"Come Unto Me"
Matthew 11:28
Most preachers
separate, carefully define, explain, and apologize for different aspects of
gospel truth, as if one truth of the gospel were opposed to another. They seem
to think a man cannot consistently proclaim God's total sovereignty in
salvation and, at the same time, press upon sinners their responsibility to
believe the gospel. In Matthew 11, our Lord Jesus plainly declares four things
which every gospel preacher must constantly press upon the hearts of men.
1. It is the
responsibility of all who hear the gospel to repent and obey the gospel (vv.
20-24).
2. God, from eternity,
has chosen to reveal the gospel to some and hide it from others, according to
his own purpose of grace in election (vv. 25-26).
3. The Lord Jesus
Christ is totally sovereign in the salvation of sinners, giving life to whom he
will (v. 27).
4. All who come to
Christ will be saved by his almighty, free, irresistible grace (vv. 28-30).
These are not speculative
theories. These are facts, plainly revealed in Holy Scripture. Let others fuss
and debate as they will. Let the theologians speculate and divide as they
please. While they are trying to figure out how Divine Sovereignty and Human
Responsibility fit together or exclude one another, I am determined to preach
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace to perishing sinners who are
responsible to obey it, and urge them to do so. While the intellectuals disect
the word of truth and try to shape it into a "better" form or system,
we will go on preaching it, in the language of farm hands and carpenters,
asking God to effectually apply it to the hearts of dead sinners as he will,
according to his own sovereign pleasure, for the glory of Christ. This is the
Word of Christ to weary sinners: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." If you come, grace makes you
willing to come. But, if you come to Christ, you will find rest.
Don Fortner