Effectual Calling

Sermon (No. 73)

Delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 30, 1856, by the

REV. C.H. SPURGEON

At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.

"When Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto

him, Zaccheus, make haste and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy

house."--Luke 19:5.

Notwithstanding our firm belief that you are in the main well

instructed in the doctrines of the everlasting gospel, we are

continually reminded in our conversation with young converts, how

absolutely necessary it is to repeat our former lessons, and repeatedly

assert and prove over and over again those doctrines which lie at the

basis of our holy religion. Our friends, therefore, who have many years

ago been taught the great doctrine of effectual calling, will believe

that whilst I preach very simply this morning, the sermon is intended

for those who are young in the fear of the Lord, that they may better

understand this great starting point of God in the heart, the effectual

calling of men by the Holy Spirit. I shall use the case of Zaccheus as

a great illustration of the doctrine of effectual calling. You will

remember the story. Zaccheus had a curiosity to see the wonderful man

Jesus Christ, who was turning the world upside down, and causing an

immense excitement in the minds of men. We sometimes find fault with

curiosity, and say it is sinful to come to the house of God from that

motive; I am not quite sure that we should hazard such an assertion.

The motive is not sinful, though certainly it is not virtuous; yet it

has often been proved that curiosity is one of the best allies of

grace. Zaccheus, moved by this motive, desired to see Christ; but there

were two obstacles in the way: first, there was such a crowd of people

that he could not get near the Saviour; and again, he was so

exceedingly short in stature that there was no hope of his reaching

over people's heads to catch a glimpse of him. What did he do? He did

as the boys were doing--for the boys of old times were no doubt just

like the boys of the present age, and were perched up in the boughs of

the tree to look at Jesus as he passed along. Elderly man though he is,

Zaccheus jumps up, and there he sits among the children. The boys are

too much afraid of that stern old publican, whom their fathers dreaded,

to push him down or cause him any inconvenience. See him there. With

what anxiety he is peeping down to see which is Christ--for the Saviour

had no pompous distinction; no beadle is walking before him with a

silver mace; he did not hold a golden crozier in his hand: he had no

pontifical dress; in fact, he was just dressed like those around him.

He had a coat like that of a common peasant, made of one piece from top

to bottom; and Zaccheus could scarcely distinguish him. However, before

he has caught a sight of Christ, Christ has fixed his eye upon him, and

standing under the tree, he looks up, and says, "Zaccheus, make haste,

and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house." Down comes

Zaccheus; Christ goes to his house; Zaccheus becomes Christ's follower,

and enters into the kingdom of heaven.

1. Now, first, effectual calling is a very gracious truth. You may

guess this from the fact that Zaccheus was a character whom we should

suppose the last to be saved. He belonged to a bad city--Jericho--a

city which had been cursed, and no one would suspect that any one would

come out of Jericho to be saved. It was near Jericho that the man fell

among thieves; we trust Zaccheus had no hand in it; but there are some

who, while they are publicans, can be thieves also. We might as well

expect converts from St. Giles's, or the lowest parts of London, from

the worst and vilest dens of infamy, as from Jericho in those days. Ah!

my brethren, it matters not where you come from; you may come from one

of the dirtiest streets, one of the worst back slums in London but if

effectual grace call you, it is an effectual call, which knoweth no

distinction of place. Zaccheus also was of an exceedingly bad trade,

and probably cheated the people in order to enrich himself. Indeed,

when Christ went into his house, there was an universal murmur that he

had gone to be a guest with a man that was a sinner. But, my brethren,

grace knows no distinction; it is no respector of persons, but God

calleth whom he wills, and he called this worst of publicans, in the

worst of cities, from the worst of trades. Besides, Zaccheus was one

who was the least likely to be saved because he was rich. It is true,

rich and poor are welcome; no one has the least excuse for despair

because of his condition; yet it is a fact that "not many great men,"

after the flesh, "not many mighty," are called, but "God hath chosen

the poor of this world--rich in faith." But grace knows no distinction

here. The rich Zaccheus is called from the tree; down he comes, and he

is saved. I have thought it one of the greatest instances of God's

condescension that he can look down on man; but I will tell you there

was a greater condescension than that, when Christ looked up to see

Zaccheus. For God to look down on his creatures--that is mercy; but for

Christ so to humble himself that he has to look up to one of his own

creatures, that becomes mercy indeed. Ah! many of you have climbed up

the tree of your own good works, and perched yourselves in the branches

of your holy actions, and are trusting in the free will of the poor

creature, or resting in some worldly maxim; nevertheless, Christ looks

up even to proud sinners, and calls them down. "Come down," says he,

"to-day I must abide in thy house." Had Zaccheus been a humble-minded

man, sitting by the wayside, or at the feet of Christ, we should then

have admired Christ's mercy; but here he is lifted up, and Christ looks

up to him, and bids him come down.

