Now

Delivered On Sunday Morning, December 4, 1864,

BY C, H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"For He says, I have heard You in a time accepted and in the day of
salvation have I succored You: behold, nowis the accepted time; behold,
nowis the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2.

WE frequently hear the question discussed as to which are the best
times. Some are perpetually singing the praises of the "good old
times," though, if one reads the pages of history it does not appear
that the old times deserve any very special praise–unless oppression,
ignorance, persecution and abundant suffering deserve to be the theme
of song! It is the common habit of the fathers, with tears in their
eyes, to say, "The former days were better than these." But we have the
wisdom of Solomon on our side when we tell them they do not enquire
wisely concerning this. "Do not say, Why were the former days better
than these? For you do not enquire wisely concerning this" (Eccl.
7:10).

There are others who are always boasting of the present eventful
period. There was none like it–this is the era of invention and of
progress, the age of liberty and of light–when slavery must cast away
her fetters and superstition must hide herself among her congenial
associates–the moles and bats. But I cannot perceive that this century
is so much the age of gold as to need very enthusiastic praises. Its
greatest virtues are counterbalanced by greater sins. And the progress
which has been made towards liberty has scarcely kept pace with its
advance towards licentiousness–the barriers have been broken down, it
is true–but in some places the bulwarks have fallen, too.

Many there are with bright eyes looking forward to the future and their
declaration is that the "good time is coming," if we but "wait a little
longer"–if we will but look ahead, till this beast shall have been
slain, that vial shall have been poured out and the other seal shall
have been broken–then it is that we shall arrive at halcyon times! We
agree with these watchful waiters–the age of gold is yet to come. The
Advent is the world's best and brightest hope, insomuch that every
lover of his kind may importunately cry out, "Come quickly! Yes, come
quickly, Lord Jesus!"

But there is one thought which should not leave us when talking about
times and seasons, namely, that now, now, just now, this present flying
moment–that second which is being recorded by the ticking of yonder
clock–is the only time which we have to work with! I can do nothing
with the days that are past. I can do nothing with the days future–
though I reach out towards them–I cannot improve them. The past and
present are fields far beyond the reach of my culture. I can neither
plow nor sow the future, nor can I prune and correct the past. For
practical purposes, the only time I have is that which is just now
passing.

Did I say I had it? While I said I had it, it is gone like the meteor
which dashes adown the sky, or the eagle which flies afar, or the swift
ships which disappear beyond the horizon! Time present is the only time
I may ever have. Before any future shall have become present, I may be
merged in eternity. As far as I know, this day may be the end of my
life's career and when yonder sun sinks to his rest, I may sink to my
rest also, so far as time is concerned. If there is more time allotted
to me, yet it will never come to me in any other guise and form than as
time present. I call it future now, but when I get, say, to 1866, or
1880, it will be just like these moments–it will be to me present
then–and consequently, for practical purposes, however much we may
speculate upon the past or the future, the present moment is the only
time we have, may have, or ever can have!

And it becomes important that all our thoughts should be centered upon
it if we would make our calling and election sure. Our text directs us
to that solemn employment and it does so by a very telling argument.
You perceive that our text is a quotation. How ought we to value the
Old Testament! If inspired men of God, who spoke by the Holy Spirit
quoted the Old Testament, how valuable must its bejeweled sentences be!
The Apostle here quotes from the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, the
eighth verse. In that passage the Lord God is speaking to the Messiah,
speaking to our Lord Jesus Christ and He says to Him, "In an acceptable
time have I heard You and in a day of salvation have I helped You."

The first part, then, of this verse is a quotation from Isaiah. The
second part of the verse is Paul's commentary upon the
passage–"Behold, now is the accepted time." He takes his text from the
Old Testament, but he gives us a New Testament sermon upon it. Let us
try, if we can, to catch the Apostle's meaning. When Paul was reading
in Isaiah, he perceived that the Lord Jehovah had expressly said to
him, "Whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors (and who is this
but the Lord Jesus?) in an acceptable time have I heard You."

Jesus' sighs and tears and bloody sweat in the garden of Gethsemane did
not fall unheeded. Like the blood of Abel, they cried from the ground
and were heard acceptably above. An answer was given–this was plainly
proved by the descent of the angel to strengthen the Savior. So the
prophetic words add, "In a time accepted and in the day of salvation
have I succored You." The Apostle infers from this that inasmuch as God
has accepted Christ, the representative of His people, He has thereby
ushered in an era of acceptance. Acceptance given to the Savior is, in
the Apostle's view, acceptance given to sinners.

