Rest for the Weary

Jesus invites the weary to come to Him for rest: 

“Come unto Me, 

all ye that labor, 

and are heavy 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 ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” 

Matthew 11:28-30. 

Many who hear this invitation sigh for rest, and yet press on the rugged path, hugging their burdens closer to their heart. Jesus loves them, and longs to bear their burdens and themselves also in His strong arms of love. He invites them to lay the heavy burdens on Him. 

Your fears and uncertainties, that rob you of peace and rest, He would remove; but you must come to Him, and tell Him the secret woes of your heart. He invites your confidence as the proof of your love for Him. 

Jesus would rather have the gift of the humble, trusting heart than all the wealth riches can bestow. Only come to Him in the simplicity and confidence with which a child would come to its parents, and the divine touch from His hand will relieve you of your burdens. 

Let us not forget that Christ is "the way, the truth, and the life". The compassionate Saviour invites all to come to Him. Let us believe the words of our Lord, and not make the way to Him so hard. Let us not travel the precious road, cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in, with murmuring, with doubts, with cloudy forebodings, groaning, as if forced to an unpleasant, exacting task. The ways of Christ are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace. 

If we have made rough paths for our feet, and taken upon us heavy burdens of care in laying up for ourselves treasures upon the earth, let us now change, and follow the path Jesus has prepared for us. 

We are not always willing to give our burdens to Jesus. We sometimes pour our troubles into human ears, and tell our afflictions to those who cannot help us, and neglect to confide all to Jesus, that He may change the sorrowful ways to paths of joy and peace. Self-denying, self-sacrificing love gives glory and victory to the cross. The promises of God’s word are very precious. 

We must study His word, if we would know His will. The words of inspiration, carefully studied and practically obeyed, will lead our feet in a plain path, where we may walk without stumbling. Oh, that ministers and people would take all the burdens and perplexities to Jesus, who is waiting to receive them and give them peace and rest. Jesus will never forsake those who put their trust in Him. 

We are living in an age when wickedness prevails. The perils of the last days thicken around us, and because iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold. This need not be if all would come to Jesus, and confidingly and in faith trust in Him. His meekness and His lowliness, cherished, will bring peace and rest and moral power to every soul. 

The shortness of time is urged as an incentive for us to seek righteousness and to make Christ our friend. This is not the great motive. It savors of selfishness. Is it necessary that the terrors of the day of God be held before us to compel us through fear to right action? This ought not to be. 

Jesus is attractive. He is full of love, mercy, and compassion. He proposes to be our friend, to walk with us through all the rough pathways of life. He says to you, I am the Lord thy God; walk with Me, and I will fill thy path with light. 

Jesus, the Majesty of Heaven, proposes to elevate to companionship with Himself those who come to Him with their burdens, their weaknesses, and their cares. He will make them His dear children, and finally give them an inheritance of more value than the empires of kings, a crown of glory richer than has ever decked the brow of the most exalted earthly monarch. 

It is our duty to love Him as our Redeemer. He commands our love, and as a friend He invites our love. Christ’s invitation to us all is a call to a life of peace and rest,—a life of liberty and love, and to a rich inheritance in the future immortal life. Why, then, should we resist His invitation and refuse His love? If we choose to live with Christ through the ceaseless ages of eternity, why not choose Him as our best and most honored and loved companion here? 

Christ calls us to walk with Him in this world in the path of humble, trustful obedience, which will secure a pure, holy, happy life. 

Which will we choose,—liberty in Christ, or bondage and tyranny in the service of Satan? It is our privilege to have a calm, close, happy walk with Jesus every day we live. 

We need not be alarmed if this path of liberty is laid through conflicts and sufferings. The liberty we shall enjoy will be the more valuable because we made sacrifices to obtain it. The peace which passeth knowledge will cost us battles with the powers of darkness, struggles severe against selfishness and inward sins. 

The victories gained daily through persevering, untiring effort in well-doing, will be precious through Christ who hath loved us, “who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.” The excellence of Christ we should seek to obtain. In the face of temptation we should school ourselves to firm endurance, which will not provoke one murmuring thought, although we may be weary in toiling, and in fighting the good fight of faith. 

Thank God that some have passed through afflictions with light undimmed. Their hope and faith are strong, because acquired by conflict and nurtured by suffering. If it were not for these heroes of faith, who have learned to endure, and to suffer and be strong, the outlook would be indeed discouraging. 

