Duke University Libraries

D037886942

No. 55.

WILL YOU LABOR FOR SALVATION?

BY REV. DAVID SHAVER, RICHMOND, VA.

The present life is a scene of travail — conflict — weariness. Often, as we pass through it, are we like the Israelites wandering in the wildorness, when ''the soul of the people urage'd because of the way." With what a fainting heart we see the years wear slowly on; wliile, one after another, toils and trials strew our path, "thick as autumnal leaves," and sharper than hedges of thorns ? But, in the life -to come, ''there rernaineth a rest to the people of G i. ...1;" an unbroken and enduring rest, who^e sweet dawn oyen* on the soul at the instant of release from suffering, dying flesh, but whose perfect consum- mation is reserved for the times when Christ, who is our lilc, shall appear/' ;:nd His disciples '"shall " also appear with Him in glory." It was with his eye fixed on that blissful scene, with his heart panting after it. with his feet pressing toward it, that the apostle Paul uttered to his own generation, and through them to us, the solemn injunction, i;Let us labor, therefore, to enter into thctt rest." (Heb 4 ; 11) May we ask you, reader, to dwell with patient thoughtfulness on the lessons which that injunction conveys to as?

There is an implied lesson in it It clearly proceeds on the supposition, that we may effect an entrance into the heavenly rest. If this be not true, the injunction to seek it, takes form as bitter and shameless mockery, like the words of the railers who wagging their heads, urged Christ to descend from the cross, believing all the while that it was beyond His power to come down. But the language of the apostle is the language of frankness and earnestness. He speaks, because "the oity of the bless- ed" has gates that "stand open day and night" He speaks, because between those gates and ourselves no barriers rise which our feet may not surmount, if we steadily tread the way of truth. And this is most precious doctrine. Hea- thenism taught men to frame their guilty fears into the horrible idea of a "Fate," which "had no head and could not think," which "had no heart and could not feel/' but which had an iron, resistless hand sweeping a defenceless race into an inevitable ruin The gospel shines on this spectre, and as it melts away, we behold, instead, Christ the only "Fate" of man ; Christ who "came into the world to save sinners;" Christ who gave His flesh for the life of the world; Christ, the often rejected, the never reject- ing I Like nature's sun this Sun of righteousness shines for all. The water of life flows freely for whosoever will take it. All may eat of "the bread which cometh down from heaven ;" for that bread, as our Redeemer himself declares, "giveth life unto the world'" It stands, then, as a truth which cannot be shaken, that every one of us may effect an entrance into the heavenly rest.

But will we? If we would, we must give earnest heed to the lesson expressed in the apostolic injunction. We must remenber that to effect an entrance into the heaven- ly rest demands "labor." Not manual labor; for in this

ease, "bodily exercise profitetli nothing.0 But that har- der labor of the mind and of the hearty which calls for greater industry than any merely physical toil. There is an evil nature that must be changed. There are evil habits which must be broken off. There are evil maxims or rules of conduct which must be renounced. There are evil examples which must be resisted. These things de- mand the strenuous exercise of the inner man unto godli- ness. And without this labor of the mind and of the heart none enter into nthat rest." Thus, it is written : "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence- forth j Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." As if to proclaim, that none die in the Lord, noue are blessed in their death, except those who have works which may fol- low them and labors from which they may rest ! He who dreams of .saving his soul on any easier term*, will bo awakened by its loss. Men may slumber while the tide drifts them toward the gulf of perdition; but the gull* swallows them up — and there are no slumberers there. Wrath opens, never to close again, the eyes which were shut, which were willingly and wilfully blind, to grate. Many will see, when it is too late to profit by it, that their destruction is greatly owing to their not perceiving clear- ly, and deeply feeling, how necessary labor is, in order to an entrance into the heavenly rest."

Suffer, then, dear reader, from one who loves your souls, a few exhortations resting on this vital doctrine.

I. Think it not strange that "labor" should be necc- ifwe would effect an entrance into the heavenly rest. There is nothing strange about it.

