“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It is perfect grace: no restriction; no setting the Jew in the foremost seat of honor. But “Come unto Me, all ye that labor” —Jew or Gentile, it matters not. Are you miserable? Can you find no comfort?
“Come unto Me, all ye that labor,... and I will give you rest.”
It is without condition or qualification, if the needy but go to Him. In John we have:
“All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”
This is the proof of the Father’s drawing—that I go to Jesus. It is the Son of the Father, in John: for grace is always found most full and free where the Son is brought out in all His glory.
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:29-30).
Grace does not leave men to do as they like, but enables the heart that receives it to desire the will of God. So, after saying, “I will give you rest,” our Lord adds, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Mark the difference. In verse 28 it is, “Come unto Me... and I will give you rest” —it is pure grace to the soul in need, with nothing but its sins to bring; but in saying:
“Take My yoke upon you,... and ye shall find rest to your souls,” He speaks of subjection to Him, and the effect is finding rest to our souls. When the sinner goes in his wretchedness to Jesus, the Saviour gives him rest— “without money and without price.” But if that soul does not follow on in the ways of Christ, he becomes miserable, and loses the comfort he had at first. Why? He has not taken Christ’s yoke upon him.
The terms on which the Lord gives rest to the sinner are, “Come unto Me,” just as you are.
The terms on which the believer finds rest are:
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.”
The Lord keeps His moral government over His people, and they are more disturbed than any, if not subject to Christ, they can neither enjoy Him nor the world. If I have found such a Saviour, and yet am not bearing His yoke, God does not intend that I should be happy. All else is a false happiness.