How could any of us know how to sympathize with the sorrowing, the burdened, the afflicted, and be to them the help they need, if we had never experienced similar trials ourselves? We cannot appreciate our Redeemer in the highest sense until we can see Him by the eye of faith reaching to the very depths of human wretchedness, taking upon Himself the nature of man, the capacity to suffer, and by suffering putting forth His divine power to save and lift sinners up to companionship with Himself. Oh, why have we so little sense of sin? Why so little penitence? It is because we do not come nearer the cross of Christ. Conscience becomes hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, because we remain away from Christ. 

Consider the Captain of our salvation. He suffered shame for us that we might not suffer everlasting shame and contempt. He suffered on the cross, that mercy might be granted to fallen man. God’s justice is preserved, and guilty man is pardoned. Jesus dies that the sinner might live. Shame is borne by the Son of the Highest for the sake of poor sinners, that they might be ransomed and crowned with eternal glory. 

The cross of Calvary appeals in power, affording a reason why we should love Christ now, and why we should consider Him first, and best, and last, in everything. We should take our fitting place in humble penitence at the foot of the cross. We may learn the lessons of meekness and lowliness of mind as we go up to Mount Calvary, and, looking upon the cross, see our Saviour in agony, the Son of God dying, the just for the unjust. Behold Him who could summon legions of angels to his assistance with one word, a subject of jest and merriment, of reviling and hatred. He gives himself a sacrifice for sin. When reviled, he threatened not; when falsely accused, he opened not his mouth. He prays on the cross for his murderers. He is dying for them. He is paying an infinite price for every one of them. He would not lose one whom he has purchased at so great cost. He gives himself to be smitten, and scourged, without a murmur. And this uncomplaining victim is the Son of God. His throne is from everlasting, and his kingdom shall have no end. 

Come, you who are seeking your own pleasures in forbidden joys and in sinful indulgences, you who are scattering from Christ. Look, O look upon the cross of Calvary; behold the royal victim suffering on your account, and be wise while you have opportunity, and seek now the fountain of life and true happiness. Come, you who complain and murmur at the little inconveniences and the few trials you must bear in this life. Look on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. He turns from His royal throne, His high command, and lays aside His royal robe, and clothes His divinity with humanity. For our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. 

The Son of God was rejected and despised for our sakes. Can you, in full view of the cross, beholding by the eye of faith the sufferings of Christ, tell your tale of woe, your trials? Can you nurse revenge of your enemies in your heart while the prayer of Christ comes from his pale and quivering lips for his revilers, his murderers,—“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do?” 

A work is before us to subdue pride and vanity, that seek a place in our hearts, and through penitence and faith to bring ourselves into familiar and holy converse with Jesus Christ. We must not shrink from the depths of humiliation to which the Son of God submitted in order to raise us from the degradation and bondage of sin to a seat at his right hand. We must deny self, and fight continually against pride. We must hide self in Jesus Christ, and let him appear in our conversation and character as the One altogether lovely, and the chief among ten thousand. Our lives, our deportment, will testify how highly we prize Christ, and the salvation he has wrought out for us at such a cost to himself. 

While we look constantly to Him whom our sins have pierced, and our sorrows have burdened, we shall acquire strength to be like him. We shall bind ourselves in willing, happy, captivity to Jesus Christ. It is high time we devoted the few remaining precious hours of our probation to washing our robes of character, and making them white in the blood of the Lamb, that we may be of that white-robed company who shall stand about the great white throne.

The Divine Shepherd

The Divine Shepherd

This article is based on John 10:1-30.

“I am the Good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” “I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

Again Jesus found access to the minds of His hearers by the pathway of their familiar associations. He had likened the Spirit’s influence to the cool, refreshing water. He had represented Himself as the light, the source of life and gladness to nature and to man. Now in a beautiful pastoral picture He represents His relation to those that believe on Him. No picture was more familiar to His hearers than this, and Christ’s words linked it forever with Himself. Never could the disciples look on the shepherds tending their flocks without recalling the Saviour’s lesson. They would see Christ in each faithful shepherd. They would see themselves in each helpless and dependent flock.

This figure the prophet Isaiah had applied to the Messiah’s mission, in the comforting words, “O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! ... He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.” Isaiah 40:9-11. David had sung, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1. And the Holy Spirit through Ezekiel had declared: “I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them.” “I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.” “And I will make with them a covenant of peace.” “And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen; ... but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.” Ezekiel 34:23, 16, 25, 28.

