Message of Invitation and Consolation to Sinners

Introduction: The Consolation of Christ and the Invitation to Sinners

0:04 John chapter 6, and our attention should be focused tonight upon verse 37, particularly the latter part of the text, but I want to read the entire text, make a few comments by way of a brief overview of the entire text and the relationship of the first part, often neglected in even the quoting of this verse, to show the relationship of the first part of the text to the second, and then go into a very careful exposition of the second part of the text before us. John 6 and verse 37, all that which the Father giveth me, reading from the American Standard Version, which more accurately captures our Lord's language at this point, not all that the Father giveth me, but all that which the Father giveth me shall come unto me, and him that cometh to me. I will in no wise cast out. The first part of this text, all that which the Father hath given me shall come unto me, is in a very real sense a word of affirmation and consolation to the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

1:29 For you will notice that the context of those words is the flagrant unbelief of the people who have seen his miracles. They have eaten from that bread which, though very little, is the bread of the Lord Jesus very meager in supply, fed five thousand. They have seen this miraculous demonstration that this is no mere man, and yet our Lord says of these very people who saw the miracles, and yet he says of them earlier in the chapters, you'll remember, you don't seek me because you see the signs, that is, you don't seek me because you understand what that meant. You don't seek me because there's any spiritual perception.

2:07 In fact, he says in verse 36, I say unto you that ye have seen me, and yet believe not. In the face of this tremendous display of his own power, this that should have been proof positive and sufficient evidence that he was what he claimed to be, they meet this great display of evidence with stark naked unbelief. And our Lord, as it were, consoles himself by saying, all right, I've displayed my glory. I've demonstrated my power.

2:38 You haven't believed. That's all right. All that which the Father hath given me shall still come to me. Your unbelief does not frustrate the purpose of my Father.

2:50 Your unbelief does not discourage me into retreat. Oh, no. I'm grieved over your unbelief. I'm pained at your unbelief.

2:59 In a few short years, I will weep over your unbelief. When he cried, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered. But, oh, you unbelievers. You believing Jews, your unbelief has not frustrated me.

3:13 Your unbelief has not frustrated the purpose of my Father. For all that which the Father hath given me shall come to me. All the certainty of his decree of election, there is a people that he has given to me. And the certainty of the Father's effectual call, they shall come to me.

3:34 The Lord says, this comforts me in the face of unbelief. And so every true servant. Christ has learned to draw comfort from the first part of this text. When he seeks to demonstrate the glory of Christ, the awfulness and the reality of hell as we've been doing in these past Lord's Day mornings, and in the face of all that evidence and that clear truth, when men are still unbelieving, what gives comfort to the heart of a servant of Christ? All that which the Father hath given shall indeed come. The immutability of the decree of election, and the certainty of the Father's effectual call, this is affirmation and consolation to the true child of God. And the truths embodied in the first part of verse 37, I personally and we as an assembly of believers, by and large, affirm, confess, believe, without reservation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation, without expectation. We gladly wear that confession of our faith boldly and openly. And so the fact that I'm focusing upon the latter part of the text

4:47 is not that I'm made uneasy by the first part of the text. It's not in any way that I do not believe or confess the first part of the text. If I had a group of discouraged ministers who had been ministering with tenderness and with spiritual power in the face of unbelief, we would just milk sweetness from the first part of the text. But my purpose is not to console discouraged servants of Christ tonight. My purpose is to give a message of invitation and consolation, not to the servants of Christ, but to needy sinners. And that's to be found not in the first part of the text, but in the last part of the text. For the last part of the text declares, and him that cometh unto me, I will in no way cast out. What is our Lord saying? Ah, here's what he's saying. I am consoled by the immutability of

5:44 the decree of election, by the certainty of the Father's effectual call in the face of unbelief, and if in the midst of general unbelief there should be one who wants to come, I'm ready to welcome him. I'm ready to welcome him. Him that cometh unto me in the face of this terrible unbelief, in the face of this general unbelief, I'm ready to welcome him. I'm ready to welcome him.

6:06 General indifference. If there's one amongst you who has a longing to come, who has a desire to come, I'll welcome him. A word of consolation and invitation to the sinner. And that will be the focus of our study tonight. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out a message of invitation and consolation to sinners. Now, if you're not a sinner in your own eyes, if you feel no need of a divine blessing, you're not a sinner in your own eyes. You're not a sinner in your own eyes. You're not a sinner in your own eyes. You're not a sinner in your own eyes. You're not a sinner in your own eyes.

