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THE GEORGIAN’S NEWS BRIEFS.
23
COMING TO CHRIST
Sermon by Elder H. Crouse, Pastor
Primitive Baptist Church, Graymont, Ga.
"Ye will not come to me that ys
might have life."—John v:40.
We have heard, and now hear, much
■old about men coming to Christ. Ef
forts arc being put forth to bring men
to Christ and millions of dollars are
collected each year to put and keep
men In the neld for the purpose of
bringing men to Jesus. We hear much
said about evangelizing the world. On
one of my exchanges, printed in bold
type, are the words as a motto: "Christ
for the world; the world for Christ."
This all sounds very well and this mot
to and the effort along this line seems
to be very- popular, but to accomplish
the task is another proposition. We.
as a Christian people, are anxious that
men shall hear of Christ, and we be
lieve that He is worthy of all men's
love and service, but to bring men to
love and serve Him is another propo
sition and this Is what we wish to dis
cuss . In this sermon. Many reasons
have been given why all who hear the
gospel do not come to Christ. We wish
to discuss this also. And we desire
that this shall be an Intelligent discus
sion of this subject. Let us all earnest
ly pray that we may arrive at the truth
as It is in Jesus.
First—Life.
Evidently the life mentioned In this
text Is eternal life. These people were
already In possssion of natural life, but
they were not In possession of the life
of which Jesus speaks, that God-life
or eternal life which prepares men for
heaven and Insures them a happy ex
istence for all eternity. There Is no
source from which this life can ema
nate but from Jesus. "He that hath
the Son hatb-llfe and he that hath not
the Son of God hath not life." Man
may be all that the moral law requires,
he may think himself to be perfect as
regards his duty to man and to his God.
but without Christ in the soul he is
dead. He has not spiritual life. There
is a difference between eternal life and
eternal existence. The one is assured
to all men. the other only to those who
are in possession of Christ as the life-
giving power.
The Savior does not charge these
men of not being in search of this life.
They were probably professors of re
ligion and of course as such were sup
posed to possess this life. But He states
a fact which dlcloses the other fact
that they had not this life, viz: That
they would not come to Him for life.
They had gone elsewhere, but to Christ
they would not come. And their course
was not peculiar to the course of many
today. They want life (eternal happi
ness) but they are not willing to come
to Christ for It.
The question might be asked, if these
men had truly come to Christ would
He have given them life? I answer,
yes. None ever did come to Him who
were turned away. Jesus says, "Him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
cut.’ Again He says: “If ye being evil
know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more shall your
haveaniy Father give good gifts to
them that ask Him." If they had come
to Jesus for life they would nut have
been turned away empty, but this Is
not a question of what would have been
the case If they had done differently,
but the proposition we wish to discuss
Is what they did do. why they did It
and the result of It Those who op
pose the doctrines of the depravity of
man, election and the effectual calling
of the Holy Spirit—salvation by grace
and grace alone—seek to leave the im
pression upon the minds of the people
that many might truly come to Jesus,
reek life of Him and earnestly pray the
forgiveness of sin. and yet our doctrines
would necessitate them being rejected
of Christ and turned away to suffer the
torments of hell. Such is a gross mis
representation of our belief or of the
consequences of the doctrines we
preach. "If they had come!” I repeal
that if they had come they would not
have been turned away, but we had
Just as well ask what the result would
have been If God had not created man:
if Adam had not sinned; If Christ had
not died. etc. These are facts and we
have to deal with them as such. It If
a fact that all who come to Christ are
received—none are turned away, but It
IS also a truth that lies as a foundation
principle In the system of salvation by
grace thru Jesus Christ that none will
come save they are drawn by the
Father. And we might simply define
effectual calling as that work of the
Holy Spirit by which the enmity of the
human heart Is overcome, the will
changed and the Individual Influenced
to come to ChrizL These men would
r.ot come. The reason why they would
not come was not because of the truths
Jesus had taugnt. which we believe and
teach but it was the result of a cause
hidden in the sir fulness of their own
natures, and to bring them to Jesus or
influence them to come, this sinful na
ture must be overcome.
The simple proposition In this text
Is that they would not come. Some
would come, but these would not come.
