Now, there is no rest in sin. The wicked know nothing about it. The Scriptures tell us the wicked "are like the troubled sea that cannot rest." You have, perhaps been on the sea when there is a calm, when the water is as clear as crystal, and it seemed as if the sea were at rest. But if you looked you would see that the waves came in, and that the calm was only on the surface. Man, like the sea, has no rest. He has had no rest since Adam fell, and there is none for him until he returns to G.o.d again, and the light of Christ shines into his heart.
Rest cannot be found in the world, and thank G.o.d the world cannot take it from the believing heart! Sin is the cause of all this unrest. It brought toil and labor and misery into the world.
Now for something positive. I would go successfully to someone who has heard the sweet voice of Jesus, and has laid his burden down at the cross. There is rest, sweet rest. Thousands could certify to this blessed fact. They could say, and truthfully:
I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Come unto me and rest.
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down, Thy head upon my breast."
I came to Jesus as I was, Weary and worn and sad.
I found in Him a resting-place, And He hath made me glad.
Among all his writings St. Augustine has nothing sweeter than this: "Thou hast made us for Thyself, O G.o.d, and our heart is restless till it rests in Thee."
Do you know that for four thousand years no prophet or priest or patriarch ever stood up and uttered a text like this? It would be blasphemy for Moses to have uttered a text like it. Do you think he had rest when he was teasing the Lord to let him go into the Promised Land? Do you think Elijah could have uttered such a text as this, when, under the juniper-tree, he prayed that he might die? And this is one of the strongest proofs that Jesus Christ was not only man, but G.o.d. He was G.o.d-Man, and this is Heaven"s proclamation, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest". He brought it down from heaven with Him.
Now, if this text was not true, don"t you think it would have been found out by this time? I believe it as much as I believe in my existence. Why? Because I not only find it in the Book, but in my own experience. The "I wills" of Christ have never been broken, and never can be.
I thank G.o.d for the word "give" in that pa.s.sage. He doesn"t sell it.
Some of us are so poor that we could not buy it if it was for sale.
Thank G.o.d, we can get it for nothing.
I like to have a text like this, because it takes us all in. "Come unto me all ye that labor." That doesn"t mean a select few--refined ladies and cultured men. It doesn"t mean good people only. It applies to saint and sinner. Hospitals are for the sick, not for healthy people. Do you think that Christ would shut the door in anyone"s face, and say, "I did not mean _all_; I only meant certain ones"? If you cannot come as a saint, come as a sinner. Only come!
A lady told me once that she was so hard-hearted she couldn"t come.
"Well," I said, "my good woman, it doesn"t say all ye soft-hearted people come. Black hearts, vile hearts, hard hearts, soft hearts, all hearts come. Who can soften your hard heart but Himself?"
The harder the heart, the more need you have to come. If my watch stops I don"t take it to a drug store or to a blacksmith"s shop, but to the watchmaker"s, to have it repaired. So if the heart gets out of order take it to its keeper, Christ, to have it set right. If you can prove that you are a sinner, you are ent.i.tled to the promise. Get all the benefit you can out of it.
Now, there are a good many believers who think this text applies only to sinners; It is just the thing for them too. What do we see to-day?
The Church, Christian people, all loaded down with cares and troubles.
"Come unto me all ye that labor." All! I believe that includes the Christian whose heart is burdened with some great sorrow. The Lord wants you to come.
Christ the Burden-Bearer.
It says in another place, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." We would have a victorious Church if we could get Christian people to realize that. But they have never made the discovery. They agree that Christ is the sin-bearer, but they do not realize that He is also the burden-bearer. "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." It is the privilege of every child of G.o.d to walk in unclouded sunlight.
Some people go back into the past and rake up all the troubles they ever had, and then they look into the future and antic.i.p.ate that they will have still more trouble, and they go reeling and staggering all through life. They give you the cold chills every time they meet you.
They put on a whining voice, and tell you what "a hard time they have had." I believe they embalm them, and bring out the mummy on every opportunity. The Lord says, "Cast all your care on Me. I want to carry your burdens and your troubles." What we want is a joyful Church, and we are not going to convert the world until we have it. We want to get this long-faced Christianity off the face of the earth.
Take these people that have some great burden, and let them come into a meeting. If you can get their attention upon the singing or preaching, they will say, "Oh, wasn"t it grand! I forgot all my cares." And they just drop their bundle at the end of the pew. But the moment the benediction is p.r.o.nounced they grab the bundle again. You laugh, but you do it yourself. Cast your care on Him.