Defining 'Coming' to Christ: Saving Faith

6:37 I have no message for you tonight. You may as well just go to sleep. Or go home and you still have time to watch Ed Sullivan. I still believe he's on at eight o'clock Sunday night with me. But if you're a sinner and you know yourself to be one, and as we've been considering the scriptural teaching of the doctrine of hell, if you as it were can even feel some of the warmth of those flames and you say, oh, what is the way of deliverance? I believe God has a word for you tonight. A word of invitation and consolation to the sinner. I believe God has a word for you tonight. A word of If there is but the slightest inkling of desire to seek salvation by Jesus Christ. Well, how shall we think our way through such a powerful text as this? Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast up. Well, in the first place, I want to briefly define what the word come means.

7:31 Him that cometh unto me. What does that word mean? Then having defined it, we shall consider three things. The object of the sinner's coming, Christ himself.

7:41 The necessity of the sinner's coming, him that cometh. The sinner must come. And then the certainty of the sinner's welcome, I will in no wise cast out. What did our Lord mean when he said, him that cometh unto me?

7:59 Well, will you notice in the very context of this passage, the word coming is a synonym for believing. Notice verse 29. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Verse 35.

8:18 I am the bread of life. Notice now. He that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. How is spiritual hunger satisfied and spiritual thirst assuaged?

8:33 By coming, which is the same as believing. By believing. By believing, which is the same as coming. Verse 40.

8:41 This is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholdeth the Son and believeth on him. So when our Lord said, him that cometh unto me, he is simply using this verb of action to describe the activity of saving faith. There's a beautiful and simple definition or description of this. One of God's servants has said, That coming to Christ means that movement of the soul which takes place when a man or woman feeling his sins and finding out that he cannot save himself, hears of Christ, applies to Christ, trusts in Christ, lays hold upon Christ, and leans all his weight on Christ for salvation. When this happens, a man is said in scriptural language to come. To Christ. Or that beautiful definition of Professor Murray's in Redemption Accomplished and Applied.

9:43 Saving faith is self-commitment to Jesus Christ in all the glory of his person and in the perfection of his work as he is so freely and fully offered to us in the gospel. What is it to come? It is to believe. What is it to believe?

10:02 To cast the weight of my sin-sick soul upon the Son of God. As he is offered in the gospel. So much then for a definition of the word come. Now we come to the heart of the text.

The Object of the Sinner's Coming: The Biblical Christ

10:15 First of all, the object to which the sinner comes.

10:19 Jesus Christ himself. Notice the wording. Him that cometh to me. Not to my cross.

10:30 Not to my doctrine. Not to my church. Not to my ordinances. Not to my servants.

10:37 But him that cometh to me. He said, I am the object of the coming sinner. I am the exclusive object of the sinner's faith. And this is the teaching of the entire breadth of Holy Scripture.

10:54 That Jesus Christ in the uniqueness of his person and in the sufficiency of his work is the object of faith in the coming sinner. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. Testifying repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

11:19 Passage after passage. He that believeth on the Son. So then the object to which the sinner comes is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. But now, to what kind of a Christ does the sinner come?

11:34 He comes to this Christ who is, first of all, unique in his person. And our Lord underscored this in this very passage. Notice what he says of himself in verse 27. Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you.

11:57 For him the Father, even God, hath sealed. The Father has put a special stamp of ownership and possession upon his Son. He is the unique. One and only Son of Man.

12:12 Him that cometh unto me, that is, who comes to me in the uniqueness of my person. He speaks of himself further in this passage as the one who has come down from heaven. Verse 33. For the bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven.

12:33 Well, who is that bread? Verse 35. I am the bread. I am the bread of life.

12:39 Verse 38. For I am come down from heaven. You see, when the Lord Jesus said, Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out, and set himself before his hearers as the object of their coming, he did not leave it up to them to determine who he was, and concoct any kind of Christ they would like to in their minds and say, Well, I'll come to that Christ because that suits me. Oh, no.

