Editor’s Advertisement
“Come and welcome to Jesus Christ” is a subject peculiarly fitted to the deep and searching experience of John Bunyan. He knew all the wiles of sin and Satan, in placing stumbling-blocks in the way of a sincere penitent; all the human craft employed in keeping the soul from a simple and entire reliance upon Christ for salvation. This little work soon became most deservedly popular, passing through four large editions during the last seven years of the author’s life.
It is an enlightened display of the dealings of the Father in giving sinners to Christ; the Son in saving them by his atonement, mediation, and intercession; and the Holy Spirit in sanctifying and fitting them for glory. Here is no Calvinism, Lutheranism, or Arminianism; no Episcopacy, Presbytery, or Independency; nothing but Christism and Bibleism. The gracious invitation is addressed to all who feel their misery: Come unto me, and I will make you happy and blessed. All who feel the leprosy of sin are invited to this spiritual Physician, and he only can and will heal them.
The analysis of Bunyan’s treatise shows that ALL mankind are born in sin. ALL sinners are invited to Christ. None will come but such as feel the plague, and see the leprosy of sin. Those who come are drawn in a variety of ways — some terrified with the horrors of hell, others allured by the gracious voice of the Saviour, and the prospects of heavenly felicity. ALL who sincerely come, attain the same end, a sincere and total reliance upon the Saviour as the only refuge from the roaring lion.
— George Offor, Hackney, 1850
The Text: John 6:37
Introduction: The Context of the Text
A little before, in this chapter, you may read that the Lord Jesus walked on the sea to go to Capernaum, having sent his disciples before in a ship; but the wind was contrary. Now, about the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came walking upon the sea, and overtook them; at the sight of whom they were afraid.
Note. When providences are black and terrible to God’s people, the Lord Jesus shows himself to them in a wonderful manner; the which sometimes they can as little bear, as they can the things that were before terrible to them.
But he said, “Be not afraid, it is I.” Note. That the end of the appearing of the Lord Jesus unto his people, though the manner of his appearing be never so terrible, is to allay their fears and perplexities.
Then they received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at land whither it went. Note. When Christ is absent from his people, they go on but slowly, and with great difficulty; but when he joineth himself unto them, oh! how fast they steer their course! how soon are they at their journey’s end!
The people, when they saw that both Jesus was gone and his disciples, came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him, they wonderingly asked him, “Rabbi, when camest thou hither?” But the Lord Jesus, slighting their compliment, answered, “Verily, verily, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”
Note. A people may follow Christ far for base ends, as these went after him beyond sea for loaves. A man’s belly will carry him a great way in religion. Note again. They are not feigning compliments, but gracious intentions, that crown the work in the eye of Christ. Note again. When men shall look for friendly entertainment at Christ’s hand, if their hearts be rotten, even then will they meet with a check and rebuke.
The text standeth of two parts, and hath special respect to the Father and the Son; as also to their joint management of the salvation of the people: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
The first part respecteth the Father and his gift: the gift is of persons — the Father giveth persons to Jesus Christ. The second part shows the Son’s reception of this gift: his hearty acknowledgement of it; his taking solemn notice of all and every part of it; his resolution to bring them to himself; and his determination that nothing shall make him dislike them in their coming.
The Extent of the Gift: “All that the Father giveth me”
This word all is often used in Scripture, and is to be taken more largely, or more strictly, even as the truth or argument, for the sake of which it is made use of, will bear. The word all in the text must be limited and restrained to the saved, and to them only — to those that shall be saved, to wit, those that shall come to Christ; even those whom he will “in no wise cast out.”
The gift in the text, therefore, must not be taken in the largest sense, but for such a gift as Christ accepteth, and promiseth to be an effectual means of eternal salvation to. Those intended as the gift in the text are those that are given by covenant to the Son; those that in other places are called “the elect,” “the chosen,” “the sheep,” and “the children of the promise.”
The Person Giving: “The Father”
By this word “Father,” Christ describeth the person giving; by which we may learn several useful things.
First. That the Lord God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is concerned with the Son in the salvation of his people. He chose us; he gave us to his Son; yea, he gave his Son also to be a ransom for us. Hence he is called, “The Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.”
Second. Christ Jesus, by this word “Father,” would familiarise this giver to us. Naturally the name of God is dreadful to us; but this word “Father” is a familiar word; it frighteth not the sinner, but rather inclineth his heart to love, and be pleased with the remembrance of him. Bunyan himself confessed: “I myself have often found, that when I can say but this word Father, it doth me more good than when I call him by any other Scripture name.”
The Father, therefore, is to be remembered and adored, as one having a chief hand in the salvation of sinners. We ought to give “thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12).
“Shall Come”: What It Is to Come to Christ
This word come must be understood spiritually, not carnally; for many came to him carnally, or bodily, that had no saving advantage by him. The coming intended in the text is to be understood of the coming of the mind to him, even the moving of the heart towards him — from a sound sense of the absolute want that a man hath of him for his justification and salvation.
This coming divideth itself into two heads:
First. Coming to Christ is a moving of the mind towards him. This is evident; because coming, if it be voluntary, is by an act of the mind or will. “Thy people shall be willing” (Psalm 110:3). This willingness of heart is it which sets the mind a-moving after or towards him. It is a work of greatest wonder in this world, to see a man who was sometimes dead in sin, possessed of the devil, an enemy to Christ — to see this man moving with his mind after the Lord Jesus Christ.
