All that the Father hath given Me shall come unto Me, and him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out
The certainty and freeness of Divine grace
I.
GRACE TRIUMPHANT IN SPECIALITY.
1. Christ leads us up to the original position of all things. All men are naturally from the beginning in the hand of the Father as Creator, Governor, and Source and Fountain of election.
2. He proceeds to inform us of a great transaction. That His Father put His people into the hands of His Son as the Mediator. Here was the Father’s condescension in giving, and the Son’s compassion in receiving.
3. He assures us that this transaction in eternity involves a certain change in time. The only token of election is the definite open choosing of Christ.
4. He hints at a power possessed by Him to constrain wanderers to return. Not that any force is used, but by His messengers, Word, and Spirit, He sweetly and graciously compels men to come in accordance with the laws of the human mind, and without impairing human freedom. We are made willing in the day of Christ’s power.
5. He declares that there is no exception to this rule of grace. Not some but all, individually and collectively.
II. GRACE TRIUMPHANT IN ITS LIBERALITY.
1. The liberality of its character: “him that cometh,” the rich, poor, great, obscure, moral, debauched.
2. The liberality of the coming: no adjective or adverb to qualify. Not coming to the sacraments or worship, but to Christ. Some come at once; some are months in coming; some come running; some creeping; some carried; some with long prayers; some with only two words; some fearfully; some hopefully, but none are cast out.
3. The liberality of the time. It doesn’t say when. He may be seventy or only seven; at any season; on any day.
4. The liberality of the duration. “Never cast thee out,” neither at first nor to the last,
5. Something of the liberality is seen in the certainty, “in no wise.” It is not a hope as to whether Christ will accept you. You cannot perish if you go.
6. There is great liberality if you will notice the personality. In the first clause, where everything is special, Jesus used the large word “all”; in the second, which is general, He uses the little word “him.” Why? Because sinners want something that will suit their case. This means me. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
An account of the persons that come to Christ
1. What is meant by coming to Christ?
(1) An outward coming in application of the means. When we come to His ordinances we come to Him.
(2) Closing with Christ, embracing Him, believing on Him, and submitting to Him. Coming not with the feet but with the heart.
2. What is meant by the Father giving men to Christ?
(1) In God’s eternal purpose and counsel.
(2) In the drawing of our hearts to Him when God by His Spirit persuades us to close with Christ. This giving is mutual: Christ is given to us and we to Him, so there is a marriage-knot drawn and contracted between us.
I. ALL THAT THE FATHER HATH GIVEN ME SHALL COME TO ME.
1. This is an expression of some latitude and universality--“all” Eph_1:4-5; 2Pe_3:9). From which we learn how to make our calling and election sure, viz., by closing with the conditions of the gospel. We may know whether we are given to Christ by coming to Him.
2. This is an expression of restriction. None come to Christ but such as are given to Him (Joh_6:44; 2Co_3:5; Php_2:13). The reasons why none come to Christ but those whom God gives to Him are
(1) Because all others are ignorant of Him, and without the knowledge of Christ there is no coming to Him (Mat_16:16-17).
(2) There is a perverseness in their wills and affections, so that though many know Him, they hang off from Him (Joh_3:19), so there must also be a drawing of their hearts which is the work of God alone.
3. From the word “come” we learn that men by nature are distant from Christ.
4. From the word “given” we see that all men are in the hands of God, for none can give what they have not got.
II. CHRIST’S ENTERTAINMENT OF THOSE WHO COME TO HIM.
1. His reception.
(1) He will take them into friendship with Himself (Mat_11:28; Isa_55:7; Eze_33:11).
(2) None excepted (Rev_22:17). There is nothing to exclude Isa_1:18; 1Ti_1:15).
(3) What an encouragement to all men to close with Christ.
(a) The nature of our sins cannot exclude us, since Paul, Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, etc., found mercy (Psa_25:11). The ground of God’s pardon is not our sin, but His grace (Isa_44:3; Isa_44:24-25).
(b) Nor the Humber of our sins (Hos_14:4; Jer_3:1).
(c) Nor any supposed imperfection in our humiliation. We are humbled sufficiently if we come.
(4) Consider the great advantage of coming.
(a) Pardon and the life of justification (Isa_55:7; Mic_7:19).
(b) Power over sin and the life of sanctification.
(c) Comfort and peace of conscience.
(5) To enlarge, we may come not only in conversion, but after it, for assurance, greater measures of grace, and progress. Let us then come boldly (Heb_4:16).