Inasmuch as Christ is heard–He prayed not for Himself, but for
us–there is, therefore, an accepted time for us begun and commenced
from the day when Christ went up to the tree, stretched His hands to
the nails, bowed His head to death and said, "It is finished."
Paraphrase the text thus–"I have heard Jesus, the Surety, in an
acceptable time. In the day of salvation have I succored Him, the
mighty Savior. And therefore to you, My people, to you, poor lost and
wandering sinners, to you, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of
salvation."

If Christ had not died, there had never been a day of salvation. If
Christ had not been heard and accepted, an accepted time could never
have come to us! But since He, man's representative, has obtained favor
in the eyes of God and through His complete work has forever settled
that favor upon Himself, there is favor in the heart of God to those
whom Christ represented–even to those transgressors for whom He makes
intercession!

We shall now take the text, as God may help us, using it, first, to
look at the now of Believers. Then, at the now of sinners. And after
this taking wing from the text, we shall offer a few reflections upon
now in Heaven. And close with a few solemn thoughts upon now in Hell.

I. First, then, NOW, WITH THE BELIEVER. With him, "Now is the accepted
time; behold, now is the day of salvation." As a Believer, it is well
for the Christian to live in the present. I say, as a Believer, for,
alas, there is a temptation to make our faith a thing of the past. It
is nearly sixteen years since I first looked to the Crucified Redeemer
and was lightened and my face was not ashamed. Is there a temptation in
me to say the faith which I exercised in Christ in my youthful days has
saved me, and therefore I am now in a different position from what I
was then and need not feel now as I did at first?

If there is such a temptation, let me shake it off as a man would shake
off the deadly sleep of frozen climates. Let me, this morning, feel
myself to be still just what I was–a loathsome sinner, undeserving,
ill-deserving, Hell-deserving. And what then? Why, let me, then, this
morning stand where I stood in the first moment of my salvation–at the
foot of the Savior's Cross and look up and view the flowing of His
soul-redeeming blood, with Divine assurance, knowing He has made my
peace with God. At this moment, my dear Brothers and Sisters, your
proper standing is as a sinner saved by blood, looking up to those dear
wounds from which your pardon streamed.

Have you had many virtues since then? Has the Grace of God led you on
to add to your faith, courage? And to your courage, experience? And to
your experience, brotherly kindness? And to brotherly kindness,
charity? Yet, for all this, your safest, happiest, holiest, best
position is at the foot of the Cross–with none of these things in your
hand as the price of your salvation, but looking to your Redeemer–who
alone has found a ransom for you. Since the day of your espousals you
have committed many sins–dare you look at them without trembling? How
often have we grieved our Lord? Our love to Him? Shall we dare call it
love? Our faith in Him, how mixed with unbelief! Our zeal, how dashed
with selfishness! Our humility, how stained with pride! Our patience,
how spoiled with murmuring!

Our every good thing is marred and rendered worthless! What a crop of
weeds the soil of our heart has produced! When we look within we see,
"The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy," and every unclean bird
seeks a lodging place in our hearts as in a grove of vanities–what
shall we do? Why, come just now with all these sins and wash once more
in that fountain which has lost none of its fullness! And feel the
power of that precious blood which has not diminished one whit in its
efficacy! I know the temptation is to climb to some higher room, but
let us be warned by the nonsuccess of the boasting Pharisee and taught
by the justification of the humble publican, still to cry, "God be
merciful to me a sinner."

Beware of trying to live before God as a minister. Brother minister,
this is poor living–to live officially, to go to the closet or come
into God's House merely as holding a certain profession! Oh, this is
starving work! If your tendency is to live as Church members, if not
altogether as worldly men, rouse yourselves from it, I pray you, and
confess with Paul, "And the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

The proper place of a Christian is never to get one inch beyond this–a
monument of Grace–a sinner saved by blood. I live in Jesus, on Jesus,
for Jesus, with Jesus and hope soon to be perfectly conformed to His
likeness. Let me remember that if there could be a moment in which my
soul might stand out of Christ–no longer leaning upon Him and no
longer covered with His righteousness–that very moment I must be
condemned! For there is no condemnation only to them that are in Christ
Jesus. But there is a terrible condemnation against every soul that is
out of Him.

