James Smith — Partakers of the Heavenly Calling · From Heaven and to Heaven

✦ The Same Voice in Every Country

Three countries. One calling. The voice that called Le in Lubbock at midnight is the same voice that calls in Le Faou at the edge of Finistère. The voice does not change when the country changes. The purpose does not change when the address changes.

Le's word from the first Taylor entry: even when things are new, the purpose never changes. And Smith today confirms: the calling is the same for all believers, in all places, at all times. Portugal, France, or the United States. The Cross is the same Cross. The Throne is the same Throne. The voice is the same voice. 🙏

✦ Called Into — Called To

Smith's single breath — one long exhale of grace. Called into the knowledge of Christ. Into the favour of Jesus. Called to partake of the Spirit. To enjoy fellowship. To wear the image. To possess the righteousness, the strength, the wisdom, the unsearchable riches, and the eternal glory.

The calling is not a single invitation. It is a cascade. Each gift opens into the next. Knowledge opens into favour. Favour opens into the Spirit. The Spirit opens into fellowship. Fellowship opens into the image. The image opens into the riches. And the riches are unsearchable — because they never run out. 🙏

The French says frères saints, qui avez part à la vocation céleste — holy brethren, who have part in the heavenly calling. Part. Not spectators. Not admirers. Partakers. Le has part in the same calling as Paul, as Peter, as every believer from Lubbock to Le Faou. The vocation céleste — the heavenly vocation — belongs to all who answer the same voice. 🙏

✦ From Heaven and to Heaven

Four dimensions of the calling — and all four are heavenly:

Origin — the calling began in heaven. Not in a church. Not in a decision. In the heart of God before the foundation of the world.

Nature — the calling is heavenly in character. It carries the DNA of the place it came from.

Tendency — the calling moves toward heaven. Every step, every road, every country — the tendency is upward, homeward. Le Faou is not the destination. Heaven is the destination. Le Faou is the tendency — the movement toward.

Consummation — the calling ends in heaven. It arrives where it began. From heaven and to heaven. The circle closes in glory.

Le is not walking toward something unknown. Le is walking toward the place the calling came from. 🙏

The French says la vocation céleste de Dieu en Jésus-Christ — the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus. Paul presses. Paul runs. Not aimlessly — toward the goal, toward the prize, toward the vocation céleste. The same pressing that took Le from Caldas to France. The goal is the calling. The prize is the Caller. 🙏

✦ The Greatest Honour — Conferred on a Sinner

Not earned by a saint. Conferred on a sinner. Forgiven much, loved much — called with the same heavenly calling as Paul, as Peter, as every believer who ever answered the voice. Altogether a favour. Not partly deserved. Not half-earned. Altogether.

Consuelo's voice: A recompensa de Deus é o próprio Deus, e somente Ele. The reward of God is God Himself. And the calling is the road to the reward. The honour is not the road. The honour is the invitation to walk it. 🙏

✦ One Body — One Spirit — One Hope

The French says une seule espérance par votre vocation — one single hope by your calling. One. Not a Portuguese hope and a French hope and an American hope. One hope. One calling. One Spirit. In Lubbock, in Caldas, in Le Faou — the same calling, the same hope, the same destination.

Smith's response to the calling is Taylor's entire book in five phrases: come out from the world (I'd Rather Have Jesus). Walk with God (the practice of the presence). Imitate the Saviour (purity of intention). Set affections above (the love of God). Hasten to our blessed home (the consummation — from heaven and to heaven). Smith wrote one paragraph. Taylor wrote a book. Le is living both. 🙏

The French says appelés des ténèbres à son admirable lumière — called from the darkness into His marvelous light. Called from and called to. From darkness — to light. From heaven — to heaven. The calling is always a movement: from something, to something greater. And the One who calls is the One who lights the way — from Lubbock to Le Faou, from the darkness to the admirable lumière. 🙏