Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and
ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light
(Matthew 11:28-30 KJV).
(I)
Rev. Herman Hoeksema
[Source: The Gospel, Or, The Most
Recent Attack Against the Truth of Sovereign Grace, pp. 119-122]
Under discussion here is especially the first verse of
this section. [It is often thought] that we may not here limit “ye that labor
and are heavy laden,” but that this refers to all men without distinction.
Now we may remark, first of all, that even though we
would concede to [this opinion] that the laboring
and heavy laden mentioned in the text are all men, [the general, well-meant
offer advocate] would still be not one step farther with his proof for a
general offer. The case is simply this . . . there is in this text not only no
general offer, but no offer whatsoever. What we have [here] . . . is a calling
and a promise; and the promise is not to all without distinction, but only to
those who heed and obey the calling. The calling is: "Come unto me!"
The promise is: "I will give you rest." If therefore we cast the text
in the form of a dogmatic declaration, then we get this: Christ promises all
who come to Him rest of soul. Thus the Canons
have it also, in head 3/4, article 8.
. . . [The] promise pertains only to those who come to
Christ. And this coming to Christ is an act of faith. Coming to Jesus is by no
means as simple as it is presented to be in many Methodistic revival meetings and
in street preaching, or as it is presented to be in many corrupt hymns. It implies,
in the first place, that he who comes to Jesus has knowledge, spiritual knowledge,
of his own sin and misery, and has come to acknowledge before the Lord that all
his righteousnesses are filthy rags, so that his own works cannot serve as righteousness
before God. He is lost in himself. He is a poor sinner. He is empty. There is
in him no righteousness and holiness, no wisdom and no knowledge; nothing but
guilt and sin and corruption, nothing but foolishness and darkness and enmity against
God. It implies, in the second place, that he has learned to know Christ in all
the fullness of His salvation, of righteousness and holiness, of wisdom and
knowledge of God, and complete redemption: has learned to know not merely in
the sense of knowing about Him, but in the spiritual sense, which becomes
manifest in the longing to possess Him, in order that His fullness may fill his
own emptiness. All that is of Christ has become altogether desirable. This
coming to Jesus includes, in the third place, that one completely casts away
his own work, in order to cast himself at the feet of the Savior, trusting only
in His suffering and death and resurrection, with the plea, "Be merciful
to me, a sinner!" And it implies, in the fourth place, finally, that a man
embraces Him through faith, becomes conscious that he belongs to Him, and now
is a partaker of all His benefits.
Now to those who thus come to Jesus, in order to abandon
themselves upon Him alone, the Savior promises rest: rest of soul, consisting
in this, that the soul enters into the finished work that has come to light
through the resurrection of Christ and the everlasting rest that remaineth for
the people of God. And thus understood, [it can no longer be maintained] that
we have here a general offer of grace and salvation, but . . . that we have to
do with a very particular promise. . . . [The] Savior Himself very plainly
teaches us that those who come are the elect. For: "All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out." And also: "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto
me, except it were given unto him of my Father" (John 6:37, 65). And
again: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw
him" (v. 34). [If we wish] to explain Scripture in its own light, . . . simply
bring these words of the Savior in connection with Matthew 11:28, and [it can
be seen that the] assertion that we have in the latter passage a general offer
of grace and salvation is not valid. The Savior promises rest. To whom? To
those who come to Him. Who are those who come to Him? They who are given Him by
the Father, they who are drawn by the Father. And who are drawn by the Father?
The elect. There is no escaping it. Also Matthew 11:28 is thoroughly
particular. And the particular character of the text does not for a moment
depend upon a certain explanation of ‘laboring and heavy laden.’ . . .
Furthermore, we do not concede . . . that “laboring and
heavy laden” are all men. And we also deem it important that the text should
not be explained in that general sense, because precisely those to whom the
promise pertains would lose the comfort and encouragement which is in this word
for them, through such an explanation. And this may not be. The bread of the
children may not be cast before the dogs. [We are placed before the following
question]: in what sense does the Savior mean laboring and heavy laden here?
Someone can be weary and heavy laden in the physical sense of the word. . . Men
can also be weary of soul in the natural sense of the word. They can be bowed
down under the burdens of life, burdens of every sort. And also such men are
not meant by the Savior. About this there is no dispute. No; this weariness
belongs to the same category as the rest which the Savior promises. And
therefore it must be understood in the spiritual sense. There are men who are
weary because they seek after righteousness, but can find nothing else but sin.
Men who say of their sins that as a heavy burden they are too heavy to them.
