“Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Hebrews 4:11
IT is a self-evident truth that the awful circumstance of the fall of man has made the whole human race restless, and they have been seeking rest ever since, but have never found it, except those who were taught of God, and guided by him to that habitation, to that rest, to that city, to that region, that state of things where alone rest can be found. So then, apart from God, what poor, restless creatures we are! Hence the world is compared to the troubled sea that cannot rest, casting up mire and dirt. So that when we thus view what men are by the fall, and the state into which we are brought, the burdens under which we labor, the dreadful penalties of sin to which we are exposed, the terrible and righteous threatening that hang over our heads, does it not demonstrate that we are all of us by nature what the word of God says, dead in trespasses and in sins? Why, if we had onemillionth part of the danger hanging over us literally, we could not endure our existence until that danger was removed. But then the man that is dead literally, knows not anything, and therefore the house itself being on fire would be nothing to him; it would be of no importance at all to the dead body. But then the soul, while it is spiritually dead, is at the same time immortal, destined to endless existence, either of bliss or woe. So that unless we are favored to enter into the rest referred to in our text, then no rest can be our portion while we live, when we die, or when time shall be no more; for they know nothing of rest that are lost. What a blessed thing, then, it is to have the fear of God before our eyes, to be led to seek him, and in his own time to understand his blessed truth, and amidst the ten thousand desolations in the world, to be delivered from them all, and to enter into that rest that remains for the people of God.
Now I shall take this evening a threefold view of our text. I will first notice the rest, the typical rest; for there are two different kinds of rest spoken of in this chapter. Secondly, I will notice the promise that the people should enter into this rest, and how they came short of it. And then, thirdly, the proposition, “Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
Now first, then, a word upon the rest. There are two kinds of rest spoken of in this chapter; the one is the typical, and the other is the antitypical. Hence the apostle says, God speaks of the Jews that they should not enter into his rest; or rather of the Israelites in the wilderness, the unbelieving part of them, that they should not enter into his rest; “although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Now the works there mean the works of creation, and the rest into which the Israelites were to enter was a creation rest. Then we shall see presently that in this same chapter there is another rest spoken of. Perhaps I had better define the difference here at once; then we shall go on the more clearly. Now their rest was earthly; but the rest that the Lord brings his people to is himself; it is God himself; yet it is by the typical rest that we are led clearly to see into and understand the antitypical rest. They had to rest after the order I will presently name; but the rest into which we now enter is by Christ Jesus. Their rest was by the mercy seat in the tabernacle; that mercy-seat was to be done away; but the mercy which is by Jesus Christ is never to be done away; that mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. See the difference, friends, between the two. The one was a mercy-seat that pertained to their temporal welfare in that rest into which they entered as a type of that eternal mercy we have by the reigning grace of God, Jesus Christ our throne of grace. Then again, they had rest by their temporal sacrifices. We will take, for instance, in this part the annual sacrifice. The priest went once a year into the holy of holies with the blood of the sacrifices, and that was giving them, as it were, a year’s rest. Now matters are cleared up by that sacrifice, we may go on now for another year. But when the next year comes there is another sacrifice, another remembrance of sin. And so, while the year was cleared up, and they could go on for the year there was nevertheless every year a fresh remembrance of sin, for the fire descended year after year. Therefore, while there was an annual clearing up, as it were, of matters between the people and God, there was nevertheless a fresh remembrance of sin; the Lord thus accepting the sacrifice by fire. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the lovely difference which the apostle reminds us of, that Jesus Christ died once. He need not go on; he need not die often. As the priest entered every year into the tabernacle, Jesus Christ met the fire once; he died once; he by his one offering has cleared matters up, not for a day, a month, or a year, but for all time and to all eternity. There is no more remembrance of sin, there is no more conscience of sin, there is no more demand for sin; there is nothing more asked; “all is settled, and our souls approve it well.” Then again, Jerusalem was to be a city of rest; and when they abode by the Lord their God, that city was peaceful. We see when good kings reigned, idols were cast out, and they abode by the covenant of their God, that Jerusalem was then safe. We see that when Sennacherib, with his hundred and eighty thousand men, and that is a very formidable army to come against a little city like that, for it was but a little city to