Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 5.djvu/138

132 us, and to give us what we come for, and has all things delivered to him for that purpose, by him who is Lord of all. All powers, all treasures are in his hand. Observe, The father has delivered his all into the hands of the Lord Jesus; let us but deliver our all into his hand, and the work is done; God has made him the great Referee, the blessed Daysman, to lay his hand upon us both: that which we have to do is to agree to the reference; to submit to the arbitration of the Lord Jesus, for the taking up of this unhappy controversy, and to enter into bonds to stand to his award.

(2.) His intimacy with the Father: No man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son. This gives us a further satisfaction, and an abundant one. Ambassadors use to have not only their commissions, which they produce, but their instructions, which they reserve to themselves, to be made use of as there is occasion in their negotiations: our Lord Jesus had both, not only authority, but ability, for his undertaking. In transacting the great business of our redemption, the Father and the Son are the parties principally concerned; the counsel of peace is between them, Zech. 6. 13. It must therefore be a great encouragement to us to be assured, that they understood one another very well in this affair; that the Father knew the Son, and the Son knew the Father, and both perfectly, (a mutual consciousness we may call it, between the Father and the Son,) so that there could be no mistake in the settling of this matter; as often there is among men to the overthrow of contracts, and the breaking of the measures taken, through their misunderstanding one another. The Son had lain in the bosom of the Father from eternity, he was à secretioribus—of the cabinet-council, John 1. 18. He was by him, as one brought up with him, (Prov. 8. 30.) so that none knows the Father save the Son, he adds, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. Note, [1.] The happiness of men lies in an acquaintance with God ; it is life eternal, it is the perfection of rational beings. [2.] Those who would have an acquaintance with God, must apply themselves to Jesus Christ; for the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shines in the face of Christ, 2 Cor. 4. 6. We are obliged to Christ for all the revelation we have of God the Father's will and love, ever since Adam sinned; there is no comfortable intercourse between a holy God and sinful man, but in and by a Mediator, John 14. 6.

2. Here is the offer itself that is made to us, and an invitation to accept of it. After so solemn a preface, we may well expect something very great; and it is so, a faithful saying, and well worthy of all acceptation; words whereby we may be saved. We are here invited to Christ as our Priest, Prince, and Prophet, to be saved, and, in order to that, to be ruled and taught, by him.

(1.) We must come to Jesus Christ as our Rest, and repose ourselves in him, (v. 28.) Come unto me, all ye that labour. Observe, [1.] The character of the persons invited; all that labour, and are heavy laden. This is a word in season to him that is weary, Isa. 50. 4. Those who complain of the burden of the ceremonial law, which was an intolerable yoke, and was made much more so by the tradition of the elders, (Luke 11. 46.) let them come to Christ, and they shall be made easy; he came to free his church from this yoke, to cancel the imposition of those carnal ordinances, and to introduce a purer and more spiritual way of worship: but it is rather to be understood of the burden of sin, both the guilt and the power of it. Note, All those, and those only are invited to rest in Christ, that are sensible of sin as a burden, and groan under it, that are not only convinced of the evil of sin, of their own sin, but are contrite in soul for it; that are really sick of their sins, weary of the service of the world and of the flesh; that see their state sad and dangerous by reason of sin, and are in pain and fear about it, as Ephraim, (Jer. 31. 18—20.) the prodigal, (Luke 15. 17.) the publican, (Luke 18. 13.) Peter's hearers, (Acts 2. 37.) Paul, (Acts 9. 4, 6, 9.) the jailor, Acts 16. 29, 30. This is a necessary preparative for pardon and peace. The Comforter must first convince; (John 16. 8.) I have torn, and then will heal.

[2.] The invitation itself: Come unto me. That glorious display of Christ's greatness, which we had, (v. 27.) as Lord of all, might frighten us from him, but see here how he holds out the golden sceptre, that we may touch the top of it and may live. Note, It is the duty and interest of weary and heavy laden sinners to come to Jesus Christ. Renouncing all those things which stand in opposition to him, or in competition with him, we must accept of him, as our Physician and Advocate, and give up ourselves to his conduct and government; freely willing to be saved by him, in his own way, and upon his own terms. Come and cast that burden upon him, under which thou art heavy laden. This is the gospel-call, The Spirit saith, Come; and the bride saith, Come; Let him that is athirst come: Whoever will, let him come.

[3.] The blessing promised to those that do come: I will give you rest. Christ is our Noah, whose name signifies rest, for this same shall give us rest. Gen. 5. 29.—8. 9. Truly rest is good, (Gen. 49. 15.) especially to those that labour, and are heavy laden, Eccl. 5. 12. Note, Jesus Christ will give assured rest to those weary souls, that by a lively faith come to him for it; rest from the terror of sin, in a well-grounded peace of conscience; rest from the power of sin, in a regular order of the soul, and its due government of itself: a rest in God, and a complacency of soul in his love, Ps. 11. 6, 7. This is that rest which remains for the people of God, (Heb. 4. 9.) begun in grace, and perfected in glory.

(2.) We must come to Jesus Christ as our ruler, and submit ourselves to him, (v. 29.) Take my yoke upon you. This must go along with the former, for Christ is exalted to be both a Prince and Saviour, a Priest upon his throne. The rest he promises is a release from the drudgery of sin, not from the service of God, but an obligation to the duty we owe to him. Note, Christ has a yoke for our necks, as well as a crown for our heads, and this yoke he expects we should take upon us and draw in. To call those who are weary and heavy laden, to take a yoke upon them, looks like adding affliction to the afflicted; but the pertinency of it lies in the word my: "You are under a yoke which makes you weary, shake that off and try mine, which will make you easy. "Servants are said to be under the yoke, (l Tim. 6. 1.) and subjects, 1 Kings 12. 10. To take Christ's yoke upon us, is to put ourselves into the relation of servants and subjects to him, and then to conduct ourselves accordingly, in a conscientious obedience to all his commands, and a cheerful submission to all his disposals: it is to obey the gospel of Christ, to yield ourselves to the Lord: it is Christ's yoke; the yoke he has appointed; a yoke he has himself drawn in before us, for he learned obedience, and which he does by his Spirit draw in with us, for he helpeth our infirmities, Rom. 8. 26. A yoke speaks some hardship, but if the beast must draw, the yoke helps him. Christ's commands are all in our favour: we must take this yoke upon us to draw in it. We are yoked to work, and therefore must be diligent; we are yoked to submit, and therefore must be humble and patient: we are yoked together with our fellow-servants, and therefore must keep up the communion of saints: and the words