The Door of Salvation

 

THE DOOR OF SALVATION OPENED.

 

The everlasting Door of Mercy and Salvation Opened; or a loud and shrill voice from heaven to unregenerate sinners on earth. Plainly showing the necessity of opening your hearts that the King of Glory may enter in; for He is coming in flaming fire to take vengeance upon them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

"Behold I stand at the door and knock!"-REV. 3: 20.

 

IT has pleased the most wise Disposer of all things, out of the riches of his free grace, to offer Jesus Christ to poor, lost, and undone sinners; and also it has pleased the Lord Jesus, not only to die for sinners, that He might open up a way for them to return to God, but to stand knocking at the door of their hearts to intreat them to be reconciled to God. 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 come in! O sinner! Christ is now standing and calling to thy soul, "If thou wilt hear and open, I will come in unto you!" Now Christ is saying, "I know thy works;" I know well enough that thou hast been a blasphemer, or a drunkard, or unclean, or a thief, or a swearer, or a Sabbath-breaker, or a scorner, yet I stand at thy door this day and knock! I will receive thee to mercy, I will forgive all thy sins, I will accept, I will heal, 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, neglect not so great a salvation, lest ye perish!

1. Consider your need of Christ. "Give me Christ, or I perish forever." Can you be saved without Christ? O! if you may have Christ but for opening the door, then, while it is called to-day, hear and open to him.

2. Consider what answer thou wilt be able to make at the great day, if thou wilt harden thy heart and not open. What wilt thou, what canst thou, plead for thyself at the day of judgment? Wilt thou say that the gospel never offered thee Christ? Why, thou hast heard it this day, "If any man will hear and open I will come in to him and will sup with him." Wilt thou say, I would have opened my heart had it not been for the love of sin, or friends, or companions? O how will men and angels hiss at thee! This is the man who for his lusts forsook his mercies, who, for a little vanity neglected his own salvation. O how wilt thou curse thyself, to think that for nothing, yea, for what is worse than nothing, thou hast put off Christ and his salvation! Therefore, men, brethren, and fathers, hearken unto me, I this day propose to you blessing and cursing, life and death!-salvation if you open unto Christ, 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, yet if you will now regard him, if yet you will yield, if yet you will consent, if yet you will become willing to open unto Christ-Christ will be yours, mercy will be yours, salvation will be yours! And what would you have more? Will not all this do? Will not love constrain you? In love and mercy, let me beg of thee to ask thy soul this question, how long will this life and its comforts last? Is the world's happiness everlasting? No, surely. Thy money and thy corn and thy land will do thee no good in the great day. O what hast thou laid up for the world to come! Is the door of thy heart open to Christ? Alas, alas, is thy poor soul unconverted all this while?-what will become of thee when this life and all its comforts are gone? O hard-hearted sinner! this broad way in which thou walkest will never bring thee to the promised land. Thy gold and silver key will never open heaven's gate for thee. Thy care about this world's good will not plead for thee before the Judge. All thy friends and acquaintance with whom thou hast spent many joyful hours-their good words will stand thee in no stead. Then thou wilt be ready to cry, O where is the Christ that I have despised! O where is the Jesus that I have resisted! Will he plead for me! No surely. Go to the gods whom thou hast chosen. O what will become of me-of my lost soul! Must I not die; and whither will death carry me? Into the land of light or of darkness? To which of them am I travelling? Surely the way of pleasure, the broad way of the world, is not the way to heaven and everlasting happiness. Say then, O sinner, to thy soul, thy poor lost dying soul, what! must I be taken from all my glory and greatness, from all my delights and pleasures, and be thrown, like Lucifer, son of the morning, from all my brightness, into blackness and darkness forever! When death hath closed my eyes, must I awake in everlasting flames! Yes, sinner, thou shalt; and that without remedy, unless thou open thy heart to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ask thy soul on which hand thou art likely to stand in the day of judgment; on the right among the sheep, or on the left among the goats. What will be the end of those joys which now make so glad thy heart? Thou art now in the broad way to destruction and utter separation from God's presence forever! Thy pleasures here we may judge of; but O who can tell the thousandth part of those fiery torments to which thou art liable in the other world! When thou diest thou shalt be a damned creature; while thou livest thou art fed like a beast by common Providence; thou art an utter stranger to feeding promises. If thou lookest upwards, God is frowning, and his wrath is revealed from heaven against thee. The heavens and their host are ready every moment to discharge God's curses like thunderbolts against thee. If thou lookest downward, thou mayest see hell opening its mouth to swallow thee up quick; many dangers attending thee every day, many miseries every moment. Legions of devils stand watching thee, and waiting only for the leave of God to drag thy soul into the lake of fire. As long as thou refusest to hear Christ's voice, thou hast a hell upon earth. It is not the multitude of thy companions that shall lessen thy torments; but they shall rather increase them. Thy life that hath been full of worldly joy shall end in deadly woe!

