taken from ...

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0123.htm
 

... in the words of the apostle, "the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and
election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall
never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered
unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." We have here,
first of all, two fundamental points in
religion-"calling and election;" we have here,
secondly, some good advice-"to make your calling and
election sure," or, rather, to assure ourselves that
we are called and elected; and then, in the third
place, we have some reasons given us why we should use
this diligence to be assured of our election-because,
on the one hand, we shall so be kept from falling, and
on the other hand, we shall attain unto "an abundant
entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ."
 

I. First of all, then, there are the TWO IMPORTANT
MATTERS IN RELIGION-secrets, both of them, to the
world-only to be understood by those who have been
quickened by divine grace: "CALLING AND ELECTION."

By the word "calling" in Scripture, we understand two
things-one, the general call, which in the preaching
of the gospel is given to every creature under heaven;
the second call (that which is here intended) is the
special call-which we call the effectual call, whereby
God secretly, in the use of means, by the irresistible
power of his Holy Spirit, calls out of mankind a
certain number, whom he himself hath before elected,
calling them from their sins to become righteous, from
their death in trespasses and sins to become living
spiritual men, and from their worldly pursuits to
become the lovers of Jesus Christ. The two callings
differ very much. As Bunyan puts it, very prettily.
"By his common call, he gives nothing; by his special
call, he always has something to give; he has also a
brooding voice, for them that are under his wing; and
he has an outcry, to give the alarm when he seeth the
enemy come." What we have to obtain, as absolutely
necessary to our salvation, is a special calling, made
in us, not to our ears but to our hearts, not to our
mere fleshly understanding, but to the inner man, by
the power of the Spirit. And then the other important
thing is election. As without calling there is no
salvation, so without election there is no calling.
Holy Scripture teaches us that God hath from the
beginning chosen us who are saved unto holiness
through Jesus Christ. We are told that as many as are
ordained unto eternal life believe, and that their
believing is the effect of their being ordained to
eternal life from before all worlds. However much this
may be disputed, as it frequently is, you must first
deny the authenticity and full inspiration of the Holy
Scripture before you can legitimately and truly deny
it. And since, without doubt, I have many here who are
members of the Episcopal church, allow me to say to
them what I have often said before, "You, of all men,
are the most inconsistent in the world, unless you
believe the doctrine of election, for if it be not
taught in Scripture there is this one thing for an
absolute certainty, it is taught in your Articles."
Nothing can be more forcibly expressed, nothing more
definitely laid down, than the doctrine of
predestination in the Book of Common Prayer; although
we are told what we already know, that that doctrine
is a high mystery, and is only to be handled carefully
by men who are enlightened. However, without doubt, it
is the doctrine of Scripture, that those who are saved
are saved because God chose them to be saved, and are
called as the effect of that first choice of God. If
any of your dispute this, I stand upon the authority
of Holy Scripture; ay, and if it were necessary to
appeal to tradition, which I am sure it is not, and no
Christian man would ever do it, yet I would take you
upon that point; for I can trace this doctrine through
the lips of a succession of holy men, from this
present moment to the days of Calvin, thence to
Augustine, and thence on to Paul himself; and even to
the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. The doctrine is,
without doubt, taught in Scripture, and were not men
too proud to humble themselves to it, it would
universally be believed and received as being no other
than manifest truth. Why, sirs, do you not believe
that God loves his children? and do you not know that
God is unchangeable? therefore, if he loves them now
he must always have loved them. Do you not believe
that if men be saved God saves them? And if so, can
you see any difficulty in admitting that because he
saves them there must have been a purpose to save
them-a purpose which existed before al worlds? Will
you not grant me that? If you will not, I must leave
you to the Scriptures themselves; and if they will not
convince you on the point, then I must leave you
unconvinced.
It will be asked, however, why is calling here put
before election, seeing election is eternal, and
calling takes place in time? I reply, because calling
is first to us. The first thing which you and I can
know is our calling: we cannot tell whether we are
elect until we feel that we are called. We must, first
of all, prove our calling, and then our election is
sure most certainly. "Moreover, whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called,
them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he
also glorified." Calling comes first in our
apprehension. We are by God's Spirit called from our
evil estate, regenerated and made new creatures, and
then, looking backward, we behold ourselves as being
most assuredly elect because we were called.

