conscience and affections are against them, or if they come from that
body of death that is in thee, and be not thou curious in inquiring
from whether of them they come, the safest way is to lay enough at thy
own door; nothing of this should hinder thy coming, nor make thee
conclude thou comest not aright. 7 And before I leave thee, let me a
little query with thee about this matter.
1. Dost thou like these wicked blasphemies? Answ. No, no, their
presence and working kills me.
2. Dost thou mourn for them, pray against them, and hate thyself
because of them? Answ. Yes, yes; but that which afflicts me is, I do
not prevail against them.
3. Dost thou sincerely choose, mightest thou have thy choice, that thy
heart might be affected and taken with the things that are best, most
heavenly, and holy? Answ. With all my heart, and death the next hour,
if it were God’s will, rather than thus to sin against him.
Well then, thy not liking of them, thy mourning for them, thy praying
against them, and thy loathing thyself because of them, with thy
sincere choosing of those thoughts for thy delectation that are
heavenly and holy, clearly declares, that these things are not
countenanced either with thy will, affections, understanding, judgment,
or conscience; and so, that thy heart is not in them, but that rather
they come immediately from the devil, or arise from the body of death
that is in thy flesh, of which thou oughtest thus to say, “Now, then,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Rom 7:17).
I will give thee a pertinent instance. In Deuteronomy 22, thou mayest
read of a betrothed damsel, one betrothed to her beloved, one that had
given him her heart and mouth, as thou hast given thyself to Christ;
yet was she met with as she walked in the field, by one that forced
her, because he was stronger than she. Well, what judgment now doth
God, the righteous judge, pass upon the damsel for this? “The man only
that lay with her,” saith God, “shall die. But unto the damsel thou
shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death. For,
as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is
this matter; for he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel
cried, and there was none to save her” (Deut 22:25-27).
Thou art this damsel. The man that forced thee with these blasphemous
thoughts, is the devil; and he lighteth upon thee in a fit place, even
in the field, as thou art wandering after Jesus Christ; but thou criest
out, and by thy cry did show, that thou abhorrest such wicked lewdness.
Well, the Judge of all the earth will do right; he will not lay the sin
at thy door, but at his that offered the violence. And for thy comfort
take this into consideration, that he came to heal them “that were
oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38).
Object. 4. But, saith another, I am so heartless, so slow, and, as I
think, so indifferent in my coming, that, to speak truth, I know not
whether my kind of coming ought to be called a coming to Christ.
Answ. You know that I told you at first, that coming to Christ is a
moving of the heart and affections towards him.
But, saith the soul, my dullness and indifferency in all holy duties,
demonstrate my heartlessness in coming; and to come, and not with the
heart, signifies nothing at all.
1. The moving of the heart after Christ is not to be discerned, at all
times, by thy sensible affectionate performance of duties, but rather
by those secret groanings and complaints which thy soul makes to God
against that sloth that attends thee in duties.
2. But grant it to be even as thou sayest it is, that thou comest so
slowly, &c., yet, since Christ bids them come that come not at all,
surely they may be accepted that come, though attended with those
infirmities which thou at present groanest under. He saith, “and him
that cometh;” he saith not, If they come sensible; so fast; but, “and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” He saith also in the
ninth of Proverbs, “As for him that wanteth understanding,” that is, an
heart (for oftentimes the understanding is taken for the heart), “come,
eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.”
3. Thou mayest be vehement in thy spirit in coming to Jesus Christ, and
yet be plagued with sensible sloth; so was the church when she cried,
“Draw me, we will run after thee;” and Paul, when he said, “When I
would do good, evil is present with me” (Song 14; Rom 7; Gal 5:19). The
works, strugglings, and oppositions of the flesh, are more manifest
than are the works of the Spirit in our hearts, and so are sooner felt
than they. What then? Let us not be discouraged at the sight and
feeling of our own infirmities, but run the faster to Jesus Christ for
salvation.
4. Get thy heart warmed with the sweet promise of Christ’s acceptance
of the coming sinner, and that will make thee make more haste unto him.
