The Rest # 2

The Rest # 2

They are now a poor, tried, tempted, and restless people; strangers and pilgrims upon the earth, as all their fathers were.

satan tempts them, sinners try them, fears harass them, Providence perplexes them, and they often cry out, "O that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away and be at rest!"

Believer, let the prospect of this eternal glorious rest, cheer you in toil and trouble! Your work will soon be finished, your trouble will soon come to an end, and then the rest - the glorious rest, remains for you! Let it encourage you to labor and suffer; labor for Jesus, who is preparing the rest for you; suffer in the cause of Jesus, acquiescing in His will, who once suffered for you, and now rests as you will soon.

Think of the Christian believers - what they suffered, and how they suffered; they "joyfully accepted the confiscation of their property, because they knew that they had better and lasting possessions."

Let your Heavenly rest, quicken, your pace homewards! You are going to a rest - a perfect, uninterrupted, and eternal rest; a rest in Heaven, a rest with Jesus, a rest in the presence of your God forever; therefore gird up the loins of your mind, and press on towards the mark, cheered by the prospect at the end of the race.

Remember, Christian, this rest is SECURE, for Jesus has taken possession of it for you. "I am going," said He, "to prepare a place for you." "Where," said the Apostle, alluding to Heaven, "Where the forerunner has for us entered, even Jesus." Yes, Jesus is gone there for you, He has taken possession in your name, He is preparing your place, and will soon come and receive you to Himself!

Remember too, that it is NEAR very near. Perhaps much nearer than you may think.

You may be sighing, sorrowing, striving, wrestling, doubting, fearing, and cast down today - and tomorrow you may be in your Heavenly rest!

Today, you may be lying, like Lazarus, at the rich man's gate, full of sores; tomorrow, you may be in Heaven!

Today, you may be dwelling in Mesech, or in the tents of Kedar; tomorrow, you may be basking in the beams of Immanuel's glory!

Today, you may be on the bed of sickness, suffering, and pain; tomorrow, you may be in the presence of Jesus, where there is no more pain, neither sorrow nor crying!

Who can tell how near we all are to our Heavenly and everlasting rest?

Remember also, that your very trials, toils, and sufferings here on earth, may SWEETEN your rest to you! And that soon, very soon - you may be rejoicing over your present sorrows, and praising God for what now fills you with grief and sadness. Things will look very different there - from what they do here. Never, never forget, then, in your darkness nights, in your most trying days, in the midst of every storm and tempest, when passing over burning sands and under a scorching sky - that there remains a rest for the people of God, and a rest for you!

"Arise and depart; for this is not your resting place, because it is defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy!"

"There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest!"

But, "there is NO REST, says my God, to the wicked!" His soul is restless now, and, dying as he is - he will be restless forever. "And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night!" O think of an eternity of unrest! Think of an eternity of toil, agony, and woe! Think, and so think as to accept and act upon the invitation of Jesus, who is now at this moment saying unto you, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest; take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls!"

~James Smith~

(The End)