Glory

“Who butli called us unto his eternal glory.” — 1 Peter v. 10.

A fortnight ago, when I was only able to creep to the front of this platform, I spoke to yon concerning the future of our mortal bodies:* “We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” On the next Sabbath day we went a step further, and we did not preach so much about the resurrection of the body as upon the hope of glory for our entire nature, f our text being, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Thus we have passed through the outer court, and have trodden the hallowed floor of the Holy Place, and now we are the more prepared to enter within the veil, and to gaze awhile upon the glory which awaits us. We shall say a little — and oh, how little it will be — upon that glory of which we have so sure a prospect, that glory which is prepared for us in Christ Jesus, and of which he is the hope! I pray that our eyes may be strengthened that we may see the heavenly light, and that our ears may be opened to hear sweet voices from the better land. As for me, I cannot say that I will speak of the glory, but I will try to stammer about it;

* “The Tent Dissolved and the Mansion Entered.” f “Christ in You.”

for the best language to which a man Gan reach concerning glory must be a mere stammering. Paul did but see a little of it for a short time, and he confessed that he heard things that it was not lawful for a man to utter; and I doubt not that he felt utterly nonplussed as to describing what he had seen. Though a great master of language, yet for once he was overpowered; the grandeur of his theme made him silent. As for us, what can we do, where even Paul breaks down? Pray, dear friends, that the spirit of glory may rest upon you, that he may open your eyes to see as much as can at present be seen of the heritage of the saints. We are told that “eye hath not seen, neither hath ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Yet the eye has seen wonderful things. There are sunrises and sunsets, Alpine glories and ocean marvels which, once seen, cling to our memories throughout life; yet even when nature is at her best she cannot give us an idea of the supernatural glory which God has prepared for his people. The ear has heard sweet harmonies. Have we not enjoyed music which has thrilled us? Have we not listened to speech which has seemed to make our hearts dance within us? And 3-et no melody of harp nor charm of oratory can ever raise us to a conception of the glory which God hath laid up for them that love him. As for the heart of man, what strange things have entered it! Men have exhibited fair fictions, woven in the loom of fancy, which have made the eyes to sparkle with their beauty and brightness; imagination has revelled and rioted in its own fantastic creations, roaming among islands of silver and mountains of gold, or swimming in seas of wine and rivers of milk; but imagination has never been able to open the gate of pearl which shuts in the city of our God. No, it hath not yet entered the heart of man. Yet the text goes on to say, “but he hath revealed it unto us by his Spirit.” So that heaven is not an utterly unknown region, not altogether an inner brightness shut in with walls of impenetrable darkness. God hath revealed joys which he has prepared for his beloved; but mark you, even though they be revealed of the Spirit, yet it is no common unveiling, and the reason that it is made known at all is ascribed to the fact that “the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” So we see that the glory which awaits the saints is ranked among the deep things of God, and he that would speak thereof after the manner of the oracles of God must have much heavenly teaching. It is easy to chatter according to human fancy, but if we would follow the sure teaching of the word of God we shall have need to be taught of the Holy Spirit, without whose anointing the deep things of God must be hidden from us. Pray that we may be under that teaching while we dwell upon this theme.

There are three questions which we will answer this morning. The first is, lohat is the destiny of the saints? — “Eternal glory,” says the text. Secondly, wherein doth this glory consist? I said we would answer the questions, but this is not to be answered this side the pearl-gate. Thirdly, what should he the influence of this prospect upon our hearts? What manner of people ought we to be whose destiny is eternal glory? How should we live who are to live for ever in the glory of the Most High?

I. First, WHAT, THEN, IS THE DESTINY OF THE SAINTS? Our

text tells us that God has “called us unto his eternal glory” “Glory!” does not the very word astound you? “Glory!” surely that belongs to God alone! Yet the

Scripture says “glory,” and glory it must mean, for it never exaggerates. Think of glory for us who have deserved eternal shame! Glory for us poor creatures who are often ashamed of ourselves! Yes, I look at my book again, and it actually says “glory” — nothing less than glory. Therefore so must it be.

Now, since this seems so amazing and astonishing a thing, I would so speak with you that not a relic of incredulity may remain in your hearts concerning it. I would ask you to follow me while we look through the Bible, not quoting every passage which speaks of glory, but mentioning a few of the leading ones.

This glory lias been promised. What said David? In the seventy-third Psalm and twenty-fourth verse we meet with these remarkable words: “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” In the original Hebrew there is a trace of David’s recollection of Enoch’s being translated; and, though the royal Psalmist did not expect to be caught away without dying, yet he did expect that after he had followed the guidance of the Lord here below the great Father would stoop and raise up his child to be with himself for ever. He expected to be received into glory. Even in those dim days, when as yet the light of the gospel was but in its dawn, this prophet and king was able to say, “Thou shalt afterward receive me to glory.” Did he not mean the same thing when in the eighty-fourth Psalm, verse eleven, he said, “The Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly “? Not only no good thing under the name of grace will God withhold from the upright, but no good thing under the head of glory. No good of heaven shall be kept from the saints; no reserve is even set upon the throne of the great King, for our Lord Jesus has graciously promised, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” “No good thing,” not even amongst the infinitely good things of heaven, will God “withhold from them that walk uprightly.” If David had this persuasion, much more may we who walk in the light of the gospel. Since our Lord Jesus hath suffered and entered into his glory, and we know that we shall be with him where he is, we are confident that our rest shall be glorious.

Brethren, it is to this glory that ice have been called. The people of God having been predestinated, have been called with an effectual calling — called so that they have obeyed the call, and have run after him who has drawn them. Now, our text says that he has “called “is unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus.” We are called to repentance, we are called to faith, we are called to holiness, we are called to perseverance, and all this that we may afterwards attain unto glory. We have another Scripture of like import in 1 Thessalonians ii. 12: — “Who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” We are called unto his kingdom according to our Lord’s word, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” We are called to be kings, called to wear a crown of life that fadeth not away, called to reign with Christ in his glory. If the Lord had not meant us to have the glory he would nc” have called us unto it, for his calling is no mockery. He would not by his Spirit have fetched us out from the world and separated us unto himself if he had not intended to keep us from falling and preserve us eternally. Believer, you are called to glory; do not question the certainty of that to which God has called you.

And we are not only called to it, brethren, but glory is especially joined with justification. Let me quote Romans viii. 30: — “Moreover whom lie did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” These various mercies are threaded together like pearls upon a string: there is no breaking the thread, no separating the precious things. They are put in their order by God himself, and they are kept there by his eternal and irreversible decree. If you are justified by the righteousness of Christ, you shall be glorified through Christ Jesus, for thus hath God purposed, and so must it be. Do you not remember how salvation itself is linked with glory? Paul, in “2 Timothy ii. 10, speaks of “the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” The two things are riveted together, and cannot be separated. The saved ones must partake of the glory of God, for for this are they being prepared every day. Paul, in the ninth of Romans, where lie speaks about the predestinating will of God, says in the twenty-third verse: “The vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.” This is the process which commenced in regeneration, and is going on in us every day in the work of sanctification. We cannot be glorified so long as sin remains in us; we must first be pardoned, renewed, and sanctified, and then we are fitted to be glorified. By communion with our Lord Jesus we are made like to him, as saith the apostle in 2 Corinthians iii. 18: — “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” It is very wonderful how by the wisdom of God everything is made to work this way. Look at the blessed text in 2 Corinthians iv. 17, where Paul says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” where he represents that all that we can suffer, whether of body or of mind, is producing for us such a mass of glory that he is quite unable to describe it, and he uses hyperbolical language in saying, “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Oh, blessed men, whose very losses are their gains, whose sorrows produce their joys, whose griefs are big with heaven! Well may we be content to suffer if so it be that all things are working together for our good, and are helping to pile up the excess of our future glory.