2. His custody and preservation. “I will keep him in.” (T. Horton, D. D.)
The Father’s gift the sinner’s privilege
I. THE EXPRESSION. “All that the Father,” etc.
1. Number. Who can measure the amplitude of “all”?
2. Definiteness. Not one more or less.
3. Relation. The Father sends His Son to men and men to His Son. The conditions of this relation are the Incarnation and Atonement on the part of Christ; coming or believing on the part of men.
4. Donation. This was mediatorial.
5. Value. What must be the worth of that which the Father could give and Christ accept?
II. THE PROMISE. “Shall come unto Me.”
1. The certainty. “He shall see of the travail of His soul.”
2. The act.
(1) Externally, they shall be brought in the providence of God under the means of grace.
(2) Spiritually. If you have come to Christ you have entered into the meaning of four words--conviction of sin, the suitableness of Christ, venturing on Christ, continual coming to Christ.
III. THE ENCOURAGEMENT. “I will in no wise cast out.”
1. Personality. “Him.” Sin is personal, so must salvation be.
2. Extent. Christianity is the only universal religion; it can take root everywhere because it makes its offer to everybody.
3. The removal of doubts.
(1) On the part of sinners.
(a) When they have been called late in life; but remember the dying thief.
(b) Sin suggests doubts. It is not what you have been, but what you are willing to be.
(c) Unworthiness and infirmity create doubts.
(d) Doubts arise from ignorance. All these are removed by the invitation.
(2) On the part of saints.
(a) Many feel a sense of inward corruption.
(b) Others are conscious of stupidity and perverseness.
(c) Lowness of attainment suggests doubts; and
(d) Remaining guilt and imperfection. But what are these in the light of the promise, “Him that,” etc.? (Dr. Andrews.)
Encouragement to seekers from the purposes and promises of God
I. GOD’S GRACIOUS PURPOSE.
1. God the Father is the prime Mover in the scheme of redemption. Beware of regarding the Father as an enemy and the Son as a friend. The Father’s love is perpetually magnified in Scripture.
2. The Father hath given His Son a multitude which no man can number.
3. This gift was a very burdensome one to the Son. A ransom must be paid and satisfaction given.
4. The acceptance of the gift was most willing, for the Son gave Himself to receive it (Eph_5:25).
II. THE ARTICLE OF THE COVENANT which secures the actual union of His people to the Redeemer. “Shall come unto Me.”
1. What is meant by coming to Christ?
(1) Seeking, implying a sense of need, danger, misery, condemnation, ruin.
(2) Finding, including an enlightened understanding, and the revelation of the Saviour as suited to the sinner’s necessities.
(3) Appropriation.
2. The instrument of calling sinners is the Word, the Law with its warnings and threatenings, the gospel with its invitations and promises.
3. The effectual agent is the Spirit. We preach like Ezekiel to dry bones until the heavenly breath breathes upon them.
III. THE PROMISE. “Him that cometh,” etc. The preacher’s commission is as unlimited as this promise. “Go ye into all the world,” go.
1. Our encouragement to go forth under this commission is drawn from our knowledge of God’s purpose. This assures us that our labour shall not be in vain.
2. No degree or kind of guilt will be a bar to the sinner’s reception if he will but come.
3. Surely then the expostulation is timely, “Why will ye die?”
(1) Why go on in ways you know to be ruinous?
(2) Why keep away from Jesus when you are sure of a welcome?
4. Whose fault will it be if you perish? Yours, not God’s. (W. Hancock, M. A.)
Comers welcomed
I. GROUNDS ON WHICH THEY FEAR REJECTION.
1. Supposed omission from the number of the given, in which case they deem it hopeless to come.
2. Greatness of guilt--they are too bad to be received.
3. Absence of merit--they are not good enough to be accepted.
4. Lateness of repenting--they are too old to be welcomed.
5. Defects in believing--their faith is too feeble or not of the right sort.
II. REASONS WHY THEY ARE SURE OF A WELCOME. Christ will not cast them out.
1. For their sakes. He knows
(1) The value of the soul.
(2) The greatness of the peril.
(3) The blessedness of salvation.
2. For His Father’s sake. To do so would be to place dishonour upon Him whose will He had been sent to perform.
3. For His own sake. Since every sinner saved is
(1) An increase to His glory.
(2) A triumph of His grace.
(3) A trophy of His power.
(4) A subject added to His empire.
4. For the world’s sake. How could the gospel prevail if it got noised abroad that one was rejected. Lessons
1. Despair for none.
2. Hope for all. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
High doctrine and broad doctrine
Consider
I. THE ETERNAL PURPOSE.
1. If all that the Father giveth to Christ shall come to Him, then some shall come, and why should you not be among them? One says, “Suppose I am not one of the elect”; but suppose you are--or, better still, leave off supposing altogether and go to Christ and see.
