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THE WAITING SAVIOUE. 



KEY. E. N. KIRK, D D. 




BOSTON: 
THE AMEBIC AN TRACT SOCIETY; 

Instituted 1S14. 

DEPOSITOEIES, 28 COKNIIILL, EOSTOX, AND 13 BIBLE HOUSE, 

ASTOE PLACE, NEW TOBK. 



i 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 

THE AMEHICAIN TKACT SOCIETY, 
In the Clerk's Office of tlic District Court for the District of 

Massachusetts. 






THE WAITING SAVIOUE. 



" BEHOLD I STAND AT THE DOOR Ain> KNOCK. IB- 
ANY MAN HEAR MT VOICE, AND OPEN THE DOOR, 
I -WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND "WILL SUP WITH 
HIM, AND HE WITH ME." — ReV. iii. 20. 

HAT beautiful scene lias been 
sketched by a painter. He rep- 
resents the door of the human 
heart by the door of a humble 
cottage. And the Saviour stands 
with his ear inclined toward the door, 
with his right hand raised, as if he 
had just been knocking, and were 
now listening to discover if any one 



4 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

within was moving to admit and wel- 
come him. 

But when did this occur ? Was it 
many centuries ago ? Yes ; and to- 
day, this moment, it is repeated, 
while you are thinking about it. And 
it is nothing less than your own 
heart that is described. Let us first 
inquire, 

WHO IS IT THAT KXOCKS ? 

In turning to the first three chap- 
ters of Revelation, you will perceive 
that it is the Son of God who is here 
addressing man. It is the Lord Jesus 
Christ who stands at the door knock- 
ing. Oh that the Spirit of God may 
unseal our eyes, that we may look 



WHO IS IT THAT KNOCKS? 5 

upon tlie siglit, upon tliis glorious 
being in such an attitude of conde- 
scension and kindness ! 

If it were an earthly scene, some 
distinguished man who had driven to 
our humble door with his magnificent 
horses and equipage, some monarch or 
prince, we could see it plainly, and 
feel the honor very deeply. But it 
is the King of kings and Lord of 
lords, even the only-begotten son of 
the Most High. We see the Maker 
of the worlds stooping to visit man, 
seeking an entrance into his heart; 
which means that he desires to be 
loved and trusted by us. The pres- 
ence of no king at a beggar's door, 
of no angel or archangel, could be so 



6 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

wonderful. It is the very King of 
heaven, whom the angels adore. And, 
in order to approach so near to us, 
he became man. It is the incarnate 
Son of God seeking admittance to 
our hearts. It is the crucified Sa- 
viour who took the title " Lamb of 
God," because he was to be slain as 
a propitiatory sacrifice for our re- 
demption. 

It is this wonderful Being, who, 
having become ii^an, and having died 
for us, rose from the grave, ascended 
to heaven, and is forever seated at 
the right hand of the Eternal Majesty ; 
the being who will raise tlie dead at 
the last day, and sit upon his great 
white throne to judge the nations of 



WHO IS IT THAT KKOCKb ? 7 

men, — welcoming tlie righteous to 
heaven, and banishing the ungodly 
from his father's presence for ever. 
This is he who will for ever be the 
acknowledged Redeemer of all the 
inhabitants of heaven. Even when 
walking unknown and despised on 
earth, twelve legions of angelic beings 
would have rushed from the heaven- 
ly courts, and drawn their flaming 
swords in his defense, if ho had per- 
mitted them. 

We can not get our mind too in- 
tently fixed on Him — his wonderful 
nature as God and man, his majesty 
and holiness, his condescension and 
tender love. He is God ; as a Son, 
he ho,s the nature and properties of 



8 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

his Father. And he is true and prop- 
er man ; the only truly perfect man 
since Adam fell. 

Look at him standing at the door 
of a human heart, at the door of 
your heart, knocking ! And as you 
gaze upon the scene, ask this ques- 
tion : 

■\ynAT BRINGS nm there ? 

The answer is — he loves you ; not 
admires you; nor thinks you to be 
good enough to please him. But he 
regards you as capable of becoming 
holy and blessed as the angels of God. 
Nay, he can raise you higher than the 
archangels, if he can but get posses- 
sion of your heart — a full and un- 
disputed entrance there. 



WITAT BEOUGHT EIM ? 9 

He knows as yoii can not, your need 
of him. Without him you can never 
answer for one sin to God's justice. 
Apart from him your condition is 
fearful ; and nothing more fearful 
about it than your ignorance of it, 
and carelessness. God indeed for- 
gives sin ; but it is only the peni- 
tent believer whom he forgives. God 
adopts the children of Adam into his 
family ; but it is only " to them who 
believe on Christ " that " he gives 
power to become the sons of God " 
(John i. 12). God hears prayer. But 
prayer, to be accepted, must bo of- 
fered in the name of his Son, by one 
who has faith in that Son ; that is, 
who has admitted him into the heart. 