2. Next it was a personal call. There were boys in the tree as well as

Zaccheus but there was no mistake about the person who was called. It

was, "Zaccheus, make haste and come down." There are other calls

mentioned in Scripture. It is said, especially, "Many are called, but

few are chosen." Now that is not the effectual call which is intended

by the apostle, when he said, "Whom he called, them he also justified."

That is a general call which many men, yea, all men reject, unless

there come after it the personal, particular call, which makes us

Christians. You will bear me witness that it was a personal call that

brought you to the Saviour. It was some sermon which led you to feel

that you were, no doubt, the person intended. The text, perhaps, was

"Thou, God, seest me;" and the minister laid particular stress on the

word "me," so that you thought God's eye was fixed upon you; and ere

the sermon was concluded, you thought you saw God open the books to

condemn you, and your heart whispered, "Can any hide himself in secret

places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord." You might have been

perched in the window, or stood packed in the aisle; but you had a

solemn conviction that the sermon was preached to you, and not to other

people. God does not call his people in shoals, but in units. "Jesus

saith unto her, Mary; and she turned and said unto him, Rabboni, which

is to say, Master." Jesus seeth Peter and John fishing by the lake, and

he saith unto them, "Follow me." He seeth Matthew sitting at the table

at the receipt of custom, and he saith unto him, "Arise, and follow

me," and Matthew did so. When the Holy Ghost comes home to a man, God's

arrow goes into his heart: it does not graze his helmet, or make some

little mark upon his armour, but it penetrates between the joints of

the harness, entering the marrow of the soul. Have you felt, dear

friends, that personal call? Do you remember when a voice said, "Arise,

he calleth thee." Can you look back to some time when you said, "My

Lord, my God?" when you knew the Spirit was striving with you, and you

said, Lord, I come to thee, for I know that thou callest me." I might

call the whole of you throughout eternity, but if God call one, there

will be more effect through his personal call of one than my general

call of multitudes.

3. Thirdly, it is a hastening call. "Zaccheus, make haste." The sinner,

when he is called by the ordinary ministry, replies, "To-morrow." He

hears a telling sermon, and he said, "I will turn to God by-and-bye."

The tears roll down his cheek, but they are wiped away. Some goodness

appears, but like the cloud of the morning it is dissipated by the sun

of temptation. He says, "I solemnly vow from this time to be a reformed

man. After I have once more indulged in my darling sin, I will renounce

my lusts, and decide for God." Ah! that is only a minister's call, and

is good for nothing. Hell, they say, is paved with good intentions.

These good intentions are begotten by general calls. The road to

perdition is laid all over with branches of trees whereon men are

sitting, for they often pull down branches from the trees but they do

not come down themselves. The straw laid down before a sick man's door

causes the wheels to roll more noiselessly. So there be some who strew

their path with promises of repentance, and so go more easily and

noiselessly down to perdition. But God's call is not a call for

to-morrow. "To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts:

as in the provocation, when your fathers tempted me." God's grace

always comes with despatch; and if thou art drawn by God, thou wilt run

after God, and not be talking about delays. To-morrow--it is not

written in the almanack of time. To-morrow--it is in Satan's calendar,

and nowhere else. To-morrow--it is a rock whitened by the bones of

mariners who have been wrecked upon it; it is the wrecker's light

gleaming on the shore, luring poor ships to destruction. To-morrow--it

is the idiot's cup which he fableth to lie at the foot of the rainbow,

but which none hath ever found. To-morrow--it is the floating island of

Loch Lomond, which none hath ever seen. To-morrow--it is a dream.