Discouraging thoughts they are like unto cold weather, they benumb the
senses, and make us go ungainly about our business; but the sweet and
warm gleads8 of promise are like the comfortable beams of the sun,
which liven and refresh. 9 You see how little the bee and fly do play
in the air in winter; why, the cold hinders them from doing it; but
when the wind and sun is warm, who so busy as they?
5. But again, he that comes to Christ, flies for his life. Now, there
is no man that flies for his life, that thinks he speeds fast enough on
his journey; no, could he, he would willingly take a mile at a step. O
my sloth and heartlessness, sayest thou! “Oh that I had wings like a
dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. I would hasten my
escape from the windy storm and tempest” (Psa 55:6,8).
Poor coming soul, thou art like the man that would ride full gallop,
whose horse will hardly trot! Now, the desire of his mind is not to be
judged of by the slow pace of the dull jade he rides on, but by the
hitching, and kicking, and spurring, as he sits on his back. Thy flesh
is like this dull jade; it will not gallop after Christ; it will be
backward, though thy soul and heaven lie at stake. 10 But be of good
comfort, Christ judgeth not according to the fierceness of outward
motion (Mark 10:17) but according to the sincerity of the heart and
inward parts (John 1:47; Psa 51:6; Matt 26:41).
6. Ziba, in appearance, came to David much faster than did
Mephibosheth; but yet his heart was not so upright in him to David as
was his. It is true, Mephibosheth had a check from David; for, said he,
“Why wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?” But when David came to
remember that Mephibosheth was lame, for that was his plea—“thy servant
is lame” (2 Sam 19), he was content, and concluded, he would have come
after him faster than he did; and Mephibosheth appealed to David, who
was in those days as an angel of God, to know all things that are done
in the earth, if he did not believe that the reason of his backwardness
lay in his lameness, and not in his mind. Why, poor coming sinner, thou
canst not come to Christ with that outward swiftness of a courier as
many others do; but doth the reason of thy backwardness lie in thy mind
and will, or in the sluggishness of the flesh? Canst thou say
sincerely, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt
26:41). Yea, canst thou appeal to the Lord Jesus, who knoweth perfectly
the very inmost thought of thy heart, that this is true? Then take this
for thy comfort, he hath said, “I will assemble her that halteth—I will
make her that halted a remnant,” (Micah 4:6), “and I will save her that
halteth” (Zeph 3:19). What canst thou have more from the sweet lips of
the Son of God? But,
7. I read of some that are to follow Christ in chains; I say, to come
after him in chains. “Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and
merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come
over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee: in
chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee: they
shall make supplication unto thee, saying—Surely there is none else” to
save (Isa 45:14). Surely they that come after Christ in chains, come to
him in great difficulty, because their steps, by the chains, are
straitened. And what chains are so heavy as those that discourage thee?
Thy chain, which is made up of guilt and filth, is heavy; it is a
wretched bond about thy neck, by which thy strength doth fail (Lam
1:14; 3:18). But come, though thou comest in chains; it is glory to
Christ that a sinner comes after him in chains. The chinking of thy
chains, though troublesome to thee, are not, nor can be obstruction to
thy salvation; it is Christ’s work and glory to save thee from thy
chains, to enlarge thy steps, and set thee at liberty. The blind man,
though called, surely could not come apace to Jesus Christ, but Christ
could stand still, and stay for him (Mark 10:49). True, “He rideth upon
the wings of the wind;” but yet he is long-suffering, and his
long-suffering is salvation to him that cometh to him (2 Peter 3:9).
8. Hadst thou seen those that came to the Lord Jesus in the days of his
flesh, how slowly, how hobblingly, they came to him, by reason of their
infirmities; and also how friendly, and kindly, and graciously, he
received them, and gave them the desire of their hearts, thou wouldest
not, as thou dost, make such objections against thyself, in thy coming
to Jesus Christ.
Object. 5. But, says another, I fear I come too late; I doubt I have
staid too long; I am afraid the door is shut.
Answ. Thou canst never come too late to Jesus Christ, if thou dost
come. This is manifest by two instances.
