[January 10th, 1869.] I. The promise.—The rest spoken of includes two ideas; first, relief from every thing that is burdensome and grievous; and second, rest or complete satisfaction of the soul, that state in which all the powers are appropriately exercised, and all the desires and aspirations are satisfied, and all capacities of the soul completely filled.
Nothing short of this can give a rational and immortal being rest. This implies knowledge for the understanding; excellence, subjective excellence, so that there should be inward harmony; and love and fellowship adequate to our nature and capacities.
II. The persons to whom the promise is addressed.—It is to all. There is no distinction or limitation. It is not to Jews, as such, or to Gentiles, to young or to old, to learned or to unlearned, to good or to bad. But it is whosoever, every one, all. These are the terms used in the Scriptures. The promise therefore is to men of all classes, of all nations, and of all generations to the end of the world.
As there is no limitation as to the class of persons addressed, so there is none as to the kind of burden under which they groan. It may be sickness, poverty, sorrow, responsibility, opposition, injustice, oppression, care of any kind.
It is specially intended, doubtless, for those who are burdened with a sense of guilt and consequent exposure to the wrath of God; those heavily laden with a sense of the power of their own evil hearts; those who have specific inward trials or temptations, whether from scepticism or any other source.
III. The person who makes the promise. Considering the nature and the universality of its address, it would be a mockery if made by any creature. No angel and no man could have the effrontery to utter such words as these. They are only suited to the mouth of God, to him who is present in all times and all places, who has all knowledge, who is omnipotent, and whose power extends to the soul as well as over outward events. They are the words of him who has in himself all the resources to satisfy all the wants of men and to free them from all their evils.
The speaker, however, is not God as God, nor God the Father, nor the Son, as such, nor the Spirit, but Christ, i.e., God as manifest in the flesh, the Theanthropos. It is the promise of one who has all the resources and attributes of the Godhead, and yet is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh; who has suffered as we suffer; who has borne all the burdens we have to bear and all the sorrows we have to endure, save only those which flow from an evil heart.
The promise is from him who came into the world with the very purpose of delivering men from all the evils of the fall, of securing peace on earth, peace with God, and inward peace or rest for the soul.
It is the promise of one who has not only all the power requisite for its fulfilment, and all the love and tenderness which secure the exercise of that power, but of one who has made full provision for the supply of the wants which he proposes to relieve, provision for our justification, sanctification and complete salvation.
IV. The condition on which the promise is suspended is coming. To those who have no sense of need, no faith in Christ’s willingness or power to give rest, or who, while admitting all this, still exclude themselves and fail to embrace the promise, it is of no avail.
Coming is simply believing. Not speculating but actually appropriating the offer of Christ as made to us personally. This is a transient act not to be repeated. It is a permanent state of trust and a repeated exercise of faith, in every emergency.
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