And this can simply not be said of all men. Although therefore we freely
concede that there are all sorts of burdens borne, also all sorts of weariness
in the world and that apart from the text under discussion it certainly can be
said that all men are weary and heavy laden, nevertheless we maintain that they
are not weary and heavy laden in the sense in which the Savior promises them
rest, that is, in the true spiritual sense of the word. Although therefore this
call of the Savior indeed comes to all who hear the Gospel, nevertheless every
hearer of this call demonstrates by coming or not coming whether he is weary of
sin or whether he loves sin. Through the calling separation comes about. And
through the calling the Savior mentions His own by name. They come and receive
the rest which remains for the people of God.
Finally, this altogether particular character of the text
is very plainly confirmed by both the broader and the immediate context. In the
broader context the Savior speaks of two sons of men from the viewpoint of
their attitude over against the preaching of the kingdom of heaven. The one
class is the violent, who since the days of John the Baptist already take the kingdom
of heaven by force. It makes no difference to them who proclaim the gospel of
the kingdom. They certainly enter in. They have waited long for that kingdom.
And now John proclaims that it is at hand, and as it were through his preaching
sets the door of that kingdom ajar and they press to enter in. And also when
Jesus comes and proclaims the same Gospel, they manifest themselves as the same
violent who are desirous to enter in. But over against that spiritually strong
generation there is also another generation which the Savior compares with
children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows: "We have
piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have
not lamented." They always stand wrong over against the kingdom of heaven
and never enter in. They always find an excuse for their refusal to enter in.
In the case of John they piped, and wanted him to dance; but John the Baptist
was a Nazarite and could not dance. He came neither eating nor drinking. And
when John did not dance to their piping, they said of him that he had a devil.
Who can endure it in the desert, with locusts and wild honey? But then came
Jesus, Who was no Nazarite, Who could not be conquered by the world, but came
in order to overcome the world, Who therefore came eating and drinking. But
when He came, they mourned unto Him and wanted Him to lament. And when Jesus
continued to eat and to drink, they said of Him that He was a glutton and a
wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. Meanwhile, neither upon the
preaching of John, nor at that of Jesus, did they enter in. And then follows
the pronouncement of judgment upon that miserable generation as it came to
manifestation especially under the preaching of Jesus and under His many works
at Capernaum, at Chorazin, and at Bethsaida. And as far as the immediate
context is concerned, there the Savior resumes as it were that twofold effect
of His preaching, revealing and hiding, and with it turns in thanksgiving to
the Father, to Whom He ascribes that twofold fruit. It is all according to the
good pleasure of the Father: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." In
the light of this context, Heyns will grant me, the very possibility of
suddenly thinking in verse 28 of a general, well-meant offer of grace and
salvation fails.
---------------------------------------------------
(II)
Prof. Herman Hanko
"In this
text," asks a reader, "is Jesus inviting us or commanding us to come
to Him?"
The text in question is
often (though wrongly) cited by the defenders of a gracious and well-meant
gospel offer to everybody. Jesus’ words are interpreted to mean that Christ is
inviting all men to come to Him. The text, then, is not a command, but an
invitation. It is an invitation in which Christ graciously expresses His desire
that all men head for head will come to Him to receive salvation. That
interpretation teaches that, because the text is an invitation, the coming to
Christ is the work of man who chooses to come. An invitation can be accepted or
rejected, after all.
The gracious and
well-meant gospel offer is contrary to Scripture. Jesus is most emphatically
not inviting all men to come to Him. He has just prayed to His Father, "I
thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so,
Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight" (vv. 25-26). Is it even
remotely possible that Jesus would thank God for hiding the truth from some and
revealing it to others and then turn around and beg every man to come to Him? A
man is not thinking straight if he talks that kind of language.
Moreover, after
concluding this prayer to His Father, Jesus goes on to say, "All things
are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father;
neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will [i.e., desires to] reveal him" (v. 27).
Jesus makes it
abundantly clear that while it is God’s will to hide spiritual truths from the
wise and reveal these same truths unto babes, He, who alone knows the Father,
is commissioned to accomplish His Father’s will. Those who teach a gracious and
well-meant offer want us to believe that Christ, who carries out the will of
His Father in hiding and revealing, now suddenly turns around and tells
everyone to whom He preaches that both He and God earnestly desire that
everyone head for head be saved.
It is preposterous! Nor
will it help to scurry away from the text and hide behind the bush of "apparent
contradiction." That is a coward’s escape.
No wonder Jesus tells
the multitude in Capernaum, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to
me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).
Christ assures His disciples and all who hear Him that all the elect, given Him
by the Father, will and do, in fact, come to Him. Therefore, not only is it
certain that all the elect will come to Him, but it is also certain that only
the elect will come to Him; no one else. Is it not, therefore, preposterous to
say that Jesus, in spite of this fact, still pleads with everyone to come to
Him? It will not work to take refuge in the crumbling tower of "apparent
contradiction."
Nor does Scripture
leave room for man’s free will, something the defenders of the well-meant offer
cunningly do. Christ says, "No man can come to me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John
6:44).