Have you climbed so high that you have towered above the place of the
poor thief? Come back again, Brother, for you have climbed to a
dangerous altitude and maybe you shall find it a gallows where Haman
was hanged and you shall hang with him. Or have you dived so deep in a
sense of your own depravity, that you have forgotten to rest on Jesus
Christ as able, still, to save you? My Brother, look up from the hole
of the pit, for in it there is no water and you will perish there with
a grievous famine.

O, then, away with all but Jesus! None but Jesus–this must be our
watchword at the gates of death and we must enter Heaven with it! As we
have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so must we walk in Him–He must be
Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, Author and Finisher, First and
Last. As Believers, let us by God the Holy Spirit's Grace keep our
trust just where it was at first–in Him whom God has set forth to be a
Propitiation for our sins!

Take the word "now," again, and look at the Christian as a professor.
Now you are in the House of God, my dear Friends and you remember that
you profess to be followers of Christ. Now, therefore, you sing in holy
hymns of praise and join in solemn prayers to God as Christians should
do in the worship of God. Tomorrow morning, some of you, perhaps, will
be at Copenhagen Fields' Market, some of you at Newgate Market, others
of you will be lighting the fire in your master's house, others seeing
to your numerous families, others taking down the shop shutters–will
you then remember, dear Friends, that now, where you are then –you are
a Christian?

You are not to say, "I was a Christian yesterday," but "now, now I am
not a Christian." A customer will come in. The temptation will be,
perhaps, to take more than you ought to do. Will you please remember,
"Now I am a child of God"? not, "yesterday, when I was listening to Mr.
Spurgeon at the Tabernacle," but now! When you are in the market, there
will be much to plague and vex you and perhaps you will think, "I
cannot enjoy the Presence of God here." Oh, but my dear Brothers and
Sisters, "now is the accepted time." Buying sheep, selling bullocks,
using the hammer, snipping with the scissors, working at the plow,
tending your sheep–now, now, NOW is the day of salvation–you are
still a Christian–therefore act as a Christian!

But you are much plagued and vexed. Somebody teases you, things go
wrong–what could be a better stop to that little rising passion, what
could keep the naughty spirit under control better than to
remember–"Now, now I am a Christian–even now." A true Christian
cannot shake off his character. He is really what he is–he always must
be a Christian. I heard the other day of a certain Scotch moderate
minister, who being much provoked by a person in his parish, said, "If
I were not a minister, I would give you a sound thrashing, Sir." And
when he was further irritated, he took off his coat and said, "There is
the minister–there he lies." He was then in his shirt sleeves–"There
is the minister and I am only So-and-So and will give you your due."
And he proceeded at once to give the man a sound thrashing.

It is just possible the man may have deserved it. That is not my point.
But if a man can say, "There lies the minister," or, when you take off
your coat tonight, if you can say, "There lies the member of the
Church." If you, good women, when you take off your gowns, can say, as
you hang up your best attire in the wardrobe, "There goes the
Christian," then you have no religion at all, you have none whatever
worth having! You have the faith of devils that will damn you, but not
the faith of Christians that will save you!

It is not a religious coat, but a renewed heart–I pray you keep this
at all times on your mind–"Now I am accepted. Now I am saved–how can
such a man as I do such a thing? How, then, can I do this great
wickedness and sin against God?" Mordecai once wore the king's robe,
but he soon took it off because he was not really a king. And thus do
many act who wear the garb of religion in the House of God, but cast it
off when they go home. When Lord Burleigh, Queen Elizabeth's counselor,
reached his home he was so little pleased with the cares of State, that
taking off his robe, he threw it down, saying, "Lay there, Lord
Chancellor." Ah, how irksome must some men's religion be to them and
how cheerfully would they lay aside its restraints! But you who are
really the Lord's, will, I trust, feel your faith to be your constant
help and your profession your perpetual honor. You will not, you cannot
sin, because you are born of God.