Thus, then, it seems we are called to glory, and we are being prepared for it; is it not also a sweet thought that our present fellowship with Christ is the guarantee of it? In Romans viii. 17 it is said, “If so be that we suffer with him, that Ave may be also glorified together.” Going to prison with Christ will bring us into the palace with Christ; smarting with Christ will bring us into reigning with Christ; being ridiculed, and slandered, and despised for Christ’s sake will bring us to be sharers of his honor, and glory, and immortality. Who would not be with Christ in his humiliation if this be the guarantee that we shall be with him in his glory? Remember those dear words of the Lord Jesus, “Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.” Let us shoulder the cross, for it leads to the crown. “No cross, no crown:” but he that has shared the battle shall partake in the victory.

I have not yet done, for there is a text, in Hebrews ii. 10, which is well worthy of our consideration, tve are to be brought to glory. It is said of our Lord that it “became him, for whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” See, beloved, we are called to glory, we are being prepared for it, and we shall be brought to it. We might despair of ever getting into the glory land if we had not One to bring us there, for t lie pilgrim’s road is rough and beset with many foes; but there is a “Captain of our salvation,” a greater than Bunyan’s Greatheart, who is conducting the pilgrim band through all the treacherous way, and he will bring the “many sons” — where? — “unto glory” nowhere short of that shall be their ultimatum. Glory, glory shall surely follow upon grace; for Christ the Lord, who has come into his glory, has entered into covenant engagements that he will bring all the “many sons” to be with him.

Mark this, and then I will quote no more Scriptures: this glory will be for our entire manhood, for our body as well as for our soul. You know that text in the famous resurrection chapter; in 1 Cor. xv. 43 Paul speaks of the body as being “sown in dishonor,” but he adds, “it is raised in glory;” and then, in Philippians iii. 21, he says of our divine Lord at his coming, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” What a wonderful change that will be for this frail, feeble, suffering body! In some respects it is not vile, for it is a wonderful product of divine skill, and power, and goodness; but inasmuch as it hampers our spiritual nature by its appetites and infirmities, it may be called a “vile body.” It is an unhandy body for a spirit: it fits a soul well enough, but a spirit wants something more ethereal, less earth-bound, more full of life than this poor flesh and blood and bone can ever be. Well, the body is to be changed. What alteration will it undergo? It will be rendered perfect. The body of a child will be fully developed, and the dwarf will attain to full stature. The blind shall not be sightless in heaven, neither shall the lame be halt, nor shall the palsied tremble. The deaf shall hear, and the dumb shall sing God’s praises. We shall cany none of our deficiencies or infirmities to heaven. As good Mr. Keady-to-Halt did not carry his crutches there, neither shall any of us need a staff’ to lean upon. There we shall not know an aching brow, or a weak knee, or a failing eye. “The inhabitant shall no more say, 1 am sick.”

And it shall be an impassive body, a body that will be incapable of any kind of suffering: no palpitating heart, no sinking spirit, no aching limbs, no lethargic soul shall worry us there. No, we shall be perfectly delivered from every evil of that kind. Moreover, it shall be an immortal body. Our risen bodies shall not be capable of decay, much less of death. There are no graves in glory. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for their bodies shall rise never to know death and corruption a second time. No smell or taint of corruption shall remain upon those whom Jesus shall call from the tomb. The risen body shall be greatly increased in power: it is “sown in weakness,” says the Scripture, but it is “raised in power.” I suppose there will be a wonderful agility about our renovated frame: probably it will be able to move as swiftly as the lightning flash, for so do angels pass from place to place, and we shall in this, as in many things else, be as the angels of God. Anyhow, it will be a “glorious body,” and it will be “raised in glory,” so that the whole of our manhood shall participate of that wonderful depth of bliss which is summed up in the word — “glory.” Thus I think I have set before you much of what the word of God saith upon this matter.

II. Secondly, may the Holy Spirit help me while I try very hesitatingly and stammeringly to answer the enquiry, Wherein doth this destiny consist?

Do yon know how much I expect to do? It will be but little. You remember what the Lord did for Moses when the man of God prayed — “I beseech thee show me thy glory!” All that the Lord himself did for Moses was to say, “Thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen.” How little, then, can wre hope to speak of this glory! Its back parts are too bright for us: as for the face of that glory, it shall not be seen by any of us here below, though by-and-by we shall behold it. I suppose if one who had been in glory could come straight down from heaven, and occupy this platform, he would find that his discoveries could not be communicated because of the insufficiency of language to express such a weight of meaning.

The saints’ destiny is glory. What is glory, brethren? What is it, I mean, among the sons of men? It is generally understood to be fame, a great repute, the sound of trumpets, the noise of applause, the sweets of approbation among the crowd and in high places. The Queen of Sheba came from afar to see the glory of Solomon. What was that glory, brethren? It was the glory of a rare wisdom excelling all others: it was the glory of immense riches expended upon all manner of magnificence and splendor. As for this last glory the Lord says of it that a lily of the field had more of it than Solomon; at least, “Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Yet that is what men mean by glory — rank, position, power, conquest — things that make the ears of men to tingle when they hear of them — things extraordinary and rare. All this is but a dim shadow of what God means by glory; yet out of the shadow we may obtain a little inkling of what the substance must be. God’s” people shall be wise, and even famous, for they shall “shine as the stars for ever and ever.” God’s people shall be rich; the very streets of their abode are paved with gold exceeding rich and rare. God’s people shall be singularly honored; there shall be a glory about them unrivalled, for they shall be known as a peculiar people, a royal priesthood, a race of beings lifted up to reveal their Maker’s character beyond all the rest of his works.

I reckon that glory to a saint means, first of all, purified character. The brightest glory that really can come to any one is the glory of character. Thus God’s glory among men is his goodness, his mercy, his justice, his truth. But shall such poor creatures as we are ever have perfect characters? Yes, we shall one day be perfectly holy. God’s Holy Spirit, when he has finished his work, will leave in us no trace of sin: no temptation shall be able to touch us, there will be in us no relics of our past and fallen state. Oh, will not that be blessed? I was going to say it is all the glory I want — the glory of being perfect in character, never sinning, never judging unjustly, never thinking a vain thought, never wandering away from the perfect law of God, never vexed again with sin which has so long been my worst enemy. One day we shall be glorious because the devil himself will not be able to detect a fault in us, and those eyes of God, which burn like fire and read the inmost secrets of the soul, will not be able to detect anything blame-worthy in us. Such shall be the character of the saints that they shall be meet to consort with Christ himself, fit company for that thrice Holy Being before whom angels veil their faces. This is glory!