Christ applied these prophecies to Himself, and He showed the contrast between His own character and that of the leaders in Israel. The Pharisees had just driven one from the fold, because he dared to bear witness to the power of Christ. They had cut off a soul whom the True Shepherd was drawing to Himself. In this they had shown themselves ignorant of the work committed to them, and unworthy of their trust as shepherds of the flock. Jesus now set before them the contrast between them and the Good Shepherd, and He pointed to Himself as the real keeper of the Lord’s flock. Before doing this, however, He speaks of Himself under another figure.

He said, “He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” The Pharisees did not discern that these words were spoken against them. When they reasoned in their hearts as to the meaning, Jesus told them plainly, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Christ is the door to the fold of God. Through this door all His children, from the earliest times, have found entrance. In Jesus, as shown in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelation of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to His disciples, and in the miracles wrought for the sons of men, they have beheld “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and through Him they are brought within the fold of His grace. Many have come presenting other objects for the faith of the world; ceremonies and systems have been devised by which men hope to receive justification and peace with God, and thus find entrance to His fold. But the only door is Christ, and all who have interposed something to take the place of Christ, all who have tried to enter the fold in some other way, are thieves and robbers.

The Pharisees had not entered by the door. They had climbed into the fold by another way than Christ, and they were not fulfilling the work of the true shepherd. The priests and rulers, the scribes and Pharisees, destroyed the living pastures, and defiled the wellsprings of the water of life. Faithfully do the words of inspiration describe those false shepherds: “The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away; ... but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.” Ezekiel 34:4.

In all ages, philosophers and teachers have been presenting to the world theories by which to satisfy the soul’s need. Every heathen nation has had its great teachers and religious systems offering some other means of redemption than Christ, turning the eyes of men away from the Father’s face, and filling their hearts with fear of Him who has given them only blessing. The trend of their work is to rob God of that which is His own, both by creation and by redemption. And these false teachers rob man as well. Millions of human beings are bound down under false religions, in the bondage of slavish fear, of stolid indifference, toiling like beasts of burden, bereft of hope or joy or aspiration here, and with only a dull fear of the hereafter. It is the gospel of the grace of God alone that can uplift the soul. The contemplation of the love of God manifested in His Son will stir the heart and arouse the powers of the soul as nothing else can. Christ came that He might re-create the image of God in man; and whoever turns men away from Christ is turning them away from the source of true development; he is defrauding them of the hope and purpose and glory of life. He is a thief and a robber.

“He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” Christ is both the door and the shepherd. He enters in by Himself. It is through His own sacrifice that He becomes the shepherd of the sheep. “To Him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear His voice: and He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.”

Of all creatures the sheep is one of the most timid and helpless, and in the East the shepherd’s care for his flock is untiring and incessant. Anciently as now there was little security outside of the walled towns. Marauders from the roving border tribes, or beasts of prey from their hiding places in the rocks, lay in wait to plunder the flocks. The shepherd watched his charge, knowing that it was at the peril of his own life. Jacob, who kept the flocks of Laban in the pasture grounds of Haran, describing his own unwearied labor, said, “In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.” Genesis 31:40. And it was while guarding his father’s sheep that the boy David, single-handed, encountered the lion and the bear, and rescued from their teeth the stolen lamb.

As the shepherd leads his flock over the rocky hills, through forest and wild ravines, to grassy nooks by the riverside; as he watches them on the mountains through the lonely night, shielding from robbers, caring tenderly for the sickly and feeble, his life comes to be one with theirs. A strong and tender attachment unites him to the objects of his care. However large the flock, the shepherd knows every sheep. Every one has its name, and responds to the name at the shepherd’s call.

As an earthly shepherd knows his sheep, so does the divine Shepherd know His flock that are scattered throughout the world. “Ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.” Jesus says, “I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” “I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” Ezekiel 34:31; Isaiah 43:1; 49:16.

Jesus knows us individually, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows us all by name. He knows the very house in which we live, the name of each occupant. He has at times given directions to His servants to go to a certain street in a certain city, to such a house, to find one of His sheep.

Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the Saviour died. The distress of every one touches His heart. The cry for aid reaches His ear. He came to draw all men unto Himself. He bids them, “Follow Me,” and His Spirit moves upon their hearts to draw them to come to Him. Many refuse to be drawn. Jesus knows who they are. He also knows who gladly hear His call, and are ready to come under His pastoral care. He says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” He cares for each one as if there were not another on the face of the earth.
“He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.... And the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.” The Eastern shepherd does not drive his sheep. He depends not upon force or fear; but going before, he calls them. They know his voice, and obey the call. So does the Saviour-Shepherd with His sheep. The Scripture says, “Thou leddest Thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” Through the prophet, Jesus declares, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” He compels none to follow Him. “I drew them,” He says, “with cords of a man, with bands of love.” Psalm 77:20; Jeremiah 31:3; Hosea 11:4.

