A World Wide Welcome

A World Wide Welcome

(No. 3352)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1913.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." Matthew 11:28.

PERHAPS no verse in the whole of Scripture has been handled in the
pulpit more frequently than this, and yet it has not been exhausted and
never can be! It is a great soul-saving text. There are some words of
Scripture which seem to be like special stars in the sky. As the
polestar is conspicuous to the astronomer, so are these salvation
Truths of God to the Evangelist–he is never weary of gazing at them
and pointing to them. The promises that are fitted to give present and
immediate relief to the conscience are stars of the first magnitude and
many sinners have had their attention attracted by them and by them
been directed to the Port of Peace! Upon such a passage as I have
propounded for our sermon tonight, [see exposition at end of sermon] I
shall have nothing new to say. No novelty is required. We only need to
hear the same old Truths–yes, to hear them till they work their way
into our souls, and then to hear them yet again, that our pure minds
may be stirred up by way of remembrance, and that we, feeling their
value, may proclaim them out for the guidance and comfort of others!
Observe first–

I. TO WHOM THE SAVIOR ADDRESSED HIMSELF–all them that "labor and are
heavy laden."

It is not once out of a dozen times that I have ever had the good
fortune to hear this text quoted correctly. It is, "All you that are
weary and heavy laden," according to the modern rendering. But as Jesus
Christ said it, it is, "All you that labor and are heavy laden." I
suppose the alteration has been made in the interests of those who will
not venture upon an invitation to men to come to Christ until they have
got Him–I mean will not tell men to look to Jesus till they virtually
have already experienced all that a look to Jesus is ever likely to
give them! They will insist so much upon the spirituality of the terms
used here that, seeing the words are a little difficult to get over,
they must change them altogether! When our Lord said, "All you that
labor," who is to tell me that I am to trace in the word all them that
spiritually labor? I should be afraid to add to the words of Scripture
and must leave the responsibility with those who do so. Men labor, and
if they labor with their heads, or their brains, or their hearts, in
any form of labor, Christ bids them come to Him for rest. Men bear
great burdens, some of them burdens of care, some burdens of grief,
some burdens of foolish hope–but if they come to Him, being heavy
laden or heavily loaded, He will take their load from them and give
them rest.

From the day of the Fall man has been a laborer and he has been heavily
laden. Into whatever condition man may climb, he cannot altogether
escape that first curse, "In the sweat of your brow shall you eat
bread." If he does not work with his hands, he must, at least, toil
mentally. But if he is idle because he says he has a competency, there
is a something about such a life as that from which a man cannot
escape! Instead of the world getting better in the way of toil and
burden carrying, it is every day getting worse. Why, our forefathers of
the Puritan times were quite easy souls compared with us! When I read
the diaries of some of their lives, I quite envy them. A Puritan
minister, when he dedicated himself to the work of the ministry with
all his heart, was not run upon by the public, hunted up by the postman
and embarrassed with ten thousand of the difficulties which arise out
of our unnatural civilization! Good souls, they sometimes had rest and
walked with God with some degree of ease! But now the world goes by
steam. We have laid down steel rails and all business must run on them.
It is all driving and turmoil from morning till night. You wake up,
some of you, with the sound of the steam whistle in your ears, and you
scarcely can sleep in your beds because of the rumbling of the trains
at your very doors! It is a world of toil, and I believe that it will
go on so–and instead of getting better, the world will in some
respects get worse. It will be a harder struggle to live and a sterner
struggle to live a spiritual life as the world grows gray. Hence, the
words of the Master seem to me to come more fresh tonight than even
when they fell from His

lips, "Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy laden," for we
labor more, now, than men did in His day, and are even more heavily
laden than they were then! Jesus Christ addresses you tonight whose
toils are many and your burdens heavy. Some of you are laboring after
wealth, and if you got it you would find no rest in it. But the
probabilities are that you may never get it and so be disappointed. But
you need rest. Well, come to Him and you shall have it! Some of you,
perhaps, are toiling after learning and the honor which it will bring
you–may you get it! If it is good for you, you may, perhaps, obtain
it. But in all learning there is sorrow–oftentimes the greater the
domain of knowledge, the broader expanse is there in the soul for the
floods of grief to cover. But if your mind needs rest, Jesus bids you
come to Him! Oh you with enlarged ambitions, with grasping desires! Oh
you that are panting and puffing in the race of life, you that are
faint and weary with tugging at the oar of the world's great ship, come
to Him, for He can release you! He can take off the chain from the
galley slave and set you free!

