THERE IS NOTHING mysterious or mystical about “coming.” It is one of the simplest words; a child understands it. If Christ were standing before you now, and you heard Him say, “Come,” you would not have to ask what He meant. When He walked upon the Sea of Galilee, and at Peter’s request, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water” (Matt. 14:2828And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. (Matthew 14:28)) said to him “Come,” it was the simplest of things to obey, though the circumstances were contrary to nature.
In the words of the saintly Frances Ridley Havergal, “Fear not, believe only; and let yourself come to Him immediately! Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, ‘Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously.’ And know that His answer is, ‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.’ Do you still feel unaccountably puzzled about it? Give a quiet hour to the records of how others came to Him. Begin with the eighth of Matthew, and trace out all through the Gospels how they came to Jesus with all sorts of different needs, and trace in these your own spiritual needs of cleansing, healing, salvation, guidance, sight, teaching. They knew what they wanted and they knew whom they wanted. And consequently, they just came.”
Come then to Him with all your need, and if you
—ask Him to receive you,
Will He say you, ‘Nay'?
Not till earth, and not till heaven
Pass away!”
* * * * *
JOHN BUNYAN knew the value of this verse. He wrote for sinners like himself:
“But I am a great sinner,” sayest thou.
“I will in no wise cast out,” says Christ.
“But I am a hardhearted sinner,” sayest thou.
“I will in no wise cast out,” says Christ.
“I have served Satan all my days,” sayest thou.
“I will in no wise cast out,” says Christ.
“But I have sinned against light,” sayest thou.
“I will in no wise cast out,” says Christ.
“I have no good thing to bring,” sayest thou.
“I will in no wise cast out,” says Christ.