Suppose a Brother has his pen in his hand and is going to write what we
sometimes call a nasty letter–now suppose an angel should whisper in
his ear as he is writing, "Now, now, you are one of God's chosen. You
have been washed in the precious blood of Christ and now you profess to
be a member of His body, a king and a priest unto God." Why, I think he
would throw the pen away and tear the paper up. Or, just when you are
about to proceed to extremities with some poor soul who asks your
mercy, if you could remember that you are now, even now, an heir of
Heaven, I think you would say, "Lord, give me Grace to act according to
my profession and not to stain the character I have assumed." Let "now"
stay upon your mind with regard to your profession and the duty which
it brings.

Dear Friends, let me comfort your hearts by the remembrance that now,
as a child of God, you are a possessor of present privileges. I do not
know what your frame of mind may be this morning. You may have been
very much tempted, you may feel, through some sickness of body,
anything but cheerful. But if you believe in Christ, remember now you
are a son of God and though it does not yet appear what you shall be,
yet when He shall appear, you shall be like He, for you shall see Him
as He is.

At this very moment, I, a Believer in Christ, am completely
pardoned–no spot of sin remains on me if I believe in Jesus. White as
the newly-fallen snow is every soul that has been washed in the
precious blood. Think of this delightful Truth of God, desponding
Christian, and let your countenance be sad no more! Your eye of faith
is dim, your evidences are very slender, your graces are at a low ebb,
but you are completely forgiven, absolved and acquitted at this moment,
if your soul rests upon the Rock of Ages! You are completely justified
at this moment, despite your sins. Wearing your Savior's righteousness,
you stand all beauteous in the eyes of God at this very moment–the
words of Solomon to the spouse are the words of Christ to you though
you are vexed with a thousand cares–"You are all fair My love: there
is no spot in you."

Covered with His righteousness and washed in His blood, even the pure
and holy eyes of God can find no fault in you, and, as a consequence of
this, you are this moment accepted! "He has not beheld iniquity in
Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in Israel." "Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect?" God does not look upon you with
any anger. Though your heart may be struggling and tormented with sin,
yet if you are resting upon God's Son, the love of God is flowing out
to you in a stream which never can be stopped. Think of this sweet
thought and let your soul be filled with the perfume of it! Loved of
God now, the object of the almighty affection of the Blessed One are
you NOW.

No, more than this, you are not only accepted–you are in union with
Christ now. Beloved Believer, can you realize it? You are a member of
His body, of His flesh and of His bones! There is a vital union at this
instant between you and the Lord of Glory! The life-blood flows from
Him, the Head, to you. And at this moment, whether in your worst state
of feeling or your best, you are now one with Jesus, by eternal
union–ONE! I would to God we realized our present privileges! We are
thinking about the Heaven that is to come and forgetting the Heaven
below. The first we should do–but the second we should not leave
undone. The men of Divine Grace find that the fruits of Paradise hang
over the wall and they begin to pluck and eat them before they pass the
gates of pearl. Come, Christian, "Now is the accepted time; behold, now
is the day of salvation." Since Jesus is accepted, so you are even now.
Live upon your present privileges and be glad!

Remember that wherever there is present privilege there is also a
present duty to be performed and so I touch a string which I made to
sound just now. Since "now is the accepted time" with sinners, now is
the accepted time for you to work, O Christian. I know what you intend
to do–you have vast plans and machinery. My Brother, I do not care
what you mean to do tomorrow, but I do care about what you intend to do
today. Oh, those daydreams of ours! We are always intending in a year
or two's time to be such valorous defenders of the faith, such good
soldiers of Christ, such good winners of souls!

My dear Brothers and Sisters, what are you doing now? There flies that
moment! What does it bear upon its wings? Another drop of the stream of
time is passed away–what action of yours is reflected on its crystal
surface? Are you doing anything now? "I do not know," says one, "I do
not know that I can do anything just now. When the service is bro- ken
up, I may get home and then try to do something." I would pray you
remember that, "now is the accepted time," and therefore seek now to
get your heart warm. And when the service is over, think you hear the
now, and begin to speak to those in the pew, or on the way home talk to
any person you may meet with. And then, tomorrow, do not say, "Sunday
is over and I cannot do any good on the week-day," but think you hear
the clarion sound of this word now!

You have a sister unsaved, pray for her now. You have a brother
unconverted, write to him if you cannot speak to him and do it now.
There is a court, a blind alley, which needs visiting. A dying man who
needs instruction–do it now. Do you feel you have a talent? Use it
now. You think you will have a better sphere in ten years' time? I pray
you get a sphere now, for now is the day of salvation! I say again, I
do not care what you do with your tomorrow. If you will but give God
your now, your tomorrows will be all right. For duty, then, let the
Christian prize the "now."

