to whom He has said: "This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose." But they would not listen. Sermons
To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. Religion is designed to give us both rest and refreshment. We are described here - I. AS WEARY, AND NEEDING REST. Weary! Can we not feel that? We wear away. The world is full of cares that fret and chafe us. We lose elasticity of step and cheeriness of heart. How many can say, "I am very weary?" The Bible understands man, and therefore its words are so true and its blessings so welcome. What do the weary need? Why, first of all, rest. We read of Jesus that, being weary, "he sat himself on the well:" so completely exhausted was he that all strength was gone. So not only in a physical sense do we need sweet sleep and rest; but in our human life and in our spiritual life we are weary. What we need is rest in a Person - rest in God himself; to rest in the Lord. II. AS WEAK, AND NEEDING REFRESHMENT. We become exhausted in life's pilgrimage. Even in relation to spiritual supplies, our forces of faith and hope and courage fail. We need new supplies of grace and strength. This is well; for it would not be good for us to be able to live on yesterday's piety. Languor would come over our efforts after the Divine life if we had no need to seek daily bread. But refreshment comes. The faded flowers of our graces lift their drooping heads again. We have all seen and smelt the sweet fields after the rain-showers; we have all noticed these" seasons of refreshing." So in the highest things. These Hebrews would yet find God. He will be again dew unto Israel, and they will have times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. III. As HEEDLESS AND UNWILLING TO HEAR. "Yet they would not hear." Some siren voice is still charming them and deadening their hearts to the heavenly ministry. Let us remember that we hear what we will to hear. That is still the responsible function of humanity, viz. to close or to open the ears to the messages of the great King. It is not that God does not speak; for he speaks in many dialects: all the languages of human event and circumstance are at his command. With us let it be, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." - W.M.S. This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest. That these words are to be interpreted as relating to Jesus Christ is manifest both from the preceding and subsequent context, and from the general tenor of the Word of God. The doctrine of salvation through the Messiah opens the sources of genuine happiness to believing men. This is eminently the rest, — it is here alone that they can find satisfaction. I. THE NATURE OF THAT REST WHICH IS ENJOYED IN CHRIST. The term "rest" is here employed to denote spiritual enjoyment: it imports that unspeakable delight and satisfaction with which a believing soul. reposes itself in Christ Jesus, as its portion and happiness, its all and in all. This is a rest far more refreshing than the most seasonable relief from bodily labours or temporal troubles — no created good can at all be compared with it. It exclusively deserves the name of "the" rest, as everything else which assumes the appearance of rest is ideal, and this only is real and substantial. 1. What are the sources of spiritual rest? This rest arises from —(1) A spiritual discovery of the infinite excellence of the Redeemer's person. When the enlightened believer is possessed with a sense of the glories of Christ's person, all created glory vanishes, as the stars do before the sun.(2) A view of the all-atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christi Consider three important particulars in the sacrifice of Christ, — its inherent and infinite merit, the authority by which it is appointed, and the public declaration which has been given of its acceptance. 2. The effects with which this rest is accompanied.(1) Pardon of sin.(2) Acceptance with God, and the enjoyment of His special favour and love.(3) Deliverance from the reigning power and dominion of sin.(4) The delightful prospect of eternal happiness in Heaven. II. THE CHARACTER OF THE PERSONS FOR WHOM THIS REST IS PROVIDED. "The weary." Under this description we may include — 1. All unregenerated sinners to whom this rest is offered. They are represented as wearying themselves with very vanity (Habakkuk 2:13), wearying themselves to commit iniquity. (Jeremiah 9:5), and as wearying God (Isaiah 7:13; Isaiah 43:24). To all persons of this description spiritual rest is offered; but it will never be relished till the sinner is united to the Saviour. 