The “I Will” of Reception
John vi. 37
“Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”
No grander, no lovelier sight could we desire to see than that of the multitude of those who have been saved through the mighty influence of this verse. Millions upon millions are now ill joy unutterable, who in the power of this single sentence sprang upwards from the dust, with a new light in their dull despairing eye; with a fresh hope in their withered hearts; with the belief that they could be saved, that they were privileged to grasp the cross on earth, the crown in heaven.
If the imagination be overwhelmed at the thought of this multitude, arrayed in light ineffable; the wonder is increased at the revelation of the materials of which that multitude is composed. These are they that have come out of great tribulation, and made white their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Here are desperate offenders; some, whose hands had been reddened by their brother’s blood; some, whose lips had been the mouthpiece of the evil One for all blasphemy; some who had been ringleaders of all assaults upon the faith; well known were they to the angels; well known to their fellow men as desperate characters, beyond all human reach, all human hope; no common truth would have had yower to lift them, in the day when they were struck by the Holy Ghost to the earth, and when their sins leaped demon-like upon them, to strangle the faintest expectation which might have risen in their hearts, of there being a chance for such as they; when lo! for them, in their low estate, mercy provided in this no wise’’ a cord long enough to reach them in their low abyss, and strong enough to bear their weight; a cord, not to bind, but to deliver; they grasped it; they were drawn forth into light and life; and they were saved.
In that glorious crowd, are doubtless some, who were peculiarly buffeted of the devil; he sifted them like wheat; he tried with mighty strokes to beat them down from the cross, and with cunning arguments to reason them out of hope; many a time did he almost cast them into despair, and break their hearts; and it seemed as though it needed but the finishing stroke, and then they were his own; when lo! he was met and foiled — not by mighty arguments; not by extraordinary revelations; but by these simple words; the Spirit shone upon the “no wise” of Christ; the poor afflicted soul beheld the vast circumference of its sweep; the sinner saw that it embraced himself; he also clung tight; and though he was dragged through many waters, and buffeted by doubts and fears, still he held on, until at last, he was landed safe upon the heavenly shore.
Here also, in this glorious crowd, there will be found many upon whom other texts appeared to fail; but in this one they found life. The positiveness, the simplicity of this declaration, became the means of their salvation. It may be, that they put other truths away from them, as being too high for their understandings; perhaps they hedged them round with so many limitations that they thought they could never come up to all these requirements and demands; but this struck home to them as the very one that suited their case; they learned to understand all other Scriptures by this; they entered into the various mysteries of truth through this plain homely door; they themselves learned in no wise to deny their Lord, but to be steadfast and immovable for Him; because He would in no wise be shaken in, or beaten off from, His love to them.
Oh! what desperation of faith was seen in some, as they clutched this truth with a dying grasp; their destiny for eternity hanging upon a word; oh! what calm composure was seen in others, as for long days and nights of weariness, they lay expecting from hour to hour their summons into the presence of the King. No fears, no anxious thoughts had they; they rested on a. message from above; they knew in whom they believed; they remembered that these words came from One who could not mistake or lie, and conscious on their part that they had simply come to Christ, all sinful as they were, they had peace in the consciousness that He would never send them away.
“For all I have preached, or written,’” said Mr. James Durham, there is but one Scripture I can remember, or dare grip to; tell me, if I dare lay the weight of my salvation upon it, Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out’‘? His friend replied, You may indeed depend upon it, though you had a thousand salvations at hazard, A gleam of joy lighted up the soul of the dying saint, under the radiance of which he was ushered into the glory and brightness of eternity/^ I have no hope in what I have been or done,^’ said Dr. Doddridge on his dying bed, Yet I am full of confidence; and this is my confidence, there is a hope set before me. I have fied, I still fly for refuge to that hope. In Him I trust, in Him I have strong consolation; and shall assuredly be accepted in this beloved of my soul.”’^ The Rev. Kichard Baxter, when near the close of his course, exclaimed, I have p)ains; there is no arguing against sense; but I have peace, I have peace.’’ You are now drawing near your long desired home,’ said one, I believe, I believe,” was his reply. When asked. How are you he promptly answered, Almost WELL!” To a friend who entered the chamber he said, I thank you, I thank you, for coming.” Then fixing his eyes upon him he added, The Lord teach you how to die!” These were his last words.