All you into whose hands this little book shall come, O let me beg you to consider how your hearts can endure to think of being shut out of heaven, out of blessedness forever! Ask your heart these questions. Can I burn? Can I endure the vengeance of eternal fire? Will a glowing oven, a scorching furnace, be an easy lodging for me? why, my soul, wilt thou not be persuaded to repent! Is there too much pain in that! Talk to thee of crucifying the flesh, or 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 dwell with devouring fire! How wilt thou dwell with everlasting burnings! Think on hell, O poor soul, and then think on Christ; and consider if a Redeemer from such misery be not worth the accepting of. Think on hell, and then think on sin, and carnal pleasures; consider how thou wilt relish them in the everlasting fire! Are these the price for which thou sellest thy soul to hell? O bid these lusts and pleasures be gone! bid your companion-sins 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 laid down the use of terror, to awaken some poor souls out of the depth of carnal security, I shall proceed to encourage poor sinners to lay fast hold on Christ before it be too late. O poor soul! Hast thou kept Christ out 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; Christ is still willing to receive thee! Why, then, wilt thou undo thyself by neglecting so great a salvation? Think what message He sends to thee, what errand he comes on; it is no dismal message, it is no dreadful errand. If Christ had come to destroy thy soul, could he have had less welcome than thou hast given him? O for thy soul's sake receive Him! O ye fools, when will ye be wise! Come unto Jesus and he will have mercy on you, and heal all your backslidings, and love you freely.

But some poor soul will say, I have a desire to come to Christ, but I am afraid Christ will never receive such a wretched sinner as I am, who have stood out so long against him. In answer to this, let me give you some directions.

 

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, and miserable, and blind, and naked. O sinner come not to him in thine own strength! but come thou and say, O Lord here is a poor soul not worth anything! O Lord make me rich in faith! here is a miserable soul, O Lord have mercy on me! here is a poor blind soul, O Lord enlighten me from above! here is a poor naked wretch, O Lord save me, lest I perish, for I cannot help myself.

 

2. Come to Christ by believing in him. Yes, when thy poor soul is sinking into hell, and sees no way to escape the fearful wrath of God, O then at such a time seize fast hold on Christ! O apprehend and apply all his benefits to thy soul! Come and grasp him in the arms of thy faith, and say, I believe in thee, Lord; help my unbelief. And the answer which thy Lord will give thee, will be this be it unto thee 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 and a traitor, yet Jesus Christ, having received gifts for the rebellious, will shew mercy to thee, and receive thee.

 

3. Come to Jesus Christ by repenting and forsaking all thy sins. Thou canst never come to the wedding without the wedding garment; the old man must be done away before all things can be made new. "O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved; how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" Jer. 4:14

 

[The above is from an old and scarce Sermon of the Rev Samuel Rutherford.]

 

Samuel Rutherford (also Rutherfurd or Rutherfoord; c. 1600 - 29 March 1661) was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and theologian and one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly. Life.