Here, then, I think I have explained the text. There
are the two things which you and I are to prove to be
sure to ourselves-whether we are called and whether we
are elected. And oh, dear friends, this is a matter
about which you and I should be very anxious. For
consider what an honourable thing it is to be elected.
In this world it is thought a mighty thing to be
elected to the House of Parliament; but how much more
honourable to be elected to eternal life; to be
elected to "the Church of the first born, whose names
are written in heaven;" to be elected to be a compeer
of angels, to be a favorite of the living God, to
dwell with the Most High, amongst the fairest of the
sons of light, nearest the eternal throne! Election in
this world is but a short-lived thing, but God's
election is eternal. Let a man be elected to a seat in
the House: seven years must be the longest period that
he can hold his election; but if you and I be elected
according to the Divine purpose, we shall hold our
seats when the day-star shall have ceased to burn,
when the sun shall have grown dim with age, and when
the eternal hills shall have bowed themselves with
weakness. If we be chosen of God and precious, then
are we chosen for ever; for God changeth not in the
objects of his election. Those whom he hath ordained
he hath ordained to eternal life, "and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of
his hand." It is worth while to know ourselves elect,
for nothing in this world can make a man more happy or
more valiant than the knowledge of his election.
"Nevertheless," said Christ to his apostles, "rejoice
not in this, but rather rejoice that your names are
written in heaven"-that being the sweetest comfort,
the honeycomb that droppeth with the most precious
drops of all, the knowledge of our being chosen by
God. And this, too, beloved, makes a man valiant. When
a man by diligence has attained to the assurance of
his election, you cannot make him a coward, you can
never make him cry craven even in the thickest battle;
he holds the standard fast and firm, and cleaves his
foes with the scimitar of truth. "Was not I ordained
by God to be the standard bearer of this truth? I
must, I will stand by it, despite you all." He saith
to every enemy, "Am I not a chosen king? Can floods of
water wash out the sacred unction from a king's bright
brow? No, never! And if God hath chosen me to be a
king and a priest unto God for ever and ever, come
what may or come what will-the lion's teeth, the fiery
furnace, the spear, the rack, the stake, all these
things are less than nothing, seeing I am chosen of
God unto salvation." It has been said that the
doctrine of necessity makes men weak. It is a lie. It
may seem so in theory, but in practice it has always
been found to be the reverse. The men who have
believed in destiny, and have held fast and firm by
it, have always done the most valiant deeds. There is
one point in which this is akin even with Mahomet's
faith. The deeds that were done by him were chiefly
done from a firm confidence that God had ordained him
to his work. Never had Cromwell driven his foes before
him if it had not been in the stern strength of this
almost omnipotent truth; and there shall scarcely be
found a man strong to do great and valiant deeds
unless, confident in the God of Providence, he looks
upon the accidents of life as being steered by God,
and gives himself up to God's firm predestination, to
be borne along by the current of his will, contrary to
all the wills and all the wishes of the world.
"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure."
 

II. Come, then, here is the second point-GOOD ADVICE.
"Make your calling and election sure."

Not towards God, for they are sure to him: make them
sure to yourself. Be quite certain of them; be fully
satisfied about them. In many of our dissenting places
of worship very great encouragement is held out to
doubting. A person comes before the pastor, and says,
"Oh! sir, I am so afraid I am not converted; I tremble
lest I should not be a child of God. Oh! I fear I am
not one of the Lord's elect." The pastor will put out
his hands to him, and say, "Dear brother, you are all
right so long as you can doubt." Now, I hold, that is
altogether wrong. Scripture never says, "He that
doubteth shall be saved," but "He that believeth." It
may be true that the man is in a good state; it may be
true that he wants a little comfort; but his doubts
are not good things, nor ought we to encourage him in
his doubts. Our business is to encourage him out of
his doubts, and by the grace of God to urge him to
"give all diligence to make his calling and election
sure;" not do doubt it, but to be sure of it. Ah! I
have heard some hypocritical doubters say, "Oh! I have
had such doubts whether I am the Lord's," and I have
thought to myself, "And so have I very great doubts
about you." I have heard some say they do tremble so
because they are afraid they are not the Lord's
people; and the lazy fellows sit in their pews on the
Sunday, and just listen to the sermon; but they never
think of giving diligence, they never do good, perhaps
are inconsistent in their lives, and then talk about
doubting. It is quite right they should doubt, it is
well they should; and if they did not doubt we might
begin to doubt for them. Idle men have no right to
assurance. The Scripture says, "Give diligence to make
your calling and election sure."

