I. What we should come to Christ for —
[In general, we answer, that we must come to him for every thing ; since all fulness is treasured up in him, on pur- pose that we may receive out of it according to our necessities. But more particularly, we must come to him for pardon, which we all need ; which we cannot otherwise obtain ; and which he is exalted to givea. We must come for peace, since all peace derived from other quarters, is delusive, and he, as the Prince of peace, has promised to bestow itb. We must come for strength, since without him we can do nothing0, and by him, every thing d ; and St. Paul himself applied to him in prayer, and obtained from him, as we also shall do, grace suf- ficient for hime. Lastly, we must come to him for eternal life and glory ; since he frequently claims it as his prerogative to give itf, and will surely be the author of it to all them that obey himg.]
II. In what manner we should come to him —
[Of course, our Lord meant not that we were to approach him with our bodies ; since many thronged him, and pressed upon him, who nevertheless were cast out. It is therefore, not to the motion of our bodies, but to the frame of our minds, that we are to have respect, when we come unto him. We must come unto him empty. If, like the Laodiceans, we think ourselves rich and increased with goods'1, our application to Christ will be vain and fruitless \ We must be deeply con- vinced of our own guilt and helplessness; and be thoroughly persuaded that we must perish if he receive us not. We must be like the Prodigal, when dying with hunger, or like the Dis- ciples in jeopardy, crying, Save, Lord, or we perishk. More- over we must come believing. This is more particularly intended by our Lord, the words " coming" and " believing," being perfectly synonymous1. To come filled with unbelief, would be to insult, rather than to honour him. We should be convinced of his suitableness to our necessities, his sufficiency for our relief, and his willingness to receive us. We must regard him as the only way to life, the only door of hope™. We must believe in him as appointed of God to be our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption" ; and then we shall find by happy experience that he is " able to save us to the uttermost."]
III. The encouragement we have to come to him —
v&v
a Acts v. 31. b Isai. ix. 6. John xiv. 27. Eph. ii. 17.
c John xv. 5. 2 Cor. iii. 5. d Phil. iv. 13.
• 2 Cor. xii. 9. f John x. 28. e Heb. v. 9.
h Rev. iii. 17. i Luke i. 53. k Matt. viii. 25.
i ver. 35. m John xiv. 6. andx. 9. » 1 Cor. i. 30.
1639.] Christ's willingness to receive sinners. 387
[Though our Lord sometimes delayed answering the requests of those who came to him in the days of his flesh, he never finally refused any. Thus, though he may not instantly manifest his acceptance of us, he will not reject any who thus come unto him. No past iniquities shall cause him to reject us. This is evident from many strong and express declarations of Prophets0, of Apostles p, of Christ himself q. If it be thought that the sin against the Holy Ghost is an exception, let it suffice to say, that no man, who desires to find acceptance through Christ, can possibly have committed that; since he would in that case have been given over to judicial blindness and obduracy, and consequently, would have continued altoge- ther regardless of his eternal welfare. The same may be proved from manifold instances, wherein the vilest of the human race have found acceptance with him. We need only look at Ma- nasseh1', David s, and above all at the Apostle Paul, who was in this particular intended for a pattern*, and this blessed truth will be established beyond a possibility of doubt. Nor will any present infirmities cause our Lord to reject us. For his Disciples, long after they had found acceptance with him, be- trayed manifest symptoms of pride11, revenge x, and cowardicey; and Peter, whose misconduct was by far the most glaring, received by far the most striking tokens of our Lord's regard2. We say not this to encourage sin, but to illustrate the tender mercies of him, who carries the lambs in his bosom, and who, instead of breaking the bruised reed, will bring forth from it the sweetest melody a.]