It is not the fear of punishment, or the hope of everlasting reward, that leads the disciples of Christ to follow Him. They behold the Saviour’s matchless love, revealed throughout His pilgrimage on earth, from the manger of Bethlehem to Calvary’s cross, and the sight of Him attracts, it softens and subdues the soul. Love awakens in the heart of the beholders. They hear His voice, and they follow Him.

As the shepherd goes before his sheep, himself first encountering the perils of the way, so does Jesus with His people. “When He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them.” The way to heaven is consecrated by the Saviour’s footprints. The path may be steep and rugged, but Jesus has traveled that way; His feet have pressed down the cruel thorns, to make the pathway easier for us. Every burden that we are called to bear He Himself has borne.

Though now He has ascended to the presence of God, and shares the throne of the universe, Jesus has lost none of His compassionate nature. Today the same tender, sympathizing heart is open to all the woes of humanity. Today the hand that was pierced is reached forth to bless more abundantly His people that are in the world. “And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” The soul that has given himself to Christ is more precious in His sight than the whole world. The Saviour would have passed through the agony of Calvary that one might be saved in His kingdom. He will never abandon one for whom He has died. Unless His followers choose to leave Him, He will hold them fast.

Through all our trials we have a never-failing Helper. He does not leave us alone to struggle with temptation, to battle with evil, and be finally crushed with burdens and sorrow. Though now He is hidden from mortal sight, the ear of faith can hear His voice saying, Fear not; I am with you. “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore.” Revelation 1:18. I have endured your sorrows, experienced your struggles, encountered your temptations. I know your tears; I also have wept. The griefs that lie too deep to be breathed into any human ear, I know. Think not that you are desolate and forsaken. Though your pain touch no responsive chord in any heart on earth, look unto Me, and live. “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.” Isaiah 54:10.

However much a shepherd may love his sheep, he loves his sons and daughters more. Jesus is not only our shepherd; He is our “everlasting Father.” And He says, “I know Mine own, and Mine own know Me, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father.” John 10:14, 15, R. V. What a statement is this!—the only-begotten Son, He who is in the bosom of the Father, He whom God has declared to be “the Man that is My fellow” (Zechariah 13:7),—the communion between Him and the eternal God is taken to represent the communion between Christ and His children on the earth!
Because we are the gift of His Father, and the reward of His work, Jesus loves us. He loves us as His children. Reader, He loves you. Heaven itself can bestow nothing greater, nothing better. Therefore trust.

Jesus thought upon the souls all over the earth who were misled by false shepherds. Those whom He longed to gather as the sheep of His pasture were scattered among wolves, and He said, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:16, R. V.

“Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again.” That is, My Father has so loved you, that He even loves Me more for giving My life to redeem you. In becoming your substitute and surety, by surrendering My life, by taking your liabilities, your transgressions, I am endeared to My Father.

“I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” While as a member of the human family He was mortal, as God He was the fountain of life for the world. He could have withstood the advances of death, and refused to come under its dominion; but voluntarily He laid down His life, that He might bring life and immortality to light. He bore the sin of the world, endured its curse, yielded up His life as a sacrifice, that men might not eternally die. “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:4-6.

"The Love of God Toward Us"

     "...He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love."  Ephesians 1:4.

     "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
     And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour."  Ephesians 5:1, 2.

     "And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
     Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
     Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
     But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us,
     Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved). ..." Ephesians 21-5.

     "...God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8.

     Jesus says, "...The Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God."  John 16:27.

     "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
     Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
     And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.
     Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
     And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.
     Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him."  1 John 3:1-6.

     "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."  1 John 3:16.

     "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
     Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  1 John 4:9, 10.

     "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments.
     For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.
     For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."  1 John 5:2-4.

     "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
     Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
     That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
     That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
     May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
     And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."  Ephesians 3:14-19.

     Jesus says,  "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
     Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.
     To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne."  Revelation 3:19-21.

     "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."  2 Corinthians 7:1.