The same law applies to the things of the present life. 77/ < ir price is labor. On this point, revelation, which is

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the only divine teacher, and experience, which is the best human teacher, read the same lesson to us. An often ({noted text of Scripture might, without violence to the original, have been translated : "Man is born unto I as the sparks fly upward." (Job, 5 ) 7.) This is the pen- alty of sin ; "lathe sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thorn return unto the ground." (Gen, 3} 19) This is the law of righteousness: "Six days -shalt thou labor and do all thy work." (Ex. 20 0.) Whether we regard God, therefore, as a Sovereign avenging rebellion against Him, or as a Legislator prescribing the measure of obedience to Him, we find equal evidence, that, accord- ing to His purpose, man, as respects the present life, is, and must be, w lu borer — in mind, in body, in both. Those who attempt practically to annuL the "constitution of nature ,aud the course of Providence" in this regard, pluck down manifold evils- on themselves. So the pro- verbs of divine revelation teach : "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of tire man void of un- derstanding, and lo, it was all grown over with th< and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down, Then I^aw, and consider- ed it well ; I looked upon it, and received instruction. Vet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth," that is, eome swiftl)* "and thy want as an armed man."1 that is, irresistibly. (Frov. 24, 3ft~-34.) Of like sort is the teaching of the proverbs of human experience: "Idleness is the key of beggary;" "Sloth is ' the mother of poverty.". As the general rule, then, toil- some exertion is necessary in order to secure whatever men of the world set their hearts on. Karth holds all

thing? at that rate, and yields them up into our possession

and enjoyment at no lower cost.

Now, why should not this law apply equally to the things of the life to come? Why should sloth be the mother of eternal riches, and idleness the key of heaven t Why should those who by doing nothing lose all the bl< of this mortal state, hope nevertheless, while doing bing, to inherit all the b of the state immor-

tal ? The expect urdity upon its very

Analogy furbids it. The God of nature is the Grod of the "H ike over the present

world and the next. Is it not reasonable to conclude, "then, thai be of one and the same

mid be constituted on one and the game prim hat the necessity for labor, to the

treasures of the one. should apply to the I ofHhe

other also ? that in both, if in either, (rod should suspend % the thin . ■! uf-on effort and toil ? Itis not stran

Hhen at our Saviour sheul

in at the strait gate." ( Lu. 18j 24 not strange

that one of his disciples ehoul d k oat y

own salvation with fear and trembling;" (Phil. 2;, 12 and another; to make your calling and

ehction sure.' Pet. 1 ; 10.) Tt is not strange that

to effect an entrance into the heavenly restdemands lal

. it would be stran "ountably strange, if this

were not the ease. Who could explain the obvious in- consistency, if tin nature gave nothing here to inactivity, and the God of the Bible gave all tilings to it hereafter? There is no such inconsistency in Jehovah. It is amazing that even the most heedless of men should

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instance can be found, of the power of a warped vision to wink great and vital truth out of sight.

II. Do not refuse to seek an entrance into the heaven- ly rest, because "labor" is necessary to effect it. The fruit of that labor would repay you for its weariness — if this weariness were aggravated a thousand-fold — and if that fruit were diminished a million-fold. How much more certain, satisfying, enduring, are its rewards than the rewards of earthly labor. Let us lay open this thought together.

(1.) Labor for the things of the present life is uncertain.

lou may prepare yourself for one of the professions. Much money and years of study may be expended in se- curing proper qualification for it. And that qualification may be yours. Still, though you deserve success, you may not be able to command it. Competitors, perhaps less competent than yourself, may jostle you aside in the eager race after professional emolument or professional distinction ; and while they float on the full tide, you may lie stranded and wreoked on the beach. "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill ; but time and chance happeneth to all." (Eccl9; 11.)

You may till the ground ; rising early, sitting up late ; rivalling the industry of Jacob, who said, "In tho day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night," But though you carry much seed out into the field, you may gather little in.^God may call for a drought upon the land, and upon the corn, and upon the wheat, and upon all that the ground brings forth. Your harvest may bo smitten with blasting, and with mildew, and with hail. Tho toil of tkey^rmer' . to you eimpi^ba^cL *Wh$t 7®&

have spent your strength for, and your time, may "be as the grass upon the house-tops, which withereth afore it groweth up, wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom." And if the heavens grant rain and fruitful seasons to the husband- man, you may be stricken down ink) a cheerless grave, while others gather the produce of your fields into the • barn, and watch the rise and fall of markets, and sell when prices are at the highest, and count over the abun- dant profit, won but not enjoyed by you ?

