{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_door_of_salvation_opened/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_door_of_salvation_opened","id":"wikisource_The_door_of_salvation_opened","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_door_of_salvation_opened","summary":null,"tags":["1785_works","Chapbooks","Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Main_pages_with_authority_control_data","PD-old","Pages_with_override_author","Pamphlets","Religion","Scotland","Works_using_categories_parameter"],"text":"\u03a4 \u0397 \u0395\n\nDOOR\n\nOF\n\nSalvation Opened;\n\nor, a loud and shrill\n\nVOICE from HEAVEN\n\nTO\n\nUnregenerate Sinners on Earth.\n\nplainly shewing\n\nThe Nece\u017f\u017fity of opening your Hearts, that the\nKing of Glory may enter in; or el\u017fe, he will\nopen Hell's mouth to devour you.\n\n2 Theff. i. 8. For he is coming, (faith the Apo\u017ftle)\nin flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that\nknow not God, and that obey not the go\u017fpel of Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft.\n\nBy D. 7. Mini\u017fter of the Go\u017fpel.\n\nGLASGOW\n\nPrinted and \u017fold by J. & M. ROBERTSON\n\nMDCCLXXXV.\n\n\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748!\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\u2748\n\n\u03a4 \u0397 \u0395\n\nEverla\u017fting Door of Mercy and\nSalvation Opened.\n\nRev. iii. 20, Behold. I \u017ftand at the door and knock: If\nany man hear my voice, and open the door, I will\ncome in to him, and \u017fup with hint, and be with me.\n\nIT hath plea\u017fed the mo\u017ft wi\u017fe di\u017fpo\u017fer of all things, out of the riches of his free grace, to tender Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft to poor lo\u017ft and undone \u017finners, and al\u017fo it plea\u017fed the Lord Je\u017fus not only to die for \u017finners, to redeem them from death and the cur\u017fe of the law, that he might open a way for lo\u017ft \u017finners to return to God: but is plea\u017fed to \u017ftand knocking at the door of their hearts, to entreat their \u017fouls to be reconciled to God. And therefore as you love your \u017fouls, as you love your bodies, as you would not bring damnation to your\u017felves, hear and fear, and do no more wickedly, but open your hard and \u017ftony hearts, that the King of Glory may enter in. O \u017finner! now Chri\u017ft is \u017ftanding and calling to thy \u017foul, If thou wilt hear and open, I will come in unto thee. Now Chri\u017ft is \u017faying, 'I know thy work: I know well enough that thou haft been a bla\u017fphemer, or a drunkard, or a whoremonger; yet I \u017ftand at the door this day and knock, I will receive thee into mercy, I will forgive thee all thy \u017fins, I will accept, I will heal, I will \u017fave thy \u017foul, if thou wilt open thy heart this day unto me, and let me in.' O brethren, for Chri\u017ft's \u017fake, refu\u017fe not Chri\u017ft; do not reject nor neglect \u017fo great a \u017falvation, le\u017ft you peri\u017fh.\n\n1. Con\u017fider the nece\u017f\u017fity you have of him; Give me children, or el\u017fe I die, \u017faid Rachel: O give me\nChri\u017ft, or el\u017fe I peri\u017fh for ever. Can you be \u017faved without Chri\u017ft? And if you may have Chri\u017ft but for opening the door, Then while it is called to-day hear and open to me If the door of grace \u017fhould be \u017fhut, thou would'\u017ft be \u017fhut up with a vengeance for ever.