The Shortness of Human Life (Thomas Boston, 1676-1732)

 

Job 16:22

“When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.”

TIME is in constant motion. Years are like rivers flowing fast away, and still running a straight, but no hope of their running a backward course. The year now gone will never return, and that now come will run on, till it also run out. Meanwhile, our life here is also running to an end.

Our text mentions an important removal, that is abiding all. This is, "we shall go the way whence we shall not return." Death is the going to that place, that state. A removing from time to eternity, from the world of sense, to the world of spirits. There will be a return of the body from the grave, but no return from eternity.

We have also the longest term fixed for this removal. It may be within a few months, weeks, days, hours, that we shall be called away. But without all peradventure, the term of removing will be to all of us within a few years. "When a few years are come," by that time we will be gone.

DOCTRINE. The coming in of a few new years, will set us out of this world, never to return to it. However vain men make new years, new occasions of renewing their follies, superstitions, carnal mirth, and jollities. They thus act as those in whom madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. I see not how serious persons can fail to have this serious thought on such an occasion. Here I shall very shortly,

I. Shew in what respects, we can have but a few years to come.

II. Why is the coming, and not the going of these few years mentioned.

III. When the few years have sent us off, there is no returning. We are then,

I. To shew in what respects, we can have but a few years to come.

1. In comparison of the many years to which man's life did sometimes extend; namely, in the ages before the flood, Gen. 5. When man's life was of that great extent, an ill use was made of it; and Enoch, the best man of that period, had the shortest life, namely, three hundred and sixty-five years. Now our years are dwindled into so small a number, that the odd number even of Enoch's years, is a long life with us, which few comparatively, reach.

2. In comparison of the years of the world that are past, now about five thousand, seven hundred and twenty-four. If we consider what of the world's time was run before we knew it, how late incomers we are, and how soon we must be gone, we must needs say, we have but, at most, few years to come. Our life is but a short visit made to the world of sense.

3. In comparison of the great work which we have to do, namely, our salvation, and generation work. If we were to live hundreds of years, we have as much work laid to our hands, as might fill it all up; and we would be convinced of that, if once we would rightly consider, that we have both our own souls to attend to, and to be useful for God in the world.

4. In comparison of eternity. If our life was lengthened out to a hundred times the length of the ordinary period of it, it would be no more in that case, than a drop of water to the ocean, or a grain of sand to a mountain. How few then must our years be, which we probably have to come. But let us inquire,

II. Why is the coming, and not the going of the few years mentioned.

1. Because, that by the time they are fully come in, they are gone out; so that the coming and the going of a year, are all one upon the matter. It is not one or two, or a month, or eleven months of days, that make a year; till the last day and hour of a year is come, and then it is gone by that time. How quick is our time, then, in its motion; how soon do our years pass, which no sooner are come, than they are gone again.

2. Because that year will at length begin to come in, which we will never see the going out of. Every year is that to some, and to which of us, this year may be it, who knows. But in the ordinary course of providence, it cannot fail to be so, to some or other of us, in the place. The term of the year should certainly suggest this serious thought to us. We are now,

III. To shew that when the few years have sent us off, there is no returning.

1. Men cannot come back, Job. 14:14. If men cannot keep themselves alive, far less can they restore themselves to life, and return after death hath carried them away. Nothing less than an omnipotent hand can loose the bands of death, make up the ashes into a body again, and re-unite the soul to it. And,

2. God will not bring them back again. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." God has appointed this life for the time of a trial, when it is ended, the sentence is passed, and no place remains for a new time of trial. With respect to the godly after death, their souls are at rest with God, in heaven; their bodies rest in the grave, sleeping in Jesus. He will not pluck them out of their rest. As for the wicked, they have had their time, and it is out, the sentence is passed, and there is no reversing of it. For improvement,

Let the going out and coming in of years be so noticed and improved by you, as that you may apply your hearts to wisdom on that occasion. I cannot think that the observing of such a time in the way of carnal mirth, feasting, and giving of gifts and handsells, is becoming Christianity. It is certain that was the manner of the heathens; and it is as certain, that God strictly forbade his people to symbolize with the heathen, and follow their customs. "You shall not," said he to them, "walk in the manner of the nations, which I cast out before you; for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them." But it appears very proper in such a time,

1. That men seriously weigh with themselves that they are now a great step nearer another world than they were. A year is a very considerable part of one's life, for there are not many of them in our whole life. And if you be in case for passing into another world, you may lift up your heads with joy, "for now is your salvation nearer, than when you believed." But, hearer, if you be not, you should be stirred up the more to make ready.

2. That they take a humbling back-look of their way, and consider, the many wrong steps which they have made in their past years, and particularly in the year last passed. The way of providence towards them in it; what mercies, what rods, what deliverances they have met with, and what improvement has been made of them. Taking up resolutions, in the strength of grace to walk more closely with God in all time coming.

3. That they renew their acceptance of the covenant, and lay down measures for their safety in another world, what time soever their few years shall come to an end. That is, that in prospect of their going out of the world at the time appointed by God, they do what they would do, if it were told they should never see the end of the year. Ezek. 45:18–21. And it would be proper to take a particular time for this, shorter or longer, for the more solemn managing of the work. None should bind themselves to any time to which God hath not bound them; but it were good to take the time most convenient for the work.

1. Consider how many years have gone over our heads, and how short way our business for eternity is come, nay, with many of us it is not yet begun. They who have a long journey before them, and have loitered in the morning, had much need to mend their pace, when the day is far spent. For every seven years any of us have lived, we have had a whole year of sabbaths. And at this rate, several years of Sabbaths have passed with most of us. But how unprepared are we as yet, for the eternal sabbath in the heavens.

2. How quickly do years run out, and make no stay. They pass like a tale that is told. And if we have more years yet to come, these that are to come, will post away with no less speed than those that are now gone, and will never return.

3. We know what is past, but what may be to come, we know not. The lower end of our sand glass of time is within our view, and we see what is run out. But the upper end is covered to us; we know not how much, or how little remains to run.

4. Our years once gone, there is no bringing them back again. If our work has been neglected in them, it must lie for ever undone for them; and we must either do and make up the former neglect, by improving the present opportunity, or we are for ever ruined.

