Christian Promotion

‘’Friend, go up higher” — Luke xiv. 10.

There are some of us who never get beyond the first step of Jacob’s ladder. In taking that step we make the transition from death into life; but we are content with mere life — the life of an infant’s breath. We are always talking of what we have been saved from in the past, we are always exulting in our liberation from the state which lies behind us. It is indeed beautiful to be grateful for the breath of existence, but have we considered what the breath of existence means? It means the introduction to boundless possibilities. Art thou exulting that thou hast placed thy foot on the first step of the ascending ladder? It is well, but let not this be thy resting-place. Bern ember it is after all only the first step, and it is the introduction to all the others. Thou standest between two worlds; below thee is the world of infinite death, above thee is the world of infinite life. It is good to look back upon the world of infinite death, to remember the depth out of which thou wert taken. But it is not good to be limited to that view. Thou art only on the first step, and there are myriads to come. Above thee there are heights of infinite progress waiting to be scaled, and from the summit of the sacred ladder a Divine voice descends into thine ear, “Friend, come up higher.” Thou hast been dwelling with rapture on the thought of thy pardon, and truly it is a thought worthy of thy rapture. But there are greater raptures still before thee which thou must not neglect. Wilt thou be satisfied with mere pardon? If so, thine aspiration is smaller than it needs to be. Thou art a child of God, a son of the Highest, and thou hast a right to boundless expectations. Thou hast the promise of infinitude; wilt thou be satisfied with the finite? It is not enough for thee that God should pardon thee; He must fill thee with His own life. It is not enough for thee that thou shouldst escape the fires of hell; thou must aspire to enter into the blaze of the burning purity. It is not enough for thee that there is no longer any condemnation; thou must press towards the mark of a prize that is still beyond thee — the union and communion with God. Thou thinkest too meanly of thy destiny. Thou hast been freed from the fear of the famine in the far country, but thou art still content to be only a hired servant in thy

Father’s house. Thou must yet arise and go to thy Father and ask Him for something more. There are gifts unspeakable which still await thee — the ring, and the robe, and the universal joy, for the voice of thy Father is calling unto thee, “Friend, come up higher.”