their condition must be, if they be left to themselves. Even after they have attained peace through the blood and righteous- ness of the Lord Jesus, so that they no longer tremble for fear of condemnation, they groan more than ever under the burthen of their indwelling corruptions, saying, " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me**? " These are the persons for whose relief our Lord came into the world, and whom, above all, he invited to him in the words before us.]
To ascertain more fully the import of his address, we proceed to consider,
n. The invitation itself —
By the expression, " Come mito me," our Lord could not mean to call them nearer to him, because they were already round about him : but as he himself explains the words, he called them to believe on him*'; or, in other words, to come to him in the exercise of faith, of hope, and of love.
Its import will best appear in a short paraphrase —
[' To impart rest unto you all is the great end of my appearance in the world. Seek it therefore in me, and come to me, that ye may receive it at my hands. Turn not away from me as an impostor ; for I am the very person referred to in your prophecies, and sent unto you by the Father. Go not any longer to the vanities of this vi^orld in search of rest ; for it is not in them ; it is a gift which none but myself can impart "unto you. Keep not back, from an apprehension that you can make satisfaction for your own sins, or cleanse yourselves from your iniquities : for you can never have redemption, but through my blood ; nor can you ever subdue your lusts, but by my all-sufficient grace. Neither delay your coming on account of your own unworthiness, as if it were necessary for you to bring some meritorious services as the price of my favour: come, just as you ai'e, with all your sins vipon you; stop not to heal yourselves in part ; but come instantly to your Phy- sician; come and receive all my blessings freely, " without money, and without price." Come in faith, believing me able to save you to the uttermost, and as willing as I am able. Come also in hope: let your expectations be enlarged: " ye are not straitened in me; be not straitened in your own bowels." Count up all the blessings of time; survey all the glories of eternity; stretch your imagination to the uttermost; ask all that eye ever saw, or ear heard, or heart conceived ; and I will not only grant your requests, but give " exceeding abundantly
b Rom. vii. 24. ^ John vi. 35, 37, 44, 45, 65.