13:07 He declares, Who he is in the uniqueness of his person. And I would say to everyone here tonight, conscious of their sin and of their need, the object to which you are to come is the Lord Jesus, but not a Jesus whom you may concoct out of the stuff of your own thinking, but that Jesus who is set before us in the Gospels in the complete uniqueness of his person, that one who is called by the prophet the mighty God, though he is the Son given, called by John the eternal word, called by Paul in Colossians, not only the creator of all things, but the one in whom all things hold together, the one spoken of in Hebrews as the one who upholds all things by the word of his power. And I think one of the most beautiful summaries of this aspect of this unique person is found in Isaiah 63 and verse 1, where we read in this prophecy concerning the Lord, this description of his unique person, Isaiah 63, 1, Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah, this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength, I that speak in righteousness, mighty to say,

14:33 there's the identity of this unique person, the one who is mighty, to say, the one spoken of in Psalm 24 in verse 8, Who is the Lord of glory? And the answer, come back, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Oh, as you think of the power of sin within your own life, as you think of the enormity of your guilt, you know that your need is to have one who is more than man, who has more virtue and more merit than man can ever have, who has more power than man can possess to break the chains that bind you. The object to which the Lord invites you is himself, in the uniqueness of his person, as the one who is mighty to say, oh, that the Holy Spirit would shine upon the face of Jesus in something of the might and power of his saving mercy. Ah, but you say, I think I see something of him as mighty, but he seems to be so mighty that he's beyond me. I need a Savior that I know will come near enough to touch me in my need. I feel like the leper cast out of the camp of Israel, forbidden to come to the temple to worship with God's people, cut off from fellowship with his own covenant people so that when they see me they put the finger upon the lip

16:01 and they cry, unclean, unclean. I need to know that there's one who is near me, and God says in those beautiful words of Hebrews 2, verses 14 and following, he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. It behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest. He came and he partook of flesh and blood that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subjects, to bondage.

16:39 And so God sets him before us, not only in the uniqueness of his person as the one mighty to save, but the one who is near us in his humanity, who knew what it was to weep, to suffer, being tempted, to bleed, to die. As a man he keeps the law of God. As the God-man he suffers and dies, and as man he triumphs. And now there is a man in the glory, touched with the feeling of our infirmity, who can sympathize with us in our need.

17:11 Oh, I say to you tonight on the basis of this text, the object to which the Lord Jesus points the needy sinner is his own self, him that cometh unto me, me in the uniqueness of my person,

17:28 but also me, the Lord Jesus says, in the perfection of my work. For he went on in this very discourse to say some strange words, that have reference to his saving work. Will you notice verse 51 of this sixth chapter? I am the living bread which came down out of heaven.

17:49 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And it's as though someone says, But Lord, what kind of involvement with you is needed to partake of this bread? And he answers the question, notice, Yea, and the bread which I give is my flesh for the life of the world. Verse 53, Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves.

18:22 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up. Well, I thought he said, Him that comes unto me, I will never cast out. I will raise him up at the last day. Now he says, It's not only a matter of coming to him in the uniqueness of his person, but I must eat, his flesh, and drink his blood.

18:40 What does that mean? It says, I must have an interest in, a participation in Jesus Christ crucified, that is just as real as the participation my body has with the food that I eat. I take it to myself. I assimilate it until it becomes a very part of my fingers, my hands, my eyes, my hair, my nails, my skin, my bone, my brain tissue, until what I eat is absorbed into the totality, totality of my being.

19:10 There is this fusion of my very life with that which disdains life. Jesus said, When you come to me, you come to me not only in the uniqueness of my person as the mighty God, and as the Son of Man, but in the perfection of my work as a crucified Savior. You come to me to be involved with me, not just as Christ, the one mighty to save, Christ, the one sympathetic to succor and to save, but you come to me as the crucified, you come to me as the one who gives his flesh for the life of the world. You come to me and what is an offense to the world, my cross, which displays the Father's wrath against sin, and man's deep helplessness in sin, that cross which is offensive to the world, becomes the very pedestal of glory for the child of God. Come to me, he said, not only in the uniqueness of my person, but in the perfection, of my work, that work by which I satisfied the wrath and justice of my Father, that work by which I literally swallowed up his wrath against all who come, that work which when accomplished enabled me to cry, it is finished.

20:32 The object to which the sinner comes is the Lord Jesus, this Jesus, in the uniqueness of his person, and in the perfection of his work.

20:45 Coming, to Christ, is a lot more than a lot of people make it, isn't it? They allow them to concoct a Christ of their own imagination, to whom they think they may come on any terms of their own, and say, well, I've come to Christ, and they use this text to justify it. Ah, listen to what's bound up in these words of our Lord. Him that cometh unto me, the object of the sinner's coming, is the Lord Jesus, but the Christ of biblical revelation, in all the uniqueness of his person, and in all, the perfection of his work.