True Faith, Not Feeling

     “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” Some conscientious souls on reading this immediately begin to criticize their every feeling and emotion. But this is not correct self - examination. It is not the petty feelings and emotions that are to be examined. The life, the character, is to be measured by the only standard of character, God's holy law. The fruit testifies to the character of the tree. Our works, not our feelings, bear witness of us.

     The feelings, whether encouraging or discouraging should not be made the test of the spiritual condition. By God's Word we are to determine our true standing before him. Many are bewildered on this point. When they are happy and joyous, they think that they are accepted by God. When a change comes, and they feel depressed, they think that God has forsaken them.

     God does not look with favor upon those self - confident ones who loudly exclaim, “I am sanctified, I am holy, I am sinless.” These are Pharisees who have no foundation for their assertion. Those who, because of their sense of utter unworthiness, dare scarcely lift up their eyes to heaven, are nearer to God than those who claim so much piety. They are represented by the publican, who, with his head on his breast, prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and went to his house justified, rather than the self - righteous Pharisee.

     But God does not desire us to go through life with a distrust of him. We owe our Heavenly Father a more generous view of his goodness than is accorded to him by our manifest distrust of his love. We have an evidence of his love - an evidence which amazes angels and is far beyond the comprehension of the wisest of human beings. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” While we were yet sinners, God gave his Son to die for us. Can we doubt his goodness?

     Behold Christ. Dwell upon his love and mercy. This will fill the soul with abhorrence for all that is sinful, and will inspire it with an intense desire for the righteousness of Christ. The more clearly we see the Saviour, the more clearly shall we discern our defects of character. Confess your sins to Christ, and with true contrition of soul co - operate with him by putting these sins away. Believe that they are pardoned. The promise is positive, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Be assured that the Word of God will not fail. He who has promised is faithful. It is as much your duty to believe that God will fulfil his word, and forgive you, as it is to confess your sins.

     Exercise faith in God. How many there are who go through life under a cloud of condemnation! They do not believe God's Word. They have no faith that he will do as he has said. Many who long to see others resting in the pardoning love of Christ do not rest in it themselves. But how can they possibly lead others to show simple, child - like faith in the Heavenly Father when they measure his love by their feelings?

     Let us trust God's Word implicitly, remembering that we are his sons and daughters. Let us train ourselves to believe his Word. We hurt the heart of Christ by doubting, when he has given us such evidences of his love. He laid down his life to save us. He says to us: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy - 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 ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

     Do you believe that he will do as he has said? Then, after you have complied with the conditions, carry no longer the burden of your sin. Let it roll upon the Saviour. Trust yourself with him. Has he not promised to give you rest? But to many he is obliged to say, sorrowfully, “Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life.” Many manufacture for themselves burdens which are grievous to bear.
     Look steadfastly to Jesus. Behold him, full of grace and truth. He will make his goodness pass before you, while he hides you in the cleft of the rock. You will be enabled to endure the seeing of him who is invisible, and by beholding you will be transformed. Faith is not feeling. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. There is a form of religion which is nothing more than selfishness. It takes pleasure in worldly enjoyment. It is satisfied with contemplating the religion of Christ, and knows nothing of its saving power. Those who possess this religion regard sin lightly because they do not know Jesus. While in this condition they estimate duty very lightly. But a faithful performance of duty goes hand in hand with a right estimate of the character of God.

     There is earnest work to do for the Master. Christ came to preach the gospel to the poor, and he sent his disciples forth to do the same work he came to do. So he sends forth his workers today. Sheaves are to be gathered for him from the highways and hedges. The tremendous issues of eternity demand of us something besides an imaginary religion, a religion of words and forms, where the truth is kept in the outer court, to be admired as we admire a beautiful flower; they demand something more than a religion of feeling, which distrusts God when trials and difficulties come. Holiness does not consist in profession, but in lifting the cross, doing the will of God. Saying, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? will not secure for us an entrance into the kingdom of heaven. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected."

Jesus Calls to Your Heart Through His Words of Life

     Jesus is inviting you to open the door of your hearts, and let Him in. What are you going to do? Will you search carefully your heart, and see what you indulge in and cherish, that displeases Jesus and keeps the door of your heart shut against the dear Saviour? Is pride, or love of the world, or selfishness in your heart shutting Jesus from you? If it is, keep Jesus out no longer. Turn these things out of your heart. Go alone and pray for grace, overcoming grace. Die to these sins, and make the happy exchange for Jesus, His presence, His love, His power. 