There is no safety from
the clear words of Scripture in the lame excuse of "apparent
contradiction." Nor does the arrow, shot from a broken bow, hit anything
by calling those who deny this "apparent contradiction" and the
gracious well-meant offer "rationalists." Name-calling can never
successfully defend the lie.
Matthew 11:28 is a
beautiful text. Briefly, its beauty lies in the fact that Jesus is not calling
all men, but only His beloved people. Those who "labour and are heavy
laden" are, in the first instance, those, still in the old dispensation,
who heard the demands of the law and knew in their hearts they could not keep
that law. The law had become to them a burden too great to bear and it
confronted them with an obligation that they knew they could never accomplish.
Jesus words are
beautiful: "In the law there is no peace and the burden to keep it is too
great to carry. Come to Me; My yoke is easy and My burden light." It is
the call to every sin-crushed sinner, whether Jew or Gentile, whether in the
first or twenty-first century, who has tried to save himself, but finds God’s
demand forever beyond him.
Those who know this are
those who are given to Christ by God, that is, the elect. The Spirit of Christ
has begun His work, for the only way to Christ is the way of sorrow for sin,
shame that fills the soul of the child of God with horror, and a deep longing
to escape the consequences of not doing what he knows he must do, but cannot.
Is this an invitation
of Christ? Well, only if you understand that an invitation from the King of
kings comes as a command. An invitation to a birthday party of a friend you may
accept or reject. An invitation from the Lord of heaven and earth is a command
that you had better obey—or lose your life!
It is, therefore, a
command, without doubt. But it is couched in a way that, in the Lord’s command
to come to Him with the burden of sin, He speaks tenderly and with infinite
love, for He woos God’s elect to Him by sweet words. He knows how great the
burden of the sin of His people can be. He knows how, crushed beneath their
sin, they wonder whether God can possibly ever receive them. He knows that they
are so ashamed that to come to Christ seems a boldness too great for an
unworthy sinner.
The words are
calculated to give us courage, courage in Christ’s love for us, a love that is
too great for us to comprehend. The Lord does not say to you and me, "Come
to Me—or else." His voice is not harsh and threatening. He comes in His
love for poor, chastised, frightened sinners who know their sins make them
unworthy even for Christ to take a quick glance in their direction. "Come
to Me ... I fulfilled the law for you who cannot keep it. I will give you
rest—rest in salvation by grace alone!"
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(III)
Rev. Herman Hoeksema
"[The natural man]
is weary, to be sure, but not of sin. He is weary of unrest, of war, of
destruction, of bloodshed, of sickness, of sorrow, of death. And he labors and
toils to improve his condition, to establish peace and happiness, to make a
better world. But he does not acknowledge that his burden is his sin, and that
all his unrest finds its cause in the fact that he has forsaken God. He does
not want to cease from sin. He does not seek after God. He seeks rest in the
sphere of sin. Speaking beautiful words of peace, he makes war, boasting of
righteousness he hates the righteousness of God, claiming to labor for a better
world, he destroys it. And he does not will to enter into the rest of God, and
to come to Christ.
But [in Matthew 11:28]
Christ speaks: Come! And when *He* speaks, who can still resist? Ah, when I
speak, when mere man speaks, when a preacher begs and calls and persuades, it
is of no avail. You hear with the natural ear, you see with your natural eye,
you understand the meaning of the gospel, but you refuse to come, you reject
the Christ, you only prove that you are blind, and deaf, and very corrupt, and
aggravate your guilt. But Christ speaks! He that once stood at the open grave
of Lazarus, calling: "Lazarus, come forth," and he came out, speaks.
He speaks by his Spirit and Word. And through the power of His almighty Word
you receive eyes to see, ears to hear, an enlightened understanding to know
your misery, the longing to be delivered and to enter into the rest of God, the
will to come to Christ!"
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(IV)
Rev. Herman Hoeksema
If
I preach in my congregation: I promise ten dollars to all who have no work and
are in need, if they come to me, then that is a general proclamation of a
particular promise. The proclamation is general, the promise is particular. It
is a particular offer. . . . When God says: To all those who labor and are
heavy laden, who come to Me, I will give rest, then that is indeed a general
proclamation, but the promise is particular. . . . And since it is God Himself
who must work the true labouring . . . it is as plain as day that all these
passages basically concern only the elect.
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(V)
More to come! (DV)
Amen. Matt. 11:28-30 is a perfect blend of commands, sure promises & blessed facts to Christ's beloved elect:
ReplyDelete28 Come unto me, (Command.)
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, (Fact.)
and I will give you rest. (Promise!)
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; (Commands.)
for I am meek and lowly in heart: (Fact.)
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Promise!)
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Facts & Promise!)