Next, I understand by “glory” our perfected manhood. When God made Adam he was a far superior being to any of us. Man’s place in creation was very remarkable. The Psalmist says, “For thou has made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou has put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.” No king among men in these days could rival Adam in the garden of Eden: he was indeed monarch of all that he surveyed, and from the lordly lion down to the tiniest insect of all, living creatures paid him willing homage. Can we ever rise to this last honor? Brethren, listen, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when Christ shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Is there any limit to the growth of the mind of a man? Can we tell what he may reach? We read of Solomon that God gave him largeness of heart as the sand of the sea: God will give to his people glory that will include in it more largeness of heart than Solomon ever knew. Then shall we know even as we are known by God. Now we see, but it is $” through a glass darkly,” but then we shall see “face to face.” You have met with men of great intellect and you have looked up to them: but assuredly the smallest babe in Christ when he shall reach heaven shall have a greater intellect than the most profound philosopher who has ever astounded mankind by his discoveries. We shall not always be as we are to-day, contracted and hampered because of our little knowledge, and our slender faculties, and our dull perceptions. Our ignorance and prejudice shall vanish. What a man will become we can scarcely tell when he is remade in the image of God, and made like unto our divine Lord who is “the firstborn among many brethren.” Here we are but in embryo: our minds are but the seeds, or the bulbs, out of which shall come the flower and glory of a nobler manhood. Your body is to be developed into something infinitely brighter and better than the bodies of men here below: and as for the soul, we cannot guess to what an elevation it shall be raised in Christ Jesus. There is room for the largest expectation here, as we conjecture what will be the full accomplishment of the vast intent of eternal love, an intent which has involved the sacrifice of the only-begotten Son of God. That can be no mean design which has been carried on at the expense of the best that heaven itself possessed.

Further, by “glory” and coming to glory I think we must understand complete victory. Dwelling in the age of the Romans, men said to themselves, as they read the Scripture*, “What does the apostle mean by ‘glory ‘?” and they could scarcely help connecting it with conquest, and the return of the warrior in triumph. Men called it glory in those days when valiant warriors returned from fields of blood with captives and spoil. Then did the heroes ride through the streets of Rome, enjoying a triumph voted them by the senate. Then for the while the men of war were covered with glory, and all the city was glorious because of them. As Christians, we hate the word u glory” when it is linked with wholesale murder, and girt in garments rolled in blood; but 3-et there is a kind of fighting to which you and I are called, for we are soldiers of the cross; and if we fight valiantly under our great Captain, and rout every sin, and are found faithful even unto death, then we shall enter glory, and receive the honor which belongs to men who have fought a good fight, and have kept the faith. It will be no small glory to obtain the crown of life which fadeth

19G GLORY.

not away. Is not this a full glory if we only place these three things together, a purified character, a perfected nature, and a complete victory?

An invaluable ingredient in true glory is the divine approval “Glory” among men means approbation: it is a man’s glory when he is honored of his Queen, and she hangs a medal on his breast, or when his name is mentioned in the high court of Parliament, and he is ennobled for what he has done. If men speak of our actions with approval, it is called fame and glory. Oh, but one drop of the approbation of God has more glory in it than a sea full of human praise; and the Lord will reward his own with this holy favor. He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and Christ before the universe will say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father.” Oh, what glory that will be! They were despised and rejected of men, they “wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; destitute, afflicted, tormented;” but now God approves them, and they take seats among the peers of heaven, made noble by the approbation of the Judge of all. This is glory with an emphasis, substantial glory. One approving glance from the eye of Jesus, one accepting word from the mouth of the Father, will be glory enough for any one of us, and this we shall have if we follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

But this is not all: children of God will have the ghry of reflecting the ghry of God. When any of God’s unfallen creatures shall wish to see the greatness of God’s goodness, and mercy, and love, they that dwell in heaven will point out a glorified saint, Whenever any spirit from far-off regions desires to know what is meant by faithfulness and grace, some angel will reply, “Go and talk with those who have been redeemed from among men.” I believe that you and I will spend much of eternity in making known to principalities and powers the unsearchable riches of the grace of God. We shall be mirrors reflecting God; and in ns shall his glory be revealed. There may be myriads of races of pure and holy beings of whom we have never heard as yet. and these may come to the New Jerusalem as to the great metropolis of Jehovah’s universe, and when they come there they will gaze upon the saints as the highest instances of divine grace, wisdom, power, and love. It will be their highest pleasure to hear how eternal mercy dealt with us unworthy ones. How we shall delight to rehearse to them the fact of the Father’s eternal purpose, the story of the incarnate God — the God that loved and died, and the love of the blessed Spirit who sought us in the days of our sin, and brought us to the cross foot, renewing us in the spirit of our minds, and making us to be sons of God. Oh, brothers and sisters, this shall be our glory, that God shall shine through us to the astonishment of all.

Yet I think glory includes somewhat more than this. In certain cases a man’s glory lie* in Ids relationships. If any of the royal family should come to your houses you would receive them with respect; yes, and even as they went along the street they would be spied out, and passers-by would say, “That is the prince!” and they would honor the son of our good Queen. But royal descent is a poor business compared with being allied to the King of kings. Many angels are exceeding bright, but they are only servants to wait upon the sons. I believe that there will be a kind of awe upon the angels at the sight of men; when they see us in our glory they will rejoice to know our near relation to their Lord, and to fulfil their own destiny as ministering spirits appointed to minister to the heirs of salvation. No pride will be possible to the perfected, but we shall then realize the exalted position to which by our new birth and the divine adoption we have been raise I. “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.” Sons of God! Sons of the Lord God Almighty! Oh what glory this will be! Then there will be connected with this the fact that we shall be connected with Jesus in everything. For do not you see, brethren, it was because of our fall that Christ came here to save men; when he wrought out a perfect righteousness, it was all for us; when he died, it was all for us; and when he rose again, it was all for us? And what is more, we lived in Christ, we died in him, we were buried in him and rose in him, and we shall ascend into heaven to reign with him. All our glory is by Christ Jesus and in all the glory of Christ Jesus we have a share. We are members of his body; we are one with him. I say, the creatures that God has made, when they shall come to worship in the New Jerusalem will stand and gaze at glorified men, and with bated breath will say one to another “These are the beings whose nature the Son of God assumed! These are the chosen creatures whom the Prince of heaven bought with his own blood.” They will stand astonished at the divine glory which will be manifested in beings emancipated from sin and hell -and made heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Will not even angels be surprised and awed as they look on the church and say to one another, “This is the bride, the Lamb’s wife! “They will marvel how the Lord of glory should come to this poor earth to seek a spouse and that he should enter into eternal union with such a people. Glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land! Now we are getting near to the centre of it. I feel inclined, like Moses, to put off my shoes from off my feet, for the place whereon we stand is holy ground, now that we are getting to see poor bushes like ourselves aglow with the indwelling God, and changed from glory unto glory. And yet this is not all, for there in heaven ice shall dwdl in the immediate presence of God. We shall dwell with him in nearest and dearest fellowship! All the felicity of the Most High will be our felicity. The blessedness of the triune Jehovah shall be our blessedness for ever and ever. Did you notice that our text says, “He hath called us unto his glory”? This outshines everything: the glory which the saints will have is the same glory which God possesses, and such as he alone can bestow. Listen to this text: — ‘-Whom he justified, them lie also glorified.” He glorifies them, then! I know what it is to glorify God, and so do you, but when we poor creatures glorify God it is in a poor way, for we cannot add anything to him. But what must it be for God himself to glorify a man! The glory which you are to have for ever, my dear believing brother, is a glory which God himself will put upon you. Peter, as a Hebrew,

