pressure of a very grievous famine: he was informed that there was plenty of corn in Egypt; and that his dearly-beloved Joseph was the Lord of all that land, and that he disposed of the good things thereof to whomsoever he would : he was told, moreover, that Joseph had expressly invited him ; and had sent waggons for the conveyance of his family, together with abundance of provisions by the way : and finally, he was assured that, at the end of his journey, all the good of the land of Egypt should be his. Did he need, after this, to have a rope or chain fastened round him, and to be dragged into Egypt 1 No : all that he needed was faith, to believe the tidings ; and when once he was fully persuaded of the truth of these things, he was willing of himself to go into that good land. It is thus that God draws his people : he causes us to feel our need of mercy; he informs us that our beloved Jesus has all heaven at his disposal ; that he has sent to invite us to him, assuring us of whatever is needful by the way, and promising us all the glory of heaven at the end : and finally, he gives us faith to believe his testi- mony. Thus " he makes us willing in the day of his power0;" and a thorough belief of these truths will bend the most stub- born heart, and overcome the most reluctant mind.]
Without these drawings we cannot come to Christ —
[We may give an assent to all the truths of the Gospel, and may profess an attachment to our Lord himself, without any such gracious influence; but we cannot really come to him in the manner before described, unless we be drawn by an almighty power. We can never apprehend him, till we are thus, as it were by a kind of magnetic influence, apprehended by him.]
Such is the plain import of the subject before us ; but,
II. It is deemed objectionable, and therefore we shall assign the reasons of it —
There is no doctrine of the Bible that is loaded with more opprobrium than this : it is represented as grossly enthusiastic, and almost bordering on blas- phemy. But the truth of it will immediately appear, if only we consider the grounds and reasons of it. It is founded,
1. On our indisposition to come to Christ —
[Consider what the coming to Christ implies : First it implies a sense of our lost state without him : and do men like
« Ps. ex. 3.
1640.1 man's inability TO COME TO CHRIST. 391
to feel themselves guilty and undone? do they feel no backward- ness to confess that they are justly exposed to everlasting misery? Next, it implies a renunciation of all dependence on ourselves : and is this pleasing to corrupt nature ? Are we willing to believe ourselves so utterly destitute of wisdom, righteousness, and strength, that we must be altogether depen- dent on Christ, as much as a new-born infant is on its parent? Next, it implies a turning from every thing that is displeasing to Christ : but have we no reluctance to mortify our besetting sins, and to forsake the habits, maxims, company, and interests of a polluted world? Lastly, it implies that we give ourselves entirely up to Christ, to walk in a state of holy communion with him, and unreserved obedience to his will : but does man naturally affect such a life as this ? Is there nothing irksome to him in such restraints ; nothing painful in such exertions ?
Here then is one reason why we need the drawings of the Father in order to come to Christ. Our coming to Christ is altogether against the current of our corrupt natured: and as a river flowing to the ocean cannot turn back again to its source without the attractive influence of the heavenly bodies, so neither can we reverse all our natural habits and propen- sities, without the drawings of our heavenly Father.]