One more thought. The Christian remembers that now he may die. What is
his prospect now? Let him take courage. If his Lord should come now, he
has his loins girt about and his lamp well trimmed and he is ready to
enter into the supper. He will not be overtaken as by a thief, but his
Lord, when He comes, shall find him watching–and should death come
before the Advent, then he can say, "Now shall I enter into my rest.
Now shall I see the face of my Lord Jesus without a veil to hide Him
and I shall be with Him supremely blest."

The glorious Advent or the bliss of Heaven is your prospect now! Not
that you will go to Heaven if you die in twenty years' time–but if you
die now–if the hand of death should take you in the street, or you
should feel its numbing influence while you are in the pew! Now the
celestial band shall bear you to the sublimities of Glory and introduce
you to the Presence of Him whom you love! Now, Christian, rejoice, now
labor, now live at the foot of the Savior's Cross!

II. May the Master give us power on the second point to deal with "NOW"
AS IT RESPECTS THE SINNER. The great mischief of most men is that they
procrastinate. It is not that they resolve to be damned, but that they
resolve to be saved tomorrow. It is not that they reject Christ
forever, but that they reject Christ today. And truly they might as
well reject Him forever, as continue perpetually to reject Him "now."

Sinner, let me put your "now" before you as a man. You must soon pass
away and be forgotten, like the flowers that withered in autumn and the
insects which flitted through the summer hours. Now, then, is your time
to think about eternity and to prepare yourself to meet your God. "See
to your business first, James," said a careful father–"get a good
trade and after that, look to your religion." There spoke a FOOL who
knew not that infinite Wisdom has commanded, "Seek you first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things shall be
added unto you." Would you give God the tail end of your life? Take
care lest you have no old age at all! For many candles are blown out as
soon as lit.

Would you, as a lamb, be Satan's? And when you are withered and worn
out, shall the lean skeleton of tottering weakness be brought and laid
upon the altar? Be it not so! Let your flower be plucked in the bud and
put into the hand of Jesus. God grant you Grace to seek Him in the days
of your youth, for the promise is, "They that seek Me early shall find
Me." As a man, I charge you, since there is only a "day of salvation"
before the sun goes down and the black night of eternal ruin shall come
upon you, lay hold upon the hope that is set before you!

As a sinner, I also address you concerning this "now." Now is the day
of salvation–you need it now. God is angry with you now. You are
condemned already! It is not only the torment of Hell you have to
dread, but if you have your senses, you would tremble at your present
state. Now without God. Now without hope. Now an alien from the
commonwealth of Israel! Now dead in trespasses and sins. Now in danger
of the wrath to come! You need a Savior this morning, young man! Young
woman, I do not charge you to store up medicine against the maladies of
twenty years from now–it is the sickness of today of which I would
gladly have you cured this very morning! It is not to look after a
danger which shall press upon you when you grow old that I exhort you,
but now you are on the brink of the precipice!

Now, therefore, you need to be saved! And here comes the beauty of my
text–as a sinner under the Gospel, I pray you to remember–"Now is the
accepted time"! The most of my unconverted hearers do not believe this.
I know what you are saying. You say, "I have had a great many thoughts
about religion." But why do you not believe in Christ now? "Well," you
say, "I will endeavor to think seriously of it." But what will be the
result of your thinking? After you have thought ever so much, do you
imagine you will think yourself into salvation? If the Gospel command
were, "Think and be saved," I would cheerfully allow you a month's
thinking. But the command is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," and,
"Now is the accepted time."

"But, Sir, I do not think such things should be done in a hurry." A
hurry? What does David say? "I made haste and delayed not to keep Your
commandments." A hurry? When a man is on the edge of damnation and on
the borders of the grave? Do not talk of hurry, Sir–when it is a case
of life and death. Let us fly swift as a flash of lightning. "Well, but
I do not feel prepared." Do you think that disobeying God will make you
more prepared? If you have lived a month without believing, you have
lived a month in sin! Do you think when you have sinned more, you will
be better prepared to obey the command which comes to you, "Believe now
in the Lord Jesus Christ"? "Yes, but my heart feels so hard."