So I might divide tbs world Into two
classes of people. On the one hand we
have a host which will and do come; on
the other, we have a vast multitude
who will not come. In spite of all the
powers and persuasions of men. mil
lions have died and thousands are liv
ing who did not and haft not come to
Jesus. —
By coming to Jesus. I have no refer
ence to any physical act upon the port
of the individual nor to any outward
profession of religion, but I mean the
turning of the soul, the heart, the af
fections from the world unto Christ: to
The Georgian endeavors to publish each week a sermon written
especially for its readers by a leading preacher in our state.giving all denomi
nations a like opportunity.
or physician to be found, and in loving
faith to lay hold upon Him with that
sincere breathing of the soul. "God be
merciful to me a sinner"—"Lord, when
Thou comest Into Thy kingdom, re
member me." To come to Christ means
to forsake self and the world—In short,
to lose all hope In anything or any per
son except the crucified and risen Re
deemer. Before a person, therefore.
will truly come to Jesus, he must be
poor In spirit, broken and contrite In
heart, and we know this Is not volun
tary upon his part; It Is the very thing
he would seek to escape, hence the ne
cessity of something being done for
and In him If he ever comes to Jesus.
What a blessing indeed to be drawn of
God!
As before stated, the world is di
vided into two classes, viz, the willing
and those who will not.
What difference do you see In these
two classes? One will come and the
other will not come. If we leave out
one word, they are all of one class.
The only difference between them Is
that one class has a will to come and
the other has not. They have a "not'
in their wilL If we can only get that
not out, they are safe, for then we
have It. ye will come to Me. And I
might here remark that this is the rea
son why men do not come to Christ;
they have no will to come. Some one
may say that these men and all men
could come if they wanted to come.
Grant It, my friend, but yet the prob
lem is no nearer solved than at first,
for It remains a fact that they do not
want to come. But you say they can
want to come If they wanted to. Still
we are no nearer the solution of the
question, for they do not want to want
to come. We might go on piling up
such propositions, but we can never be
able to establish the doctrine of free
moral agency in this way. »We have
found that men will not come: let us
we see if we can find the reason for this
and also see if we can find the remedy,
for. as we have said, many do have a
will to come.
Were some men created differently
than others? Have some men natural
ly a will to come to J.esus? I answer
— These wno now will to come, once
heals the sick, opens the eyes of the
blind, unstops the deaf ear, makes the
lame man leap aa an hart and causes
the tongue of the dumb to sing. See
him as he weeps with the weeping sis
ters and causes the brave to be robbed
of its victor)-, restoring Lazarus to his
loved ones. See Him as He Is led to
the slaughter. As a lamb He meekly
endures all, not opening His mouth.
See him as on the cross He hung and
as the soldiers revile Him. but no an
swer escapes His lips except "Father,
fdrglve them; they know not what they
do." See Him as He arises from the
tomb the third and appointed morning.
And last, let us view Him as He as
cends up Into heaven and a cloud re
ceives Him out of the sight of His dis
ciples. Oh. tell me not that this Jesus
Is not worthy of the love and admi
ration of all. Well might the whole
world veil their faces In shame and
ascribe glory, might, power and do
minion unto Him. Then why will not
men receive Him and come unto Him?
Let us see.
We go back to the time of man's In-
nocency In the Garden of Eden. There
we see man as he came from the plastic
hand of God living In holy communion
with his Maker. He walks and talks
with Him and knows not sin, neither
has a sigh escaped his lips or a tear
stained his cheek. But go with me a
little farther. We see God In the form
of a man coming Into the garden in the
cool of the day. Adam Is not be seen.
He hides from God. God calls unto
him. "Adam, where art thou?” With
shamed face we see him coming forth
from his place of hiding, and when
questioned as to why he has sought to
conceal himself; he replies that he has
broken the commandment God gave
him. He has Sinned and come short of
the glory of God. God drives him from
the garden. He multlpllea and when
years have gone by. God looks down
upon the children of men to see If there
was one that was righteous and He saw
not one. They had all gone out of the
way: they had together become un
profitable and it even repented the Lord
that He had made man and grieved
Him at His heart. The spring which
burst forth In the garden has now be
come a raging torrent and has polluted
and defiled all the streams. The very
Imaginations of the thoughts of the
heart are now only evil and that con
tinually. The whole head Is sick, the
heart* faint and from the sole of the
foot even to the crown of the head there
is no soundness, but only wounds and
putrefying sores. So polluted did man
become that God flooded the earth and
destroyed all save Noah and his family.