Full assurance is an excellent attainment. It is
profitable for a man to be certain in this life, and
absolutely sure of his own calling and election. But
how can he be sure? Now, many of our more ignorant
hearers imagine that the only way they have of being
assured of their election is by some revelation, some
dream, and some mystery. I have enjoyed very hearty
laughs as the expense of some people who have trusted
in their visions. Really, if you had passed among so
many shades of ignorant professing Christians as I
have; and had to resolve so many doubts and fears, you
would be so infinitely sick of dreams and visions that
you would say, as soon as a person began to speak
about them, "Now, do just hold your tongue." "Sir,"
said a woman, "I saw blue lights in the front parlour
when I was in prayer, and I thought I saw the Saviour
in the corner, and I said to myself I am safe." (Mr.
Spurgeon here narrated a remarkable story of a poor
woman who was possessed with a singular delusion.) And
yet there are tens of thousands of people in every
part of the country, and members too of Christians
bodies, who have no better ground for their belief
that they are called and elected, than some vision
equally ridiculous, or the equally absurd hearing of a
voice. A young woman came to me some time ago; she
wanted to join the church, and when I asked her how
she knew herself to be converted, she said she was
down at the bottom of the garden, and she thought she
heard a voice, and she thought she saw something up in
the clouds that said to her so-and-so. "Well," I said
to her, "that thing may have been the means of doing
good to you, but if you put any trust in it, it is all
over with you." A dream, ay, and a vision, may often
bring men to Christ; I have known many who have been
brought to him by them, beyond a doubt, though it has
been mysterious to me how it was; but when men bring
these forward as a proof of their conversion, there is
the mistake; because you may see fifty thousand dreams
and fifty thousand visions, and you may be a fool for
all that, and all the bigger sinner for having seen
them. There is better evidence to be had than all
this: "Give diligence to make your calling and
election sure."

"How, then," says one, "am I to make my calling and
election sure?" Why, thus:-If thou wouldest get out of
a doubting state, get out of an idle state; if thou
wouldst get out of a trembling state, get out of an
indifferent lukewarm state; for lukewarmness and
doubting, and laziness and trembling, very naturally
go hand in hand. If thou wouldest enjoy the eminent
grace of the full assurance of faith under the blessed
Spirit's influence and assistance, do what the
Scripture tells thee-"Give diligence to make your
calling and election sure." Wherein shalt thou be
diligent? Note how the Scripture has given us a list.
Be diligent in your faith. Take care that your faith
is of the right kind-that it is not a creed, but a
credence-that it is not a mere belief of doctrine, but
a reception of doctrine into your heart, and the
practical light of the doctrine in your soul. Take
care that your faith results from necessity-that you
believe in Christ because you have nothing else to
believe in. Take care it is simple faith, hanging
alone on Christ, without any other dependence but
Jesus Christ and him crucified. And when thou hast
given diligence about that, give diligence next to thy
courage. Labour to get virtue; plead with God that he
would give thee the face of a lion, that thou mayest
never be afraid of any enemy, however much he may jeer
or threaten thee, but that thou mayest with a
consciousness of right, go on, boldly trusting in God.
And having, by the help of the Holy Spirit, obtained
that, study well the Scriptures, and get knowledge;
for a knowledge of doctrine will tend very much to
confirm your faith. Try to understand God's Word; get
a sensible, spiritual idea of it. Get, if you can, a
system of divinity out of God's Bible. Put the
doctrines together. Get real, theological knowledge,
founded upon the infallible word. Get a knowledge of
that science which is most despised, but which is the
most necessary of all, the science of Christ and him
crucified, and of the great doctrines of grace. And
when thou hast done this, "Add to thy knowledge
temperance." Take heed to thy body: be temperate
there. Take heed to thy soul: be temperate there. Be
not drunken with pride; be not lifted up with
self-confidence. Be temperate. Be not harsh towards
thy friends, nor bitter to thine enemies. Get
temperance of lip, temperance of life, temperance of
heart, temperance of thought. Be not passionate: be
not carried away by every wind of doctrine. Get
temperance, and then add to it by God's Holy Spirit
patience; ask him to give thee that patience which
endureth affliction, which, when it is tried, shall
come forth as gold. Array yourself with patience, that
you may not murmur in your sicknesses; that you may
not curse God in your losses, nor be depressed in your
afflictions. Pray, without ceasing, until the Holy
Ghost has nerved you with patience to endure unto the
end. And when you have that, get godliness. Godliness
is something more than religion. The most religious
men may be the most godless men, and sometimes a godly
man may seem to be irreligious. Let me just explain
that seeming paradox. A real religious man is a man
who sighs after sacraments, attends churches and
chapels, and is outwardly good, but goes not farther.
A godly man is a man who does not look so much to the
dress as to the person: he looks not to the outward
form, but to the inward and spiritual grace, he is a
godly man, as well as attentive to religion. Some men,
however, are godly, and to a great extent despise
form; they may be godly, without some degree of
religion; but a man cannot be fully righteous without
being godly in the true meaning of each of these
words, though not in the general vulgar sense of them.
Add to thy patience an eye to God; live in his sight;
dwell close to him; seek for fellowship with him; and
thou hast got godliness. And then to that add
brotherly love. Be loving towards all the members of
Christ's church; have a love to all the saints, of
every denomination. And then add to that charity,
which openeth its arms to all men, and loves them; and
when you have got all these, then you will know your
calling and election, and just in proportion as you
practise these heavenly rules of life, in this
heavenly manner, will you come to know that you are
called and that you are elect. But by no other means
can you attain to a knowledge of that, except by the
witness of the Spirit, bearing witness with your
spirit that you are born of God, and then witnessing
in your conscience that you are not what you were, but
are a new man in Christ Jesus, and are therefore
called and therefore elected.

