REST, REST – Charles Spurgeon

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

We have often repeated these memorable words, and they have brought us much comfort. However, it is possible that we may never have looked deeply into them to see the fullness of their meaning.

The Works of Man and the Words of Jesus

The works of man will seldom bear close inspection. Take a needle, which is highly polished and appears to be flawless. When placed under a microscope, it will look like a rough bar of iron. On the other hand, when you examine a piece of nature—such as the bark or leaf of a tree, or the wing or foot of an insect—you will discover no flaw. No matter how much you magnify or gaze upon it, its perfection remains evident.

So it is with the words of man. The first time you hear them, they may strike you with wonder. You may admire their sentiment upon hearing them again, but soon, you may grow weary of their repetition and call them hackneyed or overestimated. The words of Jesus, however, are not so! They never lose their freshness; they never become threadbare. You may contemplate His words by day and by night, and familiarity will never breed contempt. You can dissect and investigate His teachings, word by word, and each syllable will repay you.

The Bells of Venice and the Words of Jesus

When I was loitering on the Island of Lido, off Venice, I heard the city’s bells ringing from a distance. The music was charming as it floated across the meadow. But when I returned to the city and sat down in the midst of the bells, the sweetness transformed into a horrible clash. The once harmonious sound turned into a maddening din. Not a single bell seemed melodious, and harmony was absent. Distance had lent enchantment to the sound.

The words of poets and eloquent writers may sound charming when heard from afar. However, upon closer inspection, how few of them withstand a minute investigation. Their bells ring passably, but one would soon grow tired of each separate bell. But this is never so with the divine words of Jesus! When you hear them from a distance, they are sweetness itself. When, as a sinner, you wandered in the midnight hour like a lost traveler in the wilds, how sweetly did they call you home! Now, having reached the House of Mercy, you sit and listen to each distinct note of Love’s perfect peal, and you wonder if even angelic harps can surpass it.

Delving into the Text

This morning, we aim to conduct you into the inner chambers of our text. We will place its words under the microscope and explore the depths of each sentence. While our ability to expound the text may be limited, we hope to uncover the vast wealth of instruction it contains. Superficially, this royal promise has cheered and encouraged many, but there is a richness that only the diligent seeker will discover. Its shallows are cool and refreshing for the lambs, but its depths hold pearls that we hope to dive into.

Rest: The First Head

Our first head this morning is rest: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

The Person Invited

Let us begin with the first rest. We will divide our thoughts only for the sake of clarity.

1. Observe the person invited to receive this rest: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden.” The word “all” demands attention—“All you who labor.” There was a need for this broad invitation. Had the Savior not earlier said, “I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes,” some listeners might have thought that the Father had already determined to whom the Gospel would be revealed. They might have concluded that some were chosen, while others were excluded from the invitation of mercy. But the Savior, as if to answer this discouraging notion, phrases His invitation in this way: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden.” Let it not be supposed that the doctrine of election excludes anyone from the invitation of mercy! All who labor are invited to come. Whatever the great doctrine of predestination may involve, rest assured that it does not diminish the extent of Gospel invitations. The Good News is to be preached to “every creature” under Heaven, and in this particular passage, it is addressed to all who labor and are heavy laden.

The Description of the Person Invited

The description of the person invited is very full. It captures both the active and passive elements of their state. “All you who labor” refers to the activity of those striving to earn salvation, bearing the weight of their own efforts. “Heavy laden” refers to the passive state of bearing a burden, feeling weighed down by the load they carry.

Many individuals are actively seeking salvation. They believe that if they obey the precepts of the law, they will be saved. They labor in prayer, in sacraments, and in self-denials, striving to fulfill the requirements of salvation. They are actively working to earn their way to God, but still, they remain burdened and weary.

The Savior addresses these people with loving admonition: “This is not the way to rest; your self-imposed labors will only disappoint you. Cease your wearisome efforts and believe in Me, for I will give you rest—the rest which My labors have earned for Believers.”

The Burden of Sin and Divine Wrath

Those who labor under self-righteousness often find that their efforts lead them into greater burden. They begin by hoping that their labor will diminish the weight of their sin, but instead, they find that their own works only add to their weariness. They are burdened not only by their own actions but by the weight of past sins and the sense of divine wrath that hangs over them. A soul bearing the load of its own sin and the impending judgment of God is indeed heavily laden.