21:18 And no one ever knows the benefits of the perfection of his work, who does not embrace him in the uniqueness of his person, and it's impossible to embrace him in the uniqueness of his person, without from the heart embracing him in the perfection of his work. Do you tonight see a suitableness in the sufferings of Christ, suitable to care for your sin? Do you see in this one mighty to save, one who's able to loose the bonds of your own sin? Do you?

21:51 Then he says, come, come, him that cometh unto me, not the church, not the preacher, not the inquiry room, not an altar of prayer, not the doctrines divorced from his person, not even the promises.

22:08 Christ presents himself in the promises, but the promises are to be, but the stepping stone to embrace him, the living, the reigning exalted son of God is the object of the sinner's coming. That beautiful old gospel hymn in our hymn book has captured it. The last stanza which says, lo, the incarnate God ascended pleads the merits of his blood. Venture on him.

22:36 Venture wholly. Let no other trust intrude. None but Jesus, none but Jesus can do helpless sinners good. There it is in a nutshell.

The Necessity of the Sinner's Coming: Personal and Unreserved

22:47 Well, having considered the object to which the sinner comes, will you notice in the second place in our text, the necessity of the sinner's coming. John 6, 37, the last part of the text. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. He is able, he is willing, but it says, he that cometh, I will in no wise cast out.

23:13 Now listen carefully. It's the sinner who comes. God doesn't come, and for him, he himself must come. As the old confession states it beautifully in the section on the effectual call of God, this little phrase, yet so as they come most freely.

23:32 One of the great problems when people begin to understand the first part of this text, that there is a decree of election all that which the Father hath given me. How anyone can face that text and evade the clear implication there is a people given, to the Lord Jesus. And he says, they shall come. When people begin to understand or confront the doctrine of election and the doctrine of effectual calling that men shall be made willing by the grace of God, then they make another conclusion that they're not warranted to make.

24:05 Well, if God has decreed to save some, and if they most certainly shall come, I'll just sit back until he brings me in. Ah, no. You sit back. I'll sit back waiting for him to bring you in, my friend, and you'll wake up in hell.

24:22 He says, you must come. You must come. You must come. You must come.

24:30 He that cometh, you come. He done come for you. He done come on your behalf. You must come.

24:40 You must come. May I suggest two things about this coming? You must come personally and individually. And it's set forth beautifully in this text, in the original.

24:51 There are a lot of passages that if you didn't know a letter in the Greek alphabet wouldn't bother you at all. When you've got a good translation before you, an accurate translation, a trustworthy translation, you're in good shape. But once in a while there are shades of insight that come in the original that you don't get. And this is one of those texts.

25:09 When Jesus says, all that the Father giveth me at the beginning of the text, the translation of the American Standard is more accurate. All that which the Father hath given me. He uses a, a plural neuter. And he looks upon the whole body of the elect as a great mass, the great church, viewed corporately, not individually.

25:32 Now other passages speak of election in individual terms. He hath chosen us in Christ. Speak unto so-and-so, my elect brother. Or so-and-so Rufus, elect in the Lord.

25:45 Unto our elect lady. So the doctrine that election has nothing to do with some kind of faceless mass of people called believers, but God doesn't pick individual people is utter foolishness. It won't stand the weight of Scripture. But nevertheless, this text views the elect of God as a great body.

26:04 Now notice, all that which the Father hath given me shall come to me. That's the word of consolation to Christ in the face of unbelief. But now when he wants to console the sinner and encourage the sinner to come, he doesn't say, and those that come to me, plural, or that which comes to me, neuter, but he makes it an individual masculine. He that cometh unto me.

26:32 He that cometh. Isn't it beautiful? He individualizes it. He personalizes it.

26:38 He says, out of all that great body that the Father has given, they come individually, personally, consciously, one by one. One by one. And so I say the great thrust of this text is not only setting before us the object to which we come, but the necessity of coming. We must come personally and individually.

27:03 No coming by proxy. Some of you may have had parents who presented you to the Lord in some kind of a service of dedication. Others of you may have had parents who presented you in what in their understanding was baptism and gave you the seal of a covenantal relationship, but my friend, that will never bring you to Christ. You must come personally.

27:25 He that cometh to me. Mom and Pop can't come for you.