2. Those who come to Christ come because of the Father and the Son. They come to Christ not because of any good in them, but because of the Father’s gift. There never was a soul who wanted to come but Jesus wanted him to come a hundred times as much.
3. They are all saved because they come to Christ, and not otherwise. There is no way of salvation for peculiar people. The King’s highway is for all.
4. If I come to Christ, it is most clear that the Father gave me to Christ.
II. THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL.
1. “Him that cometh,” go., is one of the most generous of gospel texts. Generous
(1) As to the character to whom the promise is made. “Him,” the atrocious sinner, the backslider, you.
(2) The text gives no limit to the coming, save that they must come to Christ. Some come running, some limping, etc.
(3) There is no limit as to time. Young and old.
2. The blessed certainty of salvation--lit. “I will not, not,” or “never, never cast out.”
3. The personality of the text--“Him,” that is, thee. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Coming to Christ
Every stage of the Redeemer’s life confirmed the delightful fact, that “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,” etc.
I. THE OBJECT OF APPROACH. Prophets spake of Him, that around Him should throng the sons and daughters of woe. Jacob said, when dying, “Unto Him shall the gathering together of the people be.” Isaiah said, “Unto Him shall men come”; and He Himself said, “All that the Father hath given Me,” etc. “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” He possesses qualifications to relieve our wants, in opposition to all assumed characters.
1. He is infinitely wise.
2. He is of illimitable power.
3. He is of boundless compassion: and by possession of these, He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.
II. THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH WE ARE TO COME.
1. For instruction. We are ignorant of ourselves--of God--of Christ--of the way of salvation. He is the light of the world--the great prophet. “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord,” etc.
2. For pardon. We are guilty, and need pardon. “Him hath God exalted with His right hand,” etc. “In whom we have redemption through His blood--the forgiveness of sins,” etc. Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.
3. For strength. We have duties to perform, difficulties to encounter, trials to endure. Without Him we can do nothing: but He has said, “My grace is sufficient for thee,” and always remember as a check to indolence and supineness, that though without Him we can do nothing, “we can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth us.”
4. For peace. He is the Prince of Peace. “My peace I leave with you,” etc.; and we, as ministers of Christ, preach peace through the blood of His cross.
5. For eternal life. “I give unto My sheep eternal life.” He is the record, “God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
III. HOW WE ARE TO COME. A bodily act is not intended; many do this, and not come at all. Jesus said, when they thronged around Him, “Ye will riot come unto Me that ye might have life”; but a spiritual act is meant; and does it not remind us that we are naturally at a distance, not locally, but spiritually; and hence arises the necessity of the agency of the Holy Spirit--“No man can come unto Me,” etc.
1. We come by prayer: “Hence,” says Paul, “let us come boldly to the throne of grace.”
2. By faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God,” etc.
(1) It regards His Divinity.
(2) His humanity.
(3) That He is the appointed medium of approach--“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
3. With humility on account of our sin.
4. Contrition. Not sorrow merely for its consequences, but from a view of its nature, and the Being against whom it is committed. “That godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation,” etc.
IV. THE CERTAINTY OF ACCEPTANCE. “I will in no wise cast out.”
1. From the promises and invitations of Scripture. “And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come.” “ Ho, every one that thirsteth.” “Come unto Me, all ye that labour.” “Wherefore, He also is able to save to the uttermost.” “As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure.” “Not willing that any should perish,” etc.
2. From the examples of the Scripture. There stands a Manasseh, a Magdalen, St. Luke, a Thief on the Cross, and a Saul of Tarsus. Go to heaven, and ask if Jesus was willing to receive them? The question shall give a fresh impulse to the song, while they swell the strains, and cry, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Go to the regions of darkness, and ask of them, Is one there that applied to Him? and, while anguish swells their bosoms, they will answer, No; we despised and rejected Him, and would not have Him to reign over us. Go to the north, east, west, and south, and ask believers whether Jesus did not receive them graciously. They will all give their testimony--While a great way off, He ran and met me, and fell upon my neck and kissed me. Conclusion: address to those already come--those coming--and those at a distance. (The Pulpit.)