He that earns wages, may earn them, only to put them into a bag with holes. The gains of a long life, adven- tured upon some speculation of fair but false promise, or deposited for safe keeping in a failing bank, or loaned to one on the verge of insolvency, or eaten by the tongue of fire, or swept with the besom of merciless war> may perish in a single hour, and leave behind them nothing but vain repining and hopeless beggary to your gray hairs.

Such are the uncertainties which hang over earthly labor. But Jahor for the things of the lif 6 to come cannot fail of success.

Those who perform this work of the Lord, perform sure work — the only work which must be crowned with re^ ward. So felt the apostle Paul, when he exhorted his beloved brethren to be steadfast, unmovable, always a- bounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as they knew that their labor was not in vain in the Lord.

It is impossible that repentance and faith should come to nought. That they should fall as water spilled upon the ground, without procuring acceptance with the Friend of sinners, U impossible, Has not that merciful and faith- ful Saviour said, "Him thai somsth u.nto sie» I m\\ in qq ^Iss $*§i out F <Jao» 6 j 8?) Ties* %t$ Hi* wds j

and has lie not also said, ''Heaven and earth shall pass

away, but my words shall not pass away?" (Matt. 24: 85.) Faith and repentance, then, cannot fail of success; but those who exercise them shall be satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord.

Equally is this true of Christian fidelity. Christian _ fidelity mast abide in Christ's love. "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him." (I)eut. 33 ; 1CJ Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to sepa- rate Fidelity from the love of Cod Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. "My sheep/" said theTvedeemer, "hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give untb them eternal life ; and the*y shall never perish ; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." (Jno. 10; 27, 28.)

Mark the contrast in this particular. You labor for the things of the present life, in the midst of great uncer- tainty ; not knowing whether you shall obtain compen- sation for your efforts; running the risk of closing a toil- some life in want and penury. In this you do well. 3^ut what show of reason can you present for rci using to labor that you may effect an entrance into the heavenly rest, assured as you are by the entire word of God, that your efforts are attended by an absolute certainty of success, — that there is not anything which can by possibility sub- ject you to final disappointment ! Are you willing to be workers where you may gain nothing, and not where you must gain all things ? Ho not pass this consideration by. Our Saviour himself appeals to the uncertainty of earthly things and the certainty of heavenly things, and grounds o¥e of Ilia own solemn counsels on it-.

yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where this . through and

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neith- er moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal/* (Matt. 6; 19, 20/)" That is, prefer the sure labor to the unsure. Give not your su- preme affection and most strenuous effort to .the things which may elude your grasp : there are things which can- not deceive you. give them rather t i these. Oh. if you will not hear us. hear the Lord Je

The things of the present life lor which we labor, if we obtain them, are >**m$ati$fying. It is not in their power to fill the cap quiet th< . heart of

mm". We have n monies to this effect.

Take that of the Caliph Abdalrahman. An authentic memorial, found in his close: ♦] have

now r< i ove fifty years in victory or ; eloVted

by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by m)- allies. Riches and honor . asure,

have waited on my call, nor does any earthly b;

fro have been wanting to my felicity. tion 1 have diligently numbered the days of pur genuine 1 which have fallen to my lot; they

amount to fourteen. O man! place not thy confidence in the present

No less emphatic is the result of the experience oi omon, as. recorded by itimself. "What hath man of al] his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein lie hath labored under the .nun ? For all s are sor-

rows and his travail grief; bis heart taketh not rest in the night." (Eccl 2 j 22, 23) "He that loveth silver not be sat: • loveth

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is the language of one, who, as the Scriptures tell us, ''ex- ceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wis- dom." His riches placed him in circumstances in which he might form an intelligent judgment as to the value of earthly things ; his wisdom qualified him to judge cor- rectly. And the conclusion he reached has been em- bodied in the memorable sentence, "Vanity of vanities, all if vanity!" *

Our labor, then, if given to the present world, and if successful, secures that which does not, cannot, satisfy the soul immortal. But labor for the^ things of the life to come secures joy unspeakable and full of glory.