stand against such an army as that but we find that Hezekiah and those with him looked unto the Lord, and the Lord sent a gracious answer, and not a hair of the head of one of the citizens was injured. Thus, Jerusalem was the rest. But nevertheless, that was to be done away; the time was to come when the apostasy of the people should destroy the safety they had then. But here, in the new Jerusalem, in the city of God, as the apostle beautifully observes of those who were quickened by grace, and brought to receive the truth, he says, “You are no more strangers and foreigners;” you are brought into eternal life, into the new Jerusalem, into that city where you will rest for ever. Then again, the literal Canaan also was their place of rest when they abode by the covenant of their God. Hence the Lord said, “No man shall desire your land, when you shall go up to appear thrice in the year before the Lord your God.” This then was their typical rest, their sabbatical rest, their creation rest; all of which was to be done away. But the rest of the gospel is in God himself. Let me show that, for I had better do so before I come to the promise. If you observe in reading this 4th chapter, the apostle distinguishes between the earthly, sabbatical rest which the Jews had in Canaan, and the rest which the people have in God by Jesus Christ. Hence, he says, “If Joshua had given them rest,” that is, ultimate rest; if there was no other rest to come, no other land to come, no other temple to come, no other mercy seat to come, and no other city to come; “then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest to the people of God.” And then the apostle in few words gives us a beautiful description of this ultimate rest, “For,” he says, “he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” Now in the preceding part of the chapter he had spoken of the creation; that God rested on the sabbath day; that the creation was complete; and included in that creation was, as you all know, the land of Canaan. That which was the chosen land for the people of God was included in the general completeness of the creation and was thus finished from the foundation of the world, in common with all the rest. But when the apostle would come to the ultimate repose of the church, the ultimate rest, then he says, “He that is entered into his rest”, that is, Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ has entered into his rest; “he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” It is unaccountable that some good people have said this is the believer ceasing from his own works, as God did from his, and entering into rest. That idea will not bear looking at, friends. Why, God ceased from his works of creation by completing them; and you are going to tell me that the Christian in his legal strivings by his works, ceases from them by completing them! I ceased from my works because I found they were of no use. I did not cease from them by completing them, but I ceased from them because they were of no use. But the Lord Jesus Christ ceased from his works not as man rests from his, because he cannot complete them; but he ceased from his works as God did from his; and God ceased from his works by completing them; and so, on the seventh day God rested, hallowed and blessed the seventh day. Here, then, friends, the antitypical rest is God himself by Jesus Christ. Hence you will find in the book of the Revelation, when John gives us an account of the ultimate blessedness of the people of God, he says, in allusion of course to the temple, “I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof.” It is God himself it is Christ himself, that is the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. And the first Canaan needed the light of the sun and of the moon; but this heavenly city, this ultimate Canaan, needs not the light of the sun, “for the glory of God does lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” So, then, our rest is God himself. You observe in the other case it was not God himself. It was a land flowing with milk and honey, but it was not God himself. But here, in the gospel, it is God himself. Now let us test this. Take in the first place the love of God, where is the Christian to rest? Why, where the Lord himself does. He rests in his love. That is a beautiful scripture, “He will rest in his love.” And where are we to rest? Why, in God, in his love to us, “Continue you in my love.” That is our resting-place. We have never the least occasion to question the sameness of that love; it is always the same; it is not only eternal in its duration, but it is immutable, it is always the same. So that it is exceedingly encouraging to our confidence in the Lord, as well as encouraging to prayer. Because our fellowcreatures sometimes like us a little better one time than they do another, and are not quite so well pleased with us one time as another; and so, if we want a favor, we like to know what spirit they are in just now, whether they happen to be in one of their best moods just now; if so, that is the time to ask this favor; but if they do not happen to be in one of their best moods, we shall be sent off about our business. Not so with the Lord, he is always of the same mind. And therefore, we are not to judge him by our own feelings, or what we see among men; we must judge him by what he is. “I have loved you”, the matter is settled, “with an everlasting love.” Here, then, friends is the rest; it is God himself in his love to us; he brings us into his love, and constrains us to love him, because he first loved us.