27:34 Family can't come for you. Preacher can't come for you. You've got to come in personally, individually,

27:44 rolling the weight of your own sin-sick soul upon that unique person who's mighty to save in the light of his perfect work. Amen.

27:55 Charles Spurgeon, that great preacher to sinners, in preaching on a passage in the 6th of John, I am the bread of life, said some words that fit so beautifully into the text that we're considering tonight. Listen to them. Emphasizing this as one of his sub-points, trust him for yourself, Spurgeon says, that's the point. The hinge of the whole business.

28:21 He is a savior. I believe that. But I go further and resolve he shall be my savior. May I say that?

28:29 Yes. I'm permitted to do so inasmuch as he says, him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Scripture says that he is exalted on high to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins. Therefore I look to him to give me repentance and remission of sins.

28:47 I trust him in that respect and he is mine. He has said, it is finished. The atonement is finished. I believe that it's finished for me.

28:57 A prominent point about the offering under the old law was that the person who came with the sacrifice laid his hands upon it and said, this is mine. You must do the same with Jesus. Lay your hands on him and say, he is mine. This sacrificial death is for me.

29:14 Oh, but says one, suppose he's not mine. What if I were to take him to myself without warrant? Suppose such a thing for one moment. Yet he would be yours.

29:25 If I was hungry and I ate a bit of bread and after I'd eaten it someone said, it's not yours, I should reply, perhaps not. But how will you take it from me now? It has nourished me. It has refreshed me in his mind and none can deprive me of it.

29:40 There is the point, you see. If you take Christ unto yourself, the devil himself may say to you, you have no right to him. But he cannot take away that which you've eaten. Jesus himself will not quarrel with you nor blame you for taking him.

29:53 For he has said, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. You may summon a poor man before the magistrate and say, he is a thief for he stole bread from my counter. You may put him in prison for the theft, though I hope you would not if hunger drove him to it. But you cannot get your bread away from him if he's eaten it.

30:12 So if you come to Christ and take him to yourself, he's yours and you shall live by him. Jesus said, he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. Nor death, nor hell, nor time, nor eternity can tell you take Jesus away when once you have him within you. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

30:32 Swallow then the divine truth. Let it go down quickly for fear anybody shall come before it is fully entered into your soul. Once there, it is yours. They say that possession is nine points of the law.

30:45 And I should think in the case of eating of Christ it is the whole ten points or any other number of points for there's no getting repossession of that which a man has actually eaten. Get! Christ in Christ is yours. Yours by a kind of possession which will never be disputed before the courts of heaven.

31:05 The sinner must come. Oh, for some of you who've even opened your mind to me and exposed some of your distress and the consciousness of sin, why do you linger away from a Savior who gives an invitation as this? He says, I'm the object to which you come. Perfection in my person.

31:25 Perfection in my work. But then he says, you must come. Him that cometh unto me. So you must come personally and individually and in the second place you must come heartily and unreservedly.

Coming Heartily and Unreservedly: No Reservations

31:39 No drawing near with the lips while the heart is far from him. And in this very context do you know what it meant to come to him? It meant to jeopardize life itself. For the claims of Jesus Christ seemed blasphemous to these people.

31:54 Notice verse 41. The Jews therefore, murmured concerning him because he said, I am the bread which came down out of heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How doth he say, I am come down out of heaven?

32:14 You see, for any Jew in that context to say, I believe his claims, you know what it meant? It meant to put life itself on the chopping block.

32:25 For it's a simple thing to come to Christ, yes. In one sense it costs nothing, but in another sense it costs everything. For that coming of which Jesus speaks is not only a coming personally and individually, but heartily and unreservedly. It means to embrace all of Jesus with all of the demands of his person and all the humbling nature of his work.

32:49 To come to him in the adequacy of his work is to say, Lord Jesus, foul and full of sin I am. I do desire to eat of thy flesh and drink of thy blood. I do desire to eat of thy blood. I do desire to eat of thy blood.

33:01 I do desire to eat of thy flesh and I do desire to acknowledge that I shall starve eternally if it is not for the life which your death gives. Oh, what a humbling confession. Man wants to at least say, Lord, I've whittled my pinky. I've scratched my ear.

33:16 I've done something that adds something to my acceptance. No, no. This demands coming unreservedly. Nothing in our hands to bring.

33:28 It demands coming acknowledging that the one who is mighty to save us is God and God never bickers with sinners. He offers mercy and says, bow, kiss the scepter of my son.

