Chapter 24: Of the Rest Promised by Christ in General: And That There Is No Rest for a Soul Outside
love their own salvation too much. Nowhere does the Word of God say that coming to Christ for the purpose of being saved is a sign of hypocrisy. Since Scripture does not present this as the mark of a hypocrite, let us not allow this temptation to hinder us from coming to Christ. If your heart seeks rest in coming to Christ, then come to Him, that you may find rest.
And thus, we conclude this note from the connection of the promise:
Come to Christ for rest.
Chapter 24 Of the Rest Promised by Christ in General: And That There Is No Rest for a Soul Outside of Jesus Christ Now, let us consider the promise itself. We read in Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn," etc. This is a prophecy of Christ, and in this text, we see the prophecy fulfilled. Christ has come here to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to open the prison for those who are bound. All this is encompassed in the promise, "I will give you rest."
Rest is what all creatures in the world desire. The end of all motion is rest, as philosophers say; the end of motion is stillness. This is the end of all movement, whatever it may be. If the creature were where it desired to be, and had what it wished to possess, it would then have rest. Why does the fire ascend upward? Because its proper place is above. Why does the earth, along with all heavy things, fall downward? Because their proper place is below. But once these elements are in their rightful places, they are at rest.
So it is with the rational creature. When the rational creature is in its proper place—where an immortal soul belongs—and when an immortal soul's capacity is filled with what it was made to receive, it then finds rest. This is the rest that Christ promises in the text, "I will give you rest." This means that if you come to Christ, you will, first, be delivered from all your burdens and miseries. Second, you will be where you long to be and will have what you desire. This promise, therefore, contains freedom from all evil and the enjoyment of all good. There can be no rest until there is both a freedom from evil and the enjoyment of good. This, in general, is the meaning of the promise, "I will give you rest."
There is a significant difference between the rest Christ promises and the rest that people seek in the world. We read about the rich fool in Luke 12, who said to himself, "Soul, take your ease." The word translated "ease" in that passage is the same word for "rest" found in our text. He said, "Soul, take your ease," because he had stored up goods for many years. Now, notice the difference between the rest sought by a worldly person and the rest found by a Christian. A worldly person says, "Soul, take your ease, for you have food, drink, and goods stored up." But the rest of a Christian comes from the words of Christ: "Come to me, and I will give you rest." A Christian's rest is in the Son of God, the Mediator of the second covenant, the
one who brings the soul to the Father and delivers all the treasures and riches of the Father's grace to the soul. The worldly person's rest, by contrast, is only in food, drink, and other material things, as we shall explore more later. This is the general sense of the passage.
In this promise of Christ, there are two things to consider: one implied and one expressed.
The implied point is this: There is no rest for the souls of men and women outside of Jesus Christ. This is plainly implied in the words,
"Come to me, and I will give you rest." The implication is clear: There is no rest for an immortal soul outside of Jesus Christ.
The expressed point is this: As soon as the soul comes to be united with Jesus Christ, it will find true rest. There is full rest to be found in Christ.
Let us begin with the first point—that outside of Jesus Christ, there is no rest for the soul. We read about the dove that Noah sent out when the ark was floating on the water. In Genesis 8:8-9, when Noah sent out the dove, it flew back and forth, but found no place to rest its feet, so it returned to the ark. This is like the soul that is not in Christ. The ark is a type of Christ. The soul may wander here and there in the world, but there is nothing on which it can rest apart from Christ. When Noah sent out the raven, however, it did not return, because it found rest. The difference between the dove and the raven vividly illustrates the difference between those souls whom
God intends to bless in Christ and those He leaves to their portion in the world. The people of this world, whom God intends no higher good than the things of this life, are like the raven, flitting around the world but never returning to the ark, never coming to Christ. On the other hand, those whom God intends to bless, though they may wander for a time, will ultimately find no rest or peace until they
come to Jesus Christ. Nothing in this world will satisfy them. The Lord will make them aware of their emptiness and their lack of the good that their souls were made for, driving them to seek rest in Christ alone.