1. By the man that came to him at the eleventh hour. This man was idle
all the day long. He had a whole gospel day to come in, and he played
it all away save only the last hour thereof. But at last, at the
eleventh hour, he came, and goes into the vineyard to work with the
rest of the labourers, that had borne the burden and heat of the day.
Well, but how was he received by the lord of the vineyard? Why, when
pay-day came, he had even as much as the rest; yea, had his money
first. True, the others murmured at him; but what did the Lord Jesus
answer them? “Is thine eye evil, because I am good? I will give unto
this last, even as unto thee” (Matt 20:14,15).
2. The other instance is, the thief upon the cross. He came late also,
even as at an hour before his death; yea, he stayed from Jesus Christ
as long as he had liberty to be a thief, and longer too; for could he
have deluded the judge, and by lying words have escaped his just
condemnation, for ought I know, he had not come as yet to his Saviour;
but being convicted, and condemned to die, yea, fastened to the cross,
that he might die like a rogue, as he was in his life; behold the Lord
Jesus, when this wicked one, even now, desireth mercy at his hands,
tells him, and that without the least reflection upon him, for his
former misspent life, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke
23:43). Let no man turn this grace of God into wantonness. My design is
now to encourage the coming soul.
Object. But is not the door of mercy shut against some before they die?
Answ. Yea; and God forbids that prayers should be made to him for them
(Jer 6:16; Jude 22).
Quest. Then, why may not I doubt that I may be one of these?
Answ. By no means, if thou art coming to Jesus Christ; because when God
shuts the door upon men, he gives them no heart to come to Jesus
Christ. “None come but those to whom it is given of the Father.” But
thou comest, therefore it is given to thee of the Father.
Be sure, therefore, if the Father hath given thee an heart to come to
Jesus Christ, the gate of mercy yet stands open to thee. For it stands
not with the wisdom of God to give strength to come to the birth, and
yet to shut up the womb, (Isa 66:9); to give grace to come to Jesus
Christ, and yet shut up the door of his mercy upon thee. “Incline your
ear,” saith he, “and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of
David” (Isa 55:3).
Object. But it is said, that some knocked when the door was shut.
Answ. Yes; but the texts in which these knockers are mentioned, are to
be referred unto the day of judgment, and not to the coming of the
sinner to Christ in this life. See the texts, Matthew 15:11, Luke
13:24,25. These, therefore, concern thee nothing at all, that art
coming to Jesus Christ, thou art coming NOW! “Now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). Now God is upon the
mercy-seat; now Christ Jesus sits by, continually pleading the victory
of his blood for sinners; and now, even as long as this world lasts,
this word of the text shall still be free, and fully fulfilled; “And
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
Sinner, the greater sinner thou art, the greater need of mercy thou
hast, and the more will Christ be glorified thereby. Come then, come
and try; come, taste and see how good the Lord is to an undeserving
sinner!
Object. 6. But, says another, I am fallen since I began to come to
Christ; therefore I fear I did not come aright, and so consequently
that Christ will not receive me.
Answ. Falls are dangerous, for they dishonour Christ, wound the
conscience, and cause the enemies of God to speak reproachfully. But it
is no good argument, I am fallen, therefore I was not coming aright to
Jesus Christ. If David, and Solomon, and Peter, had thus objected
against themselves, they had added to their griefs; and yet, at least
they had as much cause as thou. A man whose steps are ordered by the
Lord, and whose goings the Lord delights in, may yet be overtaken with
a temptation that may cause him to fall 11 (Psa 37:23,24). Did not
Aaron fall; yea, and Moses himself? What shall we say of Hezekiah and
Jehoshaphat? There are, therefore, falls and falls; falls pardonable and
falls unpardonable. Falls unpardonable are falls against light, from
the faith, to the despising of, and trampling upon Jesus Christ and his
blessed undertakings (Heb 6:2-5; 10:28,29). Now, as for such, there
remains no more sacrifice for sin. Indeed, they have no heart, no mind,
no desire to come to Jesus Christ for life, therefore they must perish.
Nay, says the Holy Ghost, “It is impossible that they should be renewed
again unto repentance.” Therefore these God had no compassion for,
neither ought we; but for other falls though they be dreadful, and God
will chastise his people for them, they do not prove thee a graceless
man, one not coming to Jesus Christ for life.