10 THE WAITING SAVIOUR 

It is said : " There is therefore now no 
condemnation to them that are in 
Christ Jesus." This phi^ase, so fre- 
quently used in the New Testament, 
means the same thing as Christ's be- 
ing in us. Both describe a nearness 
to the Lord and Saviour, — a union 
with him so intimate that it requires 
both forms of expression to set it 
forth. At one time the expression is 
used — "Christ in you the hope of 
glory." At another, Christ compares 
himself to the vine, and believers to 
the branches ; and says, " If a man 
abide not in me, he is cast forth as a 
branch, and is withered ; and men 
gather them, and cast them into the 
fire, and they are burned." 



WHAT BROUGHT HIM? 11 

We need Christ while we are liv- 
ing, and we shall need him when dy- 
ing. He alone can enable ns to con- 
quer death, and to exclaim, with the 
apostle, " Thanks be to God, who 
giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

We shall need him to introduce us 
to the lieavenly mansions, and to 
uphold us in our blissful estate there 
for ever. 

Now he knows all this. He sees 
that without him we are lost ; earth 
has no remedy for our soul-sickness, 
— neither man nor angel can help us 
in the matters between our souls and 
our God. " There is no other name un- 
der heaven given among men, where- 



12 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

by we must be saved." He looks 
upon us with a compassion that knows 
no bounds. It has cost him a life of 
humiliation and contempt, suffering 
and death ; and yet he spared not 
himself. 

Herein is love — love that surprises 
heaven, that amazes hell. And yet 
man alone is insensible to it, when 
ho himself is the object of it. Noth- 
ing brings that king to the beggar's 
door but the desire to benefit him. 
Jesus sees all the consequences if he 
does not take possession of your heart. 
This brings him there ; tliis has kept 
hull there for years, constantly knoclc- 
ing, patiently waiting for admittance. 

But his love is more than compas- 



WHAT BROUGHT HIM? 13 

sion. He also j^mes our love. Tins 
is a truth of wliicli we hear little said 
in our poor unbelieving world ; but 
a truth full of the inspiration of .hope 
to every one who really desires to be 
delivered from the power of sin, to 
become holy, and to be an inhabitant 
of the celestial country over which 
God will eternally reign. 

He prizes our love. Hence we see 
that all our duty is summed up in 
lovmg him. Men often complain of 
the requirements of God as being 
unreasonable, of his law as being ex- 
acting and severe. But what does it 
require ? He who made it declares 
that it can all be stated in one word, 
— love. But we are not attempting 



14 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

to vindicate tho law. It is ratlier to 
show that when God makes our wholo 
duty, all that he desires and requires 
of us, to consist in loving him, he 
shows two things, — that he prizes 
our love above everything we can be 
or do ; and that he created us for 
that very purpose. He prizes our love 
and companionship. Yf e may see it 
illustrated faintly in the love of a 
very eminent man for his little lisp- 
ing child. In many things that child 
can not entertain him, can have no 
sympathy with him. Yet that child 
can strike a deeper chord in that 
man's heart than the most cultivated 
of all the friends that meet around 
his board. So Jesus delights in our 



WRAT BROUGHT HIM? 15 

love ; so he is grieved at the withhold- 
ing it from him. Some of the teii- 
derest strains in the Old Testament 
are the expressions of God's grief 
that his people withheld their love 
and confidence from him. 

Indeed, his calling himself our Fa- 
ther exhibits this very point. And 
there is nothing more powerfully 
adapted to bring our sinful hearts to 
repentance, than to discover that 
every moment we have lived in care- 
lessness and unbelief we have been 
grieving the tender heart of our God 
and Saviour by disregarding his desire 
to be loved by us, and to have com- 
munion with us. 

When the prodigal son left his 



16 THE WAITIXa SAVIOUR. 

father's house, he was filled with his 
own projects, and had no thought, 
we may suppose, of the pang he was 
impartmg to that parental heart. So 
men, by nature the children of God, 
have generally no conception of the 
wrong they are doing to their heav- 
enly Father by living days and years 
upon his bounty, and jQi turning en- 
tirely away from him, — making the 
moral distance as great as it is pos- 
sible, by banishing him from their 
thoughts, their affections, their plans, 
their joys and sorrows and converse. 
Jesus loves us ; and that is a love, 
he knows, of more value to us than all 
the treasures of the earth and all tln> 
planets, than the favor of men and ai? 