There is a Scripture or two that is very noteworthy. I could name many, but I will be content with just one or two. The passage in Isaiah will suffice if I name no more. It is found in the 57th chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah, in the last two verses. There you will see a description of all men who are outside of Christ, showing that they have no rest. Verse 20 says: "But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." Then in verse 21: "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." Or, as we might say, there is no rest for the wicked, says my God.
Those of you who are sailors know what a troubled sea looks like.
When the sea is disturbed, it throws up mud and dirt. Likewise, a wicked man's heart is like the troubled sea; it casts up mire and dirt.
Just as the sea, when most disturbed, brings forth the most filth, so it is with wicked men. When they are most troubled, they cast forth the greatest wickedness.
Sometimes, as you may have observed, when people are caught in a storm at sea, instead of seeking God and praying, they begin cursing, swearing, and raging, making their hearts more troubled than the sea itself. Their troubled hearts cast out more filth and dirt than the sea ever could. Even if they are not at sea but on land, those without peace in Christ are troubled by everything—whether it be their families or their neighbours—and they respond with nothing but mire and dirt: oaths, swearing, and blasphemy. How often do these things pour out of the mouths of wicked men when they are upset or frustrated?
When you see a husband or wife in a fit of anger, swearing, cursing, railing, or blaspheming, remember this text from Isaiah 57:20: "The wicked are like the troubled sea, casting forth mire and dirt." Oh, that you would remember and apply this to your own hearts! Ask yourself, "Is this the condition of my heart?" I fear that many will find their consciences testifying to them that this verse accurately describes their hearts. Their consciences will tell them that when they are troubled, they cast forth mire and dirt. Oh, how much filth and dirt have many cast out in times of trouble!
Now, may the Lord imprint this Scripture on your hearts, for it is the Lord who says it is the wicked man or woman, when troubled, who casts forth this mire and dirt. But the main point I want to focus on is found in the next verse, Isaiah 57:21: "There is no peace," says my
God, "for the wicked." No peace, no rest—this is the truth that applies to all men and women outside of Jesus Christ. There is no peace, no rest for their souls.
As God denies all kinds of rest to such a person, notice the emphasis:
"says my God." It is God who says it. It is as if the prophet is saying, "I am preaching to you about the restless condition you are in, remaining in your natural state, unconverted to God. As I speak of this, you may find it to be a sad message. You may think, 'The prophet is telling us that there is no rest, no peace.' But it is not I who say this—it is my God who says it." God declares this about every ungodly man and woman: there is no peace, no rest for such a person. Even if there were no war in the world, even if everything seemed peaceful externally, there would still be no peace for the wicked, no rest for their souls. I will demonstrate this more clearly later, that no matter how peaceful a wicked person's life may seem, there is no true rest or peace for them.
Further, observe the significance of this: "There is no peace," says my God. It is not the prophet speaking, but God Himself. This teaches us that when any minister of God preaches something that is hard for us to hear, we must remember that it is not merely their words, but God's. God speaks through them, and He will fulfil what He says according to His Word. God says, "There is no peace."
Furthermore, the passage says, "There is no peace," says my God.
Many may try to flatter you, claiming that there is peace, and accuse the ministers of the gospel of disturbing people's consciences unnecessarily. They might say, "What is all the fuss about? Why make so much of a stir? The prophets only trouble people. Isn't God merciful? Don't we all have our weaknesses? Surely, we are like everyone else, and it will be the same for us in the end as for others.
It's just a matter of repenting at the last moment."
But in opposition to these false prophets, Isaiah declares, "There is no peace," says my God. Let the false prophets say what they will, let them claim what they please—my God says that for every wicked and ungodly man or woman, there is no peace for their souls.
Furthermore, it may be that some, in their own hearts, will say "peace, peace," just as many men and women, when they hear dreadful things from the Word of God that come very close to their consciences, realise that this Word of God concerns them. Yet, they are ready to bless themselves in their own thoughts and say,
"Nevertheless, there shall be peace for me." This is like what we read in Deuteronomy 29:19-20: "And it shall come to pass, that when he hears the words of this curse, he blesses himself in his heart, saying,
'I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine own heart.'" But the Lord will not spare him; instead, the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the
curses that are written in this book shall fall upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.
