Easter, 2025. Transcript From Flowers in Autumn Youtube.

Kris Robertson
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Spring & Easter Teatime Ambience | Rest in Christ | CH Spurgeon Sermon

(Decorate with me Tablescape)

The writing for this episode is my own abridged version of C.H. Spurgeons' sermon

Rest, Rest.

Spurgeon's full sermon can be found at https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/rest-rest/#flipbook/

(For our first Easter episode, we enter into worshipful study by lingering over the promises of God and His gracious provision of rest, as proclaimed in Matthew 11. Guided by the rich and soul-stirring sermon Rest, Rest by C.H. Spurgeon, we consider the divine invitation of Christ Himself—an invitation not to striving, but to surrender, not to burden, but to holy rest found only in Him.)

Question for consideration: Why must we, if we would truly enter the rest God promises, not only lay down our yoke, but also take up the yoke of Christ?

(I have grown deeply fond of Spurgeon’s rich, illustrative language, so artfully woven through his sermons; the opening image drawn from nature in this message is among my favorites.)

Episode 1:

Spring & Easter Teatime Ambience | Rest in Christ | CH Spurgeon Sermon | Decorate with me Tablescape

Watch the Episode here:

https://youtu.be/8mvlytcob8I

C.H. Spurgeon Rest, Rest January 8, 1871

(Open your bible to Mathew 11:28-30)

Select what you will from nature, the bark or the leaf of a tree or the wing or the foot of an insect, and you shall discover no flaw. Magnify it as much as you will, and gaze upon it as long as you please. The words of Jesus, they never lose their dew. They never become threadbare. You may ring the changes upon his words and never exhaust their music. Beat them in the mortar of contemplation with the pestle of criticism, and their perfume shall but become the more apparent. Dissect, investigate, and weigh the master's teaching word by word, and each syllable shall repay you.

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. Matthew 11:28-30

Observe the person invited to receive this first rest. The word all first demands attention. All ye that labor, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The good news is to be preached to every creature under heaven. And in this particular passage, it is addressed to all the laboring and heavy laden.

The description of the person invited is very full. It describes him both actively and passively. All ye that labor. There is the activity of men bearing the yoke and ready to labor after salvation. Heavy laden there is the passive form of their religious condition. They sustain a burden and are pressed down and sorely wearied by the load they bare.

It is to these the Savior addresses his loving admonition. In effect, he tells them, "This is not the way to rest. Your self-imposed labors will end in disappointment. Cease your wear exertions and believe in me, for I at once will give you rest. The rest which my labors have earned for believers.

A soul which has come to bear the load of its own sin and the load of divine wrath is indeed heavily laden. Their labor adds to their weariness. Beneath its pressure they feel the weight of disappointment because their labor has not brought them rest and a burden of despair because they fear that deliverance will never come.

These are the persons whom the Savior calls to himself. Those who are actively seeking salvation, come unto me and I will give you rest. A gift is not of merit but of grace. A gift is a matter of charity. Jesus will freely give to you what you cannot earn or purchase. He will give it as an act of his own free sovereign mercy.

In the beginning, the word of the Lord is, "Come, come unto me." To come is to leave one thing and to advance to another. Come then, leave your legal labors, leave your self-reliant efforts. Leave your sins, leave your presumptions, leave all in which you hitherto have trusted and come to Jesus. Advance towards and rely upon the Savior. Let your contemplations think of him who bore the load of human sin upon the cross of Calvary where he was made sin for us.

Seeing that he is God's own son, let faith follow your contemplation. Rely upon him, trust in him as having suffered in your stead. Repentance and faith make up this call to come.

The repentance which leaves the place where you now stand. The faith which comes into reliance upon Jesus.

If you want rest, come to Christ. If you want rest, oh weary souls, you can find it nowhere until you come and lay your burdens down at his dear pierced feet and find life in looking alone to

him.

To obtain the first rest, the rest which is a matter of gift, all that is asked of you is that you come to have it. Jesus saith to you, "Come and take what I freely give. Without money, come without merit. Come without preparation. Come. Come as you are. Come with your burden. Come with your yoke. And the promise shall be fulfilled to you. I will give you rest."

The next promise spoken is a gift. I will give you rest. Not a rest found in our experience by degrees, but given at once. We come to Jesus. We put out the empty hand of faith and rest is given us at once most freely. We possess it at once and it is ours forever. It is perfect rest in the blood and righteousness of Jesus, our peace is perfect.

Now it looks rather strange that after having received rest, the next verse should begin, take my yoke upon you. You are to find further rest by wearing a new yoke and bearing a new burden. Your burden was heavy, but Christ's burden is light. How certain it is that a yoke is essential to produce rest, and without it, rest is unknown.

For the human soul is under the dominion of Satan and wears his awful yoke and works for him. It bears his burden and groans under it. Jesus sets it free. The soul must have a sovereign, a ruling principle, a master motive. And when Jesus has taken that position, rest is come.

