“In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II. Thess. i. 8).
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. iii. 20).
IT hath pleased the most wise Disposer of all things, out of the riches of His grace, to render Jesus Christ to poor, lost, and undone sinners, and also pleased the Lord Jesus, not only to die for sinners to redeem them from death and the curse of the law, that He might open a way for lost sinners to return to God, but is pleased to stand knocking at the door of their hearts to entreat their souls to be reconciled to God. And, therefore, as you love your souls, as you love your bodies, as you would not bring damnation on yourselves, hear and fear; and do no more wickedly, but open your hard and stony hearts that the King of Glory may enter in. O! sinner, Christ is now standing and calling to thy soul, if thou wilt hear and open, I will come unto thee. Now Christ is saying, I know thy works, I know well enough that thou hast been a blasphemer, or a whoremonger, or a thief, or a Sabbath-breaker, or a scoffer; yet I stand at the door this day, and knock; I will receive thee into mercy, I will forgive all thy sins. I will accept, I will hear, I will save thy soul, if thou wilt open thy heart this day unto me and let me in. O brethren, for Christ’s sake refuse not Christ, do not refuse Christ, do not refuse nor reject so great a salvation lest you perish.
1. Consider the necessity you have of Him.
“Give me children or else I die,” said Rachel. Give me Christ, or else I perish for ever. Can you be saved without Christ? And if you may have Christ but for the opening the door, then, while it is called to-day, then hear and open to Him. If the door of grace should be shut, thou wouldest be shut up with vengeance for ever.
2. Consider what answer thou wilt be able to make at the Great Day, if thou wilt harden thy heart and not open, why, what wilt thou, what, cannot thou plead for thyself at the day of judgment?
Wilt thou say, the Gospel never offered thee Christ? Why, thou hast heard this day: If any man will hear and open, I will come in and sup with him. Will those say, I would have opened my heart had it not been for love of sin, or for ease, or for liberty, honour, friends, or companions. Oh! how will men and angels hiss at thee! This is the person who for lusts’ sake forsook His mercy, who, for a little vanity neglected his own salvation. O! how wilt thou curse thyself, that for nothing, yea, for that which is worse than nothing, thou hast put off Christ and His salvation! Therefore, men, brethren, and fathers, hearken unto me, as Moses said to the Israelites, so this day I propone unto you blessing and cursing, life and death; salvation, if you open unto Christ, and damnation, if you refuse Christ.
For the Lord’s sake, choose not cursing but blessing; choose not death, but life; choose not hell, but heaven; choose not sin but Christ, though you have formerly slighted Him. If you will now regard Him, though you have formerly condemned Him; yet, if you will praise Him, though you have formerly resisted; if yet you will yield, if yet you will consent, if yet you will become willing, Christ will be yours, mercy will be yours, and salvation will be yours.
And what will you have more? What! will all this do? Will not mercy allure you? Will love constrain you? Then give me leave to reprove you, and fright you if it be possible, out of those depths of Satan into which you are fallen. However, I am resolved whether you will or not, and the Lord fasten it upon your souls.
Question 1. In the bowels of love and mercy, let me beg thee to ask thy soul this question: How long will this life and the comfort of it last?
The soul is immortal and will never die, but must have a being somewhere to all Eternity.
Question 2. What will become of thee when this life and all the comforts of it are gone?
Oh, hard-hearted sinner, this broad way which thou walkest in will never lead thee to the promised land; thy gold and silver key will never open heaven’s gate for thee; thy care of this world’s good will never plead for thee before the Judge; all thy friends and acquaintances with whom thou hast spent many joyful hours, their good works will stand thee in no stead.
Then thou wilt be ready to cry: Where is the Christ whom I have despised? Oh, where is the Jesus that I have resisted? Will He plead for me? No, surely; but go to the gods whom thou hast chosen. O, what will become of me? Must I not die? O, whether will death carry me? Into which of the regions of the world will death land me, either of light or of darkness! To which of the two regions am I now traveling?
Certainly the way of pleasure or worldly profit, the broad way to the world, is not the way to lead me to heaven or to everlasting happiness. Say, O sinner, to thy soul, What! must I be taken from all glory and greatness, from all the diligence, and thrown, like Lucifer, son of the morning, from all my brightness into blackness and darkness for ever? When death hath closed mine eyes, must I awake in everlasting flames! Sinner! thou, thou shalt be without remedy, unless thou open to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Question 3. Ask thy soul on which hand thou art like to stand on the Day of Judgment, on the right hand, or on the left among the goats.
If thou wilt not hear, and open thy heart now, be assured the devil will open hell’s mouth for thee. What will be the end of these joys which now make so glad thy heart? You are now in the broad way to destruction and utter separation from God’s presence for ever. Thy pleasures here we may judge of, but, oh! who can tell the thousandth part of these fiery torments to which thou art liable in the other world?