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed
by fire because of their sins. But not
withstanding the flood, the stream
swept on In Its course. Human nature
remained the same, and so It Is today.
Men are still brought forth In sin. They
are sinful and defiled. There Is no fear
of God before their eyes. Still there Is
no beauty In Jesus that they should de.
sire Him. The heart being sinful and
so defiled, the will Is perverted. He
puts light for darkness and darkness
for llrht. He loves sin and the things
of the flesh and hates the things of God,
and while this remains true He will nut
come. Here we have found the cause
of the will not. And the-great trouble
with him Is this: He does not realize
his condition. Oh. dear sinner. If thou
couldst but see thyself as thou art! If
thou could but see thy sins and-thy
awful condemned state, methlnks thou
wouldst at once flee to Jesus and beg
for mercy. But so wretched Is thy
state that Jesus says. "No man can
come to Me except the Father which
sent Me draw him." Left to themselves
none ever would come—none ever
would have the will to come to Him.
Until the fountain Is changed we may
... — expect the stream, to be the same. Thls
were In the same condition of these, I* reasonable. I am sure. Were the sun
who now will not. They also had a to dip the ocewi dry the streams would
••not" In their will. After we have fill it again. 80 It Is with the "innt-r.
searched for the underlying cause of Could we for one moment change his
this "will not.” I wish to show you! will (which we can not do) the cor-
why these who once would not have rupt heart he stm has would soon wipe
now come to be willing. away all his good resolutions and he
The will of man Is that act of the mind would soon turn as a dog to his vomit
which we call choice, or that feeling and as the sow to her wallowing in the
of the soul which we call desire. When! mire B “‘ h *" d ’ f° u . ld
we say they will not come, we mean | we but stop all the streams the ocean
they do not choose to come; they do: would soon go dry. Could we but
not have any desire to come. Why do change the heart the will would soon
they not have this desire? Why do be changed, and so long ulhtbrait
they not choose to come to Jesus: Is I remains pure /‘"'Jwhataoddpes He
It because they are not in need of life? 1 does for all eternity) the will will be
Oh. no. Men are poor and blind and [to come to Jesus and follow Him.
naked. They are exposed to eternal Men can not say either that the reu-
ruln. They are lost world without i son why they did not come to Jesus
end unless Indeed they shall come to
Jesus. To them annihilation would be
a comforting thought. But not so.
They shall live on and on and aa the
years roll by they shall suffer the fires
of an endless hell. Oh. yes. they have
need to come. They need Christ In the
SOUL WelL is it then because Jesus Is
not worthy of their love and confi
dence? No! A thousand times no!
In all His life He Is altogether lovely.
He Is to this sin-cursed world as a
bright morning star. In all His life no
guile was found In His mouth. He was
ever humble, loving and kind. No
wonder that even the Infidel will ac
knowledge that Jesus as a man chal
lenges the admiration of the world. Bee
Him as He Is brought forth in the sta
ble and wrapped In swaddling clothes
and laid In the manger. See Him as
He grows to manhood. Follow Him In
all His ministry and see Him as He
was because they were barred from
coming. They may say. "Jesus did not
Invite me to come. He has not come
to bring me life and solvation.” But
this Is no excuse. They did not come
simply because they had no will to
come. They did not w-ant to come.
"WciL" some one mav say. “there Is no
need for me to come, for Jesus will not
receive me." Sinner, how do you know
this is true? You have never gone to
Him with a broken and a contrite heart.
Tou have never pleaded with Him for
mercy. Bat you say. "He did not die
for roe." How do you know He did
not? This alone Is known to Ood. But
again you reply. "I am not one of the
elect" How did you And this out?
Have you been permitted to scale the
heights of heaven and look upon the
Lamb's book of life? Oh. no. You can
not but know that you are one of that
number. You con not but know that
you are one for whom His precious blood
was shed on Calvary's summit. If you
feel your need of Christ If you feel to
come to Him humbly, begging tor mere
cy. you have this to console you, that
none who ever come In your condition
was ever turned away. If such be your
condition today. 1 would say to you as
Paul said to the Phllllplan Jailer, be
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ—come to
Him and thou shalt be saved. Will
you come? No, you say I will not come.
