Not only is this great invitation a revelation of the claim of the Lord Jesus Christ as to His own personality and being, it is also a revelation of His love. He saw the need of the world and knew that there was only one possible remedy for its need., and it is that which He offered to supply. The Lord Jesus Christ is eternal, so He saw clearly not only the narrow picture of the generation of His contemporaries within the limited confines of the small land where He was born, but down through the ages, and throughout all the lands of earth. That is the reason why He told men that He would give them peace if they would come unto Him.
This is the very first Gospel invitation given by our Lord Jesus. It is the full realization of the significant time of this invitation that gives full point to its conclusiveness. Rejected by His own, He opened His arms wide to the weary universe and offered men that which can never be found outside His gift. He told men that He would solve all their problems. Salvation from sin, peace in the midst of trouble, and contentment in the midst of need - all these things were promised to weary hearts by this Man, Christ Jesus.
This is another great statement of principle. The man who trusts in human wisdom and human righteousness is going to reject divine wisdom and divine righteousness. Unless a man is willing to come to that place in his spiritual experience where he will acknowledge that he is incapable of understanding God, of finding God, or of obeying God apart from supernatural help, he will never arrive at that supreme step in spiritual experience which is the miraculous work of God in regeneration within a man’s life. Just as people do not send a hurry call for the doctor until they are very conscious of the fact that they are sick, so also do people refuse to acknowledge the necessity of accepting the verdict of God concerning the necessity of the blood of Jesus Christ for the atonement of sin, until they have recognized their own lost conditions. And just as some people, seemingly well, are stricken down by hidden disease which has long been eating at their very vitals, so also there are many who might be called by the world "wise and prudent," refuse the simple wisdom of Christ and the prudence of salvation through the righteousness of the Savior.
We are familiar with the strains of the "Hallelujah Chorus." Handel took the words from the apocalyptic scene of judgment. "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever . . ." (Revelation 11:15). All Heaven breaks forth into worship: Hallelujah! But it is a scene of judgment, and our redeemed hearts are glad to join in praise when it occurs. We are convinced that it is fully necessary; we have seen from experience and from revelation that nothing else will do. God must judge this sinful earth and all its iniquity, and sinners would be brought down to hell because they had not repented.
One day I was walking along a street in Philadelphia and I heard a little girl of about eight call out to another one to come over and play. Her companion came toward her, calling out, "What are you going to play?" She answered, "Oh, I’ve got a swell game. Let’s play house and you will be father coming home late at night and I’ll pitch into you something terrible." Little did she realize the tragedy of the words she was speaking. The other child said, "Oh, I don’t want to play that." The one had mourned but the other would not lament. Children play games that include every great emotion of joy and sorrow of human life. Sometimes the other children hang back and do not want to enter into the spirit of the game. But all games are the same to children. A funeral or a wedding; a doctor for high fever or a party for the dolls; all emotions are alike to children.
