Christ's gracious invitation

[for the soldiers.] NO- 25.

CHRIST'S GRACIOUS INVITATION.

"Ye sinners, come: ^tis Jesus' voice;

Tlic gracious call obey :
Mercy invites to heavenly joys,
And can you yet delay V

More precious than a stream of water to a
traveller perishing with thirst — better than a
skilful physician to one. dying of a dangerous
disease — more welcome than a reprieve to a con-
demned rebel, is the voice of mercy saying to
the convinced sinner, "Come unto me, all ye

THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY-LADEN, AND I
WILL GIVE YOU REST." Matt. 11 : 28.

These are words that can never lose their
sweetness nor power by age or repetition. They
areas true and as full of grace and mercy now as
when first uttered ; and are as free to those
who hear the gospel in the present day, as they
were to those who first heard them in the land of
Galilee.

Who IS he that spmJcn? It is the voice of
*^ Immanuel, God with us." Wbat man or angel

CHRIST S GRACIOUS INVITATION.

could invite a guilty world to come to him.
Neither Moses, nor Elijah, nor Paul, nor John,
presumed to call men to look to them for rest.
Only He in whom " dwelt all the fulness of *he
Godhead bodily," could give rest to every trou-
bled soul.

It is the voice of a loving Saviour, the good
Shepherd of the sheep, the compassionate Re-
deemer of men, whose heart is an ocean of love,
and whose love led him to take the form of a
servant, and to humble himself to the death of
the cross.

To whom docs he sj)cak these 2cords f To all
who hear the sound of the gospel. They are
addressed to the man of pleasure or of sorrow,
the man of wealth or of deepest penury, the man
esteemed for his morality or notorious for his
viee, to Jew and Gentile, to " every creature
under heaven." And yet they seem i^pecially
suited to those burdened with a sense of their
guilt. To those who feel they have a blind mind
and a hard heart, and a load of sin that presses
them to the ground, these words come as words
of peace and hope.

How must you come ? Not by a bod ily approach ; '
this is now impossible. The heavens have re-
ceived him out of our sight. A local coming, if
it were practicable, might be useless. Many
came to Christ when he was on earth ; they

.Christ's gracious invitation. 3 "P^r,

heard his words and saw his miracles of mercy, -^ S'j
and went unhlesscd, for they had not faith.
Coming to Christ is the act of the soul ; it is a
spiritual approach, and is called trusting, receiv-
ing, believing on him. It is a full persuasion
that he is the Son of God and the Saviour of
the lost. It is the heavy-laden sinner giving full
credit to the truth and sincerity of gospel invita-
tions and promises. It is the hearty belief that
Jesus is able and willing to save from sin and all
its consequences. It is a sincere humble depen-
dence upon the merits of hii sacrifice for pardon
and eternal life.

Wi/l YOU come to Christ? Then come just as
you are, helpless, unworthy, full of guilt and
misery. You can come in no other way, for a
sense of sin and ruin lies at the foundation of the
religion of the gospel. Do not for a moment
suppose that you Diust make yourself better, or
prepare your heart for a worthy reception of
Christ, but come at once — come as you are. He
saves none because their sins arc comparatively
few and unnoticed by their fellow-men ; he rejects
none because their sins are many and great.

Christ knew the worst of all those who would
come to him. He knew the depths of sin to
which men would go. He understood the deep
spiritual necessities of every immortal soul for
time and eternity. He knew that men burdened

4 CHRIST S GRACIOUS INVITATION.

and bound by sin would need such an invitation
and assurance as he has given. And because he
knew that his grace would be sufficient for the
worst of the human race, he therefore said, Come
unto me,jind I will not cast you out.

If he made such a promise, what can prevent
his fulfilling it ? Sooner shall heaven and earth
pass away than any sinner who seeks to him be
excluded from his mercy. He will not cast you
out because of the number of your sins, nor
because of their greatness and enormity, nor
because of the peculiar aggravations attending
them, nor because they have been of long con-
tinuance— from early youth to hoary age. You
may be a profligate and an outcast, abandoned by
men as beyond the hope of recovery, lost to your-
self and yourfriends,yet say not that you are exclu-
ded from the invitation. Even you are addressed as
though by name. The invitation says, "Who-
soever," llev. 2:^ : 7 ; that includes you. "If any
man," John 7:87; that embraces you. To
"aZ/;" that takes you in. It says, " I will in no
ivise" — not by any means, or on any account
whatever-- — " cast him out.^' Surely this is
enough.