2. We are principally to understand by the term "weary," all the children of God who are heavy laden with their spiritual burdens. They are weary —(1) With a sense of aggravated guilt.(2) With the conflict which they maintain with sin and Satan.(3) With their crying under the hidings of God's face (Psalm 13:1; Psalm 77:7-10).(4) With those disquieting fears of death where: with they are harassed. () Talleyrand said, "Life is one long fatigue." Christ wishes to make it one long rest. () (1)They were overcome with wine (vers. 7, 8).(2)They were also intoxicated with pride. The two forms of drunkenness are equally destructive.I. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE GOSPEL. This Scripture does not allude to the Gospel primarily, but to the message which Isaiah had to deliver, which was in part the command of the law and in part the promise of grace; but the same rule holds good of all the words of the Lord; and, indeed, any excellence which was found in the prophet's message is found yet more abundantly in the fuller testimony of the Gospel in Christ Jesus. 1. The excellence of that Gospel lies in its object, for — (1)It is a revelation of rest.(2)It is the cause of rest.(3)This rest is especially meant for the weary.(4)In addition to bringing us rest, the message of mercy points us to a refreshing.If the rested on should grow weary again, the Good Shepherd will give him refreshing; if he wanders, the Lord will restore him; if he grows faint He will revive him. Note, that Isaiah did not come to these people to talk about rest in dubious terms. No; he puts his finger right down on the truth, and says, "This is the rest, and this is the refreshing." So we, when we come with a message from God, come with definite teaching. Nor did he preach a rest of a selfish character. That secret something which your own heart possesses shall enable you to communicate good cheer to many a weary heart, and hope to many a desponding mind.2. The other excellence of the Gospel lies in its manner. (1)It comes with authority.(2)It was delivered with great simplicity. Isaiah came with it. "precept upon precept," etc. It is the glory of the Gospel that it is so plain.(3)It is taught us by degrees.(4)The Gospel is repeated.(5)It is brought home to us in ways suited to our capacity.II. THE OBJECTIONS WHICH ARE TAKEN TO THE GOSPEL. 1. They are most wanton. Men object to that which promises them rest. 2. Wilful. "This is the refreshing, yet they would not hear." 3. Wicked, because they are rebellion against God, and an insult to His truth and mercy. 4. These people raised objections that were the outgrowth of their pride. They objected to the simplicity of Isaiah's preaching. They said, "Who is he? You should not go to hear him; he talks to us as if we were children. Besides, it is the same thing over and over again." Too many wish for a map to Heaven so mysteriously drawn that they may be excused from following it. III. THE DIVINE REQUITAL OF THESE OBJECTIONS. 1. The Lord threatens them with the loss of that which they despised. In verse 20 he warns them that the shall have no rest henceforth "For thy bed is shorter," etc. 2. They shall be punished by a gradual hardening of heart (ver. 13). A fall backward is the worst kind of fall. 3. This is to be followed by a growing inability to understand (ver. 11). 4. Whatever refuge they choose for themselves shall utterly fail them (ver. 17). ()
People Gibeon, IsaiahPlaces Assyria, Jerusalem, Mount Perazim, Valley of Gibeon, ZionTopics Cause, Ear, Listen, Refreshing, Repose, Rest, Resting, Strength, Tired, Weary, Wherewith, Willing, YetOutline 1. The prophet threatens Ephraim for their pride and drunkenness
5. The residue shall be advanced in the kingdom of Christ
7. He rebukes their error
9. Their unwillingness to learn
14. And their security
16. Christ the sure foundation is promised
17. Their security shall be tried
23. They are incited to the consideration of God's providence
Dictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 28:12 5058 rest, spiritual Library June 8. "Bread Corn is Bruised" (Isa. xxviii. 28).