It is said of the child in the gospel, that while “he was yet a coming,
the devil threw him down, and tare him” (Luke 9:42). Dejected sinner,
it is no wonder that thou hast caught a fall in coming to Jesus Christ.
Is it not rather to be wondered at, that thou hast not caught before
this a thousand times a thousand falls? considering, 1. What fools we
are by nature. 2. What weaknesses are in us. 3. What mighty powers the
fallen angels, our implacable enemies, are. 4. Considering also how
often the coming man is benighted in his journey; and also what
stumblingblocks do lie in his way. 5. Also his familiars, that were so
before, now watch for his halting, and seek by what means they may to
cause him to fall by the hand of their strong ones.
What then? Must we, because of these temptations, incline to fall? No.
Must we not fear falls? Yes. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). Yet let him not utterly be cast down;
“The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up those that are bowed
down.” Make not light of falls! Yet, hast thou fallen? “Ye have,” said
Samuel, “done all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following
the Lord,” but serve him with a perfect heart, and turn not aside, “for
the Lord will not forsake his people,” and he counteth the coming
sinner one of them, “because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his
people” (1 Sam 12:20-22).
[WHAT FORCE THERE IS IN THE PROMISE TO MAKE THEM COME TO CHRIST.]
SECOND, “Shall come to me.” Now we come to show WHAT FORCE THERE IS IN
THIS PROMISE TO MAKE THEM COME TO HIM. “All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me.” I will speak to this promise, First, In general.
Second, In particular.
[First], In general. This word SHALL is confined to these ALL that are
given to Christ. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.”
Hence I conclude,
1. That coming to Jesus Christ aright is an effect of their being, of
God, given to Christ before. Mark, They shall come. Who? Those that are
given. They come, then, because they were given, “thine they were, and
thou gavest them me.” Now, this is indeed a singular comfort to them
that are coming in truth to Christ, to think that the reason why they
come is, because they were given of the Father before to him. Thus,
then, may the coming soul reason with himself as he comes. Am I coming,
indeed, to Jesus Christ? This coming of mine is not to be attributed to
me or my goodness, but to the grace and gift of God to Christ. God gave
first my person to him, and, therefore, hath now given me a heart to
come.
2. This word, shall come, maketh thy coming not only the fruit of the
gift of the Father, but also of the purpose of the Son; for these words
are a Divine purpose; they show us the heavenly determination of the
Son. “The Father hath given them to me, and they shall; yea, they shall
come to me.” Christ is as full in his resolution to save those given to
him as is the Father in giving of them. Christ prizeth the gift of his
Father; he will lose nothing of it; he is resolved to save it every
whit by his blood, and to raise it up again at the last day; and thus
he fulfills his Father’s will, and accomplisheth his own desires (John
6:39).
3. These words, shall come, make thy coming to be also the effect of an
absolute promise; coming sinner, thou art concluded in a promise; thy
coming is the fruit of the faithfulness of an absolute promise. It was
this promise, by the virtue of which thou at first receivedst strength
to come; and this is the promise, by the virtue of which thou shalt be
effectually brought to him. It was said to Abraham, “At this time will
I come, and Sarah shall have a son.” This son was Isaac. Mark! “Sarah
shall have a son;” there is the promise. And Sarah had a son; there was
the fulfilling of the promise; and, therefore, was Isaac called the
child of the promise (Gen 17:19; 18:10; Rom 9:9).
Sarah shall have a son. But how, if Sarah be past age? Why, still the
promise continues to say, Sarah shall have a son. But how, if Sarah be
barren? Why, still the promise says, Sarah shall have a son. But
Abraham’s body is now dead? Why, the promise is still the same, Sarah
shall have a son. Thus, you see what virtue there is in an absolute
promise; it carrieth enough in its own bowels to accomplish the thing
promised, whether there be means or no in us to effect it. Wherefore,
this promise in the text, being an absolute promise, by virtue of it,
not by virtue of ourselves, or by our own inducements, do we come to
Jesus Christ: for so are the words of the text: “All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me.”