The Kev. Robert Bruce, having lived to a venerable old age, one morning, after breakfasting with his family, reclined awhile in his chair, silently meditating. Suddenly he spoke, Daughter, hark! doth not my master call me?” Asking for his Bible, he perceived that his eyes were dim, and that he could no longer read its precious words. “Find for me,” said he, ^Hhe eighth chapter of Romans, and lay my finger on the passage; I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come nor height nor depths nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Now is my finger placed upon these blessed words Being assured that it was, he said, Then God bless you, God bless you all, dear children: I have refreshed myself with you this morning, and shall be at the banquet of my Saviour, ere it is night/” And thus he died.
During seven weeks of Eomaine“s severe suffering, a fretful or murmuring expression never escaped his lips; but often would he say, How good is God to me! What entertainments and comforts does He give me! Oh, what a prospect of glory and immortality is before me! He is my God, through life, through death, and through eternity!” When inquiries were made how he felt, his general reply was, As well as I expect to be this side heaven.” To a brother minister he said, I do not repent of one word that I have printed or preached on faith in Jesus, for I now feel the blessed comforts of that precious doctrine.” I have lived,” said he to another, to experience all I have spoken, and all I have written, and I bless God for it.” Afterwards he observed, I knew the doctrines I preached to be truths, but now, I experience them to be blessings.” As he lay waiting for his dismission, the friend in whose house he was, said to him, H hope, sir, you now find the salvation of Jesus inestimably precious to you.” Yes,” he replied with a feeble voice, He is precious to my soul.” More precious than rubies,” said his friend. He caught the word, and completed the scriptural idea, and all that can be desired is not comparable to Him.““”
The one great truth is all powerful everywhere.
4>:^ There was once a caravan crossing to the north of India and numbering in its company a godly and devout missionary. As it passed along, a poor old man was overcome by the heat and labors of the journey, and sinking down was left to perish on the road. The missionary saw him, and kneeling down at his side, when the rest had passed along, whispered into his ear, Brother, what is your hope The dying man raised himself a little to reply, and with a great effort succeeded in an-SAvering, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin” and immediately expired with the effort. The missionary was greatly astonished at the answer, and in the calm and peaceful appearance of the man, he felt assured he had died in Christ. How, or where, he thought, could this man, seemingly a heathen, have got this hope? And as he thought of it, he observed a piece of paper grasped tightly in the hand of the corpse, which he succeeded in getting out. What do you think was his surprise and delight, when he found it was * a single leaf of the Bible, containing the first chapter of the first Epistle of John, in which these words occur! On that page the man had found the gospel.
And what this verse has done, it yet can do; it can repeat its triumphs; it can descend into the abyss, and bring up more souls; it can enter the arena of conflicts, doubts, and fears, and calm more troubled hearts; it can smooth more dying pillows, and gild the horizon of more closing days. If you, dear reader, have not yet found rest and peace in Christ, may these words now give them to you; and if you have, then take the words into your lips, and evangelize with them the vilest of the vile; go everywhere; go to Every one; go with mighty hope; go with a consciousness of superhuman power; go in the strength of this great declaration of your Lord; see in every sinner a soul that may ho saved; and proclaim your Saviour in His own great words Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out
And now, to look a little more closely into these words: observe how
Out Lord deals ivitli the individual. In all individuality there is a concentration of power. The sinner has here this special advantage, that he need not look upon himself merely as one of a class, but as an individual.
It is precisely thus that Jesus wishes to deal with the poor sinner; He wishes to take him in his individual wretchedness, depravity, and fears, and to apply Himself to them all. We know that men often hide themselves in their class f a threat or a promise may belong to their class, and yet not to them; many a one says, yes! that promise is for sinners, but not for me,”
Now, here Jesus seems to take poor sinners individually; it is as though he called us all aside, one by one, and said, “1 have something to say unto thee, and to thee, and thee it is true, when we come to compare notes, Ave shall find that He has perhaps said exactly the same to each of us, Him that cometh to Me I will in no Avise cast out but each heart will have heard the word with power, saying, “’twas said to me, to me.’’