perhaps uses a Hebraism when he says uhis glory:” it may be that he means the best of glory that can be, even as the Jews were wont to say — “The trees of God,” when they meant the greatest trees, or “the mountains of God,” when they intended the highest mountains; so by the glory of God Peter may mean the richest, fullest glory that can be. In the original the word “glory” has about it the idea of “weight,” at which the apostle Paul hints when he speaks of a “weight of glory.” This is the only glory that has weight in it, all else is light as a feather. Take all the glories of this world and they are outweighed by the small dust of the balance. Place them here in the hollow of ray hand, all of them: a child may blow them away as thistledown. God’s glory has weight; it is solid, true, real, and he that gets it possesses no mere name, or dream, or tinsel, but he has that which will abide the rust of ages and the fire of judgment,

The glory of God! How shall I describe it! I must set before you a strange Scriptural picture. Mordecai must be made glorious for his fidelity to his king, and singular is the honor which his monarch ordains for him. This was the royal order. “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the kingrideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: and let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor.” Can you not imagine the surprise of the Jew when robe and ring were put upon him, and when he found himself placed upon the king’s horse. This may serve as a figure of that which will happen to us: we shall be glorified with the glory of God. The best robe, the best of heaven’s array, shall be appointed unto us, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Highest of all our glory will be the enjoyment of God himself. He will be our exceeding joy: this bliss will swallow up every other, the blessedness of God. “The Lord is my portion,” saith my soul. “Whom have 1 in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” Our God shall be our glory.

Yet bear with me, I have left out a word again: the text has it, “Unto his eterned glory.” Ay, but that is the gem of the ring. The glory which God has in reserve for his chosen will never come to an end: it will stay with ns, and we shall stay with it, for ever. It will always be glory, too; its brightness will never become dim; we shall never be tired of it, or sated with it. After ten thdusand thousand millions of years in heaven our happiness shall be as fresh as when it first began. Those are no fading laurels which surround immortal brows. Eternal glory knows no diminution. Can you imagine a man being born at the same time that Adam was created and living all these thousands of years as a king like Solomon, having all he could desire? His would seem to be a glorious life. But if at the end of seven thousand years that man must needs die, what has it profited him V His glory is all over now, its fires have died out in ashes. But you and I, when we once enter glory, shall receive what we can neither lose nor leave. Eternity! Eternity! This is the sweetness of all our future bliss. Rejoice, ye saintly ones! Take your harps down from the willows, any of you who are mourning, and if you never sang before, yet sing this morning — “God has called us unto his eternal glory,” and this is to be our portion world without end.

III. I can only find time for a few words upon the concluding head, which is — what influence should all

THIS HAVE UPON OUR HEARTS?

I think, first, it ought to excite desire in many here present that they might attain unto glory by Christ Jesus. Satan, when he took our blessed Lord to the top of an exceeding high mountain, tempted him to worship him by offering him the kingdoms of the world and all the glories thereof. Satan is very clever, and I will at this time take a leaf out of his book. Will you not fall down and worship the Lord Jesus when he can give you the kingdom of God and all the glory tnereof, and all this, not in pretence, but in reality? If” there was any force in the temptation to worship Satan for the sake of the glory of this world, how much more reason is there for urging you to worship the* Son of God that you may obtain his salvation with eternal glory! I pray the Holy Ghost to drop a hot desire into many a poor sinner’s breast this morning that he may cry, “If this glory is to be had, I will have it, and I will have it in God’s way, for I will believe in Jesus, I will repent, I will come to God, and so obtain his promise.”

Secondly, this ought to move us to the feeling of fear. If there be such a glory as this- let us tremble lest by any means we should come short of it. Oh, my dear hearers, especially you that are my fellow members, brother church officers, and workers associated with me, what a dreadful thing it will be if any one of us should come short of this glory! Oh, if there were no hell, it would be hell enough to miss of heaven! What if there were no pit that is bottomless, nor worm undying, nor fire unquenchable, it would be boundless misery to have a shadow of a fear of not reaching to God’s eternal glory? Let us therefore pass the time of our sojourning here in fear, and let us watch unto prayer and strive to enter in at the strait gate. God grant we may be found of him at last to praise and honor!

If we are right, how this ought to move us to gratitude. Think of this, we are to enjoy “his eternal glory”! What a contrast to our deserts! Shame and everlasting contempt are our righteous due apart from Christ. If we were to receive according to our merits, we should be driven from his presence and from the glory of his power. Verily, he hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; for, after all our transgressions, he has still reserved us for glory, and reserved glory for us. What love and zeal should burn in our bosoms because of this!

Last of all, it should move us to a dauntless courage. If this glory is to be had, do we not feel like the heroes in Banyan’s picture? Before the dreamer there stood a fair palace, and he saw persons walking upon the top of it, clad in light, and singing. Around the door stood armed men to keep back those who would enter. Then a brave man came up to one who had a writer’s ink-horn by his side, and said, %iSet down my name:” and straightway the warrior drew his sword, and fought with all his might, until he had cut his way to the door, and then he entered, and they within were heard to sing —

“Come in, come in,
Eternal glory thou shalt win.”

Will you not draw your swords this morning, and fight against sin, till you have overcome it? Do you not desire to win Christ, and to be found in him? Oh, let us now begin to feel a passion for eternal glory, and then in the strength of the Spirit, and in the name of Jesus, let us press forward till we reach it. Even on earth we may taste enough of this glory to fill us with delight. The glory which I have described to you dawns on earth though it only comes to its noontide in heaven: the glory of sanctified character, the glory of victory over sin, the glory of relationship to God, the glory of union with Christ, — these are all to be tasted in a measure here below. These glories send their beams down even to these valleys and lowlands. Oh, to enjoy them to-day and thus to have earnests and foretastes of glory. If we have them let us go singing on until we reach the place where God’s eternal glory shall surround us, Amen.

“KNOCK!”

May 27, 1883. “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” — Matthew vii. 12.

I have no doubt that, taken very strictly, the three exhortations of this verse — which, indeed, are but one — were first of all intended for God’s believing people. It was to his disciples that the Lord said, “Cast not your pearls before swine;” and perhaps certain of them who were poor in spirit might turn around and say, “Lord, we have few pearls; we are too poor to have the treasures of thy grace so plentifully. Thou hast bidden us not to give that which is holy unto dogs; but holiness is rather a thing we seek after than possess.1’ “Well,” saith the Lord, “you have only to ask and have; ye have not because ye ask not; you have only to seek and you will be sure to find, for holy things, like rare pearls, are to be discovered if you look for them; you have only to knock and spiritual secrets shall open to yon, even the innermost truth of God.” In each exhortation our Lord bids us pray. Beloved, let us abound in supplication. Depend upon it that failure in prayer will undermine the foundation of our peace and sap the strength of our confidence; but. if we abound in pleading with God we shall grow strong in the Lord, and we shall be happy in his love, we shall become a blessing to those around us. Need I commend the mercy-seat to you who wait before it?