33:42 Oh, how this text has been abused. And it's been abused.

33:47 But it's glorious in its context, in its full and rich setting. Coming to him is a coming heartily, a coming unreservedly. There were people in that day who came in a different way and you know what happened to them? Look at the sequel to this event or the closing of it.

34:04 Verse, Many therefore of his disciples when they heard this said, Hmm, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? And Jesus said, You think what I've told you up to now is hard? I'll give you something harder yet.

34:18 And so he did. He did. He preached human inability to them. Call and you can't come except the Father draws.

34:27 Notice verse 65. And he said, For this cause I said unto you, No man can come to me except it be given to him of my Father.

34:36 What happened then? Verse 66. And upon this many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more until he turns and he's just got the twelve left. And he says, Will you also go away?

34:49 What was wrong with these, quote, disciples? They came with reservations. They came with some reservations about their own, quote, human ability. And when Jesus said, Look, you're so bad that you can't even get to the remedy unless the Father brings you there.

35:05 No, not us. We have free, we will. We're good Jews. Oh, we've done a few bad things.

35:14 We're not helpless.

35:16 We don't want that saying. They go back. My friend, listen to me. Listen.

35:21 You come to Christ with some imagined virtues of your own and sooner or later you'll part with him when his word begins to put the pressure upon those supposed virtues.

35:34 You come with reservations about certain sins that you want to cherish and sooner or later, like Judas, who was in the twerels, you'll part with Christ for the sake of that sin.

35:47 To come to Jesus Christ not only means coming individually and personally, but heartily and unreservedly. For he said, If any man come to me and hate not father, mother, brother, sister, yea, and his own life, also he cannot be my disciple. Oh, he can openly identify himself with me and my people and go through the motions, but I'll never own him in that day. I'll say, Depart from me.

Addressing Objections to Coming: Inability and Conviction

36:11 I never knew you. But, oh, let me encourage you. Whether you've been driven by the fear of hell or drawn by the loveliness of the Savior to the place where you say, Yes, I do long to come, and I do long to come unreservedly and wholeheartedly, whether driven by the fear of hell or drawn by the loveliness of the Savior, whether terrified by the threats of God or enticed by the promises,

36:38 come. You must come if you would have life and pardon. Ah, but someone, someone objects. Pastor, don't you believe what it says in verse 44?

36:49 I can't come unless the Father draws me. Oh, yes, I believe verse 44 with all my heart.

36:56 But I believe verse 37b. Him that cometh, I'll in no wise cast out. I believe that. You see, the cannot is basically a will not for Jesus said in John 5, You will not come.

37:10 Why cannot men come? Because they will not. And my friend, if there's the slightest inkling of desire to come, you're welcome.

37:20 You see, verse 44 was not said to discourage a sinner who longs to come, but to humble a proud, unbroken heart that thinks it has the power of itself to turn on the button of grace when it pleases.

37:35 Don't take what is meant to slay the proud, indifferent sinner and flay yourself with it. Take that which the Lord gives to encourage the needy sinner and venture upon it. See?

37:52 Ah, but someone else objects. I'm not deeply convicted of my sins. I don't have enough conviction.

38:01 What does Jesus say? Him that cometh unto me with fourteen ounces or seventeen pounds or three tons of conviction, I'll in no wise cast out. No, him that cometh. If you're convinced enough to know that you deserve wrath, you cannot save yourself, sick enough of sin to quit, then he says, Come, listen, listen.

38:21 If God gave some of you a deeper measure of conscious conviction, it might seal you in a state of self-righteousness. I've heard some people who, by the way, they gave their testimony. You know what they were saying? Remember that Pharisee went up to the temple and said, I thank thee I'm not as other men.

38:37 I fast, I this, I don't do that. I've heard people talk this way. I thank thee, Father, I didn't come like other people. Dry-eyed, no groans, no long period of heaviness and mourning.

38:51 I thank thee, Father, I didn't come that cheaply. Deepway, the way other people came. But I thank thee that I lay under the whiplash of the law for ten years. Or I lay for six weeks with deep conviction, crying day and night.

39:04 You know what they've done? Their very conviction has become a subtle form of self-righteousness. My friend, God knows just how deep to wound you. And if he's wounded you enough so that you know there's no healing in yourself, he says, come.

39:22 Again, that old gospel hymn's got it all there. All the, let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of him. That's it.