When these laborers are "beautified with salvation," God shall set Jthem before His face, and Christ shall set them on His throne. "They shall hunger no more, neith- er thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them .unto living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe, away all tears from their eyes," (Rev. Y; 16, 17). No deferred or dis- appointed hopes are there. No fears cloud the spirit. No shafts of regret pierce the bosom. No .separations invade that hallowed fellowship; no warring passions em- bitter it; no ster'nestrangements chill it. All is love, and purity, and peace. Sin, out of which every sorrow flows, shall be there unknown; for the spirits of just men are made perfect there. Heaven shall be their home; and their inheritance, God. Oh, to say that such an abode and such a reward are "satisfying," is language too tame and cold for Christian ears to endure it ! And we must find angelio lips to speak its glories forth,

Lay this difference to heart* You labor for the things 0? the present life tepiie their unsatisfying aaturo—de*

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spite their inability to make up for the so%l a portion which shall content it — despite the universal testimony of experience that as they increase, cares, and pains, and disappointments, increase with them. In this, you act rightly. But how can you justify yourselves, in that you refuse to labor to effect an entrance into the heavenly rest — that rest on which no shadow of discontent or grief can ever fall— that rest which shines with all the rays of an unalloyed and an infinite blessedness? Are you willing to be workers for that which leaves you destitute of suf- ficing happiness, and not for that which guarantees such happiness, in fuller measure than human heart can now conceive? Disregard not this thought. God has deemed it of sufficient importance to be spoken by the mouth of His prophet: — "Wherefore]do you spend money for that which is not bread ? and your labor for that which satis- fieth not? Hearken diligentlv unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." (Isa. 55; 2) Oh, if this question be of such worth, that one of the sons of men was fitly inspired to urge it, it should claim your instant, earnest meditation. Can you innocently refuse to ponder it?

(3) The things of the present life, for which we labor, if we obtain them, an^ if they might satisfy jis, can be ours but for a little ichile.

Death removes them out of our possession. Man, when summoned from thisworld, leaves them all behind him. "As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor which he may carry away in his hand. In all points, as he came so shall he go ; and what profit hath ho that hath labored for the wind?" (Eoe) 16) "We

brought nothing into %W% worl^ and it is cwtaia w§ can

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carry nothing x>ut." (1 Tim. G; 7) All are poor in the grave. Houses and lands, gold ami silver, honor, and pleasure, and friends, — these are withdrawn from every one that "giveth up the gho'sfe" Other eyes than the eyes of the miser will look upon 'his hidden stores then; other hands than his, buy, and sell, and get gain, with them. The last hour comes; and in the twinkling of an eye, the millionaire is penniless. The dead are owners of nothing on the whale lace of the earth — of nothing ex- cept so much ground .as may supply «• resting place to their mouldering forms — aiid not always of that I Now, this is what you labor for, as respects the present life — this in- stant and total bank this absolute destitution of the grave — this losing all things — this having nothing..

But labor for the things of the life to dome secures :,;:n inheritance incorruptible and undeliled, ;.nd that fadeth not awal/."

"This is the promise that God hath promised

I life," (1 Jn'o. 2; 25,) -life that ends not ever. The worshippers in the Upper Temple "shall go no more out." (Rev. 3; 12.) fifteen hundred vears after the death of Abel, a flood of waters jVom the fountains of the great deep and from the windows of heaven, was sweep- ing the old world that sinned, into a righteous destruc- tion. But during those fifteen hundred years Abel had been in the unbroken enjoyment of the heavenly rest, arid looked down upon f the sea without 'a shore" which ■uried all nations underneath its waves, and saw- the- ark which floated with eight persons above, the universal grave. Yet other two thousand three hundred years — »r at Bethlehem a little child was lying,

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iour of sinners. But Abel's enjoyment of ,the heavenly rest had been prolonged without a pause, through these two thousand, three hundred year.-, and he took up the echo of that song 'before the Throne', and struck his lyre of praise aire- h with gla I :i hundred and

sixty years more — and tl a which. we have fallen

are spreading out the strange mystery of their good, stranger mystery of then fore the eye of IL

But through their long la njoyment of the L

ly re>r . w,ho can picture to his

imagination th ] ven Centuries during which that

martyr has walked in white before the Father's pres- ence— holy — happy — without one stain of sin, however slight — vithou

en Centuri th« be*-

ginning of the beginning- of I and (he joy which

have :, vhieh await y h yon be the humb-

lest of all I

ou.dy consider tin r for the

things of the present Hi if you obtain them, and

if you enjoy them, that death shall i their | b j not dre » even in th »t mo-

ment, that iliev can be ; d it;

sure that an inevitable hour, an hour at hand to

come. rike them every one fn p. In

this, you are without blame. B i\ li what plea will

X.CUS9, even to yo;: tlure to hrbo

you may effect an entrance into the heavenly rest; may

.!..' '-rich unto God • in the unJ iceter-

natinherii fcre you ^ ■ be workers where

the fruit of your tjili mast, by and bye* pass froui forever, and not where it shall be for over enhancing

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He whoso blood was shocLin yotfr behalf accounted it not unmeet for utterance by Himself. "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give unto you : for Him hath God the Father sealed." (Jno. (5; 27) Oh, shall He speak, and not gain your ear, and not subdue your heart?