A man over there says he is elect. He gets drunk. Ay,
you are elect by the devil, sir; that is about your
only election. Another man says, "Blessed be God, I
don't care about evidences a bit; I am not so legal as
you are!" No, I dare say you are not; but you have no
great reason to bless God about it, for, my dear
friend, unless you have these evidences of a new birth
take heed to yourself. "God is not mocked: whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap." "Well," says
another, "but I think that doctrine of election a very
licentious doctrine." Think on as long as you please;
but please to bear me witness that as I have preached
it to-day there is nothing licentious about it. Very
likely you are licentious, and you would make the
doctrine licentious, if you believed it; but "to the
pure all things are pure." He who receiveth God's
truth in his heart doth not often pervert it and turn
aside from it unto wicked ways. No man, let me repeat,
has any right to believe himself called, unless his
life be in the main consistent with his vocation, and
he walk worthy of that whereunto he is called. Out
upon an election that lets you live in sin! Away with
it! away with it! That was never the design of God's
Word; and it never was the doctrine of Calvinists
either. Though we have been lied against and our
teachings perverted, we have always stood by this-that
good works, though they do not procure nor in any
degree merit salvation, yet are the necessary
evidences of salvation; and unless they be in men the
soul is still dead, uncalled and unrenewed. The nearer
you live to Christ, the more you imitate him, the more
your life is conformed to him, and the more simply you
hang upon him by faith, the more certain you may be of
your election in Christ and of your calling by his
Holy Spirit. May the Holy One of Israel give you the
sweet assurance of grace, by affording you "tokens for
good" in the graces which he enables you to manifest.
 

III. And now I shall close up by giving you THE
APOSTLE'S REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE YOUR CALLING AND
ELECTION SURE.

I put in one of my own to begin with. It is because,
as I have said, it will make you so happy. Men who
doubt their calling and election cannot be full of
joy; but the happiest saints are those who know and
believe it. You know our friends say this is a howling
wilderness, and you know my reply to it is, that they
make all the howling themselves: there would not be
much howling, if they were to look up a little more
and look down a little less, for by faith they would
make it blossom like the rose, and give to it the
excellence and glory of Carmel and Sharon. But why
they howl so much is because they do not believe. Our
happiness and our faith are to a great degree
proportionate; they are Siamese twins to the
Christian; they must flourish or decay together.
 

