"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." These precious words of Christ, standing near the close of a short discourse recorded in Matthew 11, express, as no other words could, the attitude of Christ towards mankind. As you read the Gospels, where do you most often find Christ? Was He with the great in the eyes of the world? Was He not with this very class or kind of people He here addresses? "The common people heard Him gladly" is a statement
which shows where Christ loved to go, and to whom He loved to speak. He went to those who needed Him. Not that He neglected any, for His great discourses in John 7, 8, 10 were delivered in Jerusalem to crowds which contained the great among the Jews; but the most of His words were spoken to and His works of healing and saving done for the great masses of the "common people" of the land.

He had that to give which the laboring and the heavy laden needed, those laden with care and burdened with anxiety. All over the world the great mass of mankind are now burdened as never before. In the most civilized lands the question of work and where to get it, and of where to obtain food is occupying the minds of even millions who have never had to meet such burdens before. He does not say, I will give you food, or I will give you money, for REST is what every one needs, while many have portions of all else. Christ's words COME AND REST cover every human need. For every person high and low, rich and poor, great and small needs rest from self and sin. And there is not another in the universe who can do what Christ here promises to do for those who come to Him. Rest from the clamors of self; rest from the guilt of sin.

The saddest part of all this is that people do not know their greatest need, are seeking to meet the cravings of their hearts with things of this world which can never satisfy, never give rest. Excitement is not rest; sensations do not give rest or satisfaction. Only Jesus Christ the Son of the living God can give that which all need. He alone can save from sin and self. They are what every one needs to be saved from. People imagine that if they only had plenty of money they would be happy. They cannot so long as self and sin dominate the heart. Money cannot give rest; wealth, power, influence cannot satisfy the heart that is ruled by sin and self.

The most precious truth that God has given to man is that Jesus Christ has power to save from self and sin. And the next most precious truth is that He saves freely all who come to Him. Hence the importance of that word COME. It stands out in the Gospel of Matthew, differing from any other part of his Gospel. Note four of Christ's words here, Come, Me, Give, Rest. Christ gives rest freely. Every slave to self and sin can find rest and freedom from sin and self in Christ-can find it freely and fully, find it all the time, find it for ever, "unto the ages."

Coming to Christ means believing in Him, in His power to do what He has promised. So long as any one doubts Christ's word, he will not come. Here is the evil power of unbelief. It keeps people from coming to Christ and being saved for ever. Unbelief blinded the Jews to whom Christ talked, kept them from being saved; it brought them into the most awful suffering that has ever been on the earth. The Jews who rejected Christ, who hated Him, who saw His mighty miracles, beheld His power over nature and over disease, and yet refused to believe in Him and to come to Him, were in Jerusalem when it was destroyed by the Roman legions. Perhaps a few escaped, but the great mass of those very ones to whom Christ talked while he was in Jerusalem were there when the city was besieged and destroyed a few years later.

Christ proved His loved to that rebellious people in a multitude of ways. He healed their sick, He fed their hungry, He even raised the dead, and yet the very people for whom all this was done rejected Him. No wonder He cried on the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). He knew and foretold what was coming on that city and people. He has also foretold what is coming to every one who rejects His love in this present Gospel age. Christ has gone back to heaven to be the Saviour of all that come to Him.

He is calling the heavy laden with sin and care to come to Him and find eternal rest. Come from your lost state to Christ and trust in Him to save you eternally. He says, "I will give you rest." That means joy, it means peace that passeth all understanding. To be saved by believing on Christ means eternal rest, rest from guilt, from darkness, from anxiety, from coming judgment. Being a Saviour for sinners means the being just such a Saviour as God saw man needed. We can do only one thing to be saved and that is to come to Christ. Coming to Him is believing in Him, believing in His power to save. It means turning to Him from all else, from the world, from sin, from self-seeking, putting ourselves into His hands to be forgiven, cleansed, brought to God to be His children for ever. Come from darkness, guilt, pride, love of the things God hates; come from judgment, wrath, ruin to light, life, love, joy, peace, eternal rest. All the blessings needed for time and eternity are given freely by Christ to those-to all-who come to Him. Coming is resting in a Person, the Son of God. Why stay away from Him? why stay where judgment overhangs you, where darkness encompasses you. Why not come to Christ now, and be saved for ever? J. W. Newton