WHY DOES HE KNOCK? 17 

gels all combined together. He stands 
and knocks at the door because he 
loves us, and deskes to be in such 
fellowship with us as is suitable to 
his nature and ours, and to the dif- 
ferences in our capacities. But it 
may still be asked — 

WHY DOES HE KNOCK? 

It is because we are unwilling to 
admit him ; and yet he never will force 
his way in. That great act of faith 
which is here represented by opening 
the door to Christ, and hj a great 
variety of figures elsewhere in the 
Scriptures, is purely a free, voluntary 
act of the human spirit. If ever man 
is free, it is in receiving and in reject- 



18 THE WAITIXO SAVIOUR. 

ing Christ. To accept him in all the 
blessed fullness of his grace is an act 
to which tlic entire spirit must con- 
sent. There must be no reservations, 
no questionings whether it is better 
to receive him; his heart must act 
with its fullest approbation and pref- 
erence. 

Therefore, so long as there is any 
holding back, any hesitation, any re- 
luctance, he stands knockhig. All 
this is vividly illustrated in the young 
magistrate who came running to the 
Saviour to have his hopes of salva- 
tion confirmed. Jesus knocked at 
the door. The man thought he was 
willing to receive the prophet of God, 
as he considered him, but he was 



HOW DOES HE KNOCK? 19 

under a misappreliension. He was 
willing to do many things for the sake 
of heaven, but not to receive Christ. 
Hence the Saviour did not enter his 
heart. He knocked for admission. 
And when the young man found that 
to let Christ in was to turn the world 
out, he also discovered that he was 
not willing to receive Christ. And 
until he should be, the Lord would 
not enter, but simply knock. 

HOW DOES HE KNOCK? 

This part of the figurative descrip- 
tion is intended to represent all the 
appeals and influences by which our 
minds and hearts are moved to think 
of God ; of our spiritual welfare ; of 



20 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

our eternal destiny ; of our duty to 
God, our sins and our Saviour. 

We have an inward ear that can 
hear these appeals. We call it con- 
science, when duty and sin are urged 
upon us. And we may properly al- 
ways consider it as the hand of Christ 
knocking at the door, when our con- 
sciences are aroused to contemplate 
our sins, our guilt, our impending 
doom, our duty to flee to Christ. We 
hear him knocking when our hearts 
are stirred with ingenuous grief at 
the remembrance of our treatment of 
our heavenly Father and Redeemer ; 
when holiness appears lovely, and 
heaven desirable. In such moments, 
whether in the midst of prosperity 



MOW DOES EE K2^0CK ? 21 

or bereavement, whether hearing or 
reading the Word of God, wherever 
it may be, we may properly bend our 
ear and listen to that gentle hand 
that was pierced for our sins. It is 
striking at the door of our humble 
dwelling. We may at such moments 
listen to the gentle voice of Him who 
poured out his last prayer for the 
forgiveness of his murderers. It is 
Jesus knocking, Jesus calling, Jesus 
asking for admittance to our hearts. 
When the world has revealed its 
emptiness and vanity ; when its bro- 
ken promises have left us bankrupt ; 
when our life-schemes are blasted ; 
when liopes lie like withered flowers 
at our feet ; when we return back 



22 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

upon ourselves, wearied, disappoint- 
ed, discouraged ; when all behind us 
seems but a distempered dream, and 
all before us a dreary waste — Jesus 
is knocking. If you listen, you will 
hear that divine voice saying : 
" Come unto me, weary and heavy 
laden : I will give you rest. If any 
man drink of this water, he shall 
thirst again ; but he that drinketh of 
the water that I will give him, shall 
never thirst." 

We have witnessed this affecting 
spectacle : A mother who had ever 
kept her heart closed against the Sa- 
viour, but had opened it wholly to a 
little precious jewel he had committed 
to her care, one day received the 



HO IF DOES HE KXOCK ? 23 

vaessage that he was about to send 
for it. Instead of thankfulness that 
he had lent it so long, her heart rose 
up in bitter hostility. And when at 
length one came and took it from her, 
she gave herself up entirely to grief 
and despondency. Jesus sent for the 
jewel for a twofold purpose : He 
intended to put it in safe keeping; 
and he was seeking to lead her to give 
him the supreme place in her heart. 
It was most affecting to look on the 
whole scene, and observe the King of 
heaven standing at that door knock- 
ing ; to hear him calling on her to 
admit him ; and then to see her re- 
fusing even to recognize his knock or 
his call, wholly absorbed in her own 



24 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

loss, and murmuring at tlie arbitra- 
riness and cruelty of God. 

WHY DO WE KEEP IIIM THUS WAITING ? 