Lastly, Eternity is a business of the greatest weight. It is that in which we, and the world itself too, will together be swallowed up. The great glass of time for the world's duration, was set up in the beginning, Gen. 1. It is not to be turned for this world, but when it runs out, the world ends: and we may be sure it is towards the end by this time. Now the happiness of the other world is too great for us to be indifferent about it, and to be cheated out of it by Satan and our vain hearts. The misery of the other world is too great a burden to be easy about, while we are not secured against it. The punishment of loss, and the punishment of sense, are things which require our utmost care and concern to escape. The eternity and unchangeableness of these things, add immensely to their weight. There is no change there for ever. But once happy, happy for evermore; and once miserable, miserable for evermore. Finally, when it will come upon us, we know not. Our few years being come, then we go, and shall know in our experience what that is, about which we have so often heard so much. Amen.

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From The Works of Thomas Boston, Vol 4.

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Self or Christ: Which Is It? (Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889)

 

Romans 14:7-9 

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

  The words "none of us" show that the apostle is speaking of those who have been delivered from a present evil world. He is contrasting them with the men of earth. Once, our life, he means to say, was the same as theirs; now all is changed; and instead of resemblance, there is unlikeness in every feature. He does not count it pride to say, we are unselfish, they are selfish; we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness.

      Each of these verses brings out a distinct truth. In the seventh verse we have the setting aside of self; in the eighth, the substitute for self; in the ninth, the way in which this substitution has come about.

      I. The setting aside of self. "For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself." I do not mean annihilating self, as some speak. There is no such thing, except in the dreams of a vain philosophy, or a self-righteous mysticism. I speak of giving self is proper place--the place recognized by our Lord, when he said, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Lawful self-love is not selfishness; yet we may say that selfishness is diseased self-love; and, as such, is the master-sin, the master-curse of man. He lives for self; his estimate of everything is its bearing upon self; the gloss which he casts over everything is one derived from self. Self is the horizon which limits all his views. He is not like a man looking round on a noble landscape, and forgetting himself in the beauty of the wide expanse; but he is like a man carrying a mirror with him, into which he is continually looking, that he may see and admire himself; so that every object is seen in connection with self, and is only admired as it helps to set off self.

      The apostle's statement presents the reversal of all this. It shows us the mirror broken, into which we looked so complacently; the eye turned outward instead of inward; the horizon thrown back into the far distance, self forgotten, lost sight of--"None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." The Christian is done with self, at least, in the way in which we have hitherto been connected with it. Self is displaced. It is brought down to its true position and level; it is set aside entirely as an end, or motive; and this, not in one thing--but in everything; for we may take the words, life and death, not merely as expressive of the very things that they mean--but as bringing before us the two extremes of man's being, and including, of course, everything between these two extremities. This displacement of self, then, is carried through man's whole being, from one extremity to the other. From his life and from his death, as well as from all between, this self has been displaced.

      Now, mark how this process is carried out. The first setting aside of self is in the matter of justification before God; for, previously, self was the main ingredient in man's theory of justification. His object was to amend self, to improve self, or it might be, to mortify self, in order that thereby he might recommend himself to God. Thus self, in the matter of his justification before God, occupied the chief place. The first thing which the Holy Spirit does, when he convinces a man of sin, is to show that this cannot be; that self can contribute nothing towards his acceptance with God. What is conviction of sin but just the setting aside of self; a negative--but still an important, step; showing a man what cannot justify him before showing him what can. Thus it is, then, in the matter of justification before God, that the setting aside of self begins.

      How this elevates life! What was that which degraded life? It was the introduction of self. Now, this element of degradation is set aside, and life is lifted up into its true glory--the true position which God originally designed for man. It is no longer the degraded thing that self has made it--but a glorious thing such as God meant it to be.      From that point it proceeds onwards throughout a man's whole life. From life, in all its parts and movements, great and small, his inner life, his outer life, his domestic life, his social life, self is displaced. Life is no longer tinged or shaded, or discolored by self as it had once been. And then the close of his life, in like manner, exhibits the setting aside of self. On a sick-bed self is set aside; in dying, self is not allowed to come in. Nor in dying, are we to exhibit self or turn the eye either of ourselves or others to it; or to think merely of enjoyment, or comfort, or reputation among men, our good name, our fame after death--posthumous fame, as men vainly call it. In reference to all these points self is set aside--"None of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself." Others may live to themselves--but not we who have been "bought with a price." Others may die to themselves--but not we who have been "redeemed with the precious blood of Christ."

      How this takes away life's pettinesses! What was it that introduced so much of narrowness into life, into every part of life, and its daily transactions? It was the infusion of self. It was this that made life feeble and little; that shriveled it up, and contracted its original greatness. But now that this element is set aside and expelled, life expands to its true dimensions. Its pettinesses are gone.

      How this establishes and strengthens life! What was the element of our weakness? It was self. Yes! Self is the great element of weakness, for it disconnects us with the foundation of strength. It cuts us off from God. It isolates and makes us stand alone. But now, when self is set aside, life assumes the strength which God meant it to possess. It is "established, strengthened, settled."

      How this secures us against all failure and disappointment! Why was it that we failed so often in our schemes? Because we lived for self. Why was it that we were often disappointed? It was because we were seeking self; but now that this is gone we cannot fail, we cannot be disappointed in anything, for we know that, though our plans and wills are crossed, yet God's good purpose is carried out, his ends are secured, his will is done. There can be no failure now; no disappointment now; for that which made failure and disappointment necessary and certain--has been wholly set aside. Now we go forward as men who feel that, let whatever may come upon us, upon our land, or upon our world, we cannot fail, nor be disappointed. All must succeed, all must be well.

      II. The SUBSTITUTE for self. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who has come into the place of self, filling up its room. In turning from self we do not leave ourselves without an object to live for, or to die for--we get one infinitely more worthy than we possessed before. Instead of self we get the Son of God; the glorious one. He fills us, occupies us, engrosses us henceforth. He is all to us what self was before. He takes the place of self in everything from first to last, great or small.

      He is the Substitute for self, first of all, in the matter of our standing before God. As the first thing the Holy Spirit does is to set aside self, in the matter of justification and acceptance; so his next is to present to us the Son of God as the true ground of our acceptance. We no longer seek to be justified by self in any sense, or on account of anything done to self; on account of amended self, or improved self; or mortified self--but solely on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us and who rose again. Having taken him in the place of self, we find ourselves at once accepted of the Father, "accepted in the beloved," accepted, not because self has been improved--but because self has been set aside and the Son of God substituted in its room.