\n\n2. Con\u017fider what an\u017fwer thou wilt be able to make at the great day, if thou wilt harden thy heart, and not open: Why, what wilt thou? What can\u017ft thou plead for thy\u017felf at the day of judgment? Wilt thou \u017fay, The go\u017fpel never offered thee Chri\u017ft? Why, thou ha\u017ft heard this day, If any man will hear and open, I will come in and \u017fup with him: Wilt thou \u017fay, I would have opened my heart, had it not been for the love of \u017fin, or for ea\u017fe, or liberty, or honour, or friends, or companions? Oh how will men and angels hi\u017fs at you! This is the per\u017fon who for lu\u017ft's \u017fake for\u017fook his mercies, who for a little vanity rejected his own \u017falvation\u00a0: O how wilt thou cur\u017fe thy\u017felf for nothing! Nay for that which is wor\u017fe than nothing, thou ha\u017ft put off Chri\u017ft and his \u017falvation: Therefore men, brethren and fathers, hearken unto me, as Mo\u017fes \u017faid to the I\u017fraelites, \u017fo this day I propound unto you Ble\u017fing and cur\u017fing, life and death! Salvation if you open to Chri\u017ft, and damnation if you refu\u017fe Chri\u017ft.\n\nFor the Lord's \u017fake chu\u017fe not cur\u017fing, but ble\u017f\u017fing; chu\u017fe not death, but life, chu\u017fe not hell, but heaven; chu\u017fe not \u017fin, but Chri\u017ft; tho' you have formerly \u017flighted him, if you will now regard him; tho' you have formerly contemned him, yet if you will prai\u017fe him; tho' you have formerly re\u017fi\u017fted, if yet you will yield, if you will con\u017fent, if yet you will become willing to open unto Chri\u017ft, Chri\u017ft will be yours, mercy will be yours, \u017falvation will be yours.\n\nAnd what would you have more? What! will not all this do? Will not mercy allure you? Will not love con\u017ftrain you? Then give me leave to reprove you, and affright you (if it be po\u017f\u017fible) out of tho\u017fe depths of Satan, into which you are fallen. However, I am re\u017folved, whether you will or not, and the Lord fa\u017ften it upon your \u017fouls.\n\n1. In the bowels of love and mercy, let me beg thee to a\u017fk thy \u017foul this que\u017ftion, How long will this life and the comforts of it la\u017ft? Thy \u017foul is immortal, and mu\u017ft never die, but it mu\u017ft have a being \u017fomewhere to all eternity.\n\nThis world's happine\u017fs, is it everla\u017fting? No \u017furely: thy money, thy corn, and thy land, will do thee no good in the great day: O! What haft thou done for hereafter? What haft thou laid up for the world to come? Is the door of thy heart open to Chri\u017ft? Alas! is thy poor \u017foul unarmed all this while?\n\nQue\u017ft. 2. What will become of thee, when this life and all the comforts thereof are gone? Oh,\nhard-hearted \u017finner! this broad way which thou walke\u017ft in, will never lead thee to the promis'd land, thy gold and \u017filver key will never open heaven's gate for thee: thy care of this world's good, will not plead for thee before the Judge; all thy careful friends and acquaintances, with whom thou ha\u017ft \u017fpent many joyful hours, their good words will \u017ftand thee in no \u017ftead.\n\nThen thou wilt be ready to cry, O where is the Chri\u017ft that I have de\u017fpi\u017fed! where is the Je\u017fus which I have re\u017fi\u017fted! Will he plead for me? No \u017furely; but to go to the gods whom thou ha\u017ft cho\u017fen; O what will become of me? Mu\u017ft I not die? O whither will death carry me! into which of the regions of the world will death land me, either of\nlight or darkne\u017fs? To which of the two regions am I now travelling; Certainly the day of plea\u017fure or wordly profit, the broad way of the world, it is not the way to tran\u017fport me to heaven and everla\u017fting happine\u017fs: I \u017fay, O \u017finners! to thy foul, what, mu\u017ft I be taken from all my glory and greatne\u017fs, from all my delights and dalliances, and be thrown like Lucifer, \u017fon of the morning, from all my brightne\u017fs into blackne\u017fs and darkne\u017fs for ever, when death hath clo\u017fed my eyes, mu\u017ft I awake in everla\u017fting flames? Ay, \u017finner, thou \u017fhalt, without remedy, unle\u017fs thou open to the Lord Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft.