Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to Matthew chapter 11 and reading for our text, verse 28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This evening, God willing, I hope to speak for the remaining verses which I'll read now. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. But this morning, verse 28, I will give you rest. Our Lord has been pleased throughout his word and throughout the time that he was upon this earth to give several beautiful invitations to his people.

When he began his ministry, when John Baptist was pointing out the Lord, and the disciples asked the Lord, where dwellest thou? The Lord gave a simple invitation, come. Come and see. Then we think of the time when there was much coming and going so that they had no rest. And the Lord said to them, come ye yourselves apart and rest a while. They are sweet invitations from the Lord to the young man that came unto him seeking eternal life. He said to him, come, take up the cross. and follow me.

We think then also of those that thirst at the great day of the feast if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink. After his resurrection on the seashore When the disciples had had that wonderful miracle of the great raft of fishes cast the net on the right side, they come to the shore and they find that there is already fish, there is already that provision, and the Lord then invites them, come and dine. But this, our text, is probably one of the most well-known ones that we would think of an invitation to those that labour and are heavy laden, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Invitations in the Word, or any part of the Word which is spoken to people, it is not to names, but to characters. The Word of God, we must remember, is to endure forever. It is to serve every generation. So, whereas originally the Word may be spoken to the children of Israel, or to a disciple, yet we have each time a character highlighted. So we cannot say, well, that cannot be applied, cannot be made a blessing to anyone else, because it was specifically said to that person.

And especially here, we have the character that is described that this is spoken to. all ye that labour and are heavy laden. And I would draw attention to the fact not just in this verse, not just this text, but write through scriptures that where the Lord shines on a character, don't just pass over it where you are that character, where you are the one that is heavy laden and laboured, where you are the one that is thirsting, where you are the one that is tried and tempted. Notice those characters that are described in the Word of God.

The Apostle Paul, he says, I am what I am by the grace of God. When the Lord began with him, he was a Pharisee. And yet the Lord brought the law of God to him. And he says, when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. brought under the law of God, brought under that burden, under that condemnation. And yet he says, that which was ordained unto life, I found unto death.

And it's hard, of course, for those that are laboring, heavy laden, or those that are in real burdens and trials, to be able to discern that what they feel and what they're finding to be unto death is actually unto life. We cannot have a blessing or the blessing put here of rest without the dark background of the trial first and the heaviness. It would mean nothing to those already at rest to be given rest by the Lord.

And we need to remember that. Sometimes we might have seen a rainbow and it might have been in an almost blue sky. We can hardly see it, but it is there. Other times we may see a very, very black cloud and the rainbow stands out so clear and so bright. And so it is when the Lord would make his blessings known that often they are painted first on a black background and a hard path for his people.

You think of the children of Israel in Egypt. that Moses wasn't sent to deliver a people that were having a nice time, an easy and smooth path. He was to deliver those that were in bondage. So I want to then look with the Lord's help at this word this morning. Firstly, the inviter and giver of rest. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. Come unto me and I will give you rest. And then secondly, those invited to come, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. And then lastly, the promise and its fulfilment, I will give you rest. that firstly the inviter and giver of rest, Jesus Christ.

How important it is that when we come to a passage like this, that we do think of who it is that is actually speaking this word. Do they have authority to give what they are promising to give? Are they in a position to speak the words that they do? What is their character? What is the purpose that they are where they are? What is the circumstances of the word that is spoken?

And of course here we have Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God made manifest in the flesh. He that was made flesh for the very purpose of saving his people from their sins. Now, Lord, before Pilate, he says, for this cause came I into the world. And it's good for us to remember this when we look at a verse like this. Why did the Lord come? What was his mission? To whom did he come? Was it to a good people? Was it to a people that even when he began to work would be good?