Then, secondly, it is God himself in Christ. Now is there any deficiency there? Is there not all the light, and all the life, and all the holiness, and all the righteousness, and all the mercy, all the promises, all the provision, and all the glory we can need? Are not those words true concerning Christ, in the 11th of Isaiah, “In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious”? So that we may rest in the completeness of Christ. The matter stands thus: If you are a poor needy creature, needing this rest, then what you want is faith to receive the testimony of Jesus Christ in what he has done; and that testimony is our complete release; there we enter into rest. I will mention only one more feature here in this part, though a great many more might be mentioned. Not only God himself in his love, so that the rest must of necessity be safe and everlasting; not only God in Christ in the perfection of his work; but also, God in another aspect, which I am sure every Christian must highly prize, it is a delightful thought, namely, in God’s almighty and eternal power. Oh, what poor, trembling, broken down things we are! But here is God, and he says to his tried children, “Have you not known?” and perhaps your answer is, I am afraid I have not, Lord; I am afraid I do not know anything. Well, then, if you do not know, if you cannot come so far as that, I will put it in another form: “Have you not heard?” Yes, Lord, I have heard, and approved it, “that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. Even the youths,” that think they are going to do wonders, “shall faint and be weary; and the young men,” that think they are going to outrun everybody else, “shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;” so far so that “they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint;” they shall run through troops, leap over walls, and rejoice that “he gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increases strength.” Bless his dear name! he cannot break down. See the demonstration of this not only in the creation and sustentation of the universe but see it in its more direct relation to us. Did Jesus break down? did he give way? did he not stand fast? Did not his omnipotent arm at the last crush the monster sin, bruise the serpent’s head, swallow up death in victory, compass the curse, annihilate the same, unite the perfections of God in our eternal welfare, establish eternal life, and say in the strength of his love, the delight of his heart, and the power of his arm, “It is finished;” bowed his head, gave up the ghost; hell confounded, angels astonished, God glorified, Christ satisfied, sinners saved, the promises confirmed, prediction fulfilled, grace reigning; mercy rolls forth, finds out sinners, takes them to God, makes them know God, rest in God, trust in God, rejoice in God, and realize the blessed truth that “as your day, so shall be your strength.” Who has said this? Why, he who is our eternal refuge; he who supports us with his everlasting arms of omnipotent power. Ah, we may rest there with perfect safety. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Ah, Christian, when your poor body gets weak with age or affliction, and infirm, the inward man shall be sustained by the hidden but omnipotent power of the blessed God. One, when he was eighty-five years of age, said, “As my strength was then,” forty-five years ago, “even so is my strength now, both to go out and to come in.” So, the aged prophet, the aged apostle, and the aged Christian are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might; and while the outward man decays, the inward man is renewed day by day. I know when I feel in mind and body what a poor weak creature I am, I think, What a blessed truth that here is almighty power to sustain me, here is almighty power to stand by me! God cannot break down. I trust we can enter at times a little into the sweetness of that truth set before us by the apostle when he says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone”, that deserves it, or does his part; not a word about it; but “to everyone that believes.” “It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.” Well, how is that Paul? Well, he says, here is the secret of it: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed that is, the righteousness of Christ; that is the way in which almighty power is put into the gospel; for Christ had not ended sin, left some of it for us to do, the new covenant would then be no better than the old; it would be conditional; and the gospel then would not be the power of God; God’s power in the absolute sense would not be put into it if Christ had not so ended sin. “Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith,” from one degree of faith to another; “as it is written. The just shall live by faith.” Thus, then, friends, if we would see the true mercy seat, it is in Christ; if we would see the true sacrifice, it is in Christ; if we would see the true city of God, it is by Jesus Christ; if we would see the Canaan that we love, the “inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away,” it must be by Jesus Christ. The sabbatical creation rest, then, spoken of in the former part of this chapter, is temporal; but Jesus Christ having entered into eternal rest, having done an eternal work, obtained eternal redemption and brought in eternal righteousness and eternal life, he has entered into a rest that corresponds with the work he has done, namely, eternal. Here, then, the gospel, ultimate rest, is God himself; for the Son of God in a future world will be subject to the will of the Father, that by him God may be all and in all; Christ subject to the Father in his humiliation, carrying out the Father’s will; and now in his exaltation, his interceding and reigning, carrying out the will of God; and then in glorification to all eternity. It is the Lamb in the midst of the throne that shall carry out in perfection the good-will of God, leading his people to fountains of living waters; while, to show that God delights therein, he will wipe away all tears from off all faces.
But let me look at the Israelites again. The Israelites were released from Egypt, Pharaoh, and their taskmasters. And we are released from the world. We do not ask for a single thing from the world, no; all our salvation is of the Lord. We do not want a single thing; we want no priest, no Pope, no Puseyite, no creature whatever, not a single thing. And if there are any Puseyites here this evening, with all due respect we say, We are quite free from you; you are welcome to your long coats and your long gowns; you are welcome to turn your churches into flower-gardens. Now we have become men, we have put away these childish things; we have got everything in Christ that we want, everything in our God, everything in the gospel. Then it was release from Sinai. So, the gospel releases us from the law and all its thunders and fiery threatening’s. And then it was release from the wilderness. So is ours ultimately a release from the wilderness of this world. Their rest was a release from the overflowing of Jordan. So is ours a release from the sting of death; when we pass away from the whole, released from all; nothing to do in eternity but sit under our heavenly vine and fig tree, and celebrate the triumphs in perfection of our wondrous King.