And oh! what a comfort it is, that the Saviour enters into our individuality; into each one’s need, each one’s position, each one’s hopes and fears. When deep solemnities of eternal things are realized, we never can content ourselves with generalities; we feel, I must be saved, or I must be lost; we think but little of ourselves in our j)osition as belonging to a class. Jesus meets us in our need, Jesus says, I come to thee that thy interests may be secured, that thy soul may be saved.’” And hence we are warranted in our hours of deep-felt personal necessity in coming to Christ, even though we have not deep knowledge of the abstract nature of sin; though ours be only simple (and perhaps very imperfect) knowledge of our own sin. Ever so little knowledge of our own personal necessity is more to the point, than ever so much knowledge of necessity in general. Jesus wants an individual sufferer to apply to Him; one smarting, sorrowing, fearing; and him He will not cast out.”
And now, what is contained in this promise to the individual sinner? If Jesus cast him out, what will it be out from what will it be out to?
Jesus will not cast out the poor sinner from the ‘place of safety he seeks. Mark that panting, sweating man, who rushes along with almost unearthly speed; his nostrils are dilated, his eyes are blood shot, and the veins stand out like knotted cords upon his brow; on, on he bounds, as though he had winged feet; as though to win this race were life; and to lose this race were death. And, in truth, it is a race of life or death; this is the man that has killed his neighbor unawares; and behind him, bounding after him with eager face and vengeful arm, is the avenger of blood; there is but little distance between them; let that be but overpast; and then with one fatal leap the avenger springs upon his prey, and his sword is crimsoned with his blood. On, on they speed; the man upon whose hands are the stains of his neighbor’s blood nears the gate of the city of refuge, and inside that gate are eager eyes watching the event of this race for life; thence come inspiring shouts; there are ready arms to pull in the runner, if he should fall exhausted upon the threshold, ere he takes the last spring which will put him far beyond the avenger’s reach. Whose are these eager eyes, these ready arms? They belong to men who have themselves found refuge in the city; and can we imagine for a moment that with an iron grasp these watchers would seize the new-come refugee and throw him out to the avenger, that he might weak his vengeance, and shed the still boiling blood upon the ground? Oh no! they never would cast him out; and shall they thus receive to refuge one who comes to their city to save the life of the body; and shall Jesus cast out one that comes to Him to save the life of the soul? Not so! Jesus will never cast out from the place of safety the one who speeds to it to save his life. Well does he know the dread importance of this race: well does he know the value of the soul; He has no arm outstretched to dash us back upon the sword point of the avenger; He has an arm outstretched to draw us in to Himself; never did those who crowded the gate of the city of refuge receive another escaped one, added to their company, with such pleasure as J esus receives another added to His. He sees an individual imperiled; He sees him rush for his life; He feels him touch Himself, the portal of life; He accepts, He shields. He saves; the avenger of blood in vain demands his prey; the voice of Jesus sends him disappointed and empty away Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out/^
Nor will Jesus cast out the sinner from the ‘position he thus takes up. We cannot come to Jesus without taking up a high position; indeed so high a one, that if it entered into a sinner’s sober calculations, he would in all probability be alarmed, and shrink back from coming to Christ at all.
None can come to Christ savingly, without entering into union with Him. Jesus knows that; and knowing it, still gives the poor sinner the full guarantee his trembling soul desires. It has often happened, that the men who have come to Christ to be saved, and who in this act, have had their sin and unworthiness before them, have thought of tarrying there, never dreaming of advancing into fellowship with their Lord. They did not know what being received or saved’ involved; and when j)ressed on by the impulses of divine life, they thought, it is presumption in me to expect this.’ The courtier who is invited to the yublic receptions of his sovereign, could not be surprised if he were turned out, should he be found intruding into the private apartments of the royal family; to be a member of the court is one thing, to be a member of the family is another. It is to belong to this latter that all are destined who come to Jesus; He gives them, as it were, the keys of the private chambers of his heart; He will never turn them out if they venture there. Oh! that we were less satisfied with the outer courts of safety; oh! that we ventured into the inner chamber of His love; for what, dear reader have we been saved? Is it merely to remain iinslain? Is our bare life to form the highest trophy of the blood of Christ? Is this all that is to be said of the saints, “The devil could not Idll them Can that Evil One mock us and say, Aha! Christ has you, but He will never make much of you, — try to get into closer communion with Him, and you’ll soon see that He will resent the liberty, and send you away.” The little promise before us rescues us from this; it penetrates beyond the outer courts of atonement, into the inner sanctuary of communion. Make bold, dear reader, to enter into Christ; remember that you are accepted in the Beloved,” — not only pardoned,” but accepted;” not only received into life, but into sonship. Let us go deep into Christ; he will in no wise cast us out.