We will consider the second rest and notice that it is rest after rest. I will give you rest comes before ye shall find rest. It is the rest of a man who is already at rest. The repose of a man who has already received a given rest and now discovers the found rest. It is the rest of a learner. Learn of me and ye shall find rest.

Having been pardoned and saved, the saved man in the course of his experience discovers more and more reason for peace. He is learning and seeking and he finds. The man had rest from his burdens. Now he finds rest in Christ which exceeds what he had even asked or thought.

This rest after rest is a treasure concealed in a precious box. Jesus Christ gives us in the gift of himself all the rest we can ever enjoy. Even heaven's rest lies in him. But after we have received him, we have to learn of his value and find out by the teaching of his spirit the fullness of the rest which he bestows.

Now I say to you who are saved, have you found all there is in the gift that Christ has given you? Have you found the secret drawer? Have you found the innermost rest which he works in your hearts?

It is yours for it is included in the one gift. But it is not yours enjoyed, understood, and triumphed in as yet unless you have found it. For the rest here is meant as a rest after rest, a spiritual experienced rest which comes only to those who find it by experience.

This second rest is a rest in service. If you would rest, take Christ's yoke. Be actively engaged in his service. True rest to the mind of the child of God is rest on the wing. Rest in motion. Rest in service. Not rest with the yoke off, but with the yoke on.

We are to take his yoke upon us voluntarily. Look not for your rest in the mere comforts of religion, but find your rest in wearing a yoke which you love and which for that reason is easy to your neck.

But you must also be willing to bear Christ's burden. The burden of Christ is his cross which every Christian must take up. Expect to be reproached. Expect to meet with some degree of the scandal of the cross. For the offense of it never ceases. When your soul loves Jesus, it is a light thing to suffer for him.

The rest of the Christian is found not in cowardice but in courage. It lies not in providing for ease but in the brave endurance of suffering for the truth. The restful spirit counts the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. He falls in love with the cross and counts the burden light and so finds rest in service and rest in suffering. The rest of the Christian is found through learning. You must go to Christ. Learn of me, saith he, for I am meek and lowly in heart.

In order to learn of Christ, it is implied that we lay aside all prejudices of the past. These things much prevent our finding peace. Have you any preconceived notions of what religion should be? Throw them all away. Learn of Jesus and unlearn your own thoughts.

You are to learn from his example to be meek and lowly in heart. And in learning that you will find rest unto your souls. To believe what he teaches me is something. To acknowledge him as my religious leader and as my Lord is much, but to strive to be conformed to his character. This is the grammar of rest. Learn to be like the meek and lowly hearted one, and ye shall find rest.

*If the meek spirit be grieved by some cutting censure and suffers for a moment, it is always ready to forgive and blot out the past and go on again. It is the proud spirit that gets tired of doing good if it finds its labors are not appreciated. But the brave meek spirit finds the yoke to be easy.

Consider him who endures such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest he be weary and faint in your minds. If ye learn his meekness, his yoke will be pleasant to your shoulder. The lowly heart finds the burden very light because it acquiesces in the divine will. The lowly heart says, "Let God be glorified in me and it shall be all I ask." If I get Christ to say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. That is enough." If I do not have pleasures here, I shall have them hereafter. The rest which we are to find is a rest which grows entirely out of our spirits being conformed to the spirit of Christ. Learn of me and ye shall find rest. It is then a spiritual rest altogether independent of circumstances.

It is the spirit within that gives the rest. That rest has little to do with anything without. Men have sat on thrones and have found them uneasy places, while others on the rack have declared that they were at rest.

The spirit is the spring of rest. As for the outward surroundings, they are of small account. Let but your mind be like the mind of Christ, and you shall find rest unto your souls. A deep rest, a growing rest, a rest found out more and more, an abiding rest, not only which you have found, but which you shall go on to find. Justification gave you rest from the burden of sin. Sanctification will give you rest from molesting cares.

As believers grow in grace and enjoy more rest, they see more of Jesus and know more of him. Take Christ's yoke on you. Live to serve him. Take Christ's burden. Make it a point to bear all things for his sake. And you will not be affected either by praise or by censure. For you will find rest to your souls in surrendering yourself to the Father's will.

Lastly, when considering this text from various points that probably our savior meant to convey an idea of deeper fellowship than we have yet considered; he carried a yoke on his shoulder which he called my yoke. When the oxen are yolked, they are two. When they are both of one mind and one wants to lie down, down they go. Or when one wants to go forward, forward they both go, keeping step. In this way, the yoke is easy. I think the savior says to us, I am bearing one end of the yolk on my shoulder. Come place your neck under the other side of it and then learn of me. Keep step with me. Be as I am. Do as I do. I am meek and lowly in heart. Your heart must be like mine. And then we will work together in blessed fellowship and you will find that working with me is a happy thing. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.