     Says Jesus, “If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me.” Have you heard the voice of Jesus? Have you responded to that voice? Has the cutting, saving message taken hold of the soul, and worked a reformation in the life? Or, have you suffered (allowed) this precious voice to be drowned by the confusion of the world? You can hear His voice if you will. You must first listen, then hear His voice, then empty the heart of besetting sins, that room may be made for Jesus, that He may come in and abide there. 

     If you will overcome your besetments, you must pray, and watch yourselves with jealous care. The grace of God is sufficient for you. It is sufficient for the weakest, and the strongest must depend upon the same grace, or perish. To obtain this grace, you must go to your closet (personal place of prayer) and there plead with God. “Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Be in earnest, be sincere. Fervent prayer availeth much. When you sincerely feel that without the help of God you will perish, then will He appear for you. Then, as you hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus will come in and sup with you, and you with Him. Often will your faith be tested, and be tried; but tire not. Be unwearied in your efforts. Trust God, and your heart will again be joyous with a sense of pardoned sin, and a holy confidence in your Redeemer. 

Our Need For The Bread of Life

The Christian worker must study the Word of God. Many are surprised into the commission of sin because of a failure to study the Scriptures. They were off their guard, and Satan found them an easy prey. The psalmist declares, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” And in Paul’s letter to Timothy we read, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

The life of God, which gives life to the world, is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons. And by His word He stilled the sea and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken it to all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ. It is our only source of power. Do not rely upon any human agency for your wisdom. Take the Lord at His word, believing you do receive the things you ask of Him. Matthew 28:18-20.

As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the Word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s Word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the Word for ourselves. From the Scriptures there is the very instruction you need. “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.”

Yea, the Word of God is the bread of life. Those who receive and assimilate this Word, making it a part of every act, of every attribute of character, will grow strong in the strength of God. It gives immortal vigor to the soul, perfecting the experience, and bringing joys that will abide forever.

Do not allow anything to turn you aside from the path of self-denial. Of those who in ancient times engaged in contests of physical strength, we read, “Every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” As we engage in the great struggle, let us think of what we shall lose if we fail. We shall lose the eternal life purchased for us by the blood of the Son of God. Shall we, then, grudge the toil of eternal vigilance? If we do all in our power to resist evil and surmount obstacles, we shall gain the victory. Vigor will reward the efforts made to press toward the prize of our high calling in Christ.

Worldly attractions will be presented to draw the attention from the Lord Jesus; but laying aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets, we are to press forward, showing to the world, to angels, and to men that the hope of seeing the face of God is worth all the efforts and the sacrifices that the attainment of the hope demands.

“What things were gain to me,” Paul declares, “those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed unto His death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.

“I count not myself yet to have laid hold; but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press toward the goal, unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

“One thing I do.” Paul allowed nothing to divert him from the one great purpose of his life. He did many things. He was a wise teacher. His letters to the different churches are full of instructive lessons. He worked with his own hands at his trade, in this way earning his daily bread. “These hands,” he said, “have ministered unto my necessity.” He carried a heavy burden for the churches and sought earnestly to lead them in the right way. He was always seeking to help them in their difficulties, yet he declared, “This one thing I do.” In the busy activities of life, he never lost sight of his one great purpose—to press on toward the prize of his high calling.

My dear fellow workers, let the great purposes that constrained Paul to press forward in the face of hardship and difficulty lead you to consecrate yourselves wholly to God’s service. Whatever your hands find to do, do it with your might. Make your work pleasant with songs of praise. If you would have a clean record in the books of heaven, never fret or scold. Let your daily prayer be, “Lord, help me to do my best. Teach me how to do better work. Give me energy and cheerfulness. Help me to bring into my service the loving ministry of the Saviour.”

Look upon every duty, however humble, as sacred because it is part of God’s service. Do not allow anything to make you forgetful of God. Bring Christ into all that you do. Then your lives will be filled with brightness and thanksgiving. You will do your best, moving forward cheerfully in the service of the Lord, your hearts filled with His joy. {Lt1-1904.8-18.}

Fellowship With Jesus Christ

     "This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

     If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
     But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
     If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
     If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  1 John 1:5-9. 

     We should not try to lessen our guilt by excusing sin.

     We must accept God's estimate of sin, and that is heavy indeed.

     Calvary alone can reveal the terrible enormity of sin. If we had to bear our own guilt, it would crush us.

     But the sinless One has taken our place; though undeserving, He has borne our iniquity.

     "If we confess our sins," God "is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.