Every one that does it has his own 
reason. And yet they all may be re- 
duced to one or two reasons ; some 
arc unwilling to be saved by Christ, 
and others are unwilling to be saved 
at all. What ! you exclaim, is there 
any human being unwilling to be 
saved ? Yes, millions of such are 
to be found. Where ? Here — ev- 
erywhere where men are to be found. 

This must be looked into more 
closely ; because it may lead many 
to discover a fatal misapprehension 
on this subject very commonly enter- 



WHY DO WE KEEP HIM WAITING? 25 

tained. Being unwilling to be lost 
is not the same thing as being willing 
to be saved. This becomes plain and 
evident if you bring it to the test of 
ordinary life. No spendthrift can be 
found who is not unwilling to become 
poor. But every one of them is 
equally far from willing to be saved 
from poverty by living within his in- 
come. The drunkard is unwilling 
to die by the agonies of delirium tre- 
mens ; yet he is equally unwilling to 
be saved from it by abstaining from 
intoxicating liquors. So many are 
unwilling to lose their souls, who 
are equally unwilling to lose their 
sins. As soon as it is perceived that 
Christ wishes to enter our hearts in 



26 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

order to make us lioly, the doors are 
shut ill his face by the majority. He 
declares that without holiness no 
man can see the Lord. But holiness 
is the opposite of our pride and sel- 
fishness and covetousness, envy, sen- 
suality, and love of the world. The 
road to destruction, Jesus declares, 
is broad ; and the multitude are 
walking in it, because they prefer it 
to the narrow path that leads to life 
eternal. 

Header, deal honestly with thyself 
hero. This is the pinch of the sub- 
ject. This is the turning-point. These 
pages were written with a prayer for 
thy soul's salvation ; with earnest 
supplication that they might lead 



WHY DO WE KEEP HIM WAITING ? 27 

each one of you to Christ and heaven. 
And here wo reach tlie point that 
decides the destiny of the greater 
part of mankind. 

You live, as it were, in a house 
with many apartments. You have 
furnished it to suit yourself. You 
have entertained such guests as suited 
your taste. You have lived con- 
stantly in some apartments, and left 
others to mold and dust and spiders. 
Some people live altogether in the 
upper chambers ; some in the cellar; 
and some seem to have made a sub- 
cellar, where they and the beasts 
may herd togetlicr. Some live on 
the sunny side of the house, some on 
the shady side. Some frequently go 



28 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

up to the observatory on the roof, 
whence they get a sight of high 
things, and can bchokl objects afar 
off. They see the cross from their 
window, and the mercy-scat and the 
judgment-scat, and heaven and hell. 
There thej get a glimpse of God and 
Christ and the innumerable company 
of angels. OUicrs have never trod- 
den a foot within this hallowed room. 
Now when Christ enters a house 
by the invitation of the tenant, a 
complete revolution takes place. He 
could not live in it as it was. There 
must be a new order of things. '' Old 
things are passed away, and all things 
are become new." Much of the fur- 
niture must be changed. Some cham- 



WSY DO WE KEEP HIM WAIThVG ? 29 

bers must be opened to the air and 
sunlight that have never been opened 
before since they were built. Old 
guests must cease their visits, and 
new ones be entertained. Some of 
the old servants must be dismissed, 
and new ones introduced. 

Now men are naturally averse to 
revolutions and changes, and it is 
not a bad trait in human nature ; 
but, like every other good thing, it 
becomes an evil when it is used out 
of its place. And it is the sum of 
evils when it makes us cling to what 
is bad, and repulse what is good. 
And this it is keeps Christ out of 
many a heart, — the aversion to the 
changes he requires. 



30 TUE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

WnAT AEE THESE CHANGES? 

The thoughts must be clianged. 
" I liatc vain thoughts, but thy law 
do I love," was said by one who had 
made this great change. He found 
out liow hateful, how dangerous they 
are, how offensive to Christ. Here, 
for instance, is a person who sits 
down and thinks over what he is and 
what he has that fosters his self-con- 
ceit. He has a mirror in one of his 
chambers that reflects his person in 
an attractive form. That chamber 
he frequently visits, and tliere gazes 
with admiration on his person, his 
hair, his eyes, his teeth, his figure, 
his dress, until he is filled with ad- 
miration. Or this magical mirroi 



WBAT AliE THESE CHANGES? 31 

reflects bis possessions, his connec- 
tions, his talents, and the admiration 
of others he has excited. 

Now if Christ comes to dwell there, 
he will order that mirror to be brok- 
en, like Aaron's golden calf, into 
fragments — ground to powder, and 
thrown into the sea ; and for it he 
will substitute God's mirror, that 
never flatters, never deceives, but 
reveals every deformity and defect. 
Thus he destroys vanity and pride. 
Thus he cherishes that lowliness, 
meekness, and humility which, in his 
eyes, are the real adornments of our 
nature. 

