LOOK at the sinner unsaved wherever you will, you find him in a state of unrest-perfect unrest; and why? because his conscience is unpurged, his sins are unpardoned, his precious soul is not saved, he is not at peace with the God against whom he has sinned, and with whom he has to do. No marvel then that he has no rest of conscience, no rest of heart. All the while the great sin-question remains unsettled, how can he have rest? Death and hell are not calculated to give rest, as he thinks of them. Eternity has no charm for such; it can only speak of woe. The place of outer darkness has no healing salve, no balm to apply to the conscience; it can only speak of what must terrify the heart of the one who is unsaved.
But is there no balm in Gilead, no rest for the guilty sinner? Blessed be God there is. Where? Listen: Jesus says, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest " (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)). Now, it is the laboring one that needs rest; it is the heavy laden that needs to be relieved of his burden. Dear reader, are you laboring beneath the intolerable burden of sin and guilt? If so, you need rest,—rest for that heart and conscience of yours, rest from the burden of sin that lies there. It is your sins that have caused the laboring, and that has made you a heavy laden soul, and nothing but the removing of them will give you perfect rest. Ah, then, mark how your need is met in the sweet words of Jesus, “Come unto me, and I will give you rest.”
You can trust Him, can you not? He is worthy of your trust. Mark His object: He wants to give you rest, to relieve your conscience of the burden of guilt, beneath which you totter. How gracious and loving is His desire But not without a righteous ground does He thus act and invite. He died for sins; His life's blood has flowed forth; He has risen again. On that ground He invites you to come to Him and find rest,-rest from the burden of your sins and guilt. How inexpressibly sweet is the word "Come." It tells of a loving desire on the part of Jesus, the One who invites, and of the need of the one who is invited. Reader, you are that needy one. Jesus is the willing and able One. Come then to Him, and rest of conscience is yours at once.
Shall I speak of His love? It is an ocean without a bottom, and without a shore. Shall I speak of His willingness? He says, "Come." Shall I speak of His ability? He is the "Risen One;" the vanquisher of Satan; the atoner of sin; the spoiler of the grave; the accomplisher of redemption; the Prince of life, that death could not bold; the One who has chained to His chariot wheels all His foes; yea, He has, blessed be His name, led captivity captive. And now, behold Him, surrounded with brightest majesty at God's right hand, the object of eternal worship, and the resting place of countless precious souls! Oh, dear reader, I long for thy precious soul; I thirst for thy salvation. Will you not come to Jesus, and get relieved of the burden of your sins, and be at peace with God?
Ah, yes, dear friend, there stands Jesus in all His worthiness, love, willingness, and ability to save you, to lift of the burden, to give you perfect rest. Will you not come? Oh yes, you must come, and be saved from hell. Again he says, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
And having got that rest,—that is, rest of conscience with respect to sin and guilt,—we are at liberty to inquire, What is the next rest? Jesus says, " 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, 3029Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29‑30)).
Before the sinner finds the first rest—the rest of conscience—he is found bearing a yoke, but it is the yoke of sin and disobedience. When he comes to Christ, and gets rest of conscience, that yoke is broken. He now knows the meaning of the blessed Lord's words, "Take my yoke upon you;" that is not, of course, the yoke of sin, but the yoke of implicit obedience to God. Jesus, when down here, ever wore that yoke. He did always those things which pleased the Father. The heavens could open upon that perfectly obedient One, and God could give expression to His appreciation of Him, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Those whose sins are pardoned are called upon to wear this yoke of obedience, which Jesus calls "my yoke." And what is the consequence? They find rest unto their souls. They enjoy a blessed and continual rest of soul, which carries them superior to every circumstance through which they may be called to pass. But let it be observed, that the yoke of Jesus cannot be taken unless the conscience is at perfect rest with respect to sin. No unpardoned sinner can wear the yoke of Jesus, that of obedience to God.
How blessed it is then, as a poor burdened sinner, to come to Jesus, and find rest from my sins; and having got that rest, to be yoked with Jesus in obeying God in everything. He says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." So it is.
E. A.