We must " sow in tears, if ever we would reap in joy :" we must be heavy-laden with a sense of sin, if ever we would experience the rest which Christ will give*^.]
2. To those who are seeking rest —
[It is indeed a mercy to have an awakened conscience : but you must now guard with earnest and equal care against self-righteous hopes on the one hand, and desponding fears on the other. You may be ready to fear that your burthens are too heavy to be removed, and your sins too great to be forgiven : but the persons, whom Christ invites, are the heavy- laden, yea, all of them without exception, whatever be their burthens, and whatever be their sins. On the other hand, you may be tempted to seek rest in your duties or your frames : but it is Christ alone that ever can bestow it, and from him you must receive it as a free unmerited gift. Endeavour therefore to draw nigh to him in his appointed way ; and be assured that he will draw nigh to you with his promised blessings.]
3. To those who have attained rest and peace —
[A deliverance from fear and trouble, instead of relaxing our obligation to watchfulness, binds us to tenfold diligence in the ways of God. When therefore our Lord invites us to come to him for rest, he adds, " Take my yoke upon you ;" and then repeats the promise, in order to intimate, that a submission to his will is as necessary to our happiness, as an affiance in his name°. Let this then be your daily care. If his yoke were ever so grievous, you could not reasonably hesitate to bear it, since the burthen of sin and misery, that he has removed from you, is infinitely heavier than any other can be. But " his yoke is easy and his burthen is light ;" and the bearing of it will conduce no less to your present, than to your everlasting felicity.]
f Jer. ii. 35, s ver. 29.