those that as yet possess it not!—It is so unutterably precious, and we
3. What holiness should we be seeking to put on!—Our calling is a holy one; let us be holy too. He who called us is holy; let us be holy too. The inheritance to which we are called is a holy one; let us be holy too. The King of the city where we are to abide is holy; let us be holy too. Above all, seeing that we are to dwell eternally in God as in a temple, having the bosom of the Father for our holy of holies, let us seek to be conformed to the character of that holy habitation to which we look forward. We look for it, we gaze on it by faith, and thereby are comforted and gladdened; but that is not all. We gaze on it, and go on our way strengthened and refreshed; but that is not all. We gaze on it, and are sanctified. We gaze on it, and are separated from the world. We gaze on it, and have our affections set on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. We gaze on it, and are changed into its likeness, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. The hope, the expectation, nay, the very thought, of such a glory, is fitted to purify the soul and to give it the victory over the world. Can we believe in such a glory and still cleave to the dust, still follow vanity, still court the fashion of the world, still "load ourselves with its thick clay," still mind the things that perish with the using?
4. What eagerness should there be to obtain this honour among those that as yet possess it not!—It is so unutterably precious, and we must be so poor without it, that it seems as if a necessity were laid upon us to secure it without delay—a necessity of the highest and most urgent nature—a necessity which nothing on earth can weaken or destroy. There is no necessity for us having honour, or dignity, or wealth here below; but there is the most imperious, the most overwhelming of all necessities for your securing the honour, the dignity, the wealth, of the promised heritage to come. You can do without the former, but not without the latter. Take away the former, and the worst that lies before you is a few years of poverty and shame; but take away the latter, and nought remains for you but the eternal sorrow, the endless degradation, the irrevocable banishment from the heavenly city.
What loss, then, must it be to lose that glory; what gain to win it! How terrible to come short of it; how joyful to secure it! How blessed to enter in; how sad to be shut out from such a city, and such a temple, and such a company, even were there no hell with its everlasting burnings, and no devil with his angels to be your companion for eternity!
It is worth the buying at any price, or any amount of labour and suffering,—how much more, then, does it commend itself to you, and press itself on your notice, when it is free! And of its freeness we now bring you good news, and of its unfolded gate, and of its unhindered access, and of the ready joyful welcome that awaits you from every dweller therein, and specially from the great King himself. Will not such tidings as these induce you to press in and be blest?
The bright things of earth are fading; and will you not secure the unfading? The cities of earth will soon be in ruins; and will you not make good your entrance into the city whose walls can never crumble,—the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God? The fashion of this world passeth away; and will you not secure your title to the inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away?
It is no long laborious process of entrance, such as is almost impossible for a man to discover; it is simple, and certain, and easily discoverable. You hear the voice saying, "I am the door," and that draws your eye to the entrance. You hear the same voice saying, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life," and that points out, beyond mistake, the path along which you must hasten. It is not buying, or deserving, or toiling, or waiting; it is but taking God's free promise, as it stands, and acting on it; it is but receiving the record which God hath given of his Son, and straightway all is yours,—the throne, the crown, the kingdom, the city, the temple, the eternal glory of the Lord!