\n\nQue\u017ft. 3. A\u017fk thy \u017foul on which hand thou art like to \u017ftand on the day of judgment, on the right hand, or on the left among the goats? If thou wilt not hear and open now, if thou wilt not open thy heart now, be a\u017f\u017fured the devil will open hell's mouth for thee: What will be the end of tho\u017fe joys which now make \u017fo glad thy heart? You are now in the broad way to de\u017ftruction, and utter \u017feparation from God's pre\u017fence for ever. Thy plea\u017fures here we judge of: Oh! but who can tell the thou\u017fandth part of the\u017fe firey torments, to which thou art liable in the other world!\n\nWhen thou die\u017ft, thou \u017fhalt be a damned creature? whil\u017ft thou live\u017ft, thou art fed like a bea\u017ft by common providence, and art a mere \u017ftranger to feeding promi\u017fes: If thou lookest upward, God is frowning, and his wrath is revealed from heaven again\u017ft thee, Rom. ii. 8.\n\nThe heavens and their ho\u017ft are ready every moment to di\u017fcharge God's cur\u017fes, like thunderbolts again\u017ft thee? If thou looke\u017ft downwards, thou may'\u017f \u017fee hell gaping and opening its mouth to \u017fwallow thee up quick; Many dangers attend thee every day, many mi\u017feries every moment, legions of devils \u017ftand about thee, watching for thee, and\nwaiting only for the leave of God, to drag thy \u017foul into the lake of fire.\n\nAh! when thou die\u017ft man, what mu\u017ft thou then do! When the captain, death \u017ftrikes, whole armies of wolves will fall upon thee. Look to it, and remember thou wa\u017ft once warned, for if thou die\u017ft, thou die\u017ft eternally, Saint Au\u017ftin's prayer was \u201cO Lord, hack me, hew me, burn me here: but \u201c\u017fpare me hereafter.\u201d As long as thou refu\u017fe\u017ft to hear Chri\u017ft's voice, thou ha\u017ft a hell upon earth: it is not the multitude of thy companions that go thither, \u017fhall any whit le\u017f\u017fen thy torments, but rather increa\u017fe them. Thy life that hath been full of worldly joy, \u017fhall end in deadly woe.\n\nAll you into who\u017fe hand this little book \u017fhall come, let me beg you to con\u017fider in tho\u017fe bowels of love you have to your own \u017fouls; how your hearts can endure to think of being \u017fhut out of heaven, out of ble\u017f\u017fedne\u017fs for ever: a\u017fk your heart the\u017fe que\u017ftions, Can I burn? Can I endure the vengeance of eternal fire? Will boiled oil, burning brim\u017ftone, \u017fcalding lead, a glowing oven, a \u017fcorching furnace, be an ea\u017fy lodging for me? O! why my \u017foul, wilt thou not be per\u017fuaded to repent? Is there too much pain in that? Thou art ready to \u017fay, I cannot bear a cro\u017fs, nor an affliction, a \u017fcoff, or a reproach: Talk to thee of crucifying the fle\u017fh, of parting with thy lu\u017fts, with thy worldly companions, of entering in at the \u017ftrait gate; O the\u017fe are hard \u017fayings, who can bear them?\n\nBut how wilt thou do to dwell with devouring fire? How wilt thou dwell with everla\u017fting burnings? Whatsoever thou thinke\u017ft now, think what hell will be, when the day comes thou mu\u017ft de\u017fcend into it: Thou maye\u017ft drink or laugh away the fear of it, but what will it be to thee when thou feele\u017ft thy\u017felf wrapped up in the flames of it, and not a drop of water to cool thy tongue! think on hell, O foul! and then think on Chri\u017ft, and con\u017fider, if a Redeemer from \u017fuch mi\u017fery be not worth the accepting of: Think on hell, and think on \u017fin, and carnal plea\u017fures and delights, con\u017fider how they will reli\u017fh with thee, when thus a\u017f\u017faulted with everla\u017fting fire: are the\u017fe the price for which thou \u017felle\u017ft thy \u017foul to hell? Oh! bid the\u017fe lu\u017fts and plea\u017fures be gone, bid your companions in \u017fin be gone, and tho' you loved them well, and have\n\u017fpent your time \u017finfully with them, yet tell them, You mu\u017ft not burn for them, that you will not damn your \u017foul to plea\u017fe your fle\u017fh.