No, we read that he came unto his own and his own received him not. But we know that he came for sinners and he came because of sin, because of transgression, He came to save his people from their sins. And so he clearly says, I have not come to condemn, not come to destroy, but to save men's lives. He has come as one that is a near kinsman, a brother born for adversity, one with the right to redeem, one that had been spoken of right through the scriptures from as soon as Adam and Eve fell, this man, the seed of the woman that should bruise the serpent's head, was spoken of and pointed to. This time with the Lord on earth was looked to from prophets and for those of the people of God by faith right from the beginning. And here he is, In time, here he is as a man among sinners and he is speaking these things and bringing the word to characters like this.

It's good for us to remember who the Lord Jesus Christ is, not was, is. He is the eternal Son of God. He is already in heaven, ascended up after, offering himself a sacrifice and an offering for sin. After dying, laying down his life, no man took it from him, and then ascending up, rising from the grave and ascending up into heaven. There he is, a sympathising high priest. He knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are but dust. His time here below, It was not wasted. It was that he might know the path personally, not just by his eternal knowledge, but personally experiencing this world.

He was wearied on the well of Samaria. Afterward, he was unhungered in the desert, being tempted of the devil 40 days and 40 nights. The Lord knew what it was to have his father hide his face from him. He knew what it was to have his own brethren all forsake him and flee from him. He knew what it was to have baits laid for him, false accusations laid at him, and for those to blaspheme his name, take his words, twist his words. The Lord knew these things personally.

And we need to remember this as part of God's plan and part of that qualification of our Lord to be that high priest and that one that can sympathise. We have in the Paul's epistle to the Hebrews how the Lord is to be that sympathising high priest. In Hebrews chapter 4 at the end we read, we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

That is not an arrogant boldness, that is not a familiarity, but it's boldness knowing that the throne of grace that we come to in prayer, the Lord is on that throne, and to know that he wants poor sinners to come there and that he will, when they come there, give them that grace to help in their time of need. The authority, the help to come boldly is to see clearly in the scriptures of truth, this is what the Lord desires his people to do. This is the characters that he wants to come.

It was taken or said derogatively against him, this man receiveth sinners and eateth and drinketh with them. We have, when we go on to chapter five, for every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way? For that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. Wonderful thing, isn't it? We might have people on earth and we think that they would understand, we think that they might have compassion, but they don't, and they don't understand, and they don't have compassion. But when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ here, he does understand. He does have compassion. He feels for his people. He weeps with them as he did at the grave of Lazarus. He has been given that authority to be this high priest, this great high priest for the people of God.

He is the inviter. He is the one that is saying the words of our text, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. It's a beautiful invitation, isn't it? It's not just go unto this one or go unto that one. It's come unto me. The Lord would have sinners coming unto Him. He'd have their company, He'd have their presence. He'd do that for them, in their company and with them. And this is the invitation that is here. He is the giver of rest. I feel I must make this clear. that the rest that is set forth here is a gift from heaven.

We cannot take it to ourselves, we cannot take the word of God and find some nice texts and nice passages and apply them to ourselves. We need the Lord to apply them. Sometimes we may feel very painfully that we have some beautiful texts and we know how beautiful they are, but we still remain in bondage and hard and they're not applied. We need to know that the Lord needs to apply them to make them precious.

Some of us have had words that have been really blessed to us. We may read them, we may have read them this morning. We can remember the effect they had when they were applied and blessed to us. They were very sweet. It had a profound effect. We have not forgotten that effect. But even now, we cannot bring back that effect. We cannot have the same sweetness as we felt then, unless the Lord bring it again to us. And in that, there are real tokens. The blessing, the help that we've had, has come from the high decree of heaven. It is not being applied by ourselves. It has a token within that this is the Lord's doing and is marvellous in our eyes.

The words that I speak unto you, the Lord said, they are spirit and they are life. Where we have found the word of God such, we have this stamp. They are words the Lord has spoken unto us. Also we know that The Lord has said that his people, they shall every one receive of my words.

And my sheep, they hear my voice, and they follow me. My word shall not return unto me void. It shall accomplish the thing whereto I sent it, an effectual word. But there is a time that that word is to be effectual, and there is a time when we prove that it is not.