Coming to Christ
I have read of an artist who wanted to paint a picture of the prodigal son. He searched through the mad-houses, and the poorhouses, and the prisons, to find a man wretched enough to represent the prodigal, but he could not find one. One day he was walking down the streets and met a man whom He thought would do. He told the poor beggar he would pay him well if he came to his room and sat for his portrait. The man agreed, and the day was appointed for him to come. The day came, and a man put in his appearance at the artist’s room. “You made an appointment with me,” he said, when he was shown into the studio. The artist looked at him, and said, “I never saw you before.” “Yes,” he said, “I agreed to meet you to-day at ten o’clock.” “You must be mistaken; it must have been some other artist; I was to see a beggar here at this hour.” “Well,” said the man, “I am he.” “You? Yes.” “Why, what have you been doing? Well, I thought I would dress myself up a bit before I got painted.” “Then,” said the artist,” I do not want you; I wanted you as you were; now you are no use to me.” That is the way Christ wants every poor sinner, just as he is. (D. L. Moody.)
Coming to Christ
“My next step,” said an anxious inquirer, “is to get deeper conviction.” “No,” said a Christian friend, “your next step is to go to Christ just as you are. He does not say, come to conviction, come to a deeper sense of sin, which you have been labouring to get, but ‘Come unto Me.’“ “Ah,” she exclaimed, “I see it now. Oh, how self-righteous I have been, really refusing Christ, while all the time I thought I was preparing to come to Him.” “Will you go to Jesus now?” Humbly, yet decisively, she responded, “Yes, I will.” And the Lord in the richness of His grace and mercy enabled bet to do so. (Clerical Library.)
Christ the Saviour of all who come to Him
I. OUR DUTY TO CHRIST. To come to Him.
1. How.
(1) By repentance (Mat_11:28; Mar_1:15).
(2) By faith.
(a) Assenting to Him (Heb_11:6) that He is an only (Act_4:12) and all-sufficient Saviour (Heb_7:12).
(b) Receiving Him (Joh_1:12) for our Priest, to atone (Heb_9:12) and to make intercession (Heb_7:25; 1Jn_2:1); for our Prophet (Deu_18:15; Act_3:22), to make known God’s will and to enable us to know it (Joh_16:13); for our King (IsaJohn 18:36; Mat_28:18), to subdue our enemies Heb_2:14), to rule over us (Psa_110:1-3).
2. What for.
(1) Pardon (Act_5:31).
(2) Acceptance (Rom_5:1).
(3) Purity (Tit_2:14; Act_3:26).
(4) Eternal life (Joh_5:40; Mat_11:28).
II. CHRIST’S PROMISE, that if we come to Him He will in no wise cast us out.
1. What are we to understand by this? That He will receive us (Tit_2:14) into
(1) The number of His people (1Pe_2:9);
(2) His love and favour (Joh_13:1);
(3) His care and protection (Joh_17:12);
(4) An interest in his death and passion;
(5) A participation of His grace and spirit (Joh_16:7);
(6) His intercession (Joh_17:9);
(7) His presence and glory (Joh_17:24).
2. How does this appear.
(1) We have His promise.
(2) This was the end of His coming (Joh_3:16; Joh_6:39-40).
III. MOTIVES TO COME TO CHRIST.
1. Are we in debt? He will be our Surety (Heb_7:22).
2. Are we in prison? He will be our Redeemer.
3. Are we sick? He will be our Physician (Mat_9:12).
4. Are we arraigned? He will be our Advocate, (1Jn_2:1).
5. Are we condemned? He will be our Saviour (Rom_8:34).
6. Are we estranged from God? He will be our Mediator (1Ti_2:5).
7. Are we in misery? He will be our Comforter (Psa_94:19).
8. Are we weary? He will give us rest (Mat_11:28). Wherefore come to Him.
(1) Presently.
(2) Cheerfully.
(3) Sincerely.
(4) Resolutely. (Bp. Beveridge.)
The all-important advent
I. THE EVENT. There are various advents.
1. The incarnation.
2. Through the Spirit.
3. At the judgment.
4. That of our text--a man’s coming to Christ. This is dependent on the first, is made effectual through the second, and secures that the third shall be blessed and glorious.
II. THE CONSEQUENCE. Those who come will not be cast out.
1. Because it is not in Christ’s nature to do so.
2. Because He has shed His blood for this very purpose.
3. Because He has said it, which is enough.
III. THE MANNER.
1. Direct--not through any mediator.
2. As you are.
3. As you can.
4. Now. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Coming unto Jesus
Take every other verse out of the Scriptures, and leave but this, and you have a foundation on which a world of souls may build their hopes and never be put to shame. Hear it, impenitent sinners, alarmed souls, desponding believers, rejoicing saints.