      And in this Son of God, whom we take as a substitute for self, in the matter of our acceptance, we find an object worth living for, an object that we can carry through everything, through every part of life, into every region of life. We make him our Alpha and Omega, our first and our last. On a sickbed our object is, that Christ should be glorified whatever becomes of us. On a deathbed our desire is, that Christ should be magnified, and in all that may happen to our name after death, in anticipation either of good report or of bad report among men, our sole wish is, that the name of Christ should be exalted. Thus, in living and in dying, Christ is all. He has come in the place of self, and fills that place entirely. Our life is thus full of Christ, and so is our death; "Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord--so that living or dying we are the Lord's." You are not your own at any time, nor in any circumstances--but his, his alone.

      What solemnity is thus thrown over life! All its parts, all its movements, are now consecrated to the Lord. Up until the time when this substitution takes place, our life is a wasted one, utterly thrown away. It is dedicated to self, just as some of Egypt's magnificent temples of old were consecrated to the worship of some hideous reptile. But now that self has been cast out, and Christ introduced, our life has become a sacred thing; every part of it is consecrated--made "holy unto the Lord."

      What dignity this imparts, both to life and death! Let it be the life or death of the poorest, if he is a believing man, a man in Christ Jesus, what a dignity attaches to him; a dignity that attaches to no other being upon earth, not even to its mightiest kings. From the moment that he became a man in Christ Jesus, living not to himself but to Christ, all littleness vanished, all narrowness and lowliness were gone, and in the place thereof grandeur, glory, and heavenly magnificence thrown around his person. What a change!

      What importance now attaches to life! All triviality has passed out of it. It has now become an important thing either to live or to die. We have got something worth living for, and something worth dying for; and in circumstances such as these, there can be nothing unimportant about life. The end we live for, the end we speak for, the end we act for, raises life up to an importance which nothing else could have done. There can be nothing little now about anything that we think, speak, or do.

      What an imperishable character is thus imparted to life! Everything we do, whether in living or in dying, becomes imperishable, now that we live unto the Lord and die unto the Lord. It was self formerly, which ruined everything, which made everything connected with us to crumble down and waste away. But now it is entirely different. The Lord has come in to occupy the place of self. He is come in, who is "the same yesterday, today, and forever," and he imparts his immortality to us, in all we are and do. Now nothing dies--but everything lives, and that forever, for it is done unto the Lord. Every word spoken for him has an eternal being. Every action done for him carries its results forward into eternity; and every step we take, if taken for him, is a step whose effects are immortal, as is our being, and as is the being of him who has, by his oneness with us, attached to all we do his own imperishable character.

      What an incentive to zeal this gives us! We have now got something to do that is really worth doing; an object worth living for and worth dying for. There is nothing so heartless as to have no object in life, or a poor object; and, on the contrary, there is nothing so quickening, so animating, as to have a worthy object. How mighty, then, must be the impulse, when we can feel that our life is a life to the Lord, that our death is a death to the Lord.

      What a reason for consistency and holiness of life! Everything we do tells, not merely upon our comfort, on our earthly prospects, on our good name--but upon the glory of Christ. We have now become so connected with him that everything we speak or do bears upon him and his cause. The consistency of a holy life honors him, and brings a good report of him to our fellow-men. How watchful, then, ought we to be; how jealous over ourselves, lest self should assume the place that belongs only to the Lord; how anxious to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things; how desirous that our life should be a consistent witness-bearing for Christ, that our light should shine before men!

      Man out of Christ, I speak to you now. What are you living for? What has your past life been? what is your present life? What are your ends in living? What is your hope in dying? The very utmost, I fear, is this--to enjoy present things as much as possible, and to escape hell at last. Have your ideas, your hopes, your aspirings, ever risen beyond these two things? Man out of Christ, what are you living for? For self! Is that all? What a poor object, what a base and narrow aim; and what, in such a case, must your end be but utter disappointment and eternal failure? Man out of Christ, what a poor life must your be, and what a poor death! What an insignificant, empty being is yours, and to what a more hollow, more empty departure out of it are you hastening.

      And yet how different it might be. Why should not you, even you, begin to live unto the Lord? What a rich, noble life might your become. Instead of a wasted, shriveled, useless, perishable thing, you might have a life filled up for God, and filled up with God; filled up for Christ, filled up with Christ; a life which, though in so far as this world is concerned, may be a life of poverty and obscurity, yet would be, in all other respects, a foretaste of everlasting life, the pledge of the endless glory.

      And what stands between you and that life? It is self, the accursed thing. What separates you from God? It is self, your love of self, your admiration of self, your confidence in self. What is it that stands between you and the forgiveness of your sins? It is self; your confidence in self. What is it that comes between that eye of your and the vision of the eternal glory? It is self. It is self that is blinding and bewildering you. What is it that is dragging you down, and making you cleave to the dust? It is self. And what is it that will before long be your everlasting ruin? It is self. Oh, that you would begin to make the great substitution of Christ for self. Put Christ where self is, in the matter of your justification before God, and all is well. Put Christ in the place of self, in regard to the forgiveness of your sins, and you are immediately forgiven. "My purpose is to give life in all its fullness." John 10:10

      III. The MANNER in which this substitution is effected "For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life--so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living." Christ's claim over us as Jehovah is eternal, and nothing can be added to it. As the Eternal Son he has always been Lord both of the dead and living, of heaven, earth, and hell. But his claim over us as the Christ is different from his Lordship over us as Jehovah. His claim over us as the Christ is a superadded claim. It is not something which neutralizes his former claim; it is simply something added to it. This claim of headship over us he has made good by his death and resurrection. "For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life." He received the resurrection-life that he might have a legal claim to Lordship both over the dead and living; so that there might be no part of a man's being, whether pertaining to his life or his death, over which the Christ might not have the right of Sovereignty.