Your time is already, the Lord said, but my time is not yet. We are not dictators to God. We cannot demand a blessing. We cannot dictate when or how he comes. Satan tried to do this. He would dictate to the Lord what he wanted him to do. Command these stones that they might be made bread. Did the Lord do it? No, he didn't. Did he do what Satan wanted? No, he didn't. The Lord does not. Just do what sinners say.

You can read it right through our Lord's sojourn on earth, where as they tried to trip him up, tried to ask questions, he always answered on his own terms, sometimes with a question, but always with grace, with understanding, and often with a blessing attending it. The Lord is God. He is sovereign and He is in control. He is not pushed around by men, not told what to do by men. And when we realise that as well, when we have a blessing and help from the Lord, we know that it has come from the Lord. It hasn't been influenced by anything we've done or said or haven't, nor by anyone else. that is through the high decree of heaven.

The Lord says, I give unto them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of mine hand. The Lord gives free, unmerited gift, not paid for, not merited, it is graciously given, These gifts, these helps, they come from this man.

Great mercy if we can discern where the gifts come from. Sometimes we might receive anonymous gifts. We're very thankful for the gift. We're thankful to be able to trace that really it comes forth from the Lord. The Lord has moved someone to give us those gifts and to help us in that way. And in that, as we can discern, it is the Lord. We are grateful, we bless the Lord for it.

But if we want to be led to the actual giver or the instrument, we don't know. So it's not We can't go to that person, we can't know anything about that person or of any token of our relationship with that person. But when the Lord blesses, though it may be through means and through others, through the ministry, through the Word of God, we are to discern this comes forth from the Lord and therefore it leads to Him and give thanks to Him. when our Lord cured those 10 lepers, and one of them, when he was cured, he realised and he turned back to give glory to God. The others, they just took the healing and just continued on their way.

But the Lord says, where are the nine? There is not return but one, this Samaritan, to give glory unto God. When the Lord gives things, it is to cause us to return to the giver, and really a double blessing. We think of when the Lord worked the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. They followed Him over the sea. You say, weren't they seeking after the Lord? Weren't they following Him for those blessings and helps that they'd had? The Lord knew their hearts.

And he said, you seek me not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life. And really the Lord's emphasis was, don't go after the blessings, but go after the blesser, after he who has given you the blessings. for the greater blessing is realized that the God of heaven has blessed us, a token for good, a hope beyond the grave, beyond what is set forth here. And so it's very important that when we look to such a word as this, that we think of the inviter, and we think of who it is that gives rest, And when that blessing is given, then we have that great blessing of knowing this comes from the Lord and we have received it. Let us look secondly at those invited to come.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. The text is very wide, very expansive, it is all ye that. He's not restricting it, it's one of those texts that you could take out a word and it would still read alright, come unto me ye that labour and are heavy laden. But there's added the word all in it. The Lord knows with his people that they are very liable to cut themselves out of being a character that he's come to bless, to rule themselves out, so he puts all. But what is it then to heavy laboring and heavy light?

And in one sense, the secret is in the following verse, you shall find rest unto your souls. There's an aspect here of soul trouble, a thing that the world in nature's darkness does not know anything of. But often with soul trouble comes that which affects the body and mind as well, that which makes a man heavy, that which makes one to be very weary in a physical way. And it may be with sleep taken away and not able to even concentrate for the things of life. And yet at the root of it, there is a soul trouble. The world has many, many troubles.

You can read about many that you look at them in their lives and say, how do they get by? They don't have any faith, they don't know the Lord, and yet they have things in their lives that they seem to cope with amazingly. But those things, however great they are, have never brought them to seek the Lord. They've never been sanctified, never been worked together for good. Perhaps if we think of one example, we think of the the case of our Lord upon the cross, and we have the two thieves.

