Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 866
Delivered on Lord’s-day Morning, APRIL 18, 1869, by, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
“For we who have believed do enter into rest.”- Hebrews 4:3.
REST! A dainty word, indeed! Too rich a syllable for this unstable earth! Is it not a stray word from the language of the celestials? REST! Is it obtainable? Is it possible? Can there ever be rest for the race who were driven out of Paradise to till the ground from where they were taken and to eat bread in the sweat of their face? Rest! Is it possible for a soul polluted with sin, tossed to and fro with lusts and agitated with outward temptations? Is not man like the dove sent forth from the ark, when towards evening, it longed for a rest for the sole of its feet, but found none? Is it not the fate of man’s soul to use her wings as long as they will last her—forever flitting to and fro in vain pursuit of rest—seeing far and wide mocking wastes of disappointments, but never reaching a place of repose for her flagging pinions?
How apt was the simile of the old Saxon chieftain when he compared the unenlightened soul to the bird which flew in at the open windows of the banquet hall, was scared by the uproarious shouts of boisterous warriors around the fire and passed out again by another window into the cold and the darkness! Our spirit, attracted by the tempting glare, darts into the halls of pleasure, but soon is frightened and alarmed by the rough voice of conscience and the demands of insatiable passions and away it flies from the momentary gleam of pleasure and dream of happiness into the thick darkness of discontent and the snow storm of remorse.
Man, without God, is like the mariner in the story, condemned to sail on forever and never to find a haven. He is the real wandering Jew, immortal in his restlessness. Like the evil spirit, man by nature walks through dry places, seeking rest and finding none. Of our race, by nature, it might almost be said as of our Redeemer, varying but a little His words, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the soul of man has not where to lay its head.” I speak to many this morning to whom this has been exceedingly true from their childhood onward. They have been vainly hoping for enduring contentment and striving after solid satisfaction. Piloted first in one direction and soon in the opposite, they have compassed the whole world and investigated all pursuits, but as yet in vain.
I see you today weary and disquieted, like galley-slaves chained to the oar and I mark the fears which reveal themselves in your countenances, for the whip of the taskmaster is sounding in your ears. Long have you tugged the oar of ambition, or of the lust of pleasure, or of avarice, or of care. Rest but a moment, I pray you, and listen to the witness of those who declare to you that escape from bondage is possible and that rest is to be found even now! As your galley floats along on the stream of the Sabbath and your toil is a little while suspended, hear the sweet song of those redeemed by the blood of Jesus—for they sing of rest, even of rest this side the grave!
Listen for awhile and perhaps you will discover how they found their rest and learn how you may find it, too. What if your chains should be broken today and your labors should be ended and you should enter into perfect peace! If so, it will be the best Sabbath that your soul ever knew! And others shall share in the gladness, for we who may be privileged to help you, shall participate in your joy and even spirits before the Throne of God shall rejoice when they hear that another weary one has found rest in Christ Jesus!
In handling our text, we shall first try to describe the rest of the Christian. We shall, secondly, mention how he obtained it. Thirdly, we shall enumerate the grounds upon which that rest is settled, and then we shall say a few words by way of practical reflection.
I. First, it appears from the text that even now persons of a certain character enjoy rest. Of the NATURE OF THIS REST we are to speak. It is not a rest merely to hear of, to speak of and to desire—but a rest into which Believers have entered. They have passed into it and are in actual enjoyment of it today. “We who have believed do enter into rest.” That rest is pictured in some degree by its types. Canaan was a representation of the rest of Believers. By some it has been
thought to picture Heaven and it may be so used without violence. But remember that in Heaven there are no Hivites or Jebusites to be driven out, while in the rest which God gives to His people here on earth, there yet remain struggles with inbred sins and uprising corruptions which must be dethroned and destroyed.
Canaan is a fair type of the rest which belongs to the Believer this side the grave. Now what a sweet rest Canaan must have been to the tribes after 40 years’ pilgrimage! In the howling wilderness they wandered in a solitary way amid discomforts which only desert wanderers can imagine. Forever were they on the move. The tents which were pitched but yesterday must be struck today, for the trumpets are sounding and the cloudy pillar is leading the way. What packing and unpacking! What harnessing and unharnessing! What marches through clouds of dust and over unyielding beds of sand! What variations of temperature, from the heat of the burning desert by day to its chilliness at night! What discomforts of constant travel and frequent warfare!