I. THE PERSON POINTED OUT. What is meant by coming to Him.
1. Negatively.
(1) Not to the Scriptures, they only testify of Him (Joh_5:39-40).
(2) Not the Church, that is only a means, not the fountain of grace.
(3) Not prayer, that is a well of salvation but not salvation.
(4)Joh_6:5; Joh_6:22-24, show how possible it is to come, and yet not to come to Christ Himself.
2. Positively. Christ addresses the spiritual part of man’s nature, and the invitation implies
(1) A forsaking of sin. To come to is to come from (2Co_6:14-18).
(2) A renouncing of self.
(3) Faith which worketh by love (Joh_6:35; Joh_6:68-69).
I. THE ASSURANCE GIVEN CONCERNING THE PERSON INDICATED.
1. The assurance itself.
(1) It is unrestricted.
(2) Personal.
(3) Based upon the good “will” of Christ.
(4) Emphatic, “in no wise.”
2. The grounds of the assurance.
(1) The purposes of the Father.
(2) The death of Christ.
(3) The resurrection of Christ.
(4) The work of the Spirit.
(5) All God’s attributes make it sure.
Conclusion.
1. What say you to this?
2. Transpose the text, “Him that cometh not to Me I will cast out.” (S. Miller.)
The gospel welcome
I. THE STATES OF MIND WITH WHICH WE SHOULD COME. The previous part of the text need prove no stumbling-block. All it affirms is that those whom the Father gives do come to Christ. Put the two together and they affirm the absolute freeness of the Divine grace, and exhibit that grace as acting in concurrence with our voluntary powers. Salvation is neither arbitrary, mechanical, nor compulsory. We must corneal. With childlike and dependent trust.
(1) The primary element of all true faith, which is the movement of mind and heart towards God, is simple reliance on the gospel testimony that Christ is all-sufficient for the purposes of salvation.
(2) The great strength and stay of this faith is that it enables the soul to rely exclusively upon a personal Redeemer.
(3) This absolute casting of ourselves on Christ is not offered as a permission, but as a positive command.
2. With chastened humility and godly sorrow, repentance and faith stand together in the gospel commission, and are always united in the experience of the faithful. “Going and weeping.” The prodigal.
3. In the spirit of total self-renunciation. Leave self, righteousness, sin, etc., and come to ME.
II. THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND CONFIDENCE we have in coming to Christ.
1. “Him that cometh” or is coming, in the very act of coming now. It is a constantly repeated act; alike necessary in regeneration and sanctification. This includes all of whatsoever country, church, condition, rank.
(1) Hear it, ye young. There is a sense in which your coming to
Christ may be too late, but there is none in which it can be too early.
(2) Ye middle aged whom harassing cares disquiet. He will allow for everything but a refusal to come.
(3) Ye aged. Perhaps the harvest is passed and ye are not saved.
2. “In no wise.”
(1) But I have stayed away too long.
(2) I am a backslider. No matter.
3. Has Jesus ever cast any one out? No.
(1) All the glorious perfections of His nature bend Him to welcome you.
(2) The mighty price paid for your redemption.
(3) The purpose and promises of God.
Conclusion: Not to come is to be rejected; not to be saved is to be lost; there is no middle state. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Invitations of the gospel--the sinner’s warrant
In the courts of law if a man be called as a witness, no sooner is his name mentioned, though he may be at the end of the court, than he begins to force his way up to the witness-box. Nobody says, “Why is this man pushing here?” or, if they should say, “Who are you?” it would be a sufficient answer to say, “My name was called.” “But you are not rich, you have no gold ring upon your finger!” “No, but that is not my right of way, but I was called.” “Sir, you are not a man of repute, or rank, or character!” “It matters not, I was called. Make way.” So make way, ye doubts and fears, make way, ye devils of the infernal lake, Christ calls the sinner. Sinner, come, for though thou hast nought to recommend thee, yet it is written, “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The essential in religion
I. WHAT TRUE RELIGION IS.
1. Negatively.
(1) It cannot consist in any feeling of moral fitness. What need of coming to Christ if our own nature is morally sufficient?
(2) Nor in the observance of external ritual. The source of the corruptions of Christianity is the tendency to put form for faith.
(3) Nor in simple orthodoxy.
2. Positively. A living relation with a living Christ.
II. THE METHOD OF GAINING TRUE RELIGION.
1. Not thronging about Christ.
2. But coming to Christ by faith.
III. THE PROOF OF THE POSSESSION OF TRUE RELIGION.
1. Not in an old experience preserved in the memory.
2. Nor in a present release from the fear of death.
3. Nor in the fervent glow of feeling (these may accompany it), but in the present proneness of the soul on these words of Christ.
