I Will Never Cast Out

Whoever comes to Me, I will never cast out.

J O H N 6 : 3 7

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund is my latest read and it is sooo good. As God has been moving in my heart and drawing me closer to Him, I have been rejecting old lies I allowed myself to believe about Him. However, I'm finding it's hard to replace the lies with truth when you don't know the truth. And the truth is that I don't know or understand the heart of Jesus very well at all. I am convinced, however, that the more I do, the more I will fall in love with Him because I know from things He does that it must be absolutely beautiful.

Th book pulls from Puritan writings and Biblical text analysis to try to convey a sense of the heart of Christ. I am learning so much and have so much to share but what I read today was especially powerful and I wanted to share. In Chapter 6, Ortlund quotes powerful words from John Bunyan who wrote an entire book analyzing the John 6:37 verse I quoted at the beginning (book entitled Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ). It goes:

They that are coming to Jesus Christ, are often times heartily afraid that Jesus Christ will not receive them. This observation is implied in the text. I gather it from the largeness and openness of the promise: "I will in no wise cast out." For had there not been a proneness in us to "fear casting out," Christ needed not to have waylaid our fear, as He does by this great and strange expression, "In no wise."

There needed not, as I may say, such a promise to be invented by the wisdom of heaven, and worded at such a rate, as it were on purpose to dash in pieces at one blow all the objections of coming sinners, if they were not prone to admit of such objections, to the discouraging of their own souls.

For this word, "in no wise," cuts the throat of all objections; and it was dropped by the Lord Jesus for that very end; and to help the faith that is mixed with unbelief. And it is, as it were, the sum of all promises; neither can any objection be made up on the unworthiness that you find in yourself, that this promise will not assoil.

But I am a great sinner, say you.

"I will in no wise cast out," says Christ.

But I am an old sinner, say you.

"I will in no wise cast out," says Christ.

But I am a hard-hearted sinner, say you.

"I will in no wise cast out," says Christ.

But I am a back-sliding sinner, say you.

"I will in no wise cast out," says Christ.

But I have served Satan all my days, say you.

"I will in no wise cast out," says Christ.

But I have sinned against light, say you.

"I will in no wise cast out," says Christ.

But I have sinned against mercy, say you.

"I will in no wise cast out," says Christ.

But I have no good thing to bring with me, say you.

"I will in no wise cast out, " says Christ.

This promise was provided to answer all objections, and does answer them.

So powerful, right? This verse so well illuminates the heart of Christ that is open to absolutely anyone and will not turn me or you away under any circumstances if we only come before Him. There was one more beautiful part of the chapter that I wanted to quote that I think completes this picture of the welcoming heart of Jesus. Ortland writes:

We have come...to the doctrine of the perseverance of the heart of Christ. Yes, professing Christinas can fall away, proving they were never truly in Christ. Yes, once a sinner is united to Christ, there is nothing that can dis-unite them. But within the skeletal structure of these doctrines, what is the beating heart of God, made tangible in Christ? What is most deeply instinctive to Him as our sins and sufferings pile up? What keeps Him from growing cold? The answer is, His heart. The atoning work of the Son, decreed by the Father and applied by the Spirit, ensures that we are safe eternally. But a text such as John 6: 37, reassures us that this is not only a matter of divine decree but divine desire. This is heaven's delight. Come to Me, says Christ. I will embrace you into my deepest being and never let you go....For those united to Him, the heart of Jesus is not a rental; it is your new permanent residence. You are not a tenant; you are a child. His heart is not a ticking time bomb; His heart is the green pastures and still waters of endless reassurances of His presence and comfort, whatever our present spiritual accomplishments. It is Who He is.