Have You Truly Come To Christ?
by
Arthur W. Pink
By the way of introduction let us bring before the reader
the following Scriptures:
1.
"Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." (John 5:40).
2.
"Come unto Me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
(Matthew 11:28).
3.
"No man can come to Me, except
the Father which hath sent Me draw him" (John
4.
"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me: and him that cometh to Me I will in no
wise cast out." (John 6:37).
5.
"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. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26,27).
6.
"To whom coming, as unto a
living Stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious."
(1 Peter 2:4).
7.
"Wherefore He is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Heb
7:25).
The first of
these passages applies to every unregenerate man and woman on this earth. While he is
in a state of nature, no man can come to Christ. Though all excellencies
both Divine and human, are found in the Lord Jesus, though "He is altogether lovely" (Song
The second of
these passages contains a gracious invitation, made by the compassionate Saviour to a
particular class of sinners. The "all" is at once qualified, clearly
and definitely, by the words which immediately follow it. The character of
those to whom this loving word belongs is clearly defined: It is those who
"labour" and are "heavy laden." Most clearly then it
applies not to the vast majority of our light-headed, gay-hearted, pleasure-seeking
fellows who have no regard for God's glory and no concern about their eternal
welfare. No, the word for such poor creatures is rather, "Rejoice, O young
man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and
walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou,
that for all these things God will bring thee to judgment" (Eccl. 11:9).
But to those who have "laboured" hard to keep the law and please God,
who are "heavy laden" with a felt sense of their utter inability to
meet His requirements, and who long to be delivered from the power and
pollution of sin, Christ says: "Come unto Me, and I will give you
rest."
The third
passage
quoted above at once tells us that "coming to Christ" is not the easy
matter so many imagine it, nor so simple a thing as most preachers represent it
to be. Instead of its so being, the incarnate Son of God positively declares
that such an act is utterly impossible to a fallen and depraved creature unless and until Divine power is brought to bear upon him. A
most pride-humbling, flesh-withering, man-abasing word is this. "Coming to
Christ" is a far, far different thing from raising your hand to be prayed
for by some Protestant "priest," coming forward and taking some
cheap-jack evangelist's hand, signing some "decision" card, uniting
with some "church," or any other of the "many inventions"of
man (Eccl 7:29). Before any one can or will "come to Christ" the
understanding must be supernaturally enlightened, the heart must be supernaturally
changed, the stubborn will must be supernaturally
broken.
The fourth
passage is
also one that is unpalatable to the carnal mind, yet is it a precious portion
unto the Spirit-taught children of God. It sets forth the blessed truth of
unconditional election, or the discriminating grace of God. It speaks of a
favoured people whom the Father giveth to His Son. It declares that every one
of that blessed company shall come to Christ. Neither the effects of their fall
in Adam, the power of indwelling sin, the hatred and untiring efforts of Satan,
nor the deceptive delusions of blind preachers, will be able to finally hinder
them - when God's appointed hour arrives, each of His elect is delivered from
the power of darkness and is translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. It
announces no matter how unworthy and vile he be in himself, no matter how black
and long the awful catalogue of his sins, He will by no means despise or fail
to welcome him, and under no circumstances will He ever cast him off.
The fifth
passage is
one that makes known the terms on which alone Christ is willing to receive
sinners. Here the uncompromising claims of His holiness are set out. He must be
crowned Lord of all, or He will not be Lord at all. There must be the complete
heart-renunciation of all that stands in competition with Him. He will brook no
rival. All that pertains to "the flesh," whether found in a loved one
or in self, has to be hated. The "cross" is the badge of Christian
discipleship: not a golden one worn on the body, but the principle of
self-denial and self-sacrifice ruling the heart. How evident is it, then, that
a mighty, supernatural, Divine work of grace must be
wrought in the human heart, if any man will even desire to meet such terms!
The sixth
passage
tells us the Christian is to continue as he began. We are to "come to
Christ" not once and for all, but frequently, daily. He is the only One
who can minister unto our needs, and to Him we must constantly turn for the
supply of them. In our felt emptiness, we must draw from His
"fulness" (John
The seventh
passage
assures us of the eternal security of those who do come. Christ saves
"unto the uttermost" or "for ever more" those who come unto
God by Him. He is not of one mind today and of another tomorrow. No, He is
"the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Heb 13:8).
"Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto
the end" (John 13:1), and blessedly does He give proof of this, for
"He ever liveth to make intercession for them." Inasmuch as His
prayers are effectual, for He declares that the Father hears Him "always"
(John