Coming To Jesus

[A Sermon Preached By Daniel Smart, At Cranbrook, On Sunday, April 23^rd, 1876.]

“And He answered and said unto them, My mother and My brethren are these which hear the Word of God, and do it.’’—Luke 8:21.

I had a divine ray from the blessed Spirit dawn upon my soul in the past week, and I saw as clear as a sunbeam that there is no salvation except we are born again. Without eternal life, where is any sorrow for sin? Where is any love for the Saviour? Where is self-loathing or self-abhorrence before God? And where is any heartfelt praise to the honour and glory of His name and grace? Where is there any union or communion with the saints, except a man be born of God? And where is there any meetness for the kingdom of heaven, or capability of being happy with God and His saints, except we are born again? “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must be born again.” “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

This morning, before I was up, I had a blessed sense in my soul that God had a favour to me, and that He was the Lifter-up of my head; and the brightest and clearest evidence that He has a favour to me was a clear, overpowering revelation of His dear Son, and salvation by Him, to my soul. And how I felt that, in providence and grace, and in every sense, He had been the Lifter-up of my head! When I consider what I am, and what God in Christ is to me, it is wonderful to me indeed.

Then, as He has encouraged me, I am come desiring I might speak something to your profit. I know something of the difficulties of the children of God, but, where the Lord has a favour to a poor sinner, He will see him through, and He will be the Lifter-up of his head. “Whosoever shall gather together against thee, shall fall for thy sake.” He will take him to glory, though sin, earth, and hell obstruct the way. I know He will.

I asked a man last Sunday, concerning a brother recently dead, “Was there enough to square up your brother’s accounts?” He said he believed there was. No doubt he had had thousands of anxieties that he should never get honestly and safely through. I have no doubt his honest heart was often bowed down, but God made all square, and took his happy soul home to glory.

And God has had millions of children bowed down with anxiety, fearing that they should never leave the world as well as they found it. Look at the man that died in debt, and yet God performed a miracle to pay his debts. Yes; and the Lord Jesus is always the Friend of His poor saints.

We find in the context that His mother and His brethren came to the Lord Jesus, and could not get at Him for the press. They were His relatives. What a mercy if there is any relationship between Jesus and us! You know He is an Everlasting Father; “a Husband to the widow, and a Father to the fatherless;” a “brother born for adversity;” and none but His relations will love Him. Humanly speaking, we can choose our friends, but not our relations. Now, Jesus Christ ever did and ever will love His relations, and none but those will ever have a desire to know Him. And wherefore do His brethren come to Him? To fulfil the promise (and it will have its fulfilment), “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.” It is an absolute, unconditional promise, and will have its fulfilment in the salvation and glorification of every child of God. Christ has said it, and will make it good. This is the reason why His relations come to Him, because the promise runs, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.”

There are difficulties in coming, and you will find difficulties if you are coming aright—

“If unto Jesus thou art bound,

A crowd about Him will be found,

Attending day and night;

A worldly crowd to din thy ears, 

And crowds of unbelieving fears,

To hide Him from thy sight.

“If thou press on, the crowds will fly; 

Or if thou faint, to Jesus cry,

And He will send supplies.”

“All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.” There is no “if” “but” or condition. But then difficulties will attend it. Look at the poor young man that came to Christ. While he was yet coming, the devil threw him down till he foamed and wallowed. Why should Satan be in such a rage? He has possession of millions. Why not raise a hubbub in their minds? Did ever poor sinners come to Christ and not be opposed? But the promise stands good, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

His mother and His brethren came to Him. Poor sinner, didst ever set out? All that those dead in a profession want of Christ is, to escape the wrath to come; but heaven-born souls come with earnest, warm desires; and their desires are mixed with love to Christ. Now, you square it up. I say, in the case of most professors, all they want of Christ is to escape punishment; but heaven-born souls love Christ because Christ loves them, and they will come to Christ because the Father draws them; and “no man can come to Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.”

Oh, poor sinner, didst ever set out, and the devil set after thee with, “You are not elected’’? There will be a terrible hue and cry, but “all that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” Is it not wonderful? If you do not wonder, I do. John Newton says, “I am going to heaven on two crutches.” One was, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.” Newton had that crutch under his arm, and felt he had it. And the other crutch was, “And him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” I have been so low in my soul, ah! since I have been at Cranbrook, that I could not get one of these crutches under my arm.

And then, poor sinner, it stands true that “all that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.” I must lie if I was to say I had not come and got at Him; and we have walked and talked together, and loved one another; ah! and dearly too. “And him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” Well, but the devil says, “I have fifty charges against you.” So he may, and a guilty conscience a thousand; but Jesus says, “I will in no wise cast out.”