Dear Friend, do you think you will be able to soften it between this
and next week, or next month, or next year? Is there anything in the
Word of God which leads you to believe that you can, in any way, soften
your own heart? Is not this a mighty work of Grace? And when the text
says, "Now is the accepted time," does not this suppose that even if
you have a hard heart, still it is true that NOW is the accepted time?
"Well, but," says one, "I do not feel convicted enough." That is to
say, dear Friend, you do not think that "now is the accepted time." You
think that another time when you get more convicted will be the
accepted time.

Here is a quarrel between God and you. He says "Now," you say, "No, no,
it cannot be true! When I am more convicted, then will be the time." My
dear Friend, are you not altogether mistaken? The likelihoods are that
you never will be more convicted than now, if you are brought now to
think upon these things. Your heart will certainly grow harder in the
course of time–softer, never! I never heard the case of a man whose
heart was made softer by delay. "Yes, but I should like to get home and
pray." My text does not say it will be the accepted time when you get
home and pray. It says, "Now!" And as I find you are "now" in this pew,
"now" is the accepted time. If you trust Christ now, you will be
ac-cepted–if now you are enabled to throw yourself simply into the
hands of Christ–now is the accepted time between God and you.

"Well," says another, "it does seem strange to think that I shall be
saved this morning–there must be a little time occupied in it,
surely?" The text says, "Now is the accepted time," it does not say,
"There is an accepted time lasting through a period of weeks or months
in which we pump ourselves up into a state of Grace." No! "Now," in a
moment, acceptance is given. "But do you really mean it" says one,
"that I, as I am, trusting Christ this morning, without any previous
preparation whatever, shall be accepted?" My dear Friend, it is not
what I mean–it is what the Scripture means. "Now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation." The moment a sinner trusts in
Christ, he is saved and if you trust Him now, it is the day of
salvation to you!

Will you kindly look at that text–just open your Bibles now and look
at it–you especially who are unconverted– whether my hearers or
readers! It has two fingerposts to point to it–two beholds. "Behold,
now is the accepted time." Now, stop and look at that. Do you believe
it? Say, "Yes," or "No." There is another "Behold." "Behold, now is the
day of salvation." Do you believe that? I have asked you to look at the
text, because I want you to look in its face and, if you dare, say,
"That is a lie"–no, you do not dare say that! Then if you do not dare
to say so, away must go, in a single moment, all those excuses which
you make about a hard heart, not being convicted enough, praying,
reading, preparing, and so on.

Now, just as the clock ticks, not as an event to take place during a
quarter of an hour, but in a moment the whole thing is done–"Now is
the day of salvation." And what do you say to this? Does God the Holy
Spirit now lead your soul to say, "Gracious Lord, I trust my soul with
You now"? Oh, it is all done! Fly up to Heaven, angels! Bear the
tidings! Tell the spirits who look down, anxiously watching for the
spreading kingdom of the Savior, that another heir of Glory is born,
another prodigal has returned to his Father's house! Now! Now! Now! O
God, let conquering Grace get the victory!

How my soul has longed over this text! And now when I get at it, I
cannot handle it as I would. But, if I might, I would gladly take some
of you by the hand–think that I have your hand now–and I would put
this to you! I may never have another opportunity of preaching this
text in your ears, for you may be gone before there is another season
to hear. "Will you be made whole?" "Can you believe?" "If you can
believe, all things are possible to him that believes." Old Na-bal said
to David, "There are many servants nowadays that break away every man
from his master." A bad old fellow, but he spoke a good sentence there
without knowing it. Are there not some here who will break away from
their old master?

Are there not some who would gladly be servants of Christ and no longer
servants of Satan? O Souls, if God has made you willing to break with
Satan, to lay hold on Christ, this is not a day in which Christ will
deny you, for He has expressly said He will accept you now, for, "Now
is the accepted time." But, Sir, I am a harlot steeped up to the throat
in vice." Still, "Now is the accepted time." Ah, but I have grown gray,
Sir. I am seventy or eighty and have lived in sin all these years."
Yes, but. "Now is the accepted time." Do you believe it or not? "Oh, I
have refused the invitation a thousand times over." Yes, but still,
still the abundant Grace of God says, "Now, is the accepted time." I
would to God some of you would decide this very morning, this very
morning in your pew where you are now sitting. Now, O Spirit of the
living God, waken those whom You have chosen and set apart unto eternal
life.

I have not time now to dwell on the other two points. We will merely,
therefore, hint at them.