To-morrow--it is a delusion. To-morrow, ay, to-morrow you may lift up

your eyes in hell, being in torments. Yonder clock saith "to-day;"

everything crieth "to-day;" and the Holy Ghost is in union with these

things, and saith, "To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your

hearts." Sinners, are you inclined now to seek the Saviour? are you

breathing a prayer now? are you saying, "Now or never! I must be saved

now?" If you are, then I hope it is an effectual call, for Christ, when

he giveth an effectual call, says, "Zaccheus, make haste."

4. Next, it is a humbling call. "Zaccheus, make haste and come down."

Many a time hath a minister called men to repentance with a call which

has made them proud, exalted them in their own esteem, and led them to

say, "I can turn to God when I like; I can do so without the influence

of the Holy Ghost." They have been called to go up and not to come

down. God always humbles a sinner. Can I not remember when Gold told me

to come down? One of the first steps I had to take was to go right down

from my good works; and oh! what a fall was that! I have pulled you

down from your good works, and now I will pull you down from your

self-sufficiency." Well, I had another fall, and I felt sure I had

gained the bottom, but Christ said "Come down!" and he made me come

down till I fell on some point at which I felt I was yet salvable.

"Down, sir! come down, yet." And down I came until I had to let go

every bough of the tree of my hopes in despair: and then I said, "I can

do nothing; I am ruined." The waters were wrapped round my head, and I

was shut out from the light of day, and thought myself a stranger from

the commonwealth of Israel. "Come down lower yet, sir! thou hast too

much pride to be saved. Then I was brought down to see my corruption,

my wickedness, my filthiness. "Come down," says God, when he means to

save. Now, proud sinners, it is of no use for you to be proud, to stick

yourselves up in the trees; Christ will have you down. Oh, thou that

dwellest with the eagle on the craggy rock, thou shalt come down from

thy elevation; thou shalt fall by grace, or thou shalt fall with a

vengeance one day. He "hath cast down the mighty from their seat, and

hath exalted the humble and meek."

5. Next, it is an affectionate call. "To-day I must abide in thy

house." You can easily conceive how the faces of the multitude change!

They thought Christ to be the holiest and best of men, and were ready

to make him a king. But he says, "To-day I must abide in thy house."

There was one poor Jew who had been inside Zaccheus's house; he had

"been on the carpet," as they say in country villages when they are

taken before the justice, and he recollected what sort of house it was;

he remembered how he was taken in there, and his conceptions of it were

something like what a fly would have of a spider's den after he had

once escaped. There was another who had been distrained of nearly all

his property; and the idea he had of walking in there was like walking

into the den of lions. "What!" said they, "Is this holy man going into

such a den as that, where we poor wretches have been robbed and

ill-treated. It was bad enough for Christ to speak to him up in the

tree, but the idea of going into his house!" They all murmured at his

going to be "a guest with a man who was a sinner." Well, I know what

some of his disciples thought: they thought it very imprudent; it might

injure his character, and he might offend the people. They thought he

might have gone to see this man night, like Nicodemus, and give him an

audience when nobody saw him; but publicly to acknowledge such a man

was the most imprudent act he could commit. But why did Christ do as he

did? Because he would give Zaccheus an affectionate call. "I will not

come and stand at thy threshold, or look in at thy window, but I will

come into thine house--the same house where the cries of widows have

come into thine ears, and thou hast disregarded them; I will come into

thy parlour, where the weeping of the orphan have never moved thy

compassion; I will come there, where thou, like a ravenous lion hast

devoured thy prey; I will come there, where thou hast blackened thine

house, and made it infamous; I will come into the place where cries

have risen to high heaven, wrung from the lips of those whom thou hast

oppressed; I will come into thy house and give thee a blessing." Oh!

what affection there was in that! Poor sinner, my Master is a very

affectionate Master. He will come into your house. What kind of a house

have you got? A house that you have made miserable with your

drunkenness--a house that you have defiled with your impurity--a house

you have defiled with your cursing and swearing--a house where you are

carrying on an ill-trade that you would be glad to get rid of. Christ

say, "I will come into thine house." And I know some houses now that

once were dens of sin, where Christ comes every morning; the husband

and wife who once could quarrel and fight, bend their knees together in

prayer. Some of my hearers can scarce come for an hour to their meals

but they must have a word of prayer and reading of the Scriptures.

