"Come!"
What power and sweetness in this little word "come!" How it lets us into the very secret of the bosom of God, and tells of the loving desire of His heart, that any and every poor lost one who hears it, should take Him at His word, and "come." "He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isa. 55:11Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1).
Here, every thirsty, needy, penniless one is invited to come. It is the desire of the loving heart of God that he should come—come now—come just as he is and drink at the living fountain of water, so freely opened by the hand of redeeming love. There is no hindrance. Grace has removed every difficulty out of the way. The very fact of God's sending forth the invitation to come, proves that He has taken away every barrier. He would not—He could not say "Come," if the way were not perfectly open—perfectly free. And not only so, but we may rest assured that when God says "Come," He means what He says. He expresses the language of His heart. In a word, not only is the way open, but God earnestly desires that every thirsty, needy, helpless soul that reads these lines should come now and drink—come and draw water out of those wells of salvation which are freely opened to every creature under heaven.
Take another lovely passage culled from the prophet Isaiah. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Chapter 1:18. Here, it is not merely a question of thirst and poverty, but actually of scarlet sins—guilt of crimson dye. Even these need be no hindrance, seeing that God, in His infinite grace, has found a means whereby He can righteously cleanse the guilt and blot out the sins, and render the soul of the poor guilty sinner as white as snow, as the wool just pure from the washing.
And let the reader especially mark the grace that shines in the words, "Come now, and let us reason together." Only think of the high and mighty One that inhabiteth eternity—the Maker of heaven and earth—the Creator and sustainer of the universe—the One who has power to destroy both soul and body in hell—think of His condescending to reason with a poor guilty sinner, covered from head to foot with scarlet sins! What grace is here! What loving kindness and tender mercy! Who can withstand it? Who can refuse to come? Who will harden his heart against such love as this? God grant the reader may not do so! Oh! that he may come now and trust in the perfect, because divine, efficacy of that most precious blood—even the blood of God's own Son, which cleanseth from all sin, and makes the soul clean enough to stand in the full blaze of the holiness of God.
Take a sentence or two from the gospel—from the very lips of Him who spake as never man spake—the lips of our adorable Savior and Lord. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28). Here the laboring and the heavy laden are called to hearken to the same most touching, gracious, winning word, "Come!" Every weary, burdened heart, every crushed and broken spirit is invited to come to Jesus, who alone is able and willing-willing as He is able, and able as He is willing—to give rest. Oh! what a soothing word is "rest!" How it fall, upon the poor heart like showers upon the parched and thirsty ground!
If the reader is one who has not yet come, we beseech you. Come now, and have your thirst quenched, your burden removed, your sins forgiven, your guilt canceled. Come, we earnestly entreat you, now. Do not linger. Time is very short. Eternity, with all its tremendous realities, is at hand. Oh! do come now!