Ill Hope not that by refusing to labor to effect an en- trance into the heavenly rest, you shall escape all labor. A far sorer travail of soul awaits you, in working out your ruin. Christ, in the days of his flesh, cried, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." From these words we gather — first, that sin- ners are laboring under their sins, which, as a burden grievous to be borne, are bound upon their souls — and secondly, that in comparison with this laboring under sins, the Christian's labor to be delivered from them is itself a rest. Oh, turn then on this truth a serious eye : Ye who will not labor to enter into the heavenly ?'cst, labor, and shall labor, under your sins.

(1.) You labor under their power. They rule you. You serve them. Their evil.pleasure will they constrain you to do. All the iniquitous deeds ' which blacken the annals of the world, are proofs of the power of sins. What may they not bring you to perform? Much from which vou once recoiled, they make vou do now; much from which you recoil now, they will make you do here- . after. There are no such hard task-masters under the sun as they !

(2) You labor under their guilt. They condemn you. They waken all the thunders of Sinai against you. They point the sword of Infinite Justice at your bosom. All the displays of God's wrath, which light up warning fires,

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as it were, along the path of man's history, are proofs of the guilt of sins. They drowned the old world under the flpod. They rained down devouring flame on Sodom and Gomorrah. What may they not cause you to endure on earth ? "What must they not compel you to suffer in hell?

(3.) You labor under their shame. They dishonor you. When God is the Father — how great the reproach of being a disobedient child ? When Christ is the King- how great the reproach of being a rebel against the throne? All the infamy which crimsons the pages of the paet> is proof of the shame of sins. What deep disgrace may they not fix on your name yet ?

(4.) You labor under their disappointment. They de- ceive and betray you. They make promises which they cannot keep. They inspire hopes which they cannot ful- fil. Thorns are under* their flowers ; their apples turn to ashes on the lips: you lean upon their reea, it breaks, and pierces your side. All the sighs which havo ever burst from human bosoms, all the tears which have ever fallen from human eyes, all the regrets, disquietudes and fears which have ever shed gall and bitterness on human hearts, are proofs of the disappointment of sins. Oh, is there a sorrow into whose turbid stream they may not plunge you !

Such is your labor, under the power, the guilt, the shame, the disappointment of sins. And you have no helpers like those who stand by the feeblest subject and servant of Christ. Conscience is against you, in labor- ing under your sins — conscience, which would be on your side in laboring to enter the heavenly rest. And he whose conscience is against him cannot be strong ! God is against you in laboring under your sins — God, who would be on your side in laboring to enter the heavenly

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And lie who has God against him must fee weak — unutterably weak !•

Consider now, these different kinds of labor — this wurk of Satan on the one hand — this work of God on the other. The one or the other must be done. We must enter heav- ven laboring, or laboring enter hell. Make your choice between them.- Which master will you serve — God or Which wages will you have1 — eternal life or eternal death? Oh, determine wisely. Determine now: "to-morrow's sun may shine upon your grave."

Decide now whether you will perform the "labor" neces- sary to effect an entrance' into the heavenly rest. Every promise of Holy Scripture asks that question, i drop of the blood of Christ asks.it. Every monition of the Spirit of grace asks it. Everyday of the forbearance of God asks it. How will you answer? If you are moved to answer aright, there are three things that you will do.

(1) YoU will begirt your labor at once. You will dread delay as the very gate of perdition, "Choose you this day whom you will serve. ,; £Jdsh.;24j 15.) Immedktte labor alone is wise. *

(2) You will suffer no obstruction to interrupt your labor* A half-hearted performance will strike you as real neglect. You will see self-murder in it. "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?" (Neb. G; 3.) Diligent labor alone can accomplish anything.

(>]) You iv ill cease from yov.r labor only with' the ceas- ing of life. To abandon it before death, will seem to you irse than death itself. "We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stead- fast unto the end." (IXeb. 3; 14.) Persevering labor alone jayaita hand on the crown of glory.

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