      Nor can anyone dispute his claim or present a rival one, for no other has done what he did to secure it. He died and rose again--may he not demand entire Lordship over us in living and in dying? Does not every part of our being thus owe him allegiance? To whom do we owe homage--except to him? Who has done for us what Christ has done? Has self done the like? Has the flesh done the like? Has the world done the like? Has any angel done the like? Has any fallen man done the like, that we should serve them, and that they should have lordship over any part of our being? No one of these. He alone can ask homage and headship; for He only has the divine and indefeasible right. He has won the dominion, which none can now dispute, by dying and by rising.

      Self, then, has no claims upon us, for it has done nothing for us--nothing either for soul or for body. It has been a wall of iron between us and Christ. Is that a reason that we should serve it? It has been a mountain of ice between us and the world to come. Is that a ground of claim over us? No, brethren, self has done nothing to make us either live to it or die to it. It never can do anything; shall we then bow to it; shall we serve it; shall we do it homage?

      The Lord has every claim. We have asked--What has self done? We ask on the other hand--What has the Lord not done? What indissoluble, innumerable bonds are there between us and him, as the living, the dying, and the rising one. He claims to be loved, to be served. Have we satisfied ourselves as to the ground upon which that claim rests? Have we acknowledged it, and is our whole life in every point an acknowledgment of this claim? The whole of our life is to be his, as his life was for us. Surely he has earned this, if he has earned anything at all. The least that we can give him is our life; the undivided service of our being, in every part; in our doing, in our speaking, in our planning, and in all our daily round of business, so that every part of our life shall be a witness-bearing for him.

      Our death is to be his. In dying he thought on us; so in dying let us think on him. Our death is to be for his glory. Our last testimony is to be a testimony for Christ. Do we not often, in looking upon death-beds, forget this? We desire from the dying, satisfaction as to their hope, as to their peace--but that is all. How rarely do we go beyond that, and remember that there is to be no dying for self, even as there is to be no living for self; and that there is something beyond getting satisfaction of our friend's state, and that something is, that Christ be glorified, that the saint's testimony be not merely as to his own peace, or as to his own prospects--but as to the glory of him who "died for us, and rose again."

      Our eternity is to be his. He ever lives for us; let us anticipate the ever living for him. It is not merely that we shall be forever with the Lord; though that is well; but it is that we shall forever glorify him, forever live to him. Our whole eternity is to be one of obedience, love, service--all for his glory, for "Christ is all and in all," whether in heaven or on earth. He is so, even here, in some poor measure, to those who have tasted that the Lord is gracious--but in the eternal kingdom he is to be still more fully so. Our life here, and still more our eternity hereafter, are to be for him. He is the Alpha and Omega of our life here; still more the Alpha and Omega of the life to come.

      O man of earth, what is your eternity to be? If your life here is life without Christ, is your eternity to be the same? Think what such an eternity will be to you. Even if there were no hell, what will be an eternity without Christ? Perhaps you think little of that; and you say to yourself, "I can do without Christ here, and I shall be able to do without him hereafter." No, my friend, it is not so. You can do without him here, because you can contrive to forget him--to forget him in the world, in pleasure, and in business; and this makes you to do without him here. But hereafter there shall be no drowning of your senses in such things as these, so as to prevent the conviction of your infinite loss. Then the full knowledge of your loss shall come up before you, and it will not be a lost heaven merely, a lost kingdom, a lost inheritance--but it will be A LOST CHRIST! That will be the eternal sting; the sense of what you have lost in losing Christ. It will be the very bitterness of the cup of gall and wormwood that shall then be given you to drink. The everlasting sense of what you have lost in losing Christ, shall be the very sting of the undying worm, and the very torment of the ever burning fire!

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Predestination and Calling (Charles H. Spurgeon, 1859)

 

Romans 8:30

“Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

THE GREAT BOOK OF GOD'S DECREES is fast closed against the curiosity of man. 
Vain man would be wise; he would break the seven seals thereof, and read the 
mysteries of eternity. But this cannot be; the time has not yet come when the 
book shall be opened, and even then the seals shall not be broken by mortal 
hand, but it shall be said, "The lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to 
open the book and break the seven seals thereof."

                       Eternal Father, who shall look
                            Into thy secret will?
                   None but the Lamb shall take the book,
                            And open every seal.

None but he shall ever unroll that sacred record and read it to the 
assembled world. How then am I to know whether I am predestinated 
by God unto eternal life or not? It is a question in which my eternal 
interests are involved; am I among that unhappy number who shall be 
left to live in sin and reap the due reward of their iniquity; or do I 
belong to that goodly company, who albeit that they have sinned shall 
nevertheless be washed in the blood of Christ, and shall in white robes 
walk the golden streets of paradise? Until this question be answered 
my heart cannot rest, for I am intensely anxious about it. My eternal 
destiny infinitely more concerns me than all the affairs of time. Tell me, 
oh, tell me, if ye know, seers and prophets, is my name recorded in that 
book of life? Am I one of those who are ordained unto eternal life, or 
am I to be left to follow my own lusts and passions, and to destroy my 
own soul? Oh! man, there is an answer to thy inquiry; the book cannot 
be opened, but God himself hath published many a page thereof. He 
hath not published the page whereon the actual names of the redeemed 
are written; but that page of the sacred decree whereon their character 
is recorded is published in his Word, and shall be proclaimed to thee 
this day. The sacred record of God's hand is this day published 
everywhere under heaven, and he that hath an ear let him hear what the 
Spirit saith unto him. O my hearer, by thy name I know thee not, and 
by thy name God's Word doth not declare thee, but by thy character 
thou mayest read thy name; and if thou hast been a partaker of the 
calling which is mentioned in the text, then mayest thou conclude 
beyond a doubt that thou art among the predestinated--"For whom he 
did predestinate, them he also called." And if thou be called, it follows 
as a natural inference thou art predestinated.

