Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1762
“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and him that comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” John 6:37.
THESE two sentences have been looked upon as representing two sides of Christian doctrine. They enable us to see it from two standpoints—the Godward and the manward. The first sentence contains what some call high doctrine. If by “high” they mean “glorious towards God,” I fully agree with them, for it is a grand, God-honoring Truth which our Lord Jesus declares in these words—“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.” Some have styled this side of the Truth of God Calvinistic, but while it is true that Calvin taught it, so, also, did Augustine, Paul and our Lord, Himself, whose Words are these. However, I will not quarrel with those who see in this sentence a statement of the great Truth of God of predestinating Grace.
The second sentence sets forth blessed, encouraging, evangelical doctrine and is, in effect, a promise and an invitation—“Him that comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” This is a statement without limitation of any kind. It has been thought to leave the free Grace of God open to the free will of man, so that whoever pleases my come and may be sure that he will not be refused. We have no permission to pare down either sentence, nor is there the slightest need to do so. The first sentence appears to me to say that God has chosen a people and has given these people to Christ—and these people must and shall come to Christ—and shall be saved. The second Truth of God declares that every man who comes to Christ shall be saved, since he shall not be cast out—and that implies that he shall be received and accepted. These are two great Truths of God—let us carry them both with us and they will balance each other.
I was once asked to reconcile these two statements and I answered, “No, I never reconcile friends.” These two passages never fell out—they are perfectly agreed! It is folly to imagine a difference and then set about removing it! It is like making a man of straw and then going out to fight with it. The grand declaration of the purpose of God that He will save His own is quite consistent with the widest declaration that whoever will come to Christ shall be saved! The pity is that it should ever be thought to be a difficulty in the two Truths, or that, supposing there is a difficulty, we should have thought it our duty to remove it.
Believe me, my dear Hearers, the business of removing religious difficulties is the least remunerative labor under Heaven. The truest way is to accept the difficulty, wherever you find it in God’s Word, and to exercise your faith upon it. It is unreasonable to suppose that faith is to be exempted from trials—all the other Divine Graces are exercised—and why should not faith be put to the test? I often feel a joy within my spirit in having to believe what I cannot understand! And sometimes, when I have to say to myself, “How can it be?” I find a joy in replying that it is so written and, therefore, it must be so. In spite of all reasoning stands the utterance of God—our Father speaks and doubts are silenced—His Spirit writes and we believe! I feel great pleasure in gliding down the river of Revelation upon a voyage of discovery and, hour by hour, obtaining fresh knowledge of Divine Truths.
But when I come to an end of progress and see my way blocked up by a sublimely awful difficulty, I find equal pleasure in casting anchor under the lee of the obstacle and waiting till the Pilot tells me what to do next. When we cannot go through a Truth of God, we may be led over it, or around it and what does that matter? Our highest benefit comes not of answering riddles, but of obeying commands by the power of love! Suppose we can see no further into the subject—what then? Shall we be troubled about that? Must there not be an end of human knowledge somewhere? May we not be perfectly satisfied for God to appoint the boundary of understanding? Let us not, therefore, run our heads against difficulties of our own invention—and certainly not against those which God has seen fit to leave for us.
Take, then, these two Truths of God, and know that they are equally precious portions of one harmonious whole! Let us not quibble over them, or indulge a foolish favoritism for one and a prejudice against the other, but let us receive
both with a candid, large-hearted love of the Truth of God such as children of God should exhibit. We are not called upon to explain, but to accept! Let us believe if we cannot reconcile! Here are two jewels—let us wear them both. As surely as this Book is true, God has a people whom He has chosen and whom Christ has redeemed from among men! And these must and shall, by Sovereign Grace, be brought, in due time, to repentance and faith, for not one of them shall ever perish.
But yet is it equally true that whoever among the sons of men shall come and put his trust in Christ shall receive eternal life. “Whoever will, let him take the Water of Life freely.”—