But I notice, secondly, the promise that the people should enter into this typical rest, and how they came short of it. Now in the 3rd chapter of Exodus the Lord appeared to Moses, and said, “Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me unto you; this is my name forever, and this is my memorial all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together,” and tell them this, and that I will bring the children of Israel “up out of the affliction of Egypt unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” Very well, the matter is settled. And those among the Israelites who were spiritually minded looked at that, stuck to it. Now there is nothing to eat. Very well, the Lord says he will bring us into the land, and he can sustain us without food, or else he will find us some. And he did find some. Well, now, we have got into an arid land where there is no water. Well, the Loid will find some; never mind about that. And so, he did. But the main body, unhappily, did not believe in God, and the reason was that they did not clearly recognize God’s hand in bringing them out of Egypt. They came out, but they did not recognize God as bringing them out. “This people do err in their hearts; they have not known my ways.” Not all that came out of Egypt; no, for there were some that did know God’s way, that understood it. But we will go farther; after they came out of Egypt, as though Moses should say, Now then, I will just tell you how you are to go into the promised land. And yet the main body of the people did not believe the promise. Mind, if there had been a trembling creature there who had said, Well, I do believe the Lord will bring his people in; but I myself am such a poor, hard-hearted, rebellious creature that I do not think he will bring such a one as I in, well, but do you believe in God’s promise? Yes, I believe in that, and I will abide by it; but still, I am such a sinner. Well, does the promise indicate he will reject any one on that ground? There is only one ground on which you are to be rejected, and that is a disbelief of God’s word. If you disbelieve his word, and set up another god in his place, then we shall see that you will fall short. Now let us come to the promise in the 15th of Exodus. Moses looks through the wilderness, and sees how the Lord will interpose, and remove all impediments. Moses looks at Jordan, and sees how the Lord will deal with that; he looks at Canaan, and sees how the Lord will bring them in. Then comes the promise: “The dukes of Edom”, these great men you tremble at, “shall be amazed.” Jehovah will strike such terror into them that they shall be amazed. They won’t let you go through their kingdom; they will let you pass on the side of it; you will have to round the southern end of Edom; you will go past them, and they will stand and stare at you like fools: they will be amazed. Well, says the true Israelite, God says this, and I believe it. Ah, but then how about the mighty men of Moab? They are remarkable for their warlike and gigantic power. “Trembling shall take hold upon them.” And so, it did; and they sent for Balaam to quite their trembling, but he made it ten times worse. He was a duty faith man, he held the doctrines, and meant to preach them. But the doctrines of grace were put into his mouth, and he was obliged to proclaim them, though he never had them in his heart; and so afterwards he tried to curse the very people that God made him bless. So, there are some in our day will praise up God’s elect, and you would think they loved them; but before they get to the end of their sermon, if there is anything degrading, they can say of God s elect people, they will say it. These Moabites, then, are mighty men, no doubt about that, but not so mighty as our God. “Trembling shall take hold upon them;” and so it did. Ah, but then, Moses, look at the Canaanites, sons of Anak, giants; we are grasshoppers to them. Oh, says Moses, “all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of your arm, they shall be as still as a stone.” So we read that Jericho was straitly shut up; “till your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over which you have purchased. You shall bring them in;” not bring themselves in, “and plant them in the mountain” exaltation, “of your inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which you have made for you to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.” How did they come short? By doubting and fearing that they were interested in it? No, no. They came short of this promise by disbelieving the promise itself; they did not believe it. Now then, friends, it is a great mercy for us if we understand the promise spiritually, that it is the work of God to see his saints through this world. Now come, let me scold you doubting and fearing ones for a minute or two, if I can. Has not the Lord been good to you hitherto? Well, yes, he has. And have not things been upon the whole ten times better than your doubts and fears? Well, yes. And has not many a great stone been rolled away from your path when you thought it would not. Yes, it has, and has not Providence stepped in and supplied you when you made sure you were going to starve to death? Well, yes, it has. If, then, you are a believer in Jesus Christ, and place your hope in his dear name and wondrous work, then the Lord will see you safe through the wilderness, and will bring you to heaven, plant you in his holy mountain, there you will flourish forever as an olive plant around about his table, the place that Jesus has prepared for God to dwell in, the sanctuary of eternity, that Jehovah has established. Yes, it is in a sense himself, for God is love, and they that dwell in love dwell in God.