Surely prayer must have become such a joy to you, such a necessity of your being, such an element of your life, that I hardly need press it upon you as a duty, or invite you to it as a privilege. Yet still I do so/because the Master does it by a triple exhortation. A threefold cord is not easily broken — let not my text be neglected by you. Let me urge you to repeated, varied, ever intensifying prayer: ask! seek! knock! Cease not to ask till you receive; cease not to seek till you find; cease not to knock till the door is opened unto you.

In these three exhortations there would appear to be a gradation: it is the same thought put into another shape, and made more forcible. Ask — that is, in the quiet of your spirit, speak with God concerning your need, and humbly beg him to grant your desires: this is a good and acceptable form of prayer. If, however, asking should not appear to succeed, the Lord would arouse you to a more concentrated and active longing; therefore let your desires call in the aid of knowledge, thought, consideration, meditation, and practical action, and learn to seek for the blessings you desire as men seek for hid treasures. These good things are laid up in store, and they are accessible to fervent minds. See how you can reach them. Add to asking the study of the promises of God, a diligent hearing of his word, a devout meditation upon the way of salvation, and all such means of grace as may bring you the blessing. Advance from asking into seeking. And if after all it should still seem that you have not obtained your desire, then knock, and so come to closer and more agonizing work: use not alone the voice, but the whole soul; exercise yourself unto godliness to obtain the boon; use every effort to win that which you seek after; for remember that doing is praying; living to God is a high form of seeking, and the bent of the entire mind is knocking. God often giveth to his people when they keep his commandments that which, he denies to them if they walk carelessly. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Holiness is essential to power in prayer: the life must knock while the lips ask and the heart seeks.

I will change my line of exposition and say: ask as a beggar petitions for alms. They say that begging is a poor trade, but when you ply it well with God no other trade is so profitable. Men get more by asking than by working without prayer. Though I do not discommend working, yet I most highly commend praying. Nothing under heave]] pays like prevailing prayer. He that has power in prayer has all things at his call. Ask as a poor mendicant who is hungry and pleads for bread. Then seek as a merchant who hunts for goodly pearls, looking up and down, anxious to give all that he has that he may win a matchless treasure. Seek as a servant carefully looking after his masters interests and laboring to promote them. Seek with all diligence, adding to the earnestness of the beggar the careful watchfulness of the jeweller who is seeking for a gem. Conclude all by knocking at mercy’s door as a lost traveller caught out on a cold night in a blinding sleet knocks for shelter that he may not perish in the storm. When you have reached the gate of salvation ask to be admitted by the great love of God, then look well to see the way of entering, seeking to enter in; and if still the door seem shut against you, knock right heavily, and continue knocking till you are safely lodged within the home of love.

“KjSroCK!” 207

Once again, ask for what you want, seek for what you have lost, knock for that from which you are ex eluded. Perhaps this last arrangement best indicates the shades of meaning, and brings out the distinctions. Ask for everything you need, whatever it may be: if it be a right and good thing, it is promised to the sincere asker. Seek for what you have lost: for what Adam lost you by the Fall, for what you have lost yourself !>y your neglect, by your backsliding, by your want of prayer: seek till you find the grace you need. Then knock. If you seem shut out from comfort, from knowledge, from hope, from God, from heaven, then knock, for the Lord will open unto you. Here you need the Lord’s own interference: you can ask and receive, you can seek and find; but you cannot knock and open, — the Lord must himself open the door, or you are shut out for ever. God is ready to open the door. Remember, there is no cherub with fiery sword to guard this gate, but, on the contrary, the Lord Jesus himself openeth, and no man slmtteth. But now I must drop this line of things, for my desire is to use the text in reference to those who are not yet saved.

Last Lord’s-day, when we preached upon glory, we had before us the end of the pilgrim way. It was a very, very happy time; for in meditation we reached the suburbs of the Celestial City, and we tasted of eternal glory. This morning I thought we would begin at the beginning, and enter in at the wicket gate which stands at the head of the way to heaven. Mr. Bunyan, in his “Pilgrim’s Progress,” says, “Now over the gate there was written, ‘Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.’” His ingenious allegory is always as truthfully instructive as it is delightfully attractive. I concluded that this should be my text. If it be thought worthy to be written over the gate at the entering in of the way of life it must have a great claim upon the attention of those who have not yet started for glory, but are anxious to do so. May God the Holy Ghost instruct and quicken them while we hear the Lord from within his palace say, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” i

I. First, then, dear friend, whoever you are, if you are desirous of entering into eternal life, I would expound to you the inscription over the gate, by saying,

first, THE DOOR OF MERCY MAY APPEAR TO YOU TO BE CLOSED

against you. That is implied in the text: “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” If to your consciousness the door stood wide open, there would be no need of knocking; but since in your apprehension it is closed against you, it is for you to seek admission in the proper way by knocking.

To a large extent this apprehension is the result of your men fears. You think the gate is closed because you feel it ought to be so; you feel that if God dealt with you as you would deal with your fellow-men, he would be so offended with you as to shut the door of his favor once for all. You remember how guilty you have been, how often you have refused the divine call, and how you have gone on from evil to evil, and therefore yon fear that the Master of the house has already risen up and shut to the door. You fear lest like the obstinate ones in Noah’s day you will find the door of the ark closed, and yourself shut out to perish in the general destruction. Sin lieth at the door, and blocks it. Your desponding feelings fasten up the gate of grace in your judgment. Yet, it is not so. The gate is not barred and bolted as you think it to be; though it may be spoken of as closed in a certain sense, yet in another sense it is never shut. In any case it opens very freely; its hinges are not rusted, no bolts secure it. The Lord is glad to open the gate to every knocking soul. It is closed far more in your apprehension than as a matter of fact; for the sin which shuts it is removed so far as the believing sinner is concerned. Had you but faith enough, you would enter in at this present moment; and if you did once enter in, you would never be put out ae;ain, for it is written, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” If you could with holy courage take leave and license to come in, you would never be blamed for it. Fear and shame stand in the sinner’s road, and push him back; and blessed is he whose desperate need forces him to be bold.

One thing we should remember when we fear that the door is closed against us, namely, that it is not so fast closed as the door of our hearts has been. You know the famous picture of “The Light of the World.” It seems to me to be one of the finest sermons the eye. has ever looked upon. There stands the Ever-Blessed, knocking at the door of the soul, but the hinges are rusted, the door itself is fast bolted, and wild briars and all kinds of creeping plants running up the door prove that it is long since it was moved. You know what it all means; how continuance in sin makes it harder to yield to the knock of Christ, and how evil habits creeping up one after another hold the soul so fast that it cannot open to the sacred knocking. Jesus has been knocking at some of your hearts ever since you were children; and still he knocks. I hear his blessed hand upon the door at this moment: do you not hear it? Will you not open? He has knocked long, and yet he knocks again. I am sure that you have not knocked at mercy’s door so long as incarnate mercy has waited at your door. You know you have not. How, therefore, can you complain if there should be an apparent delay in answering your prayers? It is but to make you feel af’holy shame for having treated your Lord so ill. Now you begin to know what it is to be kept waiting, what it is to be a weary knocker, what it is to cry “my head is wet with dew and my locks with the drops of the night.” This will excite you to repentance for your unkind behavior, and also move you to love the more intensely that gentle Lover of your soul who has shown such patience towards you. It will be no loss to you that the door was shut for awhile, if you do but gain a penitent heart and a tender spirit.