Still, while the text is not exclusively directed to those who
spiritually labor and are spiritually heavy laden, it includes them. Do
I not address some tonight who are laboring hard to establish a
righteousness of their own? Oh, sinful attempt, since God has forbidden
it and declares the effort to be futile! Oh, vain folly, thus to fly in
the face of Eternal Wisdom which declares that "by the works of the Law
there shall no flesh living be justified"! If you are ever to get rest,
you must cease from your own doings and you must come to Christ! Oh,
you that are heavily laden with your sins and feel them like a burden
pressing your heart, bowing you to the ground and crushing you, as it
were, down to the lowest Hell–that burden can never be lifted off your
weary backs except by one hand–and that hand, the pierced hand which
has felt the weight of the burden before! To you that toil, to you that
are bowed down and crushed with the load, Jesus speaks tonight as He
did of old! And He says, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." Now
notice–

II. THE COMMAND OR THE INVITATION–which you will–THAT JESUS GIVES.

It is, "Come unto Me." There never seems to have been any difficulty in
Christ's day in understanding the expression, "Come unto Me." It
exactly struck the Oriental mind–they understood it at once. But
now-a-days thousands ask the question, "What is faith? What is
believing in Jesus? What is coming to Him?" Many convinced souls say,
"If I could walk to Christ, it does not matter how perilous or
fatiguing the journey–I would certainly go! And if He were here,
literally, and I could fall down and kiss His feet, I would certainly
do it."

Understand, then, that the coming here mentioned is not to be taken
literally, but spiritually. It is not a physical coming. We cannot now
come to Christ by the motion of our bodies, nor shall we be able until
He calls us by the sound of the last trumpet. If men had come to Christ
physically when He was on earth, it would not have been of any use to
them, unless by faith they had spiritual contact with Him, for some
drew near to Him with idle curiosity and others with malignant
opposition–yes, there were those who came to Him to crucify Him! They
looked to Him physically as He hung upon the tree, but they were not
saved by such a coming as that! The coming here meant is coming by the
mind, approaching with the heart–a thing of the inner nature, a
spiritual thing! To come to Christ, then, is just this–in one word it
is to accept Him as your Savior–but to spell out that one counsel, let
me trace out the action of the mind in coming. First, you must listen
to His Doctrine. Seek to know, oh, weary ones, what it is that Jesus
teaches! Turn to the record and see who He was, what He was, what was
His commission, what was His message and what were the terms in which
He delivered it, and what was the spirit in which He came to bring it.
In the next place, believe whatever He teaches. Accept as being true
what Christ declares. If He claims to be God, believe Him–accept Him
as such. If He puts Himself down as Prophet, Priest and King, let your
mind jump at it and say, "He shall be my Prophet, my Priest, my King."
Coming to Christ begins in divers ways in the soul. With many it begins
first by hearing of Christ, then by believing with the mind the
testimony that is borne concerning Jesus. But this is not enough. After
having heard and accepted that the witness of Christ is true, the
genuine coming is then to cast your soul, with all its awful interests,
into His hands and trust Him–in fact, to say, "I have no dependence
for life, for death, for eternity, but on the Person and merits of that
Son of God who was born of Mary, who lived a life of holiness, who died
upon the tree, who rose again and whoever lives to make intercession
for us." The simple act of trust–albeit by some it is so much
despised–is the act which saves the soul! The moment a sinner casts
himself flat upon what Christ has done, with no reserve, no holding to
any other hope even with his little finger. The moment he makes himself
to be a bankrupt, gives up all and lives upon the charity of Christ.
The moment he completely takes off his own rags and puts on no garment
but the righteousness of Christ. The moment that he acknowledges
himself to be a black, filthy, condemned–yes, and without Christ–a
condemned sinner! The

moment he feels that and then takes Christ to be his fullness, his
trust, his All-in-All–he has come to Christ! He is saved, he shall
have rest!