"When I can say my God is mine,
Then I can all my griefs resign;
Can tread the world beneath my feet,
And all that earth calls good or great."

But ah

"When gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call him mine;
The streams of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline."

Only faith can make a Christian lead a happy life.
But now for Peter's reasons. First, because "if ye do
these things ye shall never fall." "Perhaps," says
one, "in attention to election we may forget our daily
walk, and like the old philosopher who looked up to
the stars we may walk on and tumble into the ditch!"
"Nay, nay," says Peter, "if you take care of your
calling and election, you shall not trip; but, with
your eyes up there, looking for your calling and
election, God will take care of your feet, and you
shall never fall. Is it not very notable, that, in
many churches and chapels, you do not often hear a
sermon about to-day; it is always either about old
eternity, or else about the millennium; either about
what God did before man was made, or else about what
God will do when all are dead and buried? Pity they do
not tell us something about what we are to do to-day,
now, in our daily walk and conversation! Peter removes
this difficulty. He says, "This point is a practical
point; for you can only answer your election for
yourself by taking care of your practice; whilst you
are so taking care of your practice and assuring
yourself of your election, you are doing the best
possible thing to keep you from falling." And is it
not desirable that a true Christian should be kept
from falling? Mark the difference between falling and
falling away. The true believer can never fall away
and perish; but he may fall and injure himself. He
shall not fall and break his neck; but a broken leg is
bad enough, without a broken neck. "Though he fall he
shall not be utterly cast down;" but that is no reason
why he should dash himself against a stone. His desire
is, that day by day he may grow more holy; that hour
by hour he may be more thoroughly renewed, until
conformed to the image of Christ, he may enter into
bliss eternal. If, then, you take care of your calling
and election, you are doing the best thing in the
world to prevent you from falling; for in so doing you
shall never fall.

And, now, the other reason, and then I shall have
almost concluded. "For so an entrance shall be
ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." An
"abundant entrance" has sometimes been illustrated in
this way. You see yonder ship. After a long voyage, it
has neared the haven, but is much injured; the sails
are rent to ribbons, and it is in such a forlorn
condition that it cannot come up to the harbour: a
steam-tug is pulling it in with the greatest possible
difficulty. That is like the righteous being "scarcely
saved." But do you see that other ship? It has made a
prosperous voyage; and now, laden to the water's edge,
with the sails all up and with the white canvass
filled with the wind, it rides into the harbour
joyously and nobly. That is an "abundant entrance;"
and if you and I are helped by God's Spirit to add to
our faith virtue, and so on, we shall have at the last
"an abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ." There is a man who is a Christian; but,
alas! there are many inconsistencies in his life for
which he has to mourn. He lies there, dying on his
bed. The thought of his past life rushes upon him. He
cries, "O Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner," and the
prayer is answered; his faith is in Christ, and he
shall be saved. But oh! what griefs he has upon his
bed. "Oh, if I had served my God better! And these
children of mine-if I had but trained them up better,
'in the nurture and admonition of the Lord!' I am
saved," says he; "but alas, alas! though it be a great
salvation, I cannot enjoy it yet. I am dying in gloom,
and clouds, and darkness. I trust, I hope I shall be
gathered to my fathers, but I have no works to follow
me-or very few indeed; for though I am saved, I am but
just saved-saved 'so as by fire.'" Here is another
one; he too is dying. Ask him what his dependence is:
he tells you, "I rest in none else but Jesus." But
mark him as he looks back to his past life. "In such a
place," says he, "I preached the gospel, and God
helped me." And though with no pride about him-he will
not congratulate himself upon what he has done-yet
doth he lift up hands to heaven, and he blesses God
that throughout a long life he has been able to keep
his garments white; that he has served his Master; and
now, like a shock of corn fully ripe, he is about to
be gathered into his Master's garner. Hark to him! It
is not the feeble lisp of the trembler; but with
"victory, victory, victory!" for his dying shout, he
shuts his eyes, and dies like a warrior in his glory.
That is the "abundant entrance." Now, the man that
"give diligence to make his calling and election
sure," shall ensure for himself "an abundant entrance
into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ."

