.

In Adam we were sentenced by God to die, to perish in the lake of fire forever (Heb. 9:27; John 3:16b; Rev. 21:8). This is man's destiny. This is why we need to give up the world and spend our time to preach the gospel to rescue fallen man from the lake of fire. Fanny Crosby, a sister who lived in the last century, wrote many hymns. One of these hymns (Hymns, #921) is concerning rescuing the perishing sinners. The first stanza and chorus of this hymn say:

Rescue the perishing,

Care for the dying,

Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;

Weep o'er the erring one,

Lift up the fallen,

Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing,

Care for the dying;

Jesus is merciful,

Jesus will save.

We should be inspired by this matter. All the people on this earth are busy doing many things, but eventually they will perish. We need to have a heart to rescue the perishing, to care for the dying.

Hymns, #921 was written by Fanny Crosby, an American sister who was blind.

Piano Hymns