Let me, however, warn you that the door can be closed and hept shut by unbelief. He that believeth entereth into Christ when he believeth: he that cometh in by the door shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture; so our Lord says in the tenth of John. “He that believeth in him hath everlasting life,” there is no question about that; but we read on the other hand, “So then they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Forty years the tribes were in the wilderness, going towards Canaan, yet they never reached the promised land because of unbelief. And what if some of you should be forty years attending this means of grace? Coming and going, coming and going, hearing sermons, witnessing ordinances, and joining with God’s people in worship: what if after all the forty years you should never enter in because of unbelief? Souls, I tell you if you lived each one of you as long as Methuselah, you could not enter in unless you believed in Jesus Christ, The moment you have trusted him with your whole heart and soul you are within the blessed portals of the Father’s house, but however many years you may be asking, seeking, and knocking, you will never enter in till faith comes, for unbelief keeps up the chain of the door, and there is no entering in while it rules your spirit.

Do you, however, complain that you should have to knock? It is the rule of the Most High Am I addressing any who have been earnestly praying for several months? I can sympathize with you, for that was my case, not only for months, but even for years: through the darkness of my mind and my cruel misapprehensions of the Lord, I did not find peace when first I began to ask for it, although I also sought with much earnestness, going to the house of God every time I could, and reading the Bible daily with a burning desire to know the right way. I did not enter into peace till I had knocked long and heavily. Hearken, therefore, to one who knows your trouble, and hear from me the voice of reason. Ought we to expect to enter into the glorious house of mercy without knocking at its door? Is it so with our own houses? Can every straggler carelessly saunter in? Is it not God’s way in the world to give great blessings, but always to make men knock for them? We want bread out of the earth, but the farmer must knock at the door of the earth with his plough and with all his instruments of agriculture ere his God will hand him out a harvest. Is anything gained in this world without labor? Is it not an old proverb, “No sweat, no sweet: no pains, no gains: no mill, no meal”? And may we not expect in heavenly things that at least these great mercies should be prayed for with fervency before they can be bestowed? It is the usual rule with God to make us pray before he gives the blessing. And how could it be otherwise? How could a man be saved without prayer? A prayerless soul must be a Christless soul. The feeling of prayer, the habit of prayer, the spirit of prayer are parts of salvation. Unless it can be said of a man, “Behold, he prayeth!” how can there be any sort of hope that he knows his God, and has found reconciliation? The prodigal did not come home dumb, neither did he enter his father’s house in sullen silence. No, but as soon as he saw his father, he cried, “Father, 1 have sinned against heaven.” There must be speech with God, for God gives not a silent salvation.

Besides, to make us knock at mercy s gate is a great blessing to ourselves upon the spot. It is a going to school for us when we are set to plead with God for awhile without realized success. It makes a man grow more earnest, for his hunger increases while he tarries. If he obtained the blessing when first he asked for it, it might seem dog cheap; but when he has to plead long he arrives at a better sense of the value of the mercy sought. He sees also more of his own un worthiness as he stands outside mercy’s gate, ready to swoon away with fear; and so he grows more passionately earnest in pleading; and, whereas he did but ask at first, he now begins to seek, and he adds cries and tears and a broken heart to all the other ways of his pleading. Thus the man, by being humbled and aroused, is getting good by means of his sorrow while he is kept for a while outside the gate. Beside that, lie is increasing his capacity for the future. I believe I never could have been able to comfort seekers in their anguish if I had not been kept waiting in the cold myself. I have always felt grateful for my early distress because of its after results. Many men, whose experiences are recorded in books which are invaluable in the Christian library, never could have written those books if they had not themselves been kept waiting, hungry and thirsty, and full of soul-travail, ere the Lord appeared to them. That blessed man, David, who always seems to be —

“Not one, but all mankind’s epitome”

—the history of all men wrapped up in one — how he pictures himself as sinking in the miry clay! Lower and lower did he go till he cried out of the depths, and then at last he was taken up out of the horrible pit, and his feet were set on a rock that he might tell to others what the Lord had done for him. Your heart wants enlarging, dear sir. The Lord means to prepare you to become a more eminent. Christian by expanding your mind. The spade of agony is digging trenches to hold the water of life. Depend upon it, if the ships of prayer do not, come home speedily it is because they are more heavily freighted with blessing. When prayer is long in the answering it will be all the sweeter in the receiving, like fruit which is well ripened by hanging longer on tree. If you knock with a heavy heart you shall yet sing with joy of spirit; therefore, be not discouraged because for a while yon stand before a closed door.

II. Secondly, a door implies ax opening. What is a door meant for if it is always to be kept shut? The wall might as well have remained without a break. 1 have seen certain houses and public buildings with the form and appearance of doors where there were none; the sham doorway being made for architectural purposes; but nothing is a sham in the house of the Lord. I lis doors are meant to open: they were made on purpose for entrance; and so the blessed gospel of God is made on purpose for you to enter into life and peace. It would be of no use to knock at a wall, but you may wisely knock at a door, for it is arranged for opening. You will enter in eventually if you knock on, for the gospel is good news for men, and how could it be good news if it should so happen that they might sincerely come to Christ and ask mercy, and be denied it? I fear that the gospel preached by certain divines sounds rather like bad news than good news to awakened souls, for it requires so much feeling and preparation on the sinner’s part that they are not cheered nor led to hope thereby. But be you sure that the Lord is willing to save all those who are willing to be saved in his own appointed way. A dear brother beautifully said in prayer on Monday night — “Thou, 0 Lord, art perfectly satisfied with the Lord Jesus, and if we are satisfied with him, thou art satisfied with us.” That is the gospel put into a few words. God is satisfied with Christ, and if you are satisfied with Christ, God is satisfied with you. This is glad tidings to every soul that is willing to accept the atonement made, and the righteousness prepared by the Lord Jesus.

Dear friend, this gospel must be meant to be received by sinners, or else it would not have been sent. “But,” saith one, “1 am such a sinner.” Just so. You are the sort of person for whom the news of mercy is intended. A gospel is not needed by perfect men; sinless men need no pardon. No sacrifice is wanted if there is no guilt: no atonement is wanted where there is no transgression. They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. This door of hope which God has prepared was meant to be an entrance into life, and it was meant to open to sinners, for if it does not open to sinners it will never open at all; for we have all sinned, and so we must all be shut out unless it be of free grace for those who are guilty.

I am sure this door must open to those who have nothing to bring with them. If you have no good works, no merits, no good feelings, nothing to recommend you, be not discouraged, for it is to such that Jesus Christ is most precious, and therefore most accessible, for he. loves to give himself to those who will prize him most. A man will never have Christ while he has enough of his own; but he that is consciously naked, and poor, and miserable is the man for Christ’s money, he it is that has been redeemed by price. You may know the redeemed man, for he feels his bondage, and owns that he must remain therein unless the redemption of Christ be applied for his deliverance.