“But think of the heart I have!” says one. “You don’t know what a wretch I am.” But Christ knows, and He says to our fears and foes, “shall come unto Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

His mother and His brethren came, but that was not enough; they “could not come at Him for the press.” “Come at Him.” A poor woman came from necessity, and got help, for she would not go away without it; and blind Bartimaus came and got the blessing. Oh, what a wonder-working God is ours!

“The feeblest saint shall win the day, 

Though death and hell obstruct the way.”

But the moment a quickened sinner is after salvation by Jesus Christ, the devil, unbelief, and sin will mob him all the way along. But God Almighty says, “I will not put him away;” and Christ says, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.” “If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself.” I am at a point about one thing—if ever He begins to cast out the children, I believe I shall go out the first. But He says He will not. You think of the devil, our accuser, which accuseth us before our God day and night. And so he may; but there is an Interpreter that shall show unto man His uprightness. Christ will cast down the accuser. “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head;” and God the Father, accepting a soul in Christ, says, “I will in no wise cast My child out.”

“Then came to Him His mother and His brethren, and could not come at Him for the press.” Now, the bulk of God’s people are here—standing without, desiring to see Him. They hear about Him, read about Him, and sometimes get a touch, a gracious taste, a little of the water of life; but what they want is to get at Him unmistakably—to have an overpowering revelation of Him. If you have ever come to Christ by the leading of the Holy Ghost, you have never come as close as you want to come, and you never will till you get home, till you “see Him as He is,” and glorify Him to all eternity for saving thee. “Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.” I have felt that desire in my soul, when I have had plenty of trouble, pushing behind, and the grace of my God pulling in front. This made Paul “desire to depart and to be with Christ.” The roots of self, how they cleave to mother earth! They say the roots of a tree go as far along under the ground as the boughs do above. The boughs of the oak reach far. If it was all boughs and no root, it would only require a good push, and down goes the oak; and so, if it were not for the roots of our faith in Christ, we should never stand.

It is a nice thing when one wakes in the morning to feel God has a favour to us, and ever will have; that nothing has ever transpired, or ever will transpire, but shall be overruled for our good.

His saints long to get at Him; and what hinders? They “could not come at Him for the press.” Poor sinner, you know Christian started and got safe home at the last; Obstinate made a start, and soon turned back; Pliable got into difficulty, and went back. Bunyan says, when he got into the slough, he made a desperate struggle towards his own house. If you are dead in sin, your hearts are toward the world; if alive to God, your hearts will go to the saints, and to God. All Christian’s struggles were towards the wicket gate; but as to Pliable—

“Like the moon that’s past the full, into the wane she goes, 

And so will all, but he that heart-work knows.”

“Then came to Him His mother and His brethren, and could not come at Him for the press.” Jesus Christ had thousands to follow Him, and He told them why they came—“because they did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” They got what they came for. It shows the poverty of the times when thousands of people would follow Him, it is said for twenty miles, for a little bread and fish; and so He tells them why they came—”because they did eat of the loaves and were filled.” And you may depend upon it, millions have made a profession of Christ to pick up a living out of it.

“Could not come at Him for the press.” Look at the poor woman that had a deadly disease. The most deadly disease is sin, and yet who cares one snap about it? It is said that, during the plague in London, when some of the people ran out into the villages, they came out with pitchforks to keep them off. Who runs away from the plague of sin? Who is scared at it? It is a rare thing to find anybody convinced of sin. Real religion is a soul afflicted for sin, and in earnest to come to God by Jesus Christ. That is what a knowledge of sin brings about in the soul. “Did He die for me?” So the man is in earnest; he knows he must perish if not found in Christ. “Could not come at Him for the press.” This poor woman with the deadly disease—the money went till at last she had none to satisfy the physicians—

“Few, if any; come to Jesus, 

Till reduced to self-despair.”

Old Berridge says, when anxious about his soul, he looked on the one hand and on the other, and “nothing neglected excepting the door.” And so do poor sinners now, till from necessity they come to God with weeping and supplication; “and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

This woman had heard of Christ: she came where He was. That did not do. Just see how things went on in her soul, and see if the like things are going on in thy soul. What did the poor woman say? That she had spent her all, and was “nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.” That is the case with all heaven-born souls. Every leper in whom eternal life is implanted will grow worse as long as life is in the body. If we do not get worse and worse, by-and-bye we shall get enough to bring a fee to Jesus. Ours is a spreading leprosy, and there is no cure but taking down the house, and burying the body in an unclean place; but at length the redeemed body and soul shall be with the Lord. “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