"Bread corn is bruised" (Isa. xxviii. 28). The farmer does not gather timothy and blue grass, and break it with a heavy machine. But he takes great pains with the wheat. So God takes great pains with those who are to be of much use to Him. There is a nature in them that needs this discipline. Don't wonder if the bread corn is treated with the wise, discriminating care that will fit it for food. He knows the way He is taking, and there is infinite tenderness in the oversight He gives. He is watching …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth The Foundation of God
'Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.'--ISAIAH xxviii. 16. 'Therefore thus saith the Lord.' Then these great words are God's answer to something. And that something is the scornful defiance by the rulers of Israel of the prophet's threatenings. By their deeds, whether by their words or no, they said that they had made friends of their enemies, and that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture God's Strange Work
'That He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act.'--ISAIAH xxviii. 21. How the great events of one generation fall dead to another! There is something very pathetic in the oblivion that swallows up world- resounding deeds. Here the prophet selects two instances which to him are solemn and singular examples of divine judgment, and we have difficulty in finding out to what he refers. To him they seemed the most luminous illustrations he could find of the principle …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Man's Crown and God's
'In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty.'--ISAIAH xxviii. 5. 'Thou shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord.'--ISAIAH lxii 3. Connection of first prophecy--destruction of Samaria. Its situation, crowning the hill with its walls and towers, its fertile 'fat valley,' the flagrant immorality and drunkenness of its inhabitants, and its final ruin, are all presented in the highly imaginative picture of its fall as being like the trampling …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Judgment of Drunkards and Mockers
'Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! 2. Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which, as a tempest of hail, and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. 3. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: 4. And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Husbandman and his Operations
'Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. 24. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground! 25. When lie hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place? 26. For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. 27. For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture A Crown Op Pride or a Crown of Glory
'The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet; 4. And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. 5. In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people.'--ISAIAH xxviii. 3-5. The reference is probably to Samaria as a chief city of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Bed and Its Covering
Now, I think it may be readily granted, that man's body is, after all, only a picture of his inner being: just what the body needs materially, that the soul needs spiritually. The soul, then, needs two things. It requires rest, which is pictured to us in sleep. The soul needs a bed upon which it may repose quietly and take its ease. And, again, the soul needs covering, for as a naked body would be both uncomfortable, unseemly, and dangerous; much more would the naked soul be unhappy, noxious to the …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859 The Extent of Messiah's Spiritual Kingdom
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever! T he Kingdom of our Lord in the heart, and in the world, is frequently compared to a building or house, of which He Himself is both the Foundation and the Architect (Isaiah 28:16 and 54:11, 12) . A building advances by degrees (I Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 2:20-22) , and while it is in an unfinished state, a stranger cannot, by viewing its present appearance, form an accurate judgment …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Of Predestination
Eph. i. 11.--"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."--Rom. ix. 22, 23.--"What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory." In the creation of the world, it pleased the Lord, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Samaria. Sychem.
"The country of Samaria lies in the middle, between Judea and Galilee. For it begins at a town called Ginea, lying in the Great plain, and ends at the Toparchy of the Acrabateni: the nature of it nothing differing from Judea," &c. [Acrabata was distant from Jerusalem, the space of a day's journey northwards.] Samaria, under the first Temple, was the name of a city,--under the second, of a country. Its metropolis at that time was Sychem; "A place destined to revenges": and which the Jews, as it seems, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Self-Righteousness Insufficient.
1 "Where are the mourners, [1] (saith the Lord) "That wait and tremble at my word, "That walk in darkness all the day? "Come, make my name your trust and stay. 2 ["No works nor duties of your own "Can for the smallest sin atone; "The robes [2] that nature may provide "Will not your least pollutions hide. 3 "The softest couch that nature knows "Can give the conscience no repose: "Look to my righteousness, and live; "Comfort and peace are mine to give.] 4 "Ye sons of pride that kindle coals "With your …
Isaac Watts—Hymns and Spiritual Songs Letter xxxvi (Circa A. D. 1131) to the Same Hildebert, who had not yet Acknowledged the Lord Innocent as Pope.
To the Same Hildebert, Who Had Not Yet Acknowledged the Lord Innocent as Pope. He exhorts him to recognise Innocent, now an exile in France, owing to the schism of Peter Leonis, as the rightful Pontiff. To the great prelate, most exalted in renown, Hildebert, by the grace of God Archbishop of Tours, Bernard, called Abbot of Clairvaux, sends greeting, and prays that he may walk in the Spirit, and spiritually discern all things. 1. To address you in the words of the prophet, Consolation is hid from …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux Of the Scriptures
Eph. ii. 20.--"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." Believers are "the temple of the living God," in which he dwells and walks, 2 Cor. vi. 16. Every one of them is a little sanctuary and temple to his Majesty, "sanctify the Lord of hosts in your hearts." Though he be "the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity," yet he is pleased to come down to this poor cottage of a creature's heart, and dwell in it. Is not this …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh How to Make Use of Christ for Steadfastness, in a Time when Truth is Oppressed and Borne Down.