Second. It is a moving of the mind towards him, from a sound sense of the absolute want that a man hath of him for his justification and salvation. Without this sense of a lost condition without him, there will be no moving of the mind towards him. “And they shall come which were ready to perish” (Isaiah 27:13). They are the outcasts, and those that are ready to perish, that have their minds effectually moved to come to Jesus Christ.
Of the true coming to Christ, the four lepers (2 Kings 7:3) were a famous semblance. The famine was sore; they sat at the gate of the city, and hunger was making his last meal of them. What do they say? “If we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; if they kill us, we shall but die.” Here was necessity at work, and this necessity drove them to go thither for life, whither else they would never have gone. Thus it is with them that in truth come to Jesus Christ. Death is before them; he is feeding upon them, and will eat them quite up, if they come not to Jesus Christ; and therefore they come.
Marks of True Coming
That coming to Christ floweth from a sound sense of absolute need is evident in several marks:
1. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them (Jeremiah 31:9). They come with prayers and tears, which are the effects of a right sense of the need of mercy.
2. This coming to Christ is called a running to him; a flying to him from wrath to come. Flying is the last work of a man in danger; when all refuge fails, and a man is made to see that there is nothing left him but sin, death, and damnation, unless he flies to Christ for life, then he flies, and not till then.
3. That the true coming is from a sense of absolute need is evident by the outcry made by them as they are coming: “Lord, save me!” or “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” or “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
4. It is said that such are “pricked in their heart,” that is, with the sentence of death by the law (Acts 2:37). Such are said to weep, to tremble, and to be astonished at the evident and unavoidable danger that attends them, unless they fly to Jesus Christ.
5. Coming to Christ is attended with an honest and sincere forsaking of all for him. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
Objections in the Way of Coming — Answered
Objection 1: My End Is Not Right — I Come Only for Life
Though my mind runs after Christ, moved by a sight of my lost condition, yet I fear my ends are not right in coming to him. My end is only that I might have life and be saved.
Answer. To come to Christ for life, and to be saved, although at present thou hast no other end, is a lawful and good coming to Jesus Christ. This is evident, because Christ propoundeth life as the only argument to prevail with sinners to come to him: “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40). Besides, for a man to come to Christ for life, though he comes for nothing else, it is to give much honour to him. He honoureth the word of Christ; he honoureth Christ’s person, believing that there is life in him; he honoureth his priesthood, believing Christ’s sacrifice hath more power to save than sin hath power to damn.
Objection 2: I Do Not Design God’s Glory in My Salvation
Answer. Where doth Christ Jesus require such a qualification of those that are coming to him for life? Come thou for life, and trouble not thy head with such objections against thyself. Eternal life, pardon of sin, and deliverance from wrath — Christ propounds these to thee; come as a sinner who needs them, and lay no stumbling-blocks in the way. When the jailer said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul did not ask him, “What is your end in this question?” He knew that such questions would have been but fools’ babbles. He simply bade him: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
Objection 3: I Am Sometimes Led to Question the Very Being of Christ
Answer. Thou mayest judge amiss in this matter. Let me ask: dost thou like these wicked blasphemies? No, no; their presence and working kills me. Dost thou mourn for them, pray against them, hate thyself because of them? Yes. Then thy not liking of them, thy mourning for them, thy praying against them, clearly declares that these things are not countenanced by thy will, affections, or conscience; and so that thy heart is not in them — but that they come from the devil, or from the body of death that is in thy flesh. Thou art like the betrothed damsel in Deuteronomy 22 who was forced against her will: God, the righteous judge, will not lay the sin at thy door, but at his that offered the violence.
Objection 4: I Am So Heartless and Slow in My Coming
Answer. The moving of the heart after Christ is not to be discerned at all times by 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. The man that flies for his life, no matter how slowly he runs, yet counts that he speeds not fast enough. Thy flesh is like a dull jade that will not gallop after Christ; but Christ judgeth not according to the fierceness of outward motion, but according to the sincerity of the heart. Mephibosheth was lame, and could not keep pace with others, but David was content with his reason. The Lord saith: “I will save her that halteth” (Zephaniah 3:19).
Objection 5: I Fear I Have Come Too Late
Answer. Thou canst never come too late to Jesus Christ, if thou dost come. Consider the man that came at the eleventh hour (Matthew 20) and the thief upon the cross who came at an hour before his death (Luke 23:43): “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” If thou art coming to Jesus Christ, the gate of mercy yet stands open to thee. “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now God is upon the mercy-seat; now Christ sits 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.”
Objection 6: I Have Fallen Since I Began to Come to Christ
Answer. Falls are dangerous, for they dishonour Christ and wound the conscience. But it is no good argument — “I am fallen, therefore I was not coming aright.” If David, Solomon, and Peter had thus objected against themselves, they had added to their griefs. A man whose steps are ordered by the Lord may yet be overtaken with a temptation that may cause him to fall. There are falls pardonable and falls unpardonable. Falls unpardonable are falls against light, from the faith, to the despising of and trampling upon Jesus Christ (Hebrews 6:2–5; 10:28–29). But other falls, though dreadful, do not prove thee a graceless man. “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). Is it a wonder, then, to see a soul catch a fall in coming to Jesus Christ?
Yet make not light of falls! “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). But hast thou fallen? “The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up those that are bowed down.” Samuel said to all Israel after their great 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” (1 Samuel 12:20–22).