Ah. my friend. In this you show that
you have no desire to come. You are
one of the "will not." Your heart Is
still In love with earth. You can but
acknowledge to that you deserve noth
ing at the hands of Jesus. You can not
complain If Jesus does not give you life,
for you have never asked Him for IL
But here you are complaining of elec
tion. complaining of limited atonement,
complaining because Jesus has given
others eternal life and not you, and yet
you refuse to even ask Him for It Truly
It could be said or you as of these Jews
of old, "Ye will not come to Me that
ye might have life.”
But again some one says. "They can
not come." True. But this only aggra
vates their case. Suppose the criminal
Is brought before the court and found
guilty of the crime charged up
against him. His plea Is that
he Is so depraved that he has
continually a desire to do wrong and
no inclination to do right Would this
acquit him? Certainly not Bo with
the sinner. He Is so corrupt that he
con not come to Jesus until Ood draws
him, but this does not relieve him of
responsibility, for he has never desired
to come. His Is moral Inability and not
physical.
But some do come. How were they
influenced to come? Let ua see Jesus
saya "All that the Father glveth me
shall come to me." Notwithstanding
their sins and their “will not" they shall
come, for "I will bring them by u way
they know not; 1 will lead them in
paths they have not known. I will say
to the North give up, and to the South
keep not back, bring my sons from
afar and my daughters from the ends
earth, even every one that Is
coiled by my name." This was Christ's
mission. We were lost. We were
without strength, but Christ was
mighty and came to rescue. He came
to seek and to save that which was
lost He found Jacob In a waste howl
ing wilderness. He led him about and
Instructed him. He gave him a will to
come to Him. He found David In the
mire and clay of sin, but He placed
him on the solid rock and put a new
song In his mouth, even praises unto
God. He found Soul on his way to Da
mascus to persecute the chosen of the
Lo ” 1 ' *■* b* changed hts will and
made him to trust sweetly In Jesus and
to come to Him for mere)’ and pardon.
Paul, describing the work which God
does In changing our affections, says:
And you hath he quickened who were
dead In trespasses and In sins: where
in In times post ye walked not accord
ing to the course of this world, accord
ing to the prince of the power of the
air, the spirit that now works In the
children of disobedience. Among whom
we all had our conversations In times
past In the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of
wrath even as others. But God. who la
rich In mercy for His great love where
with God loved US even when we were
dead In sin. hath quickened us together
with Christ, by grace are ye suved, and
hath raised us up together and made us
sit together In heavenly places In Christ
Jesus that In the ages to come He
might show forth the exceeding riches
of His grace In His kindness toward
us thru Christ Jesus. For by grace are
ye saved thru faith .and that not of
yourselves It Is the gift of Go t. Not of
works lest any man should boast, for
we are His workmanship created In
Christ Jesus unto good works which
God hath before ordained that we
should walk In them.” This Is the work
which Jesus does for all who ever
come to Him and herein lies the secret
of their coming. This changes their
will, and now the "not" Is no longer
there but they are anxious and willing
to come. Paul In another place exhorts
certain ones to publicly tnanlfest their
faith in Jesus by putting Him on In
open profession and says "for It Is God
which worketh in you both to will and
to do of his own good pleasure." This
Is how you come In possession of the
wilL • God worked 1t In you. Well, says
some one. If I must wait for God to
work this will In me. If I never have
this will, then it will be ills fault and
not mine. But let me ask you. do you
want this will? Are you anxious that
your sinful heart he changed? Are you
mourning on account of sin? Are you
hungering and thirsting for righteous
ness which will remove this "not" from
your wilt and cause you to fall pros
trate at His feet and crown Him Lord
of all? No. You have no desire for
this change. Then you have no com
plaint to offer.
Dear reader, do you will to come to
Jesus? Do you love and adore Him?
Do you find In your heart a cleaving
to the Man of sorrow*—the crucified
but risen Redeemer? Then praise His
blessed and holy name, for grace, free
grace hath wrought Its work In your
poor oouL raising you from a death In
sin to the enjoyment of life In Christ
Jesus.
And now. In conclusion, let me plead
with you and exhort you by this won
derful love and this boundless mercy
and grace that you give to Jesus that
which He lovingly asks, namely: The
poor service of your Itvee. if you will
to come. If you love Him, keep His
commandments.