Christ comes to them. Where the walls were plastered up with the

lascivious song and idle picture, there is a Christian almanack in one

place, there is a Bible on the chest of drawers; and though it is only

one room they live in, if an angel should come in, and God should say,

"What hast thou seen in that house?" he would say, "I have seen good

furniture, for there is a Bible there; here and there a religious book;

the filthy pictures are pulled down and burned; there are no cards in

the man's cupboard now; Christ has come into his house." Oh! what a

blessing that we have our household God as well as the Romans! Our God

is a household God. He comes to live with his people; he loves the

tents of Jacob. Now, poor ragmuffin sinner, thou who livest in the

filthiest den in London, if such an one be here, Jesus saith to thee,

"Zaccheus, make haste and come down; for to-day I must abide in thy

house."

6. Again, it was not only an affectionate call, but it was an abiding

call. "To-day I must abide at thy house." A common call is like this:

"To-day I shall walk in at thy house at one door, and out at the

other." The common call which is given by the gospel to all men is a

call which operates upon them for a time, and then it is all over; but

the saving call is an abiding call. When Christ speaks, he does not

say, "Make haste, Zaccheus, and come down, for I am just coming to look

in;" but "I must abide in thy house; I am coming to sit down to eat and

drink with thee; I am coming to have a meal with thee; to-day I must

abide in thy house." "Ah!" says one, "you cannot tell how many times I

have been impressed, sir, I have often had a series of solemn

convictions, and I thought I really was saved, but it all died away;

like a dream, when one awaketh, all hath vanished that he dreamed, so

was it with me." Ah! but poor soul, do not despair. Dost thou feel the

strivings of Almighty grace within thine heart bidding thee repent

to-day? If thou dost, it will be an abiding call. If it is Jesus at

work in thy soul, he will come and tarry in thine heart, and consecrate

thee for his own for ever. He says, "I will come and dwell with thee,

and that for ever. I will come and say,

Here I will make my settled rest,

No more will go and come;

No more a stranger or a guest,

But master of this home."

"Oh!" say you, "that is what I want; I wan an abiding call, something

that will last; I do not want a religion that will wash out, but a

fast-colour religion." Well, that is the kind of call Christ gives. His

ministers cannot give it; but when Christ speaks, he speaks with power,

and says, "Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; for to-day I must abide

at thy house."

7. There is one thing, however, I cannot forget, and that is that it

was a necessary call. Just read it over again. "Zaccheus, make haste,

and come down; for to-day I must abide at thy house." It was not a

thing that he might do, or might not do; but it was a necessary call.

The salvation of a sinner is as much a matter of necessity with God as

the fulfilment of his covenant that the rain shall no more drown the

world. The salvation of every blood-bought child of God is a necessary

thing for three reasons; it is necessary because it is God's purpose;

it is necessary because it is Christ's purchase; it is necessary

because it is God's promise. It is necessary that the child of God

should be saved. Some divines think it is very wrong to lay a stress on

the word "must," especially in that passage where it is said "he must

needs go through Samaria." "Why," they say, "he must needs go through

Samaria, because there was no other way he could go, and therefore he

was forced to go that way." Yes, gentlemen, we reply, no doubt; but

then there might have been another way. Providence made it so that he

must needs go through Samaria, and that Samaria should like in the

route he had chosen. So that we have you any way. "He must needs go

through Samaria." Providence directed man to build Samaria directly in

the road, and grace constrained the Saviour to move in that direction.

It was not "Come down, Zaccheus, because I may abide at thy house," but

"I must." The Saviour felt a strong necessity. Just as much a necessity

as there is that man should die, as stern a necessity as there is that

the sun should give us light by day and the moon by night, just so much

a necessity is there that every blood-bought child of God shall be

saved. "To-day I must abide at thy house." And oh! when the Lord comes

to this, that he must and he will, what a thing it is with the poor

sinner then! At other times we ask, "Shall I let him in at all? there

is a stranger at the door; he is knocking now; he has knocked before;

shall I let him in?" But this time it is, "I must abide at thy house."