These are the thoughts that cher- 
ish ambition. Napoleon Bonaparte 



32 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

sat in his chamber, and visions float- 
ed through his brain representing 
him as crowned monarch of an em- 
pire broader than that of the Cas- 
sars. If Napoleon had opened his 
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, he 
would have banished those thoughts 
as meteors luring him to destruc- 
tion. Christ would have showed him 
a nation blessed by his powerful 
mind, with common schools, industry, 
peace, Christian instruction, and the 
world rejoicing to hail his country as 
the model nation of the world. 

Some persons sit and brood over 
their trials and the inconveniences of 
their position in society, and of their 
occupation ; thus constantly increas- 



WHAT ABE THESE CHANGES? 33 

ing the sourness of their dispositions. 
Others indulge in thoughts that 
nourish their hatred, or their envy, 
or their revenge. Others live in a 
world of dreams, cherished by fool- 
ish books and plays, and by gossip. 
But wherever Christ enters, he 
changes all that, and introduces 
entirely new trains of thought. The 
Word of God then becomes the lead- 
ing book in the house ; and the 
thoughts about Qs^ery subject take 
their direction from it. 

He produces another class of 
changes. It is, in the feelings in- 
dulged. Instead of trusting the 
promises that the world gives, to 
make us happy if we will only serve 



34 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

it, lie leads us to distrust the world, 
and trust God. In place of discon- 
tent he brings contentment with God's 
treatment of us. Instead of pride he 
brings humility. Instead of envy 
and revenge and jealousy and . riv- 
alry and indifference toward our 
fellow-men, he brings love, compas- 
sion, gentleness, meekness. Instead 
' of zeal for worldly good and honor, 
he brings zeal for God's honor and 
men's salvation. Instead of hoping 
for much in this world, he gives us 
the hope of heaven. 

Then there is yet another class of 
changes produced by his entrance 
into the heart. The whole encl^ ob- 
jecty and purpose of life are rcvolu- 



WHAT ARE THESE CHANGES? 35 

lionized. Instead of living for self 
and for worldly good, the purpose is 
formed and fixed to live to honor 
God and bless mankind. Instead of 
living to lay up treasures on earth, 
or to enjoy the world, the purpose is 
fixed to lay up treasures in heaven, 
and to make this life the time of 
labor, that there may remain a rest 
for us after death. 

Where Christ is the honored guest, 
a deep sense of responsibility to God 
is cherished ; there is a reverence for 
man, as made in the image of God ; 
an abhorrence of the selfishness and 
pride into which he has been seduced ; 
and an earnest desire to have him 
turn out his wicked guests and re- 



36 TUE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

ceive the Lord Jesus Christ. Conse- 
quently, a new set of guests are en- 
tertained in that house ; a new style 
of living and conversing is found 
there. Prayer and praise, and do- 
ing good to others, come to be very 
prominent occupations. Old com- 
panions gradually drop oIT, from a 
want of congeniality. 

Now here is the first reason we 
assign for Christ's being kept at tlie 
door knocking, — an unwillingness 
to be saved by liim, because that is 
his way of saving us. lie does not 
merely blot out our past iniquities 
and save us from the consequences 
of former sins : he also saves us from 
i\\Q poiccr of sin, from the very forms 



WHAT An E THESE CHANGES? 87 

of sinful, godless living that have 
most satisfied us. 

With many and many a heart the 
last silly romance, the newly-arrived 
mountebank, has an enthusiastic wel- 
come, while the Son of God, the Sa- 
viour of the soul, is kept waiting and 
knocking at the door in vain. 

Now it is this that justifies the re- 
mark : people generally are unwilling 
to be saved. And, besides, many are 
unwilling to be saved by Christ. 

And that probably sounds still more 
strangely than the other assertion. 
But it can be proved just as clearly. 

It was announced centuries before 
Christ appeared that he was coming, 
and that he would be " despised and 



38 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

rejected of men." To see the reason 
of this we must look at the different 
classes of persons who keep him 
knockhig at the door. 

The speculative mind can not rea- 
son Christ out by any process of 
reason it has yet discovered, and is 
determined never to believe in him 
until his existence and his doctrines 
are demonstrated to be true. He 
never found the fragrance of a rose, 
the beauty of a landscape, the joys 
of friendship by this process. But 
he is determined that if Christ en- 
ters his heart it sliall be by that door, 
and that alone. lie must reason him- 
self into piety. 