No man who hears the gospel has any pretence
to say that he is not invited. Stand where wo
may on this wide earth, among nominal chris-
tians at home, or among the heathen abroad, or

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CHRIST^S GRACIOUS INVITATION. 5

in the midst of Jews or Mohammedans — to those
of every clime and every a^e and every condition
of life — to the lovers of pleasure, or wealth, or
any of the things of this world, and to the most
j^iiilty and the most hardened of the human race,
with confidence and joy these words may be
addressed, " Come unto Christ."

The promise is that he will give you rest.
And this includes pardon and acceptance with
God. It includes a deliverance from the con-
demnation and the tyranny of sin, from fear
and remorse, from all spiritual enemies and all
vain self-righteous hopes. It is a cordial for
an accusing conscience, it is consolation foT the
oppressed, it is peace for the troubled spirit, it is
a balm for every evil that can afflict us in our
passaji;c through life, and it is the earnest and
pledge of the glorious, pure, eternal rest of
heaven.

]yh((t is the icarrant of all tit is f The charac-
ter of him who spoke these words. Christ is
love incarnate — divine love in human nature.
The great end for which he came into the world
was to seek and to save sinners. lie came to
honor and obey the law that man had broken,
and to bring in everlasting righteousness, which
is "unto all and upon all them that believe."
Rom. 3 : 22. He came to die, "the just for the
unjust," 1 Pet. 3 : 18, and to pay the penalty

6 Christ's gracious invitation.

that maa's sins had required, by offering himself
as an atonement for guilt. The promise that he
makes, rests on the value of the infinite price he
paid to secure our salvation. He does not offer
a gift that cost him nothing, and yet it may be
had " without money and without price.''

Consider too that he is " meek and lowly of
heart," and will not proudly repel or scorn you
for your unworthiness. When did he ever turn
away from the cry of distress, or from the wail
of the most abject? When did he ever reject
those who sought his aid, however lowly their
condition or great their sorrow ? All who have
come to him have been welcomed ; and if you
draw nigh in faith he will not cast you. out. That
you may come aright, he promises the aid of his
Holy Spirit to make you- sensible of your sinful-
ness, and of his grace and ability to save you.

What reception will you give to this "golden
saying," this gracious invitation ? The case is
urgent ; come speedily. There is danger if you
delay. Do not speculate, nor argue, nor make
excuse, nor hesitate, nor stand looking at a dis-
tance, but COME, and in faith cast yourself at the
feet of Christ with the earnest penitential cry,
"Lord, save, or I perish. Lord, I believe; help
thou mine unbelief."

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INVITATION.

Come, ye sinners, poor and wrotclied,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore,

Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love, and power:

He is able.
He is willing: doubt no more.

Come, ye weary, heavy-laden.
Lost and ruined by the fall ;

If you tarry till you're better.
You will never come at all:

Not the righteous —
tShi7icrs Jesus came to call.

Let not conscfcnce make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream ;

All the fitness he requireth,
Is to feel your need of him :
This he gives you —

'Tis the Spirit's rising beam.

Agonizing in tlie garden,

Lo, your Saviour prostrate lies !

On the bloody tree behold him !
Hear him cry before he dies,

"/i! is ^finished!"
Sinners, will not this suffice?

Lo, th' incarnate God, ascended,
Pleads the merit of his blood ;

Venture on him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude :

None but Jesus
Can do helpless sinners good.

AOCEPTACNE.

Saints and angels, joined in concert,
8ing the praises of the Lamb;

While the blissful seats of heaven
Sweetly echo with his name.

Hallelujah !
Sinners here may sing the same.

ACCEPTANCE.

Just as I am — without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bid'st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come.

Just as I am ; and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot —
To Thee, whose blood can cltanse each spot,
0 Lamb of God, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
With fears within, and foes without —
0 Ij^imb of God, I come.

Just as 1 am — poor, wretched, blind :
Sight, riches, healing of the mind.
Yea, all I need, in 7'hce to find,

0 Lamb of God, I come.

Jnst as I am, thou wilt receive, ,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relive,
Because thy promise I believe

O Lamb of God, I come.

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