When enemies are prevailing, and the way of truth is evil spoken of, many faint, and many turn aside, and do not plead for truth, nor stand up for the interest of Christ, in their hour and power of darkness: many are overcome with base fear, and either side with the workers of iniquity, or are not valiant for the truth, but being faint-hearted, turn back. Now the thoughts of this may put some who desire to stand fast, and to own him and his cause in a day of trial, to enquire how they shall make …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life Of Orders.
Of this sacrament the Church of Christ knows nothing; it was invented by the church of the Pope. It not only has no promise of grace, anywhere declared, but not a word is said about it in the whole of the New Testament. Now it is ridiculous to set up as a sacrament of God that which can nowhere be proved to have been instituted by God. Not that I consider that a rite practised for so many ages is to be condemned; but I would not have human inventions established in sacred things, nor should it be …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation The Knowledge that God Is, Combined with the Knowledge that He is to be Worshipped.
John iv. 24.--"God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." There are two common notions engraven on the hearts of all men by nature,--that God is, and that he must be worshipped, and these two live and die together, they are clear, or blotted together. According as the apprehension of God is clear, and distinct, and more deeply engraven on the soul, so is this notion of man's duty of worshipping God clear and imprinted on the soul, and whenever the actions …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning "Come unto Me, all Ye that Labour, and are Wearied," &C.
Matth. xi. 28.--"Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are wearied," &c. It is the great misery of Christians in this life, that they have such poor, narrow, and limited spirits, that are not fit to receive the truth of the gospel in its full comprehension; from whence manifold misapprehensions in judgment, and stumbling in practice proceed. The beauty and life of things consist in their entire union with one another, and in the conjunction of all their parts. Therefore it would not be a fit way …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning An Address to the Regenerate, Founded on the Preceding Discourses.
James I. 18. James I. 18. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. I INTEND the words which I have now been reading, only as an introduction to that address to the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, with which I am now to conclude these lectures; and therefore shall not enter into any critical discussion, either of them, or of the context. I hope God has made the series of these discourses, in some measure, useful to those …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration Of the Necessity of Divine Influences to Produce Regeneration in the Soul.
Titus iii. 5, 6. Titus iii. 5, 6. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. IF my business were to explain and illustrate this scripture at large, it would yield an ample field for accurate criticism and useful discourse, and more especially would lead us into a variety of practical remarks, on which it would be pleasant …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration The Justice of God
The next attribute is God's justice. All God's attributes are identical, and are the same with his essence. Though he has several attributes whereby he is made known to us, yet he has but one essence. A cedar tree may have several branches, yet it is but one cedar. So there are several attributes of God whereby we conceive of him, but only one entire essence. Well, then, concerning God's justice. Deut 32:4. Just and right is he.' Job 37:23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The Mercy of God
The next attribute is God's goodness or mercy. Mercy is the result and effect of God's goodness. Psa 33:5. So then this is the next attribute, God's goodness or mercy. The most learned of the heathens thought they gave their god Jupiter two golden characters when they styled him good and great. Both these meet in God, goodness and greatness, majesty and mercy. God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psa 119:98. Thou art good, and doest good.' This …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity The Knowledge of God
'The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.' I Sam 2:2. Glorious things are spoken of God; he transcends our thoughts, and the praises of angels. God's glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth. Among other of his orient excellencies, this is not the least, The Lord is a God of knowledge; or as the Hebrew word is, A God of knowledges.' Through the bright mirror of his own essence, he has a full idea and cognisance …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Links Isaiah 28:12 NIV
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