What a terrible picture is hinted at in these words of
the apostle-"Saved so as by fire!" Let me try and
present it to you. The man has come to the edge of
Jordan; the time has arrived for him to die. He is a
believer-just a believer; but his life has not been
what he could wish; not all that he now desires that
it had been. And now stern death is at him, and he has
to take his first step into the Jordan. Judge of his
horror, when the flames surround his foot. He treads
upon the hot sand of the stream; and the next step he
takes, with his hair well nigh on end, with his eye
fixed on heaven on the other side of the shore, his
face is yet marked with horror. He takes another step,
and he is all bathing in fire. Another step, and he is
up to his very loins in flames-"saved, so as by fire."
A strong hand has grasped him, that drags him onward
through the stream. But how dreadful must be the death
even of the Christian, when he is saved "so as by
fire!" There on the river's brink, astonished he looks
back and sees the liquid flames, through which he has
been called to walk, as a consequence of his
indifference in this life. Saved he is-thanks to God;
and his heaven shall be great, and his crown shall be
golden, and his harp shall be sweet, and his hymns
shall be eternal, and his bliss unfading; -but his
dying moment, the last article of death, was blackened
by sin; and he was saved "so as by fire!" Mark the
other man; he too has to die. He has often feared
death. He dips the first foot in Jordan; and his body
trembles, his pulse waxes faint, and even his eyes are
well nigh closed. His lips can scarcely speak, but
still he says, "Jesus, thou art with me, thou art with
me, passing through the stream!" He takes another
step, and the waters now begin to refresh him. He dips
his hand and tastes the stream, and tells those who
are watching him in tears, that to die is blessed.
"The stream is sweet," he says, "it is not bitter: it
is blessed to die." Then he takes another step, and
when he is well nigh submerged in the stream, and lost
to vision, he says-

"And when ye hear my eyestrings break,
How sweet my minutes roll!-
A mortal paleness on my cheek,
But glory in my soul!"

That is the "abundant entrance" of the man who has
manfully served his God-who, by divine grace, has had
a path unclouded and serene-who, by diligence, has
"made his calling and election sure;" and therefore,
as a reward, not of debt, but of grace, hath entered
heaven with higher honors and with greater ease than
others equally saved, but not saved in so splendid a
manner.
Just one thought more. It is said that the entrance is
to be "ministered to us." That gives me a sweet hint
that, I find, is dwelt upon by Doddridge. Christ will
open the gates of heaven; but the heavenly train of
virtues-the works which follow us-will go up with us
and minister an entrance to us. I sometimes think, if
God should enable me to live and die for the good of
these congregations, so that many of them shall be
saved, how sweet it will be to enter heaven, and when
I shall come there, to have an entrance ministered to
me, not by Christ alone, but by some of you for whom I
have ministered. One shall meet me at the gate, and
say, "Minister, thou wast the cause of my salvation!"
And another, and another, and another, shall all
exclaim the same. When Whitfield entered heaven-that
highly honoured servant of the Lord-I think I can see
the hosts rushing to the gate to meet him. There are
thousands there that have been brought to God by him.
Oh how they open wide the gates; and how they praise
God that he has been the means of bringing them to
heaven; and how do they minister unto him an abundant
entrance? There will be some of you, perhaps, in
heaven, with starless crowns: for you never did good
to your fellow-creatures; you never were the means of
saving souls; you are to have crowns without stars.
But "they that turn many to righteousness," shall
"shine as the stars, for ever and ever;" and an
entrance shall be abundantly ministered to them. I do
want to get a heavy crown in heaven-not to wear, but
to have all the more costly gift to give to Christ.
And you ought to desire the same, that you may have
all the more honours, and so have the more to cast at
his feet, with-"Not unto us, but unto thy name, O
Christ, be the glory!" "Rather, brethren, give all
diligence to make your calling and election sure."
And now, to conclude. There are some of you with whom
this text has nothing to do. You cannot "make your
calling and election sure;" for you have not been
called; and you have no right to believe that you are
elected, if you have never been called. To such of
you, let me say, do not ask whether you are elected
first, but ask whether you are called. And go to God's
house, and bend your knee in prayer; and may God, in
his infinite mercy, call you! And mark this-If any of
you can say-

"Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;"

if any of you, abjuring your self-righteousness, can
now come to Christ and take him to be your all in all;
you are called, you are elect. "Make your calling and
election sure," and go on your way rejoicing! May God
bless you; and to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be
glory for evermore! Amen.