A Gift of Grace

These are the very people to whom the Savior calls. He invites those who are actively seeking salvation and those who are burdened with the weight of sin. It is important to note that they are undeserving of rest. Rest is a gift, not a reward. A gift is not earned but given by grace. Jesus offers this rest freely, and He will give it to those who come to Him, not because they deserve it, but because of His own sovereign mercy.

The Invitation to Come

2. The precept laid down is simple yet profound: “Come.” It is not “Learn,” nor is it “Take My yoke,” though these are part of the following steps. Initially, the call is to “Come to Me.” To come is to leave one thing and advance toward another. It means to leave behind your legal labors, your self-reliance, your sins, and your presumptions. It is an invitation to turn toward Jesus—to think of Him, to rely upon Him, and to place your trust in Him.

Conclusion

The invitation is clear: come to Jesus, and He will give you rest. It is a rest that transcends human effort and is offered freely by grace.

The Call to Jesus

Let your contemplations think of Him who bore the load of human sin upon the Cross of Calvary, where He was made sin for us; let your minds consider Him who, from His Cross, hurled the enormous mass of His people’s transgressions into a bottomless sepulcher where it was buried forever! Think of Jesus, the Divinely-appointed Substitute and Sacrifice for guilty man, and then, seeing that He is God’s own Son, let Faith follow your contemplation. Rely upon Him; trust in Him as having suffered in your place; look to Him for the payment of the debt which is due from you to the Wrath of God! This is to come to Jesus. Repentance and Faith make up this “Come”—the Repentance which leaves the place where you now stand, and the Faith which comes into reliance upon Jesus. Observe that the command to “Come” is put in the present tense, and in the Greek, it is intensely present. It might be rendered something like this: “Here to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden!” It is a “Come” which means not “Come tomorrow or next year,” but “Now, at once.” Advance, you slaves; flee from your taskmaster now! Weary ones, recline on the Promise now, and take your rest! Come now! By an act of instantaneous Faith which will bring instantaneous peace, come and rely upon Jesus, and He will now give you rest; rest shall at once follow the exercise of your Faith; perform that act of Faith now! O may the Eternal Spirit lead some laboring, heavy-laden souls to come to Jesus, and to come at this precise moment! It is “Come to Me.” Notice that. The Christ in His Personality is to be trusted. Not, “Come to John, and hear him say, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,’” for no rest is there. John commands a preparation for the rest, but he has no rest to give to the soul; come not to the Pharisees who will instruct you in tradition, and in the jots and tittles of the Law, but go past these to Jesus, the Man, the God, the Mediator, the Redeemer, and the Propitiation for human guilt! If you need rest, come to Christ in Gethsemane, to Christ on Calvary, to Christ risen, to Christ ascended! If you need rest, O weary souls, you can find it nowhere until you come and lay your burdens down at His dear pierced feet, and find life in looking alone to Him! There is the precept then, observe it is nothing but that one word, “Come.” It is not “Do.” It is not even “Learn”; it is not “Take up My yoke”—that will follow after, but must never be forced out of its proper place. To obtain the first rest, the rest which is a gift—all that is asked of you is that you come to have it! Now, the least thing that charity itself can ask when it gives away its alms is that men come for it. Come, you needy, come and welcome! Come and take the rest you need! Jesus says to you, “Come and take what I freely give.” Come without money; come without merit; come without preparation. It is just come, come now; come as you are, come with your burden, come with your yoke, though the yoke is the yoke of the devil, and the burden is the burden of sin! Come as you are and the Promise shall be fulfilled to you, “I will give you rest.”