     Glorious truth!--just to His own law, and yet the Justifier of all that believe in Jesus.

Importance of God's Word, the Bible

     We need Christ every moment. We need to look upon and study His character.

     What would Christ do, were He in my place? is to be our measurement of our duty.  (1 John 2:6)

     It is possible to "preach the Word" (2 Timothy 4:2) and walk directly contrary to its teaching, showing in the home life and in business life a "form of godliness" without the power.  (2 Timothy 3:5)

     Vague suppositions regarding Christ are not enough. We need an abiding Christ. We need to eat His word. He is the Bread of Life.

     The revealed Word of God is our photograph of Christ.

     The ways of the world (1 John 2:15-17) can only be expelled from the soul by filling the soul with Christ, who is the Word (John 1:1).

     Just as the life of the body is produced by the temporal food eaten, so the life of the soul is produced by the spiritual food eaten. He who would have spiritual life and vigor must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God.

     Christ declares, “I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.... Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day; for My flesh is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in Me and I in Him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.”  John 6:35, 54-57.

The Invitation

Based on Matthew 11:28-30.

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

     These words of comfort were spoken to the multitude that followed Jesus. The Saviour had said that only through Himself could men receive a knowledge of God. He had spoken of His disciples as the ones to whom a knowledge of heavenly things had been given. But He left none to feel themselves shut out from His care and love. All who labor and are heavy-laden may come unto Him. 

     Scribes and rabbis, with their punctilious attention to religious forms, had a sense of want that rites of penance could never satisfy. Publicans and sinners might pretend to be content with the sensual and earthly, but in their hearts were distrust and fear. Jesus looked upon the distressed and heart burdened, those whose hopes were blighted, and who with earthly joys were seeking to quiet the longing of the soul, and He invited all to find rest in Him. 

     Tenderly He bade the toiling people, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” 

     In these words Christ is speaking to every human being. Whether they know it or not, all are weary and heavy-laden. All are weighed down with burdens that only Christ can remove. The heaviest burden that we bear is the burden of sin. If we were left to bear this burden, it would crush us. But the Sinless One has taken our place. “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. He has borne the burden of our guilt. He will take the load from our weary shoulders. He will give us rest. The burden of care and sorrow also He will bear. He invites us to cast all our care upon Him; for He carries us upon His heart. 

     The Elder Brother of our race is by the eternal throne. He looks upon every soul who is turning his face toward Him as the Saviour. He knows by experience what are the weaknesses of humanity, what are our wants, and where lies the strength of our temptations; for He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He is watching over you, trembling child of God. Are you tempted? He will deliver. Are you weak? He will strengthen. Are you ignorant? He will enlighten. Are you wounded? He will heal. The Lord “telleth the number of the stars;” and yet “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalm 147:4, 3. “Come unto Me,” is His invitation. Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be opened for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon the Burden Bearer. The rest that Christ offers depends upon conditions, but these conditions are plainly specified. They are those with which all can comply. He tells us just how His rest is to be found. 

     “Take My yoke upon you,” Jesus says. The yoke is an instrument of service. Cattle are yoked for labor, and the yoke is essential that they may labor effectually. By this illustration Christ teaches us that we are called to service as long as life shall last. We are to take upon us His yoke, that we may be co-workers with Him. 

     The yoke that binds to service is the law of God. The great law of love revealed in Eden, proclaimed upon Sinai, and in the new covenant written in the heart, is that which binds the human worker to the will of God. If we were left to follow our own inclinations, to go just where our will would lead us, we should fall into Satan’s ranks and become possessors of his attributes. Therefore God confines us to His will, which is high, and noble, and elevating. He desires that we shall patiently and wisely take up the duties of service. The yoke of service Christ Himself has borne in humanity. He said, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Psalm 40:8. “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.” John 6:38. Love for God, zeal for His glory, and love for fallen humanity, brought Jesus to earth to suffer and to die. This was the controlling power of His life. This principle He bids us adopt. 

     There are many whose hearts are aching under a load of care because they seek to reach the world’s standard. They have chosen its service, accepted its perplexities, adopted its customs. Thus their character is marred, and their life made a weariness. In order to gratify ambition and worldly desires, they wound the conscience, and bring upon themselves an additional burden of remorse. The continual worry is wearing out the life forces. Our Lord desires them to lay aside this yoke of bondage. He invites them to accept His yoke; He says, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” He bids them seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and His promise is that all things needful to them for this life shall be added. Worry is blind, and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet. 