But to come to Christ implies a little more than even this, if we would
get the perfection of it and the completeness of the rest which is
promised. When I come to Christ and trust in Him to be my Savior, I am
then to continue to come to Him by following in His footsteps, obeying
His precepts, drinking in His spirit, and serving His cause. Brothers
and Sisters, we are all, as His people, constantly coming to Him! "To
whom coming," says the Apostle, "as unto a living stone"–not, "to whom
we have come, and there is an end of it," but to whom we are always
coming! We are like the country people who do not live by experience of
having gone to the well seven years ago, but they go every day and dip
the pitcher in afresh. We are like in our souls what we are in our
bodies–we do not grow fat and flourishing on the experience of having
eaten a good meal 20 years ago, but it is by daily coming to the table
and continually receiving fresh food for the sustenance of our bodies!
And, Brothers and Sisters, to get perfect peace through Jesus Christ,
there must be a daily, an hourlycoming to Him in constant trust, in
faithful obedience and in holy fellowship, striving to be conformed to
His image. "Come unto Me,"then, says the Savior, "all you that labor
and are heavy laden." He picks out you working men and He says, "Come
and hear what I have got to say. Believe it, accept it, trust it and I
will give you rest." He finds out you merchants who toil so much that
the brain sometimes gives way, and He says, "Now, come. Come to Me and
I will give you rest. You expect to get it when you retire from
business and go to your country house–but even now, if you come to Me,
you shall have a rest that no suburban retreat, no accumulation of
wealth, no immunity from the strain of business can ever give you! I
can make that heart beat at an easier rate. I can cool that hot blood
that is now coursing through your veins at such speed. I can bathe your
spirit in a sleep that shall be like an infant's slumber, soft and
light–and I can do this for you while you are striving to be rich, or
while you are poor, while your losses are great, while your friends are
falling like autumn leaves and while your fears are howling in your
ears like winter's winds! I can give you rest, perfect rest, if you
come to Me." If you come to Him, believe what He says, trust Him
entirely, rest and repose in Him and you shall get for your souls that
Paradise which they so much need, of perfect peace! Having noticed the
persons addressed and the invitation given, let us observe–

III. OUR LORD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE BLESSING WHICH IS TO BE GIVEN TO
SUCH WHEN THEY

COME. "I will give you rest."

The best word in all human language, next to, "God," and "Jesus," is
that word, "rest." Different views of Heaven charm different people. No
doubt Heaven is described under various metaphors so that every
Christian may find some delight appropriate to himself. As for me,
whether it is that I am constitutionally lazy or not, I do not
know–there is no idea of Heaven which charms me like that of being at
perfect rest in Christ Jesus, where–

"Not a wave of trouble rolls

Across the peaceful breast."

This text seems to ring like a marriage bell in one's ears. "Come unto
Me and I will give you rest." Oh, you will not care about it, you who
do not labor, you who are never heavy laden and have got no more burden
than you can carry–you will not care about it–but those who are stuck
in the struggles of life, or that are oppressed with spiritual
grief–they will be the persons who will find the sweetness of it! Yes,
rest for the weary, rest for the toiler, rest for the heavy laden–
this is, indeed, a blessing!

And what is the rest which Jesus gives? Well, it is a spiritualrest
which He bestows upon His people–a rest which rests them throughout,
for when the mind gets rested, the very bodily frame seems to be
sustained. While an agitated mind often brings the body into disease
and lowers it into its grave–Jesus can give such a tonic to the entire
system by the peace which He imparts–that the very lame shall be made
to leap like a hart!

Oh, what a peace this is–the peace which Jesus gives! He gives peace
as to all the guilty memories of the past. These will haunt us. When
the conscience is awakened, our dead sins seem to start up, wearing,
each one, its ceremony, and each sin stands before us like a grim ghost
claiming retribution And the awakened conscience, knowing right well
that the wages of sin is death, becomes alarmed and the man says, "What
must I do to be saved?" As if in your walk tonight there should
suddenly open before you a pit in the very pathway which you were about
to tread–how you would stand amazed and aghast! And then if another
opened behind you, and then on either hand the earth began to rock and
reel, how would you be astounded and dismayed!

