CHRIST INVITING SINNERS TO COME TO HIM. › Chapter 18, Christ inviting sinners to come to him for rest by Jeremiah Burroughs (1659) | AskReformation

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:550p. 117–118

First: It implies a beholding, a looking unto Jesus Christ, as being the All-sufficient Saviour, to save our souls from all the evils that are upon us, and to supply unto us all good we stand in need of: As if Christ should say, when he saith, Come to me; That is, O! poor, troubled sinners; that are under these burdens, Do you behold me to be the great Mediator that is come into the world, to stand between all the wrath of my Father, and your souls, and to bring life and salvation to you, that ⟨p. 118⟩is employed, when I would go, I must know whither I must go, to whom I must go, so saith Christ, I am the great redeemer sent into the world by my father to that very end, that I may ease poor souls of their burdens, and such souls as you are, look unto Christ therefore, as the great reconciler of God and man, the great mediator between God and man, having the fullness of all mercy and goodness in him, the great means of conveyance of all the grace and riches of God the father to sinful souls, that is the first work of believing in Christ, for to look unto him to be such a one as God the Father hath tendered unto us; that is employed, but yet the soul comes not.

First: It implies a beholding, a looking unto Jesus Christ, as being the All-sufficient Savior, to save our souls from al the evils that are upon us, and to supply unto us al good we stand in need of: As if Christ should say, when he saith, Come to me; That is, O! poor, troubled sinners; that are under these burdens, Do you behold me to be the great Mediator that is come into the world, to stand between all the wrath of my Father, and your souls, and to bring life and salvation to you, that ⟨p. 118⟩is imployed, when I would go, I must know whither I must go, to whom I must go, so saith Christ, I am the grea• redeemer sent into the world by my father to that very end, that I may ease poor soules of their burdens, and such soules as you are, look unto Christ therefore, as the great reconciler of God and man, the great mediator between God and man, having the fulness of al mercy and goodness in him, the great meanes of conveyance of al the grace and riches of God the father to sinful souls, that is the first work of beleeving in Christ, for to look unto him to be such a one as God the Father hath tendred unto us; that is imployed, but yet the soul comes not.

:551p. 118–119

Secondly: But then the second is this, which goes further. To come to Christ, implies an unsettledness, when we come to a thing, there is the Terminus a quo, and the terminus ad quem, we come from something, so saith Christ, you have settled your hearts upon creature comforts, and you have looked upon them heretofore, as those things wherein your good and happiness doth consist, but now your hearts must be taken off from those, you must come to me that is there must be a removing from that station you were in, from that kind of settlement you were before in, I cannot go to another place, and stay in the place where I was too: and so the heart cannot come to Christ and stay in the state it was in before, therefore that implies, that whereas you poor creatures, have settled your hearts upon creature comforts, and settled your hearts upon sinful things heretofore, O! now, let your hearts be taken off from all those things, know, that your good, your happiness, your peace is not here, if you abide here, and settle here, you are lost and undone creatures for ever. Let it not grieve your souls to part with the comforts that are here below in the creatures, for certainly, you mistake, here doth not lie your good and happiness, so that when the soul is beginning to stir after Christ, it is taken off from the creature, taken off from all creature comforts, looks upon ⟨p. 119⟩every thing as vanity; O! Saith the soul I am clearly convinced that my happiness lies higher then the things here below; these are the reasonings of the heart that is in motion to go to Christ. And not only to be unsettled from the creature, but I must be taken off from my self too, from all my righteousness and duties, I must not think to satisfy God by any thing that I can do, no, but I must be convinced, that there is a greater thing required to make up my satisfaction with God, then any thing that I can do;

Secondly: But then the second is this, which goes further. To come to Christ, implies an unsetledness, when we come to a thing, there is the Terminus a quo, and the terminus ad quem, we come from something, so saith Christ, you have setled your hearts upon creature comforts, and you have looked upon them heretofore, as those things wherein your good and happiness doth consist, but now your hearts must be taken off from those, you must come to me that is there must be a removing from that station you were in, from that kind of settlement you were before in, I cannot go to another place, and stay in the place where I was too: and so the heart cannot come to Christ and stay in the state it was in before, therefore that implies, that whereas you poor creatures, have settled your hearts upon creature comforts, and setled your hearts upon sinful things heretofore, O! now, let your hearts be taken off from al those things, know, that your good, your happiness, your peace is not here, if you abide here, and settle here, you are lost and undone creatures for ever. Let it not grieve your souls to part with the comforts that are here below in the creatures, for certainly, you mistake, here doth not lie your good and happiness, so that when the soul is beginning to stir after Christ, it is taken off from the creature, taken off from al creature comforts, looks upon ⟨p. 119⟩every thing as vanity; O! Saith the soul I am cleerly convinced that my happiness lies higher then the things here below; these are the reasonings of the heart that is in motion to go to Christ. And not onely to be unsetled from the creature, but I must be taken off from my self too, from al my righteousness and duties, I must not think to satisfie God by any thing that I can do, no, but I must be convinced, that there is a greater thing required to make up my satisfaction with God, then any thing that I can do;

:552p. 119

and therefore my heart must be taken off from these things, Heretofore, I rested in duties, that I was not so bad as others, but now I see there is another manner of righteousness that I must have in a mediator, these though they be good in themselves, yet they are not the things that can ever save my soul, but if ever I have peace with God and stand before him at the great day, it must be through another means then ever yet I have had, if I had gone on, and had thought to make up my satisfaction with God by what I have done, I had been an undone creature; yea, my heart must be taken off from mine one bottom, not to rest in any thing that is in my self, but I must go out and deny my self, and so look for the principle of life out of my self. This is the second thing that is here noted. Come to me, that is, first behold me, see and believe that I am the great mediator that is come into the world to save your souls: and then secondly, let there be an unsettling of your hearts, a taking your hearts off from whatsoever you were settled upon heretofore, that so you may be removed from thence, and that you may take another course for your life in Christ, and happiness in him.

and therefore my heart must be taken off from these things, Heretofore, I rested in duties, that I was not so bad as others, but now I see there is another manner of righteousness that I must have in a mediator, these though they be good in themselves, yet they are not the things that can ever save my soul, but if ever I have peace with God and stand before him at the great day, it must be through another meanes then ever yet I have had, if I had gon on, and had thought to make up my satisfaction with God by what I have done, I had been an undone creature; yea, my heart must be taken off from mine one bottome, not to rest in any thing that is in my self, but I must go out and deny my self, and so look for the principle of life out of my self. This is the second thing that is here noted. Come to me, that is, first behold me, see and beleeve that I am the great mediator that is come into the world to save your souls: and then secondly, let there be an unsetling of your hearts, a taking your hearts off from whatsoever you were setled upon heretofore, that so you may be removed from thence, and that you may take another course for your life in Christ, and happiness in him.