\n\nHaving thus briefly as may be, laid down the u\u017fe of terror, which I hope will awaken \u017fome poor \u017fouls out of the depth of carnal \u017fecurity: Now I \u017fhall proceed to the la\u017ft u\u017fe of encouragement, to encourage poor \u017fecure \u017finners to venture to lay fa\u017ft hold on him, before that it be too late.\n\nThe U S E.\n\nOh poor \u017foul! ha\u017ft thou kept Chri\u017ft out a longtime: and art thou not yet re\u017folved to open thy heart to him! What \u017fhall I \u017fay to thee; Let me \u017fay this, Chri\u017ft waits for thee: Chri\u017ft is willing \u017ftill to receive thee, then why wilt thou undo thy\u017felf by neglecting this great \u017falvation\u00a0? Let the con\u017fideration of the me\u017f\u017fage Chri\u017ft brings you, of the errand he comes on, it is not a di\u017fmal one he brings, it is no dreadful errand: If Chri\u017ft had come to de\u017ftroy thy \u017foul, could he have had le\u017fs welcome than you gave him? Oh for your \u017foul's \u017fake receive him! Oh ye fools when will ye be wi\u017fe? Come unto Chri\u017ft, and he will have mercy on you, and heal all your back\u017flidings, and love you freely.\n\nBut \u017fome poor \u017fouls will be ready to \u017fay, I have a de\u017fire to come to Chri\u017ft, but I am afraid Chri\u017ft will never receive \u017fuch a wretched \u017finner as I, who have \u017ftood it out \u017fo long against him. For an\u017fwer to this, give me leave to give you \u017fome directions.\n\nI. Ah, poor \u017foul! art thou willing to come to Chri\u017ft? Then will Chri\u017ft in no ways ca\u017ft thee out, if thou come\u017ft to him poor, mi\u017ferable, blind and naked: O \u017finner! come not to him in thy \u017ftrength, but come thou and \u017fay, \"O Lord, here is a poor \u017foul not worth a farthing; O Lord, make me rich in faith; O Lord, here is a mi\u017ferable \u017foul, Lord, have mercy on me; here is a poor blind \u017foul, Lord, enlighten me from above: here is a poor naked wretch, O Lord, \u017fave me, le\u017ft I peri\u017fh, for I cannot help my\u017felf.'\n\nDirect. 2. Come to Chri\u017ft by believing in him; Ay, when thy poor \u017foul is \u017finking headlong into hell, and \u017fees no way to e\u017fcape the fearful wrath of God hanging over thy head, catch thou then at \u017fuch a time fa\u017ft hold on Christ; O then apprehend and apply all his benefits to thy \u017foul: Come this way, and gra\u017fp him in the arms of thy faith; and \u017fay, I believe in thee, held thou my unbelief: And the an\u017fwer which the Lord will give thee, will be thus; Be it according as thou wilt. Let Chri\u017ft be in your hands and the promi\u017fe in your eyes, and no doubt, though thou ha\u017ft been a rebel and a traitor, yet Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft having received gifts for the rebellious, will shew mercy to thee and receive thee.\n\nDirect. 3. Come to Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft by repenting and for\u017faking all thy \u017fins: Thou can\u017ft never come to the wedding \u017fupper, without the wedding garment; The old man mu\u017ft be done away, before all things can be made new, Jer. iii. 14. O Jeru\u017falem! wa\u017fh thy heart from wickedne\u017fs, that thou maye\u017ft be \u017faved. Which God of his infinite mercy grant we may all do, and be ble\u017f\u017fed for ever, through Je\u017fus Chri\u017ft our Lord and Saviour.\n\nF I N I S.\n\nThis work was published before January 1, 1931, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.\n\nPublic domainPublic domainfalsefalse","title":"The door of salvation opened","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2432}