Conclusion: Why will you not come to Christ?
1. Is it because you are afraid of ridicule and what others may say? “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed.”
2. Is it because of the inconsistencies of Christians? “Every man Shall give account of himself to God.”
3. Is it because you are not willing to give up all to Christ? “What shall it profit a man,” etc.
4. Is it because you are thinking you will do as well as you can, and that God ought to be satisfied with that? “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
5. Is it because you are postponing the matter without any definite reason? “Boast not thyself of to-morrow,” etc.
6. Is it because you fear you will not be accepted? “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” (W. Hoyt.)
Scripture difficulties
To thread a needle in the dark is a thing which no one can do. The difficulty and impossibility, however, does not lie in the thing itself, but in the circumstances under which it is attempted. Only let there be light, and the thing is not only possible, but perfectly easy. This will serve to illustrate our inability to reconcile, understand, and explain certain mysteries in Divine things; for instance, to reconcile God’s fixed decrees and infallible foreknowledge with man’s free will and responsibility. Our Lord plainly declares, that “no man can come to Him except the Father draw him”; but, at the same time, He gives the widest and most unlimited invitation--“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” And He charges it as entirely their own fault, if any refuse to come, and so perish: “Ye are not willing to come to Me, that ye might have life.” (W. Hancock.)
I was cruising one day in the western Highlands. It had been a splendid day, and the glorious scenery had made our journey like an excursion to Fairy Land; but it came to an end, for darkness and night asserted their primeval sovereignty. Right ahead was a vast headland of the isle of Arran. How it frowned against the evening sky! The mighty rock seemed to overhang the sea. Just at its base was a little bay, and into this we steamed, and there we lay at anchorage all night, safe from every wind that might happen to be seeking out its prey. In that calm loch we seemed to lie in the mountain’s lap while its broad shoulders screened us from the wind. Now, the first part of my text, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me,” rises like a huge headland high into the heavens. Who shall scale its height? Upon some it seems to frown darkly. But here at the bottom lies the placid, glassy lake of infinite love and mercy: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” Steam into it, and be safe under the shadow of the great rock. You will be the better for the mountain-truth as your barque snugly reposes within the glittering waters at its foot; while you may thank God that the text is not all mountain to repel you, you will be grateful that there is enough of it to secure you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Character not needed for salvation
In the mission at George Yard, Whitechapel, a converted street-singer, who had experienced much difficulty in getting work for want of a “character,” but who afterwards became a licensed hawker and distributed tracts as he walked along, said: “Bless God, I have found out that Jesus will, take a man without a character.” (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
The essence of the gospel
Pluck a green leaf from a bough and look at it. That leaf, science tells us, is the typical tree. The tree is built upon the pattern of that leaf. The tree is only the leaf expanded, and with its various parts altered to suit new requirements; but the idea manifest in the leaf is the idea according to which the tree is made and shaped. For instance, science tells us that the seed--the starting-point of life to the tree--is only a leaf rolled tight and changed in tissue and in contents, and so fitted for its special uses. The tree-trunk is only the leaf-stem made to take columnar form, and greatly lengthened and strengthened and enlarged. All the mingling mass of branch and bough and twig, lifting their manifold tracery against the sky, is but the reproduction and increasing of the delicate tangle of veins striking through the green substance of the leaf. In short, the tree is only the leaf cut in larger pattern. Everything in the huge tree is adjusted to the method of the little leaf. In the leaf you have the tree in germ and type. So it is, it has seemed to me, with this short text I have read to you, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” It is the typical gospel. In this text we have the whole great gospel in germ and type. The entire system of the revelation of salvation is shaped after the pattern of this text. (W. Hoyt.)
The accessibleness of Christ
Have you never read the story of the good ship that had been a long time at sea, and the captain had lost his reckoning; he drifted up the mouth of the great river Amazon, and, after he had been sailing for a long time up the river without knowing that he was in a river at all, they ran short of water. When another vessel was seen, they signalled her, and when they got near enough for speaking they cried, “Water! We are dying for water!” They were greatly surprised when the answer came back, “Dip it up! Dip it up! You are in a river. It is all around you.” They had nothing to do but to fling the bucket overboard, and have as much water as ever they liked. And here are poor souls crying out, “Lord, what must I do to be saved?” when the great work is done, and all that remains to them is to receive the free gift of eternal life. What must you do? You have done enough for one life-time, for you have undone yourself by your doing. That is not the question. It is, “Lord, what hast thou done?” And the answer is, “It is finished. I have done it all. Only come and trust Me.” Sinner, you are in a river of grace and mercy. Over with the bucket, man, and drink to the full. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Human perversity
If a compassionate prince wrote over his palace gate--“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out,” would poor beggars reading it need to have these words explained before they could understand them? And if the good man kept his word, and received all who asked his help, would his porch be ever empty night or day? Yet has Jesus, the Prince of Life, emblazoned these words in large, shining letters above His gates of grace, and ever kept His promise to help all the destitute and miserable who come to Him, and thousands of sinners are found to this hour who will not understand them, and millions of sinners who care nothing about them. (H. G. Guiness.)