There is another class of minds 



WITAT AEE THESE CHANGES ? 39 

we may denominate the sensuous. 
All tliat is said about religion and 
Christ, heaven and hell, seems to 
them to be far off, intangible, vague 
and uncertain. If they could see a 
vision, or hear the seven thunders of 
the judgment rolling, see Christ on 
the cross or Christ at the door, they 
might attach some importance to the 
subject. But, with them, the unseen 
is the unreal. They never saw Pe- 
king, but they believe there is such a 
city ; never saw a pestilence, but be- 
lieve there is such a thing. And 
yet, when it comes to Christ, they 
are determined not to open the heart 
to him, because their bodily eyes do 
not behold him. 



40 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

The self-righteous keep Christ out 
of their hearts, because they are un- 
willing to be saved on his terms. The 
Jews shut their hearts against him, 
because they said, " If we are to be 
saved by Christ, then there is an end 
to all our boasted superiority to other 
people. It is nothing tliat we were 
born of Abraham, nothing that we 
have been circumcised, nothing that 
we have offered sacrifices and paid 
tithes." That is too hard a doctrine. 
And others besides the Jews have 
the same difficulties in another form. 
Christ saves only lost sinners, and 
saves them all on the same level. 
The best deserve to bo damned. 
" This is a hard saying." But it is 



WHAT AI?E THESE CHANGES? 41 

therefore, Jesus says, that the most 
abandoned people would enter the 
kingdom of heaven before those peo- 
ple who think themselves good. The 
beggar by the wayside gets the bless- 
ing which the nobleman in his palace 
misses. The self-righteous keep 
Christ knocking at the door. So, 
also, do the formalists — people who 
care more for ceremonies than for 
Christ. The Saviour comes into the 
heart, not by the priest, the church, 
the sacraments, but by the door of 
faith. We need not go up nor down, 
across the, sea, or across the street, to 
find a Saviour. We need no holy 
water, nor holy man, nor holy build- 
ing ; we need nothing but just what 



42 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

Christ here mentions — hearken to 
his voice, and open the door, and he 
will come in. Then we have what 
all the churches and priests, from 
Aaron downward, can not give us. 
Nothing can be more contrary to the 
teachings of the Saviour, nothing 
more sure to keep the door of the 
heart shut against him, than the no- 
tion that for the soul's salvation we 
need any other aid of man than to 
repeat Christ's words, and to pray 
for us. Time and place and sur- 
rounding objects have nothing to do 
with Christ's entering the heart. 
But superstitious persons, unwilling 
really to be saved by him, and in his 
way, do a multitude of things to 



WHAT ARE THESE CHANGES? 43 

drown liis voice and his knocking?, 
so that they shall think they are do- 
ing some great thing toward saving 
their souls, while, in fact, they are 
simply keeping Christ out of the 
heart, and preventing themselves 
from hearing him. Hence it is not 
wonderful that they want a great 
deal of smoke and noise and move- 
ment. The eye, the ear, the imagi- 
nation must be kept constantly excited 
with something agreeable, that they 
may persuade themselves they really 
are religious, and are accomplishing 
much for their soul's benefit. 

There is another class, the fro ward, 
who are unwilling to be saved by 
Christ because he declares they must 



44 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

wear his cross openly, and not be 
ashamed of him among his enemies. 
If Christ comes into the heart, Satan 
will find it out, and make a great 
ado. The scoffers will know it ; re- 
spectable people of the world will 
know it ; the members of the family, 
ungodly companions will know it, 
and think it a sign of weakness to let 
Christ enter the heart, or to pretend 
to have received salvation from him. 
Rather than encounter that they would 
have him remain outside knocking. 

Then there is another class, differ 
ing from all these, because they arc 
more serious, more earnest, moire 
willing to make any sacrifice Christ 
requires of them. But their diffi- 



WHAT ARE THESE CHAJ^GES ? 45 

culty is unbelief. And it seems not 
to be easy for everybody to under- 
stand what the Scriptures mean by 
unbelief. Among other things, it de- 
scribes a state of the heart that 
makes what God says unreal. God 
says that he saves the undeserving 
and the hell-deserving. But unbelief 
says, " If I were not so unworthy of 
God's mercy, if I had not so hard a 
heart, — if I had more conviction, I 
could come to Christ. But he can 
not, or he will not receive a case like 
mine." It is hard to discern how 
much pride lurks under that appar- 
ently modest covering. But, what- 
ever it is, it prevents the person in- 
dulging it from rising to open the 



46 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

door. Christ has said nothing about 
deserving his favor, nothing about 
how much conviction is necessary. 
He simply declares that if any man 
shall hearken to his voice, and open 
the door, he will come in and sup 
witli him. The person, therefore, 
who does not open the door, does not 
wish to be saved by Christ, whatever 
other account he may give of the 
matter. 

Now, reader, if you are beyond all 
this, and arc willing to be saved, and 
to be saved by Christ — 

WHAT MUST YOU DO TO BE SAVED ? 