And if Jesus were to cast us out, what would He cast us to? To rest upon our own resources; and that. He knows well, would be our death. In Him is life, and out of Him is death; if Christ cast us out, or repel us. He deliberately hands us over to ruin. The enemies of our soul are hard by, ready to pounce upon us, and make an end of us, the moment they ascertain that He will have nothing to do with us. Can we imagine the blessed Jesus thus deliberately thrusting any earnest soul into the very jaws of death? Can we imagine His deliberately giving the devil such a terrible and eternal triumph as this? Oh! if J esus were to cast out a single soul that came to Him, in repentance and belief, I can well believe that that soul would henceforth be the greatest jihenomenon of the land of perdition — the strangest curiosity of hell. All would understand how the murderer and adulterer fell into the land of woe; how the impenitent and the unbelieving dropped into the lake of fire; but how came this man there? Who can solve the riddle of his being damned? There is not a devil that would not look upon him with wonder; the arch-fiend himself would confess, that this man’s being lost, was a greater mystery than all others being saved; the devil’s choicest treasure would be this rejected soul.
And cannot we well imagine the use he would make of it: how he would make himself master of all the circumstances of its rejection; how he would chronicle carefully all its sighs and tears — its timid trial, and its fierce repulse; and then, how he would go forth to poor perishing sinners, and tell them, that he knew for a fact, that Jesus did not receive every one that came to Him. There is no instance on record of Christ’s having done this; if there were, we can easily understand how the Evil One would be continually bringing it up, preaching all sorts of sermons upon it, writing all sorts of treatises upon it; that would be his favorite subject; he would always preface it with it is written he would give out the text very plainly, much more so than some ministers give out their texts, so that every one might know where exactly to turn in the sacred volume, and find out for himself the fact, that Jesus sent a poor distressed and believing man empty away. Blessed be God, the great enemy of souls can show no rejection of any one in need, on the part of Christ. ‘Tis true, he could, even at the worst, point to but this single case; but this one would do for him; what has been,” he would say, may be; ’tis true, this is the first, but perhaps it is not the last; what happened to another, may happen to you; so, in your vaunted promise, you have no ground for hope,”
Oh! how Satan would work that possibility of our being lost; no matter how strongly we insisted upon the improbability of it, he would pertinaciously work the possibility j whispering continually into our ears,
But you may be; you may be!”
Thanks be to God, we may meet him, dear reader, in the power of these words, him,” and in no wise sovereign grace has made this proclamation for poor sinners; we may live on it; we may die on it! Brother, brother,” said the Rev. Legh Richmond when he was dying, strong evidences, nothing but strong evidences will do at such an hour as this. I have looked here, and looked there for them — all have failed me; and so I cast myself on the sovereign, free, and full grace of God in the covenant by Jesus Christ; and there, brother, (looking at me with a smile of tranquillity quite indescribable) there I have found peace.” Even so; the free grace of the promise, is just our only lioye.
What a blessed thought it is, that Jesus will in no wise” cast out the one who comes to Him. The figure used here is a litotes — ov yrj — two negatives, equal to
In no wise” — No! No!” Such words falling from the lips of Jesus, who was the way, the truths and the life,” are of inexpressible importance to us. It is as though Jesus said, Such a thing is not even to be spoken about; it does not come within even the range of possibility much less probability; under no circumstances could such an event take place.” We know that circumstances often prove too strong for the sternest resolutions of men; butJesus is above all circumstances; nothing but a deliberate act of His will would make Him hand over the poor sinner to his ruin; and the whole testimony of His promises His life His cross secure to us His will.