     “Learn of Me,” says Jesus; “for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest.” We are to enter the school of Christ, to learn from Him meekness and lowliness. Redemption is that process by which the soul is trained for heaven. This training means a knowledge of Christ. It means emancipation from ideas, habits, and practices that have been gained in the school of the prince of darkness. The soul must be delivered from all that is opposed to loyalty to God. 

     In the heart of Christ, where reigned perfect harmony with God, there was perfect peace. He was never elated by applause, nor dejected by censure or disappointment. Amid the greatest opposition and the most cruel treatment, He was still of good courage. But many who profess to be His followers have an anxious, troubled heart, because they are afraid to trust themselves with God. They do not make a complete surrender to Him; for they shrink from the consequences that such a surrender may involve. Unless they do make this surrender, they cannot find peace. 

     It is the love of self that brings unrest. When we are born from above, the same mind will be in us that was in Jesus, the mind that led Him to humble Himself that we might be saved. Then we shall not be seeking the highest place. We shall desire to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him. We shall understand that the value of our work does not consist in making a show and noise in the world, and in being active and zealous in our own strength. The value of our work is in proportion to the impartation of the Holy Spirit. Trust in God brings holier qualities of mind, so that in patience we may possess our souls. 

     The yoke is placed upon the oxen to aid them in drawing the load, to lighten the burden. So with the yoke of Christ. When our will is swallowed up in the will of God, and we use His gifts to bless others, we shall find life’s burden light. He who walks in the way of God’s commandments is walking in company with Christ, and in His love the heart is at rest. When Moses prayed, “Show me now Thy way, that I may know Thee,” the Lord answered him, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” And through the prophets the message was given, “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” Exodus 33:13, 14; Jeremiah 6:16. And He says, “O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” Isaiah 48:18. 

     Those who take Christ at His word, and surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering, will find peace and quietude. Nothing of the world can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by His presence. In perfect acquiescence there is perfect rest. The Lord says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” Isaiah 26:3. Our lives may seem a tangle; but as we commit ourselves to the wise Master Worker, He will bring out the pattern of life and character that will be to His own glory. And that character which expresses the glory—character—of Christ will be received into the Paradise of God. A renovated race shall walk with Him in white, for they are worthy. 

     As through Jesus we enter into rest, heaven begins here. We respond to His invitation, Come, learn of Me, and in thus coming we begin the life eternal. Heaven is a ceaseless approaching to God through Christ. The longer we are in the heaven of bliss, the more and still more of glory will be opened to us; and the more we know of God, the more intense will be our happiness. As we walk with Jesus in this life, we may be filled with His love, satisfied with His presence. All that human nature can bear, we may receive here. But what is this compared with the hereafter? There “are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Revelation 7:15-17.    --The Desire of Ages, p. 328-331.

Christ's Life of Sacrifice

Full and entire consecration to God is required of us.

While the Redeemer of sinful mortals was laboring and suffering for us, He denied Himself, and His whole life was one continued scene of toil and privation.

Had He chosen to do so, He could have passed His days on earth in ease and plenty, and appropriated to Himself all the pleasures and enjoyments of this life. But He did not; He considered not His own convenience. He lived not to gratify Himself, but to do good and to save others from suffering, to help those who most needed help. He endured to the end.

The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and He hath borne the iniquity of us all.  Isaiah 53:5, 6.

The bitter cup was apportioned to us to drink. Our sins mingled it.

But our dear Saviour took the cup from our lips and drank it Himself; and in its stead, He presents to us a cup of mercy, blessing, and salvation.

Oh, what an immense sacrifice was this for the fallen race! What love, what wondrous and matchless love!

After all this manifestation of suffering to show His love, shall we shrink from the small trials we have to bear?

Can we love Christ, and refuse to lift the cross?  See Luke 9:23.

Can we love to be with Him in glory, and not follow Him even from the judgment hall to Calvary?

If Christ be in us the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), we shall walk even as He walked (1 John 2:6); we shall imitate His life of sacrifice to bless others (1 Peter 2:21); we shall drink of the cup, and be baptized with the baptism (Matthew 20:22); we shall welcome a life of devotion, trial, and self-denial, for Christ’s sake (Philippians 1: 29).

Heaven will be cheap enough, whatever sacrifice we may make to obtain it.

"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ."  Philippians 3:7, 8.

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."  2 Corinthians 4:17, 18.

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne."  Revelation 3:21.

"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."  Revelation 22:14.