Now, in considering this solemn subject, let me remark that there are 
two kinds of callings mentioned in the Word of God. The first is the 
general call, which is in the gospel sincerely given to everyone that 
heareth the word. The duty of the minister is to call souls to Christ, he 
is to make no distinction whatever--"Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to every creature." The trumpet of the gospel sounds 
aloud to every man in our congregations--"Ho, everyone that thirsteth, 
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and 
eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." 
"Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man" (Prov. 
8:4). This call is sincere on God's part; but man by nature is so opposed 
to God, that this call is never effectual, for man disregards it, turns his 
back upon it, and goes his way, caring for none of these things. But 
mark, although this call be rejected, man is without excuse in the 
rejection; the universal call has in it such authority, that the man who 
will not obey it shall be without excuse in the day of judgment. When 
thou art commanded to believe and repent, when thou art exhorted to 
flee from the wrath to come, the sin lies on thy own head if thou dost 
despise the exhortation, and reject the commandment. And this solemn 
text drops an awful warning: "How shall ye escape, if ye neglect so 
great salvation." But I repeat it, this universal call is rejected by man; it 
is a call, but it is not a attended with divine force and energy of the 
Holy Spirit in such a degree as to make it an unconquerable call, 
consequently men perish, even though they have the universal call of 
the gospel ringing in their ears. The bell of God's house rings every 
day, sinners hear it, but they put their fingers in their ears, and go their 
way, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise, and though they 
are bidden and are called to the wedding (Luke 14:16,17,18), yet they 
will not come, and by not coming they incur God's wrath, and he 
declareth of such,--"None of those men which were bidden shall taste 
of my supper" (Luke 14:24). The call of our text is of a different kind; 
it is not a universal call, it is a special, particular, personal, 
discriminating, efficacious, unconquerable, call. This call is sent to the 
predestinated, and to them only; they by grace hear the call, obey it, 
and receive it. These are they who can now say, "Draw us, and we will 
run after thee."

In preaching of this call this morning, I shall divide my sermon into 
three brief parts.--First, I shall give illustrations of the call; second, we 
shall come to examine whether we have been called; and then third, 
what delightful consequences flow therefrom. Illustration, examination, 
consolation.

I. First, then, for ILLUSTRATION. In illustrating the effectual call of 
grace, which is given to the predestinated ones, I must first use the 
picture of Lazarus. See you that stone rolled at the mouth of the 
sepulchre? Much need is there for the stone that it should be well 
secured, for within the sepulchre there is a putrid corpse. The sister of 
that corrupt body stands at the side of the tomb, and she says, "Lord, 
by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days." This is the 
voice of reason and of nature. Martha is correct; but by Martha's side 
there stands a man who, despite all his lowliness, is very God of very 
God. "Roll ye away the stone," saith he, and it is done; and now, listen 
to him; he cries, "Lazarus, come forth!" that cry is directed to a mass of 
putridity, to a body that has been dead four days, and in which the 
worms have already held carnival; but, strange to say, from that tomb 
there comes a living man; that mass of corruption has been quickened 
into life, and out he comes, wrapped about with graveclothes, and 
having a napkin about his head. "Loose him and let him go," saith the 
Redeemer; and then he walks in all the liberty of life. The effectual call 
of grace is precisely similar; the sinner is dead in sin; he is not only in 
sin but dead in sin, without any power whatever to give to himself the 
life of grace. Nay, he is not only dead, but he is corrupt; his lusts, like 
the worms, have crept into him, a foul stench riseth up into the nostrils 
of justice, God abhorreth him, and justice crieth, "Bury the dead out of 
my sight, cast it into the fire, let it be consumed." Sovereign Mercy 
comes, and there lies this unconscious, lifeless mass of sin; Sovereign 
Grace cries, either by the minister, or else directly without any agency, 
by the Spirit of God, "come forth!" and that man lives. Does he 
contribute anything to his new life? Not he; his life is given solely by 
God. He was dead, absolutely dead, rotten in his sin; the life is given 
when the call comes, and, in obedience to the call, the sinner comes 
forth from the grave of his lust, begins to live a new life, even the life 
eternal, which Christ gives to his sheep.

"Well," cries one, "but what are the words which Christ uses when he 
calls a sinner from death?" Why the Lord may use any words. It was 
not long ago there came unto this hall, a man who was without God 
and without Christ, and the simple reading of the hymn--

                          "Jesus lover of my soul,"

was the means of his quickening. He said within himself, "Does Jesus 
love me? then I must love him," and he was quickened in that selfsame 
hour. The words which Jesus uses are various in different cases. I trust 
that even while I am speaking this morning, Christ may speak with me, 
and some word that may fall from my lips, unpremeditated and almost 
without design, shall be sent of God as a message of life unto some 
dead and corrupt heart here, and some man who has lived in sin 
hitherto, shall now live to righteousness, and live to Christ. That is the 
first illustration I will give you of what is meant by effectual calling. It 
finds the sinner dead, it gives him life, and he obeys the call of life and 
lives.

But let us consider a second phase of it. You will remember while the 
sinner is dead in sin, he is alive enough so far as any opposition to God 
may be concerned. He is powerless to obey, but he is mighty enough to 
resist the call of divine grace. I may illustrate it in the case of Saul of 
Tarsus: this proud Pharisee abhors the Lord Jesus Christ; he has seized 
upon every follower of Jesus who comes within his grasp; he has haled 
men and women to prison; with the avidity of a miser who hunts after 
gold, he has hunted after the precious life of Christ's disciple, and 
having exhausted his prey in Jerusalem, he seeks letters and goes off to 
Damascus upon the same bloody errand. Speak to him on the road, 
send out the apostle Peter to him, let Peter say, "Saul, why dost thou 
oppose Christ? The time shall come when thou shalt yet be his 
disciple." Paul would turn round and laugh him to scorn--"Get thee 
gone thou fisherman, get thee gone--I a disciple of that imposter Jesus 
of Nazareth! Look here, this is my confession of faith; here will I hale 
thy brothers and thy sisters to prison, and beat them in the synagogue 
and compel them to blaspheme and even hunt them to death, for my 
breath is threatening, and my heart is as fire against Christ." Such a 
scene did not occur, but had there been any remonstrance given by men 
you may easily conceive that such would have been Saul's answer. But 
Christ determined that he would call the man. Oh, what an enterprise! 
Stop HIM? Why he is going fast onward in his mad career. But lo, a 
light shines round about him and he falls to the ground, and he hears a 
voice crying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me; it is hard for thee 
to kick against the pricks." Saul's eyes are filled with tears, and then 
again with scales of darkness, and he cries, "Who art thou?" and a 
voice calls, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." It is not many 
minutes before he begins to feel his sin in having persecuted Jesus, nor 
many hours ere he receives the assurance of his pardon, and not many 
days ere he who persecuted Christ stands up to preach with vehemence 
and eloquence unparalleled, the very cause which he once trod beneath 
his feet. See what effectual calling can do. If God should choose this 
morning to call the hardest-hearted wretch within hearing of the gospel, 
he must obey. Let God call--a man may resist, but he cannot resist 
effectually. Down thou shalt come, sinner, if God cries down; there is 
no standing when he would have thee fall. And mark, every man that is 
saved, is always saved by an overcoming call which he cannot 
withstand; he may resist it for a time, but he cannot resist so as to 
overcome it, he must give way, he must yield when God speaks. If he 
says, "Let there be light," the impenetrable darkness gives way to light; 
if he says, "Let there be grace," unutterable sin gives way, and the 
hardest-hearted sinner melts before the fire of effectual calling.