Such is the position of a man when conscience is suddenly quickened. He
thought himself to be standing on the solid ground of his own good
works–but suddenly all is gone. No good works appear. Sin is on either
side. Hell is beneath him and the sword of Divine Justice, all
unsheathed, is gleaming above his head! Ah, but Jesus Christ can show
you how sin is forgiven! If you believe Him, He will tell you that He
came into the world to suffer for the sins of all who trust Him–that
He actually did bear all the punishment which was due from the hand of
God to all the sinners who will trust in Him–and that God is so
rigidly just, severely righteous, yet infinitely gracious in the pardon
of those who will trust in Christ!

Nor is it only the fear of the past, but the power of the present, from
which this kindly rest exempts us! A man awakened, longs to escape from
sin. As an iron net, his habits of sin surround him. He tugs and toils
to escape from there, but the more he strives, the more thoroughly is
he enveloped therein. His attempts at reformation from some sin are
often successful, but any attempts to reform our nature and to overcome
our inbred sin made by us in our own strength, must inevitably be a
failure! Sin, indeed, will only become more exceedingly sinful the more
we strive to bridle it unless we cry unto the Strong for strength! How
often has a man said, "I cannot lead a better life. It is no use–you
may exhort me if you please, but see what I have been, how I am tempted
and how my passions drag me this way and that? There is no hope for
me!" But Jesus steps in and says, "Come to Me and I will give you rest.
I can change your nature. I can take away the heart of stone and give
you a heart of flesh. I can give you tendencies and passions of quite
another kind which shall combat with your old proclivities and
ultimately overcome them. I can inspire in you a new hope. I can
breathe into you a new and better life, for I am the Resurrection and
the Life, and he that believes in Me, though he were dead, as you are,
yet shall he live. And as to returning to your old sins, that shall not
be, for he that lives and believes in Me shall never die. I will keep
you and deliver you from the power of sin and Satan, and you shall be
Mine even till life's end." Thus peace is given to us, both as to the
guilt and as to the power of sin!

But this is not all! Jesus can give peace and does give peace to all
who come to Him as to the cares of this world. The righteous have their
troubles. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." But there is a
sacred art which Jesus teaches, which enables the Christian to rejoice
in tribulation and to triumph in the midst of distress! Some of the
happiest moments that God's people have ever had have been when neither
sun nor moon appeared and when in the darkness they crept into the
bosom of Jesus and nestled there! We are not dependent upon outward
circumstances when faith is in exercise. Jesus shows us that His love
is faithful, eternal, immutable love–and immediately we kiss the
smiting hand and love it as well as the giving hand. Oh, you that are
now the poor slaves of your daily cares, how happy would you be if you
came to Jesus and trusted in Him! The cage would grow no larger. The
income might become no richer. You might still be among the poor and
the laboring ones, but you would have a rest in your condition, a
satisfaction in your state which would make it better, though it
changed it not! For it is all one to a man to have his estate brought
up to his mind, or to have his mind brought down to his estate. It
matters not, as long as he is content! It all comes to the same end and
Christ, by a Divine baptism of His love, bathing us, covering us
completely in the floods of His Divine Grace can give us, as to the
cares of this world, a perfect rest!

And, my Brothers and Sisters, if we come to Christ, we shall likewise
get rest as to our desires. Thoughtful men find it difficult to rest.
They go from one theory to another. When they think they have nestled
for a while, a new difficulty comes and scares them from it. But he
that believes in the Son of God has something upon which his mind may
stand most stably, for as well is the teaching of Christ the most
reasonable as it is also the most spiritual of doctrines! He that gets
to know Christ, gets a fixed leverage for his soul on which to stand
fast–let the world whirl as it may!

He that gets Christ gets rest for his affections as well as for his
understanding. The affections need something to love. We are always
idolizing something or other, but those things either get broken in
pieces, or else turn out to be our enemies. But he that gets the love
of Jesus Christ supremely rests in his heart and he can sing–

"Now rest, my long-divided heart! Fixed on this blissful center, rest."

As I have already shown you, the conscience rests, so the understanding
rests, the judgment rests, the affections rest and the whole powers of
the man come to rest, even his desires–those insatiable things–those
horse-leeches–those greedy, all-devouring things–these, too, are full
when the man gets Christ, for he can then say–

"All my capacious powers can wish, In You most richly meet–

Nor to my eyes is light so dear, Nor friendship half so sweet."

