will give you rest." "Let him that is athirst come; and whoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." My Brethren, how can we sufficiently admire the grace and suitableness of these glorious offers! God requires of us nothing but a disposition to receive his mercy: and what a proof indeed is this of the greatness of that mercy! For had He required any thing more of us in order to our becoming partakers of His goodness, we must for ever have continued destitute of it. We have nothing to bring with us but sin and guilt, nothing to offer but the very burden from which we need deliverance. Praised therefore and blessed be His grace in that he hath said, without any addition, "Come unto me," and hath promised without any exception, "Him who cometh, I will in no wise cast out."

But the point which this passage seems particularly intended to enforce is the certainty that those who come to Christ shall be accepted by Him. "I will in no wise cast them out." In no wise-on no account, on no consideration. Nothing shall ever induce me to cast them out: no ignorance or infirmity in their manner of coming; no fears and mistakes on their part; no malice or subtlety of Satan; no charges against them; no power in Heaven or in Earth. In short, let every possible objection be supposed, let

every obstacle, the most probable or the most improbable, be conceived, it shall not at all avail to prevent the gracious acceptance of every soul that cometh unto Christ. "will in no wise cast it out."

He

Oh my Brethren, what consolation and encouragement must this text afford to every coming soul; to every sinner who is humbly and sincerely seeking the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved by Him! I would hope that there are among you some to whom this description answers: some, who are anxiously desiring in their soul to be freed from the guilt, and power, and consequences of sin; and believ ing that Jesus is able to free them from these things, are earnestly longing to come to Him. -But such longings and desires are often mixed with doubts and apprehensions. And this may be the case with you. Earnestly wishing to be accepted by Christ, you may yet fear that He will not receive you. Though coming to Him in the appointed way, you may be afraid lest He should cast you out. And there are three grounds on some one of which you may possibly suggest to yourselves these fears.

You may look upon the number of your former sins as a reason why Christ should not receive you. But this is no reason at all; provided that you now sincerely desire the pardon of them, are sorry that you have com

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mitted them, and resolve to discontinue the practice of them. You cannot but believe, however numerous your transgressions may have been, that Jesus Christ is able to blot them out: for "His blood cleanseth from all sin:" and He is "a propitiation for the sins of the whole world." Why then should you distrust his willingness to receive you, because your sins have been many? Has He not declared that "if the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and turn unto the Lord, He will abundantly pardon?" Has he not said, "I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins p But if these declarations fail to remove your fears, look at the promise in the text. "I will in no wise cast him out." Is there any thing here said concerning the number of sins; is there any exception made on this account to the coming sinner? Oh! limit not the promise of Christ by your unbelief. Add not restrictions and exceptions to his most gracious invitations; when He has not added them. Rely upon his word, and be not faithless, but believing. If He has not excluded you from His mercy, because your transgressions have been many, why should you on this account exclude yourselves? Do you know better than He knows Himself, * Isaiah, lv. 7. xliv. 22.

how great is His readiness to receive and pardon you? He has said "I will in no wise cast you out."

But possibly your fears may spring from another source. You may be alarmed at the nature of your sins. They may appear to you of a peculiar character, and therefore such as Christ will not forgive. But neither is this any just ground for despondency, if you now really come to Him to save you from their guilt and power. Is it not written, "Come now, and let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool?" Has not Christ Himself said, "All manner of sin shall be forgiven unto men* ?" Why then should you suppose, of whatever kind and description your sins may have been, that they are beyond the reach of pardon; or that Christ will on this account reject you? We read in the sixth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians that many members of that church had formerly been guilty of very great and heinous transgressions: but yet they had been "washed, and sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of their God." Why then should not you be washed, and sanctified, and justified in the same way, if, like them, you renounce your

* Matthew, xii. 31. Isaiah, i. 18.

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sins, and come to the Saviour for deliverance? Oh! come to Him, and He will in no wise cast you out. It is not to any particular description of sins that the promise of forgiveness is addressed. It is not to any particular description of sins that it is limited, It is not to sinners of one kind, to the exclusion of others, that the invitation is given. All sinners of every kind are equally invited to the Saviour: and to them who come the promise is equally addressed. Every coming sinner will be received and welcomed, of what nature or description soever his sins may have been. If in no wise, then not on this account, shall he be cast out.

But further, you may fear from another cause. While you admit the truth and fulness of the promise in the text to the greatest possible extent, you may yet be afraid that you do not fall within its compass, because in your own opinion you may not come aright. You desire to come to Jesus Christ and to be saved by Him: but you do not seem to yourselves to desire these things with sufficient earnestness. You are not, as you suppose, enough humbled for sin. You do not repent of it, hate it, forsake it, and strive against it enough. You are not so anxious in applying and praying to Christ; so dependant on His grace and truth, so devoted to His will and glory, as in your own judgement you ought