There was no knocking at the door, but smash went the door into atoms!

and in he walked: "I must, I shall, I will; I care not for your

protesting your vileness, your unbelief; I must, I will; I must abide

in thy house." "Ah!" says one, "I do not believe God would ever make me

to believe as you believe, or become a Christian at all." Ah! but if he

shall but say, "To-day I must abide at thy house," there will be no

resistance in you. There are some of you who would scorn the very idea

of being a canting methodist; "What, sir! do you suppose I would ever

turn one of your religious people?" No, my friend, I don't suppose it;

I know it for a certainty. If God says "I must," there is no standing

against it. Let him say "must," and it must be.

I will just tell you an anecdote proving this. "A father was about

sending his son to college; but as he knew the influence to which he

would be exposed, he was not without a deep and anxious solicitude for

the spiritual and eternal welfare of his favourite child. Fearing lest

the principles of Christian faith, which he had endeavoured to instil

into his mind, would be rudely assailed, but trusting in the efficacy

of that word which is quick and powerful, he purchased, unknown to his

son, an elegant copy of the Bible, and deposited it at the bottom of

his trunk. The young man entered upon his college career. The

restraints of a pious education were son broken off, and he proceeded

from speculation to doubts, and from doubts to a denial of the reality

of religion. After having become, in his own estimation, wiser than his

father, he discovered one day, while rummaging his trunk, with great

surprise and indignation, the sacred deposit. He took it out, and while

deliberating on the manner in which he should treat it, he determined

that he would use it as waste paper, on which to wipe his razor while

shaving. Accordingly, every time he went to shave, he tore a leaf or

two of the holy book, and thus used it til nearly half the volume was

destroyed. But while he was committing this outrage upon the sacred

book, a text now and then met his eye, and was carried like a barbed

arrow to his heart. At length, he heard a sermon, which discovered to

him his own character, and his exposure to the wrath of God, and

riveted upon his mind the impression which he has received from the

last torn leaf of the blessed, yet insulted volume. Had worlds been at

his disposal, he would freely have given them all, could they have

availed, in enabling him to undo what he had done. At length he found

forgiveness at the foot of the cross. The torn leaves of that sacred

volume brought healing to his soul; for they led him to repose on the

mercy of God, which is sufficient for the chief of sinners." I tell you

there is not a reprobate walking the streets and defiling the air with

his blasphemies, there is not a creature abandoned so as to be

well-nigh as bad as Satan himself, if he is a child of life, who is not

within the reach of mercy. And if God says, "To-day I must abide in thy

house," he then assuredly will. Do you feel, my dear hearer, just now,

something in your mind which seems to say you have held out against the

gospel a long while, but to-day you can hold out no longer? Do you feel

that a strong hand has god hold of you, and do you hear a voice saying,

"Sinner, I must abide in thy house; you have often scorned me, you have

often laughed at me, you have often spit in the face of mercy, often

blasphemed me, but sinner, I must abide in thy house; you banged the

door yesterday in the missionary's face, you burned the tract, you

laughed at the minister, you have cursed God's house, you have violated

the Sabbath; but, sinner, I must abide in thy house, and I will!"

"What, Lord!" you say, "abide in my house! why it is covered all over

with iniquity. Abide in my house! why there is not a chair or a table

but would cry out against me. Abide in my house! why the joists and

beams and flooring would all rise up and tell thee that I am not worthy

to kiss the hem of thy garment. What, Lord! abide in my house!" "Yes,"

says he, "I must; there is a strong necessity; my powerful love

constrains me, and whether thou wilt let me or no, I am determined to

make thee willing, and thou shalt let me in." Does not this surprise

you, that Christ not only asks you to come to him, but invites himself

to your table, and what is more, when you would put him away, kindly

says, "I must, I will come in." Only think of Christ going after a

sinner, crying after a sinner, beginning a sinner to let him save him;

and that is just what Jesus does to his chosen ones. The sinner runs

away from him, but free-grace pursues him, and says, "Sinner, come to

Christ;" and if our hearts be shut up, Christ puts his hand in at the

door, and if we do not rise, but repulse him coldly, he says, "I must,

I will come in;" he weeps over us till his tears win us; he cries after

us till his cries prevail; and at last in his own well determined hour

he enters into our heart, and there he dwells. "I must abide in thy

house," said Jesus.