III. Now IN HEAVEN! Can you think of it? NOW in Heaven! They now
delight in the society of Christ. They are now blest with communion
with all the glorified spirits. They are now resting from their labors,
their toils, their sufferings. They are now full of joys, while with
their golden harps they sing. They are just now satisfied with the
favor and full of the goodness of the Lord. They are now knowing what
they knew not here, knowing even as they are known.

They are now more than conquerors, waving their palm branches. They are
now safely shut in from all fear of danger. They are now perfect,
without taint of sin or remnant of corruption. They are now supremely
blest. I merely point the finger where my wing cannot carry me and
where my eyes cannot see. Such are your friends who have departed. Your
wife is there now. Your little infant children are there. Your brother
is there, your grandsire is there and we, if we should now die, blessed
be the name of God, many of us should know what they know and taste
what they enjoy in an instant!

IV. But this is a dreary thought–Now IN HELL! Some of my hearers who
listened to me last year and in the years that are past, are
now–NOW–in Hell! Now, where no hope can come! Now, where no Gospel
shall ever be preached! Now, where they bitterly regret their wasted
Sabbaths and despised opportunities! Now, where memory holds a dreadful
reign, reminding them of all their sins! Now, "Where their worm dies
not, and the fire is not quenched"–where they gnaw their
fire-tormented tongues in vain! Now, where God's fury is manifested to
the full in Tophet's hideous fire!

Now, where devils, once their tempters, become their tormentors! Now,
where sinners who kept jovial company, help to increase the doleful
misery of sighs and groans and weeping and gnashing of teeth! Now,
accursed of God, accursed forever and ever! And within a moment, that
may be the lot of every sinner here! Within the twinkling of an eye,
there is not a man or woman among us out of Christ who may not know
this. One drop of blood goes wrong–a thousand chances, as we say–may
cause it and Hell is your portion.

Every anatomist knows that hundreds of times in an hour, through the
internal economy of the human frame, our life is in danger. No, there
is not a second in which it is not so. "Great God! On what a feeble
thread hang everlasting things!"–

"Our life contains a thousand springs, And dies if one is gone. Strange
that a harp of a thousand strings Should keep in tune so long."

While we are in this danger, we are passing on to our doom–

"We nightly pitch our moving tent A day's march nearer home." But where
is that home to be with you unconverted ones?

When the express trains first began to run to Scotland there was seen
at the station, one evening, a gentleman tall and thin, whose cheek had
the consumptive mark upon it. The porters asked him several questions
about his luggage, of which there was a good deal. And when he had been
asked several times by different persons, another came up and said,
"Where are you going, Sir?" Being of short temper and in great haste,
he said, "To Hell!" A servant of Christ passed by that moment and heard
the answer. He sought to get in the same carriage and did so, but at
the other end of it.

Now this gentleman was talking very freely to different persons upon
common topics and the man thought, "I will get a word in if I can." So
he joined in the general tenor of the conversation till they alighted
at a refreshment station, when, taking the opportunity, he said to the
gentleman, "When do you expect to get to the end of your journey?"
"Oh," said he, "I am going to cross at such-and-such a town by the boat
tonight and hope to get to my journey's end about twelve o'clock
tomorrow morning."

The man said, "I think you misunderstand my question. You said when the
porter asked you just now where you were going, that you were going to
a very different place." "Ah, yes, I remember I did," said the
gentleman, "but I am sometimes very hasty." The other said to him, "Was
it true? Are you going to Hell? If so, when do you expect to get
there?" And he began to talk to him about that sickness which he could
see so certainly in his cheeks and warned him that unless he sought
another road and fled to Christ, the only Refuge, he would certainly
reach that dreadful end.

There are some in this place, who if they were labeled this morning as
to where they are going, would have to be directed "to Hell." You know
that this is the case! And when will you get to your journey's end?
Some here may live another fifty years. I pray God that that question
of mine may haunt you and if it is never blessed to you before, may it
be then–"When will you yet to your journey's end? When will you arrive
in Hell?"

This morning some of you may, in your hearts, say, "I am journeying
there, but, by the Grace of God, I have come to a dead halt and not
another inch will I go! Lord, make me ready to go to Heaven! Give me
Grace now to trust the Savior that I may live." May God bless these
feeble words of mine to His glory and your profit. Amen.