The Promise of Rest

3. Notice next the Promise spoken: “I will give you rest.” “I will give.” It is a rest that is a gift. Not a rest found in our experience by degrees, but given at once! As I shall have to show you, the next verse speaks of the rest that is found, worked out, and discovered. But this is a rest given. We come to Jesus. We put out the empty hand of Faith, and rest is given us at once most freely! We possess it at once, and it is ours forever! It is a present rest, rest now! Not rest after death; not rest after a time of probation and growth, and advancement, but it is rest given when we come to Jesus, given then and there! And it is perfect rest, too, for it is not said, nor is it implied, that the rest is incomplete. We do not read, “I will give you partial rest,” but “rest”; as much as if there were no other form of it. It is perfect and complete in itself; in the blood and Righteousness of Jesus, our peace is perfect. I shall not stay except to ask you now, Brothers and Sisters, whether you know the meaning of this given rest. Have you come to Jesus, and has He given you perfect and present rest? If so, I know your eyes will catch joyously those two little words, “And I,” and I would bid you lovingly remember the One who Promises who speaks! Jesus promises, and Jesus performs; did not all your rest, when first your sin was forgiven, come from Him? The load was gone, but who took it? The yoke was removed, but who lifted it from off your shoulders? Do you not give to Jesus, this day, the Glory of all your rest from the burden of guilt? Do you not praise His name with all your souls? Yes, I know you do! And you know how that rest came to you; it was by His Substitution, and your Faith in that Substitution! Your sin was not pardoned by a violation of Divine Justice; Justice was satisfied in Jesus; He gave you rest; the fact that He has made full Atonement is the rest of your spirit this morning! I know that deep down in your consciences, the calm which blesses you springs from a belief in your Lord’s vicarious Sacrifice; He bore the unrest that you might have the rest—and you receive rest this day as a free gift from Him! You have done now with servile toils and hopeless burdens; you have entered into rest through believing, though all the rest and deliverance still comes to you as a gift from His dear hands, who purchased this blessing for your souls with a price. I earnestly wish that many who have never felt that rest would come and have it; it is all they have to do to obtain it—to come for it—just where they now are. If God enables them to exercise a simple act of Faith in Jesus, He will give them rest from all their past sins and from all their efforts to save themselves—a rest which shall be to His glory and to their joy!

The Second Rest

II. We must now advance to our second head—REST. It looks rather strange that after having received rest, the next verse should begin—“Take my yoke upon you.” “Ah, I had been set free from laboring; am I to be a laborer again?” Yes, yes, take My yoke and begin! “And My burden is light.” “Burden? Why, I was heavy laden just now; am I to carry another burden?” Yes. A yoke actively, and a burden passively. You are to bear both of these. “But I found rest by getting rid of my yoke and my burden!” And you are to find a further rest by wearing a new yoke, and bearing a new burden!

Your yoke galled, but Christ’s yoke is easy. Your burden was heavy, but Christ’s burden is light. Before we enter into this matter more fully, let us illustrate it. How certain it is that a yoke is essential to produce rest, and without it rest is unknown! Spain found rest by getting rid of that wretched monarch Isabella; an iron yoke was her dominion upon the nation’s neck, crushing every aspiration after progress by an intolerable tyranny! Up rose the nation, shook off its yoke, and threw aside its burden, and it had rest in a certain sense—rest from an evil. But Spain has not fully rested yet, and it seems that she will never find permanent rest till she has voluntarily taken up another yoke, and found for herself another burden. In a word, she must have a strong, settled, recognized government— and only then will her distractions cease. This is just a picture of the human soul; it is under the dominion of Satan; it wears his awful yoke, and works for him; it bears his accursed burden, and groans under it; but Jesus sets it free—but has it therefore a perfect rest? Yes, a rest from, but not a rest in! What is needed now is a new government—the soul must have a Sovereign, a ruling Principle, a master-motive, And when Jesus has taken that position, rest is come! This further rest is what is spoken of in the second verse.