Whilst thou diest, thou shalt be a damned creature, Whilst thou livest, thou art fed like a beast by common providences, and art a mere stranger to feeding promises. If thou lookest upwards, God is frowning, and His wrath is revealed from heaven against thee. If thou lookest downward, thou mayest see hell gaping, and opening its mouth to swallow thee up quick; many dangers attend thee every day; many miseries every moment; legions of devils stand about thee, watching thee, and waiting for the leave of God to drag thy soul into the lake of fire.
Ah, when thou diest, man, what must thou then do? When Captain Death strikes thee, whose armies of wolves will fall upon thee? Look to it, and remember thou wert once warned, lest thou die eternally. St. Austin’s prayer was: “O Lord, rack me, hew me, burn me here, but spare me hereafter.” As long as thou refusest to hear Christ’s voice, thou hast a hell upon earth; it is not the multitude of companions that go thither which shall any whit lessen thy torments, but rather increase them; thy life that has been full of worldly joys shall be full of daily woe.
All you into whose hands this little book shall come, O let me beg you to consider, in those bowels of love you have to put your own souls, how your hearts can endure to think of being then out of heaven, out of blessedness for ever; ask your hearts these questions: Can I burn? Can I endure the vengeance of eternal fire? O, why, my soul, wilt thou not be persuaded to repent? Is there too much pain in that? Thou art ready to say, I cannot bear a cross, nor any affliction, a scoff, or a reproach; talk thee of crucifying the flesh, of parting with thy worldly companions, of entering in at the strait gate; O, these are hard sayings, who can bear them?
But how wilt thou do to dwell with devouring fire? How wilt thou do to dwell with everlasting burnings? Whatsoever thou thinkest now, think what hell will be when the day comes thou must descend into it; thou mayest drink or laugh away the fear of it, but what will it be to thee when thou feelest thyself wrapped in the flames of it, and not a drop of water to cool thy tongue? Think on hell, O soul, and then think on Christ, and consider if a Redeemer from such misery be not worth the accepting of. Think on hell, and think on sin, and carnal pleasures, and delights; consider how they will relish with thee, when thus salted with everlasting fire. Are these the price for which thou sellest thy soul to hell? Oh! bid these lusts and pleasures be gone; and though you loved them well, and have spent your time sinfully with them, yet tell them you must not burn for them, that you will not damn your soul to please your flesh.
Having thus briefly, as may be, laid down the use of terror, which I hope, will waken some poor souls out of the depth of carnal security, now I shall proceed to the last use of encouragement; to encourage poor secure sinners to venture to lay fast hold on Him before that it be too late.
Oh! poor soul, hast thou kept Christ out of a long time, and art thou not yet resolved to open thy heart to Him? What shall I say to thee? Let me say this, Christ waits still for thee; then why wilt thou undo thyself by neglecting so great salvation? Let the consideration of the message Christ brings you, of the errand He comes on, excite you (it is no dismal one He brings, it is no dreadful errand). If Christ had come to destroy thy soul, could He have had less welcome than you gave Him? Oh! for your soul’s sake, receive Him. Oh! ye fools, when will ye be wise?
Come unto Christ, and He will have mercy on you, and heal all your backslidings, and love you freely.
But some poor soul will be ready to say, I have a desire to come to Christ, but I am afraid Christ will never receive such a wretched sinner as I, who have stood it out so long against Him. For answer to this, give me leave to give you some directions.
Direction 1.—Ah, poor soul, art thou willing to come to Christ?
Then will Christ in no wise cast thee out, if thou comest to Him poor, miserable, blind, and naked. O sinner, come not to Him in thy strength. Come thou and say, O Lord, here is a poor sinner, not worth a farthing! O Lord, make me rich in faith. O Lord, here is a miserable soul. Lord, have mercy on me; here is a poor blind sinner, Lord, enlighten me from above; here is a poor, naked wretch, O Lord, save me lest I perish, for I cannot help myself.
Direction 2—Come to Christ by believing in Him.
Ay! when thy poor soul is sinking headlong into hell, and sees no way to escape the fearful wrath of God hanging over thy head, catch, thou, then at such a time fast hold on Christ. Oh! then, apprehend and apply all His benefits unto thy soul; come this way and grasp Him in the arms of thy faith, and say, I believe in Thee, help Thou my unbelief. And the answer which the Lord will give thee will be thus:—Be it according as thou wilt. Let Christ be in your hand, and the promise in your eye; and no doubt though thou hast been a rebel, a traitor, yet Jesus Christ, having received gifts for the rebellious, will show mercy on thee and receive thee.
Direction 3—Come to Jesus Christ by repenting and forsaking all thy sins.
Thou canst never come to the wedding supper without the wedding garments. The old man must be taken away before all things can be made new. Oh, Jerusalem! wash thy heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved. Which God of His infinite mercy grant that we may all do, and be blessed for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
The fair morning is at hand, the Day-star is near the rising, and we are not many miles from Home; what matters the ill entertainment in the smoky inns of this miserable life? We are not to stay here, and we will be dearly welcome to Him to Whom we go.— Rutherford.