“AND HIM THAT COMETH TO ME I will in no wise cast out.”
By these words, our Lord Jesus doth set forth yet more amply the great goodness of his nature towards the coming sinner. Before, he said, They shall come; and here he declared, That with heart and affections he will receive them. But, by the way, let me speak one word or two to the seeming conditionality of this promise with which now I have to do. “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Where it is evident, may some say, that Christ’s receiving us to mercy depends upon our coming, and so our salvation by Christ is conditional. If we come, we shall be received; if not, we shall not; for that is fully intimated by the words. The promise of reception is only to him that cometh. “And him that cometh,” I answer, that the coming in these words mentioned, as a condition of being received to live, is that which is promised, yea, concluded to be effected in us by the promise going before. In those latter words, coming to Christ is implicitly required of us; and in the words before, that grace that can make us come is positively promised to us. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” thence. We come to Christ, because it is said, We shall come; because it is given to us to come. So that the condition which is expressed by Christ in these latter words is absolutely promised in the words before. And, indeed, the coming here intended is nothing else but the effect of “shall come to me. They shall come, and I will not cast them out.”
He saith not, and him that is come, but him that cometh. To speak to these words, First, In general. Second, More particularly.
[First.] In general. They suggest unto us these four things:—
1. That Jesus Christ doth build upon it, that since the Father gave his people to him, they shall be enabled to come unto him. “And him that cometh.” As who should say, I know that since they are given to me, they shall be enabled to come unto me. He saith not, if they come, or I suppose they will come; but, “and him that cometh.” By these words, therefore, he shows us that he addressed himself to the receiving of them whom the Father gave to him to save them. I say, he addressed himself or prepared himself to receive them. By which, as I said, he concluded or built upon it, that they shall indeed come to him. He looked that the Father should bring them into his bosom, and so stands ready to embrace them.
2. Christ also suggested by these words, that he very well knew who were given to him; not by their coming to him, but by their being given to him. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh,” &c. This him he knows to be one of them that the Father hath given him; and, therefore, he received him, even because the Father hath given him to him (John 10). “I know my sheep,” saith he. Not only those who already have knowledge of him, but those, too, that yet are ignorant of him. “Other sheep I have,” said he, “which are not of this fold,” (John 10:16); not of the Jewish church, but those that lie in their sins, even the rude and barbarous Gentiles. Therefore, when Paul was afraid to stay at Corinth, from a supposition that some mischief might befall him there; “Be not afraid,” said the Lord Jesus to him, “but speak, and hold not thy peace—for I have much people in this city” (Acts 18:9,10). The people that the Lord here speaks of were not at this time accounted him, because of a work of conversion that already had passed upon them, but by the gift of the Father; for he had given them unto him. Therefore was Paul to stay here, to speak the word of the Lord to them, that, by his speaking, the Holy Ghost might effectually work over their souls, to causing them to come to him, who was also ready, with heart and soul, to receive them.
3. Christ, by these words, also suggests, that no more come unto him than, indeed, are given him of the Father. For him, this place is one of all that Christ was mentioned before. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me;” and every him of that all, “I will in no wise cast out.” This the apostle insinuated, where he saith, “He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:11-13).
Mark, as in the text, so here he speaks of all. “Until we all come.” We all! all who? Doubtless, “All that the Father giveth to Christ.” This is further insinuated because he called this ALL the body of Christ; the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. By which he means the universal number given; to wit, the true elect church, which is said to be his body and fullness (Eph 1:22,23).
4. Christ Jesus, by these words, further suggests, that he is well content with this gift of the Father to him. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” I will heartily, willingly, and with great content of mind, receive him.
They show us, also, that Christ’s love in receiving is as large as his Father’s love in giving, and no larger. Hence, he thanks him for his gift, and also thanks him for hiding him and his things from the rest of the wicked (Matt 11:25; Luke 10:21). But,
No comments:
Post a Comment