How dreadfully God speaks—and to whom? To that soul that hears from God's Word that there is no peace, no rest for them in their current condition or in the way they are living. Yet, perhaps, says the Lord, when you hear this pronounced today in my Word against them, many in your audience will say, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my own heart."
Nowhere in all of Scripture do we find such a dreadful expression against anyone as we do against those who say they shall have peace, though they walk in the imagination of their own heart. The prophet says: some of you may say in your hearts, "I shall have rest, I shall have peace," but the prophet answers, "There is no peace for the wicked," says my God. Though your own hearts say you shall have peace, and though you might dismiss the minister's words, my God says there is no peace for the wicked.
It strikes me that we have here a passage that speaks directly of wicked men, in opposition to what the Church says of herself in Lamentations 3:24: "The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in him." Now, consider that when the Church says this, she was in a very afflicted state and condition. Her enemies may have claimed that the Lord had forsaken and neglected her, but against all the enemies in the world, her faith prevails, and she says,
"Let all the devils in hell say what they will, let all the world say what they will, yet my soul shall say, 'The Lord is my portion.'" That is, the faith that God's Spirit has wrought in my soul enables me to say that the Lord is my portion.
In contrast, when wicked men are in prosperity and do not feel God's hand upon them, friends may flatter them, false prophets may flatter
them, and perhaps their own hearts will flatter themselves. But to answer all these, the prophet says: "There is no peace for the wicked," says my God. My God says it.
Moreover, "There is no peace," says my God—no rest for any outside of Christ. This highlights why wicked men can have no peace and why they can find no rest: it is from God. It is God who will not grant it, for God is against them. Many wicked men and women, whose consciences have begun to be enlightened, experience trouble in their spirits. When they awake in the night, they are troubled; when they go about their business in the day, they are troubled; when they come home, they are troubled, so much so that they scarcely know what it is that troubles them.
Perhaps you have not understood what it is that troubles you, but this text in Isaiah 57, particularly the last verse, tells you what it is: it is the Lord who is against you. It is the anger and displeasure of the Almighty that is upon you in the paths you have chosen. This is why the prophet invokes the name of God, to show the source of the unrest in wicked men: it is God's anger that denies them peace.
Furthermore, it is noteworthy that he adds, it is my God; he does not simply say, "There is no peace," that God says (though that would have been sufficient), but my God. This is as if the prophet is saying,
"Through the mercy of God, the Lord has revealed this to me, and my soul has found peace and rest in Him. He is my God, and He has made Himself known to me. I am acquainted, in some measure, with His mind. My God says there is no peace for the wicked."
Though others may find it strange to tell ungodly men that they are in a state where they cannot have peace—when they hear of the dreadful wrath of God against all ungodliness revealed in the Word— those who are familiar with God's ways, who know His holiness and
justice, who understand His mind, and who are acquainted with His secrets, know there is truth in what is declared against such wicked men. They can affirm that there is no peace for such people and wonder how it is possible for them to continue quietly in their way.
They marvel at how these people can eat in peace or sleep undisturbed. Those who know the breach sin has made between God and the soul, and who understand what a tremendous work it is to repair that breach, are the ones who can truly grasp this reality and wonder at the security of the wicked.
This is the meaning of the prophet's words in Isaiah: There is no peace for the wicked (says my God). He highlights his personal relationship with God by saying, my God, because he knew the ways of God and understood that a wicked person cannot have peace.
Others, who do not know God's ways, may think that wicked men can have peace. For example, if you speak to some people about the natural state of man, how we are all children of wrath and sin, and about the severity of God's justice and holiness, a carnal heart— someone who does not know God—will find these things strange and think that people are more troubled than necessary. However, speak to someone who understands God's ways, who knows the way in which God makes peace between Himself and man, to someone to whom God has revealed Himself in Christ, and that person will readily agree with everything revealed about God's wrath, holiness, and righteous judgement. This is what the prophet does: My God, the God who has revealed Himself to me, says there is no peace for the wicked.
Furthermore, there is yet another observation: There is no peace for the wicked, says my God. This teaches us that it is a serious matter when those who are wise, godly, and gracious, who are familiar with God's ways, suspect that someone's spiritual condition is not right. It