Come and Welcome

Spurgeon builds the sermon around four elements of Revelation 22:17 — the water of life itself (God's free grace that pardons sin, overcomes the love of sin, satisfies the soul's deepest longings, and ends in eternal life), the breadth of the invitation ("whosoever will," with no reference to understanding, past character, feelings of repentance, or worthiness — the only question being whether you are willing), the cleared path ("let him come," meaning every obstacle — Satan, doubt, over-scrupulous preachers who pile up conditions, the sinner's own sense of unworthiness — is commanded to stand aside by the voice of Omnipotence), and the one condition that destroys all conditions: "freely." He lingers especially on "whosoever will" to demolish every excuse that keeps seekers back — you may be ignorant, hard-hearted, a notorious sinner, unable to repent as you wish — but none of these are the question; the text asks only about the will, and if you are willing, you are invited without exception or qualification. He closes with an equally emphatic refusal of all payment or worthiness as a price for the water, insisting it is to be taken without money, without merit, without stint, and without limit — Christ is more pleased to give than the sinner can be to receive — and urges every willing soul to come at once to the bleeding Savior on the cross, since none who come will ever be cast out.Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on October 16th, 1859.