John Bunyan. Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ. 1681; Countedfaithful.org, 2015.

Although I have taught Pilgrim’s Progress for years, I had never heard of this book by John Bunyan until I saw it quoted numerous times in Gentle and Lowly, which I just reviewed recently. It sounded appealing. I confess that I am no Calvinist, and I was impressed that the obviously Calvinist author of Gentle and Lowly quoted someone who, while identified with the Puritans, was not a Calvinist.

Indeed, this edition begins with a short preface written in 1850 that says:

Here is no Calvinism, Lutheranism, or Arminianism; no Episcopacy, Presbytery, or Independency; nothing but Christ-ism and Bible-ism.

That is true! A believer from whatever brand or background would appreciate this little book.

The title is a little word play that a Metaphysical poet in Bunyan’s day probably would have appreciated. Jesus says, “Come,” and if we come, He says, “Welcome.” Years ago when I worked in a bookstore, we sold a poster that said, “God’s favorite word is Come!” Bunyan tries to illustrate the truth of that saying.

People unfamiliar with the writings from the Puritan era or the First Great Awakening may discover a profound style here. The most famous sermon from the American side of the Great Awakening is Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Regardless of how one reacts to that sermon, Edwards based the whole sermon on a single clause that is half of a verse in the Bible. He really dissects each word and gets to the meaning.

Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ does the same thing, only its a whole book, not just a sermon because the author actually took a whole verse, a single sentence with four clauses. As Thoreau would say, Bunyan, like a poet, “has fairly impounded it, milked it, skimmed it, and got all the cream.” But it is not just the facility with reading and language that makes this a great book to read. It has a powerful and very encouraging message.

The verse?

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37 KJV)

Obviously, this is Jesus speaking. I kept it in the King James Version, the translation Bunyan uses, because it retains the chiasmus. Actually, most translations do, but I wanted to insure that we get the poetic quality as well as the message.

First, Bunyan speaks of what it means to come to Jesus. As Luke 13:26-27 reminds us, coming to Jesus does not merely mean listening to what he has said, but it means coming to Him in faith. Bunyan goes into great detail to show what he means, using many examples from the Bible.

He then notes the first part of the verse, that the people who come to Jesus are given to Him by the Father. This echoes the great Messianic Psalm 2 which says, in part:

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psalm 2:8)

This is God’s plan. He sent Jesus to call everyone, not just the chosen Hebrews, but the heathen, the goyim, as well. And, Bunyan emphasizes, God can be trusted. If he gave the Son a gift, He is not going to take it back. Note indeed what the last two verses of that Psalm tell us:

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm 2:11-12)

This promise of God is specifically to His Son, and those who embrace the Son are blessed.

Similarly, if anyone does come to Jesus, Jesus also will not cast him or her out. This is truly a blessed assurance. I was raised in a church which suggested that anyone who spoke about being saved or having assurance of Heaven was being presumptuous, even proud. In other words, one could never be 100% sure he or she were saved until the Judgment. I confess that I still carried some of that idea with me. Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ was a big blessing. It does present the assurance the believer needs. In the words of the hymn, “We have God’s own promise/And that cannot fail.”

As that 1850 preface suggests, this goes beyond the denominational issues. Bunyan was no Calvinist. But here he focuses on God’s promise. If you are interested in warnings, read Pilgrim’s Progress. That book is equally biblical. Here, though, Bunyan tells us God is committed to keeping us on the path.

Bunyan also notes that the verse says “All that come to me.” It does not make any difference who you are. There are some horrible criminals who came to Jesus after a life of crime. If they truly came, they would not be cast out. Jesus promised the dying criminal on the cross next to His, that He would be with Him in Paradise. Jesus’ work on the Cross can cover any sin of any repentant sinner. Hallelujah!

Read this book. You will be blessed. My only reservation is that it was originally written over 340 years ago and the language has changed somewhat. Even though I teach Shakespeare and often read the King James Version of the Bible, I was glad that I had this on a Kindle edition. That way I could highlight a word and a definition from the Kindle’s dictionary would pop up. I suspect that if someone were to write the same book in more modern language, he or she could create a steady seller.