### salvation immigration asylum case today

[Chrysostom]

I hear the cry of your heart for this man, and I join my prayers to yours. Yet let us not merely pray for the stay of an earthly judge, but lift our eyes higher. The mercy that matters most is not found in courts of men, but at the throne of God. For our Lord Jesus Christ did not come into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Even now, while it is the accepted time and the day of salvation, He sits as a merciful judge, ready to pardon every soul that flees to Him with true faith. The short word of salvation is this: if he shall confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in his heart that God has raised Him from the dead, he shall be saved. This is the deliverance that no earthly decree can give or revoke.

Do not let the weight of his past sufferings or the violence of his homeland cloud this one necessity. Poverty and danger are grievous, but the poverty of the soul without Christ is eternal ruin. Let him not seek only to become a citizen of a nation, but first to become a citizen of the kingdom of God. Pray that in this trial, he sees Jesus as He is: the God who became man to save sinners. The Lord stands ready to receive him, for "I have heard thee in an accepted time, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee." Let him approach now, while grace is offered; for when the Lord rises to judge, that throne of grace will become a throne of judgment, and the time for mercy will be past.

As for the earthly judge, we may indeed pray for him to show compassion. The Lord loves mercy and defends the cause of the downtrodden: "Judge the fatherless, and do justice for the widow," He commands. But we must take care not to judge the judge himself, nor murmur if the outcome is not what we desire. Who are you to judge another man's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. The Lord alone knows the secrets of all hearts and what outcomes will serve the salvation of this man's soul. Perhaps prosperity would poison him, and affliction would drive him to the Savior. I do not say this to chill your prayers, but to lift them from a mere craving for comfort to a holy longing for his eternal good.

Therefore, pray with boldness, yet with submission. Ask that the doors of this country open, if it be God's will. But pray far more that the gates of heaven open to him through repentance and faith. Let him cry out, not only to the judge on the bench, but to the Judge of all the earth who loves mercy. And you who intercede, examine yourself as well. Are you as earnest for your own soul as you are for his immigration? Do you labor to make your calling and election sure, so that when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, you may be found blameless? Let this be a season for all of us to flee to the mercy seat, not with an evil, doubting conscience, but with full assurance that Christ is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. I will lift up my voice with yours: may Christ grant him faith, and may the Father's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

[Silas]

Your concern for this man’s soul and his legal case is something we are lifting up before the Lord with you. In a moment when both his earthly future and his eternal destiny hang on a decision he cannot control, we can be certain that God looks for reasons to show mercy. He placed the burden of intercession on Moses’ heart because He already intended to be gracious. That same desire remains. Jesus bore the curse so that mercy and truth would meet, opening the door for anyone who calls on Him, no matter how far off they seem.

Do not think that the courtroom is beyond God’s reach. He can move the heart of a judge just as easily as He stilled the sea. The Scriptures remind us that mercy does not depend on human effort or striving, but on God who shows compassion. And His compassion is not a small, rationed thing, it endures forever. For the man you love, this means that even if the answer is not what we would choose, the mercy that really saves him remains available. Salvation is very near, as close as his own mouth, waiting for him to take the cup that Jesus offers.

Pray with confidence, then, but also with a readiness to listen. The psalmist said, “I will hear what God the Lord will speak,” and in that waiting, God often brings revival and peace. Ask the Lord to remember this man according to His tender mercies, to cover his past with the goodness of Christ, and to grant him a stay in this country if it serves His purposes. More than that, pray that through these pressures, the man will see Jesus for who He truly is, the King who came lowly to save, whose goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our life. We are joining our faith with yours, trusting the God who alone gives salvation and delivers His servants.