I have thus illustrated the call in two ways, by the state of the sinner in 
his sin, and by the omnipotence which overwhelms the resistance 
which he offers. And now another case. The effectual call may be 
illustrated in its sovereignty by the case of Zaccheus. Christ is entering 
into Jericho to preach. There is a publican living in it, who is a hard, 
griping, grasping, miserly extortioner. Jesus Christ is coming in to call 
some one, for it is written he must abide in some man's house. Would 
you believe it, that the man whom Christ intends to call is the worst 
man in Jericho--the extortioner? He is a little short fellow, and he 
cannot see Christ, though he has a great curiosity to look at him; so he 
runs before the crowd and climbs up a sycamore tree, and thinking 
himself quite safe amid the thick foliage, he waits with eager 
expectation to see this wonderful man who had turned the world upside 
down. Little did he think that he was to turn him also. The Saviour 
walks along preaching and talking with the people until he comes under 
the sycamore tree, then lifting up his eyes, he cries--"Zaccheus, make 
haste and come down, for today I must abide in thy house." The shot 
took effect, the bird fell, down came Zaccheus, invited the Saviour to 
his house, and proved that he was really called not by the voice merely 
but by grace itself, for he said, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I 
give unto the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false 
accusation, I restore unto him fourfold;" and Jesus said, "This day is 
salvation come unto thy house." Now why call Zaccheus? There were 
many better men in the city than he. Why call him? Simply because the 
call of God comes to unworthy sinners. There is nothing in man that 
can deserve this call; nothing in the best of men that can invite it; but 
God quickeneth whom he will, and when he sends that call, though it 
come to the vilest of the vile, down they come speedily and swiftly; 
they come down from the tree of their sin, and fall prostrate in 
penitence at the feet of Jesus Christ.

But now to illustrate this call in its effects, we remind you that 
Abraham is another remarkable instance of effectual calling. "Now the 
Lord had said unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy 
kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee," 
and "by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into place which 
he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not 
knowing whither he went." Ah! poor Abraham, as the world would 
have had it, what a trial his call cost him! He was happy enough in the 
bosom of his father's household, but idolatry crept into it, and when 
God called Abraham, he called him alone and blessed him out of Ur of 
the Chaldees, and said to him, "Go forth, Abraham!" and he went forth, 
not knowing whither he went. Now, when effectual calling comes into 
a house and singles out a man, that man will be compelled to go forth 
without the camp, bearing Christ's reproach. He must come out from 
his very dearest friends, from all his old acquaintances, from those 
friends with whom he used to drink, and swear, and take pleasure; he 
must go straight away from them all, to follow the Lamb whithersoever 
he goeth. What a trial to Abraham's faith, when he had to leave all that 
was so dear to him, and go he knew not whither! And yet God had a 
goodly land for him, and intended greatly to bless him. Man! if thou art 
called, if thou art called truly, there will be a going out, and a going out 
alone. Perhaps some of God's professed people will leave you; you will 
have to go without a solitary friend,--maybe you will even be deserted 
by Sarah herself, and you may be a stranger in a strange land, a solitary 
wanderer, as all your fathers were. Ah! but if it be an effectual call, and 
if salvation shall be the result thereof, what matters it though thou dost 
go to heaven alone? Better to be a solitary pilgrim to bliss, than one of 
the thousands who throng the road to hell.

I will have one more illustration. When effectual calling comes to a 
man, at first he may not know that it is effectual calling. You remember 
the case of Samuel; the Lord called Samuel, and he arose and went to 
Eli, and he said, "Here am I, for thou calledst me." Eli said, "I called 
not, lie down again. And he went and lay down." The second time the 
Lord called him, and said, "Samuel, Samuel," and he arose again, and 
went to Eli, and said, "Here am I, for thou didst call me," and then it 
was that Eli, not Samuel, first of all perceived that the Lord had called 
the child. And when Samuel knew it was the Lord, he said, "Speak; for 
thy servant heareth." When the work of grace begins in the heart, the 
man is not always clear that it is God's work; he is impressed under the 
minister, and perhaps he is rather more occupied with the impression 
than with the agent of the impression; he says, "I know not how it is, 
but I have been called; Eli, the minister has called me." And perhaps he 
goes to Eli to ask what he wants with him. "Surely," said he, "the 
minister knew me, and spoke something personally to me, because he 
knew my case." And he goes to Eli, and it is not till afterwards, 
perhaps, that he finds that Eli had nothing to do with the impression, 
but that the Lord had called him. I know this--I believe God was at 
work with my heart for years before I knew anything about him. I knew 
there was a work; I knew I prayed, and cried, and groaned for mercy, 
but I did not know that was the Lord's work; I half thought it was my 
own. I did not know till afterwards, when I was led to know Christ as 
all my salvation, and all my desire, that the Lord had called the child, 
for this could not have been the result of nature, it must have been the 
effect of grace. I think I may say to those who are the beginners in the 
divine life, so long as your call is real, rest assured it is divine. If it 
is a call that will suit the remarks which I about to give you in the second 
part of the discourse, even though you may have thought that God's 
hand is not in it, rest assured that it is, for nature could never produce 
effectual calling. If the call be effectual, and you are brought out and 
brought in--brought out of sin and brought to Christ, brought out of 
death into life, and out of slavery into liberty, then, though thou canst 
not see God's hand in it, yet it is there.