All three of those endured the nails through their feet and their hands. They endured the scourging beforehand. They endured those physical pains. But if we were to say that that was the agonies of the Lord, and that's all it was, We would miss the whole part of the sufferings of God. He was enduring the wrath of God against himself, against as him bearing the sins of his people. Let thy hand be upon the man at thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou madest strong for thyself. The physical afflictions and pains were part of him.

They were a part that both the thieves felt as well, even the one that never ever showed any concern and that continued to rail on the Lord. The other thief, he had another aspect as well. We indeed justly, but this man hath done nothing amiss. He had an aspect of his sufferings that the other one wasn't aware of. He realised that he was suffering because of his transgressions, his thefts, his thieving, his sinnership against God and it led him to seek unto the Lord which the other one would not do.

Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. It is this additional aspect You can read Psalm 34 and in a way Psalm 34 is a prophecy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. But it also written over it tells us when the psalm was penned, which was when David was before Achish and Achish recognized him, they recognized him as the one that has slain their champion Goliath, and David feared for his life.

He feigned himself to be mad and escaped out of their hands. But we can read then the external, what was happening in his life, but then we read in Psalm 34 what was actually in his soul. the cries of this poor man, and what went through his soul. In the same way, Psalm 51, we read of David's sin, his adultery, we read of Nathan in his parable, and David's sin pardoned and forgiven. If you want to know what is going on in his soul, you read Psalm 51, against thee the only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. right through that psalm, the sorrows of his soul.

And so it is soul trouble, that which is stirred up very often by that which is outside. The woman, the widow of Zarephath, She'd seen the miracles that were done in multiplying the bread and the oil, the meal and the oil by Elijah. But it was not until her son died that then she says, hast thou come unto me to bring my sin to remembrance. Then she had soul trouble. And in a way, it was inseparable from the death of her son. Her son was then raised to life again. and the blessing that she had there.

And so very often there is the two things that go together, because our Lord has said that the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, they are life, but in the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. In me you shall have peace.

And so they're joined together, the great troubles, on the one side of the world and then in the Lord, peace or rest. But there is the troubles that bring trouble of soul. One reason why it stirs up within us things we never thought was there. Those are in nature's darkness, if they have trouble, And then they would curse God, and say horrible things about the Lord, and say, if he was a good God, he'd never do this, and he wouldn't allow this, and it doesn't trouble them at all.

But God's children might feel exactly the same things, and be tempted the same way. We think of the Psalmist Asaph in Psalm 73, where he saw the prosperity of the wicked, and he says, my steps almost slipped. He was envious of the wicked. He said, how does God know?

He doesn't see. He doesn't understand. These things are not just. They're not right. God's people are laboring in trouble, and the wicked are prospering. But when God's people feel these things, they're troubled by it. Why am I thinking this? Why am I at odds with the Lord? Why am I angry with the Lord? And it causes them soul trouble. They want life, they want blessing, but the things that they're going through seem to do just the opposite and bring out every wickedness and evil from their heart and making them feel that rebellion against the Lord. And these things pain a soul.

One dear aged soul said to me once, when I said to him, well, I thought the thorn in the flesh that Paul had. It couldn't have been just an affliction because it says that it was a messenger of Satan. He turned to me and he was a man that had great pain, afflictions with arthritis, constant pain. And he said, it is not the affliction that is the messenger of Satan. It is what it does, what it stirs up within. And the advantage Satan takes of it to accuse and to divide between you and your God, that makes it a messenger of Satan. And this is what then God's people know and labour under.

Job, you can read of his trials in his family. You can read of the loss of all of his goods, we can read of his sickness and illness, but what made it even harder was even his friends, miserable comforters, i.e. all, and one thing after another was added to his burden and to his trial.

In those times, we question promises. We may also come under the law of God. and labour under that law. Our Lord charged the scribes and Pharisees relating on burdens upon men that were grievous to be born, but they wouldn't lift them off. The apostles, when there was the question that the believers should be circumcised, they said, how can we lay or why should we lay upon believers and upon the Gentiles this yoke, which even we found hard to bear. For when he writes to the Galatians, he warned them about taking again on the yoke of bondage, those things that made weary the people of God.