39:40 Oh, but you say, Pastor, didn't you preach to us what that tree in first root is conviction is sin? Absolutely. I'm not going back on any of that. I can't.

39:47 It's on mimeograph sheets out there on the table. I've embalmed it in mimeograph ink. I can't go back on it. The evidence is there.

39:55 But never did I say that that conviction must be measured by some human standard. If the work of conviction has gone deep enough to show you you deserve wrath, you've offended a holy God, you deserve nothing but his wrath,

The Certain Welcome: Reception and Preservation

40:10 and you're conscious that help is to be found alone in that person, then Jesus says, come, come. And all objections are swept away by our Lord's words, him that cometh, I'll in no wise cast out. Having considered then the object to which the sinner comes, Christ himself, in the uniqueness of his person, the perfection of his work, having considered in the second place the necessity of coming, coming personally and individually, heartily and unreservedly, now here's the cream of the text, the certain welcome to the coming sinner. What will happen if I come?

40:50 If I roll the weight of my sin-sick soul upon him? I've sinned against conscience. I've sinned against light. I've sinned against privilege.

40:59 I've sinned against the gospel. I've sinned against the prayers of my mother, my father, my pastor. I've sinned with a high hand. I've sinned with impunity.

41:09 What will happen if I come?

41:12 Two things. The Lord says, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out, by which our Lord is saying, one, you will be received, and two, you will be kept. Notice how our Lord affirms this matter of receiving, he uses a double negative. And again, in the original, this is vivid.

41:34 It's as though our Lord says, him that cometh unto me, I will not, I say I will not, cast him out. He gives a double negative. Now, the strongest way to make a positive statement is make a double negative. You say, may I come to your house?

41:49 And I say, if you come, you will be welcome. But if I say, any time you come, you will never, never find a shut door, for I've really made you feel welcome. Now, the Lord could have said, him that cometh unto me, I'll receive. But he makes it even stronger.

42:03 Him that comes to me, I will not, no, never, cast him out. So, we have in this wonderful text the certain welcome to the coming sinner. You will be received.

42:17 Do you come guilty? The Lord Jesus says, because I died for sinners and satisfied the justice of my Father, I will pardon. Do you come bound by the chains of sin, which you feign a thousand times would have, broken? Jesus said, I'll receive you.

42:34 And I'll receive you and break the chains for whom the Son sets free. He's free indeed. Do you come weak? He says, I'll make you strong.

42:43 Do you come ignorant? I will give you light and sight. Do you come proud? I will teach you humility.

42:49 Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart. Oh, how can we say it more forcefully? You will be received. But only the Holy Ghost can say it to your heart.

43:02 That's what makes the preacher feel so helpless. The mystery of preaching. Here declaring the fact of this. But some of you will go away still mourning beneath the weight of your sin unless the Spirit is pleased through the Word to give you a sight of Christ that you say, I do believe He means it.

43:21 Even I will be received if I come. But something even more wonderful than being received, you will be kept. For what comfort would there be in the thought that, once received, I might after twenty years be cast out? What could make hell worse than the memory that I once knew the delights of salvation?

43:44 And the strong emphasis of this text is not upon the initial reception, but upon the continual keeping power of Christ. That's the emphasis of the text. Him that cometh unto me, what, I will receive? No, I will never cast you out.

43:59 Well, He can't cast us out unless He's got us in. So the inference is, He will be received, but more, more strong than that, we will be kept. I will never cast Him out. Once in the family of God will subsequent failure and delinquency cast me out and disinherit me?

44:16 No, the Lord Jesus said, I am mighty to save. And as surely as I purchased forgiveness by my death, I will secure the perseverance in holiness and obedience by my intercession and by the indwelling of my spirit. So that the doctrine I preach from this text is not once saved, always saved, no matter how you live. That's a doctrine of hell.

44:41 And it'll take multitudes to hell. What I preach to you is the glorious biblical doctrine of the preservation and the perseverance of the saints. Christ will receive us. And when He receives us, He changes us, puts His Spirit within us.

44:58 And now at the right hand of the Father, He pleads on our behalf, Father, keep them from the evil ones. And the Father, in answer to the prayer of the Son, sends His Spirit into the hearts of His children. That Spirit by which they're sealed to the day of redemption, who stirs them up unto holiness and obedience, who reproves them when they sin. That Spirit who convicts them.