Dear friends, that door of hope will be opened to you though you may be ignorant, and weak, and quite unable to fulfil any high conditions. When the text says, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto yon,” it teaches us that the icay of winning admission to the blessing is simple, afld suitable to common people. If I have to enter in by a door which is well secured, I shall need tools and science. I confess I do not understand the art; you must send for a gentleman who understands picklocks, “jemmies,” and all sorts of burglarious instruments: but if I am only told to knock, fool as I am at opening doors, I know how to knock. Any uneducated man can knock if that is all which is required of him. Is there a person here who cannot put words together in prayer? Never mind, friend; knocking can be done by one who is no orator. Perhaps another cries, “I am no scholar.” Never mind, a man can knock though he may be no philosopher. A dumb man can knock. A blind man can knock. With a palsied hand a man may knock. He who knows nothing of his book can still lift a hammer and let it fall. The way to open heaven’s gate is wonderfully simplified to those who are lowly enough to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and ask, seek, and knock believingly. God has not provided a salvation which can only be understood by learned men; he has not prepared a gospel which requires half-a-dozen folio volumes to describe it: it is intended for the ignorant, the short-witted, and the dying, as well as for others, and hence it must be as plain as knocking at a door. This is it, — Believe and live. Seek unto God with all your heart and soul, and strength, through Jesus Christ, and the door of his mercy will certainly open to you. The gate of grace is meant to yield admission to unscientific people since it shall be opened to those who knock.

I am sure this door will open to you, because it has been opened to so many before you. It has been opened to hundreds of us now present. Could not you, dear brothers and sisters, stand up and tell how the Lord opened the gate of his salvation to you? That door has opened to many in this house during the last few weeks. We have seen persons coming forward to tell how the Lord has been pleased to give them an entrance into his mercy, though at one time they were afraid that the door was shut, and they were ready to despair. Well, if the door has been so often opened for others, why should it not turn on its hinges for you? Only knock, with faith in God’s mercy, and before long it shall yield to your importunity.

It is for God’s glory to open his door of greice, and that is one reason why we are sure he will do so. We cannot expect him to do that which would be derogatory to his own honor, but we do expect him to do that which will glorify his sacred attributes. It will greatly honor the mercy, the patience, the love, the grace, the goodness, the favor of God if he will open the door to such an undeserving one as you are; wherefore knock. Knock since God delights to give; knock at a door which every time it turns on its hinges unveils his greatness; knock with holy confidence at this present moment, for “it shall be opened unto you.” It is a door which seems closed, but because it is a door, it must be capable of being opened.

III. Thirdly, knock, for a knocker is provided. When persons can be admitted by knocking, a knocker is usually placed on the door; and if not, we often see the words, no admittance. Before bells became so common, the habit of knocking at the door was well-nigh universal, and people were accustomed to make the door resound with their blows. There was a nail-head for the knocker to drop upon, and people used to smite it so heavily that it became remarked that such blows on the head were killing, and hence arose the mirthful proverb, “as dead as a door-nail.” It betokens a hearty kind of knocking, which I would have you imitate in prayer. Knock at heaven’s gate as earnestly as people knocked at doors in the olden times. Have you not had knocks at your own doors which could be heard all through the house? Some of our friends are vigorous, and knock as if they meant coming in. It may be that gentle folks give such tender taps that they are not heard by the servants, and so they have to wait; but these I am speaking of never fall into that error, for they so startle everybody that people are glad to let them in, for fear they should thunder a second time. In this style let us pray: let us plead in downright fashion, and never cease till we gain admission.

I have said that the Lord has provided a knocker. What is this knocker? First of all, it may be found in the promises of God. We are sure to speed well when we can plead a promise. It is well to say unto the Lord, “Do as thou hast said.” What force abides in an appeal to the word, the oath, and the covenant of God. If a man presents to another a promissory note upon the day on which it is due he expects to receive the amount stated therein. God’s promises are bills of exchange, and he will duly honor them. He was never known to dishonor a bill yet, and he never will do so. If you can only quote a promise applicable to your condition, and spread it before the Lord in faith, and say, “Remember this word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope,” you must obtain the blessing. Pleading the promise gives such a knock at the gate of heaven that it must be opened.

The great knocker, however, is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If a person were to call upon you in the name of some dearly-beloved son who is far away, if he brought you due credentials, and a letter, saying, “Father, treat the bearer well for my sake,” you would be sure to show him kindness; and if the aforesaid person was authorized to receive a promised amount in the name of your son, would you not hand out the money? Now, when we go to God and plead the name of Christ, it means that we plead the authority of Christ, that we ask >’of God as though we were in Christ’s stead, and expect him to give it to us as if he were giving it to Jesus. That is something more than pleading for Christ’s sake. I suppose the apostles at first did plead with God for Christ’s sake, but Jesus says to them, “Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name.” It is a higher grade of prayer, and when we get to pleading Christ’s name with the Father, then do we gloriously prevail. At a Primitive Methodist meeting a person was trying to pray, but did not get on at it, and presently a voice was heard from the corner of the room, “Plead the blood, brother! plead the blood!” I am not very fond of such interruptions, yet this was to be commended, for it gave the right note, and set the pleader in his right place. Plead the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and you have knocked so that you must be heard.

“Alas!” says one, “I see the knocker, for I know something of the promises and of the person of our Lord, but how am I to knock?” With the hand of faith. Believe that God will keep his promise; ask him to do so, and thus knock. Believe that Jesus is worthy, whose name you are pleading, and so knock in confidence that God will honor the name of his dear Son. “Alas! my hand is so weak,” say you. Then remember that the Holy Spirit helpeth our infirmities. Ask him to put his hand upon your hand, and in that fashion you will be able to knock with prevailing vehemence. I beseech you knock with all the strength you have, and knock often. If you are not in Christ, my dear hearer, do not give sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids till you have found him. If you have prayed once, go and pray again; and if you have prayed ten thousand times, yet still continue in prayer. Knock with all your might, with all the vigor of your Spirit; plead as for life; knock at the door as a man would knock who saw a wolf ready to spring upon him. Knock as one would knock who found himself ready to die of cold outside the door. Throw your whole soul into the work. Say unto the Lord, “1 beseech thee have mercy upon me, and have mercy upon me now. I faint, I die, unless thou manifest thy love to me and take me into thy house and heart, that I may be thine for ever.” “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” There is the knocker.

IV. Next, to you who are knocking at the gate a promise is givex. That is more than having a door before you, or a knocker to knock with. The promise is above the gate in plain words. Read it. You are growing faint and weary; read the promise, and grow strong again. “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Observe how plain and positive it is with its glorious “shall” burning like a lamp in the centre of it In letters of love the inscription shines out amidst all the darkness that surrounds you, and these are its words, “It shall be opened unto you.” If you knock at the door of the kindest of men you see no such promise set before you, and yet you knock, and knock confidently; how much more boldly should you come to the door of grace when it is expressly declared, “It shall be opened unto you”!