Let me give you another symbol. A little stream flowed through a manufacturing town; an unhappy little stream it was, for it was forced to turn huge wheels and heavy machinery, and it wound its miserable way through factories, where it was dyed black and blue until it became a foul and filthy ditch and loathed itself; it felt the tyranny which polluted its very existence. Now, there came a deliverer who looked upon the stream and said, “I will set you free and give you rest.” So he stopped up the water-course, and said, “Abide in your place, you shall no more flow where you are enslaved and defiled.” In a very few days, the brooklet found that it had but exchanged one evil for another; its waters were stagnating, they were gathering into a great pool and desiring to find a channel; it was in its very nature to flow on, and it foamed and swelled, and pressed against the dam which stayed it. Every hour it grew more inwardly restless; it threatened to break the barrier, and it made all who saw its angry looks, tremble for the mischief it would do before long! It never found rest until it was permitted to pursue an active course along a channel which had been prepared for it among the meadows and the corn fields, and then, when it watered the plains and made glad the villages, it was a happy stream, perfectly at rest. So our souls are made for activity—and when we are set free from the activities of our self-righteousness, and the slavery of our sin, we must do something! And we shall never rest until we find that something to do; therefore in the text you will be pleased to see that there is something said about a yoke, which is the ensign of working, and something about a burden, which is the emblem of enduring. It is in man’s mortal nature that he must do or endure, or else his spirit will stagnate and be far from rest.

The Rest of a Learner

1. We will consider this second rest, and notice that it is rest after rest. “I will give you rest” comes before, “You shall find rest.” It is the rest of a man who is already at rest; the repose of a man who has received a given rest, and now discovers the found rest. It is the rest of a learner—“Learn of Me, and you shall find rest.” It is not so much the rest of one who was before laboring and heavy laden—as of one who is today learning at the Savior’s feet. It is evidently the rest of a seeker, for finding usually implies a search. Having been pardoned and saved, the saved man in the course of his experience discovers more and more reason for peace; he is learning, and seeking, and he finds. The rest is evidently lighted upon, however, as a thing unknown, which becomes the subject of discovery, for the man had a rest from his burden, and now he finds a rest in Christ, which exceeds what he asked or even thought. I have looked at this rest after rest as being a treasure concealed in a precious box. The Lord Jesus gives to His people a priceless case, called the gift of rest. It is set with brilliant stones and inlaid with gems—and the substance is of worked gold. Whoever possesses it feels and knows that his warfare is accomplished, and his sin is pardoned. After a while, the happy owner begins to examine his treasure; it is all his own, but he has not yet seen it all, for one day he detects a secret drawer. He touches a hidden spring, and lo, before him lies a priceless jewel surpassing all the rest! It had been given to him, it is certain, but he had not seen it at first, and therefore he finds it. Jesus Christ gives us, in the gift of Himself, all the rest we can ever enjoy—even Heaven’s rest lies in Him; but after we have received Him, we have to learn His value, and find out by the teaching of His Spirit the fullness of the rest which He bestows. Now, I say to you who are saved, you who have looked to Jesus Christ—whether you looked this morning or 20 years ago—have you found out all that there is in the gift which Christ has given you? Have you discovered the secret drawer yet? He has given you rest, but have you found the innermost rest which He works in your hearts? It is yours, for it is included in the one gift; but it is not yours enjoyed, understood, and triumphed in as yet unless you have found it, for the rest here meant is a rest after rest, a spiritual, experienced rest which comes only to those who find it by experience.

Rest in Service

2. Further observe that the rest in this second part of our text is a rest in service. It is coupled with a yoke, for activity—“Take My yoke.” It is connected with a burden, for endurance—“My burden is light.” He who is a Christian will not find rest in being idle; there is no unrest greater than that of the sluggard. If you would rest, take Christ’s yoke and be actively engaged in His service. As the bullock has the yoke put upon its neck, and then begins to draw, so have the yoke of Christ put on your neck and commence to obey Him. The rest of Heaven is not the rest of sleep—they serve Him day and night in His Temple; they are always resting, and yet in another sense they rest neither day nor night. Holy activity in Heaven is perfect rest. True rest to the mind of the child of God is rest on the wing, rest in motion, rest in service—not rest with the yoke off, but with the yoke on! We are to enter upon this service voluntarily; we are to take His yoke upon us voluntarily. You observe it does not say, “Bear my yoke when it is laid upon you, but take it.” Do not need to be told by the minister, “My dear Brother, such-and-such a work you are bound to do,” but take up the yoke on your own accord! Do not merely submit to be the Lord’s servant, but seek His service. Ask, “What can I do?” Be desirous to do it—voluntarily, cheerfully—do all that lies in you for the extension of His Kingdom who has given you rest, and you shall find that the rest of your soul shall lie in your doing all you can for Jesus! Every active Christian will tell you he is never happier than when he has much to do, and on the whole, if he communes with Jesus, never more at rest than when he has least leisure! Look not for your rest in the mere enjoyments and excitements of religion, but find your rest in wearing a yoke which you love, and which for that reason is easy to your neck. But, my dear Brothers and Sisters, you must also be willing to bear Christ’s burden. Now the burden of Christ is His Cross, which every Christian must take up. Expect to be reproached; expect to meet with some degree of the scandal of the Cross, for the offense of it never ceases. Persecution and reproach are a blessed burden; when your soul loves Jesus it is a light thing to suffer for Him, and therefore never by any cowardly retirement or refusal to profess your Faith, evade your share of this honorable load. Woe unto those who say, “I will never be a martyr.” No rest is sweeter than the martyr’s rest! Woe unto those who say, “We will go to Heaven by night along a secret road, and so avoid the shame of the Cross.” The rest of the Christian is found not in cowardice, but in courage! It lies not in providing for ease but in the brave endurance of suffering for the Truth of God! The restful spirit counts the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt; he falls in love with the Cross, and counts the burden light. And so he finds rest in service, and rest in suffering. Note that well.