II. I have thus illustrated effectual calling. And now as a matter of 
EXAMINATION let each man judge himself by certain characteristics 
of heavenly calling which I am about to mention. If in your Bible you 
turn to 2 Timothy 1:9, you will read these words--"Who hath saved us, 
and called us with an holy calling." Now here is the first touchstone by 
which we may try our calling--many are called but few are chosen, 
because there are many kinds of call, but the true call, and that only, 
answers to the description of the text. It is "an holy calling, not 
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, 
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." This 
calling forbids all trust in our own doings and conducts us to Christ 
alone for salvation, but it afterwards purges us from dead works to 
serve the living and true God. If you are living in sin, you are not 
called; if you can still continue as you were before your pretended 
conversion, then it is no conversion at all; that man who is called in his 
drunkenness, will forsake his drunkenness; men may be called in the 
midst of sin, but they will not continue in it any longer. Saul was 
anointed to be king when he was seeking his father's asses; and many a 
man has been called when he has been seeking his own lust, but he will 
leave the asses, and leave the lust, when once he is called. Now, by 
this shall ye know whether ye be called of God or not. If ye continue in 
sin, if ye walk according to the course of this world, according to the 
spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience, then are ye still 
dead in your trespasses and your sins; but as he that hath called you is 
holy, so must ye be holy. Can ye say, "Lord, thou knowest all things, 
thou knowest that I desire to keep all thy commandments, and to walk 
blamelessly in thy sight. I know that my obedience cannot save me, but 
I long to obey. There is nothing that pains me so much as sin; I desire 
to be quit and rid of it; Lord help me to be holy"? Is that the panting of 
thy heart? Is that the tenor of thy life towards God, and towards his 
law? Then, beloved, I have reason to hope that thou hast been called of 
God, for it is a holy calling wherewith God doth call his people.

Another text. In Philippians 3:13 and 14 you find these words. 
"Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto 
those which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the 
high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Is then your calling a high calling, 
has it lifted up your heart, and set it upon heavenly things? Has it lifted 
up your hopes, to hope no longer for things that are on earth, but for 
things that are above? Has it lifted up your tastes, so that they are no 
longer grovelling, but you choose the things that are of God? Has it 
lifted up the constant tenor of your life, so that you spend your life with 
God in prayer, in praise, and in thanksgiving, and can no longer be 
satisfied with the low and mean pursuits which you followed in the 
days of your ignorance? Recollect, if you are truly called it is a high 
calling, a calling from on high, and a calling that lifts up your heart, and 
raises it to the high things of God, eternity, heaven, and holiness. In 
Hebrews 3:1, you find this sentence. "Holy brethren partakers of the 
heavenly calling." Here is another test. Heavenly calling means a call 
from heaven. Have you been called, not of man but of God? Can you 
now detect in your calling, the hand of God, and the voice of God? If 
man alone call thee, thou art uncalled. Is thy calling of God? and is it a 
call to heaven as well as from heaven? Can you heartily say that you 
can never rest satisfied till you

                             --"behold his face
                            And never, never sin,
                      But from the rivers of his grace,
                        Drink endless pleasures in."

Man, unless thou art a stranger here, and heaven is thy home, thou hast 
not been called with a heavenly calling, for those who have been so 
called, declare that they look for a city which hath foundations, whose 
builder and maker is God, and they themselves are strangers and 
pilgrims upon the earth.

There is another test. Let me remind you, that there is a passage in 
scripture which may tend very much to your edification, and help you 
in your examination. Those who are called, are men who before the 
calling, groaned in sin. What says Christ?--"I came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance." Now, if I cannot say the first 
things because of diffidence, though they be true, yet can I say this, 
that I feel myself to be a sinner, that I loathe my sinnership, that I 
detest my iniquity, that I feel I deserve the wrath of God on account of 
my transgressions? If so, then I have a hope that I may be among the 
called host whom God has predestinated. He has called not the 
righteous but sinners to repentance. Self-righteous man, I can tell thee 
in the tick of a clock, whether thou hast any evidence of election. I tell 
thee--No; Christ never called the righteous; and if he has not called 
thee, and if he never does call thee, thou art not elect, and thou and thy 
self-righteousness must be subject to the wrath of God, and cast away 
eternally. Only the sinner, the awakened sinner, can be at all assured 
that he has been called; and even he, as he gets older in grace, must 
look for those higher marks of the high heavenly and holy calling in 
Christ Jesus.

As a further test,--keeping close to scripture this morning, for when we 
are dealing with our own state before God there is nothing like giving 
the very words of scripture,--we are told in the first epistle of Peter, the 
second chapter, and the ninth verse, that God hath called us out of 
darkness into marvelous light. Is that your call? Were you once 
darkness in regard to Christ; and has marvelous light manifested to you 
a marvelous Redeemer, marvelously strong to save? Say soul, canst 
thou honestly declare that they past life was darkness and that thy 
present state is light in the Lord? "For ye were sometime darkness, but 
now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of the light." That man is 
not called who cannot look back upon darkness, ignorance, and sin, 
and who cannot now say, that he knows more than he did know, and 
enjoys at times the light of knowledge, and the comfortable light of 
God's countenance.

Yet again. Another test of calling is to be found in Galatians, the fifth 
chapter, and the fifteenth verse. "Brethren, ye have been called into 
liberty." Let me ask myself again this question, Have the fetters of my 
sin been broken off, and am I God's free man? Have the manacles of 
justice been snapped, and am I delivered--set free by him who is the 
great ransomer of spirits? The slave is not called. It is the free man that 
has been brought out of Egypt, who proves that he has been called of 
God and is precious to the heart of the Most High.

And yet once more, another precious means of test in the first of 
Corinthians, the first chapter, and the ninth verse. "He is faithful by 
whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our 
Lord." Do I have fellowship with Christ? do I converse with him, 
commune with him? Do I suffer with him, suffer for him? Do I 
sympathize with him in his objects and aims? Do I love what he loves; 
do I hate what he hates? Can I bear his reproach; can I carry his cross; 
do I tread in his steps; do I serve his cause, and is it my grandest hope 
that I shall see his kingdom come, that I shall sit upon his throne, and 
reign with him? If so, then am I called with the effectual calling, which 
is the work of God's grace, and is the sure sign of my predestination.

