THIRD, The third particular is to show WHO ARE THE PERSONS INTERESTED IN THIS INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, and they are those that come to God by him. The words are very concise and distinctly laid down; they are they that come, that come to God, that come to God by him. ‘Wherefore he is able also to save them, to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him, seeing he ever lived to make intercession for them.’
Of coming to God by Christ.—A little, first, to comment upon the order of the words, ‘that come unto God by him.’
Some come unto God, but not ‘by him’; and these are not included in this text; they have not a share in this privilege. Thus the Jews came to God, the unbelieving Jews, ‘who had a zeal of God but not according to knowledge.’ (Rom 9:30–34, 10:1-4) These submitted not to Christ, the righteousness of God, but thought to come to him by works of their own, or at least, as it were, by them, and so come short of salvation by grace, for that reigns to salvation only in Christ. To these Christ’s person and undertaking were a stumbling stone, for at him they stumbled and split themselves to pieces, though they indeed were such as came to God for life.
As there are that come to God, but not by Christ, so there are that come to Christ, but not to God by him:11 of this sort are those who, hearing that Christ is Saviour, therefore come to him for pardon but cannot abide to come to God by him, for that he is holy, and so will snub their lusts and change their hearts and natures. Mind what I say. There are a great many who would be saved by Christ but would love not to be sanctified by God through him. These make a stop at Christ and will go no further. They might as well have pardon; they care not whether they ever go to heaven or not. Of this kind of coming to Christ, I think it is, of which he warns his disciples when he says, ‘In that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.’ (John 16:23) As who should say, when you ask for anything, make not a stop at me, but come to my Father by me; for they that come to me and not to my Father, through me, will have nothing of what they come for. Righteousness shall be imputed to us ‘if we believe in him who raised up Jesus, our Lord, from the dead.’ (Rom 4:24,25) To come to Christ for a benefit, stop there, and not come to God by him, prevailed nothing. Here the mother of Zebedee’s children erred, and about this, it was that the Lord Jesus cautioned her. Lord, saith she, ‘Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.’ But what is the answer to Christ? ‘To sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but for whom it is prepared of my Father.’ (Matt 20:21-23) As I should say, woman, I do nothing; my Father works with me. Go therefore to him by me, for I am the way to him; what thou canst obtain of him by me thou shalt have; that is to say, what of the things that pertain to eternal life, whether pardon or glory.
The Son indeed has the power to give pardon and glory, but he gives it not by himself but by and according to the will of his Father. (Matt 9:6, John 17:22) They, therefore, that come to him for an eternal good, and good not to the Father by him, come short thereof; I mean, now, pardon and glory. And hence, though it is said the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins—to wit, to show the certainty of his Godhead, and of the excellency of his mediation; yet forgiveness of sin is said to lie more particularly in the hand of the Father, and that God for Christ’s sake forgives us. (Eph 4:32)
The Father, as we see, will not forgive unless we come to him by the Son. Why, then, should we conceit that the Son will forgive these that come not to the Father by him?
So then, justifying righteousness is in the Son, and with him also is intercession; but forgiveness is with the Father; yea, the gift of the Holy Ghost, yea, and the power of imputing of the righteousness of Christ is yet in the hand of the Father. Hence Christ prays to the Father to forgive, prays to the Father to send the Spirit, and it is God that imputed righteousness to justification to us. (Luke 23:34, John 14:16, Rom 4:6) The Father, then, doth nothing but for the sake of and through the Son; the Son also doth nothing derogating from the glory of the Father. But it would be a derogation to the glory of the Father if the Son should grant to save them that come not to the Father by him; wherefore you that cry Christ, Christ, delighting yourselves in the thoughts of forgiveness, but care not to come by Christ to the Father for it, you are not at all concerned in this blessed text, for he only saves by his intercession them that come to God by him.
Three sorts of people may be said to come to Christ, but not to God by him.
1. They whose utmost design in coming is only that guilt and fear of damning may be removed from them. And there are three signs of such a one—(1.) He takes up in a belief of pardon, and so goes on in his course of carnality as he did before. (2.) He whose comfort in the belief of pardon stands alone, without other fruits of the Holy Ghost. (3.) He that, having been washed, can be content to tumble in the mire, as the sow again, or as the dog that did spur to lick up his vomit again.
2. They may be said to come to Christ, but not to God by him, who do pick and choose doctrines, itching only after that which sounds of grace, but secretly abhorring of that which pressed to moral goodness. These did never see God, what notions soever they may have of the Lord Jesus, and of forgiveness from him. (Matt 5:8)
3. They surely did never come to God by Christ, however, they may boast of the grace of Christ, that will from the freeness of gospel grace plead an indulgence for sin. [Manner of coming to God.]—And now to speak a few words of coming to God, or coming as the text intends. And in speaking to this, I must touch upon two things—1. Concerning God. 2. Concerning the frame of the heart of him that comes to him.
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