Two things. Hearken and open 
to Christ. You are not to make 



HEARKEN. 47 

yourself worthy of God's favor ; you 
are not to dispose him to mercy ; you 
are not to provide or find a Saviour ; 
you are not to be saved without the 
Spirit of God, nor to do his work in 
your heart. You are simply to 
hearken to the Saviour's knocking, 
and open the door to him. You are 
to 

HEAEKEN. 

The power of controlling the atten- 
tion is very wonderful. A hundred 
sounds may be coming upon the ear 
at once, but we can choose to which 
one our attention shall be given. 
This is the difference between hear- 
ing and hearkening. In the din of 



48 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

battle the soldier hearkens to one 
sound, the voice of his commander. 
Amid the storm at sea, the mariner 
listens not to the howling tempest 
nor the creaking ropes and groaning 
timbers. His ear is all intent to catch 
his commander's word. 

So must we listen for the voice of 
our Redeemer. " Dead be my ear 
to every sound but thy dear voice, 
Christ, my Lord ! " Hearken ! 
Turn away from the Babel-sounds of 
earth for a time — from the voice of 
friendship, the voices of nature. Lis- 
ten to one, and one alone, the voice, 
the knocking of the Redeemer, who 
has come so far to save your soul. 

Adam heard that voice, and fled 



HEARKEN. 49 

from it because he had sinned, but 
had not repented of sin. Felix heard 
it, and carelessly made an appoint- 
ment to hear it again at some indefi- 
nite future time. Agrippa heard it, 
and was almost persuaded to invite 
the Saviour in ; but he was not yet 
prepared for the change. The sacri- 
fice was too great. Probably he 
never went beyond being almost per- 
suaded. These cases are written for 
our warning. They are buoys float- 
ing over rocks on which others have 
made shipwreck of their souls. 

If you distinctly hear the knocking 
of Christ at your door, then you have 
one other duty, — to arise and 



50 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

OPEN THE DOOE. 

This must be an act of your own 
free choice. Whatever bolts and bars 
are there to keep it shut, you must 
take out of the way. You must 
throw the door wide open, and say, 
"Come in, thou King of Glory: thou 
Saviour of my soul, come in. I give 
all up to thy control and service. 
Turn out what thou dost not approve. 
Litroduce what and whom thou wilt. 
Tliou art Master here ; all is at thy 
disposal." 

Lest, then, this language should be 
too figurative for some persons, and 
they should inquire what is literally 
intended by opening the door to the 



OP EX THE DO on. 51 

Saviour, it may be said that he who 
thus describes himself as knocking at 
this door, has said in the same connec- 
tion, " I the Lord search the heart." 
He knows every thought of the mind 
and every decision of the will. "When, 
then, any heart has abandoned all 
selfish ends and plans, truly repented 
of former disobedience to God, and 
accepts Christ as he oiTers himself to 
be a Saviour, he is perfectly ac- 
quainted with it all. The door is 
opened to him the instant he is truly 
chosen and accepted as a Saviour from 
sin and its consequences. What, 
then, does he mean by the assurance 
that 



52 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

HE WILL ENTER, AND SUP WITH US? 

When the Lord Jesus Christ en- 
ters a heart, he comes as a victorious 
king into a province which rebels 
had withdrawn from its allegiance, — 
as our government entered Savannah 
by its victorious army. The banner 
of the king at once floats from the 
citadel ; the power of the government 
is at once pledged for its protection 
and defense ; the privileges of citi- 
zenship are extended to the inhabi- 
tants. King Jesus enters to drive 
Satan and his legions from the heart, 
— those guests that we could never 
sake to heaven with us ; a Christless 
heart becomes a heart filled with the 



HE WILL ENTER. 53 

glorious presence of Jesus. What a 
change this is ! Self and the world 
are dethroned. And what a deliver- 
ance is this ! For self is a hard mas- 
ter. Its service is the source of un- 
satisfied longings, foolish fears, vain 
expectations, cruel disappointments. 
If Christ enters, then the soul has 
found its true priest. You must 
have a mediator with God. Your 
legal standing is not good. You have 
forfeited the right to approach your 
Creator in your own name. Your 
house then wants an altar, and a 
heaven-appointed Priest. Blood must 
be sprinkled wherever guilt has de- 
filed ; for " without the shedding of 
blood, there is no remission of sin.'* 



54 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

A sacrifice worthy of God must be 
offered. " Behold, then, the Lamb 
of God that taketh away the sin of 
the world." When Israel was in 
Egypt, the destroying angel that smote 
to death the first-born son in every 
Egyptian dwelling passed harmless 
by the door-post sprinkled with the 
blood of the passover lamb. Our 
High Priest alone can sprinkle that 
blood on our door-posts. 