Sometimes they go into their closet and close their door, and they get so carried away and lifted up that they forget their trouble; but they just take it up again the moment they get off their knees. Leave your sorrow now; cast all your care upon Him. If you cannot come to Christ as a saint, come as a sinner. But if you are a saint with some trouble or care, bring it to Him. Saint and sinner, come! He wants you all.
Don"t let Satan deceive you into believing that you cannot come if you will. Christ says, "Ye will not come unto Me." With the command comes the power.
A man in one of our meetings in Europe said he would like to come, but he was chained, and couldn"t come.
A Scotchman said to him, "Ay, man, why don"t you come chain and all?"
He said, "I never thought of that."
Are you cross and peevish, and do you make things unpleasant at home?
My friend, come to Christ and ask Him to help you. Whatever the sin is, bring it to Him.
What Does it Mean to Come?
Perhaps you say, "Mr. Moody, I wish you would tell us what it is to come." I have given up trying to explain it. I always feel like the colored minister who said he was going to _confound_, instead of _expound_, the chapter.
The best definition is just--come. The more you try to explain it, the more you are mystified. About the first thing a mother teaches her child is to look. She takes the baby to the window, and says, "Look, baby, papa is coming!" Then she teaches the child to come. She props it up against a chair, and says, "Come!" and by and by the little thing pushes the chair along towards mamma. That"s coming. You don"t need to go to college to learn how. You don"t need any minister to tell you what it is. Now will you come to Christ? He said, "Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out."
When we have such a promise as this, let us cling to it, and never give it up. Christ is not mocking us. He wants us to come with all our sins and backslidings, and throw ourselves upon His bosom. It is our sins G.o.d wants, not our tears only. They alone do no good. And we cannot come through resolutions. Action is necessary. How many times at church have we said, "I will turn over a new leaf," but the Monday leaf is worse than the Sat.u.r.day leaf.
The way to heaven is straight as a rule, but it is the way of the cross. Don"t try to get around it. Shall I tell you what the "yoke"
referred to in the text is? It is the cross which Christians must bear. The only way by which you can find rest in this dark world is by taking up the yoke of Christ. I do not know what it may include in your case, beyond taking up your Christian duties, acknowledging Christ and acting as becomes one of His disciples. Perhaps it may be to erect a gamily altar; or to tell a G.o.dless husband that you have made up your mind to serve G.o.d; or to tell your parents that you want to be a Christian. Follow the will of G.o.d, and happiness and peace and rest will come. The way of obedience is always the way of blessing.
I was preaching in Chicago to a hall full of women one Sunday afternoon, and after the meeting was over a lady came to me and said she wanted to talk to me. She said she would accept Christ, and after some conversation she went home. I looked for her for a whole week, but didn"t see her until the following Sunday afternoon. She came and sat down right in front of me, and her face had such a sad expression.
She seemed to have entered into the misery, instead of the joy, of the Lord.
After the meeting was over I went to her and asked her what the trouble was.
She said: "Oh, Mr. Moody, this has been the most miserable week of my life."
I asked her if there was anyone with whom she had had trouble and whom she could not forgive.
She said: "No, not that I know of."
"Well, did you tell your friends about having found the Savior?"
"Indeed I didn"t, I have been all the week trying to keep it from them."
"Well," I said, "that is the reason why you have no peace."
She wanted to take the crown, but did not want the cross. My friends, you must go by the way of Calvary. If you ever get rest, you must get it at the foot of the cross.
"Why," she said, "if I should go home and tell my infidel husband that I had found Christ I don"t know what he would do. I think he would turn me out."
"Well," I said, "go out."
She went away, promising that she would tell him, timid and pale, but she did not want another wretched week. She was bound to have peace.
The next night I gave a lecture to men only, and in the hall there were eight thousand men and one solitary woman. When I got through and went into the inquiry meeting, I found this lady with her husband. She introduced him to me (he was a doctor, and a very influential man) and said:
"He wants to become a Christian."
I took my Bible and told him all about Christ, and he accepted Him. I said to her after it was all over:
"It turned out quite differently from what you expected, didn"t it?"
"Yes," she replied, "I was never so scared in my life. I expected he would do something dreadful, but it has turned out so well."