Rest Through Learning

3. The rest before us is rest through learning. Does a friend say, “I do not see how I am ever to get rest in working, and rest in suffering”? My dear Brother, you never will unless you go to school, and you must go to the School of Christ. “Learn of Me,” He says, “for I am meek and lowly in heart.” Now, in order to learn of Christ, it is implied that we lay aside all prejudices of the past; those things much prevent our finding peace. Have you any preconceived notions of what religion should be? Have you fashioned on your own anvil ideas of what the Doctrines of the Gospel ought to be? Throw them all away! Learn of Jesus, and unlearn your own thoughts. Then, when you are willing to learn, please note what is to be learned; in order to get perfect rest of mind you have to learn of Jesus; not only the Doctrines which He teaches, but a great deal more than that. To go to school to be orthodox is a good enough thing, but the orthodoxy which brings rest is orthodoxy of the Spirit. Observe the text, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.” What for? Because I am wise and learned, and can teach you? No. You are to learn from His Example to be “meek and lowly in heart”; and in learning that, you will “find rest unto your souls.” To catch the spirit of Jesus is the road to rest; to believe what He teaches me is something; to acknowledge Him as my religious Leader and as my Lord is much; but to strive to be conformed to His Character, not merely in its external developments, but in its interior spirit—this is the grammar of rest! Learn to be like the meek and lowly-hearted One, and you shall find rest. He tells us the two points in which we are to learn of Him. First, He is meek; then He says He is lowly in heart. Take the word “meek” first. I think that refers to the yoke-bearing, the active labor. If I actively labor for Christ, I can only find rest in the labor by possessing the meek spirit of my Lord. If I go forth to labor for Christ without a meek spirit, I shall very soon find that there is no rest in it, for the yoke will gall my shoulders. Somebody will begin objecting that I do not perform my work according to his liking; if I am not meek I shall find my proud spirit rising at once, and shall be for defending myself; I shall be irritated, or I shall be discouraged and inclined to do no more because I am not appreciated as I should be. A meek spirit is not apt to be angry, and does not soon take offense—therefore if others find fault, the meek spirit goes on working, and is not offended; it will not hear the sharp word—nor reply to the severe criticism. If the meek spirit is grieved by some cutting censure, and suffers for a moment, it is always ready to forgive and blot out the past, and go on again. The meek spirit, in working, only seeks to do good to others; it denies itself; it never expected to be well treated; it did not aim at being honored; it never sought itself, but purposed only to do good to others. The meek spirit bowed its shoulder to the yoke, and expected to have to continue bowing in order to keep the yoke in the right place for labor; it did not look to be exalted by yoke-bearing; it is fully contented if it can exalt Christ and do good to His Chosen ones. Remember how meek and lowly Jesus was in all His service, and therefore how calmly He bore with those who opposed Him? The Samaritans would not receive Him, and therefore John, who felt the yoke a little galling to his unaccustomed shoulder, cried, “Master, call fire from Heaven.” Poor John! But Christ bore the yoke of service so well because of His meek spirit, that He would do nothing of the kind! If one village would not receive Him, He passed on to another, and so labored on. Your labor will become very easy if your spirits are very meek; it is the proud spirit that gets tired of doing good if it finds its labors not appreciated. But the brave, meek spirit, finds the yoke to be easy. “Consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest you be weary and faint in your minds.”

