DISCOURSE: 1349
THE HEAVY-LADEN INVITED TO CHRIST
Matthew 11:28. Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
IT is thought by many, that the Gospel is a mere system of notions, which may be received without benefit, or rejected without loss. But it is rather proposed to us as a remedy for all the miseries, which sin has brought into the world. In it we are represented as guilty and undone: but Christ is set before us as a Saviour, and is exhibited under every figure that can unfold his excellency, or endear him to our souls. Under the Old Testament, he is shadowed forth as a brazen serpent to heal the wounded, as a city of refuge to protect the man-slayer, and as a sacrifice to remove the sinner’s guilt. In the New Testament, he speaks of himself as bread for the hungry, as living water for the thirsty, as a physician for the sick, and, to mention no more, as a kind and hospitable friend, who invites to him the weary and heavy-laden.
In the words here addressed to us, we may notice,
I. The characters invited—
Under the description of the weary and heavy-laden we must certainly include those, who groaned under the burthen of the Mosaic law—
[The ceremonial law required a great multitude of ritual observances, which, to those who saw not their typical use and tendency, must have appeared frivolous and arbitrary; and, even to those who had some insight into their meaning, they were an irksome task, and an intolerable burthen. From this yoke however the Messiah was to deliver them; he was to annul the old covenant with all its ceremonies, and to establish a better covenant in its stead [Note: Hebrews 8:8; Hebrews 8:13.]. When therefore our Lord proclaimed himself to be the Messiah, he invited to him all that were weary and heavy-laden with the Mosaic law, and assured them, that the yoke which he would impose upon them was light and easy.]
There is however a further reference to those who laboured under temporal afflictions—
[None are such strangers to the common lot of mortality, as not to know that mankind are subject to many grievous troubles. Indeed, such are the calamities incident to life, that few, who have been long in the world, can cordially “thank God for their creation.” But more especially when the hand of God is heavy upon us, and we feel the weight of great and multiplied afflictions, we are ready to hate our very existence, and to “choose strangling rather than life.” Many probably of those, to whom Jesus addressed himself, had drunk deep of the cup of sorrow: for their encouragement therefore he promised that, whatever their trials were, whether in mind, or body, or estate, if only they would come to him, they should find a relief from all, or (what would be of equal value) support and comfort under their pressure.]
But doubtless we must principally understand by these terms those who are oppressed with a sense of sin—
[Though all are sinners, all do not feel the weight of sin, because they know not what tremendous evils it has brought upon them. But when any are awakened from their lethargic state, and see what a good and holy God they have offended, they begin to tremble, lest the wrath of God should break forth upon them to consume them utterly. Perhaps they obtain a transient peace by means of their repentance and reformation; but their subsequent falls and backslidings rend open the wounds afresh, and make them feel how hopeless their condition must be, if they be left to themselves. Even after they have attained peace through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus, so that they no longer tremble for fear of condemnation, they groan more than ever under the burthen of their indwelling corruptions, saying, “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me [Note: Romans 7:24.]?” These are the persons for whose relief our Lord came into the world, and whom, above all, he invited to him in the words before us.]
To ascertain more fully the import of his address, we proceed to consider,
II.
The invitation itself—
By the expression, “Come unto me,” our Lord could not mean to call them nearer to him, because they were already round about him: but as he himself explains the words, he called them to believe on him [Note: John 6:35; John 6:37; John 6:44-45; John 6:65.]; or, in other words, to come to him in the exercise of faith, of hope, and of love.
Its import will best appear in a short paraphrase—
[‘To impart rest unto you all is the great end of my appearance in the world. Seek it therefore in me, and come to me, that ye may receive it at my hands. Turn not away from me as an impostor; for I am the very person referred to in your prophecies, and sent unto you by the Father. Go not any longer to the vanities of this world in search of rest; for it is not in them; it is a gift which none but myself can impart unto you. Keep not back, from an apprehension that you can make satisfaction for your own sins, or cleanse yourselves from your iniquities: for you can never have redemption, but through my blood; nor can you ever subdue your lusts, but by my all-sufficient grace. Neither delay your coming on account of your own unworthiness, as if it were necessary for you to bring some meritorious services as the price of my favour: come, just as you are, with all your sins upon you; stop not to heal yourselves in part; but come instantly to your Physician; come and receive all my blessings freely, “without money, and without price.” Come in faith, believing me able to save you to the uttermost, and as willing as I am able. Come also in hope: let your expectations be enlarged: “ye are not straitened in me; be not straitened in your own bowels.” Count up all the blessings of time; survey all the glories of eternity; stretch your imagination to the uttermost; ask all that eye ever saw, or ear heard, or heart conceived; and I will not only grant your requests, but give “exceeding abundantly above all that ye can ask or think:” “open your mouths wide, and I will fill them.” Come moreover in love. Be not like persons driven to me through mere necessity, and influenced by nothing but a dread of condemnation; but contemplate my character, meditate on my kindness, strive to comprehend the heights and depths of my love; and let a sense of my love constrain you to walk with me, to depend upon me, to delight yourselves in me.’