Law and terrors do but harden, all the while I work alone, but a sense of blood-bought pardon soon dissolves a heart of stone. God's people are mindful of what God sees and what God knows of what goes on within their souls. They try to do better. They try to mend their own heart and mend their own ways, but find it fruitless and hard. They're like the children of Israel in Egypt and their hard bondage and their straw is taken away and there helps to make them make the bricks but the bricks still must be made the same number and things get harder and harder and worse and worse and yet this was all under the time that the Lord was actually going to deliver them and set them free from their burdens but at first their burdens got heavier And the Lord ordered it so. And so here we have this dark background here, a character, those that labor and are heavy laden. And it may be said, they can't find rest themselves. They seek it, but they can't find it. They can't get relief from the situation that they are in. They can't relieve themselves of the burdens that they feel. They are heavily, heavy laden.

These are those that are described here. We could put it in another way. Those that are described here, this invitation would be a welcome invitation. I may not have described what you are laboring under, why you feel heavy. But if what you are going through has made this invitation and this promise of rest attractive, something that you're drawn to, this is what the Lord does.

It's not the amount of sin. is not how much you labor, is not how heavy laden, but is it enough and is it used by God to make such an invitation and such a promise to be very attractive and very precious to you. Those that have no need of these things will never see it so. A full soul loatheth the honeycomb. Those that have no thirst, when the Lord says, come unto me all ye that thirst, or those that thirst and I will give you drink, they won't come because they have no need of what the Lord has to set before them. The world at large, they have peace, they have prosperity, They have pleasure. They say, well, what has religion to offer us? What has God to offer us? I've got everything I need. The world offers everything.

It's like Esau, very upset when he thought he'd lost his birthright. We had lost it. But what he thought, he lost the blessings that were associated with it. So he's going to kill Jacob, his brother. But 22 or so years later, then he says to his brother, when his brother tries to give him any gifts, I have enough, my brother. He hadn't missed out in his own eyes of those worldly goods, but he hadn't got the Lord, and he hadn't got the blessing of the Lord. But he was satisfied with this world's things. There's a mercy if we're not, and we want something more, want something different. And we have in this world the thorn in the nest, and that which causes us to labor, to be heavy laden.

May the Lord then cause you, cause me, to see our character in the word here. And it may be even that word, pathway that has been so discouraging, the Lord will turn it about and make it encouraging. Cause that you see how even before you have rest, the Lord has turned it about for good. So he's given you a need of him, a need of his promises, a need of the invitations as set before us here. Want to look then at the promise and its fulfillment, I will give you rest. What a beautiful promise that is.

How do we come to the Lord? We come in prayer, we come to his throne, we come asking him, we come just as we are. And the Lord promises this, I will give you rest may we be helped to take hold of this promise and to plead the promise to be like those in hebrews 11 they saw the promises of far off and they embraced them how many times have you embraced the promise and pleaded it before god thou sensed i will give you rest We're going to look at the ways that the Lord is pleased to give that rest.

The first one I mention is in casting our care upon him. In 1 Peter 5 and verse 7, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Here is one with heavy laden, cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee. The words in the Psalms. And in doing so, there is rest. The burden may be still there in the Psalms, that is what is implied, and He shall sustain thee. In other words, we still go through it, we still carry it in measure, but We are being sustained through that burden.

And so that is one way the Lord gives rest, sustaining his people, helping them in prayer to cast their burden upon the Lord, casting their care upon the Lord. Lord, give you, give me rest in this way to enable us to do that. casting it upon him in prayer. Another way the Lord gives rest is to give a resting in the promises of God. All the promises of God are yea and amen in him.

I think it was Bunyan who portrayed his pilgrims in the Castle of Giant Despair. And it was hopeful that found a key. And it was the key of promise. And that was the beginning of their being released. And may it be so this morning. Ones that may be in despair. Ones that locked up. Ones that heavy burden and labouring. The Lord drop in a promise. Drop in a help. from his hand.