When Christ enters the heart, he 
comes as the Light of the world, the 
Prince of prophets, shining into our 
darkness, and making us children of 
the light. 

When Christ enters the heart, he 
brings the peace of God that passeth 



HE WILL ENTER. 55 

all understanding; he brings the 
Holy Spirit, who transforms our spir- 
its, recovering gradually the lost im- 
age of God, and annulling the s.en- 
tence that consigned the body to the 
undying second death — pledges him- 
self to raise it in glory and immor- 
tality at the last day. 

When Christ enters the heart, he 
comes as the Head of the church, to 
introduce us into the blessed family 
of God, and shed abroad in our 
hearts the spirit of adoption, whereby 
we call God — Father. He comes as 
a Friend and Brother. 

" I will sup with him." The Jewish 
Bupper was the important meal ; and 
sitting at the table together was the 



56 TEE WAITING SAVWUR. 

mark of friendship. But this is full 
of wonders. The King calls the rebel, 
now penitent, to come and sit at the 
table with him in friendly intercourse ; 
and angels, who are " sent forth to 
minister for them who shall be heirs 
of salvation," wait upon the host and 
guest. It is wonderful : the King 
spreads the table at his own cost. 
He brings to it such viands and fruits 
and wines as earthly kings are too 
poor to furnish. And oh^ what 
heavenly entertainment it is ! Once 
Jesus overtook two sad-hearted men, 
and joining them as a stranger, 
walked on to the village where they 
lived. He did not knock at their 
door, but was at once invited to en 



HE WILL ENTER. 57 

ter and sit down to supper with them. 
All the way along their hearts had 
been glowing with delight as he en- 
tertained them with Bible-conversa- 
tion. But at the supper they dis- 
covered who he was in the breaking 
of bread. So will he enter us, and 
make himself known to us in the 
breaking of bread. In a word, Christ 
is made to them that receive him 
" wisdom, righteousness, sanctifica- 
tion, and redemption." " To as 
many as received him, to them gave 
he power to become the sons of God." 
Now, after reading this, which is 
only an exhibition of small portions 
of what God's Word contains, the first 
thing for every reader to do, is to 



58 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

answer this question, Is Christ within 
the door of my heart, or on the out- 
side? If the latter, then the next 
duty is, to listen to his voice and the 
knocking of his hand. Do you hear 
him ? Does not the sound reverber- 
ate along every corridor, and through 
every chamber of your lieart — majes- 
tic, holy, tender voice ? Yes ; it is 
as if a prisoner in his cell, condemned 
to death, should hear the king of the 
country at its door, asking if he would 
receive him within the dark and nar- 
row enclosure. No earthly king 
would do it for a rebel against his 
crown. But our heavenly King does 
it. Hear him, then, ye " prisoners 
of hope ! " Hearken to his voice. It 



EE WILL ENTER. 59 

is the echo of every blessed iiiYitation 
of his Word. Turn away from the 
vain sounds of earth, that have be- 
witched you. Bid them all be dumb, 
while you are listening to that one 
voice and call. 

Then while you hear, remember 
he is standing at the door, listening 
to hear if any power within you stirs. 
Conscience, hast thou awaked to hear 
your Sovereign and your Judge? 
Heart, hast thou awaked to hear 
him? Oh, slumber not! oh, trifle 
not ! He will not keep that attitude 
for ever. He has turned away from 
many a door, — turned away, turned 
away for ever. And if he should turn 
away from you, there will come a 



60 THE WAITING SAVIOUR. 

day when you must hear that voice 
again ; but with what an altered 
tone ! If you would know how it 
can change its tone, read his descrip- 
tion of the judgment scene, where he 
will say to those on his right hand: 
"- Come, yp. blessed of my Father, in- 
herit the kingdom ; " and to those on 
his left hand : " Depart, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire." 

He can not for ever bear this treat- 
ment: He will change his tone for 
them who keep him out beyond a 
certain time ; and then what will 
they do when he comes as the Judge 
of the quick and the dead ? They will 
" call on the rocks and mountains to 



HE WILL ENTER. 61 

fall Oil them, and hide them from tho 
wrath of the Lamb." 

Hearken then, this day, this mo- 
ment, to the voice of his love. And, 
as you listen, rise and open the door, 
exclaiming : " Welcome, welcome 
dear Redeemer ! I am not worthy 
that thou shouldest come under my 
roof ; but if thou wilt deign to enter 
so lowly a place, and be content with 
such society as mine, come in ; thrice 
welcome ! And let all the angels of 
God and the redeemed in earth and 
heaven shout ' hallelujah ; ' for I this 
hour have received the Lord of Glory 
as my Saviour, King, and Brother, 
for time, and for all eternity." 



BT 



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