Yes, it is a perfect rest to every faculty of our nature that Jesus
Christ gives us when we come to Him!

And what, after all, is that portion of the rest which we see and
experience here when compared with the fullness of which we shall enjoy
hereafter? ' 'Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. When the world passes away and all the fashion,
thereof. When the pulse grows faint and few. When the eyes are glazing.
When the eternal world begins to dawn upon the disembodied spirit, I
will give you rest–rest when the elements dissolve with fervent heat,
rest when the trumpet grows exceedingly loud and long and the dead
arise from their graves–rest when the Great White Throne is set and
the books are opened–when the dividing Voice separates the sheep from
the goats! I will give you rest when Hell opens and the guilty descend
to their doom. Rest while their smoke goes up forever and ever, and the
vengeance of Almighty God is seen in the overthrow of all His enemies!
I will give you rest–rest in the Father's bosom–rest at the right
hand of God, rest in eternal union with Jesus, rest with the palm
branch and the harp–rest in the everlasting vision of the blessed Son
of God who is your trust and your all." Ah, Brothers and Sisters, what
a rest is that–

"To which our laboring soul aspires, With ardent pangs and strong
desires!"

It will be a rest from all sin! A rest from all temptation to sin! A
rest from all painful memories about sin! A rest from all watchfulness
against sin, from all liabilities of ever being led into it! A rest
from secret sins, a rest from inbred sins, a total rest from every form
of evil! It will be a rest from all the molestations of doubt and fear.
A rest from every questioning as to our state before God! A rest from
all the uprisings of natural depravity from an evil heart of unbelief.
A rest from the attacks of Satan, the assaults of men without and of
fiends from beneath–a rest, too, from daily toils–no more those hands
to be rough with labor and that brow to be wet with sweat–no more the
head to ache with thought and the heart to throb with dismay! A perfect
rest from every species of toil that can bring distress, though we
shall serve Him day and night in His Temple. It will be a rest from all
care–no thoughts of those children and their little waywardnesses, no
thoughts about the house and how to provide things honest in the sight
of all men! A rest altogether from the engagements of the city and from
the labors of the field! A rest completely from the toils which are
allotted to the sons of men in this vale of tears. Oh, blessed rest! A
rest from pain. A rest from death. A rest from fear. A rest with God. A
rest, an eternal rest, which remains for the people of God!

And this is for you, laboring and heavy laden one! This is for you, son
of poverty! For you, daughter of sorrow! This is for the inmate of the
poorhouse, the dweller in the alms room. This is for the crossing
sweeper, this is for the toiling artisan. This is for the burdened
merchant. This is for the care-worn statesman. This is for the minister
who serves his Master till he is weary in his work! This is for us all
if we have, by the Holy Spirit, through Divine Grace, been led to come
to Jesus! That is the point. Do you believe on the Son of God? Dear
Hearer, do you believe Jesus to have been God's Son, and to have died
as the Substitute for sinners? And will you trust in Him as such,
wholly and only? Will you venture on Him, and venture on Him now? If
so, here is His promise, "He that believes and is baptized shall be
saved." If you believe Him, you shall have salvation now! Obey Him! Be
baptized as He commands you, and you shall thus have the blessing which
God gives to all who trust in the slain Lamb of God!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: JOHN61-41.

Verses 1-5. After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee,
which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed Him,
because they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased.
And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near When Jesus then lifted
up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him. They had been
hearing Him all day and He had withdrawn a little from them, but they
pursued Him up the hill–and I doubt not that as they toiled up the
hill, they showed their faintness and their weariness which led the
Savior to see how much they needed refreshment.

5-7. He said unto Philip, Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
And this He said toprove him: for He, Himself, knew what He would do.
Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient
for them, that every one of them may take a little. Men's calculations
concerning Divine things generally terminate in a deficit. Two hundred
pennyworth is not sufficient. But Christ's calculations always
terminate in a credit balance, as we shall see. "Gather up the
fragments that remain, that nothing may be lost." We, at our best, fall
short of the mark. Our blessed Master not only does enough, but in His
House there is bread enough and to spare!