What V’ says Satan will He not cast you out when He finds how feeble your faith is?” ov iiif’
No! No
Will He not send you off when He has had a close sight of you and sees how horribly bad you are oi No! No
Will He not say that He will have no more to do with you, when He finds how hard it is to make any thing out of you ov j-iTf’ — No! No
Will He not get tired of you, and say, I fil look for more promising subjects on which to work?’ ov! No
“No! No V’ We will enter into no further argument with Satan than this: we will meet him with Scripture, after the example of our Lord: whatever cogitations and reasonings we may have in our own minds, there is no need of our enlarging upon them to him: No! No V is quite enough; He will in no wise’’ cast us out.
And in truth, though we do not enter upon them with Satan, we know of many considerations why the Lord Jesus will not cast us out.
Christ’s oion feelings engage Him not to do this dreadful deed. See hovr tenderness marks all His words to the poor, weak, and sorrowful ones; and could He ever bring Himself to send them away, after having raised their hopes, and invited them to come? Did He not weep over Jerusalem? Did He not mourn over the sheep who were without a shepherd? Did He not love the young man who came unto Him? Did He not say that He would not break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax; and that He did not come to condemn the world, but to save? Christ would do a violence to His own feelings, if He turned the poor trusting sinner ofi*. Yes! where would his love for souls be, when He did this dreadful deed? How could He fashion His lips to pronounce the awful words? How could he look sternly, and coldly, upon the poor creature, that stood before Him, ready to see life in His smile, and death in his frown? Surely all, all would be changed, if Jesus could do this; this must be a different Jesus from the one who used to speak lovingly to, and look lovingly on, sinners when He was upon the earth; His heart must have been changed at His ascension, but we know that it was not; Jesus is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever and His very feelings are part of our guarantee for life.
But we can understand how Jesus would say, Common Justice forbids my doing this; I have pledged my word to the sinner; I have induced him to venture all on me; I have declared, that he that believeth shall be saved J I have stripped the poor sinner of every other plea; I have left him nothing to hope for from himself; I must perform to him my word,”
And then, would not Jesus also say, the whole tenor of my life and death forbids this,” Did I not die, the just for the unjust to bring sinners unto God.” Was it not for carrying out this great design that I lived and died? To what purpose have I lived and died if I am to cast out any who come to me for life?
We cannot imagine the Lord Jesus Christ frustrating the design of his own life and death; deliberately making void the bloody sweat in Gethsemane and the bitter agonies of Calvary; we cannot imagine His coming short of the full fruition of His sufferings, which He must do, if He reject a single soul, really willing to be saved in His own way. Christ’s life and death have a price in His own eyes, as well as in those of the Father, and of a soul.
And would not the lohole counsel and loill of the Father he overthrown if J esus cast out any poor believing soul? What was the counsel and will of the Father but this, that there should be a highway made for sinners to come back to Himself; that whosoever believed should be saved; that He Himself should bo honored, and glorified, in the freeness of the terms, in the eternal life of those by whom they were accepted; in whom but sinners is that counsel to be carried out? and how is it to be carried out, but by their being certainly received? All, all conspire to secure the safety of the man that comes; a multitude of reasons, not one of which can be gainsaid, all confirm to us the word, “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.”
Let none be deterred by considerations of old slights; Jesus will never mention them. Where was He so slighted as in Jerusalem? And yet when he sent forth His apostles to evangelize the world, He said, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Let none be deterred by considerations of gpresent sinfulness, Jesus knows your nature; He came “not to call the righteous hut sinners to repentance f He takes you in your poor sinful nature just as you are; and will gradually make you what He would have you he. Leave it to Him by His Spirit to make you what He would have you he; you can no more sanctify, than you can justify yourself; with present sinfulness, and present sins, just come to Him.
Behold the universality of Christ’s cures on earth; whom did He ever send away unhealed? Not one; were any closed eyc’S left unopened? were any deaf ears left unstopped? was any arm left shrivelled? was any foot allowed to halt? who was sent away unfed? who uncleansed not one! they gathered to Him in crowds; they came to Him one by one; and He helped, and blessed them all. And shall it ever he said, that He did all this for the body, hut that He leaves undone the greater work for the soul? Shall it he said, He never sent any one away unhealed in the flesh, He did send some one away unhealed in the soul?’ Oh no 1 Ave rise from the less to the greater; from the body to the soul; and we hear the voice proclaiming for man’s higher needs.
Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast
out.”