"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