This woman with the deadly disease could not get at Christ for the press, but the Spirit wrought precious faith in her soul. She said, “If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.” Think of the woman’s faith. Has God granted thee the same faith? Then you cannot give it up. Look out for Him and watch for Him. “If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole.” The oil of Aaron’s grace flows down His beard to the skirt of His garment. It reaches poor sinners at the very hem, dragging along in the dust and dirt. “‘If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole;’ but I cannot get at Him, and cannot give it up.” Jesus knew all about her case. He loved her from eternity, and He made a way through the press, and the woman came and touched Him, and added to her faith, virtue. And Jesus turned Him about and said, “Who touched Me?” The disciples said, “The multitude throng Thee and press Thee, and sayest Thou, “Who touched Me?” What is the multitude come for? Loaves and fishes. But the poor woman came, according to the promise, and could not get at Him, yet could not give it up. Then He enabled her, and she touched the hem of His garment—drew peace from the blood of the Lamb. “And Jesus said, “Who touched Me? I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me.” He wrought the faith in her soul, He emptied her pocket, and brought her to venture on Him alone. The poor woman (I wish I could do her justice while I speak of her) came forward when she could not be hid, and told Him wherefore she had touched Him. “What are you after Him for? Is it nothing short of the vital touch will do for you? You say, “I want the sealing witness of the Spirit.” The poor woman came and told Him honestly and humbly: “I had a deadly disease. I expected to die, but I heard that others were healed, and I longed to be healed. I knew there was virtue in Thy blood, but could not get Thee for the press.” She told Him why she came, and that she was healed immediately. There are millions in heaven that have by faith touched atoning blood, and here stands one as sensible that that blood has been extended to him as he is of his own existence.

Look again. You know Christ went out of His common way when He saved a rich man. The Bible looks wondrously sour at the rich, and the rich look wonderfully sour at the Bible. Here was Zaccheus: there worked in this man’s mind a desire to see Jesus, and he could not because he was little of stature. There was a mob round Jesus; but he sought to see Him, and could not, because he was little of stature. Well, then, go home to thy money. “No; I cannot give it up. Things work about in my mind towards Him, and I want more than a hear-say tale about Him; “and an idea got into his head that he must run for it. To see a rich man running to get a glimpse of Jesus Christ is about the greatest wonder that ner was in this world. He knew where Christ was coming. Poor sinner, you know where Christ takes His walks. He comes to water His saints in the house of prayer; and so you come, again and again, on the look out for a crumb, and that thy poor soul may get at Him, and go on thy way rejoicing. So he ran and “climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was to pass that way.” Jesus was looking out for His child, and the child for Him; that is the way to find one another. There were two at work—one seeking the other at it. Jesus came and looked up. Zacchreus was looking after the Son of God and Son of Man, and Jesus looking after him; and so their eyes and hearts met, and Zaccheus came down at the first bidding, and “received Him joyfully.”

And then look at the wonderful effects of the grace of God. No sooner had Christ told him to come down than he said, “The half of my goods I give to the poor.” Hear this, ye that cleave to the muck-rakes! When salvation came to this man’s soul, half went at a stroke. “And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold.” How about you and money matters? “Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death.” What has the Gospel done for thee? Zacchreus received mercy from the Lord’s hands. It entered his heart, and made him honest and upright to the backbone. “Go to now, ye rich men: weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.”

Oh, the millions of covetous professors now in hell-fire; and what a mercy for you and I to know anything of the Gospel of the grace of God; for “they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.”

“And could not come at Him for the press. And it was told Him by certain which said, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to see Thee.” He knew it, and knew what they came for: they were not nigh enough; and, if you cannot get nigh enough to Him, He will come to you some day, and you will unite with Zaccheus in being kind to the poor and in being honest.

“Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to see Thee.” It is a tiring position. Look here: if God puts His fear in your heart, it will cause you to stand without a wicked world. “So did not I because of the fear of God.” “The fear of God” will cause thee to stand without a wicked world; and, poor sinner, a want of a knowledge of salvation by Jesus Christ will keep thee standing outside the Church—

“Who fain would believe Him, 

And in their best room 

Would gladly receive Him,

But fear to presume.”

It is something, sinner, if “the fear of God” has made thee to differ, and brought thee to stand without the world. Judas stood with them when they came to take the Lord. Oh, to be standing without the world, with “the fear of God” in the heart! And they stand without the Church for want of manifested salvation, but delays are not denials; and, though they stood without: they were His brethren and His mother still. And what do you desire to see?

“Ask thy conscience, ‘Where’s thy treasure?’ 

For be certain there’s thy heart.”

“Desiring to see Him.” There’s only here and there one “desiring to see Him;” panting and crying out after Him. “Desiring to see Thee.” And Jesus Christ said, “My mother and My brethren are these which hear the Word of God, and do it.” The God of truth says—and none but His saints will take heed to it—“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you;” and from Adam to the end of time, nobody will lay it to heart, or carry it out in the practice, but those that the Father has promised “shall come to Him;” “and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”