If you learn His Meekness, His yoke will be pleasant to your shoulder, and you will never wish to have it removed. Then, as to the passive part of our rest-lesson, note the text, “I am lowly in heart.” We shall all have to bear something for the Truth’s sake as long as we are here. The reproach is a part of the Gospel; the rod is a blessing of the Covenant; the lowly heart finds the burden very light because it acquiesces in the Divine Will. The lowly heart says, “Not my will, but Yours be done; let God be glorified in me, it shall be all I ask—rich, poor, sick, or in health, it is all the same to me; if God the Great One has the Glory, what matters where such a little one as I am may be placed?” The lowly spirit does not seek after great things for itself; it learns in whatever state it is to be content. If it is poor, “Never mind,” says the lowly one, “I never aspired to be rich; among the great ones of this earth I never desired to shine.” If it is denied honor, the humble spirit says, “I never asked for earthly glory; I seek not my own honor but His who sent me. Why should I be honored, a poor worm like I? If nobody speaks a good word of me, if I get Christ to say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ that is enough.” And if the lowly-hearted has little worldly pleasure, he says, “This is not my place for pleasure; I deserve eternal pain, and if I do not have pleasures here, I shall have them hereafter; I am well content to bide my time.” Our blessed Lord was always of that lowly spirit. He did not strive, nor cry, nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets. The baubles of empire had no charm for Him; had fame offered to sound her trumpet for none but Him, He would have cared not one whit for the offer! The kingdoms of this world, and the glory thereof were offered Him, and He repelled the tempter! He was gentle, unobtrusive, self-denying; He treated His burden of poverty and shame as a light thing, “He endured the Cross, despising the shame.” If we once learn Christ’s spirit, we shall find rest unto our souls.

Rest in God’s Sovereignty

4. But we must pass on to notice that it is very evident that the rest which we are to find is a rest which grows entirely out of our spirits being conformed to the Spirit of Christ! “Learn of Me, and you shall find rest.” It is then a spiritual rest, altogether independent of circumstances. It is a vain idea of ours to suppose that if our circumstances were altered, we should be more at rest. My Brothers and Sisters, if you cannot rest in poverty, neither would you in riches! If you cannot rest in the midst of persecution, neither would you in the midst of honor! It is the spirit within that gives the rest—that rest has little to do with anything without. Men have sat on thrones and have found them uneasy places, while others on the rack have declared that they were at rest! The spirit is the spring of rest; as for the outward surroundings they are of small account. Let but your mind be like the mind of Christ, and you shall find rest unto your souls—a deep rest, a growing rest, a rest found out more and more, an abiding rest, not only which you have found, but which you shall go on to find! Justification gave you rest from the burden of sin; Sanctification will give you rest from molesting cares, and in proportion as it becomes perfect, and you are like your Savior, your rest shall become more like that of Heaven. I desire one other thing to be called to your mind before I turn to the practical use of the text, and that is, that here as in the former rest, we are led to adore and admire the blessed Person of our Lord. Observe the words, “For I.” Oh, it all still comes from Him—the second rest as much as the first—the case and the treasure in the secret drawer. It all hinges here, “For I am.” In describing the second rest there is more said concerning Him than in the first. In the first part of our text it only says, “I will give you rest.” But in the second part His Character is more fully explained—“For I am meek and lowly in heart,” as if to show that as Believers grow in Grace, and enjoy more rest, they see more of Jesus, and know more of Him. All they know when sin is pardoned is that He gives it; perhaps they hardly know how, but afterwards, when they come to rest in Him in sweet fellowship, they know more of His Personal Attributes, and their rest for that very reason, becomes more deep and perfect.