Such may be supposed to be the import of the invitation. And every one who is weary and heavy-laden, whatever his burthen be, may consider it as addressed to himself in particular, as much as ever it was to those, who waited on the personal ministry of our Lord. Let us then hear him thus inviting us, as it were, with his dying breath, and from his throne of glory: and let us go to him with one accord; yea, let us fly to him on the wings of love, even “as the doves to their windows.”]
That nothing might be wanting to give efficacy to his invitation, our Lord added,
III.
The promise with which it is enforced—
The world are glad to see us in our prosperity, and when we can participate in their pleasures: but in a day of adversity, when want and trouble come upon us, they are but too apt to lessen their regards, and to grow weary of our complaints. How different is the conduct of the Lord Jesus! He bids us “call upon him in the time of trouble,” and, instead of turning a deaf ear to our complaints, promises to “give us rest.”
How suitable is this promise to those to whom it is made!
[What do the weary and heavy-laden desire? If their troubles be of a temporal nature, they wish for something that shall soothe the anguish of their minds, and be a support unto their souls: and this our blessed Saviour administers by the aids of his grace, and the consolations of his Spirit. Are their sorrows altogether spiritual? He speaks peace unto their conscience, saving unto them, “Be of good cheer, I am thy salvation:” he discovers unto them the sufficiency of his blood to cleanse them from sin, and the efficacy of his grace to subdue and mortify their lusts. He gives them that, which nothing else in the universe can supply, a firm and stable hope of pardon and peace, of holiness and glory. Whatever other blessings he should offer to the soul, they would all be despised in comparison of this: it is bread to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, healing to the sick, and life to the dead.]
And can any thing be more precious to a heavy-laden soul?
[The term used in the text imports far more than an exemption from labour and trouble: it implies also that refreshment which a great and seasonable relief administers. And how sweet is that peace which he imparts to a believing penitent! it is a “peace that passeth understanding,” a “joy unspeakable and glorified.” Surely the consolations of his Spirit are not unfitly called “an earnest of our inheritance,” since they are indeed a beginning and foretaste of heaven in the soul. But we must extend our thoughts yet further, even to “the rest that remaineth for the people of God.” Doubtless that was most eminently in the view of our blessed Lord; nor shall any thing short of all the glory and felicity of heaven be the portion of those who come to him aright.]
That it is also a true and faithful saying, there can be no doubt—
[Never did any come to our Lord without experiencing his truth and faithfulness. Many indeed there are who profess to follow him, while yet they are far from enjoying this promised blessing: but, instead of coming to him in faith and hope, and love, they are impelled only by terror; they listen to the suggestions of despondency; and they live under the reigning power of unbelief. No wonder then that they find not the rest which they desire. But if any go to him aright, there is no guilt, however great, which is not removed from their conscience, no tumult of contending passions that is not moderated and restrained, nor any earthly trouble in which they are not enabled to rejoice and glory. If under any calamity whatever we go to him like the Apostle, like him shall we receive such an answer as will turn our sorrow into joy, and make the very occasions of grief to be the sources of exultation and triumph [Note: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.]
Application—
1.
To those who feel not the burthen of sin—
[If we be exempt in a measure from earthly calamities, we have reason to rejoice. But to be unacquainted with spiritual troubles is no proper subject for self-congratulation. It is “the broken and contrite heart only which God will not despise.” We may boast of our goodness, like the Pharisee, or the elder brother in the parable [Note: Luke 15:28-29; Luke 18:11; Luke 18:14.]: but, like them, we shall have no forgiveness with God, nor any part in that joy, which returning prodigals shall experience in their Father’s house. We must “sow in tears, if ever we would reap in joy:” we must be heavy-laden with a sense of sin, if ever we would experience the rest which Christ will give [Note: Jeremiah 2:35.]
2. To those who are seeking rest—
[It is indeed a mercy to have an awakened conscience: but you must now guard with earnest and equal care against self-righteous hopes on the one hand, and desponding fears on the other. You may be ready to fear that your burthens are too heavy to be removed, and your sins too great to be forgiven: but the persons, whom Christ invites, are the heavy-laden, yea, all of them without exception, whatever be their burthens, and whatever be their sins. On the other hand, you may be tempted to seek rest in your duties or your frames: but it is Christ alone that ever can bestow it, and from him you must receive it as a free unmerited gift. Endeavour therefore to draw nigh to him in his appointed way; and be assured that he will draw nigh to you with his promised blessings.]
3. To those who have attained rest and peace—
[A deliverance from fear and trouble, instead of relaxing our obligation to watchfulness, binds us to tenfold diligence in the ways of God. When therefore our Lord invites us to come to him for rest, he adds, “Take my yoke upon you;” and then repeats the promise, in order to intimate, that a submission to his will is as necessary to our happiness, as an affiance in his name [Note: ver. 29.]. Let this then be your daily care. If his yoke were ever so grievous, you could not reasonably hesitate to bear it, since the burthen of sin and misery, that he has removed from you, is infinitely heavier than any other can be. But “his yoke is easy and his burthen is light;” and the bearing of it will conduce no less to your present, than to your everlasting felicity.]