But I must come lastly to the proposition, “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, least any man fall after the same example of unbelief” Ah, then, if you disbelieve in the perfection of Christ; if von disbelieve in the yea and amen promise that is by Jesus Christ, that he will with infallible certainty see his people through the wilderness, and bring them in at last, and that by his sworn covenant, if you disbelieve this, then you must fall. Come, then, Christian, my text if rightly understood is a sweet consoling text, “Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Ah, there is no other fall. “The righteous falls seven times a day but not the fall of apostasy. There is no other fall can disinherit the soul but a disbelief of God’s truth. The Jews were cast off because of their disbelief of God’s truth. “Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness”, preferring a conditional to an unconditional salvation, “has not attained to the law of righteousness.” But “the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.” Let us now see what we are to labor in and be careful we labor rightly. We read of foolish laborers, “The labor of the foolish wearies every one of them, because he knows not how to go to the city.” Ah, what is the city but new Jerusalem? And the way to it is faith in the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But I will now bring, in conclusion, a few scriptures to show you how to walk in the right way. Now it is said of Noah in the 5th chapter of Genesis, “Lamech called his name Noah,” which means “rest” or “consolation,” “saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” Very well, now what was their work and toil of their hands? You see it is an agricultural idea; “because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” The ground was not to yield her strength unto Cain; and of course, therefore, he left off ploughing and sowing. And so free grace-ground will not yield anything to a free-will sower, or to enemies to God’s Abel’s. Now Noah was to comfort them concerning the work and toil of their hands, because of the ground which the Lord had cursed; so that they should not sow in vain, but should be sure to reap with joy, coming home with their sheaves rejoicing. How did Noah do this? I am now quoting from the latter part of the 5th of Genesis, and if you go to the latter part of the 8th chapter of the same book, you find these beautiful words Noah offered an offering unto the Lord, “and the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” There is the covenant of God. Now then here is God’s solemn engagement, God’s solemn, unconditional covenant, that while the earth remains seedtime and harvest shall not cease. There is no if in it. And so there has not been a universal famine since, and there never will be down to the end of time. Well, now, don’t you see that if God had not made this covenant, men would sow in vain; they would not reap, for what they sowed would not come up, it would not grow; the devil would blast everything if God had not blasted him. Now let us go to the covenant of grace. As all ploughing and sowing would be vain but for that covenant of providence wherein the Lord engages to give us seedtime and harvest, fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness, so in eternal things. Leave out the everlasting covenant, sealed by the Mediator’s blood, the covenant ordered in all things and sure, wherein the Lord engages to supply our needs absolutely and unconditionally, leave that out, and you may pray in vain; you may preach in vain, praise in vain; do what you may, you may plough and sow, but you will never get anything. Now go to the 55th of Isaiah. “Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to the waters”, that is, to the promises that are by Jesus Christ; “and he that has no money, come you, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with, you, even the sure mercies of the beloved;” that is, the sure mercies of Christ. That is the way, then, friends. So, if you labor to enter into rest, scripturally, you will seek salvation by the everlasting covenant, which the Savior sealed by his blood. To labor rightly is to labor to hold fast the testimony of God’s everlasting covenant. There are many more scriptures of a like kind; such, for instance, as that in the 11th of Matthew, where the Savior says, “Come unto me, all you that labor”, you are trying to make yourselves holy, and trying to make yourselves righteous, and trying to make yourselves good, and trying to make yourselves happy, now you will never succeed, and you are still heavily laden; you are poor creatures. “Come unto me, all you that labor 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.” I will not exact service of you that shall be painful to you no, “and you shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Another scripture is like unto it; though addressed to mere formalists, on the ground of the profession they made, still it is at the same time of course instructive and encouraging; where the Savior says, “Labor not for the meat which perishes;” do not let that weigh so heavily upon your hearts and minds; that you will not want long.
“Man wants but little here below.
Nor wants that little, long.”
“But labor for the meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you; for him has God the Father sealed.” Stand out for God’s truth, you thus labor for the meat which endures to everlasting life.
Thus, then, here is a glorious rest that remains to the people of God; here is a sure promise, and precious faith, laying hold of that promise, will keep us steady, and will keep us running with patience the race set before us, and will keep us laboring aright, namely, by faith, as the word of the Lord represents it; so that what was true of the Israelites' is in a higher sense true of us, namely, that “they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you had a favor unto them.” It was to gain this eternal rest for us that Jesus lived, buffered, died, rose again, ascended up on high, and pleads our cause. It matters not what we are called upon to sacrifice or to suffer if we may but enter at the last into this rest: here we have no abiding city. Oh, may we be kept steadfast in faith and love, and make it more and more the very business of our existence to labor by faith and prayer to enter by Christ Jesus into that rest, for all beside is bitterness, lamentation, and woe!