8-10. One ofHis disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said unto
Him, There is a ladhere, who has five barley loaves: and two small
fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men
sit down–Or lie down, as it is, for they were accustomed to do that at
feasts, and Christ would have them take their ease as well as enjoy
their refreshment. "Make the men recline."

10. Now there was much grass in the place. So it was a splendid dining
room! It was luxuriously carpeted! We learn from this that it was the
Eastern spring time, for there is not much grass otherwise. And there
was, therefore, in Christ's banqueting hall, a blue ceiling and a floor
of green grass! What more could they need except the food?

10-11. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus
took the loaves–Common, coarse loaves of barley, not much esteemed,
even then, as food.

11. And when He had given thanks. Though out of doors and "in the
rough," as we say, He did not forget that! I know some that fall to
their meals like so many swine–and have not as much grace as chickens,
that are sure to lift their heads whenever they take a drink, as if to
bless God for every drop they receive! This gracious habit is going out
of fashion among them.

11. He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that
were set down–Or reclining.

11. And likewise of the fishes as much as they would. That is always
one of the rules of Christ's feasting–as much as they would. According
to your appetite, according to your will, according to your faith, so
be it unto you!

12. When they were filled–Had all they could desire.

12. He said unto His disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain,
that nothing be lost. Economy in the midst of bounty! However much we
have, we are never warranted in wasting a single crumb! They had as
much as they would, but they were not allowed to throw away the
fragments.

13-14. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets
with the fragments ofthe five barley loaves, which remained over and
above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the
miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet that
should come into the world. Men are often convinced by the argument of
selfishness. They had been fed and now they believed. But faith that
depends upon a full stomach will despair when they get hungry again!
Always beware of that religion which is in dependence upon loaves and
fishes. You know how it was with the children of Israel–

"Now they believed the Word, While rocks with rivers flow, Then with
their sins they grieved the Lord, And He did bring them low."

Oh, but we must not have a faith that depends upon what it can see, and
upon what it can eat, and what it can drink! Oh, for the confidence in
the blessed Person of the Lord, and in the spiritual riches which He
can communicate!

15. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by
force, to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain, Himself,
alone. What? Could He not have used His kingship for the best of
purposes? Might He not easily have routed the Romans, restored Israel
to all her glory, conquered the Gentiles, subdued the world and set up
a glorious Church and state with Himself for the King, and Himself as
the Head of the Church? Ah, that has been the idol of a great many and,
like a will-o'-the-wisp, it has led many of the true people of God into
bogs and sloughs where they were likely to be lost. But our Master knew
better than this and was not to be tempted away from the true method by
which His Church is to be set up in the world. Therefore, "He departed
again into a mountain, Himself, alone."

16-17. And when evening was now come, His disciples went down unto the
sea and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.
And it was dark, and Jesus was not come to them. That is a sentence
that I should think some very gloomy people might hang upon–and about
which they might groan in unison, "It was now dark, and Jesus

was not come to them." Have you never been in that condition? Dark,
dark, dark, as to circumstances and as to feelings, and Jesus was not
come to them. Now, something comes beside that.

18. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. Misfortunes
never come alone. An absent Savior, a roaring sea and a bellowing wind!
What will they do now?

19. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs,
they saw Jesus. Here He is! Here is the first of their blessings. The
first mischief is removed and the rest will soon go. They see Jesus!

19. Walking on the sea. Oh, what a sight! A grander sight than to see
Him on the land! And it is a more glorious sight to see Christ in the
time of trouble than it is in the time of prosperity. He is always
sweet, but He is more marvelous when they see Jesus walking on the sea.

19. And drawing near unto the ship: and they were afraid. Afraid of
their best Friend–trembling at their Deliverer!

20. But He said to them, It is I. Do not be afraid

21. Then they willingly received Him into the ship: and immediately the
ship was at the land where they went. The sea and the winds knew how
not only to spare the vessel, but to carry it instantaneously to the
place where they wished to be! But how often have you and I been rowing
about, 25 or 30 furlongs, and we did not seem to be getting out of the
storm at all? But the moment Christ has come, we have been where we
wished to be! Oh, glory be to His name–there is no difficulty that you
can be in, dear Friends, but Christ can get you out of it in a moment
and bring you where you should be!