There are many promises and blessings in the word of God. One comes to mind from Isaiah 41 verse 10. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. They are beautiful promises. And so that rest and that help is when the Lord drops in such a promise and gives faith to lay hold upon it. And he does that so good. Another way the Lord gives rest is in his knowledge.

Dear Peter, when the Lord appeared to him on the lake after he had risen from the dead, after Peter had denied him, the Lord asked him, Peter, lovest thou me? Three times, gave him three times the charge, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, that Peter each time he resorted to this, Lord Thou knowest. Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee. And when we rest in the knowledge of the Lord, how often there has been such a comfort, such a rest, to be able to say Thou knowest. Thou understandest exactly all what I'm going through, all that's been said, all my burdens, all my trials man doesn't know, man doesn't understand, but thou dost know and thou dost understand. And there's a resting then in the knowledge of the Lord. Then there's a rest in his forgiveness.

Who can forgive sins but God only? They charged at the Lord Jesus Christ. when he forgave the sins of the woman. But he is God, and he can forgive sins. He does forgive sins, and those sins that are stirred up by the things we go through, our many transgressions, our many sins, when the Lord brings a sense of pardon and forgiveness and blots out as a thick cloud our transgressions. that gives rest to a poor soul, forgiveness through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And again, it's that which is given by the Lord, not taken. given, that peace, we look to find our sins, our sins can ne'er be found, then blotter down our transgressions. Then there is also the rest of faith and of trust.

In Psalm 37, a Psalm of David, Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, verily thou shalt be fed. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not thyself because of him who prosperth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. a rest of faith and trust in the Lord. Shall not the God of all the earth do right? Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good unto me.

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. some of the utterances of the people of God, they're able to bow, rest in the Lord, trusting in Him, looking unto Him by precious faith. Then I would add another rest, and that is the rest of physical sleep. We have that in Psalm 127. and verse 2.

Except the Lord, from verse 1, except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh not but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late. to eat the bread of sorrows, for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

And dear Job, in his trials he said that he is full of tossings all the night. And I remember years ago when my own dear mother was dying, and she found the night so very long, and she used to speak of Job. But after she'd passed away, those words of him were very sweet. Infinite day excludes the night and pleasures banish pain. But we need sleep, but often sleep may be taken because of our troubles and trials. Then we get lower and lower, more and more weary, more and more heavy laden.

And so that is a precious promise there. So he giveth his beloved sleep. How could it be that Peter, when he was to be taken and slain with the sword the next day, could be fast asleep in prison? Of course, Peter had been given the promise or told by how he should die, and it wasn't by the sword.

Tamavasu. had this blessing of rest in a natural, physical way, and been thankful for it. And maybe some of you, that's just what you do need, the Lord to give you rest in that way, and if it is given. Don't say, well that wasn't a spiritual blessing and therefore doesn't come from the Lord. No, the Lord gives that natural rest as well. When He does give it, may we bless Him for it.

It's from His hand. And we read in Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 3 of the love of God, to rest in his love. The Lord hath a beard of old unto me, saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. This was another thing with Peter. Yea, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. And how did Peter know that?

We love him because he first loved us. The Lord will never take away the love that he has to his people. Having loved his own, he loved them unto the end. His love is an everlasting love. His love also is one to be understood in the end of Psalm 107. Who so is wise and will understand and observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. And we are to rest in that love. Why a parent might be dealing with a child, may be needing to chastise a child, but that child knows the parent loves the child.

And the Lord loves his people. For them he died. For them he is working and bringing them into a need of his gifts and of the rest that he has to give. And one of the things where he gives that rest. when he sheds abroad in the heart the love of God and that soul can rest in that love. He will rest in his love and the people of God too as well. May the Lord be pleased to bless this word and in his own time and way fulfil this beautiful promise, this invitation. Baby come, come unto me. all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will