Abundant mercy
You say, “Do not get the invitation too large, for there is nothing more awkward than to have more guests than accommodation.” I know it. The Seamen’s Friend Society are inviting all the sailors. The Tract Society is inviting all the destitute. The Sabbath schools are inviting all the children. The American and Foreign Christian Union is inviting all the Roman Catholics. The Missionary Society is inviting all the heathen. The printing-presses of Bible Societies are going night and day, doing nothing but printing invitations to this great gospel banquet. And are you not afraid that there will be more guests than accommodation? No! All who have been invited will not half fill up the table of God’s supply. There are chairs for more. There are cups for more. God could with one feather of His wing cover up all those who have come; and when He spreads out both wings, they cover all the earth and all the heavens. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
None cast out by Christ
In some of the hotels on the road to the lead and gold mines of California, there is constantly to be found in the register the names of persons with “D.B.” opposite to them. This means “dead broke,” and it is the custom never to refuse a meal to these poor fellows who have risked and lost their all in these precarious ventures. (H. O.Mackey.)
Whosoever comes is saved
A messenger came to a Hasten as quick as you can, there is a Sunday-school superintendent and said: “A boy in a garret that wants to see you: he is dying.” The Sunday-school superintendent hastened to the place, and in the garret, in the straw, lay a boy who had been crushed by a cart. He was dying; and as the superintendent entered, the boy said: “Oh! I am so glad you have come. Didn’t I hear you say the other Sunday that ‘ whomsoever comes to God he would be saved?’“ “Yes,” replied the superintendent, “I said about that.” “Well,” said the boy,” then I am saved. I have been a bad boy, but I have been thinking of that, and I have been saying that over to myself, and I am saved.” After he had seen his superintendent, his strength seemed to fail, and in a few moments he expired, and the last words on his lips were: “Whomsoever cometh to God, He will in no wise be cast out.” He did not get the words exactly right, but he got the spirit.
Mercy for all
Men are going to ruin; but not like the boat that was seen shooting the rapid, and had reached a point above the cataract where no power could stem the raging current. To the horror of those who watched it shooting on to destruction, a man was seen on board, and asleep. The spectators ran along the banks. They cried; they shouted; and the sleeper awoke at length to take in all his danger at one fearful glance. To spring to his feet, to throw himself on the bench, to seize the oars, to strain every nerve in superhuman efforts to turn the boat’s head to the shore, was the work of an instant. But in vain. Away went the bark to its doom, like an arrow from the bow. It hangs a moment on the edge of the gulf; and then, is gone for ever. Suppose a man to be as near hell!--if I could awaken him, I would. The dying thief was saved in the act of going over into perdition. Christ caught and saved him there. And He who is mighty to save, saving at the uttermost can save, though all our life were wasted to its last breath, if that last breath is spent in gasping out St. Peter’s cry, “Save, Lord, or I perish!” (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
A Saviour for the lost
“I am lost,” said Mr.Whitefield’s brother to the Countess of Huntingdon. “I am delighted to hear it,” said the Countess.
“Oh,” cried he, “what a dreadful thing to say!” “Nay,” said she, “‘for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost’; therefore I know He is come to save you.” O sinner, it would be unreasonable to despair. The more broken thou art, the more ruined thou art, the more vile thou art in thine own esteem, so much the more room is there for the display of infinite mercy and power.