45:21 That Spirit who communicates the fullness of Christ. And so the Lord Jesus says in this text, this certain welcome to the coming sinner, you will not only be received, but you will, be kept. And what's the reason for both the reception and the keeping? Notice verses 38 to 40.

The Divine Basis for Welcome: The Father's Will and Decree

45:40 And oh, what a shame to wrench verse 37 from its context, as we've seen tonight in many other respects, but in this as well. Why is it that all who come are received and kept? Why, here's our Lord's answer. John 6, verses 38.

45:59 For, for, there's a connection. All that the Father giveth, me shall come, and him that comes, I'll in no wise cast out. For, this is why, I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that if all that which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

46:24 For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son and believeth on him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Oh, catch the glory of this. Just as the Lord comforts himself in the beginning of the text in the face of unbelief with the glorious truth of the immutability of the decree of election, with the certainty of the effectual call, then, as it were, he turns from his own comfort and opens up the door of salvation to the sinner. Now he says, I'm going to buttress the door of the sinner with that same decree of God.

47:04 Isn't that beautiful? Why is it that I'll receive the sinner and never cast him out? Because I came to do my Father's will. And what is my Father's will?

47:13 That every one that he's given to me, I'll raise him at the last day. Ah, but listen. Not only is that what the Father has decreed, all that have been given shall be raised, but get the wonder of verse 40, every one that beholds the Son and believes, it's the Father's will that he should be saved. God's decree is on your side, sinner.

47:36 You say, oh, God's decree frightens me. I don't know if I'm elect. Ah, listen. Jesus says, here, this is the will of my Father.

47:44 Here's the decree and purpose of my Father, that every one who beholds the Son and believes on him, comes to him, should have eternal life.

47:53 Do you behold the Son as the Holy Ghost enabled you to see him tonight? And the uniqueness of his person, perfectly suited to a helpless, needy sinner like you? The perfection of his work, perfectly suited to helpless, needy sinners. Have you beheld him?

48:09 Do you find in your heart now motions toward him, Lord Jesus? I come. You've broken every barrier down. Lord, I come.

48:18 How do you know you'll be welcome? Well, he says so. Hallelujah. How do you know you'll be kept?

48:22 He says so, yes. But his promise of reception and keeping are buttressed by the decree of the Father. Both to receive, this is the will of him that sent me, that all who see and believe shall have eternal life and be saved. And he says, and he says, and he says, and he says, and he says, that you'll be raised up at the last day.

48:40 Blessed be God for such a salvation. Coming out of eternity suffused with the decrees of God. And yet reaching man in his sin with such simple, broad promises. And when he ventures upon him, then buttressing the sinner with those same decrees, assuring him that he shall be kept.

49:04 Hallelujah. What a Savior. Blessed be God for such a salvation. For such, a salvation.

Conclusion: An Urgent Call to Come

49:12 In eternity, the Father and the Son covenanted together. A people were given to the Son. The Son comes forth to die for them. The Spirit now brooding and moving to draw them.

49:25 And the certainty of the purpose that they shall come. And that every individual as he comes is welcome. Here it is. All spread before us.

49:38 Will you go on in your sin? In your guilt? In your terrors of conscience? Or will you come?

49:48 The object to which you come? Not the front of this church. Not to the preacher. Not to anything but Jesus himself.

49:56 Him that cometh unto me. He's the object of the sinner's coming. In the uniqueness of his person. In the perfection of his work.

50:08 Secondly, the necessity of coming. You must come. And by coming, I don't mean walk an aisle. That's why we don't give invitations to walk aisles.

50:16 Coming to Jesus is not something you do with your feet. It's not something you do with your hands. Believing is the activity of the soul, the spirit, the inner man. It's rolling the weight of the soul upon Christ.

50:29 Self-commitment to him. You must come. You can come right where you are.

50:35 I think I'd be so thrilled if I'd say, Lord, let us now thy servant depart in peace for I've seen thy salvation should someone come to me tonight. I'd say, Pastor, I came while I sat tonight and you preached. God enabled me to come. God enabled me to come.

50:52 You must come. And if you do come to the third point of our text, there is a certain welcome. He will receive you. He will keep you.

51:02 May God help you to come. May God help you to come. I'm going to ask that we sing in closing tonight that wonderful, simple hymn in which the action of the coming sinner the activity of his mind and spirit are so beautifully captured just as I am without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bidst me come to thee. O Lamb of God, I come.

51:35 Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. Hymn number 431, the first tune, please. Hymn number 431.