Therefore is every sincere comer to Jesus Christ called also a child of
the promise. “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of
promise,” (Gal 4:28); that is, we are the children that God hath
promised to Jesus Christ, and given to him; yea, the children that
Jesus Christ hath promised shall come to him. “All that the Father
giveth me shall come.”
4. This word, shall come, engageth Christ to communicate all manner of
grace to those thus given him to make them effectually to come to him.
“They shall come;” that is, not if they will, but if grace, all grace,
if power, wisdom, a new heart, and the Holy Spirit, and all joining
together, can make them come. I say, this word, shall come, being
absolute, hath no dependence upon our own will, or power, or goodness;
but it engageth for us even God himself, Christ himself, the Spirit
himself. When God had made that absolute promise to Abraham, that Sarah
“should have a son,” Abraham did not at all look at any qualification
in himself, because the promise looked at none; but as God had, by the
promise, absolutely promised him a son; so he considered now not his
own body now dead, nor yet the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. “He
staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in
faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what he had
promised he was able also to perform” (Rom 4:20,21). He had promised,
and had promised absolutely, Sarah shall have a son. Therefore, Abraham
looks that he, to wit, God, must fulfil the condition of it. Neither is
this expectation of Abraham disapproved by the Holy Ghost, but
accounted good and laudable; it being that by which he gave glory to
God. The Father, also, hath given to Christ a certain number of souls
for him to save; and he himself hath said, “They shall come to him.”
Let the church of God then live in a joyful expectation of the utmost
accomplishment of this promise; for assuredly it shall be fulfilled,
and not one thousandth part of a tittle thereof shall fail. “They SHALL
come to me.”
[Second, In particular.] And now, before I go any further, I will more
particularly inquire into the nature of an absolute promise.
1. We call that an absolute promise that is made without any condition;
or more fully thus: That is an absolute promise of God, or of Christ,
which maketh over to this or that man any saving, spiritual blessing,
without a condition to be done on our part for the obtaining thereof.
And this we have in hand is such an one. Let the best Master of Arts on
earth show me, if he can, any condition in this text depending upon any
qualification in us, which is not by the same promise concluded, shall
be by the Lord Jesus effected in us.
2. An absolute promise therefore is, as we say, without if or and; that
is, it requireth nothing of us, that itself might be accomplished. It
saith not, They shall, if they will; but they shall: not, they shall,
if they use the means; but, they shall. You may say, that a will and
the use of the means is supposed, though not expressed. But I answer,
No, by no means; that is, as a condition of this promise. If they be at
all included in the promise, they are included there as the fruit of
the absolute promise, not as if it expected the qualification to arise
from us. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power” (Psa
110:3). That is another absolute promise. But doth that promise suppose
a willingness in us, as a condition of God’s making us willing? They
shall be willing, if they are willing; or, they shall be willing, if
they will be willing. This is ridiculous; there is nothing of this
supposed. The promise is absolute as to us; all that it engageth for
its own accomplishment is, the mighty power of Christ and his
faithfulness to accomplish.
3. The difference, therefore, betwixt the absolute and conditional
promise is this:
(1.) They differ in their terms. The absolute promises say, I will, and
you shall: the other, I will, if you will; or, Do this, and thou shalt
live (Jer 4:1; 31:31-33; Eze 18:30-32; 36:24-34; Heb 8:7-13; Matt
19:21).
(2.) They differ in their way of communicating of good things to men;
the absolute ones communicate things freely, only of grace; the other,
if there be that qualification in us, that the promise calls for, not
else.
(3.) The absolute promises therefore engage God, the other engage us: I
mean, God only, us only.
(4.) Absolute promises must be fulfilled; conditional may, or may not
be fulfilled. The absolute ones must be fulfilled, because of the
faithfulness of God; the other may not, because of the unfaithfulness
of men.
(5.) Absolute promises have therefore a sufficiency in themselves to
bring about their own fulfilling; the conditional have not so. The
absolute promise is therefore a big-bellied promise, because it hath in
itself a fullness of all desired things for us; and will, when the time
of that promise is come, yield to us mortals that which will verily
save us; yea, and make us capable of answering of the demands of the
promise that is conditional.