Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2298
“I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.
I AM afraid that we have not always noticed the fullness of this promise. Usually the text is preached from as an invitation to the unconverted to come to Christ and, very properly so—“Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It is an invitation to all of you who are laboring after salvation, or are heavy laden with a load of sin, or the burden of your daily cares. You may come—you are bid to come to the Lord Jesus—and He has promised that He will give you rest. But I must leave you, tonight, so far as my sermon is concerned, for my main business will be with those who have come to Christ. After having given the invitation to those who are outside the Church of Christ, I pass inside, and I want those who are within to come into sweet communion with their Lord, tonight, while I dwell upon this very gracious promise, “I will give you rest.”
I do not find, in this world, if I promise anything, that anybody ever forgets it. You try any of the societies connected with the Tabernacle—promise them a guinea and see if they do not wait upon you for it! But the curious thing, the wretched thing is that many of our Lord’s promises are neglected by us. We do not wait upon Him to have them fulfilled. After having read the promise, it passes out of our thoughts. Do not so, tonight, I pray you. Here is the promise, “I will give you rest.” Let no man here who has come to Christ be content, tonight, unless he gets the rest which the Lord Jesus promises to give. Jesus does not play at promising. Do not play with His promises—be as ready in receiving as He is willing to be in giving. “I will give you rest.” This ought to be a very precious word to all Believers. You have come to Christ. He promises to give you rest—be sure that you get it. Do not rest content until you have that perfect peace which He alone can give you, that peace which is here called, “rest.”
This evening I shall not have much time, but I shall, first, exhibit this pearl, this pearl of rest. Secondly, I shall point you to the hands which give this pearl—“I will give you rest.” And, thirdly, I shall, for a few minutes, dwell upon the promise which Jesus makes—“I will give you rest.” It is a positive declaration of our Lord to those who come to Him— “I will give you rest.”
I. First, then, let me EXHIBIT THIS PEARL. Mild and soft is its radiance. I call it a pearl because it is so precious, so blessed a thing. “I will give you rest.”
Jesus does not say in what part of the mind He will give rest, for He will give it in every part of the mind. He does not say in reference to what He will give us rest because He will give us rest in reference to everything. When a promise is general, you may take it in its widest possible meaning. Particulars restrain and restrict, but where there are no particulars, then you have unlimited range. “I will give you rest”—rest about everything, rest at all times, rest in every part of your nature!
This promise includes rest of the mind, or fixedness of belief. Just now there is great restlessness concerning what we are to believe and many persons are much tossed about by the contrary winds that blow. They believe black, today, and white, tomorrow. Some have fallen into such a condition that they believe nothing, unless, indeed, it should not happen to be in the Bible—and then they will believe it! But if it is in God’s Word, then, of course, they feel it necessary to doubt it. I suppose there is nobody that is not affected, to some extent, by the tornado of doubt which is sweeping over this island and over the whole world!
Now, is there any child of God here who is perturbed in mind? You say to yourself, “I used to be a simple-minded Believer, but I have been worried, tried and troubled. I think that I shall have to buy some books upon Christian evi-
dences, so as to look into the subject and find out the strongest arguments. Or I shall go and talk to some old Christian and hear what he can say to strengthen me.” Listen, my Brothers and Sisters. Your Lord and Master says, “Come unto ME and I will give you rest.” There is a surer intellectual rest to be found in personal communion with Christ than anywhere else! If I get my head on His bosom, none of the philosophers can make it ache. When I once put my finger into the print of the nails, I am no more faithless, but believing! I believe that living in communion with God is the only sure cure for doubt. Trusting wholly to Christ Crucified, resting in His precious blood and daily seeking to have it applied to the conscience—and then walking in the Light as God is in the light, is the surest way to end all those undermining processes which seek to destroy the very foundations of our hope!
Come to Jesus tonight! Come to Jesus at the Communion Table and enter anew into fellowship with Him, and you will be able to say, “My heart is fixed! O God, my heart is fixed! I will sing and give praise.” After being with Jesus, half the questions that trouble you will be answered and the other half will not seem worth the asking. After having been with Him, most of your doubts will vanish and the rest will not concern you one jot or tittle! You are His beloved, and your heart rests in that blessed fact.