John Bunyan :: And Him That Cometh to Me

AND HIM THAT COMETH TO ME.

"And him that cometh TO ME." These words to me are also to be well heeded, for by them, as he secureth those that come to him, so also he shows himself unconcerned with those that in their coming rest short to turn aside to others; for you must know, that every one that comes, comes not to Jesus Christ; some that come, come to Moses and to his law, and there take up for life; with these Christ is not concerned; with these his promise hath not to do. "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace" (Gal 5:4). Again, some that come, come no further than to gospel ordinances, and there stay; they come not through them to Christ; with these neither is he concerned; nor will their "Lord, Lord," (Mat 7:22) avail them anything in the great and dismal day. A man may come to, and also go from, the place and ordinances of worship, and yet not be remembered by Christ. "So I saw the wicked buried," said Solomon, "who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity" (Ecc 8:10).

"TO ME." These words, therefore, are by Jesus Christ very warily put in, and serve for caution and encouragement—for caution, lest we take up in our coming any thing short of Christ; and for encouragement to those that shall in their coming, come past all till they come to Jesus Christ: "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

Reader, if thou lovest thy soul, take this caution kindly at the hands of Jesus Christ. Thou seest thy sickness, thy wound, thy necessity of salvation; well, go not to king Jareb, for he cannot heal thee, nor cure thee of thy wound (Hos 5:13). Take the caution, I say, lest Christ, instead of being a Saviour unto thee, becomes a lion, a young lion, to tear thee, and go away (Hos 5:14).

There is a coming, but not to the Most High; there is a coming, but not with the whole heart, but as it were feignedly; therefore take the caution kindly (Jer 3:10; Hos 7:16).

"And him that cometh TO ME." Christ, as a Saviour, will stand alone, because his own arm alone hath brought salvation unto him: he will not be joined with Moses, nor suffer John Baptist to be tabernacled by him: I say they must vanish, for Christ will stand alone (Luk 9:28-36); yea, God the Father will have it so; therefore, they must be parted from him, and a voice from heaven must come to bid the disciples hear only the beloved Son. Christ will not suffer any law or ordinance, statute or judgment, to be partners with him in the salvation of the sinner. Nay, he saith not, And him that cometh to my WORD, but, And him that cometh to ME. The words of Christ, even his most blessed and free promises, such as this in the text, are not the Saviour of the world; for that is Christ himself, Christ himself only. The promises, therefore, are but to encourage coming sinners to come to Jesus Christ, and not to rest in them short of salvation by him. "And him that cometh TO ME." The man, therefore, that comes aright casts all things behind his back and looketh at (nor hath his expectations from ought but) the Son of God alone; and as David said, "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved" (Psa 62:5-6). His eye is to Christ, his heart is to Christ, and his expectation is from him, from him only.

Therefore the man that comes to Christ is one that hath had deep considerations of his own sins, slighting thoughts of his own righteousness, and high thoughts of the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ; yea, he sees, as I have said, more virtue in the blood of Christ to save him, than there is in all his sins to damn him. He therefore setteth Christ before his eyes; there is nothing in heaven or earth, he knows, that can save his soul and secure him from the wrath of God but Christ; that is, nothing but his personal righteousness and blood.