22-24. The following day, when thepeople which stood on the other side
ofthe sea saw that there was no other boat there, save that one where
into His disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with His
disciples into the boat, but that His disciples were gone away alone
(Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias near unto the place where
they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks). When the
people therefore sa w that Jesus was not there, neither His disciples,
they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. Was
not that a pleasant sight? So it seemed, but it was not. "Seeking for
Jesus." That is a good description of a man–seeking for Jesus. Yes,
but they were only seeking for more bread! They looked at Him as a
bread giver–and they were after Him for that.

25. And when they had found Him on the other side ofthe sea, they said
unto Him, Rabbi, when did You come here? They could not understand how
He could have got there. Jesus answered them and did not answer them.
Some of Christ's answers are evidently no answers at all. That is very
often the best answer you can give.

26. Jesus answered them and said– What? Did He explain to them how 'He
got there? No, He would not gratify their curiosity. He came not for
that end. He therefore gave them a home stroke and said–

26. Verily, verily, I say unto you, You seek Me not because you saw the
miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled. You
are loafers–loaf-hunters. You seek not Me, but Mine. It is not for the
good that I can give your souls, but it is that you may have another
meal, that you are here. Yours is cupboard love. You come after what
you can get.

27. Labor not for the meat which perished, but for that meat which
endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you: for Him has God the Father sealed. Now, do you understand what
Jesus meant? Seek after that which will feed your souls. Do not hunt so
much after bread for the body. Yet the Savior puts it very curiously.
This is a double-shotted perplexity–a singular, curious kind of word.
You are not to labor for that which you cannot get without labor and
you are to labor for that which you cannot get by labor! The Savior
liked to put things in that sententious way, so that they might
remember what He said. If they misunderstood Him, it was their own
fault, for it is plain enough. God grant us Grace to practice the
meaning of these words! Why are you so eager to get a bit of barley
bread and a fish? Oh, that you were half as eager to come and get the
Bread which comes from Heaven which will make a man live forever and
which will be food to him as long as he lives!

28. 29. Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work
the works ofGod? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work
ofGod–The chief work, the greatest work which you can do!

29. That you believe on Him whom He has sent. This is the point. You
would like Me to work miracles. You would be glad to have a very
wonderful, mysterious experience, but this is the thing you ought to
seek after–the grandest, greatest thing that you can have–"that you
believe on Him whom He has sent."

30. They said therefore unto Him, What sign show You, then, that we may
see and believe You? What do You work? Are you not wonderfully struck
with the patience of Jesus? These people had seen His miracles and they
had eaten loaves and fishes, and yet they say to Him, "What sign show
You, then, that we may see and believe You?" Oh, the matchless patience
of the Lord and the marvelous provocations of men!

31. Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave
them bread from Heaven to eat. They plainly hinted that they wanted
more food.

32-34. Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses
gave you not that bread from Heaven; but My Father gives you the true
bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from
Heaven, and gives life unto the world. Then they said unto Him, Lord,
evermore give us this bread. Not understanding Him and praying still
for bread, but not far Grace.

35-37. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread oflife. He that comes
to Me shall never hunger. And he that believes on Me shall never
thirst. But I say unto you, That you also have seen Me, but believe
not. All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me and him that comes
to Me, I will in no wise cast out. What a striking Truth of God that
was, with which to reply to them! You only come after Me for bread, but
you do not come after spiritual things. You do not believe in Me. But,
even if you do not, I shall not be disappointed, and My work will not
fail. God has an election of Grace and that election shall be carried
out. "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me." And then, as if
to cheer them up again, He says, "Him that comes to Me I will in no
wise cast out."

38-41. For I came down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will
of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father's will which has sent Me,
that of all which He has given Me, I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent Me, that everyone which sees the Son, and believes on Him, may
have everlasting fife: and I will raise him up at the last day. The
Jews then murmured at Him, because He said, I am the bread which came
down from Heaven. And there you see Christ has got no farther with them
but to leave them murmuring! And I believe that often the true minister
of God must expect to see no other result come of faithful testimony
than for the people to murmur at him. But what if it is so? Will his
Master blame him? No. No more than He blamed the Only-Begotten. It must
be so that there may be a separation between the precious and the
vile–that God's chosen may be drawn out! While such as believe not
shall be judged and, in their own consciences, shall be condemned.