The gospel for dying hours
You may know the name of Mr. Durham, the author of a famous book on Solomon’s Song, one of the most earnest of Scotland’s ancient preachers. Some days before he died he seemed to be in some perplexity about his future well-being, and said to his friend Mr. Carstairs, “Dear brother, for all that I have written or preached, there is but one Scripture which I can now remember or dare grip unto now that I am hastening to the grave. It is this--‘Whosoever cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out.’ Pray tell me if I dare lay the weight of my salvation upon it.” Mr. Carstairs justly replied, “Brother, you may depend upon it, though you had a thousand salvations at hazard.” You see it was a plain, sinner’s text that He rested on. Just as Dr. Guthrie wanted them to sing a bairn’s hymn, so do dying saints need the plain elementary doctrines of the gospel to rest upon. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Jesus a great Saviour
Remember He never did cast any one out. Never yet! Never one! I have declared this everywhere, and I have said, “If Jesus Christ casts any one of you out when you come to Him, pray let me know; for I do not want to go up and down the country telling lies.” Again I give the challenge. If my Lord does east out one poor soul that comes to Him, let me know it, and I will give up preaching. I should not have the face to come forward and preach Christ after that; for He Himself has said it, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out”; and He would be a false Christ if He acted contrary to His word. He cannot cast you out; why should He? “Oh, but then I am so bad.” So much the less likely is He to refuse you, for there is the more room for His grace. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ never fails
When a man brings out a patent medicine, he publishes verifications of the efficacy of his physic. He gets a number of cases, and he advertises them. I suppose they are genuine. I should not like to be hanged if they were not. I suppose, therefore, they are all accurate and authentic. But there is one thing which you never knew a medicine advertiser do: he never advertises the failures of the medicine. The number of persons that have been induced to buy the remedy, and have derived no good from it: if these were all advertised, it might occupy more room in the newspaper than those who write of a cure. My Lord Jesus Christ is a Physician who never had a failure yet--never once. Never did a soul wash in Christ’s blood without being made whiter than snow. Never did a man, besotted with the worst of vice, trust in Jesus without receiving power to conquer his evil habits. Not even in the lowest pit of hell is there one that dares to say, “I trusted Christ, and I am lost. I sought His face with all my heart, and He cast me away.” There is not a man living that could say that, unless he dared to lie; for not one has with heart and soul sought the Saviour, and trusted in Him, and then had a negative from Him. He must save you if you trust Him. As surely as He lives He must save you, for He has put it, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” I will repeat it, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” You have never come if He has not received you; for He must save those who trust in Him. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The forgiving mercy of God
It is reported of Julius Caesar, that he never entertained hatred against any so deeply but he was willing to lay down the same upon the tender of submission. As when C. Memnius put in for the consulship, he befriended him before others of the competition, notwithstanding that Memnius had made bitter invectives against him. Thus the great God of Heaven, to whom all the Caesars and kings of the earth are tributaries and homagers, doth never hate so irreconcilably but that true humiliation will work a reconciliation--let but the sinner appear before Him in a submissive posture, and His anger will be soon appeased. (J. Spencer.)
How to come to Christ
At a gathering in the West End of London the Rev. Caesar Malan found himself seated by a young lady. In the course of conversation he asked her if she were a Christian. She turned upon him, and somewhat sharply replied, “That’s a subject I don’t care to have discussed here this evening.” “Well,” answered Mr. Malan, with inimitable sweetness of manner, “I will not persist in speaking of it, but I shall pray that you may give your heart to Christ, and become a useful worker for Him.” A fortnight afterwards they met again, and this time the young lady approached the minister with marked courtesy, and said, “The question you asked me the other evening has abided with me ever since, and caused me very great trouble. I have been trying in vain in all directions to find the Saviour, and I come now to ask you to help me to find Him. I am sorry for the way in which I previously spoke to you, and now come for help.” Mr. Malan answered her, “Come to Him just as you are.” “But will He receive me just as I am, and now? Oh, yes,” said Mr. Malan, “gladly will He do so.” They then knelt together and prayed, and she soon experienced the holy joy of a full forgiveness through the blood of Christ. The young lady’s name was Charlotte Elliot, and to her the whole Church is indebted for the pathetic hymn commencing, “Just as I am, without one plea. (Ira D. Sankey.)
None cast out
I went the other day to St. Cross Hospital near Winchester. There they give away a piece of bread to everybody who knocks at the door. I knocked as bold as brass. Why should I not? I did not humble myself particularly and make anything special of it. It was for all, and I came and received as one of the people who were willing to knock. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The comfort of the gospel in a dying hour
When the great Bishop Butler was lying on his death-bed, he was observed to be unusually pensive and dejected, and on being asked the cause, ha replied, “Though I have endeavoured to avoid sin and please God to the utmost of my power, yet from the consciousness of perpetual infirmities, I am still afraid to die.” A friend who stood by read him this text. “Ah,” said the dying man, I have read that a thousand times, but I never felt its full force till this moment, and now I die happy. (Dean Stanley.)