Let me say now, before I turn from this point, that it is possible for a 
man to know whether God has called him or not, and he may know it 
too beyond a doubt. He may know it as surely as if he read it with his 
own eyes; nay, he may know it more surely than that, for if I read a 
thing with my eyes, even my eyes may deceive me, the testimony of 
sense may be false, but the testimony of the Spirit must be true. We 
have the witness of the Spirit within, bearing witness with our spirits 
that we are born of God. There is such a thing on earth as an infallible 
assurance of our election. Let a man once get that, and it will anoint his 
head with fresh oil, it will clothe him with the white garment of praise, 
and put the song of the angel into his mouth. Happy, happy man! who 
is fully assured of his interest in the covenant of grace, in the blood of 
atonement, and in the glories of heaven! Such men there are here this 
very day. Let them "rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice."

What would some of you give if you could arrive at this assurance? 
Mark, if you anxiously desire to know, you may know. If your heart 
pants to read its title clear it shall do so ere long. No man ever desired 
Christ in his heart with a living and longing desire, who did not find 
him sooner or later. If thou hast a desire, God has given it thee. If thou 
pantest, and criest, and groanest after Christ, even this is his gift; bless 
him for it. Thank him for little grace, and ask him for great grace. He 
has given thee hope, ask for faith; and when he gives thee faith, ask for 
assurance; and when thou gettest assurance, ask for full assurance; and 
when thou hast obtained full assurance, ask for enjoyment; and when 
thou hast enjoyment, ask for glory itself; and he shall surely give it thee 
in his own appointed season.

III. I now come to finish up with CONSOLATION. Is there anything 
here that can console me? Oh, yes, rivers of consolation flow from my 
calling. For, first, if I am called then I am predestinated, there is no 
doubt about it. The great scheme of salvation is like those chains which 
we sometimes see at horse-ferries. There is a chain on this side of the 
river fixed into a staple, and the same chain is fixed into a staple at the 
other side, but the greater part of the chain is for the most part under 
water, and you cannot see it: you only see it as the boat moves on, and 
as the chain is drawn out of the water by the force that propels the 
boat. If today I am enabled to say I am called, then my boat is like the 
ferry-boat in the middle of the stream. I can see that part of the chain, 
which is named "calling," but blessed be God, that is joined to the side 
that is called "election," and I may be also quite clear that it is joined 
on to the other side, the glorious end of "glorification." If I be called I 
must have been elected, and I need not doubt that. God never 
tantalized a man by calling him by grace effectually, unless he had 
written that man's name in the Lamb's book of life. Oh, what a glorious 
doctrine is that of election, when a man can see himself to be elect. 
One of the reasons why many men kick against it is this, they are afraid 
it hurts them. I never knew a man yet, who had a reason to believe that 
he himself was chosen of God, who hated the doctrine of election. Men 
hate election just as thieves hate Chubb's patent locks; because they 
cannot get at the treasure themselves, they therefore hate the guard 
which protects it. Now election shuts up the precious treasury of God's 
covenant blessings for his children--for penitents, for seeking sinners. 
These men will not repent, will not believe; they will not go God's way, 
and then they grumble and growl, and fret, and fume, because God has 
locked the treasure up against them. Let a man once believe that all the 
treasure within is his, and then the stouter the bolt, and the surer the 
lock, the better for him. Oh, how sweet it is to believe our names were 
on Jehovah's heart, and graven on Jesus' hands before the universe had 
a being! May not this electrify a man of joy, and make him dance for 
very mirth? 

                        Chosen of God ere time began.

Come on, slanderers! rail on as pleases you. Come on thou world in 
arms! Cataracts of trouble descend if you will, and you, ye floods of 
affliction, roll if so it be ordained, for God has written my name in the 
book of life. Firm as this rock I stand, though nature reels and all things 
pass away. What consolation then to be called: for if I am called, then I 
am predestinated. Come let us at the sovereignty which has called us, 
and let us remember the words of the apostle, "For ye see your calling, 
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, 
not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of 
the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things 
of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; And base things 
of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and 
things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh 
should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of 
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, 
and redemption: that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him 
glory in the Lord."

A second consolation is drawn from the grand truth, that if a man be 
called he will certainly be saved at last. To prove that, however, I will 
refer you to the express words of scripture: Romans 11:29--"The gifts 
and calling of God are without repentance." He never repents of what 
he gives, nor of what he calls. And indeed this is proved by the very 
chapter out of which we have taken our text. "Whom he did 
predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also 
justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified," everyone of 
them. Now, believer, thou mayest be very poor, and very sick, and 
very much unknown and despised, but sit thee down and review thy 
calling this morning, and the consequences that flow from it. As sure as 
thou art God's called child today, thy poverty shall soon be at an end, 
and thou shalt be rich to all the intents of bliss. Wait awhile; that weary 
head shall soon be girt with a crown. Stay awhile; that horny hand of 
labor shall soon grasp the palm branch. Wipe away that tear; God shall 
soon wipe away thy tears for ever. Take away that sigh--why sigh 
when the everlasting song is almost on thy lip? The portals of heaven 
stand wide open for thee. A few winged hours must fly; a few more 
billows must roll o'er thee, and thou wilt be safely landed on the golden 
shore. Do not say, "I shall be lost; I shall be cast away." Impossible.

                     Whom once he loves he never leaves,
                         But loves them to the end.

If he hath called thee, nothing can divide thee from his love. The wolf 
of famine cannot gnaw the bond; the fire of persecution cannot burn the 
link, the hammer of hell cannot break the chain; old time cannot devour 
it with rust, nor eternity dissolve it, with all its ages. Oh! believe that 
thou art secure; that voice which called thee, shall call thee yet again 
from earth to heaven, from death's dark gloom to immortality's 
unuttered splendours; Rest assured, the heart that called thee, beats 
with infinite love towards thee, a love undying, that many waters 
cannot quench, and that floods cannot drown. Sit thee down; rest in 
peace; lift up thine eye of hope, and sing thy song with fond 
anticipation. Thou shall soon be with the glorified, where thy portion 
is; thou art only waiting here to be made meet, for the inheritance, and 
that done, the wings of angels shall waft thee far away, to the mount of 
peace, and joy, and blessedness, where

                     Far from a world of grief and sin,
                         With God eternally shut in,

thou shall rest for ever and ever. Examine yourselves then whether you 
have been called.--And may the love of Jesus be with you. Amen.

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