THE SECOND REST

Matthew 11:28-30

Morning Meditation 11/13/2012

"Come unto me, all ye that labour 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."

I believe there are two rests in these verses. First, there is the rest of salvation. Second, there is the rest of sanctification and discipleship. The first is a gift, the second involves taking our Lord's yoke upon us.

Let's look at the first rest. It involves a response to His invitation. Jesus says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest. The greatest gift that can ever be given is the gift of salvation. The reason that it is so great is because we cannot obtain it by our own works. The next reason it is great is because it comes to us as a gift at a great cost to God.

Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:"

John Gill says, "made a curse for us; the sense of which is, not only that he was like an accursed person, looked upon as such by the men of that wicked generation, who hid and turned away their faces from Him as an abominable execrable person, calling him a sinner, a Samaritan, and a devil; but was even accursed by the law; becoming the surety of his people, he was made under the law, stood in their legal place and stead and having the sins of them all imputed to him, and answerable for them, the law finding them on him, charges him with them, and curses him for them; yea, he was treated as such by the justice of God, even by his Father, who spared him not, awoke the sword of justice against him, and gave him up into his hands; delivered him up to death, even the accursed death of the cross, whereby it appeared that he was made a curse: "made", by the will, counsel, and determination of God, and not without his own will and free consent; for he freely laid down his life, and gave himself, and made his soul an offering for sin:"

Today we have the rest of salvation so that there is no fear of death or condemnation.

The second rest is the rest of sanctification and discipleship. He says, "take my yoke upon you. . .." The word "take" is an aorist tense, active voice, imperative mood. The aorist tense means that this happens at a point of time, the active voice means that those to whom Jesus is speaking must take action in doing this, and the imperative mood is a command that expresses urgency. When we receive Christ as Saviour we enter immediately into a God given rest that is eternal. When this happens, we then come under His authority, and He commands us to take His yoke upon us as a means of learning and growing into the image and likeness of Christ.

The promise of this second rest is the "rest of the soul." The soul is the mind, emotions, and the will. In order to have "soul rest" there must be harmony within.

Hebrews 4:10-11, "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

There is no labor in entering into the rest of salvation. That rest is a gift when we believe the gospel (Vs 2). The second rest involves labor in the work of obedience to his commands. Many fail to enter this second rest because they are unwilling to take up the cross and follow Jesus. The crucified life is a life of sacrifice. Paul explains it as a living sacrifice.

Romans 12:1-2, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts. And may all of us enter the second rest that will give us calmness and peace even during the severe trials that sometimes come our way.

In Christ

Bro. White