8. And now, lastly, this call was an effectual one, for we see the

fruits it brought forth. Open was Zaccheus's door; spread was his

table; generous was his heart; washed were his hands; unburdened was

his conscience; joyful was his soul. "Here, Lord," says he, "the half

of my goods I give to the poor; I dare say I have robbed them of half

my property--and now I restore it." "And if I have taken anything from

any one by false accusation, I will restore it to him fourfold."--away

goes another portion of his property. Ah! Zaccheus, you will go to be

to-night a great deal poorer than when you got up this morning--but

infinitely richer, too--poor, very poor, in this world's goods,

compared with what thou wert when thou first didst climb that sycamore

tree; but richer-infinitely richer--in heavenly treasure. Sinner, we

shall know whether God calls you by this: if he calls, it will be an

effectual call--not a call which you hear and then forget but one which

produces good works. If God hath called thee this morning, down will go

that drunken cup, up will go thy prayers; if God hath called thee this

morning, there will not be one shutter up to-day in your shop, but all,

and you will have a notice stuck up, "This house is closed on the

Sabbath day, and will not again on that day, be opened." To-morrow,

there will be such-and-such worldly amusement, but if God hath called

you, you will not go. And if you have robbed anybody (and who knows but

I may have a thief here?) If God call you, there will be a restoration

of what you have stolen? you will give up all that you have, so that

you will follow God with all your heart. We do not believe a man to be

converted unless he doth renounce the error of his ways; unless,

practically, he is brought to know that Christ himself is master of his

conscience, and his law is his delight. "Zaccheus, make haste and come

down, I must abide at thy house." And he made haste, and came down, and

received him joyfully. "And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord;

Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have

taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him

fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this

house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is

come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Now, one or two lessons. A lesson to the proud. Come down, proud

hearts, come down! Mercy runneth in valleys, but it goeth not to the

mountain top. Come down, come down, lofty spirit! The lofty city, he

layeth it low even to the ground, and then he buildeth it up. Again, a

lesson to thee, poor despairing soul: I am glad to see thee in God's

house this morning; it is a good sign. I care not what you came for.

You heard there was a strange kind of man that preached here, perhaps.

Never mind about that. You are all quite as strange as he is. It is

necessary that there should be strange men to gather in other strange

men. Now, I have a mass of people here; and if I might use a figure, I

should compare you to a great heap of ashes, mingled with which are a

few steel filings. Now, my sermon if it be attended with divine grace,

will be a sort of magnet: it will not attract any of the ashes--they

will keep just where they are--but it will draw out the steel filings.

I have got a Zaccheus there; there is a Mary up there, a John down

there, a Sarah, or a William, or a Thomas, there--God's chosen

ones--they are steel filings in the congregation of ashes, and my

gospel, the gospel of the blessed God, like a great magnet, draws them

out of the heap. There they come, there they come. Why? because there

was a magnetic power between the gospel and their hearts. AH! poor

sinner, come to Jesus, believe his love, trust his mercy. If thou hast

a desire to come, if thou art forcing thy way through the ashes to get

to Christ, then it is because Christ is calling thee. Oh! all of you

who know yourselves to be sinners--every man, woman, and child of

you--yea, ye little children (for God has given me some of you to be my

wages), do you feel yourselves sinners? then believe on Jesus and be

saved. You have come here from curiosity, many of you. Oh! that you

might be met with and saved. I am distressed for you lest you should

sink into hell-fire. Oh! listen to Christ while he speaks to you.

Christ says, "Come down," this morning. Go home and humble yourselves

in the sight of God: go and confess your iniquities that you have

sinned against him; go home and tell him that you are a wretch, undone

without his sovereign grace; and then look to him, for rest assured he

has first looked to you. You say, "Sir, oh! I am willing enough to be

saved, but I am afraid he is not willing." Stay! stay! no more of that!

Do you know that is part blasphemy--not quite. If you were not

ignorant, I would tell you that it was part blasphemy. You cannot look

to Christ before he has looked to you. If you are willing to be saved,

he gave you that will. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be

baptized, and thou shalt be saved. I trust the Holy Spirit is calling

you. Young man up there, young man in the window, make haste! come

down! Old man, sitting in these pews, come down. Merchant in yonder

aisle, make haste. Matron and youth, not knowing Christ, oh, may he

look at you. Old grandmother, hear the gracious call; and thou, young

lad, Christ may be looking at thee--I trust he is--and saying to thee,

"Make haste, and come down, for to-day I must abide at thy house."