Practical Application

We now come to the practical use of all this. Read the Chapter before us and find the clue. My dear Brothers and Sisters, if you find rest to your souls, you will not be moved by the judgment of men; the children in the marketplace were the type of our Lord’s generation—who railed both at John the Baptist and at our Lord! The generation which now is follows the same course—men are sure to cavil at our service. Never mind! Take Christ’s yoke on you, live to serve Him; take Christ’s burden, make it a point to bear all things for His sake, and you will not be affected either by praise or censure, for you will find rest to your souls in surrendering yourself to the Father’s Will. If you learn of Jesus, you will have rest from the fear of men. I remember, before I came to London, being at a Prayer Meeting where a very quaint Brother prayed for me that I might be delivered from the “bleating of the sheep.” I understood it after a while; he meant that I might live above the fear of man, that when such a person said, “How much we have been edified today,” I might not be puffed up. Or if another said, “How dull the discourse was today,” I might not be depressed. You will be delivered from “the bleating of the sheep” when you have the spirit of the Good Shepherd! Next, you will be delivered from fretfulness at lack of success. “Then He began to upbraid the cities where most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not.” He had worked His mighty works, and preached the Gospel, and they did not repent! Was Jesus discouraged? Was He, as we sometimes are, ready to quit the work? No! His heart rested even then; if we come to Jesus, and take His yoke and burden, we too shall find rest, though Israel is not gathered. Then too, our Lord denounced judgments upon those who repented not. He told them that those who had heard the Gospel and rejected it would find it more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for they. There are some who quarrel with the Judgments of God, and declare that they cannot bear to think of the condemnation of the impenitent. Is not this because they do not bear the burden of the Lord, but are self-willed? The saints are described in the Book of Revelation as singing, “Hallelujah,” while the smoke of Babylon goes up forever and ever! We shall never receive with humble Faith the Judgment of God in its terror until we take Christ’s yoke, and are lowly in heart. When we are like Jesus, we shall not feel that the punishment is too much for the sin, but we shall sympathize with the Justice of God, and say “Amen” to it. When the mind is lowly, it never ventures to sit in judgment upon God, but rests in the conviction that the Judge of All must do right; it is not even anxious to make apologies and smooth down the fact, for it feels “it is not mine to justify Him; He can justify Himself.” So, again, with regard to the Divine Sovereignty, notice the rest of the Savior’s mind upon that matter—“I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that You have hid these things from the wise and prudent.” Learning of Jesus, we too shall rest in reference to Divine Decrees; we shall rejoice in whatever the Lord determines. Predestination will not cast a gloom over us, but we shall thank God for all He ordains. What a blessed rest! As we open it up, does not its compass and depth surprise you? How sweet to lie passive in His hands, reconciled to every mystery, content with every dispensation, honored by every service satisfied in God! Now, I do not know whether I am right, but it struck me when considering this text from various points, that probably our Savior meant to convey an idea of deeper fellowship than we have yet considered. Did He not mean this, that He carried a yoke on His shoulder which He calls, “My yoke”? When bullocks are yoked, there are generally two. I have watched them in Northern Italy, and noticed that when two are yoked together, and they are perfectly agreed, the yoke is always easy to both of them. If one were determined to lie down, and the other to stand up, the yoke would be very uncomfortable; but when they are both of one mind, you will see them look at each other with those large, lustrous, brown eyes of theirs so lovingly, and with a look they read each other’s minds, so that when one wants to lie down, down they go; or when one wishes to go forward, forward they both go, keeping step; in this way the yoke is easy. Now I think the Savior says to us, “I am bearing one end of the yoke on My shoulder. Come, My Disciple, place your neck under the other side of it, and then learn of Me. Keep step with Me; be as I am, do as I do; I am meek and lowly in heart; your heart must be like Mine, and then we will work together in blessed fellowship, and you will find that working with Me is a happy thing, for My yoke is easy to Me, and will be to you. Come then, true yoke-fellow, come and be yoked with Me; take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me.” If that is the meaning of the text, and perhaps it is, it invites us to a fellowship most near and honorable. If it is not the meaning of the text, it is, at any rate, a position to be sought after—to be laborers together with Christ—bearing the same yoke. May such be our lot. Amen.

Portion of Scripture Read Before Sermon— Matthew 11.

Charles Spurgeon