Remember that this promise was freely given. Yon never asked the Lord for such a word, it was uttered by spontaneous goodness. You did not come and plead with Jesus for a promise that you should be heard in prayer. Far from it — you did not even pray. Perhaps you have been living in the world forty years, and have never truly prayed at all; but the Lord out of his overflowing heart of generous love has made this promise to you, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Wherefore do you doubt? Do you think he will not keep his word? A God who cannot lie, who was under no necessity to promise, freely out of the greatness of his divine nature, which is love, says to a poor sinner, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Oh, be sure of this, that he means it; and till heaven and earth shall pass away his word shall stand, and neither you nor any other sinner that knocks at his door shall be refused admittance.

This inscription has encouraged many to knock: when they have been ready to faint and give up all further seeking, they have read again the cheering lines, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” and they have taken heart and made the gate resound again. Now, do you think God will tantalize us, that he will make fools of us, that he will excite hopes in poor sinners, for the mere sake of disappointing them? Will he induce you to knock by his promise, and then laugh at you? Did the God of mercy ever say, “I called and you came; I stretched out my hands and you drew near to me, and yet I will mock at your calamity, and laugh when your fear cometh”? Why, a bad man would scarcely speak so: such an act would be more like Satan than God. Do not tolerate the thought that the God of all grace could treat a seeker thus; if it ever crosses your mind, thrust it away and say, “He that taught me to pray has thereby bound himself to answer prayer. He will not invite me to knock in vain! Therefore, I will knock again, only this time more vigorously than ever, relying upon his word and his truth.” Oh, that you may never stop your knocking till salvation’s door is entered by you! The promise of the Lord was given freely, and on the strength of that promise we knock, therefore we are sure that the Lord will not deny his trusting servants. The mercy is that this promise is meant for ell knockers — “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you” The Lord has not denied to you, my hearer, the privilege of praying, or declared that he will not answer your requests. You may knock, and you may expect to see the door open. I know the blessed doctrine of election, and I rejoice in it; but that is a secret with God, while the rule of our preaching is, — “Preach the Gospel to every creature.” I would, therefore, say to each one here, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” The Lord knows who will knock, for “the Lord knoweth them that are his.” But knock, my friend, knock now, and it will soon be seen that you are one of God’s chosen ones. Remember the story of Malachi, the Cornishman. When a Methodist friend had some money to give him he smilingly said, “Malachi, I do not think I shall give you this money, because I do not know whether you are predestinated to have it. Will you tell me whether you are predestinated to have it or not?” Malachi replied, “You put the money in my hand, and I will tell you.” As soon as Malachi had the sum in hand he knew that he was predestinated to have it; but he could not know before he had it in possession. So the secret counsel of the Lord is revealed to our faith when it gets Christ in possession, and not before. Knock at once. If you are predestinated to enter, I know you will knock, and knock till you are admitted, for so it stands, and no exception is made to it — “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” It is a rule with the Lord that to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Blessed be God, this text of mine shines out as if printed in stars, and it continues to shine from day-dawn of life to set of sun. As long as a man lives, if he knocks at God’s door, it shall be opened unto him. You may have been long a rebel, and you may have heaped up your sins till they seem to shut out all hope from you, but still knock at Christ, the door, for an opening time will come. Even if it were with thine expiring hand, if thou couldst knock at mercy’s gate it would open to thee; but put not off thy day of knocking because of God’s long-suffering mercy; rather to-day knock, knock now while sitting in the pew, and if you are not answered immediately, as T trust you will be, yet go home, and there in secret cry unto the Lord, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me. I am lost unless thou find me; I am lost unless I find my Saviour and Lord, I am not playing at prayer now, my very soul means it; T must have Christ or else I die just as I am; 1 east myself upon him, and trust his atoning* sacrifice. 01), manifest thyself to me as a pardoning God!” I will be bound for God as a hostage that he will answer you. I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and since then I have never doubted of any living soul but that if he too will seek the Lord through Jesus Christ he will certainly be saved. Oh, that you would try it! The Lord move you thereto by his own blessed Spirit.

V. So I close with one more point. When the door opens it will be a glorious opening to you. “Knock, and it shall be opened.” What will come of it then? Immediately you who have knocked will enter. If you have knocked in sincerity, the moment you see Christ as a Saviour you will accept him as your Saviour. Enter into Chrisl by faith. Behold he sets before you an open door, and no man can shut it. Do not hesitate to enter in. Hitherto you have thought there wore many difficulties and obstacles in your way. but indeed it is not so — Believe and live. When, in answer to your knockin-’, you see the door move, then arise, and tarry not.

Remember that the opening of that door will not only give you entrance, but it will ensure you safety. He who once enters into Christ is safe for ever. Only pass beneath that blood-besprinkled portal, only rest in the house of the Well-beloved, and you shall go no more out for ever. The life which he bestows is eternal, therefore you shall not die. The destroying angel, whenever he may take his flight, must pass you by. Only believe, and you are saved; only trust Christ with your whole heart, and soul, and strength, and salvation has come unto your house, and you have come unto the house of salvation.

But then there shall come to you more of blessing: yet, for yours shall be the adoption. Once entered in you shall abide in the mansion of grace, no more a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home. You shall sit at the Father’s table and eat and drink as a son, an heir, a joint heir with Christ, Yours shall be the liberty, the plenty, the joy of the great house of love. At God’s right hand there are pleasures for evermore, and these shall be your heritage. Yes, and more than that; when you have once entered into the house of love you shall have access to its inner chambers. Even the vestibule of God’s house is a place of safety, but afterwards the Master of the house shall take you into curious rooms, and show you his treasures, and open to you his storehouses, so that you shall go from grace to grace, from knowledge to knowledge, and glory to glory, by continued progress. All this can only be understood by experience, and that experience can only be obtained by knocking.

I want to say this, and I have done. Some people think if they7 have begun to pray, and are a little in earnest, that this is enough. Now, praying is not an end, it is only a means. Knocking is not the ultimatum: you must enter in. If any of you are seeking, I am glad of it; if you are knocking, I am glad of it; but if you say, “I am perfectly satisfied to stand outside the door and knock,” then I am grieved for you. You are foolish to the last degree, because you are resting in the means as if they were the end. You must enter by the door or else knocking will be labor in vain. Would any of you be content to visit a friend, and merely to stand for an hour or two outside of his door knocking. Did you ever say, “I do not want anything more: I shall sit-down comfortably on the doorstep, and then get up and have “KNOCK!” 22o

another knock or two?” Knocking would not give you a dinner, nor do your business for you. Knocking is only the way of entrance, but if you stop at knocking it is poor work. The most earnest praying is only a way of getting to Christ: the gospel itself is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Come, then, to Christ. If you find the door shut, knock. But oh, remember, the door is not really shut; it is only so in your apprehension! Heaven’s gate stands open night and day. At once believe and live. Trust in the merit of Jesus Christ, and you are clothed with it; trust in the blood of Christ, and you are washed in it. Faith saves in an instant. It touches Jesus, and the healing virtue pours forth from his garment’s hem: faith steps over the threshold, and the soul is safe. The Lord grant that you may enter in at once, and then it shall be our joy, and the angels’ joy, and the great Fathers joy, for ever and ever, to see you rescued from destruction!